Homeschooling in Maple Grove

Maple Grove Families take self-directed paths to education.

By: Dan Emerson | From the issue: August 2012

Photo: Amanda Gahler

Homeschooling mother Robin Fraser teaches Ben and Sophie Steinle, Caleb and Sam Monseth, and Ellie Steinle without missing out on a beautiful day.

“We love being there for the 'light bulb moments.'”

That comment by homeschooling mother Lindsey Breker seems a pretty apt way to sum up the essence, and the appeal, of home education. Lindsey and Phillip Breker and their five kids—including third-grader Emma, first-grader Noah and kindergartener Gideon—are part of a growing trend in Maple Grove and elsewhere, as more families opt-out of conventional school systems. For homeschooling families, learning becomes more a part of everyday living, and the walls that define and limit “school” seem to disappear.

Nationwide, home-schooling has been a growing movement for a number of years, among families who want a self-directed alternative to public and private schools. In 1993, it became legal in all 50 states.

Minnesota has become something of a hotbed for homeschoolers. Around 300 students are currently being homeschooled in the Osseo Area Schools, according to Barbara Olson, the district's director of school and community relations.

For homeschoolers, learning becomes “a way of life,” says Robin Fraser, a former teacher in Milwaukee who moved to Maple Grove with her family in 1996. (Among her accolades is the Sallie Mae Teacher of the Year award, won in 1994.) It tends to lead both kids and parents to the “mindset that we are always learning, and everything represents an opportunity to learn.”