When the oldest child, Michael, was young, Lynne saw a TV show interview about homeschooling. In it, a 14-year-old girl spoke about attending college and excelling. Lynne was intrigued, but also a bit wary about homeschooling; it was the early 1990s and homeschooling wasn’t very common. However, she did not enjoy her school experience due to a combination of bullying and skipping a few grades. She was ahead of her classmates and had memories of sitting in class, staring out the window, waiting for the lesson to be over. She wanted her kids to be able to go at their own pace, even skipping several grades if that was what was right for them.
She shared her thoughts about homeschooling with her husband and he was on board. They decided to homeschool all of the kids from kindergarten through 12th grade. She developed her own curriculum based on classic literature, Latin and Greek, the Catholic faith, and critical thinking. She wanted her kids to learn to think for themselves, to be curious and love learning, and to have strong moral compasses.
Lynne had heard of other families who homeschooled out of fear of the world and wanted to isolate kids from that, and she did not want her kids to be isolated. And so, she signed them up for every activity possible in their area- swim team, musical theatre, basketball, gymnastics, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, karate, and many more. Her kids grew up to be a loud, vibrant bunch. They were very well “socialized” and had a lot of friends. Most people didn’t guess they were homeschooled when they met them because of their social and people skills.
To this day, the Cimorelli's count their homeschool experience as one of the greatest tools in their lives and careers. Because of homeschooling, they had a lot of free time to learn instruments, practice singing and harmonizing, and write songs. Homeschooling gave them the space to be free to be themselves. Being unique and independent was highly valued in the Cimorelli household; they were not told to “fit into the mold.” This ideal shaped their music and decisions for years to come.
TO BE CONTINUED… more on the early days of Cimorelli coming next week!