The Sentinel September 26, 2005

A Classic Comes Online

By Michele Everett

Dr. Reed Benson and his wife May could be considered the parents of the modern LDS homeschool movement. Dr. Benson is a retired BYU professor of religion and oldest son of President Ezra Taft Benson. When I started homeschooling in the early 1980's, Reed Benson was one of the first LDS voices I heard saying what I was thinking.

For many years, Brother Benson has been a mainstay in the movement, speaking at homeschool conferences in many states, providing inspiration and encouragement to thousands. Brother Benson has appeared nearly every year at the LDS Home Education Association's annual conference in Utah. He and his wife are beloved among LDS homeschoolers everywhere.

In the late 1970's, the Bensons wanted to give their nine children a solid spiritual foundation, so they started them in a private Christian school. When they moved to Kentucky to preside over the Kentucky Louisville Mission, they had a difficult time getting their children accepted into Christian schools, so for the first time, May and Reed put their children into public schools.

"I'll never forget that day,” said Brother Benson. "There was a teacher strike, combined with winter weather that meant they spent only four days in school between Thanksgiving and January 28th. There were textbooks filled with objectionable material. There were lyrics from music classes that we wouldn't allow our children to sing. There were social activists teaching social studies classes. There were drugs among the students."

After their mission, they returned to Utah where Reed began working on his doctorate degree at Brigham Young University. Driving back to Utah, they stopped at the Christian Liberty Academy in Prospect Heights, Illinois. Reed was impressed with the correspondence course there and began to think about homeschooling.

Brother Benson broke the news to May: “What do you say for my professional education project we put all of our children into home school for one year?”

Reed continues, “Well, when I took her off the ceiling, she said to me, 'Reed, don’t you think I have anything else to do?' " After that first year, they both loved homeschooling so much that they continued to homeschool all of their children.

In 1981, Reed Benson wrote what is believed to be the first doctoral dissertation on homeschooling in the nation. His dissertation was a popular purchase for many years at homeschool conferences and through the mail. I know several people who bought more than one copy: one to keep and one to loan.

Because the dissertation is out of print, newer homeschoolers may be unfamiliar with this classic, which is very unfortunate. Last week, through a wonderful series of events, LDS-NHA obtained permission to provide a pdf copy of Reed Benson's doctoral dissertation on the LDS National Homeschool Association website. We are very excited to be able to provide this classic to everyone free of charge through the great generosity of Dr. Benson.

In addition, we would like to thank Joyce Kinmont and Ann Agent who helped us obtain the dissertation and permission to put it online. We know you will enjoy reading it, or re-reading it, and encourage you to let your friends know about this classic in LDS homeschooling history.

Featured Photo

A group of about 70 Utah homeschoolers visited Camp Floyd, a Civil War-era army encampment. They toured an old commissary and inn, learned about muskets and cannons, made candles, raced to deliver mail for the Pony Express, and even participated in a "class" at the adobe schoolhouse. Here they are making bricks to "sell" for a penny each.