Growing Without Schooling 139

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From the Editor ISSUE 1 3 9

MARlA P R 2001

Contents 2-3 News & Reports 4-6 Challenges & Concerns

Responses to "A Critical Grandparent"

8-9 On My Mind

by Susannah Sheffer

10-17 FOCUS: How We Use Our Time Readers write about what determines how they plan and use their time, in the absence of school calendars.

18-19 A Conversation with David Sobel, author of

Beyond Ecopbobia: Reclaiming the Heart ofNature Education '20-z2 Kids Inspire Parents' Learning Parent.<; write about how watching kids learn encourages their own new projects and endeavors.

23 Unschooling Math 24-25 Watching Children Learn Finding Internal Structure, Learning About the Romans, Writing Her First Story

26-31 2001 Complete Lists of Helpful Teachers,

Lawyers, Grown Homeschoolers, and others

GWS is based on the idea that young people are good at learning and that leaming happens everywhere. Our stories explore how people of all ages leam and grow and how others can best help them. GWS is an ongoing conversation among its readers, and it allows homeschoolers (and other interested people) to share experiences, thoughts, questions, and concems.

Editor - Meredith Collins

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Publisher - Patrick Farenga

Editorial Advisor - Susannah Sheffer Mary Maher

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Bookkeeper & Proofreader­

Office Administrator - Ginger Fitzsimmons.

Office Assistant - Lauren Farenga

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Designer - Kim Stuffelbeam

Maureen Carey, Patrick Farenga (Corporate President), Mary Maher, Susannah Sheffer Advisor to the Board - Ron Rubbico Cover Photo is of Sayer and Dana DWinell-Yardley and is by Stephanie Emery (see

Focus, p.lO). Photo on p. 12 is by Stephanie Emery, photo on p. 14 by Angie

Hodgson, and photo on p. 16 by Brian Nadworny.

Advertisements do no/necessarily ref/ecl cmn endorsement and we cannot voucb fo1' any claims made by advertisers.

Growing Without Schooling (iSSN #0745-5305) #139, 1'0123, No 6. Published by Holt Associates, 2380

Mass. Ave., Suite 104, Cambridge MA 02140. $29.97/)'ear. Frequency: bimonthly. Date of issue: Mar/Apr

2001. Periodicals postage paid at Boston MA and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: send 104, Cambridge MA 02140. Phone 617-864-3100. lbll

address changes to GWS, 2380 Mass. Ave., Suite

free 888-925-9298. Fax 617-864-9235. WWIV.holtgws.com. E-mail: HoltGWS@erols.com SUBSCRIPTIONS: Send to GWS, 2380 Mass. Ave., Suite 104, C;unbridge MA 02140 ADVERTISERS: Space reservation deadlines are the lSI of odd-numbered months.

Write for rales: Barb Lundgren, Advertising Manager, 3013 Hickory Hill, ColleY"ille TX 76034; 817-540-6423: blundgren@home.com

For my younger brother, whose favorite thing in the world is alpine skiing, the long summer vacation between school years couldn't have been more poorly timed. Throughout the winter he'd be stuck in school all day, with only a precious few hours of daylight at the mountain in the afternoons and on week­ ends. I can't be sure, but I have a hunch that he would have liked school more if it hadn't kept him from skiing all those winters, though I'm also sure he'd have been willing to forego it entirely in order to read, think, and study on his own, as he does now in his twenties.

Last week he headed west to spend the winter working and skiing in Colorado. He told me that he'll probably be back in the spring, because he likes it here and can usually find out­ door work during the warmer months. He's thinking he might start splitting his years that way - working in Maine in the summer and then spending the winter skiing out west.

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It seems like a pretty simple idea, to build your schedule around the work you do and the things you care about, but many young people don't have the chance to do that, to find the rhythms that are determined not by an arbitrary calendar but by the real needs and values in their lives. School doesn't allow kids to plan on sleeping late the morning after a play performance and get their other work done later. It's not pos­ sible to spend a gorgeous day cleaning up a city park and sav­ ing reading for when it's raining. School imposes one particu­ lar structure, and many people end up belieVing that without it, we'd have no structure to our time at all - we'd only be living moment to moment, and would never learn that sometimes you do have to go to work no matter how tired you are or how beautiful it is outside.

But outside of school there is no scarcity of demands and no scarcity of factors that give structure to people's lives. Parents and children writing for this issue's Focus, about how homeschoolers use their time, tell us that when they are mak­ ing choices about how to spend their time, they do respond to demands and requirements. The difference is that those de­ mands and requirements come from the reality of their lives. A teenager might sometimes have to get up earlier than she likes because it's spring and the sap is running, or because she agreed to babysit for a neighbor, but in both cases she's re­ sponding to something real, not arbitrary.

Many of the families who write for this issue's Focus write about how their lives are grounded in the rhythms and whims of nature, affected profoundly by the weather or the time of year. But we also hear that families and individuals organize and prioritize around other factors including holidays and par­ ticular needs and interests of family members. They're not at the mercy of just one available option; they can choose which demands will guide them. It's another valuable freedom that homeschooling offers, day in and day out, from season to sea­ son and year to year. - Meredith Collins G ROWING WliHOU T SCHOOLIN G # 1 3 9

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MAR/APR 2001

News & Reports The general attitude toward home­

Homeschooling in Italy

schooling here is that it means a burden­

Elisabeth Lee Vazza writes:

some business for the parents, who more­ over should be somehow qualified as teachers. Homeschooling seems to be understood as a sacrifice of freedom. . Some open-minded people seem to be curious about homeschooling, and that can be a relief after finding skepticism or clear opposition to our choice.

Homeschooling is completely uncom­ mon in Italy - only some well-informed people, usually working in schools, have

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heard about it as an "American fashion."

Apart from the families listed in the GWS DirectOlY, I guess we are probably the only family of more or less native Ital­ ians. (I am Spanish by passport and our

One thing that has helped us is status.

children have both Spanish and Italian nationality.) There is an old and very useful law about home education for families who could afford governesses and tutors, which was not uncommon until about 40 years ago. The law re­ quires a couple of tests by a public school before a child is 16.

I can remind people that my husband's relatives from a family of the old gentry didn't go to school because there was a tutor at home. I am also indebted to a mother I met in Spain (through the GWS Directory ) who suggested several years ago that I tell people that one reason to homeschool is to preserve my children's Spanish. How would they read a Spanish

I learned about this law from the leader of a movement against compul­ sory vaccination. His punishment for refusing to have his child vaccinated was that he was forbidden to send him to school. (The punishment was meant to protect the other children.) The child got lessons at home from unemployed teach­ ers. After a year or so he went back to school, and when tested he was found to be more proficient than average.

newspaper or vote in Spanish elections one day if they went to full-time Italian­ speaking school? It sounds very convinc­ ing as motivation for my "big sacrifice" of sharing my children's lives.

An American homeschooling father once told me how static Europe felt in comparison to America where families can easily move thousands of kilometers to and fro without leaving their country.

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Well, I am a really odd foreigner here, being German- born Eurasian and still officially a resident in Spain. The natives expect to make allowances for my natu­ ral and foreseeable eccentricities. Home­ schooling is just one more thing in a row with homebirth, non-vaccination, and alternative food and medicine. One good side of Italian idiosyncrasy is a deeply rooted indiVidualism, a love for original­ ity. Homeschooling is sort of food for thought, a novelty to drop in conversa­ tion among acquaintances. We heard many comments and questions by the time our first son was 6, when all his peers started school, but two years later, with our second son, we only heard a couple of questions - the thing had lost its newness.

In Italy children are a source of pride for their parents, and it can give offense if you don't notice a family'S children. We are very proud of our children, and their joy and health are evident. They get a lot of notice, partly because their conversa­ tion is what I guess is typical of homeschooled children. Having been what I would call wildly unschooled (they do take some lessons - as long as the subject is interesting and the teacher open-minded and loving, they do love lessons), they have pursued conversable interests like history, anthropology, and literature. People generally admire the interest our children show for learning and I can easily state that if I sent them to school they would be prevented from learning all that "grown-up" stuff.

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G ROWI N G WITHOUT SCHOOLI N G # 1 3 9

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www.meetingschool.org

issue look very different. We worked with our designer, Kim Stuffelbeam, to put to­ gether a design that allows us to print just as many words (often more) witl11ess crowd­

News & ReRorts

ing on the pages. We hope you like this new look.

If you haven't yet sent us your ently for the 2002 Directory, please do so. Again, we need to receive a new entry from you if you would like to be included - we are starting the database from scratch.

I apologize for any confusion created by the ty pographical errors in GWS #138 in and around the Directory. The Directory in # 138 is of course tile 2001 Directory: We are now receiving entries for the 2002 Directory, coming up in GWS # 144.

We're sorry to report that there will not be a conference at Eisner Camp again tius year, due to insufficient staffing.

This issue includes our annual lists of resource people. Uke our Directory of Fami­ lies, tilese lists continue to grow and there­ fore take up more space in the magazine each year. We'd like to hear from readers about how (or if) you use these lists. In

particular, we're wondering about U1e lists of certified teachers, lawyers, professors, and psychologists. If these lists are not of use to readers, we nught consider just keeping them on file in our office raU1er U1an print­ ing them each year.

You've probably noticed U1at each issue now comes with two bound-in subSCription renewal cards, which we hope will make it easier to subscribe or renew. The burning question on many minds is, "What ti1e heck am I supposed to do with U1e second card?"

Well, if you tl1ink of it as just a necessary annoyance, bound (so to speak) to flutter to the floor just when you least expect it, we figure the best thing to do is eifuer use it for kindling or invite some fellow subscribers to join you in building a house of cards. If you were hoping for sometl1ing wifu maybe a little more lasting influence, we have a couple of less scintillating but perhaps more helpful suggestions. As we've mentioned before, we count on current subscribers to

bring in new subsclibers. You, our readers, are in contact with new homeschoolers in ways fuat we are not, meeting them at sup­ port group meetings and outings, etc. So pass along your subSCription card to new homeschoolers, or to any homeschoolers who might be interested in subscribing but just haven't found ti1e time to call us.

Calendar April 27-28, 2001: "TraiIung Our Children While Guarding Their Hearts," ti1e 12th annual Heart of Illinois Convention of Home Educators in Peoria, IL. For infonnation, call 309-565-7186.

May4-5,2001: Wisconsin Parents Association 18th Annual Home Education Conference at ti1e University Center in Stevens Point, WI. For free 8-page announcement, call WPA's voice mail 608­ 283- 3131 or write WPA, PO Box 2502, Madison, WI 53701-2502 or see www.homeschooling-wpa.org .•

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GROWI NG WITHOUT SCHOOLIN G # 1 3 9 · MAR/APR 2001

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Challenges & Concerns

We received several responses to the writer of "A Critical Grandparent" (GWS #138), so we're devoting this issue's Challenges & Concerns to this topic.

What you describe is a classic situation of conflict. I can't recommend highly enough the book Fighting Fairfor

Recognizing "Fouls"

Sarah Howe (NC) writes: It sounds to me like you suffer from a

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Families by Fran Schmidt and Alice

bad case of classic mother-in-law syn­ drome that just happens to focus on your and your husband's choice to home­ school. And under the surface is perhaps some of your own uncertainty concerning your decision to homeschool. It sounds as if you have found that homeschooling does indeed work for you and your family.

Congratulations and enjoy!

Friedman. The book recommends recog­ nizing "fouls," like blaming, name-call­ ing, not listening, and bossing so that you can deflect them instead of trying to match them. For me, recognizing fouls as unacceptable allowed me to find alter­ native responses and guide an argument toward resolution. This book saved our family. I have read it with my kids many

Now, what to do about the mother-in­ law problem? A number of traditional platitudes such as "you can't change oth­ ers, you can only change yourself", "it takes two to tango", and "you can't teach an old dog new tricks" come to mind. So how do they apply to you and your situa­ tion?

times. They incorporate the skills into their lives and are now skilled negotiators of peaceful social relations. One day they were at each other in a particularly frivo­ lous fight and I said, "Hang on a minute," as I headed off to get the book.

One kid said to the other, "Quick, let's figure this out before she gets The Book."

It would be nice to have the under­ standing and support from your extended family, but their approval is not essential.

You have attempted to bring your mother­ in-law around to your way of thinking.

She has proven herself resistant to accept­ ing homeschooling. So now is the time to quit dancing with her.

I am reminded of a psychology professor's tale of a door-to-door sales­ woman. She came to his house and pre­ sented him with the opportunity to buy a beautiful photo album with all the bells and whistles, etc. He agreed with her as she made each pOint concerning its desir­ ability and economical cost. She thought

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she had him. "Do you want it?" she asked. "No," he replied. "Why not?" All he said was, "I don't want it." She was left with no hook to continue reeling him ' in on, no reason to counter with further descriptions of the product. A simple no ended the discussion.

Maybe you can cease to give your mother-in-law anything of substance to grab hold of. Pour (imaginary) grease over your head so that all her inappropri­ ate comments will slide off you. Revel in the family you and your husband are growing and the decisions you make to­ gether with him.

Fighting Fairfor Families is available from the Peace Education Foundation, 1900 Biscayne Boulevard, Miami, FL 33132; 305-576-5075 or 800-749-8838.

Grandfather Misses Out on Kids'Lives

Nancy Zane of Maine writes: My children also have an incredibly critical grandparent (my husband's fa­ ther). Several years ago while we were visiting him he lit into me about how bad homeschooling was, that I was unquali­ fied, that I needed to let go of the apron strings, that I was sheltering my children and ruining them. I tried to have an in­ telligent conversation with him about the subject, but finally realized that I couldn't so I said to him, "Look, it's obvi­ ous that we feel very differently about this subject so I think it's best if we just don't discuss it." His answer was, "But you're wrong and I'm right, you are ruining your children." I kept repeating that I really did not want to discuss it any fur­ ther. Now he deals with it in an under-

Challenges &'" Concerns -

handed way. He ends every little letter and phone call to my kids with some­ thing like, "Well, when you go back to schoo1..." or, "Please tell your mom to let you go to school, think of all the friends you'll meet and fun you'll have... "

would say, "I hear the homeschooling isn't working ouL" One of my husband's aunts even wrote, "Too bad the homeschooling is so difficult for you.

Hope it works out! " in her Christmas card. (Now I can laugh about it, but it

The part that makes me sad is that my kids' grandfather is missing out on so much of their life. They are extremely interesting kids and have a lot going on: karate, soccer, basketball, chess club.

One plays drums and the other trumpet, and we have been discussing volunteer opportunities either at a homeless shelter or a retirement community or the vet.

stung at the time!)

The kids used to write to their grandfa­ ther on a regular basis, but when he started complaining about their hand­ writing, they stopped writing.

For me it's difficult because I have al­ ways had a very accepting family. I am not used to people being so blatantly rude to me. It is so hard and I have no an­ swers, but I need to figure out a way to deal with it because it creates huge anxi­ ety whenever my father-in-law talks with my kids on the phone or whenever we see him. I feel sad for his ignorance and his closedmindedness. He is missing a beau­ tiful part of his grandchildren and his son. I wish luck to other families with critical grandparents. Its really hard for some parents to let their kids grow up and trust and have faith in their decisions. For all of us this is a learning experience about different generations, prejudice, and trust.

Focus on What's Right for Your Family

A reader writes: I've had some similar experiences with a critical mother-in-law during the 10 years that we've been homeschooling. It can be a great challenge to be doing something so different that your parents or in-laws feel obliged to question you every step of the way! I remember, in the first few years especially, wishing that I didn't ever have to communicate with my mother-in-law because inevitably that homeschooling criticism would slip into the conversation somehow. I even got it from her friends and her Sisters, who

I can say now that the conflict over our kids' education was (and still is, and al­ ways will be) a growing process for all of us. At this point, our older children are a sophomore and a junior at an arts high school, and our youngest is nine years old. We've gone from "How can you even think you're qualified to teach them?" (I do have a degree in education, but for me

having final exams, etc. But now they're hearing from the teachers at the high school, "We wish we had a hundred of them as our students - they love to learn and they work so hard!" and seeing for themselves that our kids are good people as well as seeing how much they've learned along the way academically.

