GROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING 7T Some people ask, 'How will children learn ri$or, or selfdisctpline, tf they don't $o to school?' Behind this question is the
assumpgon thai the motlr4ation to stlck with somethlng until it ts learned or done, even tf the learning or doin$ is difllcult, comes from being requlred to do so. People ln school worry about concentratlon, aboul'ilme on task,' about perseverance' Conventional school wisdom supposes that lettturg children do 'whatever they want' makes rigor lmpossible - alter all, if no one is makin$you finish the assignment, why would you bother to stay with lt once it became
Nathaniel McAlpine wrltes about learnlng to ride a b: thls lssue's Focus on When Iâ‚Źarntng is
INSIDE THIS ISSUE: News
&Reports p.2-3
New Rules ln Ohlo, Newlaw
in
Maine, NEA Resoluttons
Ftndlng Homeschoolers ln Flctlon p.4 Recognlzlng a Chlld's Soclal Needs p.5-6 Challenges & Concerns p.6-9 When Siblings Compare, Worldng Outslde the Home, Children's Flghts
Watchlng Chlldren Learn p.
9-ll,
p. 34-35
What He Needed, PutUng on PlaY, I-eaming from Other Children, from Siblings, What Hands-On ReallY Means
FOCUS: When Learnlng ls
Frustratlng or Dlfrleult p. 29-31
The Problem of Professlonallzatlon:
Intervlew wlth John McKnt$ht p. 32-33
Older Homeschoolers p. 33-34 The Structured-Unstructured Dlchotomy p.35-36
Should Standardlzed Tests Be Used to Judgle Homeschoolers? p. 36-37
frustrating? For this tssue of GWS we asked several young readers of the magazine to write about the experience of learning or mastering, frustrating or dtlllcult. Their letters demonstrate Just how "oti.thtng v/i1ing children who iearn outside of school are to persevere, to work Urrough dtfflculttes, and they teach us somethlng lmportant about the source of rigor and self-disctpline and the conditlons under which they flourish. Here is Mar5rrose Dolezal talking about her struggle to figure out how to tell time: 'I kept at it because I hated being places where I needed orwanted to flgure outwhat Ume ltwas, but couldn't"' Itwas very frustratlng for me, but I'm glad I kept at lt, because now I know how to tell timi.'And here isJamie Smith talking about how she pulled herself out of a slump in herwork on the piano: "I found that the more challenging the pieces were that I played' the more interested I became ana trte harder I worked.'Anneke chodan says that it was because she "really enjoyed swimming' that she worked at it even though she is, by her own description, 'not a naturally athletic person.' The source of rigor and self-discipline, then, is the work itself' John Holt wrote in GWS #29: 'Good work requlres a klnd of selflessness, a purity of motive, a willingness to submit oneself to the requirementi not of the boss but of the task...' The requirements of the task, the demands it makes on us, are what tnspire us to keep at it.
But the source of self-discipline is also, as Nancy Wallace has polnted out, our relationship to the task at hand. She says, 'Children wlll never learn self-discipline as a skill separate from the work they perceive as their real work.' A task demands self-discipline if we feel ourselves engaged with it, if we have chosen it and thus chosen to submit to its requirements. Mar5rrose wanted, for her own reasons, to learn how to tell time, and so she gave herself to the demands of the task and got, at the end, the simple reward of krawirE twtts to tell time. Learning, then, is a matter of the relationship between the learner and his or her chosen work. Anything else - gold stars' grades, movlng up to the next workbook - is extraneous. Because th" young people who have written for this issue have a relationship wlth what they are trying to learn, they are able to figure out what they need to do tn order to learn it. Sometimes they cope with dtfllculttes that arise by takfng a break for a whtle. Sometlmes they involve other people in the task. Sometimes they simply remind themselves of how much they do want to swim or tell time or write a story. Having figured out what helped them in this one lnstance, they now have a basis for suspecUng that something similar might work the next time they are frustrated (although they will likely also discover that different tasks require different methods of working through difficulty). We don't have to make children rlgorous or disctplined. Interesting things to do, and children's natural desire for mastery' compeSusannah Sheffer tence, and growth, wtll do the job.
-
2
OFFICE NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
NEWS
NEW LAW IN MAINE
[SS:] We're ail delighted to announce
the arrival of Alison Huse Farenga, who was born on August lTth (which, coincidentally, ls her mother Day's own birthday). All the Farengas are well, and, as we said in GWS #7O, Day will be back tn the olBc.e part-time - wtth Alison, of course ln a couple of months. By the time you rec€ive this lssue, Leanfig AU The Ttrne, the AddisonWesley book collection of John Holt's previously uncollected pieces, should be available. It helps us if you buy the book directly from us, but it also helps if you ask bookstores in your ar€a to car4r the book. And if any of you are in a position to review the book for your local newspapers, or know anyone who might want to review it for a large paper or magazine, please let us know. Look fora chapterofthe book,
with a short biographical sketch ofJohn, in the November issue of Parents maga-
zlne. Pat Farenga's article on homeschoolers and college is expected to be in the fall t:,"sue of Mothenng, so keep your eyes open for that. I wrote a short piece about homeschooling for ParentGuide, a New York City magazine; I'm not sure when it will aPpear. As we go to press, we are about to
& REPORTS
hold
our annual 'Remembering John Holt' evening on the anniversary of his death (September l4th). Pat Farenga and I will
speak at our local Cambridge Public Ltbrary on the lSth; the librarians are interested in learning how libraries can help homeschoolers (and vice-versa), so if you have any suggestions from your own experience, do let us know. We expect to be in touch with the librarians even after the
l8th.
As you can se€, this lssue of GWS contalns our fall 1989 John Holt's Book and Music Store catalog, rrrith lots of new items. (The catalog will NOT be bound into subsequent printings of this issue.) Please note the deadline for Christmas deliverv so you won't be disappotnted. We're grateful to those of you who send us legislative and related news from around the coung. This is how we find out about such news, so please keep sending it and don't assume that someone else has told us. We'd rather hear something twice than not hear it at all.
BeginningJanua4r l, 199O, a complete set of our back issues will cost $125 plus postage. We are offering our subscribers a chance to purchase a set while the postaee paid - is still in old rate - $lOO postage effect. Please take advantage of it. We li that it's often hard for an individual familv to order a set on its o\rm; perhaps "o*. oi you will get together on this - five people can each pay $2O, or a support groupcan order a set for its library. You'll notice that our fall catalog lists the netu back issue price. The $lOO rate, and the January I deadline, applies to subscribers onlg, When you order at the $lOO rate, be sure to let us know that vou are tndeed a current subscriber. Thanlis.
The governor of Maine signed new homeschoollng legtsladon, Pubhc [.aw Chapter 537, on July 7, 1989. The law was passed as emergency legisla$on, wtrich means lt takes ellect tmmediately, so that It would be ln eflect ln time for the 1989-90 school year. It requlres homeschoolers to flle simultaneous applicatlons with the local supertntendent and the Commissioner of Educadon. The Commissioner is then responsible for approving or denying the homeschooling request (whereas under the old law, local school districts had this responsibtltty). The local school boards do review the applications, however. From the law: -The purpose of local revlew shall only be to facilitate cooperation between local educators and students receiving equivalent lnstruction and to permit local boards and educators to provlde tnitial review of the applicadon for compleflon of informadon requlred by state rules. Within 3O days of receipt of the applicatlon, the local board shall submit its cornments on the completeness of the application to the commlssloner. Wtthin 30 days of receipt of local c.omments, the commissioner, using state criteria established by rule, shall decide whether to
approve the equivalent lnstruction application. If the commlssioner denies the application, the appltcant may, within 3O days of recelving the denial, amend and resubmit the application dircctly to the commissioner. The commlssioner shall make a decision within 30 days of receiving the amended application.' Steve Moitozo of the MAINE HOMESCHOOLASSOCIATION tells us that the Department of Education ls now required to develop rules that wtll gulde the tmplementafion of the law, and homeschmlers are preparing to testiff at public hearings about these rules.
NEW RULES IN OHIO The Ohto State Board of Educa$on
unanlmously passed new Rules for Excuses fmm Compulsory Education for Home Education on July lOth, accnrding to homeschooler Jim Shaw. The Rules, l, require prospective homeschooling parents to give
which took eflect on August
superintendents the following information: name, address, and other such inforrnation; assurance that home education will include certain sublecs (the list includes the usual scho6l subJects, with a clause sa5ring "except that home education shall not be required to include any concept, topic, or practlc€ that ls ln conJlict wtth the sincerely held reltgtous beltefs of the parent'; a brief outline, 'for informational purposes only," of the year's curriculum; a list of textbooks, correspondence
courses, or'other basic teaching materials," also 'for informatlonal purposes only'; assurance that the child \^rill be provided a rninimum of nlne hundred hours ofhome education each school yeaC; assurance that the teacher has one
of the following qualificadons: high
school diploma or certificate of equivalence, standardized test scores that demonstrate htgh school equlvalence, or "other equlvalent credential found appropriate by the superintendent.' Parents who can provide none of these must work under the direction of someone with a BA degree 'until the child's test results demonstrate reasonable proliciency or until the home teacher obtains a high school diploma." Superintendents who determine that what a parent has submitted is not in compliance witJl the Rules must state in writing 'the specilic respects i-n which the informadon is incornplete." The parent then has the option of supplying the addi-
tional lnformatlon in wridng, or meeting with the superintendent to supply it in person. If the addiflonal lnformation still does not meet the requirements of the
Rules, the superintendent may deny the excuse from compulsory attendance. Parents have the right to a due process hearing before tJle superintendent about such a denial. The new Rules also speciff that parents must send an "academic assessment report' to the superintendent at the end of each school year. The report must include one of the following: standardized test scores above the 25th percentile; a written review, prepared by a certified teacher or other person mutually agreed upon by the superintendent and the family, of a portfolio of the child's work; or an alternative, mutually-agSeed-upon form of assess-
ment. If the assessment shows the superintendent that the child is not'demonstrat-
ing reasonable proliciency,' the parents must submit 'an appropriate plan of remediation,' which means thev must submit quarterly reports evaluittng the child's progress and giving an erplanation if the child has not made satisfactorv
progress in a particular subject, Though these Rules have been passed, homeschoolers continue to be interested in passing new legislation in Ohio. HB 217 passed out of the Education Committee on June 27 but did not make it to the floor for a vote before the legislature's summer recess. It is likely that the bill will come up for a vote when tJle legislature reconvenes in the fall. Jim Shaw writes, "Even though we now have the Rules to work with, homeschoolers still want a new law. We feel the legislature is much more responsive to the people than the Department of Education and that the law will not change as easily as the Rules. Our letters to legislators have received many responses, but we haven't received one response from Department of Education members or State Board of Education members."
OTHER LOCAL NEWS For addresses oJ state and. Ircaj gttoups, see GWS #66 or our HomeschrcIing Resource L;ist, available Jor $2.50.
Manitoba: Charles Small wrote in
the July newsletter of the MANITOBA ASSOCIATION FOR SCHOOLING AT HOME that on May 12 four MASH repre-
GROWING WITHOI.]-T SCHOOLING #7I
3
with the provlnce's Deputy Minister of Educafion to discuss prospective changes to Manitoba s home education policy. One posslble change would
says that these resolutions are tonnol btent, fuLieJ, or posftlrrn oJ the Assxiation"'
give greater control orrcr homeschooling to local school authorltles, and MASH representatives said that their group prefers the current sltuaHon, ln whtch control over homeschooltng ts centr:allzed and unlform. MA.SH wtll contlnue to
Homc Scboollng. The National Educaflon Assocladon belteves that homeschoollng programs cannot provide
sentaUves met
monitor the Department of Educatlon's work on home educatlon policies ln the c.oming months.
Mer5rland: Manfred Smith wrote ln the Spring issue of the MARYI.AND HOME EDUCATION ASSOCIATION newsletter that the State Department of Education changed the HomE InstrucUon W-l,aw
slightly to edit out se',reral lnconsistencies, pardcularly one whlch had required families using an approved correspon-
erq2ressions oJ opinloa
the student with a comprehensive educaUon experlence. The Associ,atlon belleves that, lf hyl parental preference homeschooltng occurs, students enrolled must meet all state requir,ements. Instmctlon should be by persons who are lic.ensed by the appropriate state educatlon llcensure agency, and a currlculum approved by the state departrnent ofeducadon should be used. The Association further belleves that such homeschoollng programs should be Limited to the children of the immediate family, with all expenses belng borne by the parents.
dence course to be monltored bv the local
school district as well.
Ncw YorL: The Educaflon Depart-
ment has been meeUng wlth the Home Instnrction Advisory Commlttee (a group of home education leaders), superintendents, and school board representatives to review the home lnstructton reguladon that was passed in June 1988 (see GWS #62, #6,4), according to the July lssue of t}:'e Home Schoolrers' Erctange newsletter. Homeschoolers have proposed several changes to the regulation, tncluding alternatives to standarrdlzed testing and the establishment of a mediation procedure for the resoludon of disagreements between homeschoolers and superintendents. According to the Home Schoolers' Erahatge, the superlntendents accepted these changes but the school board representaUves refused to c.onsider them. Homeschoolers are worklng to convince the Board ofRegents that the current regulation does indeed need revision. Rhodc Island: Homeschooler Betsy Capezio writes: 'We are waiting on a ruling fty the Commissioner of Education) on three cases which will allect vear-end standardlzed testing here (te;thg tsn't required by statute but in reality it is requested by almost all school districts). The ruling will alTect parents' ability to choose which test they want, choose the site of the test, and choose the test giver.'
Vermont: Homeschooler Erik
Nielsen writes: 'Desplte the best efforts of a number of people, the Vermont legislature passed a bill requested by the Department of Education whlch gives tJle Department greater control over private schools
and narrows the options for homeschml-
ers. As of July f , 1990, Vermont famllies who wish to homeschool may no longer register as prlvate schools, but must be enrolled in the state-run home-study program. Glven the rec€nt caurt decision in Maine lsee GWS #68] dealing with a similar set of circumstances, lawsults seem unlikely to topple the new law, but we mustwait and see.'
NEA RESOLUTIONS ON HOMESCHOOLING F-rom
the 1989-90 resolutions
oJ the
National &l'ucation Assoctatioru as qtnted in tle &ptemfur 1989 issue oJNEA
Tday.
The Jorewotd.
to
tle
resolutions
ISS:I In GWS #62 we printed parts of an article ln another NEA newsletter that
was devoted to the concern that'the homeschooling movement is underminireg ellorts to lmprove educadon.' We said then, as we say again now, that the NEA is not ln a position to make actual decislons about homeschooltng, but they are a powerful lobbying group when it comes to state bills, so it's important to be aware of what they're saylng about homeschooling. I conUnue to find lt tnteresdng that the NEA ls sure homeschooling conrlot provlde students with a comprehensive education erqperlence. Even one counterexample ls supposed to be enougfi to dlsprove such generallzatlons - but I guess tf they don't look for counterexamples they don't llnd them.
SPEAKING TO COLLEGE CLASS bnda Holzfuur
(NY) wriles:
I spoke this pastyear to three classes of Educational Psycholory students at SUNY Cortland (part of the state universit5r system). Educa$onal Psychology is a required cours€ for all education students and my recepflon was very interesdng. Almost all the students were very open to and erren eager to hear about homeschooling, especially the female students. In all three classes there were onlv one or two who were really offended by the idea, their reasons almost all being the sports team/ socializatlon type of objections. It was lnteresdng that the Gw minority students present were always very enthuslasdc (whereas tn Phtladelphia, where I used to live, minorit5r administrators and politiclans were very opposed to homeschooltng) and took dme after class to express a hope for real socletal change through alternatlves such as homeschoollng. Of course I assume that some of that attltude can be attributed to my presentation since one of our reasons for homeschoollng ls our belief that the present school system preserves the status quo
enough to find others who are sympatheilc, and the surrounding counties have beautlful, reasonably-priced rural properHes. We are movlng soon into a cooperatlve cornrnunity wtrtch will (we hope) be able to start a land-based business to support us all (three families so far) someday soon.
HOMESCHOOLERS AREN'T SHELTERED Ellen kcker (NM) wrote in response to an article that uas publtshed in the 4 / 30 / 89 tssue oJThe New Mexican:
While raising many good points, your
arilcle on homeschooling did a disservice to the majority of families who have opted to offer their children home-centered education. These families do so not to 'escape' the evils of immoral teachings or to shteld their chtldren from the 'real world." On the contraq/, their choice is based on precisely the feeling ttrat education is not limited to a desk and four walls containing 30 children, all the same age. [Home educationl is an expansive choice, not a restrictive one. Children have many more opportunities to experience the real world since they are not limited to a school setting. The viewpoint of some of the officials quoted [tn the articlel is disturbing. When Mr. Anderson speaks of the 'big bad world out there' that homeschoolers won't know about due to their "sheltered home
envlronment,' I question both his logic and his atfltude. F'irst, the nodon that we should lnstill in our children the idea that the world is a big bad scary place in which they are pr€y to untold evils, and the only way to live in this world is to learn to "survive." Rather than fostering survival sktlls to learn to cope with assaults at school, why not make the playgrounds a safe place for the children who must use them and, at the very least, monitor the "bullies" whose behavior would be considered crirninal if committed by adults in the "real world"? In any case, bullies are to be found wer5rwhere, not just on school playgrounds. No one I know restricts their children to the home to keep them safe from the 'bullies and freakies" Mr. Anderson is so anxious to expose our children to. Indeed, it is a much mor€ 'real world' experience to encounter brutality and unfairness in the context of a broad framework that includes a sense of lustice and self-worth fostered by the'prolecUon' and respect [Mr. Andersonl views as so damaging. All the chlldren I know are familiar with bullies and other unpleasant realities; they Just don't view themselves as trapped victims who must perfect their own bullying skills tf they wish to surrive...
and lnsures failure and hopelessness ln certaln groups. Thank you for your concentratlon on communit5r in tJ-e last issues of GWS. We
GROWING WITFIOUT SCHOOLING #7 I, Yol. 12 No. 5. ISSN *0745-5305. Published bi-monthly by Holt Associates, 2269 Massachusctts Avenue, Cambrtdgp MA O2l4O.$2O/W. Datc of lssuc: October I, 19a9. Second-class postage paid at Boston. MA. POSTMASTER: Send addrcss changes to GWS, 2269 Massachusetts Avenue , Cambridgc MA 02r4O.
have moved several dmes because we needed a community we could not create.
ADVERTISERS: Deadlines are the lSth ofodd-
Finally, we have found it here. Ithaca itself is the center of a comrnunitv small
GROWING WITHOI.JT SCHOOLING #77
numbered months. Contact Patrick Farenga for rates.
4
FINDING HOMESCHOOLERS IN FICTION I
Wendg Mafiyna. (CN utrltes: Do you know of any liction that portrays tlle lives of homeschooled children? In reading, my children get the idea that the only homeschooled children in books are ones who lived long ago, "before there were schools." We know that even long ago, many children were homeschooled not only because oflack ofnearby schools, bui also for the same reasions that we do homeschooling today. It would be useful to know about books tl at rellect the rvide range of homeschoollng experlences in our countqr's past. While true stories about past homeschoolers would teach us much, flctlon would offer us particular pleasures. Ficflonal characters are so real to us, becoming a part of our llves and our memories, and it is always special to ffnd one who dtdn't go to school. We recently found a passage ln William Rawls's Where the Red Fem Grous in whdch the countw boy explains to the town child that he ' leams at home. The country boy does not even recogn?e what a school is when he first sees one fur a town (he sees the school at recess dme, and thinks that a rlch man must be thrcwing a party for all the children playing out in front of his
mansion). The passage goes: 'One boy, spying me standing on the corner, carne over. looking me up and down, he asked, 'Do you go to school here?'
