Dear Editor,
As a parent of students who have attended the Lochiel U-connect program for a dozen years, I would like to correct a huge misconception that was in the print version of “Lochiel Program moves to Simonds.â€
This newspaper has characterized the school as place where only students who have anxieties attend.
While there are students like that who attend Lochiel, the majority of students are from families who choose to have their kids learn at home most of the week for any number of reasons.
For instance, my kids started their formal education at Lochiel, never having been in another school.
It was a choice we made as a family because I enjoy spending time with my kids helping them learn.
There have been families with kids in competitive athletics who like the relative flexibility of the program, and others whose kids are bright and enjoy the ability to work at the level their kids are at while still spending time with their age cohort.
Others just like the ability to work quickly and be done school by noon so they can go off on field trips or study nature or any number of other activities.
I challenge the reporter to get to know some of the students, past and present, from Lochiel before writing another such article.
She will find students who do well in science fairs, speech competitions and athletics. She will find people who have gone on to get top scholarships at universities, run their own businesses or be socially active in Canada or abroad. She will find students who excel in drama and/or sports.
And yes even students with anxiety, some of whom, after a few years at Lochiel, you might be hard pressed to differentiate from their peers because they are no longer anxious.
Lochiel is a place where any student can come and learn, all it takes is commitment on the part of a parent to help them through the learning process.
Heather Matson, Murrayville