The hard part for me has always been that the criticism has been directed at me, not at my husband or both of us as a couple. In order to deal with that, I had to ask my husband to address the prob­ lem directly with his parents and tell them that it was not okay for them to make those negative comments to me, and to let them know that our decisions are always made jointly.

He also had to work really hard at not making complaints to them, because those would instantly be seized and turned against us. This was very difficult for him, but he knew it was necessary and it made a huge difference in their rela­ tionship (and ours!). My husband is the oldest of his siblings, the first married and the first to have kids. I wish I had known during those early years that the daughters-in-law in his family were des­ tined to be criticized by my mother-in-law

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We've always unschooled also, and it was just about impossible for my husband's parents to envision how the kids could be successful while following their interests, not receiving grades, not

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How do I teach my children to make responsible choices?

for making tbeir husbands' lives turn out in any way different from her own! All of my sisters-in-law have dealt with the same scenario, For us, education just bappened to be the area that was most different from the parochial schools cho­ sen for my husband in his childhood, (But we also hear about our choice of churches and even our choice to live in

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I don't know if that's true for you, but it helped (in a sad way) to realize that no matter what our choices had been, we would have been criticized in some area, It also helps a little bit to know that my mother-in-law has no idea that she's hurting anyone when she says these things, and can't even see it when some­ one pOints it out; it's her way of dealing with the world, I guess, and it's not healthy but it's not going to be changed by anyone, She actually thinks that she's doing us a favor by pointing out what she thinks we're doing wrong, I accept that, at the same time that I accept my own responsibility not to let it get me down!

So here are my tips for coping with the situation. First, practice assertive re­ sponses so you're ready with them when you're criticized. My mother-in-law al­ ways surprises me with negative com­ ments when I least expect them, and it helps to have a response memorized so you're not left with your jaw hanging open thinking "How could she?"

Yo.u said your mother-in-law says these things only to you, or indirectly while your husband is there. That's how mine operates too, and there are times that I

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G ROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING #l39 ' MAR/APR 2001

stick closely to my busband out of defense if I'm not feeling up to dealing witb negativity. We also found out that being with each other in a neutral place (brunch at a restaurant, meeting at a park, or even just going for a walk) rather tban at our homes Virtually elimi­ nates the criticism, Don't ask me wby, but it works for us, Make sure your hus­ band is standing up for you, Let him know how much you need him to do that, and to be proactive about it!

Be patient. It took almost ten years for my in-laws to realize that we were not ruining their grandchildren'S lives but had been giving them a great childhood and raiSing them to be fine, responsible, intelligent, fun people. The realization really didn't come until the kids were al­ most adults.

Be realistic. Realize that approval may never come; you may have to keep going without it. Keep trying to build the grandparenVgrandchild relationship however you can; it takes a lot more work in the face of disapproval, and it can be quite a dance as you go along, but it will be worth it.

Be an optimist, and try to see the good in your mother-in-law despite your con­ flicts. It'll get you through the tough times and it'll keep you from retaliating with the same types of criticism that you're receiving, And teach your kids to do the same. It's a great lesson in how to get along with difficult people, which all of us need to do at some pOint in our lives!

In our first years of homeschooling, the criticism we received caused some real anguish and I really can't say that I en­ joyed going through that, but in looking back I realize that it also forced us to crystallize our philosophies on life, learn­ ing, and parenting. It made us stay fo­ cused on what was right for our family, even if it was different from what we grew up with, and that was a stretch some­ times! Our marriage was strengthened too, when we were faced with my mother­ in-law's attempt to come between us, and we didn't let it happen, So have courage, keep a united front, and don't let it get you down! .

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GROWI NG WITHOUT SCHOOLING #139 · MAR/APR 2001

On My Mind

by Susannah Sheffer

Believing in Possibility If you've heard about A.S. Neill, the founder of the British free school Summerhill, you may have run across the story of how he used to give a sixpence to children at the school who were caught stealing. It seems so incredibly backwards:pay children who steal? Does this mean Neill actually thought that stealing was a good thing? What was he saying to those kids?

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In a collection of essays about Summerhill that came out in 1970, John Holt wrote about what he believed Neill was saying: The child knows, when Neill gives him the sixpence, that he is not say­ ing, "Sure, stealing is fine, go steal some more." The child knows already that Neill does not steal and does not want stealing around the school.

What then does he hear Neill saying with this gift of sixpence? He hears him saying, "I know you are not a thief." He is rightly amazed, thinks, "Not a thief! Of course I'm a thief, everyone tells me so, all the time. Be­ sides, I just proved it, by stealing." To these thoughts he hears Neill's silent reply, "No, not a thief. If I thought you were a thief, and would go on

stealing indefinitely, I'd be a bloody idiot to give you money every time you did it, wouldn't [?" No way to argue with that; Neill is clearly no idiot.

"No, at heart you're not a thief. You may be stealing now, trying to satisfy important needs that you don't know how to satisfy any other way. But there are other ways. I am ready to help you look for them, and I think you will find them."

I love the leap of faith that the adult has to make here, and I love the way the response is so completely different from what the child expects. Neill is saying, I see something in you that is more than what you can now see in yourself, or more than what others have told you they see. I will speak to that part of you, and I believe you can learn to respond from that part, too.

Neill is, in a very profound way, not giving up. He is not going to view this child as irrevocably a thief; he will treat him as though another possibility exists. What would the same atti­ tude look like if we substituted "slow learner" or "bad at math" or "unpopular" for "thief"?

As some readers know, I have been working on a book with a man named DWight, who spent 17 years in prison. There's a story in the book that reminds me of Neill because it is also about not writing someone off and about what happens when we believe in, and speak to, a different part of a person. At the time of this particular story, Dwight had just spent two years in the segregation unit of a maximum security prison. This is one of the harshest and most desolate environments human beings have created for one another; the men are locked in separate cells 23 hours a day and have almost no direct contact with others. It's a sort of prolonged sensory deprivation experi­ GROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING #l39

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ment, and it feels like a perpetual battle zone between the guards and the prisoners. In this environment, Dwight became known as the rebel, the fighter. Evelything about the way he was treated told him that he was viewed as dangerous, hardly even human. Everything suggested that he was going to act badly. Like many people in prison, he already had a long his­ tory of seeing himself as bad and of acting accordingly. Like the child at Summerhill whom John describes, Dwight by now expected treatment that would confirm his own worst ideas about himself. Well, there came a day when the prison officials decided to break the escalating tension by transferring the men in this unit to other prisons around the state. By luck, Dwight ended up in a prison where the warden had a different way of looking at things.

The morning after he arrived at this new place, the warden sent for him. Expecting the worst, Dwight was led in handcuffs to the warden's office. Right away the warden asked that the handcuffs be taken off - the first sign that something was un­ usual here. Then he looked directly at this inmate standing in front of him and said, ''I'm looking at your record here, and J understand that you can be a pretty tough character.·' I pause here in the story to observe a connection with teach­ ers who are given children's records that tell of their past perfor­ mance and behavior. For anyone in this situation, there is al­ ways a choice: how to respond to this past record? Take it as a given, use it to form judgments and assumptions about how the person will behave in the future, or not?

The warden didn't dwell on the past. "All I'm concerned about," he said, "is how you're going to act in here." He asked if Dwight planned to give the guards at this institution any problems, and Dwight answered no, he had no reason to. The warden then asked if the two of them could make a deal: could Dwight promise that if he did have any complaints, he would take them to the warden rather than making some kind of trouble? Dwight nodded, and the warden confinned, "Man to man, now, that's an agreement?"

He reached his hand across the desk to shake Dwight's, a ges­ ture so surprising to Dwight that it was a minute before he could even think to bring his own hand up in response. He had just come from a place where it was a struggle each day to feel like a man and not a monster or an animal, and now here was an official saying "man to man" and reaching out to shake his hand.

It's so common to think that when someone is bad - or slow, or not good at learning a particular thing - what we need to do

is tell them so. Make sure they really know it, so that maybe they will finally do something about it. But the other option we have is to tell them it isn't so. Or rather, that it doesn't have to be. Dwight never forgot how that warden dealt with him. It was one of the events that began to change his view of himself. That's the perspective from which it most inter­ ests me, but even from the warden's perspective, the approach was effective. He didn't have any problems with this inmate after that handshake. Even if (unlike Neill) he

wouldn't have even thought of giving her books as presents.

Yet I knew that a large part of her dislike of reading was a feel­ ing that she wasn't any good at it, wasn't a reading kind of per­ son. When I occasionally gave her a.book - about something I knew interested her - I was thinking of it as a way of saying, "I am not writing you off as a nonreader. I'm not assuming that the possibilities here are closed and that enjoying this book is never going to be an option for you."

were operating entirely out of self-interest, he still under­ stood something important about human beings: how we're treated matters.

There are so many ramifications here for our relationships with kids. Do we respond to the worst in them, or to the pos­ sibility of the best? Do we respond to the way they are right this moment, as though their characteristics are fixed and immutable, or do we imagine the possibility of growth and change?

important. And maybe it's possible to combine a clear vision of who someone is right now with an equally clear vision of how they might grow and change. After all, Neill's treatment of the kids who stole at Summerhill contained both elements. He acknowledged how the kids were behaVing and recognized what feelings might be driving that behavior, but at the same time he spoke as though they were fully capable of acting in another way. When I read John Holt's summary of the message that the Summerhill kids got from Neill, it seems to me that

Despite how much I am emphasizing the idea of belieVing in possibility, I do also feel strongly that it's important to see kids as they truly are, not merely as we might wish them to be. So many complications arise when kids aren't seen clearly, or when they don't feel as though they are seen and heard and known. But it can be a delicate mix. Years ago I knew a girl who didn't view herself as a reader at all. It could be argued that if I were really seeing her as she was, I

those kids must have felt seen and accepted in the present, while also understanding that they were not being condemned to stay exactly that way forever. That was essentially true of the warden's interaction with Dwight as well. The warden clearly had no illUSions, but he did have the belief that if you act as though something is true, the other person might be startled into believing it too. You reach out your hand to shake, and the other person just might bring his up to meet yours . •

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Again, for me, it's the idea of not writing people off that is so

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Focus

How We

Spend Our Time

M any people follow school calendars for most of their lives, first as students and then later as parents. Homeschoolers, on the other hand, have the freedom to set their own schedules and structure their own time over the course of a year. We asked several readers to write about the factors that determine how they use, plan, and value their time.

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"Christmas-Birthday Season"

From Sue Klassen (NY): Our family values spending time with extended family.

Grandparents are less than a half day's drive away in Canada, so we are able to spend major holidays together. At Christmas, we spend a full week in Canada. In our nuclear and extended families, most birthdays fall in December and ]anuary. Be­ tween preparations for birthday parties and the five family Christmas celebrations we typically attend, much of our time in December, and some of our time in]anuary, is spent mak­ ing gifts, decorating, planning celebrations, and visiting. We

years, he has saved seeds, sipped nectar from snapdragons, split wood, and gardened. Starting at age 8, he initiated tap­ ping the maple trees in our woods. Nathan and I work to­ gether to schedule his many seasonal passions around our other commitments and routines.

Maple Sugaring

From Nathan Klassen: Usually, we find time to do some, if not all, of our normal activities (a few hours of reading, math, and writing), but

have come to call this time "Christmas-Birthday Season."

sometimes seasonal work takes precedence.

Since many regular commitments continue through this season, it is our routines for reading and studying that we re­ duce to free time. We keep our regular schedule on some days in December, but set aside large blocks of time for seasonal traditions new and old.

I can't plan anything rigidly for the seasons, but I can make general preparations. Before sugaring season, for ex­ ample, I clean the equipment, measure and select some trees, and get everything ready. Last year, I also contacted the Stuarts, who run a sugar bush near us, and arranged to help out.

This year, among other activities, we made handmade-pa­ per Christmas cards, decorated gingerbread cookies to the hilt, baked traditional Russian Mennonite Weinochten Piroshki, crafted dried fruit candies as gifts, and prepared special Christmas music. We continued to learn and grow and stretch in December, but I didn't write as much down, in the records I keep for New York's mandatory quarterly reports, as I do in most months.

When the new year began, it felt good to dive back into graphing parabolas and reading together by the hour. Be­ cause the snow conditions are good, it's cross-country skiing season too, a high-priority activity in our household.

Seasonal work strongly affects how Nathan, age 13, sched­ ules his time. Nathan is highly attuned to nature, and, as he says, feels "antsy" if he doesn't get outside frequently throughout the day. He rakes leaves, shovels snow, and prunes bushes at home without being asked. From his early G ROWI NG WITHOUT SCHOOLI NG # 1 3 9

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As sugaring season draws near, I watch the daytime tem­ peratures to know when it's time to sugar (when the days are above freeZing, and the nights are below freeZing, the sap traverses the height of the tree). I also know it's time when the squirrels are nibbling the twigs - they think it's time for maple sugaring too.

Last year, our regular routine was shredded to little bits dur­ ing sugaring because I ran my own sugar bush and helped out at the Stuarts' while school groups visited. During one week of this time, my parents were in England, and Kathy, who lives with our family, cared for us. I chose to spend most of my time that week sugaring. After my parents returned, we visited the Maple Tree Inn to learn about their use of reverse osmosis equipment, which removes much of the water from the sap before boiling.

In late May, I do my best to fit in planting around our

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studying, but in June r leave routine behind for a week or two to help my grandparents in Canada with gardening and other outdoor projects. In summer, I do gardening at home and at the Children's Pizza Garden at Webster Arboretum, help out at Peacework Organic Farm, and pick, freeze, and can lots of local produce.

choir all fall, and it will be ending quite soon. I study math once a week with my mother, and take piano classes. r babYSit, teach science to a young girl I know, visit friends in New York City, and that's about it. After the tension of putting the play together, and needing to be at the high school almost

One time, I had planned to make bean pickles and cucum­ ber pickles. The day before, some friends asked if we could host four Ethiopian guests for the weekend. We ended up with six guests. A few of them ended up helping me with the bean pickles, snapping off bean ends. Sometimes, unexpected things happen. I am so thankful to be homeschooling, be­ cause I can schedule my time around my interests.

I find out about something I'm interested in doing - for in­ stance, a wilderness survival course - I can arrange what I do

When It Suits Her Needs

From April Matilsky (NJ): I remember when I was little, I would think about how lucky I was to be able to do whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. As I've grown older (I'm 14 now) , r think that I have begun to forget just how lucky I am. Writing this article has reminded me how much more I can do with my self-designed schedule. I decide what I want to do, check out my calendar, figure out when is best, and then I can do it. I call up people and arrange whatever it is I'm doing with them - science class, babysitting, etc. - and we work out something which works for both of us. I'm not forced into stopping and start­ ing with the ringing of a bell. To plan what I'll do, I just take into consideration how much time I'll need, and then if something else comes along, I have to make sure that it fits my time frame. I don't really think much about my day-to­ day schedule. People often ask me to tell them what a "typi­ cal day" is for me. There is none. I plan my activities, and from there I know when I ought to go to sleep, wake up, etc.

For instance, today at 9:15 I had a piano class, so I needed to wake up around 8 :00. That meant that last night I needed to be in bed around 11:00. On nights when I can stay up late, I often take advantage of that by talking online to friends and reading books.

Homeschooling also allows me to spend more time on some things than on others. This past fall, r adapted a play from a book I'd read, and contacted 11 other unschoolers to perform it with me. For three months, this was pretty much what I thought about. I did other things, but they were all scheduled around Thesdays, when our group met for rehears­ als. I was able to look into where to perform the play, to call people for reminders and updates, and to do publicity, all on my own time without worrying about school. Looking back, this is just another one of those things I have taken for granted.