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satd. 'School?' He said, 'Sure. School. What did vou think it was?' 'Oh. No, I don't go to school here.' 'Do you go to Jeflerson?' 'No, I don't go there either.'
'Don't you go to school at all?' 'Sure I go to school.' 'Where?' 'At home.' You go to school at home?' I nodded. "\Iy'hat grade are you ln?' I satd I wasn't tn any grade. Puzzled, he said, You go to school at home, and don't know what grade you're tn. Who teaches you?'
'My mother.'
"What does she teach you?'
I satd, 'Reading, writing, and arithmetic, and I bet I'mJust as good at it as you
are.''
As wonderful as
it is to come
across
flctional homeschoolers in any time
period, tt would be even more special to read about the lives of boys and girls who are homeschooled in c.ontempora4r times. Wtth homeschooling (as with so mzrny aspects of our lives), we rarely lind our experience reflected in contemporary
culture.
It occurs to me that our most-loved books are those whose action takes place outside of school, where the difference in daily life between being schooled and being homeschooled does not flgure so greatly. In the Chronbles o.f Natnia for example, none of the four main characters is ever actually in the schoolroom, though school figures as a backdrop in their lives. In the great works of Cynthia Voigt (such as Homecombtg), the children are most often on thelr own. In so many of our cherished books, what the children are doing that is strong and true and worthy of knowtng about takes place ln thelr lives outside of school. What we have yet to ftnd is a book about a child of today, whose life ls like ours, whose learning is a part of his or her everyday life, whose days are not ordered by school buses and school bells. In these dmes when there are still so few contemporary writings about homeschooled children, it may be that nonfiction ls the way for children to read of other homeschooling experiences. Accounts of daily life of homeschoolers, such as Narrcy Wallace's Better Thar. School, can be useful. But most - if not all of these accounts are written primarily to adults, and contain reflectlon about the children's experience from the adult's perspective. While this is of course important, the other need I am speaking about is not served by this lidnd of writing - to see a life alive on its own terms in a storv. We need new classics in which the chiracters are homeschooled, in which the characters' lives can illustrate and suggest the
potential of life lived wholly outside of school. In the meantime, let's share our finds - passages or whole books about children who grow without schooling - with each other.
[SS:]
I
reptied:
I think you're right that
homeschool-
ers need to see themselves represented in literature - and not, it would seem to me,
always ln books that are specifically about homeschooling, but simply in books in which the central character happens not to go to school fust as a black child doesn't always need to read books in which race is the dominant theme, but does need to read books in which characters are black). For a while we probably will, as you suggest, have to rely on books in which the characters may technically go to school but ln which school is not central to the story. I can think of several good ones - the AU-OJ-A-Kind Fanily series, for example,
which you probably know, and Harriet tle Spg. George Dennison's Luisa Domrb is a wonderful example of farnily life (and it's contemporary, too) - the children in the book do in fact go to school, but we don't hear about that in the story; what we see are all the things they do at home, together. I recommend the book strongly (it's also beautifully written). Another is Annie Dillard's An American ChIldhmd. also beautifully written. It's the author's memories of her childhood. and what she talks about, mostly, is all the discovering and figuring out that she did on her own. I think also of Katharine Houk s book, We Learn at Home, which we sell here and which is designed to meet the need you talk about, for very young children. There's a unnderjul book called A Time to Flg Ftee, by Stephanie Tolan, that is, alas, out of print. It's about a lO-yearold boy who hates school and manages to convince his family to let him stop going, and then apprentices himself to a nErn who helps wounded wildlife. The book is wonderful in many ways, but the thing I think of especially is that the boy's boredom in school, and dislike of it, is, for a change, treated as reasonable and worth doing something about. If I were you I would make every elfort to find this book in a library or used bookstore. I also agree witJl you about nonfiction, and I think GWS is doing something about this. If you look through the past several issues I think you'll see that many
children and teenagers have written letters which give a vivid picture of their lives - and in #68 there are those discussions with two mothers and daughters, ' which are another opportunity to hear from young people directly. Of course I want to have more and more of this in the magazine, but I think there's a lot of it already, and maybe you can call these letters to the attention of vour children when it makes sense to do that.
Homeschooled children will probably have to write their own liction for a while, too. There are all sorts ofwavs to see other homeschoolers' fiction - lots of local publications, and I've heard of groups getttng together for small workshops, too, so gradually, as kids write stories with characters who leam outside of school, and read others, a sense that there is a
body of work wlll develop.
GROWING WITFIOLN SCHOOLING #7I
RECOGNIZING A CHLID'S SOCIAL NEEDS FINDING FRIENDS OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL lcslle McCdgirr
(I<Y) usrltes:
I wanted to respond to Cectly Stern's
letter ["Homeschooling an Only Child,'
GWS #7Ol wen thougfr we don't have an only cbild. My daughter, Candra, turned 5 in July, and our son, Calen, turned 2 ln
June. I was struck by how similar Cecily's daug;hter Cdtlin and our Candra seemed. Candr:a was extremely soctally-orlented from earliest lnfancy. She has always made great demands on our tlme, and ls happiest when engaged in acdvifies that involve another person, particularly fantasy play, I have often thougfrt that she would probably enJoy rrany aspects of school, would probably be a leader, and would probably make friends fatrly easlly
at school. In fact, at one point I was bec.omlng concemed that she was unable to spend
any significant amount of time in solitary play. This has resolved ltself somewhat this past year slnce I qutt worktng fulltirne. Now that I am home almost all the time I become involved in projects of my own (canning, paperwork for my parttime job, household chores, etc.), and Calen often goes olf on hls own to play. Besides, he ls not an endrely satisfactory play partner for Candra yet, slnce he can't engage in the kind ofverbal fantasy play she enjoys so much, and he has a preoccupation with vehicle play. So Candra has been left to amuse herself even more than she was before Calen was born.
We live ln a rural area, twenty miles from the town we do most of our actlvities in, and fifteen miles from a smaller town. I have had moments of worr5rtng that the children will have dilliculty llnding friends. Candra, like Cecily's daughter, has had a long-dme best friend, although she
doesn't see her very often. She has made nrany new friends this year in a variety of ways. We met one family of homeschoolers through GWS and have been to each other's houses for 'pony day.' This just means people who have ponles bring them and children who like to ride are invited. Then Candra met another boy through a Kindermusik class she was taldng. I have since gotten to know hls mother qulte well. She ls a third-grade teacher who is very disillusioned with teaching and wants to quit after thls year and homeschool her children. She and I both hope to keep having play dates for the children, possibly in the evenings or on weekends. Candra made another friend at a babysitter's she has gone to occasionally. Although the babysitter is close to town, the friend turned out to live qulte near us and is starting lidndergarten in the school district we live ln. Candra recently became lnvolved in a theater workshop/play production in the small town flfteen miles away and just lives for play practice. And last week my husband took her to her lirst sheep club meeting. So you can see I have had to put forth some effort to provide socialization experiences, but the car rides have seemed
to be worth it. For her btrthday party thfs year we had to lfunit her to serrenteen guests (quite avariety ofages). Also, because of the envlronment we are providing for our children, our house has becnme quite popular with the vistting
grandchlldren and great-grandchlldren next door (they vtslt quite often), and the older netghbor children down the road. We have two ponies, a variety of farm animals, an interesilng playhouse, lots of dress-up clothes, tnteresflng musical lnstruments, palnts and modeltng materlals always avallable, and lnteresting projects going on as we llx up our rninifarm. So chlldren love to come up to our house.
There are fimes when I have wtshed other children were more available, but I am crnvlncrd that most of the school day, were Candra to go, would be a tremendous mlsuse of her time. She ls such a self-
directed leamer. and I don't want to see that drlve thwarted ln school. Besides, even the children who go to school around here complain a lot about not having p[aymates, Just because we live in the cpuntry. The one famtly down the road with school-age children that spend a lot of tlme at our house do think they couldn't flnd peers without school - however, I remain unconvinc.ed of this, and in the next breath they complain that there ls no one to play with (and nothing to do, etc.). They are good examples of bastcally nice kids from a nice family who have leamed to expect to be entertained, and the boy, who is not avery good student, has developed a very low self-concept slnce he
, The nextyear, whenSarahwas 7, her father and I had decided to separate, and we decided to send her to an alternative school. for this reason and because I felt she really needed to be around otfrer children and, unfortunately, they were all in school. She attended thls school (ofabout seventeen students) for two years with moderate success. The students there are drawn from a wide geographlc area, so it was dillicult to arange after-school or weekend gatherings, though there was time in school to Just play. But it seemed that all the dilllculties of public school were present even in this 'alternative" situation, and the small slze of the school seemed to magniff them. Cllques were formed by the four children who were Sarah's age and when no one was speaking to her on a particular day, she was again left to be wtth the younger chlldren. Thts fall she began publlc school and has been very pleased with her first two days (it's a little early to draw conclusions, however). All of the things that turn me offabout public school seem to be present, Judging from Sarah's conversations about what it is like so far, but she loves it (so far) and those things don't seem to matter very much to her, only to us. I truly hope tJlat she will be able to form a circle of friends who live right here in town, with whom she can play after school and on weekends. Even though we felt strongly that we wanted to homeschool Sarah, I did also have the feeling that when she was about lO I would conslder letting her go to Public school if she really wanted to. I felt that by
started school.
-i
THE VALTIE OF TRYING SCHOOL
Renee Miller oJ Nerl.r Hampshire
gis:t'^?+MATH
41 TURNER
turites:
CT.
PRINCETON
NJ 08540 o (6O9)921-7377 I have an only child, Sarah, now nearly IO. Before she was born we knew we wanted to homeschool her. I really enJoy
THE DIFFERENCE between medircrity ANd EXCELLENCE
spending a good deal of ttme by myself and hoped that she would enJoy thts satisfac-
Uon too. She grew to be a very social chtld, much as Cecily descrlbes her daughter. We lived ln fairly isolated places until Sarah was 3 or 4, whenwe connected wtth a playgroup - folks lnterested tn alternadve daycare situations or home school. As these children grew lnto school age, most of them went olf to school, leaving three
serious homeschooling families with five children, two of them my daughter's age and the other two several years younger. It was a dillicult year for Sarah. The other two children her age were boys who played together almost exclusively, leaving her to arnuse herself with the younger children. The following year was the first year we had a legal obligatton to write a homeschooling proposal, which we did successfully. By now we were down to two families, as one had moved away. This was also a dtfllcult year because having only two friends wasjust not enough for Sarah. I combed the hills and towns, cultlvating
opportunides for play and ftendship for Sarah, to no avail.
GROWING WITHOLN SCHOOLING #7r
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6 then hervalues, etc. would have been planted firmly enough and that she would be strong enoug;h to rnaintatn her personal lntegrity ln the face of whaterrer negadve' forces she mlgfit encounter ln the schools. I can hear some readers thinking, 'Doesn't she know what the academlc and
soclal environments are llke tn publtc schools? She must be craz5r to think that school wlll do anythrng foi her daughter.. Believe me, I know all the arguments. But I have also seen Sarah hterally phe away for lack of friends to play with on many occasions, and I know lt ls a verv real need of hers. We have a good, close, wl.rm, and very_lovilg relationshlp which I hope very much to be able to malntain throughout the teen years, but it ts no substitute for a friend her age. Playing dress-up or imaginary games with your mom ls Just not the same. As Cecily also points out, there is the issue of parents needing time to pursue their own interâ&#x201A;Źsts occasionally without the lnternrption of children, especiallv as the children get a litfle older and havd interests of their own. Contrarv to Jan Hunt's statement, age 4 ls not fhe hst of the "no free Ume for Mom'stretch. Some folks Gel that children should never be felt to be an interruption, but should be smoothly lntegrated lnto whatever the adult is doing. This is an ideal model but not a very reallstic one for someone whose love is writing, which is dilncult if not impossible to do with intermptions to one's train of thought. I am also concerned about what kind of role model we are providing for our children if they never seeus taking time Just for ourselves. Will they be able to give themselves permission to do that - to nurture thelr needs, thelr loves as adults, if they haven't seen adults do it? One of the things I most love to do is sew. When Sarah was younger, I followed
John Holt's suggestion that the adult lust pursue whatever it is and let the children watch or participate. I'd go into my sewing room and Sarah would inevitably followsometimes sooner, sometimes later. When she began to intermpt I might suggest that she get something that she wanted to work
on and do lt on the floor nearby, such as drawing, or I might even suggest that she design a quilt, and provide her with some graph paper and other tools, or she might ask to do some quilting, in which casel would give her some material and show her how to sew it on my treadle machine, which I felt she could use sajelv. These sessions always ended when I'allowed myself to be so drawn in to helping her that my own work was abandoned-. I d like
to expressjust how drained I feel ifthds
goes on for extended periods of time,
without an opportuni$r for me to renew myself with some time alone. I am not able to meet Sarah's needs for interaction in a healthy way if my own needs for renewal are not met. I urge parents to tune into thetr chtldren's needs, not to neglect their own oersonal needs totally "for-the sake of thi children' (this is really no favor to them), and to be able to separate the two. Also, circumstances continue to change. What meets a child's needs at one time mav not
meet them later on because thev have been changed, and have grown, froni every experience they have had. Be flexible.
CHALLENGES & CONCERNS WHEN SIBLINGS COMPARE THEMSELVES Suzanne Chlasson (PN wlrtes:
I have a small problem which must not be unusual among homeschooling farnilies with chlldren close in age: how to gracrfully play down the gaps tn knowledge and ability between two close siblings. I've read Siblfrgs Wttlat RiDahV, and lt doesn't all work out when the liid's home is his classroom and the sfuffis right out there. My problem is compounded by the fact that the younger of the two is a perfectionist and agonizes over fmagined flaws even without his sister aggravating this. Alexandrla, Just turned 6, has been reading for two yeErrs, now reads everythfng imaginable, has ahvays been interested in math and plays wtth numbers in her head, adds, subtracts, multiplies a little, does simple fracdons, all without paper. IVe not worked with her on this, only answered questions when asked. She has unusual mental agtlity, and comprehends most everything. Nicholas, nearly 5, is articulate and funny beyond his years, extremely generous and compassionate. He appears to have a photographic (or phonographic) memory of sorts and can recall past wents with amazing clarity and detail. My point is that they are both bright, articulate children, but owing to the dillerence in their ages, lnterests, and yes, sexes (they were raised virtually as twins; ours ls not a se)dst household and our son plays with dolls), they Just don't do the same things the same way. We have a sltuation in which one feels bad whenever the other does somethlng good. Alexandria ls especially prone to sullenness when Nicholas is praised for something even though she gets enough attention by virtue of her own accomplishments. Nicholas ls more generous but he feels
lntimidated by her abilities, and when Nicholas feels inadequate he glves up immediately. This is what I could really use some ideas about - how to encourage him, and whether I really ought to. At an early age Niclry showed some
artistic talent. In the usual babv scrawl you could discem a face, some fo.-, a treasure buried in the scrlbbles. This is not a fond mother's fancy, I assure you. Later, I nottced that the scribbles were an attempt to obliterate the plcture, Now that he can speakwell enougfi to express his thoughts, he draws very little, very
conventionally although wtth a few neat details, but he ls always dissatisfied and given to saying that the picture doesn't match what's in hls mind, that his pictures don't look like'real pictures.' He always refused to pracdce wrlting and yet
one day he asked how to spell 'shoes" for a sign he wanted to make. He wrote the word perfectly, but he still insists his letters aren't good enough, and he doesn't like to practice. His own standards are so high as to para\zze him. We are not trylng to'hothouse" him, but there seems to be a lot of potential there and we would like to encourage him.
I have no problem wtth him not doing things because he doesn't want to, but I hate to see htm feeling as though he can't do them.
CURIOUS ABOUT SCHOOL; WORKING OUTSIDE THE HOME Estler Geiger (MDJ torites: We've moved into a friendly neighborhood with lots of kids on the block, who
immediately included Emerie into their
group. She's been loving it; she's turned very social over the suruner (having been, up to now, rather shy in new settings). Most of the children go to the local elementar;r school. We decided to invesdgate the Spanish lmmersion program there, since Emerie loves language and we have various friends and relatives who speak Spanlsh. But school is still school, even in Spanish, and we had pretty much decided to stick with homeschooling. A week befiore public school opened, the heat from my parents increased. TheyVe been steadfastedly appalled at the idea of homeschooling ever since I mentioned it several years ago, but have kept thelr obJections to occasional worrled lecfures since Emerie wasn't school age. Emerie has spent at least one day a week at my folks' house almost since birth, and has a wonderfully close relationship with them. I have a part-time job, so the arrangement has also provided me with some free child care. But now my mother was announcing that she Glt so strongly that her time with Emerie could not be viewed as education that once schools opened she would not be available to care for Emerie during school hours. Between that, her desire to see what her new neighborhood friends are involved in, and her interest in Spanish, Emerie started getting curious about school. She asked me what it might be like, why Grandma was so interested in it, etc. I said, "Grandma's worried that you'll
miss out on meeting friends." (Having watched Emerie teach herself to read, my mother has focused most of her concemi on social, not academic, issues.) "But I have all the kids in the neighborhood, and the ones I meet in ballet class.' Emerie sald. "Grandma also thinks that you really want to go to school, since you like to play school with her when you visit.' 'But I play the assistant, not the st:.tderr/rs!"
Nevertheless, Emerie is reallv curious about school, and asked, 'We[, duld I trv it for a while and if I like it, go on, and if i don't, homeschool?' I said yes, and she said, 'I want to do that.'As Anita Giesv said in a recent lssue of GWS, that factihat
Emerie could go back seemed to make it possible for her to go forward. I'm feeling fine about her decision. I think that being in school will feel dillerent for Emerie than for other children who have no choice. This way, she'll have seen for herself what all the fuss is about. and if she decides to homeschool instead, it will be an informed decision, not one
CROWING WITHOLTT SCHOOLING #7I
7 rnade out ofshyness or fear. Although the
prâ&#x201A;Źssure from my parents was an unfortunate spur, I'm convinced that Emerie's decision ls her own. And we're excited about taktng on Spanish as a family project. I'm enrolling ln an adult education course so we can practice together. Although school will solve my childcare problems for now, I'd sflll ltke to raise an lssue I had planned to wrlte about before Emerle made her declslon. I'd like to hear from other homeschooling farnflies ln whtch both parents have Jobs outside the home, My husband Joel has a full-Ume job, regular government hours. I work 2O-3O hours a week as ollce manager at a yoga studlo. It's been a wonderfirlJob for me, olfering real business sktlls (and a real salary) tn the pleasantest envlronment imaginable. Emerie has always been welcome to play or read or draw ln the oIfice during class-hours, and to have use of the open studio space (with blankets, chairs, blocks, ropes, pillows) during nonclass hours. Sometlmes she helps with mailings or other studio chores. But she's old enough now that she finds it tedious to be there for long periods, and would
usually rather vislt a frlend. Although I can set my owrr hours, having a fairly regular schedule is helpful, and weVe bounced from one temporary babysitting arrangement to another. A babysitter at home is not only expensive, but not what she seems to need now - she wants to be
with other children.
