‘Aohe pau ka ‘ike i ka hālau ho’okāhi

By Barbara Sarbin

‘Aohe pau ka ‘ike i ka hālau ho’okāhi

All knowledge is not taught in one school

One can learn from many sources

— Mary Kawena Pukui

‘Ōlelo No’eau, Hawaiian Proverbs and Poetical Sayings (1983, p. 24)

When I first moved to Na’alehu in 2018, I was looking for educational alternatives for my daughter who was 12 years old.  As a lifelong nature-based educator, and a dyed-in-the-wool homeschool mom, I was curious to see if there were others in Ka’ū who might be interested in the same kinds of supplementary educational programs as my family was.

Born and raised in New York, I had started my own non-profit, 501c3 charitable organization, Something Good in the World, which ran a non-public school and educational programs for 20 years on various farms and in nature centers.  When I started visiting Ka’ū every year from 2005 onwards, I got the sense there might be other families who would like to have access to a similar “Earth School” program.  In 2016, I was volunteering for the Jane Goodall Institute as their “garden ambassador” for schools, and I assisted teachers at the Ka’ū Learning Academy, Tutu and Me Preschool, Na’alehu Elementary School, Pāhala Elementary School, and The Volcano School of Arts & Sciences (VSAS).  I definitely saw that ‘āina-based education was accepted and welcomed in these schools, and that gave me the inspiration to relocate.

My daughter had been attending the Something Good in the World “Earth School” programs for 10 years in New York, but I didn’t find the same kind of educational program in Ka’ū.  There were lots of homeschooling families in the community, but we were secular (non-religious) homeschoolers, and my daughter was looking for something different to what was available at that time in the Na’alehu area.

Through the Ka’ū Calendar, I discovered that VSAS had a program called, “Kula ‘Amakihi,” which was for students who were primarily schooling at home, but meeting up once a week for place-based huaka’i.  This environment seemed like a good fit, and so we registered and by coincidence, I ended up joining the educational team for this program.  After getting my teaching certification through Kaho’iwai, and being licensed to teach in HI, I stayed with VSAS for 5 years guiding the māla, permaculture, and civics classes, in addition to coordinating thematic huaka’i (field trips) for Kula ‘Amakihi.

My daughter outgrew the Kula ‘Amakihi program, and needed a different learning environment than was available to her through the charter and public school system in Ka’ū.  We couldn’t afford private school, and she wasn’t interested in online schooling, she wanted to be in person.  Fortunately, I knew from experience that community colleges accept students at age 15, and so she applied to Hawai’i Community College in Hilo to attend their classes as her “Early College High School” program.  Technically, she was still a homeschooler, and I still had to register my intent to homeschool with the district and provide them with annual reports, but in actuality, she was an HCC student.  She carpooled and took the Hele On bus for 3 years, taking HCC and UH courses in English, Math, Science, Hawaiian Studies, Dance, and Art.  She fulfilled all of her high school requirements in 3 years, and so was able to finish a year early, and apply to college.  No, HCC doesn’t give you a high school diploma - your child has to either take the GED or sign up for an online school that does offer a diploma (which is what my daughter did).   She is now happily in her second year at the Culinary Institute of America in New York, getting her B.A. in Applied Food Studies!   

If you have been considering homeschooling, because your child isn’t thriving in a traditional schooling environment, or the school of your choice has no room, or you prefer not to engage in online schooling, and private school is not an option, then there is a range of alternatives available to you to research in Ka’ū.  I thought it might be helpful for the Ka’ū News to start carrying a listing of these, for parents who are searching for alternatives.  Homeschooling is not for everyone, but maybe you’re not everyone!