At the moment, I'm not really planning anything nearly as spectacular as the play we did. I've been in the high school

every morning, I'll be glad for the break. Still, though, when

"I'm notforced into stop­ ping and starting with the ringing ofa bell. " and when I do it to suit my needs. When I have something that I'd like to do more than the thing I have planned, I can choose which one I'll do.

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Daily and Seasonal Cycles

From Jane Dwinell (VI'): While much of the rest of the industrialized world wakes up to an alarm clock and eats and sleeps at a prescribed time, our family has the pleasure of eating when we are hungry, sleeping when we are tired, and waking up when we're ready.

In the meantime, my partner Sky and r have busy profes­ sional lives, and our children, Dana and Sayer, engage in a wide variety of activities.

The only day of the week when we have to be anywhere at a certain time is Sunday morning. r am a Unitarian Universal­ ist minister and an1 responsible for our 10 am worship service.

Everyone else comes too, because, well, they like church. And every Sunday afternoon a pickup soccer or basketball game takes place at the local elementary school for homeschoolers and friends.. It's our most scheduled day of the week - ritual­ ized, I like to think.

Other mornings require a look at the calendar, an eye to the weather, and a question posed to everyone: "What are you go­ ing to do today?" Depending on obligations - perhaps I have a meeting or Sky has to meet with clients (he is a family me­ diator) - one or both parents delve into their "work in the world" as Dana and Sayer delve into theirs. They may read, play games, go on an adventure, use the computer, put to­ gether a puzzle, build with Legos, watch a movie, or some­ thing completely different. It's up to them.

If there's nothing pressing on the calendar in terms of out­ side obligations, and if the weather is cooperative, you'll find us playing or working. It may be time to plant the garden or split and stack firewood. Perhaps the sap is running, and we

G ROWI NG WITHOUT SCHOOLING #139

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Focus

need to boil. Maybe the sun is out, and in the life of an all­ solar household, that means it's time to vacuum or do laun­ dry. And then again, if no household tasks call us, you'll find us at the mountain or on the lake.

Our life moves with a daily cycle as well as a seasonal one.

In the depths of winter, we know we will have more time to read, play games, and do inside things when the days are short and the nights are long. We know we will want to go skiing often, so Sky and I are careful to make wintertime ap­ pointments for late afternoon or evening so as to be able to hit the slopes when the snow is morning-fresh.

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But in the winter, we also know that it's time to prepare for spring. In our household that means making maple syrup, so trees must be tapped and the sugarhouse and supplies pre­ pared for when the sap begins to flow. We make sure there is nothing pressing in our March and early April schedule - no out-of-town trips, no big projects - because when the sap is

side household chores , we want to be swimming, sailing or kayaking. I always think I'll catch up on my reading in sum­ mer when there is little church bUSiness, but it never happens.

There's too much to do in the great outdoors. Soon the days shorten and cooler weather sets in. Early fall is also not a good time to plan big projects or go away. There's food to be preserved, and firewood to be stacked. The "church year" be­ gins anew in September, and, for some reason, more people want to renegotiate their child custody arrangements with Sky as the school year begins. It's a never-ending cycle, one that sometimes feels like a roller coaster, and sometimes more like a merry-go-round.

Do we like this life? You bet. Are we challenged by it? Fre­ quently.

Every so often, one of us will suggest that we institute a schedule. This request can come from any one of us. The adults realize we're falling behind in our work, or things are getting chaotic, and we decide to hold "office hours," that is, we try to do our phone calls, paperwork, and meeting at a cer­ tain time of day, every day. It helps us to be more organized, and it allows Dana and Sayer to know when we're available to do something with them. Other times, Dana and Sayer will request a schedule that includes regular mealtimes and a couple of hours of schoolwork.

These attempts at structuring our lives usually disappear with the first sunny day after a snowfall, or a warm summer day with the right kind of breeze. That is how our lives are truly structured - by the weather. The weather influences play time as well as time for household tasks that come up in the cycle of the year.

Dana and Sayer Dwinell-Yardley reading together running, making maple syrup is all there is. One year we went away for a weekend in early April - my brother's wed­ ding - and the thousand gallon sap tank was rapidly over­ flowing on our return. We have not made that mistake again.

Spring is also garden time - once the soil dries up. We or­ der seeds and start plants in the waning days of winter, and so we wait, patiently, for the soil to be ready. In the meantime, we use the early, fresh spring days for canoeing on rivers only passable in the spring, or for long walks in the woods prior to black fly season.

Summer brings those heady, long days and short nights.

Very little inside activity takes place. If we're not doing out-

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Our lives continue to evolve as our interests and priorities change. When the kids were little, our life centered on the homestead work of food raising and preserving, animal care, sugaring, and housebuilding. As Dana and Sayer got older, and needed less moment-to-moment attention, Sky and I found ourselves looking at our professional lives and trying to find the balance between parenting, homestead work, and off­ farm work. Now that our children are turning into young adults, and Sky and I have established our careers, we are chOOSing to spend more time at play together. We are selling our homestead and moving to the lake where we keep our sailboat. Life will change again as we remodel a house, plant new gardens, and learn to live in a new place .

I am grateful that our life is structured this way. I believe it gives us the flexibility to make changes as they come along. I know it gives us the flexibility to spend time together.

For the adults, the challenges lie in being responsible for earning money without the benefit of a 9-5 job with a regular paycheck and benefits. One thing that has been helpful to give Sky and me the information needed for making our ca­ reer and family decisions has been follOWing the nine-step program as outlined in the book Your Money or Your Life.

By keeping track of our irregular income and more regular household expenses, we are able to work with the ebbs and flows of the year. Like many people in this part of Vermont, Sky and I have many "jobs" - several ways that we earn money as well as do good work in the world. We also have the patience and trust in our relationship that allows us to deal with changes, sudden extra busy times, and unexpected busi­ ness or family emergencies.

For the children, the challenges lie in learning to listen to their inner wants and needs, and to make them happen with­ out the structure of a classroom or parent-imposed curricula.

I see them go through periods of apparent inactivity only to spring forth with some new idea or plan. Sometimes they come to us asking for suggestions, but, uriless they ask, they usually balk at any ideas we might have. I find it's better to let them have their own ebbs and flows. They have learned from observing us and participating in family decisions. They understand the flow of the year as they make their own plans.

They also have their own deep relationship and communica­ tion style that helps them process together what their next projects - together and alone - will be. Eventually, they al­ ways work it out, and come up with plenty of satisfying, cre­ ative things to do with their time.

Not every one thrives in such an atmosphere. Many people do better with an externally driven structure. It is not always easy to keep up motivation - whether it's for learning French or the times tables, exercising regularly, or building up a cli­ ent base. It's not always easy for us, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Working Around Long-Term Goals

From Daniel Ducker! of Wis'consin: The single biggest structuring element in my life is sleep (which I do occasionally). After that, there are some outside forces that impose structure, the biggest being Dad's work schedule and the few classes I take. Lessons in music or the martial arts, for example, impose structure because they are at set times every week and because I need to practice them.

There are also some things I do in order to make my way in society and so that I will be able to do what I want to do. The studying I do is one of the steps I take toward my goals. I want to work as a robotics engineer and send robots to the moon, so I need a background in engineering. Each day, I try to do what I think needs to get done toward that goal. Some­ times I have to work backward from my goal. For engineer­ ing, I will need to know trigonometry, and for that, I need to learn geometry.

I started doing web programming when I was 1 1 and now I have a job doing it. I happen to like doing web stuff so learn­ ing web design languages is no problem. It might have been hard to learn if I didn't enjoy it so much.

Family Focuses on Chess Tournament

From Sherry Boas (FL): Recently our sons Toby and Timmy attended their first chess tournament, held this year near us in Orlando. Because our family considered this an imporant event this year, we adjusted our schedules to accommodate the time it would

"Our children understand the flow ofthe year as they make their own plans. " take to prepare for and participate in the tournament. Either Timmy or I would drive him and Toby to extra practice ses­ sions. We borrowed study gUides from the library, and we freed up three entire days in our week to be away from home

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for the event. My husband and our daughters even prepared an elegant dinner for us one evening and transported it to the hotel lobby where we and hundreds of other families were gathered. We ate this delicious homemade meal in style that night while others around us munched on junk food.

Because of their flexible schedules, our children were able to redistribute their other activities and pursuits in order to allocate the time they felt necessary to participate in the tour­ nament. Timmy stayed busy with mUltiple other interests and didn't rearrange his schedule very much, but for Toby, it was a more serious event and it had his more pronounced attention.

He spent a lot of time getting ready for the competition that he would normally have spent playing learning games on the computer.

Tune For Earning Money

From Timmy Boas (FL): I am involved in a lot of money-making enterprises. My parents pay me to work around our farmstead and in our bamboo groves, and I also have an ongoing job working at a tropical fruit nursery. On weekends, I sometimes set up a stand at a local market and sell plants and produce. In all these cases I can choose when I want to work. If I need money, I can work to make the money I need. But I don't have a certain day or days each week that I have to go to work. I guess I work as much as I want to in order to earn the money I need for my current goals. I wouldn't really want to have a job every day because it would restrict me from doing all the stuff that I really love to do like chill around the house, play the guitar, and be free to do whatever comes up next.

In the past I have always come up with jobs that I don't G ROWI NG WITHOUT SCHOOLING # 1 3 9

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own research project now would be good experience for my future research, and would help answer some of the eagle bi­ ology questions that had occurred to me while I was working for the eagle project.

After talking with Angie Hodgson, the leader of the eagle project I worked for, I decided to study eagle pre- and post­ fledging behavior (fledging is the time of first flight). Al­ though Angie helped me articulate my goals for the study, lent me equipment and gave me invaluable advice, the organiza­ tion and structure of the study was largely my responsibility.

The time of the eagle fledging study, from early August to mid-October, was very busy for me. I trained five days a week with the local high school cross-country team, volunteered three days a week for a brown bear field study, studied for SAT II subject tests in Writing and Literature, and fit in observa­ tions for the fledging study whenever possible. I had to stop volunteering for the bear study after three weeks, although I enjoyed the work very much, and focus on studying for the SAT IIs. The cross-country season ended on September 30, I took both SAT II tests on October 14, and I finished the field­ work for my eagle fledging study on October 15.

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This time period was the transition from a summer that had been fairly unstructured, aside from my 20 hours of field

Caitlin Stern on the Chilkat River in Alaska, working on an eagle study

have to commit to for the long term. In most jobs you have to work permanently. You can't travel and go away for a month and then come back and work again. But I gravitate toward work that enables me to do just that. I have a seasonal job every year working for a blueberry farm. I have worked for a number of places where I've been able to tell them that I would be going away for several weeks, and they accept that and still offer me work when I come back. By having a flex­ ible schedule I am able to work for people on short notice, like for our friends, Cindy and Carter, with their Lazer Vaudeville show, repairing and making new props. It is nice to be free to do work like that when it comes up.

work per week for Angie's eagle project, to a fall and early winter during which I had to work incredibly hard. I wrote my first real scientific paper using the eagle fledging data I had gathered, which required large amounts of data entry and statistical analysis, as well as perusal of related literature.

I submitted the paper for a science scholarship, then worked exclUSively on applying to five colleges until I mailed the ap­ plications in early December.

I am still very busy applying for scholarships, working on a chemistry course through correspondence, doing math, par­ ticipating in a reading group, and enjoying winter sports such as ice skating and snowboarding. I am also trying to find field biology work for next summer, before I begin college in the fall, and hope to continue with my pattern of field biology work in the summer and data analysis and other academic pursuits in the winter. In this way, although I change my learning methods with the seasons, I continue year-round to learn and work towards my goal of being a biologist.

Seasonal Biology Field Work Free to Focus on Theater

From Caitlin Stern (AK): I want to be a wildlife conservation biologist, conducting research projects around the world. Preparing myself for a career in wildlife biology is my major focus, and consequently has influenced the way I structure my learning throughout the year.

Last August, as my work as a field assistant for a bald eagle ecology project in Alaska was ending, I decided that I wanted to continue to work in the field. I knew that conducting my

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From Aidin Carey (MA): For the first half of my life (I am now 15), I was most inter­ ested in playing with my friends, toys, and brother. For the recent half of it, the thing I have been most interested in has been the theater. All aspects of it - acting, singing, and danc­ ing as well as the backstage elements of set constructing, lighting, and stage managing. I also attend many produc­ tions, often those with my theater friends appearing in them.

Focus

Because theater takes up so much time, and I do not go to school, I have been able to make my schedule around it ­ auditioning, rehearsing, performing, teaching, and attending the theater. Being able to sleep late when I have a late re­ hearsal or performance has been wonderful! Theater also leaves me free during the day, when I have been able to do many homeschooling classes and activities.

Most of the theater groups I have worked with rehearse on weekends and at night, so theater has been a good deal of my social life. Starting with the Puddlejump Players, a local homeschooling theater group, I began acting in real shows when I was 8. There I made many friends, who have mostly gone on to do other things but have remained close to me.

They always come and see me in everything I'm in. Most of the theater I 've done has been with adults, who have always been very welcoming to me, allOWing me to make friends with people of all ages, which has been great.

I tend to remember the past years not as my seventh or eighth grade year, but as the time that I was in a certain show.

The focus of my life at a given time is usually the show I'm doing. For instance, this year I was dancing in the Christmas Revels, 18 performances, plus a week of technical rehearsals, which pretty much took up my life for a month. I had a really great time, and made a bunch of wonderful friends.

Part of the experience of Revels is that there is always an im­ mediate community among the members of the show and people stay friends for a long time. I'm always happy to find another community for myself.

As far as plans for the future go, I hope to continue acting all my life. Ideally it would be profeSSionally, but I think if that doesn't work out, acting for a hobby will be just as good.

Appreciating Daylight Hours

From Alex Miller of Washington: My family just moved to a house which has all the usual amenities except electricity. I will now have to structure what I do each day and in the winter and summer around how many hours of daylight there are. I already notice that I value time more, and think about when I want to get things done.

My goal is to get my academics completed to make way for pleasures like carpentry, gardening, and hiking. Many of the things I really enjoy, like working on our garden, mending fences, and digging ponds, I 'll have to save for the summer when there's lots of daylight. I plan to get a lot of studying done while I am indoors in the winter. I will still study in the summer, but not as much. Because summer is the best time to do things outdoors, this will definitely require a schedule, as I will be so excited to be working and playing outside.

I'm really glad to have the chance to structure my life around my environment.

Frequent Moves Make Flexibility Crucial

From Cindy Gaddis (NC): The structure and balance of my family's life changes con­ stantly. We are a "corporate gypsy" family - we recently relo­ cated to our fifth area in nine years. Anywhere from one to two months before and one to two months after a move, our attentions are focused on house-hunting trips, financial ar­ rangements, packing, unpacking, and finding new resources.

Those activities are our children's education during those months. We discuss transition needs and how to fulfill them, what we want to stay connected to, and what we are excited about and look forward to. lt is an education in relationships, confidence, security, and family. My oldest son, Eric ( 13) , had a strong relationship with his church's Boy Scout troop and

"In the special needs arena, the

15

positive attributes ofhomeschool­ ing arejust accentuated " wanted to attend camp with his troop in Pennsylvania, so we arranged for that. My daughter, Abbey, had been wanting to try out horseback riding lessons, so we looked for and found a house near a stable that offers lessons. Another of my sons, Adam (7) , had been without a swingset, which is beneficial to his autistic needs, for a year. I qUickly assembled a play struc­ ture within a month of moving and he qUickly established a new rhythm of consistent sensOlY fulfillment. (The sensory outlet that swinging provides seems to keep him more alert, focused, and calm.)