I'm also slx months pregnant, and not at all sure how I'll be able to balance Job, house, newbaby, and doJustice to Emerie's needs as a homeschooler (at whatever point she opts back out ofschool, which I suspect she will). I would love to hear how other famllies manage to homeschool with both parents worklng outslde the home.
ever heard.
Another little trick I tried was to run my ffnger under the words nonchalantly as I read to Carter. Occaslonally I rnight stop at a word in big bold type. I could barely get out'What's thaf?'before he
replied, 'I don't know. Keep reading.' Carter sUll doesn't read. MY mind
wanders back to the summers of my own chtldhood and the time I spent with my
grandparents. Grandmother A ltved two blocks from the zoo, so we spent a lot of tlme there. She told me stodes about the dilferent animals and quizzed me later to see |f I remembered. On the days we stayed
at her house she had a mulfltude ofacfvities planned. First we mtght read a book or two, then lt was back outside for fresh air and exerclse. In the afternoon there would be a lesson ln cannlng fresh frults. I don't recall hardly a wasted moment at
my grandmother's house - she seemed to have plans for wery minute of my visit. Then there was Grandmother B. In constrast, I don't thlnk she ever planned a single second of my vlsits with her. She seemed to trust that children can entertain themselves. I took long walks around her neighborhood and went on treasure hunts in her attic. I established secret hiding places among the tall shrubbery surrounding her house. On rainy days there was 'soup" to be made from water and the splces in her magnificent sPice cabinet. I made up games, drew paper dolls and designed their clothes, and rocked on the back porch thinktng. And I talked and talked and talked. I don't recall my grandmother maldng a single response, but she listened intently and nodded at the
appropriate places. Which grandmother did I prefer to spend time with - Grandmother A who so
carefully and thoughtfully planned my tlme with her and taught me so much, or Grandmother B who was Just there? Of course, the answer is Grandmother B.
Is there a mothering lesson here, especially one for a homeschooling mother'? What is the problem with a 7 year old who can't read? What am I really afraid oI? Is it that Carter is stupid? No, I know he's not stupid. Am I afraid of what schools will think? Maybe my real fear is of how society will ludge me as a mother/ teacher wlth a nonreading 7 year old. Can I llnd the strength within myself to let my child learn at his own pace within his own time? This is the ultimate challenge to me as a mother.
HELPING OTHER MOTHERS AND CHILDREN In GWS *69 Jan Hurt asked to hear
Jrom peopl-e
wla hnn
success3lully
bterttened to telp other people's childrenGa{I Nagasako oJ Hawaii utrites:
I've had one situadon in which I am generally successful - the baby crying in the supermarket. I go up to the mother and tell hei, "Gosh, I know howyou feel seems they always get hungry right when you'râ&#x201A;Ź in the middle of your shopping. But, vou know what? The market won't mind if you just leave your shopping cart here and go outside to tend to your baby. I did that lots of times and then I'd just come back in and finish shopping with a happy baby'" Usually they Just tell me they're nearly done and hurry up and {inish, but I know that now they have a new idea about tending to their baby's needs first and that the next time they rnay just use mY suggestion. I've thought about why this is reasonably successful whereas other things IVe tried have very much antagonlzed the parent. I've come up with this explanation: In the above handling, I make no assumptions about the mother s parenting but rather just assume she's not sure how others would react if she did
PHONICS & TRUST Donna Gibson oJ Terutessee urrites: This was the summer that Carter (7) was going to learn to read. After two years of phonlcs practice he should be able to put all the little bits and pieces together and finally read, I thought. AndJust in case he hadn't gotten enougfr practice, I was ready with more. I made flash cards and collected pictures and bought prereading games.
I took the cards that had words he them into knew on them, and silly sentences. (I read that kids love this
activity). I guess my sentences weren't silly enougfi - Carter read about three, casting puzzled looks at me all the while, before announcing, 'This is dumb." I
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suggested he make up his own sentences.
'Naw, I'd rather ride my bike,' he said. I showed him lists of words with similar endings, ltke bat, cat, fat, hat, and so forth. As he realized he c.ould read whole lists of words, a look of pride spread over his face and a smlle came to his lips, but one session of thls actlvity was enough, I polnted out some of the words he had read as I saw them on slgns or ln books. Back to Phonics lol as Carter slowly and laborlously sounded them out,
the result unlike any English word IVe GROIWING WITHOI.IT SCHOOLING #77
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8 right by her baby. The explanatton about 'the store wouldn't mlnd" seems to put not
only me, but erreryone else, on the slde of tendtng to the baby and assumes that's what she wants to do too. I've had more failures than successes, though, often being told to mind my own business. I respond that I feel a crytng child ts everyone's buslness, but that is only a last dirch self-deGnse and doesn't help the sltuation. I look forward to hearlng what has worked for others, as I will keep speaktng up. One never lsrows whether words that seemed a fallure mav turn up to haunt the consciencâ&#x201A;Ź of some par,ent later and contribute to a change of
behavior. I'll tell you a story of some intereference that worked on me, Many years ago I smoked cigarettes. I was wallidng down- the street smoking and, as so nrany smokers do, I tossed the finished cigarette on the sidewalk. A lady was walking toward me, and she looked me straight in the eye and said, "r:itterbug." I was stunned. By gosh, I realized, she's absolutely right. From that moment on, I always disposed of my cigalettes properly, and it wasn't too much longer after that that I quit smoking altogether after nearly twent5r years. She perhaps has no idea of the effect she had and perhaps we, too, have been more successful than we realize.
CHILDREN'S FIGHTS Julie l-ogd (CA) writes: I've wondered about the general
quesdon of interference" with children, and Nancy Wallac.e's thoughtful letter in GWS #7O inspires me to write. My own kids, who are 3 and 5, deal with familv limits that many people might think ;re criminal$ mirrimat. They must wear clothes- tf they go out ln public or are very sick. They can only play with food outside. They have to solve interpersonal probIems without biting or hitflng. The eldest can't cry at louder than l2O decibels for longer than ten minutes. Other rules are clrcumstandal and for the most part
unnecessa4t. I (and recently, my husband) stay at home to be with my kids. But they are ryostly absorbed in thelr own projects. They need me to be there, yes, bufl'm not usually their playmate. The younger, Peter, exuberantly bullies Charlie, who ls a more careful soul. I told Charlie that what he does with Peter teaches Peter how to act. I reallv like that idea. I like it ever so much more than, 'How would you like it if he did that to you?'which I think is conceptually lmpossible for most people, small or otherwlse. So usually Charlie ffnds some non-violent way to cope with his brother. Peter, far frpm bec.oming a spoiled brat (as my relatives predicted) has become a delightful playmate, most of the time. This is not because of my direct interference. Far from it. I find that when I do have to interfere, the tears and wild accusations and general unhappiness fester. They need to go back to each other and work it out all over again. When other kids are around, I usuallv stay ln the same area. When fights develop, usually making myself more
consplcuous ts all they need to remlnd themselves to problem-solve nonvlolently. If the vtsttors wlll never come
back, I mtght dtstract everyone with a bowl of popcom or a new gzrme, but ln gener:al I thtnk distraction Just postpones
the time when the diltcultv has to be dealt
wtth. If I feel I have to tnte-rfere, and nobody is crying yet, then I'll squat down with them and hold each in tum (if they'll let me) and listen to them wtthout comment, That usually ls lt. If one person is crytng, I rnlght pick them up and keep
washtng dlshes undl they stop. Occaslonally a violent lidd will come
our way, somebody who randomly
punches and pinches and mocks. We have
a lo-year-old netghbor like that. But
she
responds really well to being carried around (thank you, Jean Liedlofll) and after a sâ&#x201A;Źssion ln my arrrs or hvined around my neck she ls able to play with the others fairly well. When I was teaching ln the lnner cit5r we'd get llghts on the playground now and then. When there was a small audience and no weapons you could show up, grab them before they ran away, and let them yell at each other for however long it took. I thtnk that worked OK, at least for the boys in my class. You can't really tell usually, but I do know that the kids in my classroom didn't feud like some did. When there's a big audience macho comes into play and I never did ltnd a good, IOO%
solution. If I see ldds I don't know ftghting, which really hasn't happened since I
stopped going to the neighborhood where I used to teach, I'll go over and sort of loom at them. But I think thatJust moves the fight to a more private arena. You really need to know the people before they'll accept your involvement in their alIairs. I suppose this is a long way of saylng that each circumstance tells vou something different. You have a general pbilosophy about what works, and a set of experienc.es, but everythlng consplres to teach you more.
WHEN A FRIEND GOES TO SCHOOL Ronder Thomas Yourtg (GA) rurftes:
When William was 5 and AIec was almost 4 they began mornlng swim classes wlth Daniel. Danlel was 5, with a birthdav within three weeks of William's, and available for morning classes because he attended a private aftemoon kindergarten. The classes continued consistently for about a year; the skills and friendship-of the boys flourlshed. TWo summers ago William attended Daniel's sixth birthdav party. Daniel's mother asked me tf I wasconcemed about William being a'young 6.' I said no, since we would continue homeschooling. She was surprised, but said that I was to be admired for taking on such an arduous task - an attitude I trv to discourage - but wouldn't consider m5i suggesdon that she at least give Daniel a year off before school. After all, I told her, 7 was the age of compulsory schooling in this state, so she wouldn't even have to
call
it
homeschoollng, merely waidng. That was one of the last times we saw Daniel. In the fall he entered an evening
pre-competitive class to prepare for the swim team. William and Alec continued their morning classes with a couple of older homeschoolers. When we asked the swim school director about Daniel, she said his parents had linally given in to his pleas to quit the class session, He didn't like swimming anymore. We were stunned to hear this since we had observed an oveg'oyed and confident child in the water every week for a year. William and Alec stopped taking swimrning cliasses about a year ago, due in part to the rhythmic changes in our lives
following the birth of their brother lan, in part to the facility's loss of the boys' beloved instructor (who remains, however, our personal friend), and in part to the fact that they wanted no more instruction for a while. They just wanted to swim, which we still do once or twice a week. William has no interest in competition, just in the fun and fitness of swimming. Alec is a gifted athlete who swims laps ulith great dedication; in time it may become a competitive sport for him. We lost touch with Daniel and his
family until I recently met his mother while shopping. I told her the boys still spoke of Daniel. She told me first grade had been dilffcult for Daniel. Although they admitted he was bright and quick in rnany areas, the school wanted to label him with a learning disability because his reading was not progressing as it should. His parents fought that, but second grade had been even worse. This vear he will
repeat second grade. He is dlevastated, demoralized, and losing conlidence, she said, but tJrey have no choice.
Although I mentioned our homeschooling again, I realized that if she had not considered it by then she probably never would. Daniel has loving parents and siblings, so perhaps he will persevere and pull through. I do not want to turn this situation into a morality play championing homeschooling. Yet I am sobered by the memorv of three happy boys racin! through thl water. My conversation with Daniel's mother ended when her husband approached with Daniel. Same blond hair, same wiry frame, yet the eyes and posture so much lower, so very different, that I would not have recognized him under other circumstances. I see William and Alec identifting themselves happily as homeschoolers and 'full-time big broth- . ers" to our new baby. I see their enthusiasm that, if anything, surp:rsses that of two years ago. I struggle not to oversimpliff, but I keep thinking, one went to
school. two didn't.
MOTHERS DON'T FEEL STIFLED AT HOME Cindg Howdyshell wrote in tle Julg tle ReMAINEing at Home newsbt
issue oJ
ter:
A friend and I were talking about the advice our mothers give us. We are both homeschoolers with young children (mine are 5,3, l; hers are 6 and 3). Her mother
says, "If you would just cook dinner in the morning...- Mine says, 'You should feed those kids promptly at 5:OO every evening." We have both heard, "You need a
GROWING WITHOTJT SCHOOLING #7I
9 break from those klds - send them to
school.'
Admittedly, some of this is irritating simply because it ls unsoliclted advice, but there's more to it. We are full-time mothers like they were, and you'd think we would have their resounding support (alas, it's my mother who said, "When are you golng to use your education?"). Thry seem to see us sdlllng ourselves as they themselves were stifled. In the ftfties homemakers led a one-dimensional ltfe clean the house, clean the ldds, cook the meals, give clean clothes to hubby and all's well that ends well. My frtend and I have dtllerent prlorities. My house approaches neat (dtfferent from clean) anound noon, and lt's a downhill slide to supperdme. My ldds are not always dressed lmpeccably, but they are usuallv - dressed.
on a catalogue of such mistakes we parents make. What struck me was how often we homeschoolers do thls very thing - take a single, lnnocent example of mislnformaUon to indict the endre school system. I could tmagtne reading a letter like thts ln GWS: "My daughter's third grade teacher told the class that the earth's shadow causes the phases ofthe moon. Can you imag;ine? No wonder our hdgh schooi gyaduates are woefully ignorant of basic
WHAT HE NEEDED TO DO Pant Chgdd (CA) urites: My son Jeremlah, who is now 13, has had a particular method of learning sincc
hour erratic and, often, a morning preparation impossible. But then again, my husband is fully capable and willing to
down.
priorities.
HALF.RIGHT ABOUT THE HALF.MOON Kathy Ewirtg of Ohio writes: If I hadn't been reading CWS #7O during our lunar eclipse on August l6th, I would never have caught the error in 'Understanding Concepts" on page 9. The reader had apparently explained to his or her daughter that the earth's passing in front of the moon causes its phases. I knew (because I was erperiencing one) that this explained an eclipse lnstead. The Wodd Book reminded me that the shape (i.e. phases) ofthe moon seems to change because only half the moon is lit by the
sun and various sections ofthat halfare visible to us during the month due to the moon's orbit. When I told my husband, who is only half-sold on homeschooling, about the reader's explanation, he laughed and said, 'Doesn't say much for home education, does if?' Certainly someone more hostile than he could decry the whole eflort based
change.
WATCHING CHILDREN LEARN
he was very small. He does not attemPt to try new things until he has {Irst studled them for long periods of time and has perfected them in his mind. When he was a baby he waited for two entire months after we were sure he was strong enough to walk before he took his {irst steps. He sat on the floor and stared at our legs, watching how we moved, howwe balanced. Finally, at 14
dinner. Stifled? I don't feel tt. I am learning more from Ranger Rick and answering impossible quesflons than I ever thought I wanted to know. This winter I taught myself to knit and made a passable sweater for the baby. My mother-in-law commented that she ltked the fact that I was teaching my kids (letting them learnl) music because she had always regretted not being able to play the piano. I wanted to shout, 'It's not too latel You're only 651 You can learnl" But alas, she wasn't listening - her oven was dirty and there was a golf game on TV, Simply a matter of
instead the handicaps they are forced to
work under - oppressive bureaucracies, lack of moneyr outslzed classes, rigorous schedules and curricula, and so on. And we should put forward our own children's eagerness to learn and general mental health as insPiratlon to the schools to
science...'
The only museums I remember going to as a kid were on vacations or during school (and you know how much we got out of THOSE). This week we went to t]le airport (my ffrst time sitting in a helicopterl) and to an egg farm. [.ast week we took t]re kids bowling, and sometimes my friend's kids and mine get togetherjust to play. We are at the library on Wednesday afternoons for story hour and have planned several trips to the aquarium and the beach. Needless to say, this makes dinner
fix
Perhaps we should stoP exaggerating the importance of mistakes made by generally well-meanlng teachers and adminlstrators. We should emphasize
months, he Just got up and walked, having bypassed all the stumbling and falling He leamed to read in much the same way. During his fifth year he started aslidng questlons about reading. He'd ask
what a pardcular word was, like 'doll,'
and then ask, 'Why does it have two I's?' He asked so many questions that I finally had to get a book of spelling rules to answer them all. In spite of his curiosity, he made no attempt to actually read words for himself, and he resisted like crazy when we encouragd blm to sound aword out on his own. I had no idea if he was retalntng anything I was telling him about spelling. It didn't seem to me that such rules as when to use'i- before'e,'or how a silent'e' causes the vowel ln the word to be a long one, could have any signilicance to him. Still, he asked his questions and I answered them, over and over again. One day when he was 4 I /2 we were at ayard sale and he begged for a 125-piece jigsaw puzzle with a space picture on it. I didn't want to buy it for him because I thought it would frustrate him too much (at the time the hardest pr:zzle he had ever done was 24 pieces). I kept saying no, but he persisted, and finally when we were leaving the man selling it ran after us and presented it to him as a gift. As I could hardly refuse, we thanked him and went home to do the puzzle. This next part is a little hand to believe - looking back I can hardly believe it myself - but for the next eight tueeks Jeremlah did little else but work on that space pr:zzle, overand over. The pieces were always spread out on the kitchen floor. I was so sick of walking over them, but every time I told him to put it away he said he was in the middle of working on it' At lirst I had to help him a lot, but he kept working at it until he could do the entire thing himself. He stopped playing with all his other toys; he didn't even touch his beloved legos. He spent a lot of qulet time
GRO1WING WITHOI.N SCHOOLING #71
staring into sPace. His questions about words stopped completely, and he wouldn't even look at books unless I was reading them to him.
Suddenly, dramaticallY, after two months of doing nothing but that ptszz'le, Jeremiah picked up an'I Can Read' book and started reading lt out loudl A week later he had already progressed to The Story oJ Hariet Tubnlan a third grade book with no pictures. This was his introducdon to social inJustice, and made a deep irnpression on his almost-five-yearold mind. Since then he has been reading
practically non-stoP. -
Jeremiah doesn't spend very much of his time doing what one would call schoolwork; he absolutely refuses to do exercises or busywork. Yet every once in a while he will work hard on mind-stimulating activities, completely self-initiated and self-directed. He loves crossword puzzles and brain teasers ofany sort. He spends hours figuring out how to do intricate origami (really advanced stuff). I often Gel rather irritated that he is -wasting his time," folding paper lnstead of studyin$' But obviously he is doing his own kind of studying, finding a way to absorb all the information he has been exposed to, and integrating tt into his life.
HOW DID HE LEARN ALL THAT?
Katlerhe McALpine (ME) wriles:
With all the long-distance traveling
we did this past year, a death in the fami-
ly, and the seemingly-endless job of getting settled into our new (and, I hope' permanent) home, my participation in Nathaniel's learning has been haphazard at best. What astounds and delights me is
how capably and matter-of-factly he has continued that process almost entirely on his own. I never dreamed I'd see the day when he'd voluntarlly open a math book, but believe lt or not, he worked his way through the entire lifth grade book in just under three months, with only occasional help from me. (The inspiration for doing so mav have come from one of his new friends, a S5-year-old engineer named Bob, who thinks math is the most exciting thing in the world.) Recently, now that life's somewhat more back to normal, I offered to start reading aloud again and suggested A Connecticut Yarrkee in KW Arthur's Courl Well, Nathaniel had already read it,
along with practically everything else Mark Tivain ever wrote, plus two full-
lo length btographies of Tbatn. And he's constantly arttazlrrg me with hts knowledge of history and science - stuff I hadn,t, known about, let alone sat down to teach him, 'Nathaniel,' I seem to ask a dozen times a day, 'where did you leam all that?" Impatient shrug: "I don't know; some book, I guess.'I felt ltke such a hypocrlte, fllling out thls year's homeschool applicatlon form and writtng my
own name down as'teacher." Most of hls ttme, though, has been spent just hanging around - at the bay with
his friend Herbie the lobsterman, hunting
fossils wlth his ftend Brendan the amateur naturalist, watching his friend Walt furn wrecked cars into works of art. helping his Uncle Todd stack hay - and, as
always, asklng millions of questions. At I
l, he seems endlessly fascinated by the
Back
various kinds of work adults do, and his interest is completely democrailc: he'll talk the ears off plumbers, potters, computer programmers, composers, garage mechanics, and medleval scholars. He's never happier than when he's found someone whose willingness to answer qlesdons matches hls passlon for asldng them. In some wonderful way, it's as tf hJ conslders the whole world his classroom and everyone tn lt hls potenttal teacher. An introvert myself, I marvel at hts lack of shyness or self-c,onsciousness, the perGct ease with which he can strike up conversations with total strangers. So much for kids needing school to develop
social skillsl
Increaslng;ly, I llnd our relationship moving toward that of colleagues and equal partners. Maybe it's Just because
in print after 80 gears,..
