Home-schooled students back at it, too

Brock Russell already knows who he'll be sitting with in class when he starts preschool.

He'll be joined by his brother, Bo, and sisters, Brie and Brooke, at his desk -- the kitchen table.

Mom Susan Russell of South Elgin has been teaching the four children from home for more than nine years.

Sometimes the 4-year-old "picks up on what his siblings are saying, 'I don't want to do this,' " Susan said. "I'm like, what are you talking about? You're matching up red rabbits and blue rabbits."

For home-schooled students in the suburbs, going back to school doesn't have anything to do with bus routes, sack lunches or figuring out class schedules.

But with the vast majority of students going to public school, home-schooled families often align their plans with those schedules.

"We have to do it the way it's set up around here," said Gail Merry of Batavia, who home-schools her three children. "We'll go shopping for jeans because that's when the sales are."

When the family starts school, the biggest distraction in the first few sweltering weeks is the backyard pool, Merry said.

If Sheri Koehler's students are losing interest, she'll take them outside to do flash cards on the swings or go for a nature walk.

The Montgomery mom of three boys likes that she can tailor lessons to their interests. Over the summer, they really got into listening to Moby Dick on tape, so classes on whales are in Koehler's lesson plans.

The nicest thing about home-schooling is that flexibility, Russell said. If there is a family activity on one night, class might start a little later the next day.

She always plans a few field trips for the first week of school, when the usual destinations will be less busy.

"It gets everyone excited and breaks up the time when you're going from nothing to starting school all the time," she said. "And it builds family unity."