Three of our five children have been diagnosed somewhere on the autism spectrum. The need for retaining therapeutic services for each of them has been a significant presence in our lives. Sometimes I feel a need for intensive services such as an 8-month period last year when we had 4 therapists (whom I train and supervise) in our home for a total of 80 hours each week. When we have that much service being pro­ vided in our home, it obviously becomes quite a dictator of structure in our lives. I try to set it up so that we have some time (right now it's afternoons) when other family rhythms can dictate what we do. lt has taken me the longest to incorporate the learning styles, strengths, and weaknesses of the individual members of our family, but these factors have also been the most influen­ tial in creating balance. At one point I tried to impose a structure on my two older children's days for a few reasons: I was trying to keep our home in order, they were approaching high school age, and we had an intrusive homeschooling law.

I was suggesting that they get up in the morning and get their work done and have the rest of the day to themselves. (This work was what we decided on by discussing areas they'd like GROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLI NG # 1 3 9 MAR/APR 2001 •

Focus

16

Dor-iel, Kaniel, Rafi, andAvi Pryntz-Nadworny exploring in the woods to work on and materials that fit their learning styles.) We struggled with this arrangement until I stepped back and ob­ served and listened. They like to wake up and spend quiet time on their own activities in the morning, in the afternoons they attack more aggressive projects, and in the evenings, a lot of reading gets done. So we decided that the afternoons were the time for them to work on those tasks we'd agreed on together.

There are many reasons to homeschool all children, but homeschooling my special needs children is an extreme ad­ vantage because of the one-on-one attention, the individual­ ization of education methods and goals, and the ability to utilize each child's interests. In the special needs arena, these positive attributes of homeschooling are just accentuated.

Further, based on my constant interactions with professionals in the field of autism as well as in the education realm, I know without a doubt that homeschooling in this way has meant that my children could make the gains they currently enjoy.

On the other hand, the decisions I make with regard to the goals I have for my children can fluctuate based on the cur­ rent needs of our family. For instance, r may choose to set up intensive therapy hours for the children who work with the personnel I hire, train and supervise. Then, during a time of transition, such as when one of these proViders decides to move on for whatever reason, I may choose to slow down a bit for a while. Slowing down gives a bit of variety to my children's educations, and gives the rest of the family a chance to enjoy a more unstructured schedule. This could mean doing a lot of community activities, field trips and out­ door/social time while I do some more incidental teaching tasks or focus on skills l ike dreSSing themselves or pumping their legs on the swing. Then, maybe a few months later, it may seem right to do a combination, where intensive therapy G ROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING # 1 3 9

•

MAR/APR 2001

is in the morning hours and other activities in the afternoon.

There will also be a time when intensive therapy discontinues indefinitely, as I find the children learning more naturally.

The pOint is that the children and their needs can decide what type of intervention they will get at any point, as well as the needs of the entire family.

Flexibility is my mantra in my unique family. I find as I seek to understand the rhythms of my children, the rhythms of our special Circumstances, and the rhythms of our lives, that I can create a peaceful, harmonized balance for every­ one ... at least for today!

Constraints of Nature

From Diana Pryntz (NY).'

Our four sons, ages 5 to 13, have never attended school and have never studied in a school-like way, yet there has always been a rhythmic pattern to our days. I think our lives are ba­ sically structured by the constraints of nature. I don't only mean nature in terms of the outdoors but also in terms of our biology. Our lives pretty much centered on food when the children were younger. They had the typical need for nursing and eating frequent small meals. All other activities were squeezed in between. Now that my children are oldel; this is still true, only the time between meals is greater.

A few years ago I tried to implement a chore list and told our children that they had to do the chores before they were allowed to pursue their interests. It did not work out well.

The morning would drag on and on and lunchtime would arrive with the chores unfinished. It was unpleasant for all of us. Then we moved to a new location and r decided to change it to an all day affair. After a family meeting and everyone signed up for the various chores, I wrote up a full day sched­

Foc us

ule. The chores were spread out throughout the day. This has worked out wonderfully well. In all honesty, I don't know if it worked because the children are more mature or because I changed the schedule! These chores are based on the time of the day and are connected to our meal times in a way. Our children are responsible for feeding our dog, cats, and frogs.

T hey are also responsible for doing the dishes three times a day. All of these jobs are governed by nature. Our animals get fed twice - once before we eat breakfast and once at dinnertime. Dishes are washed after each meal. House clean­ ing is done after supper and before family bedtime reading.

One load of laundry used to be done daily but we had to change that. We get our heat from the sun and generate our own electricity from photovoltaic panels, so we try to do things that require lots of electricity only when the sun is shining.

Now we plan vacuuming and laundry to be done on sunny days. It is hard to do this in the winter, though!

We do have outside commitments that also structure the week. I have found though that having outside commitments tends to disrupt rather than structure our lives. Perhaps i t is because these activities are not constant over long periods and change frequently.

The seasons structure our lives as well. They lend to struc­ ture not only additional required chores but our activities as well. In the winter, we need firewood to keep warm on cloudy days. Our children have to bring in the logs daily. They also need to shovel the driveway. They, of course, take advantage of what winter has to offer by partaking in winter sports such as sledding and skiing. I tend to bake more. My husband concen­ trates on finishing the inside of our home.

In the fall, fallen leaves are gathered for garden composting. Firewood needs to be stacked in our wood shed. Summer and fall toys are put away to make room for winter sport equipment. We take many hikes and enjoy the fall colors on the trees.

In the spring, the children help with clear­ ing the lawn so that we can mow the grass.

T hey also help with garden preparation tasks. Our children often explore the woods on our property all day long during the spring, summer, and fall. They tend to spend more of their days outside being physical - biking, running, swimming, boating, berry picking, hiking, and tent camping . In the winter, we tend to nest more indoors.

We are experiencing something new this year. Up until now, we have not had any to structure any "learning" time. Our chil­ dren have learned many things (including

academic stufO simply by living life and interacting with people. Our oldest son decided (with our encouragement) to study Hebrew so that he could have a Bar Mitzvah celebration.

This presented a unique challenge for us because we could not determine a way for him to learn in a natural manner other than going to Israel and living among Hebrew speakers !

At first we thought his father could teach him using a work­ book and prayer books. However, days would go by before he would sit down and teach him. It just did not work out for us.

Our day-to-day happenings got in the way. I tried to set up a schedule but my husband hates schedules. He prefers to do things when the mood strikes him. After a few months, we decided we needed outside control and we hired a person to meet with our son twice a week. This forces us to adhere to a schedule. At first, our son just needed a daily reminder to re­ view the work he was learning with this teacher, but recently he has begun to do it each morning on his own. Up until now, our children's motivation was enough for them to struc­ ture their time. T his is a totally new experience for us.

17

For the past two years we have been building our geodesic dome home in the country. Doing that, as well as unschooling and working from home, has heightened my awareness of nature's time and structure . •

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Supporting Kids' Interest in Nature David Sobet author of Beyond Ecophobia: Reclaiming the Heart of Nature Education, has been work­

18

but also actually discourage them from being concerned and active about conservation. He advocates

ing with his own children, school­

giving kids a chance to spend

children, and schoolteachers to

time outdoors in wild places and

build strong a ppropriate connec­

in their own com munities where

tions between kids and the natu­

they can get to know their envi­

ral world. He suggests that the

ronments. We spoke with him

push in environmental curricula

about what's happening in

toward teaching kids about global

schools, how he helps kids con­

problems such as the destruction

nect with the natural world, and

of rain forests, ozone depletion,

how he responds to worries about

and endangered species might not

global problems.

only scare and overwhelm kids

of extirpated kids' natural inclination toward affirming what's good about their lives and got them focused on what was dangerous or bad. For me it was a tangible illustration of what I'd been seeing in classrooms all over the place.

There's this approach of doom and gloom in environmental curriculum in elementary schools that feels inappropri­ ate and counterproductive. It's not that I'm not an ardent enVironmentalist, it's that I think that when you have a focus of tragedy so early you accomplish just the opposite of what you want to accom­ plish.

MC: So what do you think is appropri­ ate for kids to be doing?

Meredith Collins: What suggested to you that curricula focused on global environmental problems might not be good for kids?

I'd been seeing a downward creep of rain forest curriculum into lower and lower grades, but I think what really crystalized the idea for me was a piece of research done by someone in a class I was teaching. He was doing a generic little study with second graders on what they like, what they're interested in, what they care about. He had a set of pictures of a wide array of things like toys, dogs, families, the earth, cities, landscapes. He would ask kids to choose from this wide sampling of things what was important in their lives. He did this with about sixty or seventy kids from four second grade classes. When he looked at the results he found that the group was kind of divided in half. There was one bunch of kids who said that what was ' important was family, or having fun, or playing sports, or being with their pets.

The other group said that what was David Sobel:

G ROWI NG WITHOUT SCHOOLI NG # 1 3 9

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MAR/APR 2001

important was saving the earth and avoiding pollution and taking care of animals. The second group was also made up of the kids he had described as kind of preoccupied and worried. He was struck by this difference, so he went back and talked to the teachers to see if there was an explanation. 1\\'0 of the teachers, just before he interviewed the kids, had done a big curriculum on Earth Day, talking about things like ozone depletion, endangered species, rain forest destruc­ tion, and all the problems of the earth The other two teachers hadn't done anything in relation to Earth Day, and they were actually kind of sheepish about it. When he looked again at his results, he found that the kids who had had the Earth Day curriculum were the ones who had seemed preoccupied and worried about the world's problems, while the other group had expressed kind of traditional kid values - family, having fun, being with their pets.

It seemed like there was a kind of curricular brainwashing going on and that the Earth Day curriculum had kind

DS: It's actually a kind of back-to­ basics argument. One of the roots of this environmental education movement was the nature study movement in the early part of the twentieth century. When environmental education started to reemerge in the late sixties and early seventies, the focus was really on natural history - being in the landscape and understanding trees and flowers and birds and animals, just getting back to the land. And that's exactly the kind of thing I think kids ought to be doing. As the environmental movement matured and got politically savvy, it did what many movements do, which is to say, "Well, if we're really going to change the world we've got to get to the kids while they're young." When that happened it became activist education. What I think makes sense for kids is long deep engagements with the local landscape and the local community. Kids benefit from spending time in a close, knowable world. When they interact with local resources and local problems, they get to know their environment. And then adults can model

What you've wanted . . . social action at that local scale rather than the rain forest scale.

MC: It seems that part of what you're

saying is that if we give them the chance to get to know their environments and interact with them, that kids can develop concern for and awareness about those environments without being frightened into it. But I'm also guessing that you're not suggesting that we just send kids out into the woods and hope for the best.

What do you suggest to parents and other adults who spend time with kids as they explore their environments?

DS: What you find in the backgrounds

of environmentalists is that environmen­ tal values come from having lots of outdoor nature experiences and model­ ing by a responsible adult. But that doesn't mean that we should impose this kind of environmental puritanicalism on kids, saying, "don't touch that," or "no, you can't peel the bark off trees," or, "no, you can't play in the stream because you're going to disrupt the microinver­ tebrates. " That kind of museumish approach to being outdoors with kids is another thing that can be counterproduc­ tive. I think there's a kind of biological predisposition to collect and learn about animals and a certain amount of that is really important and can lead to a real respect for the environment. Kids have a tendency to want to sort of set up temporary living quarters for animals; to take care of an injured bird, catch snakes and keep them for a while and then let them go, collect tadpoles and watch them develop. A lot of adults try to avoid that, because you're not supposed to interfere with the natural world, and the animals might die. But I think that if you do it in a responsible way, it's great. Sometimes things are going to die, and that's a good opportunity for learning how to do it right and take responsibility for your actions. I think that it's the interactive stuff that engenders responsibility and that's really good.

A lot of times with my own kids, when they'll say things like, "A football

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field-sized piece of the rain forest got burned down today," I'll say, "Yeah, that's really sad, but you know, there are a lot of people who are working really hard to make sure that doesn't happen." So the objective is to acknowledge the fact that they've heard something about it, and not to tell them not to worry about it but

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Kids Inspire Parents' Learning

In these stories, parents write about how watching their kids

learn encouraged them in their own new projects and endeavors.

Starting

a

Business

Vicky Meier-Jahn of Colorado writes:

20

My business partner, Deborah Gonzales, and I met at a homeschool meeting. We and our children slowly developed very close friendships. We share at least one very important philoso­ phy: we raise our children gently and very respectfully. We also both love being at home with the kids. We play a lot of games with our children, both store­ bought and homemade. Deborah and I thought that some of our home-spun games were clever and might sell to other homeschooling parents, because it is hard to generate everything on your own and from scratch.

We formed a partnership called Heart's Corner, to develop some of these game ideas. (My own formal training came in handy here - I have a law degree, but . never used it because I decided to stay home with the kids.) We named it Heart's Corner because our hearts are really home with our families. We tossed around several game ideas at Deborah's kitchen table, but settled on the one we liked the best: a family trivia game that permanently records the stories of the family. We feel that learning history should begin with one's own history.

That familial foundation helped our chil­ dren begin to understand the larger his­ torical picture and share our passion for history.

Deborah and I looked at what already existed on the market that was compa­ rable to our idea. Some games had simi­ lar aspects, but nothing did what our game does. Then we took the leap, and began to make a prototype. We came up

G ROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING # 1 3 9

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MAR/APR 2001

with a wonderful concept of a leafless tree, so players wouldn't move around the board as in most board games. The goal was simply to put all of one's leaves on the tree by correctly answering questions.

Deb drew two gameboards, we made lots of trivia questions, and we separately tested it on our families.

They all hated the board design, did not understand the goal, and thought there were way too many questions. The feedback was and still is hard to take. We are still learning to deal with that aspect of the.venture. With our bruised egos, we changed the game design.

Deb and I also had different visions of the game. She wanted a more touchy­ feely free-form game. She suggested we add a space to the game that asked fam­ ily members to share a story of their choice. I hated that idea. I stated this, thinking I was being assertive and simply giving constructive criticism, but I stepped all over her feelings with that discussion. We are learning how to talk to each other and handle our very strong and different opinions and then compro­ mise. This emotional stuff is still the hardest thing for me to deal with. We try to speak respectfully and listen, but we still have disagreements. (Deborah used to be a psychotherapist, so her training comes in handy too.) Our relationship has become very close and intense, and I think our kids are learning a lot about healthy disagreements by how we are learning to communicate through our tough discussions.

Ultimately, our tough discussions have made the game much better. After much evolution, the game is now a beautiful canvas board with wonderful questions.

We did decide to use the tell-a-story space idea, and people have really enjoyed it.

We have had a lot of help starting the business from our families and friends: Deborah's mother-in-law helped us polish the artwork, her brother helped us set-up the web site, her husband helped make and sell the games, while my husband helped us set up a production center in our dining room. Our kids have added art to the board. Another homeschool mother is tutoring us on how to maintain the web site. We have had to finance by juggling credit cards because we could not afford any other way, but right now we're fOCUSing on "Guerrilla Marketing," a low-budget business approach. Eventu­ ally the credit cards will need to be paid.

This fearlessness and risk taking is something my kids teach me every day. I know there are risk takers that attend school, but I think my kids are free to risk because they are not graded, tested, and criticized by peers or corrected by teach­ ers. I know that I was deeply affected by those negative things when I went to school. My children simply try, and they love to learn. Sometimes they seek out teachers or classes to. help, but always they are in charge of their learning.

Piano is a good example of this. At some point, I am sure they will forego the les­ sons and pursue it on their own. They probably won't be famous pianists with this formula, but that is not why they are studying piano. I think that is how it should be. They are responsible for what and how they learn. It is not for the test or the grade, it is for their own use. It means more to them this way and they are learning it in a sequence that makes sense to them. This is how I am doing it

--- --

----

-----

in the business too.

selves that our friendship ranks first.