Chulotte Mason's Classic
used a wood stove, dug clams, raked blueberrles, ridden a horse, pruned an apple tree, started an outboard motor, or done a hundred other things that, in this neck of the woods, are considered prett5r ordtnary, everyday skills. Neither of ui knew what to make of that spoolgr sound echoing over the lake in the middle of the night (it turned out to be a loon). We've had our share of comic moments, and times when we both felt hopelessly ignorant and inept. What finally makes it all such fun is the shared adventure, learning together and teaching each other. Nathaniel taught me to dig clams, then I taught him how to make linguine with clam sauce. Now he's thrcatening to teach me to swlm, having rec.ently learned himself. Almost every day I lind myself thinking, 'What a special time this is for us" - and realizing It's a tlme we wouldn't have if he were cooped up in a classroom all day long.
LEARNING FROM OTHER CHILDREN Lois Loke Cturchurote inthe *pt/
Home Schooling Series lst
Nathaniel ls older; mavbe lt has somethtng to do with our niw life in a new locality. Moving from a big city to this idyllic but distant corner of Maine has meant we've both had a number of new thtngs to learn. Neither one of us had ever
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cre such a ltBtime's 'fnd'for wryone hautng the resprstbiltty wtd care oJ chiHren,^Welcome bock, mg dear ualued mentor, Clurlofte trlaspnJ Our children ned gou os never beJore."
DR. M. L. JACKS Director of the Unive$itv of Oxford Dept. of Education: "Ctwto,,z M6oA made a vlbl @ntlbutlon b educadonal ihought Md prcilce. ond ma g oI the more e^IlghtEled rcJorrc ol recent ged6 haue been. .due to her. l^d.eed., I IEIleue ue should be ube. In plannlng certaln 6pqb oI our . ,
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HER MAJESTY THE gUEEN MOTHER "?bacheE o@ much to Chryaoa'r ttloen's d@D lnslghl into child psgrhologg, . . . char@ter bltlding and mlnd tral^l^g uhlch sfte admated, but pdte[ts ow her stlll mo.e. The g@tltude ot@untl8 motheE In oII Wt of the wrw. @ho how prcIlted bg her @ul@I, uial be her end.wlng mercdal." -Eltubth R.
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My daughter Julianne is almost 4, and is a sturdy, coordinated child who has always loved water. Several people at our swim club urged me to sign her up for swimmlngl lessons, whether she was willing or not. I asked Julie if she'd like to, and she said, "Maybe when I'm 4.' I noticed a number of other mothers who were 'strongly encouraging" their reluctant young children to participate, while these kids would probably have agreed with Julie - 'maybe next year.' The results were mixed in the preschool swim class: some of the little ones bravely Jumped off the diving board and paddled to the ladder;
otJrers spent most of the classes cqring and
:t*:nt"t
the pool side or the instrucior's
I didn't enroll her, yet Julie learned to swim this su[uner. She-knew she was
ready, but not for a large group lesson. Instead, she watched several four- and five-year-old friends at various points during the summer, and then with happydetermlnatlon ("We can't get out yet - I haue to do thisl") she tried, practiced, and refined what she saw them do. She
observed Annie's face-float-with-kick, and after a Gw tries got her feet off the bottom and found that the water reallv does hold her up. The look ofJoy on h6r face was unmistakable - the reward for doing it was doing itl Similarly, she
watched Nate surface dive to the bottom and pick up a stone, and in a few tries, Julie could do it too. She went on to learn backfloat, underwater handstand, overan'm stroke, and 'sinking ballet leg"
through observation and practlce. I've concluded that this swirnrning experience worked well for Julie because three important aspects of learning were present: Uming, appropriateness of the GROWING WITFIOLN SCHOOLING #7I
ll teacher, and a sense of accomplishmenl The tlmtng was right because Julie wanted to swlm on her own thls summer, not because any arbftrary age gutdellnes urged me to slgn her up for lessons. The teachers, who dtdn't even lorow they were teachtng, were chlldren Just a little older than Julie, so she could tdent$ wlth them better
than wlth a pa.rent or swlmming instructor whose sldlls look daunttngly poltshed. And while Julle's progress at the slillls she chose to try was rewarded by our smlles and encouragement, I thtnk the best reward, for her, was that she was dolng
well and lmprovlng. She ltterally Jumped forJoy as she was learning...
HOMESCHOOLERS PUT ON PLAY Cathy lrnerst urcte bt tle Swruner .1989 issue oJ Pennsylvanla Homeschoolers:
I had been wantlng to lnspire some parents from our homeschool support group to pull together and develop a children's play... Thtngs started to come together when Sharron Lerew, a longtime homeschooling friend and wonderful encourager ofchildren, offered to be our dlrector, With great opdmlsm and reckless abandon, we announced our intent to produce a chlldren's play wtth the performance date set for May of 1989 - Just
Iive months away.
...We searched llbraries and schools, checked with friends and school teachers,
and finally found a non-royalgr play that looked adaptable to our needs. We were looking for a patriodc play with several songs and short sldts to be used with a large number of children of varied ag;es. The play we decided on was Stttg, Amertc* Sfng, an Amerlcan heritage pageant, with music, by Allen Fisher. Parents and children were lnformed about the play at our Harrisburg Area Homeschoolers meeting, through our phone tree, and in our newsletter. Parents understood that they would be asked to help with one of the many Jobs that c.ooperafively needed to be
filled. We asked each family to contribute $3 for expenses, narne tags, copying costs, props, etc., with an understanding that more money mlght be needed as time passed (it wasn't needed). We wanted to lnclude as much music as we could ln the play, but we nealt.sd that lt was gotng to be difllcult to get
everyone together for practlcc.We also didn't want to spend the majorigr of precious practice dme teaching songs, so we carne up with a fantasdc idea which suited our needs. Each famtly was to locate the Wee Stg Antrrica Pat'iotlc Tape/furg Book and become familiar with those songs. We would choose the songs needed for the play from that tape. This way the children could independently learn the words and melody at home and our music director would only need to polish the songs during practice time. ...We found that we would have
approximately eighty kids from thirt5rfour families. The age range was 5 through 15. Practice time was every other Tiresday
morning from 9:3O to I l:3O, increasing to wery week as we got closer to the performance date. We had a total of nine practices
and really acrompllshed a lot dudng those two hours. ...We found two homeschoollng
mothers who had been publlc school muslc teachers to dlrect our music. TWo more mothers volunteered to play the piano, accnmpanylng the children sindng and lntroduclng each new scene wlth muslc. One of ourmomswas a danc.e lnstructor and she daneloped a skipptng folkdance to 3/4 time Irish tune. ...Sharron and I dld a lot of work adaptlng the play to our pardcular group needs. We xeroxed a copy of the play, changed some wordings, included extra introducdons, poerns, songs, recitadons, and skits - while cuttint, typing, and scotchtaping a running script of our own. We then centered lt on paper and copied the ltnal revised scripl ...We adverdsed tn local papers, and sent irrvitadons to several nuring homes, senior citlzens câ&#x201A;Źnters, and homeschooling groups. We had a combined attendance at two performances of about four hundred people.
I would encourage other homeschool groups to get together and prcduce a play. There are great bene8ts. The parents and chlldren have gotten to know each other and have made real friendships because of gathering together for play pracdces. It has made our children feel part of a larger group of homeschooled chlldren ... Everywhere children were repeating lines together, helping, prompting, and encouraging each other. Seven-year-old Rachel Koppenhaver told us ln the beginning that she did notwant a speaking part, only to change her mind and very determinedly announce, 'I want to do this. I know I
canl'
We erren had the diflicult situation of
one girl not being part of the performance on Thursday, the first night, because she didn't seem to be able to go onstagâ&#x201A;Ź. If it had been a school setting, it is very possible that she would not have had present the very thing she most needed to overcome her fear - the love and acceptance from her mother. Rather than berate her
and remind her of her failure, this mother put her arm around her daughter, and sat and watched the Thursday performance with her. The next night, at the Friday perforrnance, wild horses couldn't keep
that little girl from going on stage to be
part of the play...
SIBLINGS LEARNING TOGETHER Carcle Skiruer INSJ rurites.' We live in an area of Nova Scotia which was lirst settled by my ancestors in the l75os. The population has remained quite stable and not very receptive to any
sudden changes. Our decision to homeschool was generally viewed as an insult
to the communit5r. Most of our neighbors could appreciate that Nicholas (8), diagnosed learning disabled, needed some alternative, but when we revealed our intentlons to teach our third son, Nathaniel (6) at home also, the same people reacted quite negatively, rebuking us for 'depriving Nathaniel because of Nicholas.' Our hope was that Nathaniel (who had
GROWING WITHOLN SCHOOLING #7I
never been to school and so would not
miss tt) would actually help Nicholas to learn, and lt has worked out beautifrrlly. There has never been any strong sense of competitlon between them, and Nathaniel ls very padent and conslderate with
Ntcholas.
When my oldest son, Mark, (nowl9) was a little boy of 6 or 7,lt seemed natural that - living as we dld in the woods - he had his own JackkniG, hatchet, saw, and hammer. We've had to plac.e restrictlons on such thlngs for Nicholas, who at 8 is qulte competent, but who has the constant companionship of three younger siblings. So, this suruner, when we hired Mark as a carpenter on our house-building project, Nicholas was very eager to help out and
Mark willingly put him to work running on-slte errands and cleaning up. Then ftnally, at Nicholas's lnslstence, Mark let him do actual producdve work. He's
learned to paint, climb ladders, hammer and saw, use a power drill and Un cutters, and can identi-fu many of the other tools. He's listened to discussions about the types of building materials available, helped unload dellvery trucks, been present during visits by the tax assessor, butldtng and health lnspectors, and curious onlookers. He has witnessed every aspect of house construction, and will probably continue observing and assisting undl the house ls completed. He is delighted to explaln and demonstrate his new skills to Nathaniel.
SUCCESSFUL FIRST YEAR Susan Stephensen oJ California writes: We are linishing our first full year of homeschooling our 6 year old, Michael. He has been in a good Montessori school since age 2, but we found that this experiencewas evenbetter. He had always asked to stay home and did not like being interrupted by any scheduling at all fur school going outside to play or eating lunch. He has a very long concentration span since we have never intermpted either hls sleep or his concentradon since birth, and so at the begtnntng of each vacation from school he would spend 5-9 hours on some project of his own without stopping even to eatl I work full dme on our business, and my husband Jim works full flme and a half, so we were worried about havlng enough time for Michael. No problem. Jim and Michael read to each other wery night before bed (Jim and I started this habit when Michael was 6 months old) and I give him short lessons or show him proJects about l-3 hours a week. TV and computer are restricted to about 2-3 hours a week. So the rest of the time Mtchael ts happily on his own. He bursts into song many Umes during a day, which has always been our happiness-gauge. This week we put together a "Kindergarten' album of the few pieces ofwork I saved and labeled each month, and we made lists of the bmks he has read and famous books he has had read to him this year. He (and we) had been starting to think we hadn't done much this year, but, thanks to this album, we are reassured and Michael is very proud. Chtdren Izam continttes on page 34.
GROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING #7I
29
FOCUS: WHEN LEARNING IS DIFFICULT OR FRUSTRATING TELLING TIME Ftom Maryrose Dolezal (MN):
Just recently, I conquered telllng time. IVe known how to tell time on a digtal clock since I was very little, but clocks
witll hands were another story.
My mother thinks that the reason I got confused in the flrst placr was that I
tried to learn to tell tlme out of a math book. I was in school at the tlme (first grade) and I learned how to tell the o'clocks, and the 3O's (half hours), but changing the numbers ln betweenJust didn't make sense to me. In second grade I was at home. My parents trted to teach me to tell time in a dllferent rvay, but tt only confused me more. It was very hard after that, because once you're confused ifs hard to unconfuse yourself. For about a year I took a llttle break from tryfng to tell ttme. It really helped not to thlnk about lt for a wtrile. Once I made the connectlon between counting by flves and the numbers on the clock, I did learn how to tell time. I don't know how or when I made the connection. I knew how to count by llves long before I made this connecdon. People told me about it, but somehow I couldn't figure it out. Finally, something clicked. I kept at it because I hated being places where I needed or wanted to ffgure out what time it was, but couldn't. I hated having to ask people what time it wasl I even sometlmes made up excuses. For instance, at the swim pool, I once said that the clock was too fogged up for me to read it (and then people questioned my eyesightl) Even now, sometlmes when I look at a
face clock, I have to thtnk a few seconds before I know what time lt ls. lt was verv
I'd go along with tt, but I always wound up
getting really frustrated and upset. Then they'd get upset and say the trouble was that I Just wasn't trying hard enough. lleen my mom would tell them, 'Leave hilm alone, he lsn't ready to leam yet. He'll know when he's ready, and then he will.' The summer that I was 9, a filend of mlne had a two-wheel scooter. The scooter was ltghter and lower to the ground than a bike, so it was easler for me to handle. Ridtng my friend's scooter, I learned how to steer and keep my balance, and after a
while I got confident enough to tqr a bike again. This time I leamed almost imme-
RIDING A BICYCLB Ftom Nathantel McAlphe (ME): For most of my life I've been a lot smaller than other kids my age because I have a growth hormone dellciency. For the past Gwyears I've been getting groMh hormone treatment, so I'm gpadually catching up ln slze. But because I was smaller than other ldds, tt took me much longer to learn certain kinds of phystcal skills. For example, I didn't leam how to ride a two-wheel bike until two srrruners ago, when I was 9. I trted to learn several times before that, but the bike was too heary for me and I felt like I couldn't control it or keep my balancc well enough. I was always afraid of falling off A few times I did fall and hurt mysef and that made me even more scared to trv. I don't really remember whether tt botiered me that the other kids could ride and I
couldn't, but I imag;ine tt dtd. Oncr in a while some grownup frtend of my mom's would say, 'What? You mean you can't ride a bike yet? Well, hop on because I'm going to teach you right now.' They'd be very insistent, so to please them
challerging or dlfficult Jor t|rcm- We asked, "Did Aou euenfuatlg leqrn or rrvrster wlrateuer
it usas? What
helped? W?wt made Aou keep at it? Was rt worth it? How did. gou cope with the Jrustration Aou ffraA haue Jett atong tlw wag?' The letters that JoIIow trere qre responses to tlrcse qrlestions.
diately, and after about Ilfteen minutes I was even doing wheeliesl Riding my bike is now one of my favorite things to do. The funny thJng is, the more people pushed me to learn, the harder lt seemed. But when I felt ready to learn, I leamed on my owrr so it came easy. I llnd this is true of a lot of things
PLAYING THE PIANO, READING MUSIC Fllom Jamie Smith (MD):
frustraflng for me, but I'm glad I kept af it,
because now I loeow how to tell dme.
Fbr this f'bcus, we asked seueral Aoung readers of GWS to tell tts about the experience oJ tryug to learn or fgure out or mnster someth@ that was
I think one of the most fmstrating ilmes of my music lessons was over two years ago, when lt seemed that I was on a plateau forever. My Suzuki teacher at the tlme, Sarah, was a very good instructor, and I really liked her, but she could not get me out of my slump.
It all started when I was learning to read music instead of plalng by ear. I felt that it was boring having to read music. Sarah would always play the piece for me and then have me play iL It was much easier in the beginning to do that because the pleces were short and uncomplicated. As the pieces got harder, it became dillicult to play them without mistakes. Sarah told me that it would be impossible to progress if I did not make the effort to read music. Once I decided to tr5r harder I found that reading music was easier than I had thought. There were parts of pieces that I thought would sound much better the way I wanted to play them, but Sarah always made me play them the way they were written. Later on I found that the pieces did not interest me very much and I was spending months oflessons on one piece because I did not want to pracdce lt. I began to dislike playing ptano, but I still liked
GROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING #71
taking lessons from Sarah. Things went on like this for some time, until a year ago Sarah told me that she was moving and would not teach piano anymore. I was very upset because I didn't like the prospect ofgetting a new piano teacher, but Sarah sald she would find someone I would like. After a lot of thought, Sarah recommended Mr. Jackson, who was her piano teacher. I had one lesson wlth him two months before Sarah left, and was worried that he would give me more work than I could handle. During those two months I spent a lot of time worrying. Finally my mom told me that lf after a month of lessons I sttll felt the same, we could lind a new piano teacher or stop piano altogether, It took a while to get used to Mr. Jackson, but I found that he is awonderful teacher and I Iike him as much as I liked Sarah. He drrC give me more work, and it drd take more of my time, but all the effort I put lnto plano got me out of my slumpl There were several rearsons I was in a slump, but I found that the more challenging the pieces were that I played, the more interested I became and the harder I
worked.
REACHING GOALS IN SWIMMING F)om Arurcke Chcd.an (NY): Over the years swimrning, in Red Cross lessons and on a swim team, has given me a lot of pleasure. It has also been the cause of a lot of frustration. I have set many goals for swimmlng, and each of these goals required a lot ofeffort to reach. My goals have changed many times.
30 When I was 4, I wanted to be allowed to use
the divlng board. Learntng crawl stroke was the most lmportant when I was S. My Begtnnfng Swlmmer card was the most important thtrng that I worked for when I
Olympiad came and went. After it, I did four of the ftve problems and got four .
was 6. When I was 7, I wanted myAdvanced Begtnner card. I wanted [o be able to dlve offthe divlng board when I was g. When I was 9, I tried for the Interrdediate and Swimmer card at the same time (I was surprlsed when I eamed both at oncr). When I was lO, I uanted to swlm two
lengths of the pool in less than one minute. I-ast but not least, I wanted, recently, to earn the Basic Rescue card. Whtle I have reached all of these goals, they were all dilllcult for me, because I am not a naturally athletic person. To help reach them, I have asked my swim team coach and my swlmming instructors for advice on how to irnprove my sldlls. I have also pracdced. A lot. Sometlmes I almost gave up. One dme that I felt like giving up was the day that two gtrls wanted to know what my best times were for certaln events. When I told them, one of them said, 'Well, mine's a lot
better than tluA" I felt like mnning out of the pool room, asking for a rlde home, and never coming back rg4ln. I didn't, however, for two reasons. One reason was that
I dtdn't want them to thtnk that thev could make me gflve up. The other was thai I
really enJoyed swimmlng, lt was something I wanted to do, so who cared what they thought? As I have said, reaching my goals took a lot of time and effort. However, I think that it was worth it, because lt shows that I can do anythlng I set my mind to. So can you. It may take time, it may take work, but it can be done, no matter what lt ls.
