Growing Without Schooling 74

GROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING

74

Solon Sadoway (rlght) ls among those who write about friendship between childrenand adults ln thislssue'sFocus, pages 19-22.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE: News &

Reports p.2-4

Senate Bttl 695, Opposltlon in 8.C., Action Agatnst Mllitary Families ln West Germany, Homeschool Numbers Up tn Arkansas

The Pros and Cons of Formal Iessons p.4-5 Challenges & Concerns p. 5-9 Homeschooling wtth Llttle Money, Single Parent's Arrangements, Reading Difliculties, Crippling PerfecUonism, Homeschooling wlth Young Children

Watchlng Chlldren Learn p. ro-13 Telling Tlme, Worlidng in a Food Co-Op, F)nding OutAbout Computers, Math Phobia, Drawing, Geography

Older Ilomeschoolers p. L4,24-25 Finding an Internship, Plans to Travel, John Holt on Figurlng Out What You Want

Book Revlews p. 15-18 FOCUS: Frlendshlp Between p. t9-22

Chlldren and

Adults

HowAdults Learn

p. 23-24

Resources & Recommendatlons p. 26-2a

Addttlons to Dlrectory, Pen-Pals p.2a-29

Can children and adults be friends? What are those fdendstrlps like? How do children..lftnd adult filends outslde their famllles? These are the questions we asked several people to write about for the Focus of this issue of GWS. We asked young people to write about their friendships with adults, and we asked adults to write about their frlendshlps wlth children or about friendships with adults that they remember from their own childhoods.

The responses we received are strildng ln one particular regard: ftendship between children and adults seems to be much easler now than tt used to be. Of the three adults who responded to our question, two emphasized their memories of belng excluded from adult life. They wrote about feeling that adult-child friendshtp was lmposslble or at least dfficult.

The chtldren, on the other hand, were unanimous tn thelr belief that friendship with adults was possible, natural, and important. 'It never seemed like a big deal,'wrote Lluvia Crockett of the various friendships she has had with adults. 'I don't think it matters what age best lilends are,' Meredith Conroy wrote, providing clear tesUmony that she doesn't suffer from those feelings of excluslon. The children tended to agree that friendshtps with adults were often dtlferent from friendshlps with other children, but from thelr letters lt sounds as though those differences only serve to make things richer and more interesting. If it doesn't matter what age best friends are, a child certainly has a greater range of possible filends to choose from than we have traditionally imaglned.

I suspect it's safe to say that the ctrlldren who wrote for this issue of GWS have more experience with adult friendship - more good experience, ln particular - than the general populatlon of chlldren. What they say reminds us of how important such experience - or, at least, the opportunity for such experience is to young people. It suggests that tnstead of being socially deprtved, many homeschoolers have access to a valuable kind of soctal experience that we ought to try to make available to all young people.

Afewyears ago I attended a teenagers'discussion at a homeschooling conference (adults were allowed to observe but not participate). Talking about how she liked havlng filends who were older than she was, one gtrl sald, "\Mhywould we want to be only with people our age? We need more than people who have the same problems we have; we need people who can tell us how they solved those problems." Having older friends - at any stage of life - can help us see that the way things are now isn't the way they are always going to be, and, as this teenager observed, sometimes that's Just what we need to know.

Young people don't want to be told, "These are the best years of your life.'They want to be told - or, even more lmportant, shown - by the adults around them, 'Those years are good, but lt gets even better, so keep on corntng.' Ifyoung people can be around adults who glve them the feeling that adulthood ls worth stlcklng around for, that it ls a time of more possibility rather than less, they will feel better about what lles ahead for them. Parents can do this for thetr children. of course. Friendships with other adults simply add to a child's sense of what is Susannah Sheffer avallable and possible.

-

replacâ‚Źment parts for you to install yourself or repair the ultrasc,ope for you at

theA expense, whicherrer you choose.

karning Things, Inc., 68A Broadway,

Arlington MA 02174.

As we said in GWS #73, our subscription rates will lncrease on June I, 1990.

The new rates will be $25 for one year, $45 for two years, $6O for three years (see page

3l

for the new group rates). You have until May 31, l99O to re-new or extend your subscripdon (or to give a gtft to someone else) at tjle current rates ($2O,/ I y, $36/2 yrs, $48/3 yrs), so do take advantage of that opportunity. We thank those of you who have already renewed, and thankyou for the klnd words that so many of you have sent along as well.