Heart's Corner is my second venture inspired by the bravery of my children.

The first happened about two years ago, when we bought some mountain property and wanted to build our home. I read some contracting books, and then started.

In the past, I would've been intimidated by all the naysayers, and there were plenty. I was the General Contractor. The house is now built. We are living here very happily. There were mistakes, but those just happen anyway. I am not so nervous about them anymore.

I ' m very grateful that Vicky has come into my life and proud of what we have done together. We sell an extraordinary product and have learned, with our chil­ dren many, many things. I hope that my children will also have people in their lives who will help them to aim for the moon and shoot for the stars. I certainly hope to do my best to set them on their way.

Heart's Corner has been an amazing, frustrating and wondrous journey. Vicky and I have had several conversations about whether or not we would have jumped into this endeavor had we known that in seven short months we would be learning game deSign, manufacturing, web deSign, marketing, bookkeeping, tax law and how to tolerate having our pic­ ture in the paper. We both claim that we would have been a bit more cautious, but we're glad that we weren't cautious. It's been a great experience, not just for us but also for our children.

When it came to marketing (which is perhaps the most intimidating aspect of this endeavor) , my nine year old daugh­ ter was recently a great source of inspira­ tion to me. I overheard her telling Santa Claus about the game and giving him our web address. When I asked her why she was telling Santa Claus about us, she replied, "He does give out a lot of pre­ sents, you knOw." Vicky, the children, and I have learned a lot about compromise and problem solving. Vicky and I approach ideas and problems very differently with her back­ ground in law and mine in psycho­ therapy. This can be a bit tricky at times and has been the cause of a few tense moments, but I think that it's been a great gift to the children to see us get a bit frustrated (and sometimes have hurt feel­ ings) while still having the respect for each other to want to work things out.

We have shown the children and our­

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Adventures in Camping

Henry Thompson (\.W) writes: Deborah Gonzales adds:

Do your kids pass weekly tests,

My wife Julie's father jokes that when she was a kid, her idea of roughing it on vacation was staying at a hotel with a black and white television. My parents, both avid campers, could probably say the same thing about me. In our pre­ Marcy days (I can still recall that time, before our daughter was born, but just vaguely) my wife and I preferred to vaca­ tion at bed and breakfasts. Making the decision to homeschool has made an im­ pact on every area of our lives. Some changes have been the result of making better-thought-out choices that are in alignment with our values. Other changes have been the result of raising a family on one income. So, when it came time for a vacation, we thought, "Why not try tenting instead of a hotel?"

That was four summers ago. Now, we camp every chance we get. You could even call us camping nuts. Marcy espe­ cially loves sleeping between Mom and Dad in the tent. Right from the start we loved the way camping brought our fam­ ily together. (The Wisconsin Department of Tourism has been promoting winter camping, but my daughter and I have not talked my wife into that.)

I have found myself learning so much.

State parks are full of great learning op­ portunities, as well as being devoid of some of the distractions that bombard us in our home - telephone, household chores, etc. There are self-gUided nature walks and park publications as well as wonderful programs put on by park staff.

Even when we were not able to stay over-

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C h a l le n g i n g Assu m ptions in Ed ucation From Institutional ized Education to a Learn ing Society

by Wendy Priesnitz

How the structured, coercive model of education impedes learning, enslaves children, and contributes to ecological and social chaos. Long-awaited sequel to School Free - The Homeschooling Handbook.

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22

night we have driven out to attend some of the nature programs as a nice day trip.

These resources showed me how igno­ rant I was about local plants and ani­ mals. The programs have sparked an interest in identifications, guides, maps and further study for our whole family.

Specific topics we have covered in depth include butterflies, moths, bats, constella­ tions, telescopes and birds. Marcy has fallen in love with My Big Backyard, a nature magazine put out by the publish­ ers of Ranger Rick. Many times I still do not have the answers to her nature ques­ tions, but now we are both aware of re­ sources for learning more bout topiCS together. It is not j ust Marcy's questions either. My wife and I wonder out loud about things, too. If no one knows the answer (and we listen to Marcy's opin­ ions, too - she has a remarkable memory and a logical mind) we look it up then and there or at least as soon as possible. I think it is great for Marcy to see her par­ ents actively pursuing knowledge (like Dad experimenting night after night try­ ing to get that perfect campfire going) .

As well as improving my science knowl­ edge, camping has taught me a lot about my state's geography and history. I know that as a child I learned geography and history in school, but it was always cov­ ered in a more global way rather than local. I am not a Wisconsin native so being forced, so to speak, to learn these things is good for me. I always learn more through practical application (Honey, are you sure you know what road we are on?) . We have gone camping with

G ROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING # 1 3 9

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MAR/APR 2001

other friends and shared our knowledge with each other (along with great fun) .

The learning becomes infectious and Marcy, with all her questions, is a great catalyst. Other campers, perfect strang­ ers, will strike up a conversation if they know the answer to something Marcy is asking about.

Homeschooling for us is a complete lifestyle. It is at the heart of the life choices we make. Everything ties to­ gether. A frugal vacation option that we thought would be educational for Marcy has turned into so much more - Dad is even learning something!

Better Than Rocket Science

Susan Martin ofAlabama writes: I became acquainted with homeschooling shortly after my first child was born. I had already left my career in aerospace engineering for the more difficult, challenging, and reward­ ing career of mothering.

Though I had enjoyed working on the failure analysis and redesign of Space Shuttle propulsion hardware, I didn't feel that I knew how to apply most of the things I had learned, the facts and proce­ dures, to anything other than the tests I'd memorized them for. The work I was doing had practically no relation to the schooling that led to it, so I felt that I must have failed somehow.

In learning about homeschooling and education in general, I realized that I had not failed; the schools had failed me.

I won't say that all those years of school were a waste of time, but I now know that they could have been much better spent.

Somewhere along the line I did obtain the skills necessalY for learning on my own, and now after six years of homeschooling my children, I have be­ gun to read and listen, and haven't stopped yet.

Now, as I homeschool my three chil­ dren, I find my own education continu­ ing at full speed, not just in the obvious sense of learning about my children, child development, and educational methods and theories, but also in the

classical sense. As I answer my children's science questions and visit a lot of hands­ on science museums, the scientific prin­ ciples I supposedly learned in school sud­ denly become clear and have meaning, based in reality.

I am also reading classics I never read before and rediscovering some I barely remember, as well as books I wouldn't have thought to read. Recently I went to check At Her Majesty 's Request: An Afri­ can Princess in Victorian England for my children. The book looked too ad­ vanced to hold the attention of my 2-, 4-, and 5-year-old children, but then I real­ ized that there's no rule against adults reading books from the juvenile section, so I checked it out for myself. I enjoyed it and learned something about West Africa and Victorian England. When we were getting ready to visit Andrew Jackson's home in Nashville, I checked out a biog­ raphy from the children's section for my­ self. It was j ust the type of overview I wanted and had lots of great pictures of the house and the area we were going to visit.

Of course I also spend a lot of time in the adult sections of the library, and many fun-filled days on field trips with my kids. I feel like I am really learning now, and just getting started. Every day my children lead me to new ideas and I find that there are so many things I want to learn. Right now I ' m working on writ­ ing, genealogy, and Spanish.

Learning and homeschooling are obvi­ ously not just for children. My grandfa­ ther, after retiring from banking, took up antique clock repair as a hobby and even­ tually as a part-time business. At age 75 he became a published author, writing a book about a ship he served on in the merchant marines in World War I I . I wonder what new careers might await me after my children are grown. Meanwhile, they are teaching me, and I feel lucky to have such excellent teachers this time around .• Is GWS in your library?

Your ped iatrician's office?

Consider giving a gift subscription !

Unschooling Math This issue excerptfrom Amy and David Mantell manuscript isfrom the chapter "Putting Math Within Reach: " Simply left to their own devices, chil­ dren are stunningly inventive in the use they make of their surroundings. They also feel free to draw on many unrelated bits of knowledge as they play around with constructing mathematical models.

In the kitchen alone, anything from the microwave to eating utensils to the food itself becomes fodder for math play. Here are a couple of excerpts from our notes about our daughter Sarah's approach to arithmetic when she had just turned 6: When Sarah can't work out a math problem in her head, she uses her fingers or anything else that's handy. Most prob­ lems arise when she's adding money or figuring out how long she must wait for something. For example, the other day she wanted to know how long it would be until her father came home. On the kitchen clock we figured out that it would be four hours, but Sarah wanted to trans­ late that into her favorite unit of time, a "Mr. Rogers," which equals one half hour. She formed pairs of chickpeas on her lunch plate to represent each of the four hours, and qUickly came up with the correct answer.

After reading a book of riddles from various cultures, Sarah made up some of her own. One was, "How do you make 2 out of 3?" Our guess was, "Remove 1 . " Her answer was to place three lines beside each other like this: III to make two spaces in between. She said she based the riddle on the tines of the fork.

Like most kids, I suspect, Sarah was first exposed to fractions through the cut­ ting of food, followed by baking, talking about time, and counting money.

Approached in context, math is under­ stood to be one subject with many facets

instead of a collection of sequential skills, and it is inseparable from a family'S need to eat, to schedule its time, and to buy things.

If I could redesign our house, I would make it a priority to put in more shelves and cabinets: high ones to store and dis­ play completed or delicate projects and low ones to ensure that lots of materials - not just toys, but real tools - could be put within easy reach. I would put within reach things like board games and math manipulatives but also scales, compasses, measuring tapes, timers, safe thermom­ eters, calculators, and many other tools relating to math as well as other subjects.

In GWS #19, ]ohn Holt wrote: On the whole, I think the best way for children

to get to know numbers is to use numbers, the

same way we adults use them, that is, to measure and compare things, and think about what our measurements tell us. My experience is that if children have tape measures, they are going to want to measure the lengths of things; if they have scales, they will weigh things, and so on.

Of course, children may not use the gadgets as parents envision them being

used; it can be a challenge not to get too attached to any pet plans for our children's explorations. We can certainly offer suggestions and let kids see us using the tools ourselves, but the activity prob­ ably won't lead to understanding or fur­ ther experiments unless the child is genu­ inely interested. My own challenge has been to resist the almost involuntary urge to be too picky about how family imple­ ments are used. For example, I once left our little mail scale on the counter and later found our son Eli, then barely more than a toddler, playing around with it. I opened my mouth to tell him that he was pushing too hard and might ruin the spring, but I stopped. I went about my business and let Eli go about his. The next time I walked by, he was weighing every little object he could find: screws, batteries, bottle caps, spoons. He qUickly learned how to keep things from rolling off and how to compare the weights of trinkets bunched on the scale.

23

Real tools, and other useful objects and machines, possess an allure born of their importance in the adult world. Children are driven to master them, and it makes sense to indulge that drive whenever pos­ sible. +

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Watching Children

Learn

Finding Internal Structure

Cindy Ducker! of Wis'consin writes:

24

Too often, child-led or interest-led learning is accused of having no struc­ ture. I look at it quite differently. Instead of an externally imposed structure, unschoolers have an internally defined one. Just as a beetle or a rock crab has an exoskeleton that defines its size and shape, children in school have schedules and forces that determine what they do and when they do it. When a crab out­ grows this kind of shell, or a student graduates and becomes a worker, it must rid itself of he old structure, crawl away and remain defenseless until a new struc­ ture hardens around it.

As an unschooler, I have an endoskel­ eton, which grows within me. The more vigorously I exercise my options, actions, or muscles, the stronger my internal structure grows.

My goals define this structure, and I want my children to define themselves and their own structure. When they were younger, their structures were more con­ crete and immediate. If one of them wanted to go visit a friend, or play, or think, at 8 o'clock in the morning, they'd have to know how long it takes to get ready, fed, and awake. Those things de­ fine their waking hour, and then working backwards, how much sleep they need and how long it takes them to get to sleep - aha, there's bedtime.

college degree. My son Ben's interest in history leads to family trips from Gettysburg to the Getty Museum. (I am the referee who sometimes says, "Time out! We're getting involved in too many outside activities and they're interfering with our real goals.")

My goals for my children include that they become ethical beings who can find out what they need to know, what they want to know, and how to judge the va­ lidity of the information they discover.

The questions I want them to be able to answer are the questions they raise them­ selves. Can they determine that they know enough for their own needs? Can they trust their own assessments without having to call in an outside expert? Do they know how and where to find more information if they need it? And can they learn that ignorance is not the same as stupidity?

Learning About the Romans Ben Ducker! writes:

Reading Asterix, a comic book series, got me interested in the Romans and that led to interest in the Byzantine Empire. I had a 10th birthday party with Roman costumes, gan1es, and foods. We went to several museums, including the Getty Museum in Santa Monica, which is a recreation of a house covered by Mt. Vesuvius. It was like an empty shell. I could imagine the Romans living there.

I still wanted to know more. My family began studying the Romans together this summer. We watched fiction and nonfic­ tion videos and books, went to lectures, and made a Roman feast for friends.

For my son Daniel's ambition to be­ come a designer of robots, there are more complications (aka choices) . He has chosen to go the college engineering route - not the only way, but the one that best fits his internal structure. Now he also has the structure of what he wants to One of the books we read was The accomplish before he begins to work on a . Aeneid by Virgil. We had several transla­ G ROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING # 1 3 9

•

MAR/APR 2001

tions in prose as well as verse. We would read all the versions for some passages, and then alternate versions until we settled on one or two that seemed to carry the best sound and meaning for us. We used notes, including Cliff Notes, that different professors had written to explain things we didn't know about the culture.

We also listened to an audio course about The Aeneid.

When we watched the movie Gladiator, I mostly enjoyed looking at the details of the roof over the Coliseum. It was also fun to see the details about Roman life that were and weren't true to history. In that movie, like many others, they did know many details about the Romans, but also frequently got things wrong.

We also went to a lecture by an arche­ ologist at Lawrence University that was much more interesting than I thought it would be. We got to hear how archaeolo­ gists know things.

Writing Her First Story

Susannah Sheffer wrztes: Recently, I've had the fun of being . present for a young writer's first story.

I've been working with Brittany, a 10­ year-old homeschooler now going to school part time, and for a few weeks we did various kinds of writing exercises.

Brittany is still a fairly beginning writer.

The technical aspects (spelling and punc­ tuation) don't come that easily to her and, before this session, she didn't see herself as someone who could think up an idea for a story and go through the process of writing it. She had been enjoy­ ing the exercises and games we were do­ ing, though, and on this particular day I suggested we try creating a character and putting it into a story.

I started out by asking Brittany if she still played pretend games. She said she did, and she enthusiastically began tell­ ing me about the game she played with her friend Sally. We talked a little about how they made up the characters, and

how, as you're playing, you know what a character is like and don't have to think about what the character will say or do next - you simply get into the character and immerse yourself in the game, and the words and actions come out.

I started this way because I recognized that make believe is something children knOw. I believed Brittany would know what I meant about getting inside a char­ acter when I brought it up in that context - she's obViously closer to that kind of experience than I am. And since I knew we were going to be talking in another minute or two about writing stories, I wanted to situate that conversation in the context of something that Brittany al­ ready knew well. Another way of saying this is that I wanted to offer her a way to make a connection between something she already knew how to do and some­ thing she didn't yet think she knew how to do.

At my suggestion, she then started brainstorming and imagining a charac­ ter that she might put into a story. This is not, by any means, the only way to start a story, and plenty of writers have other ways. It seemed like one way - one pos­ sible point of ently - for Brittany, and, as I've said, it connected well with the con­ versation we had j ust been haVing. I

asked her some questions about her char­ acter - at first just basics like how old do you imagine her, where does she live, what kind of family does she have. Then I asked other questions that were more about personality or traits - is she a morning person or a night person, what does she act like when she's angly. I was simply thinking up the kinds of charac­ teristics that help flesh out a person, and indeed it turned out that having these notes was helpful to Brittany later on. I had asked, "What's your character good at?" and she had come up with the idea, "She's good at making people laugh."

