Like many 16-year-olds, Peter Webb, of Kalamazoo, enjoys hanging out with his friends, playing guitar in a band and talking to friends online. He has gone through the usual rights-of-passage — prom night, SATs — and is really looking forward to going to college. He has already accrued more than a dozen credits at Kalamazoo Valley Community College.

For a kid who left conventional public and private elementary schools behind at the age of 9, these may sound like unbelievable accomplishments. They are not unusual for a home-schooled student.

Peter is one of hundreds of students in Kalamazoo County’s thriving home school community — a diverse network of families who have made the commitment to teach their children at home.

But don’t take the term "home schooling" too literally Peter cautions, "It isn’t just about sitting at home doing your own little thing out on a limb."

"Kalamazoo is home-school friendly because we have so many options," says Peter’s mom, Tami Webb, executive director of the Kalamazoo Area Home School Association.

"The Home School Performing Arts of Kalamazoo does drama classes and plays. The Kalamazoo Area Tutors have almost any academic class you could want for your child. The Kalamazoo Nature Center, the Air Zoo and the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts also have classes. Area support groups have field trips galore. There are several different sports available through the home-school sports leagues. So you can just pick and choose what you want."

This form of education is possible under The Michigan Revised School Code, Section 380.1561, exemption (f). The exception allows children to forego the required public school attendance if "the child is being educated at the child’s home by his or her parent or legal guardian in an organized educational program in the subject areas of reading, spelling, mathematics, science, history, civics, literature, writing and English grammar."

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