GROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING 24 Many exc i t ing t h i ng s have hap pened s i nc e the l a s t i s sue . As many of you know , on O c t . 28 B r i g i t t a and P e t e r Van Daam ( R I ) and the i r t h r e e c h i ldren , a n d Joy c e a n d D i c k K i nmont ( UT ) and t h e i r s even c h i ldren a p p e a r e d w i th me on the Donahue show . A l so on the s how were a numbe r o f C h i c ago a re a home s chool i ng f a m i l i e s who had managed to g e t in t h e s t ud i o aud i e nc e . A l l t he f a m i l i e s s poke e l oquent ly and conv i nc i ng l y about home s choo l i ng , and t he o l d e r c h i ldren , Andrea K inmont and J u l i a Van Damm , were t he s tronge s t a rgument o f a l l ; t h e y c e r t a i n l y d i s po s ed o f t h e n o t i on t ha t home s c hoo l e d c h i l dren woul d s omehow be out of p l a c e i n the " R e a l \.Jor l d . " What w i t h t h e show i t s e l f , and s pe nd i ng a n i gh t i n a b i g h o t e l , r i d i ng u p and down the g l a s s- s i d ed e l eva t ors , e a t ing mea l s in t h e room , and s e e i ng C h i cago a f t e r t h e s how , i t w a s an e x c i t ing and happy o c c a s i on f o r t he f a m i l i e s . A f te r t h e s how , I t a ped a one-hour rad i o show on WFMT w i th my o ld f r i end S tuds Te rke l , who s e pro g r am is heard a l l over the c ount ry . On S e p t . 30 , E i l een and Spenc e r T romb l y ( CT ) , the i r daugh t e r Sarah , a nd I appeared on the na t ion-w i d e TV s how "G. o od Morn i ng , Ame r i ca . " The for m a t o f the s how on l y gave us about s even or e i ght m i nut e s to s peak our p ie c e . Neve rthele s s , I heard l a t e r f rom m y publ i s hers t h a t our s egment c re a t e d t he l arge s t r e s ponse ( phone a nd m a i l ) t h a t "Good Morning , Amer i c a " ha s ever re c e i ved . Then on Nov . 3 , 1 2-year-o l d H o l l y H i l l e s t a d ( MN ) and I t a ped t he C BS-TV news s how , "Up To The M i nut e , " w i th t wo o t h e r gue s t s t a k i ng t h e o ppos i ng s id e and H a r r y R e a s oner a s h o s t . One o f o u r " opponent s , " former U . S . Comm i s s i oner of Educ a t i on Ern�st Boye r , s a i d t hat he t hough t t ha t fa m i l i e s who want e d to t each t he i r own c h i l d ren should be a l l owed to do s o - an i mportant c onc e s s i on . L a t e r that s ame week a w r i t e r a nd a phot ographer f rom P e o l e maga z i ne c ame to the o f f i c e t o o an i n t e rv i ew w i th me and , the next day, w i t h t he Mahe r fami l y in Wake f i e l d . The wri t e r , who was very s ympa the tic a nd we l l - informed , taped at lea s t e i ght hours o f t a l k , and f o r t h e maga zine ' s e d i tors t o boil a l l t h i s down to a P 7opl e - l ength s t ory w i l l- take s ome t 1 me . Meamvh i l e , t h e D e c . ' 8 1 i s sue o f Yankee magazine has a v e r y good a r t i cre about me b y my f r i end Me l A l l e n . One of the n i c e s t th ings i n i t i s a wonderful pho t o , t a ken by ano ther f r i end , Ed Braverman ( who t ook the c over pho t o for NEVER TOO LATE ) , o f s ix-year-old V i ta Wa l l ac e and m e pla y i ng v i o l i n and c e l l o . Along w i t h a l l t h i s I have done l i ve t e le phone rad i o i n t e rv i ews w i t h s t a t i ons i n Ok l ahoma C i ty , Wash i ng t on , Toronto , Grand R a p id s , Bos t on ,
a