Later, when she was writing the actual story, she opened it with the line, "Ella was a girl who was good at making people laugh." I remarked that that was a neat opening line because it really drew me in and helped me picture the girl, and Brittany said that it had helped to make

the list of traits because it gave her ideas and details that she could draw upon later.

By the time Brittany had finished mak­ ing these notes, she was already, without any suggestion from me, beginning to think up a story of what would happen to this girl. That part began to take off natu­ rally, as she got into the make-believe as­ pect of it. So she started writing the story.

At this point, the process became a classic example of the partnership between child­ directed activity and adult help that I so often write and talk about. Brittany didn't simply write a whole and complete story by herself, without stopping or getting stuck or asking for help. She would write for a little while, then reach a place where she couldn't think of what to say next or couldn't think how to say what she wanted to say. At each of these points, she would read me what she had so far, and we would talk about what had worked well, what she was trying to do next, and what her options were for doing it. Often, just talking about it helped her think of an idea. She seemed to get renewed en­ ergy j ust from reading aloud to another person whatever short segment she had j ust written. Sometimes I made a sugges­ tion about how to get from this part to that part, if that was what she was strug­ gling with.

Once she said that she wasn't sure what would happen next in the story, and I told her how common a feeling that was for writers. Brittany was surprised to hear that. "I thought writers of books figured everything out first," she said. I told her about a novelist I know who says that in the middle of writing a book she often takes walks in the woods and thinks about her characters, trying to figure out what they would do next. This made a big im­ pression on Brittany, and I think it changed the way she thought about her own stopping and figuring out what would happen next. When it was time for me to leave, I remarked that Brittany had really done something new for her that day, and she said, with not only pride but also some wondenl1ent in her voice, "I know - I 've never written a story before!"

It was an exciting process for both of us . •

ENHANCE C U R R I CU LU M W I T H

A WA R D - W I N N I N G H O RYT E L l I N G

J I BM WEIH "Storytelling in its best incornation."

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2001 Complete Lists of Resources

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_.

&

ARIGHI, 601 5 Mauritania Av, Oakland 94605

Marilyn DeVORE, 4273 Forbestown Rd, Oroville 95966 .- Carol C RESTEnO, 29 Taft Ct, Novato _.

Berlin 01 503; 978-838-2789 (K-12, adult ed, ESL)

KEPHART, 1 High St, Malvern 1 9355 (elem)

Faith Jones OZAN, 9 Tilehurst Ln, Marblehead

_.

Lisa RUBIN, 1 39 Crafts St

Cruz 95060- Roy S H I M P, 2 1 64 E Bellevue Rd,

St, Richmond VA 23220 (Montessori) -- Suzanne

•••

Denise STANLEY, 3 Alhort Dr.,

_.

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_.

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NM) • • • Sandra

VT - Jerry

05873; 802-563-9947

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CO - Kara BERTHOLF, #1 Rd 6565 NBU4,

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Blvd, Ely 55731

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8006

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Michelle

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_.

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Sturgeon Bay 54235; elem. -- Alison McKEE, 5745 Bittersweet PI, Madison 53705; elem, vis. impair

CANAOA - Leslie AYRE-JASCHKE, 1 0409- 1 0 1

FREE HILARIOUS MATH NE WSLETTER The March/April issue is dated 208 AH i n

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G ROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING # 1 3 9

•

MAR/APR 2001

topology.

Lawyers CT - Frank Cochran, 51 Elm St, PO Box 1 898, New Haven 06508; 203- 865-7380 .- George J. Duhaime, 263 Randall Rd, Lebanon 06249; 860­ 889-9775

FL - Charles Baron, 633 NE 1 67th St Suite 701 N . Miami Beach 33162; 305-770-1 4 1 0

_.

James R.

Wells, 3837 Quail Ridge Dr, Boynton Beach 33436

HI - Tom DiGrazia, DiGrazia Law Office, PO Box 1 780, Kailua 96734

10 - Lyle

Eliasen, 202 Idaho St, American Falls

8321 1 ; 208-226- 5 1 38

IA - Craig Hastings, 409 Duff Ave PO Box 1 794,

Ames 500 1 0 ; 5 1 5- 232-2501

KS - Austin Kent Vincent, 2222 Pennsylvania Av, Topeka 66605

M D - Ray Fidler, 805 Tred Avon Rd, Baltimore 2 1 2 1 2 ; 4 1 0-296-6495

-

Paul Kimberger, 3905

Bexley PI, Marlow Hghts 20746: 301 -899- 6933

The Busy Parents ' Guide to Raising a Reader

_.

Dale R. Reid, 7091 Brangles Rd, Marriottsville 2 1 1 04

"A delightfully fun and easy way to set up your

MA - Eugene Burkart, 267 Moody St, Waltham 02454; 781-899-5337

MI - Norm Perry, 8976 US 31 , PO Box 241 , Berrien Spgs 49103; 6 1 6- 471 -2848

NY

-

Seth Rockmuller, 29 Kinderhook St,

Chatham 1 2037; 51 8-392- 4277

OH - David A. Haffey, 3055 Rodenbeck Dr, Day10n 45432 ·- James Peters, 1 07 W. Court St, Woodsfield 43793

kids for a lifetime love of reading."

Just 'Til I Finish This Chapter. . .

- Mahoning Valley Parent "Here's how to turn your kids into read-a-holics.

TIps, Quotes, and Practical Advice for Nurturing Young Readers

The book is formatted in an easy-to-read qu ick tip fashion for the busy parent."

- Gail White, The Vindicator

OR - Kim Gordon, 6501 SW Macadam Av, Portland 97201

"The tips in this book were just the ticket I need­

PA - Mark Semisch, 56 Warden Rd, Doylestown 1 8901

VA - Nancy LeSourd

& George Grange

ed to get my son on his way to enjoying reading."

- Donna McCord, Pittsburgh, PA

I I , 8280

Greensboro Dr, 7th FI, McLean VA 22102

WI

-

Jack Umpleby, N96W18221 County Line

Rd, Menomeonee Falls 53051

WY - Gerald Mason, PO Box 785, Pinedale 82941 ; 307-367-2 1 34

-

" . . . a definite must-have for any parent that wants

Ann Lloyd

to raise an avid reader!"

William H. Twichell, PO

Box 1 2 1 9, Pinedale 8294 1 : 307-367-241 4

Professors The following people are willing to help homeschooling families in developing curriculum, evaluating progress, or in other ways:

Available for $ 1 2.95 Secure online ordering from:

www. knowmorepublishing. com Orde r by mail: KM Publishing,

Larry Arnoldsen, Box 1 0 McKay Bldg, Brigham Young U, Provo UT 84602

27

Jack Mason, Blacksburg, VA

P. O. Box 1 75, New Springfield, OH 44443

Send $ 1 2 . 95 plus $3.00 shipping

Graham Ashworth, 423 Fox Chapel Rd, Pittsburgh PA 1 5238; 4 1 2 -963- 8800 Prof. Robert A. Carlson, College of Ed, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Canada S7N OWO Sandy Doerfel, PO Box 301 33 1 , Escondido CA

W r i t i ng S t r a n ds

92030 Juanita Haddad, Consultant in Free Range Learning and Deschooling, RR 7, Duncan BC V9L 4W4, Canada Robert E . Kay, MD, 2 1 0 Locust St Apt 1 5 E Philadelphia 1 91 06 2 1 5- 629-1 924 J . Gary Knowles, Program in Educational Studies, School of Ed, U of Michigan, Ann Arbor MI 481 09 Michael Masny, 43 Burncoat St, Leicester MA 01 524; certified school psychologist

&

social

THREE TIME WINNER OF MARY PRIDE'S READER SURVEY , FOR COMPOSITION

worker.

Martin Miller, 3374 Aikens Rd, Watkins Glen NY 1 4891 Michael J . Murphy, Assoc. Prof., U . of Saskatchewan, College of Education, Saskatoon, Sask., Canada S7N OWO Dr. Robert Newman, Assoc Prof Emeritus, Teacher Education, Syracuse U, 1 37 Hughes PI, Syracuse NY 1 32 1 0 Seymour Papert, papert@ media.mit.edu Sam B. Peavey, Ed. D . , 2307 Tyler Ln, Louisville KY 40205; 502- 459-2058 Edward Pino, 1 89 Antelope Tr, Parker CO 801 34 Richard Prystowsky, Professor of English and Humanities, I rvine Valley College, 5500 Irvine Ctr Dr, Irvine CA 92720 Brian D. Ray, Nat'l Home Education Research Inst, PO Box 1 3939, Salem OR 97309; 503-364­ 1 490 Mitchel Resnick, MIT Media Lab, 20 Ames St, Cambridge MA 02139; mres@ media.mit.edu Jack Robertson, 532 Laguardia PI #398, New

York NY 1 00 1 2

Gary L. Stevens, University o f San FranCiSCO,

G ROWI N G WITHOUT SCHOOLING #139 MAR/APR 2001 •

2486 Pebble Beach Loop, Lafayette CA 94549 Seymour Treiger, Ed. D . , RR 3 Yellow Pt Rd, Ladysmith, BC VOR 2EO, Canada

about being included in the list. If your district is

Chester S. Williams, ETSU, Box 5518, Texarkana

TX

schools are giving to their homeschooling efforts.

(2) The schools themselves have to be happy cooperating with your homeschooling, and you

75501

would like them to be on this list, ask them, and let us know if they say to go ahead.

Psychologists

CA

CA - Michelle Barone 82 1 1 Grenoble St Sunland 9 1 040; 81 8·951 ·7744

_.

Lodi Unified School District, 835 W Lockford St,

90066 - Hal Jindich, 1 91 E El Camino #307, Mountain 94040

FL - Dr. Kimberly Kiddoo, 2506 Ponce de Leon Blvd, Coral Gables 331 34; 305-442-8500 -

Rose Mattox, 1 27 N. Marion St Ste 8 Oak

Park 60130; 708-386- 461 0

M D - Michael Abrahams, 1 8 Executive Park Ct, Germantown 20874; 301 -428-3557

MA

-

Sharon Jacques, Psychological Care

Associates, 22 Mill St, Suite 004, Arlington 02476; 781 -646-0500 ext. 11 (offers educ'l and psych testing as well as therapy) - Neal Katz, 3 Central Ave, Newton 021 60; 61 7-332-431 1

_.

Michael

Masny, 43 Burncoat St, Leicester 01 524 (certified school psychologist and social worker) - Dr. Susan Ott, 1 1 0 N Main, Petersham 0 1 366

At CompassLearning, we believe in education enhanced by technology.

So we've based our complete set of

K-12 curriculum software on real­ world research.

_.

Lise

D. Rubin, 25 Oakland Rd, Sharon 02067 (certified school psychologist, certified K-8, Special ed; occupational therapist) - Paul Shafiroff, Ed. D . , Director o f Guidance, Southern Berkshire Regional School District, Sheffield 01 257

•••

Dr. Paul Daniel

Shea, 1 450 Beacon St, Suite 801 , Brookline 02446; 61 7-277-421 4

NY - Emily Shapiro, 350 Central Park West,

The result: unmatched software for

Suite 1 F, New York 1 0025; 21 2-774-41 56

all grades in multiple subjects that

(psychotherapy, counseling)

help children reach their goals.

OH - Richard George, 1 201 30th St NW, Canton 44709

PA - Dr. Bob Conroy, 1 724 Smoky Corners Rd,

Our programs cover the

Williamsport 1 7701

following curriculum:

TX - Steven Gutstein, PhD, One West Loop, Suite #21 5, Houston 77027; 71 3-621 -7496

* Reading

WA - Naomi Aldort, PO Box 1 7 1 9 Eastsound 98245; 360-376-3777

* language Arts

•••

Molly Davis, MSW,

LCSW, 6320-1 92 Street SE, Snohomish 98296;

* Mathematics

360- 668-1496 (willing to work over the telephone)

* Science

_.

Holy Family Institute, 43 Frontier Rd, Appleton

WA 98602 (counselors)

For information about our products

CANADA

-

Jan Hunt, 1 32 Bullock Creek Rd.,

Salt Spring Island, BC, V8K 2L3

or for ordering, call 1 .800.247. 1 3 80, fax 1 .858.622.7873

School Districts The following is a list of school districts that are

or visit our website at: www.compasslearning.com

willingly and happily cooperating with homeschoolers, and who are willing to be listed in GWS as doing so. There are many more cooperative districts around the country than there are districts on this list, and we have printed several stories in back issues of GWS about

...

cooperation between schools and homeschoolers.

g.

If you are interested in seeing this material, place an order and ask us to send you back issues with material on this topic. Back issues are $3 each plus $3 per order for subscribers; $6 each for nonsubscribers.

Compass Learning'· Inspire. Explore. Achieve.

San Diego, CA 9 2 1 2 1 800.247. 1 38 0

G ROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING # 1 3 9

Do bear in mind that not all states require homeschooling families to work with local school districts; in fact, many do not. Nonetheless, a cooperative school district may give homeschooling

9920 Pacific Heights Blvd., Suite 500

families access to events or materials even if they are not legally required to approve of or evaluate those families.

We only list school districts under the following conditions: ( 1 ) The family has to be not just satisfied but pleased with the cooperation the

•

MAR/APR 2001

Butte County Office of Education, 2 1 20 B

Principal, Home School Program

Mary Ann

Hutchison, 3409 Greenwood Av, Los Angeles

IL

-

Robinson, Oroville CA 95965, James H. Scott,

Lodi 95240; 209- 369-74 1 1 ; Don Shalvey, Asst.

Supt. - Instruction K- 1 2 Loma Prieta School District, 23800 Summit Rd, Los Gatos 95030; 408-353-2389; Dr. Kenneth Simpkins, Superintendent; Dr. Ruth Bothne, Independent Home Study Program Director Marysville Joint Unified, 1 9 1 9 B St, Marysville 95901 .

Monterey County Office of Education, 901 Blanco Circle, PO Box 8085 1 , Salinas 93912; Bill LaPlante, Director of Alternative Programs Mt Shasta Union School District, 601 E Alma St, Mt Shasta 96067; 91 6-926-3846; Carolyn Briody, Home School Coordinator Santa Cruz City Schools, Alternative Family Education, 536 Palm St, Santa Cruz 95060; 408­ 429-3806. Attn: Terry Jones.

FL - Student Services, Putnam Cty Schools, 200 S 7th, Palatka FL 32 1 77; 904-329, 0538; contact John Milton, asst. Director

IL

-

Madison Junior High, Southern River Oak

Dr, Naperville 60565; Mr. Vergo, Principal.

Naperville Central High School, 44 W Aurora Av, Naperville 60540; Mr. Paulsen, Principal. (note: these are individual schools, not school districts.)

MA - Cambridge Public Schools, 1 59 Thorndike St, Cambridge 021 41 ; 61 7-498-9233.

Chatham Public Schools, Chatham MA 02633; Supt. Vida R. Gavin.

Lowell School District, 89 Appleton, Lowell 01 852; 454-5431 ; James McMahon, Asst. Supt. for Curriculum Development.

Rockland Public Schools, Rockland 02370; Supt. Ronald P. Gerhart Southern Berkshire Regional School District, Sheffield 01 257; Director of Guidance, Paul Shafiroff, Thomas A. Consolati, Supt.

PA - Radnor Township School District,

Administration Building, 1 35 S. Wayne Av, Wayne 1 9087; Dr. John A. DeFlaminis, Supt.

Resource People The people listed below have experience with

the following subjects and are willing to correspond

with others who are interested. In many cases

these subjects have been discussed in back issues

of GWS, so if you are seeking information you can ask us to select the relevant issues for you. (Back issues are $3 each plus $3 per order for

subscribers; $6 for nonsubscribers).