PARTICIPATING IN MATH OLYMPIAD F\om Jacob Richman (PN: We lirst found out about the Math Olympiad when I was newly 8 and in third grade. It meets five times a year, and is designed for flfth and sixth graders, but younger grades can participate in it. There are five problems in each problem set, and you get a problem set a month. My mom got a Math Olyrnptad book, and we did rnany practic-e sets for preparation. I dectded that the problems were too harrd and dectded not to partlclpate. The llrst
us. Once agaln, I grew more and more
correct.
The next Math Olymptad came and I pardcipated. I got two problems c-orrect. My brother and I dtd lols and lots of Math oJymptad pracflce. I was still sllghtly afratd of the Olymptad. We pracflcedproblems like thls one:
A+A=IT I+I=T T+T+T=A
All the letters are one-dtgit numbers. I made this example up myself. Making up problems has rially helped my probilm'-
solving. In the next Math Olympiad meet I did the harder problems llrst, and got a zero. I felt discouraged; I felt like crying. But I kept going, I didn't stop. I practiced a lot on my own, and improved. Ttris summer I took the lniiladve to llnlsh the math book that I had started at the end of the school year. It went into muldplytng decimals and dtviding them and mulUplying fractions. I'm glad I was in the Math Olympiad after all. I will be in it next vear. lt was fun for sure, and I learned a loftoo. Answer to the problem: A = 6; I = l, T = 2.
TRAINING A DIFFICULT HORSE Flom Chelsea Chaprnan
(ffi:
The ffrst really challenging e)gertence that comes to mlnd ts the training of
our now-2-year-old Norwegian Fjord
horse, Olaf. I can't thtnk of a more dilll-
fmstrated wtth him and for some time I did nothing wtth hiln exc.ept have gutlt
pangs about not worlidng him enough. la,ter that wlnter, however, we again called the horse trainer, who came up and worked with Olaf a few more times. He got better and better as she worked with him, but as the weather got colder she stopped coming. We trted to keep up where she left offbut we lacked so much experience that we soon stopped worlidng with him too. As the weatherwarmed up that sPring, I 'gein Glt motivated to start taking him on walks. Then this sununer a British horsewoman came up to give a class on riding, and after giving lessons in a dust5r outdoor arena for twelve hours a day, she would walk up to our house and train Olaf to carqr a rider and to grounddrive (ggound-drivtng ls the preliminary training tor pulling a sleigh or cart). Olaf progressed very well, and after two lessons I sat on his back and rode him for the first tlme. It is a very great feâ&#x201A;Źling to be sitting on the back ofthis horse thatvou have
trained (or tried to train) all iis life. Now I work with Olaf almost everv day. He is doing very well, although thi:
other day he gave me a nasty rope burn and sometimes I come staggering up our driveway, saylng through clenched teeth, "Give me a six-foot metal stake and I will beat him over the head with itl' Not that I ever do or would, ofcourse, and Olaflooks so lnnocent all the fime as he walks off the road and gets himself tangled up in trees, or watches, mildly lnterested, with ears pricked, as I moan and stamp in the middle of the road.
cult, frustradng, and physically painful
thtng that I have done. When we first bought Ola[, he was a soft, three-month-old foal, fond of people and petdng, and I thought, 'Well, this looks like it will be â&#x201A;Źur easy job." Within four months my only thought was, 'That wretched, awful, beastly horsel" He was, at seven months, a coc$, arrogant, nippy, feisty little demon-stud, and I was so furious with him I would have sold him for $lO flat. At last, after betng bitten, kicked, and dragged througlr the snow on the end ofa
rope attached to a happy, galloping colt, we colled a professlonal horse trainer to come up and help us. When she came, she lmmedtately gave hlm what for, and at last he began to behave. Just talking to someone who knew what to do
with him moti-
vated me enough
to start working with him regularly, and once again we were
doing pretty well. But as the
following winter came on, the cold seemed to wake him up and he realized that we were getfing away
with too much and he had to
stop making
things so easy for
LEARNING LATIN Ftom Meldg Tash (PN: Thls summer I took a l+tin course at Villanova Universigr. I enjoyed it a lot. There were a lot of hard parts, though, like pronouncing some of the l-atin words. What really helped a lot was when I went home and worked on the l.atin papers with my mom. What also helped was I had a really nice teacher. There were times when I felt like not doing l^atin anymorc. Then I took breaks. My mom also helped me to prepare before we had quizzes. That helped very much. When I did well on a quiz, I felt very proud and that made me want to keep at it. I also learned about the Greek and Roman gods and goddesses. There is so much to leam about l-a.tin. IVe learned some, but I haven't learned it all. I still have a lot ofyears that I can keep on
learning it.
LEARNING TO ENJOY WRITING STORIES Ftom Meredith CoruoU PA): When I was 6I hated writingl I couldn't write fast enough or as well as my mom. Mom didn't like to see me unhappy, but she didn't have as much time then as she had had before. You see, she had written everything for me up to then, but now I had a brother and sister and I had to do more things on my own.
GROWING WITFIOLTT SCHOOLING #7I
3t My mother, who has always loved wrldng, wanted me to llke lt too. So one day she told me to wrlte a story. Now, normally I would have crled. She satd she was going to set the buzzer (the oven timer) for llfteen mlnutes. She also told me not to worry about punctuadon or spelling, and when the fffteen minutes were up, whether I was done or not, I could stop. So I started a story. Every day I wrote. I had good days and bad days. Pretty soon I was wrtttng for twenty mfurutes and then lwould tell Mom when I was done. Sometlmes I wrote for
forty-five minutes or more. From that day on I have written many storles. Most of them I have not llnished. A lot of them I have wanted to bring to an end butJust dldn't have the time. Others I didn't really care if I completed or not. I
just enjoyed the wrtting process,
My mother and I took one of my Ionger storles and created a handbound
book for my dad. It took a month and ffieen days to write. The story was more than twenty pages handwrlttenl I also made slx big tllustradons and two smaller ones. Mom typed it and made the cover. It was a book ln short chapters called ?he Ftying Ship, I write so that people can read what I wrote. If I don't feel up for lt I cannot write well. Writing comes from the heart and if your heart is not in it, then it ts a bad day
for writing.
Recently I was irrvited to be on the
junior advisory board for Telltales, a
children's book catalog. I wrtte reviews for books I thtnk thâ&#x201A;Źy should have in their catalog. My slster and I make up adventures. We write maps, charts, logs, and family histories. Pen-pals ane another way that I use my writtng. I keep tn touch with penpals in several states and countries. I have come a long way slnce I was 6. For the most part I enJoy wrtttng to share my thoughts and tmaglnation with others. This experience has changed my lifel
WHETHER TO WORK FOR A DIPLOMA Ftom Kfrn Kopet (MO):
One of the most challengtng things I've tried to do ls earn a diploma through Clonlara's Home Based Education Program without losing control of my education. Every year when my brothers and sisters and I receive our re-enrollment packages from Clonlara and the suggested curriculum, we brlefly skim through tt, just to see what other people thlnk we're leamingl [.ast year, when I 'entered" ninth grade and was sent the secondary school curriculum, I reallzed for the first time that HBEP students could earn an actual higfr school diploma from Clon-
lara. After studytng the lnformatlon about the program, I thought it would be possible for me to eam the diploma by Just contlnuing what I was already dotng (t.e. following my lnterests). So I llgured, "Why not? All I need to do is keep a record of what I'm already doing and how much time I spend at it. In four years I should have plenty of hours to meet the requirements," Keeping records wasn't so terribly
hard or time-c.onsuming, but at the end of each day, I'd look at the chart and tt dtdn't seem as if I'd done much that could be counted toward the dtploma. Slncc most of my lnterests are ln music and art, I found I didn't have much to chalk up under the requlred courses. Thts made me feel doubtful that I'd actually be able to eam the dtploma wlthout changlng how I was spendtng my tlme. So I (stuptdly) thought I should look more closely at what Clonlar:a wanted, and then deslgn courses of my own that would ensure that at the end of fouryears ld have eamed enough credits ln each subJect anea to recelve the dlploma and graduate. Mom and I looked over Clonlaras currlculum and courses, and after hours of dlscusslon and thought, I ftnally made up my own courses, maldng sure I met all the requirements. The problem was that even though the courses I made up sounded interesting enouglr, I really wasn't moflvated to do most of them for any other reason than to earn the dtploma. And since the courses didn't really interest me, I didn't work on them. I'd feel guilty about not doing them, but not guilty enough to make myself work at them. I kept thinking that it should be really simple, and I couldn't understand why I was having so much trouble with it. Once I'd decided to earn the diploma, I couldn't stop trying to make it work. My concern about earning the diploma also made me Gel pressured to know immediatelv what I wanted to be doing for the resf of my life. I began worrying about decidlngwhere I wanted to go to college, what I wanted to maJor ln, prepartnt myself to go, etc. I started feeling that what I did had to be somethlng I cnuld pursue serlously, that a career could be made out of. I guess I felt I had to do all this stulf, or terrible things would happen to me: I wouldn't get tnto college, I wouldn't get aJob, etc. That's pretty much the standard public opinion, but exactly why I adopted it, I'm not sure (most of my other opinions are in direct opposition to the public opinionl) So in the end, I was not only frustrated and bored, but worried as
well.
In my frustratlon,
I
dectded to do the only things
I knew to do - quit working on the diploma and keep on doing the things I'd been doing before I decided to work towards the diploma. I contlnued corresponding with Susannah Sheffer and
other friends, taking Irish dance lessons, wriHng in my educatlon Journal, and weaving. I also talked a lot with Mom about the problem whtch, ltke wrtttng and thinldng about lt, helped me to organize and clear my
thoughts. Finally, I realized why I couldn't make tt work. Since my only motlvatlon was to earn the dtploma, working on the courses brought me no Joy or satlsfactlon, and had no real meaning to me. I nodced that I stopped
GROWING WITHOI.N SCHOOLING #77
chooslng acdvldes by how valuable they were to me. Instead, I beganjudgtng them
by how much time I spent on them and whether or not they would meet the requirements for the diploma. So I even lost lnterest ln thtngs I'd always enjoyed, because most of them were in subJect areas that were considered electives. I found that recordlng my time only measured my education by quandty, not quality, as if spendtng a certain amount of time doireg somethlng made tt more valuable. looking at thtngs in thts way made me feel that my interests were inferior and had llttle value. I've dectded to qutt worldng towards the diploma because to keep at it would force me to give up doing the things that really matter to me right now. Instead, I'm continulng to record my actlvities, experiences, and thoughts te my educationjournal, whlch IVe been keeping for the past year. The journal is a clear picturâ&#x201A;Ź of my educatlon, and how how meaningfiul and valuable the things I do are to me. It shows better than any test or record Just how much I've learned (and am learnln$ from the experienccs IVe had and the things IVe done.
Now that IVe put the diploma aside, I'm beginning to discover side-effects from
it - for
instance, after focusing on meeting the diploma's requirements for so long, it's hard to readjust and begin focusing on and doing really important things again. It's been hard to enjoy thtngs like playing the piano or the tln whlsfle because of feeling that thry were valueless before. But I Gel that I'm comlng out of tt now, and getting back to the place where I can start ftnding new challenges and ireteresting things to do, ad I'm also stardng to pick up the things I discarded when I began working on the diploma. I'm now gtvtng lrtsh danc.e lessons wery T\resday to two younger girls who live near us - besides teaching my 5-yearold sister Katie to dance, too. After more than a year, I'm taking weaving lessons again: I have a loom here at home, and
32 have beennreavingon tt, but I decided I wanted to learn some new types of weavtng and do some harder proJects (bestdes the beneflt of seeing my ftends there - Kay, the newweavtng teacher, and Nancy, the owner of the weaving shop). I'm also teaching myself to play the tin whistle, and to read notes more qutckly so I can learn to play some new muslc on our piano. IVe played for years, mostly by ear, but I want to be able to read music more quickly now And I Just llntshed the llrst
draft ofmy educaUonJournal, and am
begtnning to rerrise it now and work tourards publishtng lt nrith Susannah. ThIs experience has ben slmilar to other challenges IVe faced ln that tt was brought on when I trled to fft my Me into someone else's guidelines and goals. Now I know that when I start feeling frustrated and blocked tfs because I'm dolng something that tsn't right for me, adopting someone else's structu::e and direction as my own. So IVe learned ttrat when I start feeling frustrated or bored I should look back at what I've been doing and see where I got sidetracked from following my own
path. Another thing IVe leamed is to allow myself to admit that yes, there ls a problem here. I think that a lot of the time mv immediate râ&#x201A;Źaction is to shut out feclingis like boredom and frustration, because I don't want to feel that way. But shutting those feelings out and lgnoring the problem won't make it go away. If I run away, it'll sttll evenhrally catch up to me, and then it'll be even btgger and harder to deal with than lt origtnally was. I thfnk that the most lmportant thing I tried to do when I was facing this challenge was not to give up or g;ive ln to the feelings of frustradon and boredom and discouragement, and to keep believlng that I would eventually find the soludon, and be able to set things rtght.
THE PROBLEM OF PROFESSIONALIZATION: INTERVIEW WITH JOHN McKNIGHT ISSj Pat Farenga ard, I heard Jotvt McKnight speak frr Hdgoke, Massachusetts llast year, and,use publtsledetc,erpts Jrom his talk h cWS #65. McKnight, wla teaches at tle Center Jor Urbon NIafrs ail PoIkry Research at Nortlutestern Unb:crstfu. writes aborut tle dangers oJ proJesslorc.lizafron and tle loss oJ <rrrrrrur@ h ndernlife. We see manA parcllels bdtnen McKnlght's obsensa-
tlons about proJesslonalization in tle
health jeW and. orr ousn perceptions oJ the pherametan tn educatto4 and. ue lnteruieused him to erylore
tlvse poralleb
Jurther, Susannah Shcfrcr: What do vou consequences of thinliing of
think are the
education as a product? We use the phrase
"getting an educadon,,.'
John Mcrnight: A way of labeling that tdea is to talk about lt as commodillcadon. Just to think about it in an area outside of education - which may help you see more clearly what's going on in education - you can think about health. People talk as tf health, which is really a
condition in you and in your relationship with the world around you, is externalized. You become a consumer and health becomes a commodit5r. We talk as though
health is out there. Most of the policy dlscussions about health have to do with access to thls commodlty, with lts cost. You don't hear thls talk as often in educatlon, but certalnly it would be reasonable to say that we no longer have scholars and students, we have educatlonal consumers and educational
JM: In medicine, the furthest weVe gone is to say you have a rrght to treatment. We don't say you must have it, yet. Education has gone much further. Its most
vivid example ls ln mandated adult education. If you point out that the educational tndustry's need for clients is groudng all the time, even people who don't obJect to children beireg compulsorily educated nury see that it's wrong to make adults into educational cllents if they don't want to be. I think in the modern world, anything that happens in one profession can spread to another, so that the health people can look over to education and say, 'My god, th.y'.e mandating the use of their product, we'll start to do that too.' Ifyou look at the cutting-edge research in the medical field,
We no longer have scholars and students, we have educatlonal consumers and educatlonal provlders... the producers of educatlon are produclng no more educatlon than health producers are produclng health. outside of research about chemlcals, lt's about compliance - how to get the clients to do what the professionals tell them to do. The consumer is understood as being an almost totally tmpotent enUty.
providers.
SSi:
We would be happy to hear more stories from chidren and adults - about frustration and difficulty in leaming.
confused about whether having the right to something means being obligated to do it - this is the whole confusion over what compulsory schooling was supposed to be
JM: It's impossible to be a health consumer, really. You can consume medical products, but health is a condltion, and these days the research would suggest tllat it is a condition that ls almost
dangerous?
lnslgnlficantly related to medical care. The determlnants of health are lifestyle, environment, social relations, economic status - not access to some particular profession's output. I view the education
world ln about the same way. It strlkes me that the commodity produccrs of something that they call education are produclng no more education than health producers are produclng health. SSt:
And a lot of the talk in educadon
these days is, as ln health, about how to enable more people to get lt, how to give it to a greater number of people - as tf tt ls something you can glve or get in that way. Another parellel too, lt seems to me,
is with your discussion of professional Drawlngs in this tssr^re are by Kathsrtv Houk
I think in education people are
I see a just about direct parallel with your health example - I think you could substitute the word education for the word health and it would accuratelv descrlbe our thinking. SIS:
helpers needtng people whom they can help. John Holt talked about professional teachers needing people whom they can teach - otherwise they have nothing to do.
for in the first place. Do you think all the professions are
JM: We do have some experience with some professionals that give us a framework for what seem to me to be a reasonable set of relationships between somebody with speclal expertise and somebody without it. There are three professional classes that are legitimate in my mind, whose identitles I like - airplane pilots,' dentists, and police ollicers. A pilot is a professional in whom I tend to put more trust than I put in most, because in the case of the pilot, what happens to the professional happens to me. A teacher can fall to teach me, and can fail me, and still get paid well, while I have failed. But a pilot who doesn't transport me to Omaha Cigr doesn't get there elther. So the llrst measure of a professional ln whom I would put some trust is whether their lives and mine are lnextricably tied together. Then I like dentists because no one overuses dentists, and what dentists do is understandable, so they embody two other important values for me. People only use them when they need to, and when they do
GROWING WITHOLTT SCHOOLING #7I
33 use them they understand what's golng on'
Finally, much asr I hate to say it, I am afraid to hve ln a world without police ofrcers, even though I am also afraid to live in a world with them. So they edst ln my mind as a mlnlmal necesslty, but I'm ahvays highly c.onsctous of ttre fact that tnstead of helplng me they may very well
hurt me.
The trouble with most professlons ls that these characteristics that IVe
described don't become the boundarles of the relationshtp. The great danger to us ls that proGsslonals wlll extend their inlluence lnto an ever-growlng spac€, based on thelr ccntral premlse that you will be better because I know better. The result ls that people become more and more lncompetent, and don't understand how things work. You can't be a ciUzen, maldng lnformed chotccs, lf you don't understand how thtngs work. It makes no dilference tf I have I/22O,OOO,OOOIh of the power in thls soclety lf I can't understand what's going on, and must always turn to an expert.
That is the ultlmate problem in modern soctety, and for people who are interested ln homeschooltreg - ln other ways of lettlng people have knowledge and wisdom, and develop slidlls - the problem is that in some ar€as there ls no way ln which you can be a cltlzen of the modern world. Parents may want children to become wise and competent and skilled, but no matter how well they do it there ls still a problem that I thturk can't be resolved, whlch ls best exemplified ln my mind by a nuclear plant. If you read the literature, talk to the experts, you will end up realizing that you can find people whose apparent specialized knowledge of a nuclear plant ls equal, yet what they tell you about the safe$r ofsuch a plant varies greatly. Your assessment of the sltuatlon, the knowledge that you rnfght try to accrue about this aspect of modern society, a nuclear plant, wtll nerrer be sufllcient to make an tnformed declslon about lt. So the boundary of the homeschooling alternative is a society ln which no amount of knowledge will allow you to make declslons about the most lmPortant things in life. One of the things your readers might want to do ls try to idend$ those parts of modern society about which making informed decisions ls a useless idea. SSi: You talk about disabling help. Is there any ktnd of help we can think of that is abling help?