NEWS & REPORTS Worldng wlth a baby fn arms: Pat Farerqga holds 6-month-old Altson Farcr4la te our ofBce,

OFFICE NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS [SS:l We've becn dotng some lnteresting traveling these days, and it looks as lf there's more to c.ome. In Februarv I visited Toronto homeschooler Jutta Maion and her famtly, and saw the Indoor Park (a

communlt5r spa.c'e for homeschoolers) that she descrlbed tn GWS #68, and then spoke to a small group at the educadon facult5r of Queen's Untverslt5r fui Klngston, Ontarlo. ,Also tn !'ebruary, I met with a g5oup of homeschoolers tn Portland, Malne, at a gathertng organized by Eileen Yoder and

Talk Abut lzdrn@ editor Earl Stevens.

In March I spoke to an education class at

Wesleyan Universit5r

Connectlcut,

ya!

in

Middletown,

Speakfurg to the two unlversity groups

very lnterestlng and encouraging. At both places, people seemed qutte interested in and recepdve to our ideas.

As you can see from the listings ln our

well as to homeschool proponents. "I was

SENATE BILL 695 During tlle week of Februaqr Sth our phones were busywtth confused and upset homeschoolers calllng from all over the nation regardtng Senate Blll 695, the

'Excellence in Educadon Act.' Fears about the btll were based on the misinformation that Senator Dodd (D-Connecdcut) was planning to propose an amendment requiring certiflcatlon of homeschoolers.

Ttris was not true.

We were easlly able to contact Joan Hogan, Senator Dodd's education aide in D.C., to clari$ matters. The bill never menfloned homeschoollng. It does give the Natlonal Board of Professlonal Teaching

Standards $25 millton to grant to universlties to study certlllcatlon requirements.

Any resuldng recommendadons would be voluntary - the federal government cannot compel states to certtS teachers.

On Februar5r 6th Senator Dodd and Senator Ford (D-Kentucky) held a colloquy to clariry that the bill had no bearing

on homeschooling. Nerrertheless, Senator Dodd was contacted by the Home School I-egal Defense Assoclation during this

Calendar secdon, Pat Farenga will be speaking at the Clonlara conference in Toledo tn May, and at the Washington Homeschool Organization conference ln Tacoma in June. Pat will also be at a

panic and, working wlth Senator Helms (R-North Carolina), agreed to insert the phrase: "Nothing tn thls act shall be mnstrued to infringe upon the pracdces and accreditatlon of home school teaching and private school teachinS." The bill passed with this phrase on 2/7 / 90 ln a 92-8 vote.

We regret that so many people were

these days, too: the Sunday magazine section of the fustonHerad ran a long piece

needlessly worrled and upset, and suggest

Modern l-angu.age Associadon literacy conference tn Ptttsburgh tre Septembei.

WeVe had some nlce exposure in prtnt

about homeschooling, and ?tre Prqressftr plans to publish an esszry that I wrote about Tiacy Kldder's Anang School-

ch6ren- (Have any GWS readers read the book? It's gotten so much publlclty that I expect some of you have.) I don't know in which issue the essay wtll appear - tt may be out by the fl.me yo-u're r."d'i.rg this lssie ofGWS. We've gotten two or three letters protesting both the spirit and the fact of the $ossy paper on which GWS #73 was printed. In case others ofyou were unhappy wtth the new paper, let me reassure

you that we dtdn't choose it the printer ran out ofour usual paper and substituted the glossy paper at the last minute without consultlng us. Asyou can see, we're back to our usual paper with this issue.

A note from Ftichard Ohanian, the president of karntng Things, Inc., the oompany that manufactures the ultrascopes that we sell, says that they have Just leamed that some of their microscopes were assembled with defecdve thumb nuts (focus wheels). Ifyou've gotten one of the deGctlve ultrascopes, crontact

Learning Things directly, rather than wridng to us. They wtll etther send you

to weryone that we can learn from this experience: next time such a rumor flies, let's go straight to the source for the facts rather than Just calling one another.

HOMESCHOOL NUMBERS UP IN ARKANSAS Reporters antd. reseorchers are alwags ttterested to know lww nung homeschoolers tlere are, so uE W to print lrr,al

figures tuhenerpr theg arc

ansailable. Here are someJrom the Febnwy 199O issrrc oJ Update, the rewsletter o,f the ARKANSAS CFIRISTXAN

HOME EDUCA?TON ASSO.