By the way, “homeschooling” is really a misnomer, since there is really almost no time spent at home!  In New York, the homeschool community fondly referred to what we were doing as “home-schlepping,” because you were constantly driving your child(ren) to different activities and engaging with different teachers and experts in the field.  The whole idea is that the earth becomes your school, and the approach is “living is learning.”  That means that trips to the grocery store are for learning math, and farm chores are for learning science, and art centers, parks, museums and libraries become your classrooms.  There are so many resources out there, and so many great educators, but you have to search them out.  Often, you can find a group of homeschooling families who are like-minded who also want to start a theatre project, or a weekly sports activity, or get together for free play times.  

One of the aspects I always loved about homeschooling, and still do as a teacher of homeschoolers, is that it’s mixed ages. As Dr. Manulani Aluli Meyer puts it in her book on Hawaiian Epistemology, Ho’olulu: Our Time of Becoming, “Community is at the very center of Hawaiian education, because we know that learning is a social process.  It is a process of making connections - with each other, with ideas, with place, with ourselves.  When did we insist that 25 seven-year-olds should exist in one room all day with one adult?” (2003, p.7).  I find that younger children very often inspire older children to have more confidence, and older children often love to assist younger children – they learn from each other, as well as from the many adults around them.

In recent years, several groups of homeschooling families have spearheaded new educational options in Ka’ū that you might like to know more about.  A few of these are listed below, and I hope that others will write in to let everyone know about more we might not be aware of.  If all goes well, more information can be shared each month, and cover some of the special educational events and activities in our community that are available to all keiki, homeschooled or not!  Mahalo nui… ☺

Listings in Alphabetical Order:

• Hawai’i Community College in Hilo, “Early College High School.”  Contact: Glenn-Dee Kuwaye at (808) 934-2726.  Email: gkuwaye@hawaii.edu, for more information and to have your homeschooling student (age 15 and older) fill out an application.  There are online and in-person options. Website: https://www.hawaii.hawaii.edu/early-admit.

• Hawai’i Academy of Arts and Sciences (HAAS) – Blended and Virtual Learning for K-12. For this program, a child is enrolled in HAAS, and not homeschooling. Website: https://www.haaspcs.org/.

• Hawai’i Technology Academy (HTA) – Distance Learning Grades 4-12. For this program, a child is enrolled in HTA, and not homeschooling. Website: https://hi.myhta.org/campuses/distance/

• Ke Kula Nā ʻAʻaliʻi Kū Makani o Kaʻū (NAKM) - “place-based aloha ʻāina educational experience” in Waiohinu. PreK ages. Website: https://www.okaukakou.org/about-2.

• Kanu o ka ‘Aina “Ka Ohā” - Blended Learning program, online and in-person options. For this program, a child is enrolled in Kanu o ka ‘Aina, and not homeschooling. Phone: ​(808)890-2546. Website: https://kaoha.kanuokaaina.org/about/.

• Kula ‘Amakihi – Hawaiian-focused, place-based, meets in person in small groups with a certified teacher weekly in Volcano, as well as online work and huaka’i. For this program, a child is enrolled in The Volcano School of Arts & Sciences, and not homeschooling. Grades 3 – 8. Phone: 808-985-9800. Email: info@volcanoschool.net. Website: https://www.volcanoschool.net/kula-amakihi-cbe. 

• Something Good in the World’s “Kula Honua” (Earth School) – twice weekly in Na’alehu area, ‘āina-based, arts-integrated, Hawaiian-focused, supplementary educational programs, certified teacher, huaka’i. For homeschoolers, mixed ages 6-9. Email: somethinggooditw@aol.com. Website:  https://somethinggoodintheworld.org/

• Venture Upward – In-person communal learning activities weekly at the Ocean View Community Center and huaka’i, as well as online work.  Grades K-12. For this program, a child is enrolled in Laupāhoehoe Charter School, and not homeschooling.  Email: lroberts@ventureupward.org. Website: https://ventureupward.org/.

Barbara Sarbin is the Director of Educational Programs for Something Good in the World. She is responsible for the overall running of educational programs. Barbara has a BA in Theatre Arts with Honors from Brown University.