JM: I think of children as people who are junior members of societ5l, Iike a new person who comes to work at the Center here. Am I helping that person, or am I introducing them to a world in which they don't have a great deal ofexperlence? When a new person comes here, I go out to lunch with them, I tell them the ropes, route some thlngs to them. You could say
I'm helping them, but I thrnk of thls more as introducing them, as an act of hospitalitlr more than an act of help. lf somebody satd to me, "I have a flve
year old son. Would you serve as the host, introducing him to thts nelghborhood and its community? I've notlced that you seem to be very knowledgable about it - not GROIWING WITHOTII SCHOOLING
tntellectually, but connecflvely..." somehow I don't think of this as help. My own s€nse of how I would approach chlldren ls to IInd a host to bring them ln, to lntroduce them to the acts and actors of life. Ivan Illich was dolng some research for me about the hlstory of hospitaltqr. One of the thtngs that went with the olfer of hospttality among the nomadic people,s rpas the offei of a gtft. A chtld also has gifts to offer. So it seems to me that children need to be olfered the hospttality ofthe communit5r, and thcy also need to be expected to provide a gift - they're not consumers, they have somethlng to olfer. That ollering may be thetr abftty to learn something qutckly, for example. SlSl: In the talk you lave that we exerpted from in GWS, you made the
comment that modem families have nothtng to do. What did you mean by thaf?
JM: Social relationshlPs have been defuncdonallzed. The htstory of the modern family, especlally tn the United States, ls of systematlc defuncdoning, so that a really good, well-paid, well-educa-
ted, consuming American family, will get tts health from a doctor, its Justice from a lawyer, its education from a teacher, its house from a realtor, its safety from a police o{licer, its mental stability from a psychiatrist, its family stability from a social worker, its food from McDonald's. A family €ls a consumer of professional products is a family with no function exc€pt procr€ation, and lt will fall apart, which is what ls happenlng. We're seeing the collapse ofa social unit that has no
funcflon because tt ts nothtng but a consumer unit. There's no collective reason for lt to be together.
Is there any way to reclalm any of those functions? SSI:
JM: You have to declde that you're gotng to be competent, that you're gotng to live ln a world of experience. SS: So a home educating familY that has at least reclalmed that one funcUon is likely to be stronger.
JM: Yes, I think so. In a way this is an argument against specialization, in favor of general competence rather ttran being an individual doing your part in the exchange for your abilitY to
il::.fr;1
SS: Maybe, though, the unit is the community, not the family, so that you can have some specialization within the cornmunity, with families trading skills.
JM: Yes. I think families are too small a unit, even when they do funcUon, so it's important for people who are deciding to have humane, democratic, moral, wise lives, to Join with others.
OLDER HOMESCHOOLERS NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLAR. SHIP SENAIFINALIST Ftom Suzg Ddd (TN): Our son Mike was Just named a Natlonal Merit semilinalist. You take the PSAT (Prelimtnary Scholastic Aptitude Test) during your Junlor year of high school and the Natlonal Mertt Scholarshlp Corporaton us€s those scores as the basis for determinlng who will get the scholarship. It's a lengthy compefltion Mtke took the test nearly a year ago. To be a semlflnaltst you have to be ln the top l/2 of I percent of the students ln tlre state. He was 59th out of285 students ln Tennessee' The llst of semillnalists ls sent to colleges across the country' Mike Is listed as a public high school student: they don't have a computer code for home schools. I called and asked Natlonal Merit how we should handle this, should we tell people that he's a homeschooler, and they said,
"Would you like the newspapers to know?" I said I would, and they volunteered to contact the newspapers themselves. The National Merit people didn't seem surprised about having a homeschooler in the competition. When I told them that we Just could not lill out the form about his schooling in the usual way, they were very nice about telling me that I should try to
Illl in the informadon about his unconvenfional schooling as well as I could. Mike planned to take the PSAT a couple ofyears ago when he decided that he wanted to go to college. Up until that tlme he had thought that he would con-
tinue unschooling. But then he decided, after talktng to other people tn hts field, computer science, that the piece of paper mrght be useful. He Glt confldent that if he wanted to he could learn outside of college what he would learn in college, but he thought the degree mlght open some doors. He also thought that gotng to college might be a fun thing to do in itself. He's interested in theater, which he thought he rnight be able to do more of in college, and he's interested in the college atmosphere
ln
general. He started checking into what he needed to do to get in. He asked his friends who are in school what to do - he had to
take the inidadve to find all this out,
because he wasn't havlng a guidance counselor lead him through lt the way the kids in school were. He found out that one of the flrst steps was to take the PSAT, so he called and regtstered to take it, and
thought of lt as practice for the SAT.
Mikels a kid who sees tests as games and likes playing them. He llkes to llgure out the rules, so he got some test preparation books and practiced, and then took the test. In the meantime, while we've been
waiting to hear about the National Merit Scholarship, Mike has written to about John McKnight writes about the issues discussed here in Disabling Proks' srbns (Marion Boyars Publishers, 1974, a c.ollection of essays by several writers
(among them Ivan lllich).
#7I
nlne or ten colleges. When he asked for an
application he included a letter explaining that he's been learning at home - he calls tt doing independent study to distinguish it from being tutored at home - and that it
34 would be imposslble to come up with a
traditional transcrtpt. He explains that he's been followtng hls own lnterests
through an lntegrated approach to English; he's trjring to use words that will make sense to the college admissions people. He ollered to submit a resume of his accompllshments and actlviUes, instead of a transcrlpt, and recommendations from adults besides his parents who
know him well.
Three of the colleges sent him applications without ever dtrectly acknowledging that he was a homeschooler. Some of the others sald, 'Yes, we're familiar wlth homeschooling,' and some said, "We've never hearrd of thts but lt's very interesting, please send us as much information aboutyour educatlon as you can.- One school even called him up to ask him more about it. But no one discouraged him from applying at all. No one asked for a htgh school diploma, either. A couple of years ago we went to a college fatr and asked all the representatives from the colleges if there was a problem about getting into college without a high school diploma, and they all said no, we don't erren care if vou've graduated from hlgh school, many kids in school sldp senior year and go straight
into
college. Now we're about to visit colleges. Mike is looldng forward to it. He wants to go to a class to see what a college class ls like. He's looktng at btg schools because he
thinks he's an unconventional person and
that there are more likely to be unconventional people tn a blg school. I want to stress that Mike's been urschmled the whole tlme. When he was junior high age he was interested in
everything. As he got older he got very interested in computers, which brought him lnto contact wlth people all over the country. If he came across a progFam that he hked, he would write to the person who created it and ask. 'How did vou do that?" He always tried to lind out whatever he wanted to know. Then, when he decided he wanted to go to college, he worked on some things he might not have gotten involved in if he hadn't decided to go to college, like preparing for the tests, ofcourse, and trying to write ;rn essay wlthin a time limlt. He's actually written a lot already - he's
written technical artlcles for computer
magazines, for example - but he's not used to writing on demand, and he thought he'd
better pracdce that. I'm not telling this story to brag about Mike, but rather to let others know that it's possible not to play the school game for most of your life and then to jump ln and play it successfully, relatively late in the game, if that's what you declde to do.
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Our oldest son John, 16, graduated
thls summer. He dtdn't complete the currlculumwe had been ustng, but felt he was ready to pass the G.E.D. He took it in April and passed and received a Maryland high school diploma ln May. He attended the senior banquet at our church; that served as a substitute oorunencemenr ceremony. We made up some g;raduation
announcâ&#x201A;Źments on the computer and had them copied at a print shop, complete with calling cards, and we mailed them out to all srr friends and reladves. We even bought him a high schml ringl There is a Jeweler in Oklahoma City who makes a lovely ring Just for homeschoolers. John has been accepted at the local cornmunity college and will take two classes next fall. He wtll also continue working at Burger King, which he's been doing for four months. The college didn't quesdon his homeschooling at all, but did ask him to take a placement test. The results were no surprise - he aced English and bombed ln math. They recommended a remdial math course, whlch we agreed John needed. This fall he will be taking Introductlon to Psychologr and Oral
Communications.
I have mixed feelings about his attending college. I regret loslng control, but realize it's time to start letting go, at least a little, and also that John needs a sort of challenge I can't give him any more. Mostly I will mtss hlm. We've homeschooled for four years and it has brought us very close as a family. Did graduating at 16 getJohn the positive encouragement from others you might expect? Well, yes, from the people who really count - grandparents, friends (homeschoolers and otherwise). But we were surprised at the amount of negative reacfion he got, too, from neighbors, friends, even total stranger. Several people said we had robbed him of his childhood, were pushing him too hard, etc. But lt was John's declsion to try for the G.E.D., not ours, and we respected it. He felt lt was a waste of tlme to continue with his high school curriculum if he was capable of doing college level work, especially since his goal is to become a clinical psychologist, which will require several years of school. The school district. in case vou were wondering, had no comment on John's achievement, since we formally removed him from their jurisdiction as ion as he turned 16. We were told we had to do that three months prior to his taking the G.E.D. ln order for hlm to be eligible. I'm not too sure how accurate that really is, though, since no one in the G.E.D. ofllce at either the state or coun$ level had ever had a homeschooler take the G.E.D.
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TAKING GED, APPLYING TO COLLEGE Paula Waldouskt oJ Margland writes: ,
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before, and no one was exactly sure what to do.
We haven't begun any formal schooling with our two little ones, Andy, almost 4, and Adam, almost 2. Our erperience
with John, while at times exasperating, was so terrific for both him and the rest of us that I'm sure we'll wlnd uo homeschooling both younger boyi too.
WATCHING CHILDREN LEARN, continued from page 11 WHAT ''HANDS.ON'' REALLY MEANS Mad.alere Murphg (PA) writes: Pat Farenga's ardcle in GWS #69 about his experiences learning bookkeeping and music theory as an adult reminded me ofan experience I had acouple ofyears ago. Emily, who is now 16, was trying to learn algebra and was not pleased with the book she had been uslng. I asked a friend who teaches math in a local htgh school for a recomrnendation and he spent a long time chatting with me about the pros and cons of various textbooks. He highly recommended one, and got me a copy of it a couple of weeks later. I had ptcked up a
couple ofothers from various sources and so sat down to compare them. After a long time of flipping back and forth among tJle books, I made my decision. I agreed with my teacher friend and for much the same reasons: the textbook he had given me had the most complete explanations of the concepts behind the algebraic processes. I wen llnally understood why some processes worked the way they did and I loved the explanation of
negatve numbers - an explanation that showed me, after all these years, why they
were useful and necessaqr. I showed these books to mv husband Tom and he agreed with me: "YLs, I wish I had had a book like that when I was
beginning algebra.' My homeschooling friend Susan Richman came over for a visit and spent another hour or so pouring over the texts only to reach the same conclusion. Her tinal favorite was the same as mine. Then I gave them to Emily, who had glanced at the texts when I got them but had been too busv to devote much time to them then. She took them up to her room and came down awhile later to sav that she had made up her mind. Much io my
surprise, the adult favorite had been the first one she eliminated"Look,' she said, showing me a section in her favorite book that dealt with an operadon she had had difliculty with. 'This book gives a very clear step-by-step procedure to deal with these kinds of problems and I think I could work them after reading this.'Then she showed me a
similar section in the adult favorite. I had to agree that the approach, although preceded by two pages ofexplanatlon, was less clear than the one in her favorite, which had a much abbreviated version of the.. explanatory background material. Suddenly I saw what was happening here. Tom, Susan, and I were confronting algebra from a dillerent point on the mountain from Emily. The adults had all had some acquaintance with algebra, had reachd a sort ofplateau ofknowledge. None of us would claim to have reached the top of the mountain, but we all knew or at least had some recollection of how to solve problems like 2x + 3 = 9. We had the time and the vantage point from which to investigate more deeply why these symbols acted as they did. Emily was still
GROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING #7I
35 doing the hard climbing, still needed to feel comfortable changlng a mlnus stgn to a plus. Now all thts could be related to the old Joke about the chtld who asks his father, 'Where did I cpme from?'The father takes a deep breath and launches lnto a twent5lminute discussion on bables and blrth, at the end ofwhlch the child says, 'OK, but did I come from New York or Pennsyhnnla?' In other words, we were stmply
tryIng to give Emtly more lnformadon than she wanted at that tlme. I suspect every homeschooltng parent can come up with a tlme or two when that has happened tn hls or her famtly. But as I analyze the sltuaUon now, pardcularly after readtng Pafs arttcle, I thlnk somethtng dlfferent was golng on there. We all would recognlze that a lengthy lecture about how an englne works given to a person who has nerrer lieen an englne would be a dtlllcult learning situatlon. And none of us would help our ctrlldren learn how to cook by t"lkftrg to them about it and explaintng why baldng powder makes cakes rlse. Instead we would let them learn by doing and allow them to become familiar enough with the processes so that they could formr,rlate their own quesuons, We can see the need for this hands-on kind of learning very easily in such practical oramples such as these. But we may forget that thls klnd of learnlng can apply to situations tn wtrtch a person is manipulating symbols llke numbers or words instead ofeggs or plstons. I am not advocaflng here that everyone should use the math manipulatlves that are so popuIar now and have their place ln meeting the needs ofcertaln chtldren. The handson part ofalgebra that I am talking about is the actual paper-and-penctl solvlng of problems, just as the hands-on part of
writing ls the actual v/riting. It would have little elfect to talk at great length about the need for details or possible ways to organize a piecc of wridng to someone who had done little or no \Mrtttng, Many of us
just need to bec-ome famtliar with the
basic materlals and processes before we can absorb any explanatlon ofwhy the symbols act as they do.
OK TO INITIATE ACTIVITIES Barbara Johnson oJ Georgia utrites: I want to add to the ongoing discussion about the extent of parental involvement in children's learntng. In reading through the letters in past issues of GWS, I've gotten the lmpression that some parents feel that ifs not really organic or selfdirected learntng unless the parents keep a
strict hands-olf poli"y regarding their
children's learning, and only lnvolve themselves when lt is speciflcally invited
by the chtldren.
My concern is that this whole question of strictly hands-olT versus some parent-initiation sets up a false dichot9my that gives an erroneous impresslon of homeschoollng and clouds the real lssue: the freedom for each family to grow into a
values and living patterns. In some familles with hlghly self-dtrected and private children, that may well mean little or no
unlnvited parental lnvolvement most or all of the time. but for most famllies
organlc learnlng means lnteracdve learning - gtve and take - lrrvolvement of all farnily members in the day-to-day nftty gritty of creatlng a workable, llvlng, loving way of learning and growing. In our own famlly, I'm bastcally a resource for my son and hls fellow explorer, but that doesn't mean that I never suggest or lnltlate anythtng. My two bastc guidellnes have been, 'What's natural and right for my son and our farrrily?- and 'What would I do lf lt were an adult friend?' If Nathan ls stuck ln a proJect, I'll offer alternatlves to conslder. Or, lf he's at loose ends, I'll suggest acdvltles In one of hls many lnterest areas. I'll
recommend books that IVe enJoyed and that I thtnk he would also enJoy (and I also read books he recommends to me), and I share wtth him my own interests and enthusiasms. Many times this shadng ktndles an answering spark ln him (such
THE STRUCTURED.UNSTRUCTURED DICHOTOMY ISS:I When I read through homeschooling literature these days I see a lot of talk about "structured vs. unstmctured' educatlon. These words seem so c.emented ln the vocabulary that I'm not sure anythfng will change that, but I want to take some space to relterate (we've talked about this ln the past, but lt's been a while and I think it bears repeadng) why lt ls that we at GWS don't feel comfortable using "unstructured' to refer to education without a lixed currlculum, or worksheets. or a schedule (or whatever tt ts that people mean when they use tt - I think lt's generally this sort of thtng). John Holt writes tn a piece that is now
part of the forthcoming book Leatntng All the Ttn:r., "l tend to be wary of lthe term 'structure'1, slnce those who use lt generally mean only one thlng: some adult standing over the child telling hlm what to do and maldng sure that he does 1t.'So perhaps stmcture means a situation ln which someone is belng told what to do, and unstructured means a sltuation in which that person is not told what to do. These are indeed two distinct kinds of circumstances, and I woudn't mind having words that described them - in fact, I think we need words that do that. The trouble is. saying that a noncoercive or unprogrammed situation is unstructured implies that It ls formless, that it lacks a-ngr structure at all, It impltes that structure is always coercive and lack of structure always liberating. This is what John Holt obJected to, and what we object to now.
Here is John talking about this problem in F.Ieedom
and Begond:
Almost everyone who talks or writes about learning situadons
that are open, free, noncoercive, leamer-directed, calls these sltuations'unstructured,' and their traditional authoritarian,
leaming rhythm and environment that
respects and responds to everyone's unique needs and styles and each family's
GROWING WITT{OUT SCHOOLING
as my sharing my lnterest ln mythologr and htstory), but at other times he's not lnterested and I'm quick (or try to be) to back olf and either bring it up again at another time or drop it completely. At tlmes, Nathan has been exclted about something that sparks an interest in me and we learn together. For example, we've been teachlng ourselves computer programming on and off for the past year, and we've learned enough to write a variety of stmple programs. Also, we're currently tahng an ear-training and music theory class together. At tlmes hls understanding leaps ahead of mine and he leads the way for us - for example, he's much qulcker at maldng connectlons between different parts of Baslc and ls more daring and playful he sklps around tn the manual trytng out varlous commands. In music, his ear is sha4rer at hearing and repeatlng trtclqy tntervals. In other areas, I have a firmer grasp and lead the way - I have a better understanding of the framework of Baslc, for example, and in music my sense of rhythm is more developed.
coercive, teacher-directed opposttes
#7I
"structured.' People who support open learning use these words in this way as much as people who oppose it. It ls a serious error. There are no such thtngs as'unstructured" situatlons. They are not possible. Every human situation, however casual and unforced,.. has
structure. If two men meet by chance on the street and for half a minute talk to each other, that meeting has a stmcture, perhaps even a very complicated one. Who are the two men? What is their relafionship to each other? Are they more or less equals, or does one have some kind ofpower over the other? Is the encounter equally welcome to both of them? If not, why?... We muld askdozens, scores, perhaps even hundreds of such questions. The answers to any one of them will a
have something to do with the structure of the meeting on the street. And the structure of this meeting exists within many other
structures.
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The question to ask about a situation, then, is not'Is there a structure?'but ' "What is the stnrcture in this case?'What does it look like? What are lts elements? Who made it? Aaron Falbel, v/riting about the Danish school Frtskolan 70 tlrrat we often
to spend on the project - and on and on. Another example is our oflice here. Unlike many people in many offices, no one tells us what to do each dav. It could be said that we work in an unstnictured olllce, but the fact is that there a hundred dillerent structures in which our lives are enmeshed. There is the structure inherent in the cycle of putting out a bi-monthly magazine, in the cycle of opening the mail and lllling book and subscription orders, in the cycle of receiving bills and paying them. All of these things have form and pattem, some elements of which are fixed and some elements of which zrre neAo-
mention in these pages, says,
How could meanlngful acflvity
be without structure or form?