CIATION: Homeschool enrollment in Arkansas has almost doubled in the last lifteen months. Arkansas Department of Educatlon statistics announced last month lndicate that the total number of homeschool children ln the state ls now at 260O. The last time a homeschool enrollment figpre was announced was lifteen months earlier - ln October of 1988 - when the total was listed at l4OO students.

Ttre new ligure, whtch represents an 86 percent lncrease, was a surprise to ollicials in the state education office. as

expecttng the ffgure to be between ISOO and 2OOO thls school year,' satd Dr. Lynda

Hawkins, the Department of Educadon's homeschool program support manager. 'I had no ldea the lncrease would be so

dramatic." Tom Holtman, a member of the Board of Dlrectors of the Arkansas Christlan Home Educaflon Assoclaflon, had thought the ffggre would be "around 2OOO." "We knew the enrollment was on the rlse becauseweVe had so many more lnquirles through the AssoclaUon about getttng lnto homeschooling,' satd Holi-

man. 'But the new ffgures were much, much more than we had dreamed of. It means our plans to provlde helpful materlals for new and prospecdve homeschoolers are Hmely.'

OPPOSITION IN BRITISH COLT]MBIA StephanleJudA (BC) sentvs acopg oJ

Jaruaty l99O issue oJHome Education News, a reusletter put out by la neschrcIthe

ers irr Brdtish C,ohlrtblo" tt which an article abut tte B.C. Teaclers Federation's position on homescltrcIhg uas

reprinted huln that afticb:

The B.C. Teachers Federatlon ls opposed to the concept ofhomeschoollng because lt believes it deprives students of pardcipation in society. "Yes, we are opposed because it can't accâ‚Źmodate what we conslder are the rnajor requirements of

school," BCTF communications olllcer Elaine Decker said last week.

"As teachers, we have two responses.

We feel school ls supposed to develop the tndtvidual and their collecdve capaclty to work as pardctpating citizens. Home- . schooling can't do that. Homeschooling is

an oxymoron,' she said. 'You aren't learning to participa.te as a citizen ln a democratic society when you're taught in

lsolatlon.'...

Stephanie conunents: Ttrls has rather shocked everyone around here since B.C. has always had a rather open approach to home education (mostly out of necessit5r, because so many people llve tn extremely tsolated places).

Just this year the province has made the

flrst legfsladve move -

homeschooled

students are now requAed to be reglstered with an approved school. ('Regtstered' mears that the school has the student's name and age - that is all.) The school then gets a percentage of tts per caplta student gpant for each homeschooled sfudent regtstercd, and in exchange must provide textbooks, testing, and such that the students' parents request. The penalt5r for not reglstering? Uncertatn. Unregistered

GROWING WITHOTTT SCHOOLING #74

3 students are supposed to be r€ported to the Ministry of Human Resources (welfare and social seMces). Needless to say, many parents r€gister and ask for nothlng - just comply with the law.

Stephanie also sent us a copg oJ slre senl to Elate Decker. An excerpt:.

btter

tle

the headline -Augsburg NVest Gernanyl takes actbn agafust trr:,meschoolhg o-f childrer" Ftom tle article: Families in the Augsburg communit5r who teach thelr children at home must enroll them in recogplzed schools Mthin a week or face disciplinary action.

The decree, issued by the Army cnmmunlt5r commander, MaJ. Gen. l.outs

that many of the people who bullt thls nation were educated in a ldnd of lsolaflon almost ... You know, of course,

unheard of today. My grandfather w.ur zr,s knowledegable and responslble a cltizen as IVe ever known. It was insplrlng and educational Just to watch him live his life.

He nwerwent to school. He was educated by his mother, on a homestead... I'm certain you didn't intend your comment as an insult to individuals educated in slmilar circumstances, nor to those educated "in isolation' because of disabilities (Helen

Keller, for example).

Some biographlcal data - readily available in any librarJr - mtght be helpful to your BCTF colleagues in ggidlng future public statements. A wonderful place to begin is with the life of Abraham Llncoln.

Now there's a case of isolation - less than one year of formal educadon - but he still turned out to be a prett5l decent citlzen, wouldn't you agree? Clos€r to home, you might read about the education of Alexander Mackenzie, respected for his noble and honest vision of Canadian democracy...