San Franc i s c o , and De t ro i t . M o s t o f the s e s hows were e x c e l l e nt . The s e s hows g i ve o t h e r home s c ho o l organ i za t i ons a chance to make thems e l ve s known - f o r example , P a t Montgomery c a l l ed in to the De t ro i t show to t e l l about h e r Home B a s e d Educ a t i on Pro gram . There are t hous ands of t h e s e rad i o shows ar ound t he c ount ry ; l e t ' s use t hem as much a s we c a n . And we had a t h i rd v i s i t or t o t he o f f i c e f rom J a p a n - M i s s Kaoru C h i kamoc h i , a k i nd erga r t e n t ea c h e r . Wh i l e in the U . S . , she v i s i t ed many k ind erga r t en c l a s s e s a round t h e c ount ry ; s h e was surpr i s ed and d i s a ppo i n t e d t o f ind that so f e w c h i l d r e n looked happy . S h e s a id t h a t p r e s sure i n Ja pane s e s choo l s d i d not be g i n unt i l l a t e r , a round j un i o r h i gh schoo l . Most Japane s e f e e l s t rong l y t h a t i t i s v e r y i mpor tant t h a t l i t t l e c h i l d ren , whe th e r out o f s c h o o l or i n , be happy . I sa id t h a t I f eared that many Ame r i cans did not put a very h i gh v a l u e on the h a p p i ne s s G f c h i l d ren . A l l i n a l l , we h a d a mo s t p l e a s ant v i s i t . Busy t i me s ' - - - John Hol t COM I NG SC H ED UL E
J a n 2 7 , 1 9 8 2 : Kenne saw J un i o r C o l l ege , Mar i e t t a GA . 9 AM . Cont a c t Kath l e e n G i l d ea , 404-4 2 2 -8770 x 2 6 8 . Jan 28 ( t ent . ) : " Future o f Pub l ic Educa t i on , " Congr e s s i ona l C l e a r i nghou s e on t h e Future , Ame r i c a 2000 s e ri e s . 9 - 1 1 AM pane l . Rep . A l b e r t Gore , Cha i r , W a s h i ngton D C 2 0 5 1 5; 202 - 2 2 5 -3 1 53 . Feb 1 2 : W a t e r l oo Count y Teachers Pro f e s s i ona l Devel opment , K i t chener Valhalla I nn , Cambr i dge , Ont a r i o . Con tact Pame l a Cons t able , Glenv i e w Park Sec ondary S chool . Mar 13 : I nd i anapo l i s Counc i l o f P r e s c h o o l Coopera t i ve s , Ind i anapo l i s IN . Keyno t e add r e s s & worksho p s . Con t a c t Sa l ly Zwe i g , ConE . Cha i r . , 3 1 72 57 - 8 2 7 5 . To reg i s t er, s e nd SASE: 5163 N I l l i no i s , Ind i anapo l i s 4 6 2 0 8 . Mar 1 7- 2 6 : S t ockholm and s i x o t h e r Swed i s h c i t i e s . Arranged by Ake B y s t rom , L i nkop ing , Sweden . ( We a l s o hope t o arrange engagemen t s in Den mark , Eng l and , I c eland , and po s s i b l y other c ount r i es . ) OFF I C E H E L P
I ' d l i ke t o thank t h e v o l u n t e e r s who , by be ing w i l l ing t o t a c k l e more and more d i f f e rent jobs , have made i t pos s i b l e for John t o t ravel and wr i t e , Peggy to do the a c c ount s and t ra v e l a rrangemen t s , T i m to hand l e t he inc rea s i ng number o f subs and book order s , and me to g e t t h i s i s sue of t he magazine out on t i me . In par t i c u l ar : Racha e l Solem for be i ng w i l l i ng t o hand l e t h e hundreds o f info reque s t s tha t have come i n sinc e the Dona hue sh ow in O c t ober; Wanda Rezac and Mary Mahe r for t y ping; Sco t t Layson , Dawn Reger , and Lynn Kapplow for word pcocess ing; Conn i e B e rnhardt and Reba Karban for sort i ng ma i l ; and a l l t he o t h e rs who have hel ped in t he o f f i c e or a t home . As the work l oad i n the o f f i c e c on t i nu e s to grow, we have to d e p end more and more on vo l un teer s , and I am amazed and d e e p l y gra t e fu l t o f i nd so many p e op l e w i l l i ng t o h e l p . I want to apologize for one job that has fa l l en t h r ough the c racks a s the work p i l e s up - ans w e r i ng mai l . We ' ve been a b l e t o handle "bus i n e s s " let t e r s promptl y , b u L t h o s e o f you who s e nd beau t i fu l , p e r s ona l , newsy l e t t e r s , or who have sent us a r t i -