It
can't - the very notion of meanlng implies some sort of structure, pattem, form, or order... The structure embedded in the community life of fHskolen 7O Is of a fundamentally different type from that of more conventional schools. The later Wpe has basically two qualities: it is fairly rigid, and it is externally imposed. The structure of conventional schools comes from the curriculum. the lesson plans, the assignments, the tests and grades, the codes ofdiscipline, the personalities of the people in
SHOULD STANDARDIZED TESTS BE USED TO JUDGB HOMESCHOOLERS? Wendg Wa.rtes NVA) sent us an orticle Jrom tle JoJl I 988 issue oJ Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice by Gregory J. Ctzek caled "Applgitrg Standadized Testing to Llome-Based M.trcqtion Prqrams: Reasonable or Customary?" fume oJ gou mag Jb1d. X qufue useJul, so r.r.re quote a gufi. port{on oJ iI here:
power..., and all the elements associated with what has been
termed the "hidden curriculum." These elements of structure are. for
...FrequentJy... in both the judicial
the most part, non-negotiable... Fliskolen 7O... operates according to a structure of a dillerent quality: a thicker, more textured notion of structure that is fluid, flexible, and "arrived at." That is to say, it is a negottated structure. Instead of being imposed from without, this type ofstructure arises from the forms of communitSr life itself...
battles waged over the permissibility of home education and the states' struggles to
monitor home-based education programs, the issue of testing for outcomes has
arisen. Often, courts have taken note of standardized test scores in determining permissibility, and states have mandated standardized tests for accountability. The propriety of such testing and use of iest results is an underl)ring issue that has never been sufliciently addressed. ...The use of percentile ranks or other
The structure of life (and hence of education) in some families' homes mav be fluid and negotiable, but it is no less i structure for being so, It arises from the needs of the various people, the things they want to do, the things they need in order to do what they want to do, and so on. For example, if a child wants to build something for which she will require some help from a parent, she will need to make arrangements with that parent, take into account the shape of their respective days, figure out what kind ofhelp she
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scores (e.g. stanines, grade equivalent scores, etc.) from a norm-referenced test to make judgments about content mastery for an individual student has been soundly rejected by experts in the field ofeducational measurement.... Without measures of absolute abilities or skill levels and aptitude, the data reported from a normreferenced test are an inadecuate - and improper - source of inficrmition for use in assessing the quality/acceptability of a
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tiable. The line of John Holt's that I quoted on the front page of this issue is again appropriate here - we submit ourselves to the requirements not of the boss but of the task. And there is indeed a structure to doing this. If those of you who use'unstructured" truly lind it useful, truly find that it is the best way to describe what your homeschooling situations or your lives are like, I can't talk you out of using it. But I do urge readers to think about the auestion and about what has been said he-re. I'd be happy to continue the discussion in future issues of GWS if there's interest.
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child's home-school program. ...A second misinterpretation of standard?ed test scores involves improper use of scores obtained by individual students on norm-referenced tests. To illustrate the error, one could imagine that a random sample of I,OOO homeschooled students was selected and
administered a new achievement test, which was then scored and normed and for which percentiles were reported. Even assuming that student abilities were not normally distributed on the variable achievement (possibly even negatively skewed), IOO students would receive percentile scores at or below the lOth percen-
tile by deflnitionl
...Courts and legfslatures have succumbed to the temptation to utilize the norm-referenced test score as a measure of individual standard attainment. but not
without sacrificing the integrity of educational poliry. The ill-conceived, but (somewhat) logical policy based on this
current misapplication of testing postulates, in effect, that high-scoring (i.e. bright, intelligent, well-taught, coached, or test-wise) children should be allorded the option of being educated under the home-based alternative, but low-scoring (i.e. slow, learning-disabled, uncoached, test-anxious, etc.) children should not. Such poiicy is obviously unsatisfactory. ...The reasonableness and logic of this policy pales if one considers what should then be done in the reverse case involving a student who fails to achieve satisfactorily after years of public or private school attendance. Should the sfudent be sent to some other institution? Should the student's parents be rcquired to homeschool the child? It is also interesting to consider one implicit assumpLion that is made when
regulations requiring a failing homeschooled student to return to the institutional setting are suggested. Ifa child
'fails' in the home-based educational program and is remanded to the local public school for remediation, it is assumed that the parents, for one reason or another, did not do. or were incanable of doing, an inadequate Job of teaching. Thus, the blame is implicitly, but immediately and indisputably, fixed upon the child's rrshuctor. One shudders to ponder the implications if the same assumption were applied to failure occurring in the GROWING WITHOI-IT SCHOOLING #7I
37 local public school. Irontcally, tn the public schools, the child's speciffc instructor is rarely intimated as the responsible party when examinlng the cause of a student's educatlonal shortcomings. Most often specifled as culpable tn the blameaIIiXng Pmoess are the child's motivation, ffte chfld's lack of prerequisities, or most ironic:lly - tte parents' socioeconomlc stafus, the parents'lack of involvement, or the lpme envlronment. [$S: Homeschoolers have been making this very point in courts and before legislaturiirorsome time ...Additionally, a more bastc validity concern arises when examlning the application of the norms of any standardized test to the home-educated sfudent. With any standardlzed test, it ls expected that the test shall be admlnistered to, and used to make comparison between, sfudents who possess characteristlcs hghly similar to the subJects who constituted the norrn group... In the case of the homeeducated chlld, the dlfference on the kev variable - educadonal setting - yields a vastly dlfferent educational experience than encountered by the typical public
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... llln Michigan, annual assessment
of educational progress is acomplished by the Michigan Educadonal Assessment Pnrgam (MEAP), uslng its criterionreferenced assessment-lnstmments commonly referred to as the MEAPs... It has been suggested that the MEAPs be used to evaluate students in home-based educational programs. A few ltems from a recent MEAP health education test will serve to illustrate the inapproprlateness of applying a large-scale testing program
to the dramatically different experiences of the home-school student. On the fourth-grade version of the 1985-86 MEAP test, the student ls asked: 67. Who would help you the mostif
you had the flu?
A. doctor B. ambulance attendant C, nurse
D. dentist 68. Who would help you the mostif
your tooth hurt? A. nurse B. eye doctor C. pharmacist D. dentist 69. Who is the best person to help you buy a new toothbrush? A. dental hygienist B. librarian C.
dmgstoreclerk
D. grocery store clerk
Noticable because of its omission is any reference to a parent or family member betng someone who mtght be the most help to the fourth grader who has the flu, a toothache, or needs a new toothbmsh. Iater, in the same test, the correct answer to 'You and your friends are going to play kickball. Where should you play?" is 'on the school playground." ...Obviously, these kinds of items are ill-suited to the typical experiences of the home-educated child. One could even argue that these items are tll-sutted as health items for angr student, as these items appear to be heavtly value-laden and culturallv biased.
Also at issue is the recently articulated prlnciple that the content of a test can often drive the content of the curriculum. If, in fact, a state-mandated, crtterlon-referenced test can exert a powerfirl lnlluence over the home-based curriculum, then such a test could effectlvely negate the uniqueness of the home-based
alternative....
Undoubtedly, standardized testing as a means of assessing education is custom-
ary. It is not a reasonable means of assessing home-based education. Standardlzed testing ls designed to assess what
ts probably a very di{Ierent population and ts typically used to compare groups rather than indtviduals. Its homogenizing inlluence counteracts the desire to nurture individuality that motivates m.ury parents to chose home-based educaffonal programs as an alternative....
RESOURCES & RECOMMENDATIONS MUSIC SELF-INSTRUCTION Stephante JudA BC) wrltes:
If you want to leam guitar, banjo, dulcimer, flddle, pennywhistle, basic plano, Jazz, but don't have the time for regular lessons, Homespun Tapes has the
Most of the lesson sets have six tapes,
but you can buy only the first one to see if it's right for you - you don't have to commit yourself to the whole set. The tapes are offered at various levels, and the beginning sets are really for beginners. They a.ssume no prior musicial knowledge,
which is unlike some teach-vourself books and videos. All of this applies to the a.',.lic cassette tapes. I have reservations about the video cassettes. I think you get a whole lot more for your money with audio cassettes. The advantage ofbeing able to see what the musician is doing is just not, for me, offset by the price/time factor. A set of audio tapes from Homespun costs $65 for six hours of instruction. A video tape ls $5O for one and a halfhours. To squeeze in your 'money's worth' on the video tape, the instructors have to skip over a lot of complicated stuffvery
56 Homecrcst St, Newington CT 06l I I: Maura (lO) skating, sports, animals; Bridget (8) Srmnastics, sports, anlmals === Mlchelle FRINK (l l) 425 Coenjo Ix, Santa Barbara CA 931O3; mding, swtmmtrlg, drawing === Kaila MORRIS (l r) RR #f winlaw BC VOG ZJO Canada; books, rmks, superheroes === Jericho BIGGS (8) Box lal RR #4, Lanings Wharf NJ O83O2; pimo, b€als, natre === flean DECOTEAU (A 45f 58 Fonterrot Rd, St Ammt lA 7A774; hmtirlg, computer games. natut€ === Asa EMBREE, 999 Fmthill Rd, Mukleeville VA 96 I 20; natue, piano, reading === lvy Lyn WRIGHT, Rt 3 Box 355, Fort Valley GA 3lO3O; dance, animals === CONCAIVNON, Box lO7 Rt l. [,ake Ire l,arnu Ml 49653: Rachel (10) horses, ballet, swimming; Patrick (7) ffshing, hunhng, slcd dogs === ADAMS, ll2 Lynwood Dr #3, Edinboro PA 16412: Blair (8) baseball cards, bikes; Ttrra (lO) dolls, baseball cads, reading; Tom (l l) baseball cards, stamps, drawing === Alan KOZICKI (7) 3306 W 7th St, Milan lL 61264 === Melody TASH (9) 1343 Thomas Rd. Wayne PA l9oa7; sport-e, pimo,
rcading
quickly.
You can get a catalog by writing HomespunTapes, Box 694, Woodstock NY
t2498.
PEN.PALS Chlldren wantlng pcn-pa.l,r should *rite to those listed. To be listcd, scnd name, agc, addrcs. and l-3 words on intercsts === WILLIAMS, 33311 Gold Countr5r Dr. Placenrille CA 95667: Katic (lO) animals, pen-pals, artl Annie (5) pets, colors, dolls === Natc AUCHTER (9) 3f 5 Bmadleaf Dr, Vienna VA 2218O; sclence, art, animals === MORTENSEN, B,ox 272, Skidmore fi 78389: Rcagm (14) honcs, rodco, bildnlg: Garrett (9) temis, mhacolos/. swimmlng; Ashlcy (9) Barbies, swimming, music; Andrw (7) art, games, inrects === HUBBELL, 1544 Big Oak Rd, Placerville CA 95667: Gordon (14) skiing, computers, money: Spencer (12) Nintendo, computers, s-f; Katie (12) reading, PEI, frtends: Erlk (lO) swlmmin€;, readlng, actinSl === Naomi OBERSKI (8) 2l3OS NE I l2th Av, Battle Ground WA 98604; cats, singtng, rcading === I(l ista HUMPHREY, l2O4 Holiday Place, Bossler C:ity LA 7lll2: horscs, stickers, pen-pals === REIIIY,
GROWING WITHOTN SCHOOLING #7I
BEST TOY OF. THE YEAR ASTARD! Parents Choice Foundation
CalI or write: Dr. Drew's Toys P.O. Box 1003 Boston, MA o2205 6L7-730-4901
38
ADDITIONS TO DIRECTORY Here are all fre additions and changes to the Directory that we have received since the last issue went to press. GWS tt66 has tho complete 1999 Direcbry, and GWS #69 has a summary of the additions that came in after the i989 Directory was published.
Our Direoory is nol a list of all subscribers, but only of thos€ wlp ask to be lisbd, so that other GWS readers, or other interested people, may get in touctl with them. lf you would like to b€ included, please send the sntry torm or a 3x5 card (one famiv per card). Pleaso iake care to includ€ all the information last name, full address, and so on. Pleaso rememb€r that we can't control how the Directory is used; if you receive unwanted mail as a result of being listed, just toss it out. Wepnntbirttryears otcfrildren, notages. lf we made a mistake when converting your child's age to birthyear, please let us know. Please tell us if you would rather have your phone number and town listed instead of your mailing address. We don't have space to list both. lf a Directory lisring is followed by a (H), the family is willing to host GWS travelers who make advance arrangemenls in writing. lf a name in a GWS story is followed by a state abbreviation in parentheses, that person is in the Directory (check here and in #66, #69, and #70). We are happy to foMard mail to those rvhose addresses are not in the Directory. Mark the oulslde of the envelope rvith name/description, issue, and page number. lf you don't mark tho outside, we open the envelope, see that you want something fonrarded, and then have to readdress the letter and use our own postage to mail it. When you send us an address change for a subscription, please remind us if you are in the Directory, so w€ can chang€ it h€ro, too.
AZ === Ron & Terry DELONEY (Johry80, Jason/83) 1607 E Palo Verde St; Yuma 85364 (change)
CA, North (zip 94000 & up) === Ray & Ettie ANDREW (Karcnt7s, SarahnS) 209 Herlong Avenue, San Jose 95123 === Tim BAILEY & Kiuy GARRETT (Sarah/82, Seth/83, Zandeilg') 161 I Grant St, Berkeley 94703 === CHRISTIAN FAMILY SCHOOLS, PO Box 23068, San Jose 95i 59-9069 === Ruth DUART, 4342 73rd Sr, Sacramenro 95820 (H) === Mark E Margarer GRISMER (Joseph/82, Bernadette/83, Kateri/87) Rt 2 Box 2996, Davis 95616 (change) === Jim & Mary Ann HUBBELL (cordonn4, Katie & spencsrtTo, Erikr/g) 154a Big Oak Rd, Placerville 95667 (H) === Patricia & David JACOBSON (Teresa/82) 2368 Donner Pl, Santa Clara 95OSO === Mary-ceorge & John Slt\,lONlTCH (Erin/81, Johrv
8il) 362 Anoyo Way, Sonoma 95476 =: Ctaire WOFFORD (6,3, baby) Sun Dance Ranch, 1750 Starhill Rd, Woodside 94062 CA, South (zlps to 94000) === Russ & Connie COLTEN (Chrisfi 1, ShawM74, D€vint8, Doni kal8ii, Trevor/88) 119 Inyo Lane, Camp Pendlston 92055 Harvey & Marilyn DIAiTOND lBeautTg) 24520 -= Dry Canyon Cold Creek Rd, Calabasas 9i 3O2 (H) === Susie KAUFMAN (Jarrett L€nnon/82) 29947 N Prairie Ln #203, Slanta Clarita 91351-2176 === Steve & Darlene LESTER (Natharv7l, Elyng,Damiann}, GabrieyS0, BenjamirvEo) 61 9-366-9684 (Joshua Tree) === Karen & Nick LOCKWOOD (SrephanieZ2, CrystaltTs) PO Box 95, Los Olivos 9:t441 =: Sharta IVTATTHEWSJENSEN (Trysranng, Eteviryg5, Chelsea/8g) PO Box 669, Crestlino 92325 (H) ==Tim & Pamela Keyes MINERD (Micfrelle/80, Tena/81) 525 Nutwood St, Anaheim 92804 (H) === Ilax & Karen WEISS (Ellerv7s, Dant7g) 1891 Ringsred Dr, Solvang 93463 CT === Ed & Cindy BAKLIK (Stepherv83, Miciael/85, David/88) 3i! Wheeler St, Shelron 06484 === Bob & Kathryn HERRMANN (Barbarat82, Grayson/84) 1 18 Unde&ood Rd, Putnam 06260 === Lisa SPECTOR (Danica/84) 12i-B Pery St, Unionvitte 06085 (change) (H) FL === Ed & Mary ANGEL (ChadnT , Ctintng, Christopher/81 , Corinne/8s) 1 100 Plover Avenue, Miami 3i1185 === Edward Flor Maria CHAVES (Elsa/83, Gabriela/89) 723 N Jelferson Ave, Sarasota 34237 === Kathleen & Chip IACONA (Gwen/8o, Anna/81 , JohniST) 3895 Hield Rd NW, Palm Bay 32907 (H) === John & Dany MESSINA (Michelte/84) 1444 Beeciwood Tr, Fort Myers 3ilgtg === Paul & Debora SYP IAN (Natharv8s, Manh€W87, Jared/89) 8125 Alveron Ave, Orlando 32817
t
Hl === Charles & Angela OTT (Chrisrina/82, CarerVSS) 381-C Reasoner Rd, Honolulu 96819
Ml === Dan & Sharon DENK (Ramona/69,
lN === John E Karen GOODIN (Ardys//9, Cene/ 81, Braham/83) 1513 Maple Cr, New Albany 47150 === Mike & Terry GRIMES (Robbie/80, Kati€/82) 3480 Mt Oli\€ Lane, Martinsville 46151 LA === Aimee & Denny PERRIN (Jamie/80,
Camille/8s) PO Box 1936, Hammond 70404 MD === Dana & Philip BIELATA (Philip/8a, Je(emyl87, Sonny/8g) Box 347 MacArthur Blvd, Cabin John 20818 (H) === ceorge & Jeanne DEIGNANKOSMIDES (Ariana/84, Justinian/87) 6309 Deer Park Rd, Reisterstown 21136 (H) === Cyndi & Bert OTTS
Create v()ur ()tvn ltorrre s(:ll()()l ('rrr ricrrlilnr witll (lre lrclp oI Clorrlara Sclrool llorne IJasc<l
l:tltrcatiolrl)ro1;ratn,tlrewell-tralarrct,tl
lrorrre school l)rogranr o[ferirrg flexitrle or starrdard al)t)r()acll. Our graduales receive our l)rivate sclrool rliplorna and full transcripts. (313) 769-{5t5
{l -
SE, Kentwood 49508 === John & Muriel PALKO (Simonr/6, Zoe/841 321 N William, Ludington 49431 (cfiange) (H) ===Jay &Jan SKOUSEN (Laurcdn7, JaninetTg, Lianal82, Joel/86, Mari beth/88) 52 1 65 Belle Vernon, Rochester 48064 (H) MN === Wendy WENDT (DanieltTg) 83gs E Superior St, Duluth 55804 (H) MT === Bob & Denise HANSEN (Johrv81, David/82, Edwin/83, Paul/85) 420 Ferndale Dr, Bigfork 59911 (H) === John & Frankie KELLY (Mylesr/g, Ben/ 81, Clay/84, WillowST) 154 Deep Crk Rd, Superior 59872 (H) NV === Karen GALLEGOS (Aaon?S, Randy/ 78, Scottr7g) PO Box 601 53, Las Vegas 891 60 NH === Laura & Mark COLLINS (Teresa/82, Christopher/84, Benjamin/88) 12 Boulder Way, Menimack 03054 === Franklin & Cynthia TRUMAN (Jonathan/83, LawalSTl 52 For€st St, Dover 03820
lL === Catherine COX & Al FRYDRYK (Jane/ 8il) 209 Lee St, Park Foresr 60466 (change)
Home Based Education Prograrn
Ann Arbor. Mlchlgan tlSl(X
MA === Gregory & Nicki BMMHALL (Allison/ 82, Gregory/83) 19 Strawberry Hill St, Dover 02030 (H) === Lyn & Will CLARKE (Chelsea/84, Rachael/87) 28 Longview Rd, North Falmouth 02556 === Kate GILDAY & Don BABINEAU (Ananda/8O, Sean-Piene/ 84) Box 125, Wendell 01379 (H) === Nancy LEVAY E Chris SINACOIA (Alena/83, Jonas/87, Mary/8g) i3 Summer St, Framingham 01701 === MASSACHUSETTS HOME LEARNING ASSOC, PO Box 1976, Lenox 01240 (change) === Stacey & Peter I,OTT (Emily/8s, Alissa/87) 174 Easrem Avenue, Worcester 01605 (H) === Shipley & Maynard SMTTH (Darrell79, Elizabeth/82) 85 Fern Av, Amesbury 01913 (H)
Carmennl, Allison/81, Ransom/84) 1377 Marwood Dr
cLo.rLo.rzo,
1289 Jewell
(Ann-Manof/5, JoshuatT) Rt 2, 1 29 Skyview Dr, Hollywood 20636 === Paul & Paula WALDOWSKI (bhnnz, Andrew/8s, AdanVST) 76338 Peden St, Fr ltleade 20755
NJ === Frank & Janie CARLE (Frankie/8O, Kristina/82, Diana/84) 146 ll|ounrain View Rd, Wanen 07060 === Phil & Gwen ENGLAND (Sarah & Joseph/ 80) 166 Hillcrest Ave, Summit 07901 === Rurh & Terry MATILSKY (Saratg, Jaob/g2, Laura/86) g Rieder Ct, Somerset 08873 (change) NM === gsn & Adeen STANDIFORD (Annie/81, Jeremy/84, Julie/86, NatharvSg) PO Box 4763, Las Cruces 88003
NY === Helen & William BOYLE (Jessie/8s, Cassie/88) 10 Lockhart Lane, Highland 12528 (H) === EMPIRE STATE HOIvIESCHOOLERS. c/o Karen Schadel, Side Hill Springs, Becker Rd, Skaneareles 13152 =-= Teresa & David HALPERT (Samuel/84, Claire/8s, Abraharn/88) 317 River St, Elmira 14904. === Linda HOLZBAUR E Kenny RITTEB (crace/8|, Nalhaniel/84, Anna/86) 5066 Mon-Evans Rd, Trumansburg 14886 (change) === Brian SNARR & Elisabeth WHITTEN-SNARR (Bertrand/85, Beau/88) 914-941-7180, (Briarcliff Mano4 (H) NC === Charles & Joyce ANDERTON (JW75,
LouistE, ErirvS4) 8415 Huntdale Cr, Charlotte 28212 (H) === Bryson & Marilyn BATEMAN (JennifertS, Jackie/8o, Claire/8s) 309 Walnut Creek Dr, Goldsboro 27534 === Kathleen & George KING (Joseph/63, Leslie/87, MichaefSg) 1106 East Second St, Ayden 2851 3
Prt Montgomery. Ph.D. Dllcclor
ND === Phil & Janet GEBLA (Timothy/81, Andy/ 84, Paul/87) 71 1 25th Avenue South, Grand Forks s8201 (H)
GROWING WITHOLN SCHOOLING #7I
39 OH === Kathy & John EWING (Doug/82, irargareuS6) 3966 Elrnwood Rd, clernland Heighrs 44121 (Hl === Robert & Christine SCARLETT (Paige/ 85, Nablie/87) 437 Orchard Vierv Dr, Maumoe 43537 (H) === Donna & Stew VAN ALLEN (B€rVSg, Nathary 87) 122 Parkviow Ave, Westerville 4in81 (H) -== Dave & Nancy WINTERS 0rogary83, Maffrews4) 1271 sth St, Wheelersburg 45694 (changs) (H)
BC === GBEATER VANCOUVEB HOtvlE EDUC. suPPoBT GRP, 604-22&1s]9 =: philip TOLEIKIS & Claudia BEAVER (Annis€/88, Lauren/84) 2636 Tennes Cres., Vancouver V5T 2El (H) === Lee WEHRWEIN-GILBERT E John GILBERT (Saeward/ 8t , Sas€ha/8s, Oban/86, Thea/89) 30O Mobrae W C49, RR t1 canges - vos 1Eo
tf|
:
OR l,lark & Mary ANDERSON (Virgina/80, MatthewS2, BrighvSS) 52501 E sylvan Dr, 97055: Susan AVALOS, PO Box 70778, 97401 === Paul E Nancy COOKE (Emily/80, Timothy/ 84, Willoughby/86) 19587 Alsoa Hwy, Alsoa (H) =- John & Anno HILL (Christine/82,
sandy Eugene 97324 KarcN$4,
:
union r". ca"l ce-
Friendlv School Distrid: Loma prieta Joint schoor District, 238oo summir n""i,
12
sim.nkinl,
PA === Qs161 & Doug lsoN (Kat€/8s) I 1 Fawcen Ave, White Oak 15131 Robert CHESTER COUNTY HOMESCHOOLERS, PO Box Paoli 19301 (H) === Allan & Claire
95030; 408-353-2389; Dr. Kenneth Superintendent; Ruth Bothne, Independent Study ivvt Program Director.