Adoption: Maureen Carey, 3 Fayette Park, Cambridge MA 02139 (adoptive nursing, interracial adoption) - Kathy Donahue, Box 80- B S. Superior Rd, RR 1 , Atlantic Mine MI 49905 Marty Gylleck, 34356 State Rt 23, Genoa IL 60135 (interracial adoption)

Lenne Musarra, 6729

& Chris Sims, VT 05465; 802-899-4507

_.

Sherri St, Juneau AK 99801 - Reed 1 3 Plains Rd Jericho

(interracial adoption) - Jenny Wright, Quaker City, H.C. 60, Box 50, Charlestown NH 03603; 603-543­ 091 0

Autism: Cindy Gaddis, 7352 Chapsworth D r Trinity NC 27370 _ . Sharon Howell, 1 86 1 4 Bay Ridge Ct, Baton Rouge LA 708 1 7 (Asperger's

Grown Homeschoolers

Syndrome) -- Henry Lappen, 1 20 Pulpit Hill Rd

#31 , Amherst MA 0 1 002; 4 1 3-549-3722

(Asperger's Syndrome) -- Wendy Renish, W1 562 Spencer Rd, Loyal WI 54446 -- Jill Whelan, 1 7 1 4

E 5 1 st St, Indianapolis I N 46205

Blindness: Donald

&

These grown homeschoolers are now at college or involved in work, apprenticeships, or travel. In most cases, we list their parents' address because the homeschoolers' own addresses change often.

Kathy Klemp (son/75)

N6479 Kroghville Rd, Waterloo WI 53594 -- Ruth

Matilsky, 1 09 S 4th Av, Highland Park NJ 08904 --­ Alison McKee, 5745 Bittersweet PI, Madison WI

In parentheses, we include a very brief description

of what the person is doing or has done, and, where applicable, we have also listed the GWS issue in which a more complete description of the

53705

person's experience was published. Get in touch

Computers: Jack Loranger, MPO 1 7-R

with these folks if you're interested in attending

Krogstad Rd, Washougal WA 9867 1 ; 206-837­ 3760; "Electronic Educator" BBS #837-3299

their college or exploring their field or if you're just

--­

Mario Pagnoni, 76 Emsley Terr, Methuen MA 01 844

- Theo Sherman, 2555 Collins Av #2303, Miami

interested in the perspective of a grown

homeschooler.

•

Beach FL 33140; 305-538-7162

Custody Disputes: Debbie Driscoll, 1 4503 SE 1 1 4th PI, Renton WA 98059 (also single parents gay

&

&

lesbian families) -- Char Love, PO Box

2035, Guerneville CA 95446. (We maintain a list of

others with experience in this area who prefer not to list themselves publicly, and we will forward

Rosedale Av N, Rt 1 Box 233, Hanover, MN 5534 1 ; 61 2-498-7553 -- Rosemary Firstenberg, P O Box 25266, Seattle WA 98125 -- Heidi Jarvis, 4 1 7 •••

Beth

Stanley, Northside Villa apt. B- 5, 271 1 Allen Rd,

Tallahassee FL 32312; 850-386-371 1

G ifted Children: Dori Staehle, 634 Westwood Dr, Garner, NC 27529; (919) 661 -9793 -· Isabelle Nidever, 591 7 Oak Av, Suite 1 76, Temple City CA 91 780

Learning Disabilities: -- Pose M . R . Boggs, 6223 Geronimo Cir, Anchorage AK 99504 -- Kathy Donahue, Box 80-B S. Superior Rd, RR •••

I , Atlantic

Rosemary Firstenberg, PO Box

25266, Seattle WA 98125 -- Leslie McColgin, RR 1

Box 1 46, Cunningham KY 42035 (speech language pathologist) Jericho

VT 05465;

&

Chris Sims 1 3 Plains Rd

_.

802-899-4507 -- Cheryl

&

Gary

Stevens, 2486 Pebble Beach Loop, Lafayette CA 94549 (Special Ed., Chemical Sensitivity)

Mental Illness: Jennifer Rozens, 334 1 1 Jefferson Av, St Clair Shores MI 48082

Montessori: Gloria Harrison, Rd Greensburg PA 1 5601

_.

II,

Box 544,

Elizabeth Lower, 4875

Potomac Dr, Fairfield OH 450 1 5

Physical Handicaps: Janna Books, Box 309-B,

Route 2, Santa Fe N M 87505 -- Kathy Donahue

(see under Learning Disabilities) .- Martin Miller, 3374 Aikens Rd, Watkins Glen NY 1 4891 .- Lenne Musarra (see under Adoption) -- Saunny Scott, 1 901 Barker St, Lawrence KS 66044

Single Parents: Debbie Driscoll (see under Custody Disputes) .- Janet Hoffman, PO Box 288, Hamburg PA 1 9526 -- Diane McNeil, 3 1 31 Cty EE, Baileys Harbor WI 54202 ••• Laura Pritchard, 25607 98th PI So, Apt K-102, Kent WA 98031 .­ Sally Sherman, 2555 Collins Av #2303, Miami Beach FL 331 40; 305-538-71 62 -- Karen Turner, PO Box 622, Redway CA 95560 -- Beth White, Box 367 Veneta OR; 541 -935-5457 .- Christine Willard, 2090 Pine Ave, Los Os os CA 93402

Traveling Families: Lois

&

Jim Blumenthal,

1 1 32 Beechwood Dr, Hagerstown MD 2 1 742 -­

Louis

& Jennifer Gordon

(Katie/8 1 , Patty/84) 1 0355

Grand Av, Bloomington MN 55420 -- Arlene Haight

(Becky/68, MatV73) 4 1 50 So US #1 , R D 2, Palm Bay FL 32905

Twins: Gloria Harrison, Rd Greensburg PA 1 5601

II,

Box 544,

community; architectural restoration) Tim Ahearn, 6338 Moraine, Hammond I N 46324 Elye Alexander, RR 1 Box 795, Craftsbury

Down Syndrome: Elaine Bechtold, 1 0827

Mine M I 49905

Dan Ahearn, 825 N Carpenter St, Chicago IL

46324 (Vincennes U niversity; Brother·in religious

(Purdue University; electrical engineer; father)

stamped letters to these people if asked.)

Kaphaem R d Tomahawk W I ; 71 5-453-4389

Bridget Ahearn, 7048 Forest Av, Hammond IN 46324 (Magdalen College)

Common

VT 05827 (Harvard

University)

Mylie Alrich, PO Box 869, Greenville CA 95947; 91 6-284-6929 (restaurant work, real estate) Rebecca Auerbach, 5330 Redwood Rd, Napa CA 94558; mail2ra@ hotmail.com (Sonoma State University; writing; GWS #1 23) Ben Barker, 5221 Twp Rd 1 23, Millersburg OH 44654 (fiddler, EMT, expedition guide; GWS #86, #93) Britt Barker, 5221 Twp Rd 1 23, Millersburg OH 44654 (published writer

&

poet; pilot; railroad

engineer; runs piano studio. GWS #56, #60, #93) Dan Barker, 5221 Twp Rd 1 23, Millersburg O H 44654 (cellist a t Interlochen Arts Academy; Oberlin

Conservatory; directs farm program; GWS #79,

#84, #93) Jonah Barker 5221 Twp Rd 1 23, Millersburg OH

44654 (directs farm program; works with solar­

powered technology, motorcycles)

Maggie Barker, 5221 Twp Rd 1 23, Millersburg

OH 44654 (dogsledder, Search

&

Rescue; certified

massage therapist; expedition guide; GWS #60, #8 1 , #88, #91 ) Amanda Bergson-Shilcock, 3 1 4 Bryn Mawr Av,

Bryn Mawr PA 1 90 1 0; 6 1 0-527-4982 (University of Pennsylvania; library work; legal publishing; writing;

"Join us, the Reebos of Jupiter.

29

We make learning to read a joy!

The way we teach there's been

No dyslexia, No learning disabilities.

We're hilarious and l iterate.

We'll assist you in Dr. Renee Fuller's brain-compatible, phonic Ball-Stick-Bird reading series.

Come see our web site: www. ballstickbird.com It has lots of popular articles by Dr. Fuller about child psychology. "

grants management; GWS #97, #1 1 8, #1 33) Emily Bergson-Shilcock, 31 4 Bryn Mawr Av, Bryn Mawr PA 1 90 1 0; 6 1 0-527-4982 (Beaver College; runs The Destination of Independence, which sells products to people with disabilities; works with at-risk adolescents; GWS #1 1 5, #1 1 8) Julia Bergson-Shilcock, 3 1 4 Bryn Mawr Av, Bryn Mawr PA 1 901 0; 61 0-527-4982 (Beaver College; soccer) Rebecca Cauthen, 260 Donald Lamb Rd, Moreland GA 30259 (Shorter College; GWS #97) Amber Clifford, 475 NE 200, Knob Noster MO 65336 (Central MO State U; GWS #97) Jeff Cohen, 1 60 Cornerstone Ln, Arroyo Grande CA 93420 (US Air Force Academy; GWS #81 , #93) Tamara Cohen, 1 60 Cornerstone Ln, Arroyo

Grande CA 93420 (foreign exchange student;

Agnes Scott College) Mariama Congo, 97 Brayton Rd, Brighton MA

02135 (Goddard College; Mt. Holyoke College) Stephanie O'Arcangelo-Oalmer, 54 Student Ln #179, Colchester VT 05446 (Goddard College; motherhood; GWS # 1 1 9) Erin Oodd, 1 648 Joe Hinton Rd, Knoxville TN 37931 (theatre, teaching) Mike Dodd, 1 648 Joe Hinton Rd, Knoxville TN

37931 (Boston University, University of Tennessee; GWS #71 ) Leonie Edwards. P O Box 75, Harrisburg OR

BALL-STICK-BIRD Publications

PO Box 1 3 , Colebrook, CT 0602 1

(860) 738-887 1 e-mail: bsbpub@snet.net Free brochure_ Free telephone help_ We make sure you succeed!

About Ball-Stick- Bird

The journal ofDevelopmental Education said: "When one views the incredible results of Fuller's reading program against the educational establishment's response, one is led to the conclusion that educators on the whole lack what Murray calls respect

for the wharness of what is."

G ROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING #139

•

MAR/APR 2001

(apprenticeship with medicinal plants in Belize;

97446 (dentistry; G W S #1 1 0) Michelle Edwards, PO Box 392, Harrisburg OR 97446 (runs photography studio; GWS #1 1 0)

agency; GWS #96, #1 1 8)

scribers use MasterCard or Visa if possible.

Address Changes: If you're moving, let us know your new address as soon as possible.

Andrew Endsley, 34 1 2 S Centinela Av apt 1 6,

Sonnet Pierce, 36001 Nathan Ln, Eldridge MO

Los Angeles CA 90066 (film directing; GWS #77,

65463 (travel, vegetarian cook, work with Student

Issues missed because of a change of address

#97)

Conservation Assoc)

(that we weren't notified about) may be replaced

Luke Evans, 1 0755 Hibner Rd, Hartland M I 48353; 81 0-632-7424 (Civil A i r Patrol; Washtenaw Community College; GWS #1 1 5)

Sarah Pitts, 3 1 43 Semmes St, East Pt GA 30347 (Boston College; GWS #96) Scott Pryor, 3228 Parsleys Mill Rd,

Kendall Gelner, 7490 W Apache, Sedalia CO 80135 (Rice University, computer programming) Anita Giesy, 441 1 Colonial Dr, Norfolk VA 23508 (cross-country travel; massage therapy; living in Spain; motherhood; GWS #74)

Mechanicsville VA 231 1 1 ; 804- 779-2239 (Guilford

95345 (UC Santa Cruz; computer systems work) Dori Griffin, 920 Kennington Hills Dr, Hixson TN 37343 (University of Tennessee; editing; graphic design GWS #1 30, # 1 37) (Brown University; work with public defender; studying in London; GWS #1 02 , #126) Jamie Smith Hopkins, 9085 Flamepool Way,

at Sea; GWS #1 09) Emma Roberts, RR 1 Box 81 , Jewell Hill Rd,

A 1 2345 Issues Remaining = x

Repertory Theatre school; GWS #73, #76)

J I M A N D MARY SMITH

2 1 758 (Bethany College; 4-H; Congressional Kevin Sellstrom, PO Box 6 1 2 , Wilton CA 95693; 91 6-687-7053 (teachers' aid with special ed

youth and adults)

Gwyneth Jackson, 1 000 Devil's Dip, Tallahassee FL 32308; 904-878- 2793 (Wellesley College) Beth Kaseman, 2545 Koshkonong Rd, Stoughton WI 53589 (conference organizing, developing non-profits, simple living) G retchen Kaseman, 2545 Koshkonong Rd, Stoughton WI 53589 (Int'l volunteer programs, fiber arts, conservation work) Stoughton WI 53589 (carpenter, juggler - holds Guiness World Record) Vanessa Keith, HC 60 Box 50, Quaker City, Charlestown NH 03603 (non-electric living, knitting, potato printing, orchard work, gardening; GWS #89, GWS # 1 1 8)

SI. Albans

VT 05478,

802-524-9645 (U. of

Massachusetts; St. Michael's College) Mae Shell, RR 2 Box 289-C, Polly Hubbard Rd,

Celia Kendrick 40 Brook St, Rehoboth MA work; GWS #75, #82) Peter Kowalke, PO Box 772, Mentor OH 4406 1 ; 440-254-44 1 0 (Hampshire College; editing; work with computers; GWS # 1 3 1 ) Anne Brosnan Lawson, 1 01 Joshua Circle Apt 22, Berea KY 40403 (bluegrass music, library work, newspaper editing; GWS #109) Ely Lester, PO Box 203, Joshua Tree CA 92252 Nathen Lester, PO Box 203, Joshua Tree CA

92252 (MI. Shasta College - a recording engineering school)

32806 (Software architecht, Nintendo, GWS #99) Christian McKee, 5745 Bittersweet PI, Madison WI 53705 (fly tying; teaching radio and German; AmeriCorps City Year) Christian Murphy, RD 6 Box 24, Wellsboro PA 1 6901 (Williams College; U. of Illinois graduate school; GWS #1 00, # 1 33) Clare Murphy, R D 6 Box 24, Wellsboro PA 1 6901 (Williams College; studying abroad) Emily M u rphy, RD 6 Box 24: Wellsboro PA 1 6901 (SI. John's College; archivist work; Penn State graduate school) GWS #89, #1 09, # 1 1 8 , #1 33) Emily Ostberg, PO Box 246, Harvard MA 0 1 451

G ROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING # 1 3 9

•

MAR/APR 2001

the best issues for you. Issues cost $3 each for subscribers, plus a flat rate of $3 postage per

Reward for bringing i n new subscribers:

Sara Shell, RR 2 Box 289-C, Polly Hubbard Rd, SI. Albans

VT 05478,

802-524-9645 (Tisch School

of the Arts at New York University; Smith College; studying in Kenya) Dawn Shuman, SI. John's College, PO Box

If you convince someone to become a new sub­ scriber - to take out a subscription at $29.97 a year - you will receive a $5 credit which you can apply to any John Holt's Bookstore order or to your own subscription renewal. This offer does

not apply to gift subscriptions or renewals.

