Teamwork

Now that the swimming season is over, brothers Bobby and David Eastman can get back to life as usual.

Life as usual for the Eastmans, who swim for Calvary Chapel, doesn’t involve sitting eight hours a day in a classroom. The Eastmans are among five athletes at the school who are home-schooled. They practiced at Los Caballeros Racquet & Sports Club, then swam on Calvary Chapel’s team.

Teammate Josh Louvier also is home-schooled. At the Division III Southern Section finals Saturday, he finished fourth in the 200 individual medley (1:58.54) and fifth in the breaststroke (1:00.74). Calvary Chapel finished 15th with 44 points.

Judy and David Eastman Sr. have chosen to home-school their five children through independent study programs offered by traditional schools. When Bobby and David graduate, their diplomas will be from Calvary Chapel, but indicated on the diploma will be that they were in an independent study program. This allows the boys to compete in interscholastic athletics.

“Because they’re in CIF, we have to report grades every six weeks,” Judy said. “On a quarterly basis, we provide work samples. They receive a regular report card. They’re under the same stipulations as the kids who are in traditional school.”

It’s not as if Calvary Chapel is trying to take the world by storm with home-schooled athletes. The five who compete for the school do so for exercise and the spirit of competition. Bobby Eastman, 15, who has sophomore status at Calvary Chapel, placed seventh in the 500 freestyle at the Division III finals and 14th in the 200 individual medley. David, who at 16 is a junior, failed to qualify for finals. Both swim year-round on the Los Caballeros club team.

The brothers have only attended traditional school for one year, while in grade school.

“It’s kind of like the best of both worlds,” David said of home-schooling, “because whereas we really love home-schooling, you get to go one-on-one as far as classes go and you get a broad choice of what classes you want to do. And as far as disadvantages, it’s hard work. None of the stuff we’re doing is particularly easy.”

Judy Eastman attended a private elementary school in Los Angeles and graduated from Edison High and UC Irvine.

According to the National Home Education Research Institute, reasons to educate a child at home also vary. Some must stay home for medical reasons. Some families prefer to control a child’s philosophical and religious environment. Some believe the academic level is higher at home.

“We just felt [home-schooling] was the best opportunity for the kids,” she said. “They can do more because their schedule is more flexible. We just found that it’s worked.

“When we started home-schooling, it was, ‘We’ll just do this one year at a time as long as it works.’ And we’ve been very, very pleased with the results.”

Estimates vary as to the number of home-schooled students in the United States. The NHERI says there are between 700,000 and 1.5 million between kindergarten and high school senior age who are home educated. About 120,000 are home-schooled in California. Southern Section Commissioner of Athletics Dean Crowley estimates the number of home-schooled children competing in athletics in the section is 2%-3%.

Fifty students are home-schooled through Calvary Chapel’s independent study program.

The other athletes who competed this spring for Calvary Chapel are Aaron White, who was on the junior varsity volleyball team, and John Robinson, who played junior varsity baseball.