KAY,
C, WH||-MIRE caniergT,Molly/gg) 411 N
'
Rates:
Home
'vY'q'r'
nDrtr a coryrrr''rr dECLASSIFIED
rooor
7O?
r ADS ^
- -
*,
Si3l3:1",5)il',lltr"""3t#",T-1*i'o,', i}6o f,o-". rraflornvidc. order HAND.-.N Euerrons
for $s4.95 plus $4.so s6rH fron: ASnpXSOn AND AssXrcIATEsl, Box 4bo, Dubltn, pA
l89tZ.
A COUPUIER? We offer a variety of IBM
3&""1'S".y*B:T,il1!H,:f;J3ffi,."., mon€y management, buslness helps, MORET Wrlte for complete brochure: SCS, PO Box 1396 Dept. G, ConcordMAOIT42.
Hmcr' Altemattues in Edrrcation' and other titles' write for our free catalog' Box lo8ll. Tornsket' wA 98a55. The Home School
!-,o--o-*"-*r6il,il",
..a-[."-al
a Vra.o" invttcs you to "",r snd for our free 32 page catalog of over 2oo titles' Featuring thc bcst recordi'g a'tists of children's music' storyactivitiestPo Box 1343'
i"p""
fiff.3i""1?:llonal
ORBGON - Sceking contact wlth unstructured Kate/ mlnimum. Pleasc tell thcse folks you saw the ad tn GWS. homeschoolers in (or consldcringf beautiful === Ccntral Orcgon. Jan Hunt. Box 93O6, Bend, OR Gritfin/ 977O8: 5O3-3a2-1547. 38138 A ts for Audubon. An artist actlvtty workbook. Reproduclble. Agps 8 to 80. Leam about maJor Jessetg, artists that €veryone should know. $9.95 WI{ATS NEW? wooden modcl kids, art supplies, Sr, ARISTS, 34Ol T$er Ln, Bloomington globes, musical instn-rmenb, math, science and Sn'Cadgn rystpaid. scial studies resources, computer books, Av, Il4?not.
=-
-
lEtnarv
MrND; ;l*";; 37931 "*"r.u tlscoveryActivtues "o,r* ""rLD,s and pro1ects. Freebrochuret
(Racrrer/8s, f*ff:?li;XDs' Christopher/87) t5707 Rill Lane, Houston 77062 ===
"
/word. $l /word bol,ltrce. $5
TN David & Donna CURRE (Tom/83, 85, Christa/87) 120 Sione Rd, Knoxville 37920 Peter & Donna GIBSON (Cartor/82, Blake/84, 86, Conrad/88) 2517 Ov€rlook Dr, G€rmantofn === Jay & Sandy IvIADSEN (Joshto, Annie/81, Becky/85, Emmy/87) 916 Bailey Nashville 3720d (H, =-= dary'a pam (shaner/g, Lisazg: cara/g6) 212 Draper Greenbriar 37073 === .lsns & rom wrLson 77' Hannah/8o) 1648 Joe Hinton Rd' Knoxville
rx
^rr"r"^-",""-"a-"il""*"
Stat€), 2cf,.24si9227 Forest I - Educatlon Home Press publishcs Home G. 02167 Educadon Moga-lnc' The Home School Reader,
g7oo5
(stepherygl, Teddy/g4, Durry Rd, Buler
FREE Sclencc Magaztne loaded wlth experiments: TOPS ldeaq' lO97O S Multno Rd. Canby OR
NEED
ro RESouRCEs
Certified Teachers Willino to Helo Homeschoolets: Family Academy (teachers all over WA 1t1629 20th SW, Seatde WA 98166; === llana REMBELINSKY, 17Gl 19th Avs #5, Grove OR 971 16; 503-357-7130 === Linda VlElRA, 545 Hammond St, Chestnut Hill MA
Box
*106, Bend 97708 (chang€) : Alan & Ann HUSTER (Angola/8s, AbigailrSS) PO Box 1561, Albany 97321-0467 (change) (H) === Bruce & Wendy REININGER (Erica/80, Lara/86, Luke/89) 19592 Alsea Hwy, Alsea g7324 : Pani a Pafick WINTERS (Garrew87) 3585 sW 123rd, Beaverton
:
(H)
lt/hrfia/&t, Cumbria,
Sfjf:::,,1i';:1Tfl",1"^[?j!?in1]"'o ADDrrroNs CENTML OREGOI.I HOMESCHOOI-ERS, PO
gnrMglE: Torl
orher Locarions Arison HORRIDGE & Ralph LATTIIVIORE (Finniarv8s, 87) 3 trtonoietf st, oickson, Acr 2oo2 dq$i{ig === Rob & Barbara SHEPPARD (Ellie/8O, Alfiet$7) 2 Mayclose, New Hulton, Kendal, Enotand LAB OAG (change)
HOMESCHOOLERS COMUUNITY NETWORX: Natlornvide. Scnd SASE to Wilsorrs, 175 Sunnycroft, Bcn Lomond, CA 95OO5.
97013'
69 5L5
Ont === SEEDLING, c/o Joy Reiter, lvlelany & Pete CUEVA (Christophsr/82, Sanderson Cresconr, Richmond Hill L4C Katie/8ti) 2310 NE Sr, Lawron 73507
OK:
Box762, Greenwood, SC 29648.
rim & sherry EARLy
15o-
Gary & Sarah JORDAN (clarlv83, David/87) Forest Ln, Double OaULewisville 75067 === Chuck
Wanda IvDRTENSEN (StervarnO, Reaganf/s, Garrett & Ashley/8o, Andre!v/8l) 2oo E corpus, skidmore 78389 (H)
'
ALGEBRA vIDEo Algebra made simplet ycs you can learn algebra; so c"an your chtld. Algebra Baslcs in stmple, casy-to-understand J-anguage. Teachcr wtth M.st"r" dcgrcc uses ."'"thid that has worked for many. will bring"""y results. vHS $18.90 + $2.5O shipping. BASIC AICEBRA, pO
&
W === John & Suzanne GOSS (Maia/80, Graham/84) 17 Ewing St, lronrpelier 05602 ===
^t
3*. Y 'l-gtJ"*Y.ft
="u
Write A.G. pe tunta Artworks, Thc Kids, Gallery, 5605 Keystone pl. N., Seattle WA 981o3; 2o6-6327464.
I ENTRY FORM FOR DIRECTORY
If you would like to be in the Dtrectory and have not yet told us, send in Drew ; this form, or use a postcard or 3x5 card (only one family per card).
vA === Lance & Linda ozlERlo,venne, 83) LEARN newslener ryA, MD & DC area) 2519
Buckelew Dr, Falls Churctr 22046 (H) === Annene &
'r"ra'i]rir-,Je-?i;,;30 Frost Way, Annandale 22003 (l{) WA === Kerry FLETCHER-GARBISCH E Leif GARBISCH (Amararv87, Jirina/8g) PO Box Southworth 98386 (change) === Nancy HTLDAHL Mark DUSSELL (Scon/82, Rach€t/87) 32450 136th, Duvall
98019
i
Adults (first ond last names): Organizatlon (only lf address is same as family):
I Chtldren
199, & NE
(Names/Birthyears):
|
| I
Full Address (Street, Ctty, State, Zlp):
Wf === Q6s5416ra DIXON (CatVA4, Hetervgs) 3559 Co Hwy 6, Wisconsin Dells 53965 (change) (H) Canada:
lf thls state? ------ls an address change, what was prevlous r'-"--- v| 76' Gordon/82' Paige/88) camrose Homeschoolers I et you willrng to host travelrng GWS readers who make advance arrangements Supporl crp, 12 Mt Pleasant Dr, Camrose T4V 2LB ; _-_.,_ ^ _,-wrltlng? Yes No Alta === Ken & Grace N|ARCINKOSKI
-
Evcrythulg to inspire the crcauve child within.
|
Micha&BilloLESoN(JoshnT,Lija/sl,Abevos, Maya/88) PO Box 42, Fairfield 05a55 (H)
coRNER' Box 16777-07
::Tll,"j:f#.tJi:ffi"iff:fft,
workbooks and reaching Guides for LEARNING
(DarryU
GROWING WITHOI..]T SCHOOLING
#7I
tn
40
HOW TO GET STARTED Here arc some ways you c:rn ffnd out the legot s;lrra,tott
'
your state.
l) l,ook up thc lawyoursell in a public library or law llbrary (courthouse, law school,
try'school attcndancc- or 'education, compulsory.' l9 statcs havc rcvised thclr horne educatlon laws stnce 1982 so check the rccent statute changes, We have prlnted or summarlzcd thcsc ncw laws irr our back lssrrcs. 2) Ask the state dcpartrnent of educadon for any laws or r€gulations pcrtaining to homeschoollng and/or starflqg a prlvatc school. ln some states (pardcularly CA, lL, lN, Ifl) there atc fcw rcgulaflons conoerntng prlvatc schools and soyou can callyourhomc a school. lfyou ar,e concerned about reveallqgyour name and address to the state, do thls through a friend. 3) Contact statc or local homeschooling groups. Thts llst was last prlnted ln cWS #66, and is updated and sold scparately for $2.5O part of our 'Homeschoollng Rcsourc€ llst.' Some groups have prcpared handbooks or guidellnes on legal matten. Often, thesc groups can tell you more about the lcgal climatc ln a statc than anyonc else can - whethcr new legfslation ts p€nding, for orample, and how the present law is ctc.) Laws are lndcxcd;
being enforced. 4) Contact other famllles listed In our Dircctory. This is pardcularly useful ifyou live ln a state that leaves homcschooling dectsions up to individual school districts. When you contact these farnilies, help thern by havlr4; done some research on your own first. 5) ln general. lt b not wis€ to start by
asking your local school distrlcti they usually don't know the law clther, Better to gathcr the facts first on your own.
#72, the ncxt lssue. But lfwe rpcrc to recelvc tleir' rgnewal before we sent our llnal account char4es to the maillng housc (December l), thcy would quall$ for thc frcc bonus lssue. Renewal ratcs are the same as for new subscriptions: $2O for 6 lssues, $36 licr l2 issues, $48 for 18 lssues.
SUBSCRIPTIONS Subscriptions start wlth the next lssue published. Our current rates arc $2O for 6 lssues. !i36 for 12 lssues, $48 for l8 issues. GWS ls publlshcd every other month. A slqglc lssue costs $3.so. Forclgn paymcnts must bc clthcr moncy orders tn US frrnds or checks drawn on US banks. Wc can't afford to accept personal checks on Canadlan accounts, even lf they have 'US funds' writtcn on thcm. Outstde of North America. add $lO pcr ycar for airmail (othcrwise, allou' 2-3 months for surface mall). B.cL I.tucr: Wc shongly urge you to get thc back lssues of GWS. espcctally lf you plan to takc your children out of school. Many of the artlclcs are as useful and lmportant as when they wcre printed, and we do not plan to rcpeat the lnficrmation ln them. All back issues are kept in
print. F.ates: Subscrlbers pay $lOO for a complete sct ofback issues until l/l/9O. Thereafter, thc cost (for all customersl is $125 plus postage. Individual back issues, mailed at one time to onc addrcss, arc $2 each plus $2 pcr order. Indcrer to GWS (speci& itcm numbcr): #38O lndcx to GWS #l -3O, $2.5O: #382 lndor to #31-4O, $2: #384 Indcx to #41 -5O, $2: #385 Index to #51-60, $2: #381 Set ofall lndexes. $5. Blndcrr are available with rods that hold GWS without obscuring any text. Gold letters on
renewlng cady. How can you tell when your subscrlption emiraq? I-ok rt thls efrnle latrel:
t2345 JIMANDMARYSMITH 27
I6I\,TAINST PIAINVILLE
0t
T{Y
72 OI I I
I
The number that ls underlined in the example tells the numbcr of the ffnal issue for the subscription. The Smlths'sub expircs wlth Issue
2
12
iss.
$20 $36 $48 $60 $70 $78
yrs. iss.
$36 $64 $90 $r 12 $r30 $144
3 yrs. l8 tss.
$48 $eo
$126 $156
$r80 $216
7X, 8)(. etc: $12 p€r person p€ryear. Please send in the rrames md addresses of mcmbcrs ofyour group sub, so that we cm kccp in touch with them. Thanks.
cW'g vell foundcd ln LS77 by John Holt. Editor - Susannah Shelfer Managing Editor - Patrick Farenga Contributinlg Editor - D,onna Rlchoux Editorial .A-ssistant - Mary Maher Edltorlal Corrsultant - Nancy Wallace Book & Olhce Manager -Arn Barr Subscription Manager - Day Farenga Book Shipper/Receiver
-
Kathy Murro
Holt Assoclates Board of Directors:
Ann Barr, Patrick Farenga (Corporate kesident), Tom Maher, Donna Richoux. Susarmah Shcffer
Advisore to t}tc Boad: Mary Maher, Stwe Rupprecht, MaDr Van Doren, Nancy Wallace
Copyrght @ 1989 Holt Associate, Inc. All rights reserved.
#ll8
#3tlO Binder with 24 rods {holds GWS
At the bottom of thls page is a form you can use to renew your subscrlptlon. Pleasc help us by
lx 2X 3X 4X $( 6)(
I year 6
Shipping Assistant - Glnger Fitzslmmons O{hcc Assistant - Maqf Maher
co\rer,
RENEWALS
to onc addregs. Plcasc pa.ywlth onc chccl. Here arc the current group ratcs (lX means you get one copy ofeach issue, 2X means you get 2 copies of cach issue,3Xmeans 3 copies. etc.)
$lO: #328 Bindcrwith l8 rods (holds laterissucs), $9.5O. #326 Sct of4 Binders and 78 rods (holds cws f r-78), $35. 241,
I 819
l El?
irF
Add prctlng end dellvery chargc to all
Items except subscriptions (scc ccnter pages). Addrcr Chenger: If you're moving, let us know your ncw address alr s(x)n as possiblc. Please enclose a rccent label {or copy ofonc}. Issucs mlsscd bccausc ofa change in addrcss may be replaced for $2 each. The post olllce dcstroys your missed issues and charges us a notification fee, so we can't alford to rcplace them
ts El€
<Hl+ >TE g rh a a|g
" eld
without charge.
clq
Group Subrcrlptlonr: all copies are mailed
SUBSCRIPTION AND RENEWAL TORM
I
fom to subsaibe or renry to GROWNG WITHOUT SCHOOLING. For renryals. place thc labcl fron a recent issuc below. if possiblc. lf not. print tlre lnfo. Cltp and send witl your chcck or money order in USftrnds.Or,youmaynowsubscribcorrcncwbyphoncwithMastcrcardorVisa;call 617+64-3100,. Usc this
Thmks.
_-
N* subscription
_
Rencwal
Gift subscription to bc sent to namc
shom
Account Numbcr (for rcnewals): Namc:
Expiration Code (for rencwals): Address (Changc? ycs/no)
city, srate, ziP:
_ _
6 issues.
GroupSub:
xxYi $2O coPles
12 issucs,
of
$36
issucs.$
EgR
18 issucs, $48
9's3
<;Q
__(sccchart)
n3h
- to scll my namc arnd addrcss to otler organiatlons. It is OK GROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING
#7I