GWS #1 00; #1 08, #1 1 8) Lindsey Smith, 1 2 1 5 A St, Apt 8, Lincoln, N E 68502 (U o f Nebraska; international affairs, environmental education, work with refugees, language, literacy) Sarah Smith, 1 7 1 2 Cliff Dr, Columbia MO 65201 riding center, lifeguard) Seth Smith, 1 1 0 Ripley St, Apt 6, Columbia, MO 65291 ; (U of Nebraska, trail work, firefighting, fire management for U . S . Forest service, library work) Kim Kopel Stewart, 5450 Bradbury Dr, SI. Louis MO 63129 (intern at living history village; massage therapy; GWS #87, #99, #1 1 8) Laura Gelner Wiggett, 7490 W Apache, Sedalia GWS #89, #1 1 8) Bo Yoder, 42 Hammond Rd, Parsonsfield M E 04047; 207-793-8670 (game design; acoustical recording engineering; studying economics; stock

Writing to GWS Please: ( 1 ) Put separate items of business (book orders, directory entries, letters to GWS, etc.) on separate pieces of paper. This helps us get them to the right people more quickly. (2) Put your name and address at the top of each letter. (3) If you're writing to a specific person, write "GWS" or "Holt Associates"' on the envelope in addition to the individual's name.

How to write letters for publication in GWS: 1 . Handwrite, type, or dictate your thoughts and send them in on paper or on a cassette tape.

2. There is no

#2!

We have no formal

submission procedures, so rule #1 is all you need.

Do tell us whether it's OK to use your name with the story (it's fine to be anonymous instead) and do bear in mind that we edit letters for space and clarity and that we often have much more great stuff than room to print it in a given issue, so it can

( U . of Michigan)

Patrick Meehan, 1 520 Briercliff Dr, Orlando FL

close the appropriate payment, and we'll select

sue, postage paid.

agency; GWS #109)

trading)

NJ 08904 (cross- country cycletouring, writing)

many issues you want, and on what topics, en­

order; for non-subscribers, the rate is $6 per is­

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Back issues: Many of our back issues are still available, and we are happy to select back

SI. Albans VT 05478, 802-524-9645 (library work;

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(Rowland Heights Animation School)

The number that i s underlined in the ex­ ample tells how many issues the Smiths have left.

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01111

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Subscriptions Subscriptions start with the next issue pub­ lished. Our current rates are $29.97 for 6 issues,

The best way to get a sense of what kind of writing gets published in GWS is to look through a few issues. In general, we prefer writing that is in the first- or third-person ("I did this" or "She did

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didn't work, what they've observed or concluded or wondered as a result. GWS stories focus on how children learn, particularly how they learn outside of school settings, and how adults learn, particularly how they tried something new, figured something out, or made their way without school credentials.

We are always interested in stories about how homeschoolers meet and deal with common issues - negotiating with a school district, pursuing a

not in

particular interest, learning to trust oneself - to

whose addresses are

name just a few.

want us to forward the letter without reading it,

We love hearing from readers whether or not we are able to publish the story, as all letters give us valuable information and food for thought.

Isaac/94, Micahl97) 1 22 Leimaur Dr, Richmond

the Directory. If you

40475

MI

address the outside of the envelope to the writer's

OH

not a list of all subscribers, who ask to be listed, so that

2001 Di rectory was published in GWS #1 38. The

include all the information.

TN

If you would l i ke to appear in the next com­

family is willing to host GWS travelers who make

plete Directory, you must send us a new entry,

advance arrangements in writing.

we are starting a new database in order to

subscription, please remind us if you are in the

eliminate outdated addresses.

Directory, so we can change it here, too.

mail as a result of being listed, please just recycle

lies in a particular area. If you're looking for some­

it.

printed in capital letters. When you're reading a in the Directory? If a name in a GWS story is followed by a state abbreviation in parentheses (e.g. "Jane Goldstein (MA) writes .. .") that person is in the Directory. If the name is followed by the

-

Bernadette PAYNE

&

Eric JOHNSON

Kristin VAN BRUNSCHOT & John

-

Orange NSW 2800 Australia (HI · Frances HARAZI (Leonie/9 1 ) educationthroughlife @ hotmail.com (Great Britain)

•

Ywonne

&

Gunnar JARL (DanieV

80, Linus/87, Matilda/88, Anna/89) Bjorksater s-640 34 Sparreholm Sweden

Address Changes CA, South (zips to 94000)

-

Maurice

CA, South (zips to 94000)

-

Rd, Fallbrook 92028

Deborah & Bud

10 - Susan

Eiseman (Ana/94) 25 1 8 Castillo St, Santa Barbara

& Tamara

10 - Catlle

&

83423

Christopher/87, Mary/89, Andrew/90, James/92) 20866 N Duncan Ln, Dix 62830 (H)

KY - Thyne

IN - Anselma

Cathy GALLO (Mark/85,

chusetts writes .. .") then that person is not in the

& Andy RUTROUGH

&

Steve

Sheep Experiment Stn, HC 62, Box 201 0 , Dubois

FISH (Kirsten/89) PO Box 2987,

Orofino 83544 IL - Mark

McMINN-SEEFELDT

31

SEEFELDT ( Robin/85, Holly/87, Heather/89) US

93105

entire state name (e.g. "Jane Goldstein of Massa­ Directory. We are happy to forward mail to those

Erin/

ROUSSO (Kalee/92, Jacob/96) 1 571 Winterwarm

one by name, skim the last names, which are GWS story, how can you tell if that writer is listed

& Joan STEVENS (Jessica/90,

Elsewhere

the Di rectory is used; if you receive unwanted

others nearby and for travelers to find host fami­

Scott

HOLLI DAY (Pandora/85) Homeleigh Huntley via

Please remember that we can't control how

Within each state, names are arranged in

zip code order to make it easy for readers to find

TX

When you send us an address change for a

even if you are in the 2001 Directory, because

-

(River/95) 6234 Mallard D r Katy 77493 (HI

If a Directory listing is followed by a (H), the

next complete Directory will be published in #1 44.

Barry-BROWN 856 Clark St, Cincinnati

94) 1 705 Old Union Loop Rd, Paris 38242 (HI

included, please send the entry form or a 3x5 card (one family per card). Please take care to

-

PA - Scott & Elizabeth KAUFMANN (Matthew/

may get in touch with them. If you would like to be

Here are the additions and changes that

Joy CONVIS (Chelsea/90, Caedy/

95, Jesse/98) 1 1 0 S 7th Ave, W Reading 1 96 1 1 (HI

other GWS readers, or other interested people,

have come in since our last issue. Our complete

&

45203

Our Directory is

Additions to Directory

James

48178 (HI

and then forward it, please enclose another stamped envelope. but only of those

-

9 1 , Claire/97, Celahl99) 1 1 009 Tillson, S Lyon

name, c/o GWS. If you want us to read the letter

&

Matthew ASHLEY (John/89,

Hannahl93) 20520 Old Mill Rd, S Bend 46637

MA - Charles

& Audrey WESTON

(lan/92,

Emily/93, Grahaml93, Paul/98) PO Box 1 8, N

(Abby/93,

Hatfield 01 066

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2. The Lea rnables® uses all and o n ly native speakers who p ro n o u n ce the words c lea rly and d istinctively.

3. Each year-level is c learly i n d icated.

4. Answers for a l l exercises p rovided at no extra c harge.

5. The Learnables® has been used by two generations of Home Schoolers, since 1 976.

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www. learna bles . co m

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G ROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING #139

•

MAR/APR 2001

MN - Shelly

&

If you are a teen unschooler who writes and wants

Forest KINZLI (Nathanael/8 1 .

Micaella/86) 33145 Jewet Ct. Chicago City 55013

to get published, you may request a free copy of

- Marti MARKUS

my free zine Readers Speak Out!: Ron Richardson.

& Tony

PURVEY (Jess/90. Lee/

4003 50th Avenue SW, Seattle, WA 981 1 6 .

92) 3926 Cherry Ave. Orono 55364

NC

-

Weston

&

Cindy GADDIS (Eric/87.

Abigale/89. EIi/91 . Adam/92, Alexander/94) 7352

www.chem-kits.com: Real chemistry for home

Chapsworth Dr, Trinity 27370 (H)

schoolers! Unique kit includes all basic equipment

OH - Max

&

and supplies - including 86 chemicals! - for the 11

Jane BLAIR (John/88, Christian/94)

402 Wilson Pk Dr, Miamisburg 45342 (H)

VA - Cindy

& Mark MILLER

traditional experiments described in its manual.

(Jessica/83,

Order direct from: www.chem-kits.com. Learning

Andrea/86, Julie/90) 62 Big Hill Rd, Lexington 24450 (H)

WA - Naomi

Resources Unlimited, Inc., 866-206-0773.

& Harvey ALDORT (Yonatan/86,

Liberated Learners, a monthly newsletter

Lennon/90, Oliver/93) PO Box 1 71 9, Eastsound

featuring inspirational stories about unschooling

98245

teens at Pathfinder Center. a community center supporting unschooling families in Amherst, MA. Call 41 3-253-941 2 for free issue.

Canada BC - Alice WHITEHEAD (Lucie/82, Hazel/84) # 1 9 . 1 241 Balmoral Rd, Victoria V8T 1 B2

MB

-

TRAINING YOURSELF: The book every

Sabrina SANDERSON (Tyon/89, Aynzley/

homeschooled job seeker needs. $5.95 includes

9 1 . Ocean/94, Dream/98, Freedom/OO) 204-783­

U.S. postage. Autodidactic Press, PO Box 872749

2345 (Winnipeg)

Wasilla, AK 99687-2749, or sales @ autodidactic.com SELF-LEARNERS: Life­

32

. changing, award-winning books, vital resources Self-University Campus, FREE Newsletter, www.autodidactic.com

Pen Pals Children wanting pen pals can write to those 1-3 words on interests. Please try to write to

homeschoolers in every state.

Grandchildren Homeschoo/;

When Your

persuasion that wins

someone on the list before listing yourself, and

relatives over, great gift idea, $ 1 4 . Highlights of

remember to put your address on your letter.

CHNews: Inspiration for new homeschoolers. $ 1 2 .

PETERSON, 4487 Trading Post Rd, Afton, MN

Teen Guide: $ 1 5. Order b y mail: C H N , POB 55485,

55001 ; Ben ( 1 2) airplanes, bagpipes, fishing;

Hayward, CA 94545. By phone 800-327-5339,

Hannah ( 1 0) horses, Highland dancing (correction

www.cahomeschoolnet.org/publications.htm

of listing in GWS #1 38)

Community Forming. Homeschooling families, organic farm. alternative energy. Share country

Declassified Ads

living, having fun working together, growing gardens. and enjoying nature. Non-religious. G i l

Rates: 701t/word, $1 boldface. Please tell these folks that you saw the ad in GWS. For more info on advertising, contact Barb Lundgren, 81 7-540-6423, blundgren @home.com

and Robie Gregori, 1 901 Dutyville Road, Garberville, CA 95542. 707-966-7787 or gregori @ h umboldt.net

THE NATURAL CHILD PROJECT. Multiple award­

PHONE COUNSELING, TAPES, WORKSHOPS.

winning internet site on "parenting and education

NAOMI ALDORT offers parents/families LOVING

that respects children" has articles by Alice Miller,

SOLUTIONS. Experienced counselor, public

time freedom while working from home with a business that cares passionately about our planet and about vibrant health. Take a look at Mountain Organics. 800-273-4423, www.homeschool.comi resources/MountainOrganics

NorthwestVision Adventures and Excursions_ Guided adventure activities and Native American cultural experiences in the Northwest U.S. for ages 1 3- 1 8 . Kayaking, rock climbing, mountain biking, and backpacking. For more information visit www.northwestvision.com.

Cohousing in New York's beautiful Hudson River

Valley seeking additional families. Waterfront

property; one family currently homeschools. We include multi-ethnic families, adoptive families, and singles. We're friendly, fun and non-dogmatic.

Michael Sklaroff: 845-247-03 1 9 .

Msklaroff@juno.com LEARNING AT HOME: A Mother's Guide To Homeschooling, Revised Edition by Marty Layne ­ thought-provoking book filled with wisdom $1 5.95 US. Shipping included. Sea Change Publications,

California Homeschool Network Books for

listed. To be listed, send name, age, address, and

We are parents who are achieving financial and

1 850 San Lorenzo Ave. Victoria, BC, Canada V8N2E9. Phone/Fax:(250)477-0 1 73 http:members.home.net/seachangepublicationsi GROWING SPIRITUALLY AT HOME. http:// www.enchantmentgarden.com is dedicated to teen spiritual education through nine precepts, spiritual practices, online story-telling, cool quotes, excerpts, wild animal illustrations (with room for your own), and a growing book list.

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Peggy O'Mara, Joseph Chilton Pearce, Naomi

speaker, writer, and homeschooling mother.

Aldort, Jan Hunt, and others, a parenting advice

Articles: Mothering, GWS, The Nurturing Parent;

column, personal stories, and the Global Children's

www.naturalchild.com; reprints. 360-376-3777

Art Gallery. Visit us at www.naturalchild_com

Index of Display Advertisers ' Alger Learning Center. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Backglance . . . . . . . .. . . . . . .. . ...... . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . .. . ...... . . . . . . . 23 Ball-Stick-Bird . . ..... . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . 29 Brook Farm Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

ENTRY FORM FOR DIR ECTORY

Calvert School. . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . inside back cover

Use this form to send us a new entry or a substantial address change to be run in the next available issue of GWS.

Challenging theGiant. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . 5 ChoiceSkills ........... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Classroomvisuals.com ................................................... 6 Clonlara . . . . . . . . . . . . _ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .inside front cover

Adults (first and last names ) :

CreatePress . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . 1 7 CurriculumServices........... . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . .......... ........... 30

Organization ( o n l y if address is s a m e a s fam i ly):

Designastudy. . . .................... ........................................21

Gentle Spiri!.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . .. . . . . . . . . . ... . . . . . . . . ....... . . . . . . . . .4

C h i ldren (names/birthyears):

Gnarly Math .... . . . . . . . . . . . . _ . . .. . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 G reathall . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 Growler Tapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 5

Full address (Street, City, State, Zip):

Home Education Magazine . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Homeschool.com . . . . . . . . . . . . ......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Are you willing to host traveling GWS readers who make advance arrangements in writing?

Yes

Life in America . . .. . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . .... . . . . . .21

No

Meeting School. . . . . .. . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . 2

Are you in the 2001 Di rectory (GWS #1 38)? Yes Is this an address change

International Linguistics . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Know More Publications . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

__

_

No

_

or a new entry for the 2002 Di rectory__ ?

National Writing Institute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Oak Meadow School. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . outside back cover Power Glide . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . 7 Unschooling.com ................ . . . . . .... __ .......... . ............... 26

GWS, 2380 Mass. Ave, S u ite 1 04, Cambridge, MA 02 1 40

G ROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING # 1 3 9

•

MAR/APR 2001

Wendy Priesnitz . . . . . . . . . . . .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

The more the world changes, the more your child needs the classical curriculum only Calvert home schooling offers .

Some learning tools may change, but the strongest fow1dation for your child's education remains a curriculwn that's solidly designed and academically complete. For nearly a century, Calvert School has helped parents teach and children excel through a classical curriculum that ensures not only the basics, but a fully rounded, values-based education for life .

Each curriculum package, available for grades K-8 , includes easy-to-follow lesson manuals, textbooks, workbooks and school supplies - everything you and your children need to explore the joys of learning. So prepare your family for the home-schooling experience of a lifetime.

For more information or a complimentary course catalog, call 888-487-4652, or visit our Web site at www.caIvertschool.org.

Calvert

®

School

Easierfor you to teach. Easier for them to learn.

1 0 5 Tuscany Road

•

Baltimore, MD 2 1 2 1 0

•

Phone: 888-487-4652

•

Fax: 4 1 0-366-0674

T e rte t/1 vt 0

rto VVt e$ Ct 0 0 LL V'vg

Oak Meadow

Curriculum Materials Grades PreK- 1 2 Complete packages I nd ivid ual Courses Creative approach Teac her ma nuals

Online Programs Grades 6- 1 2 Online courses Teacher support

Correspondence Programs Grades K- 1 2 Printed materials Teac her su pport Portfolio Eval uations

Free catalog Oak Meadow PO Box 740 Putney, VT 05346 802 -38 7- 202 1 oms@oa kmeadow, com

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