c l e s , or w h o h a v e a sked us que s t i ons , m a y be wond e r i ng whe th e r we ever got them . Things have been so bus y l a t e l y t h a t t h e r e s i m p l y h a s n ' t been t ime t o a cknow l edge e a c h l e t t e r , t hough I w i s h we c o ul d . We' l l keep look i ng for be t t e r wa y s t o do the ma i l ; mean w h i le, c an I w i pe t he s l a t e c l e a n by one b i g THANK YOU t o eve ryone who has w r i t t en u s ? W e l ove heari ng f rom you ' Thanks a l s o t o a l l of you who enc l o s e . s e l f-add r e s s ed s t amped env e l op e s when y o u expe c t a reply - that doe s i ndeed save us t ime and mone y . Ano t h e r way you c a n save us t ime i s t o t e l l u s when you w r i t e wh e t h e r i t ' s OK t o p r i nt a n y pa r t o f y o u r l e t t e r i n GWS , and whe t h e r or not we should i nc l ud e your name w i th t he s t ory . F i n a l l y , i f anyone c o u l d c ons i der com i ng t o B o s t on f o r a p e r i od o f t i me - s a y , 2-3 weeks - t o vo l un t e e r i n the o f f i c e , p l e a s e l e t us know . You c ould s ta y w i t h a s t a f f member or GWS reade r i n t h e a r e a , and we wou l d be more t h a n happy t o s how y o u how t o do t h e v a r i ous o f f i c e proc edure s . Th i s o f f er· i s open t o anyone o l d enough t o b e r e s pons i b l e f o r t rave l l ing and t ak i ng c a r e o f h i m/ he r s e l f . ( Good t y p i s t s e spe c ia l ly welcome . ) --- Donna R i choux E NJ OY I NG P U BL IC I TY
Tho s e o f you who saw t he r e c e n t Donahue show m a y remember t he energe t i c woman near t h e f ront o f the aud i ence who shared h e r ent hus i a sm about home-s choo l i ng - that was Sue McG a r t l and ( I L ) , who w a s t h e re w i t h h e r h u s band Mark ( GW S #2 1 ) and c h i ld ren Dawn and Nathan . A f t e r t h e s how , Mark w r o t e us : . . . Be fore g o i ng to C h i cago .1 phoned t h e l o c a l supe r i nt endent t o l e t h i m know a bout t h e program , a s o u r po l i c y h a s a l ways b e e n t o a v o i d s urp r i se s . I i nqu i r ed i f h e had r e c e i ved any nega t ive f eedback from anyone i n the one and a hal f y e a r s we have been home educ a t i ng . He r e s pond ed that we have been so l ow-key t ha t proba b l y very f e w peop l e knew about us . Howeve r , the s i tuat i on i s chang i ng rapi dly s i nc e t he show, as many saw us on TV , two newspa pe rs have a s ked t o do s t o r i e s , and the show w i l l be broadc a s t again in our t own Nov . 18 on a d i f fe rent channe l . Of a l l the people who have told us they s a w us on TV , none has been nega t i ve , c o n t r a r y t o aud i ence r e s ponse during the s how . Wha t l l i ke bes t so f a r i s the a t t i tude of the p r i nc i p a l and super int endent , whi ch is "Loca l fa m i l v mak e s t h e b i g t i me . " Far f rom be i ng threatened , t h e y a re e n j oy i ng our exer c i s e i n c oope rat i on between the s c hool and our fami l y . . . ·'V I CTORY' V I CTORY
A reader sent t h i s le t t er from t he C a t ho l i c c o r r e s pond ence s choo l OUR LADY OF VICTORY ! PO Box 1 181 . M i s s i on H i l l s CA 9 1 14 5 ) : . . . The s t a t e of Oh i o h a s been a t ough s t a t e in wh i ch to e s t a bl i sh a pri v a t e s c hoo l , much l e s s a corres pon dence program . We a re p l ea s ed to announc e t h a t two fami l ies i n the Home S tudy Program of Our Lndv o[ V i c t ory School have i n s i s t ed on Lhe i r God-g1ven r i gh t s t o educate t h e i r ch i l dren a t home, AND THEY WON! . . . In Apri l , t wo otOUi: pa ren t s