Of corlrse, there's amother angle to

this entirely. I'm curious to know how the BCTF defines 'isolation- and what percentage of home educated children you

consider to lit this definition. Unfortunately, I have no research resources I can share with you on thls topic. However, I can tell you that my own home educated child is far from isolated. Flrst of all, she has a carlng parent - and often two of them - within easy reach all the time she is at home. Our teacher/student ratio here is 2: l. However, we count it a posidve triumph if we get two unlnterrupted days at home per week. In addition to weekly ballet classes, art classes. downhill ski lessons, Friday aftemoon skating, Friends Meetlng, and our neighborhood singing societ5r, there are hvice-weekly gettogethers with other families to work on group projects, not to mention the ordinary round ofbtrthday parties, concerts, fairs, picnics, Halloween, Martlnmas, Christmas, Valendne's parties, and all the rest. ... My impression ls that home educated children are more completely integrated lnto their communities and into society as a whole than is possible for children who are ln school five davs a week. I am awed by the immen"e tisk schools face in this regard - the constant need to cut through the enormous social lsolation of the classroom ln order to help students comprehend the non-school communi$r and to feel welcome and

significant there...

ACTION AGAINST MILITARY FANdILIES IN WEST GERMANY *tnral reders harre sent us an artlcb Jrom tle 11 / 17 / 89 issr.re o1[Stars

and Stripes, an armg neuspaper, tl:rrt hrrs

J. Del Rosso, runs counter to homeschoollng pollcies tn military communldes throughout Europe. It wtll affect at least a dozen famtlies, some of whom say they will send children back to the Untted States rather than comply.

The policy ls lntended to lnform parents of their obligatlon under West German law to send thelr chlldren to accredited schools, said Michael R Harris, the head of recreational services tn Augsburg.

The policy, dated Nov. 6, was prompted by reports ofChrlstian schools operating unollicially on post and of parents teachlng their children at home, he said. ...Communit5r olllclals have found no homeschooling par€nts who are teaching

their children inappropriately, lHanisl said.

A later article says tlro:t horrTescllml'

trg Jarnilies tfuouglaut West Gerrnartg lawrc|ed a letter-wrltlng canpatgn agahst the Augsburg ban" and a

LOCAL NEWS

For arldresses oJ state ond lftal groups, see GWS *72 or ow HomeschrcI' btg Resource Ust, avallable Jor $2.5O, Iowa: "Odds are against passage of

any bill dealing with home school issues this session,' Ed Dickerson wrote in the Februaqr issue of the IOWA HOME EDUCATORS ASSOCIATION Nelus. He goes on

to sav that homeschoolers in Iowa must conti-nue to address lawmakers'and the Department of Educatlon's concem about the need for certilicatlon and/or testing ol homeschoolers. He says,

'ln

the absence ol

certilication, legislators look to test scores for assurance that homeschooled children receive a quality education. Fortunately for us, H.D. Hoover, director of the lowa Basic Skills Testing Program, declares such use of tests inappropriate: 'l wish we could get the message across that the primary purpose of tests like these is not to compare lone cityl with lanotherl, c any other school in lowa with any other..

Likewise, the primary purpose is not to compcrre this boy, your son, with any other kids.'" [GWS note: Have any other state groups been able to use what test companies say about the purpose of tests to oppose mandatory testing of homeschoolers?l Ncw York: Theresa Morris of the NEW YORK CITY HOME EDUCATORS ALLLANCE writes: "The situation here

in

New York City is improving slowly.

Although many school districts and most local school boards are still not aware that home education is legal in New York, I was recently successful in organizing a meeting between the State Eclucation Dept. and the City Board ofEducation. Several

GROWING WITFIOT.]T SCHOOLING #74

meeting and learned about the rudlments ofhome educadon.'Theresa adds that shc has written a booklet about home educatlon for'professional educatlon personnel' which she wtll make avallable at cost.

North Dalota: The Department of Public Instrucdon requested the Attomey General's oplnlon on three homeschool lssues, accordlng to the January,/February lssue of the NORITI DAKOTA HOME SCHOOL ASSOCIATION newsletter. The three lssues were the number of hours of supervlslon requtred for each student per week lone of the ways to homeschool in North Dakota ts to be supervisd bY a crrtifled teacherl; tf a certlfled parent may cutinue to seek approval as a Private school; and whether a guardian or other person may qualiff as a panent.

The Attorney General ruled that supervision is to be an average ofone hour a week for each homeschooled child; that private schools with sin$e family enrollment should come under the provisions of the home school law, and do not quali$ as private schools; and that only parents qualiff as homeschoolers under the law, not guardlans.

The NDHSA opposes the flrst two rulings, according to their newsletter.

Pcnneylvania: The first due process

rwte Jrom

homeschooler wla sent us the articles sags that tte poLicg uras resciruCed unJil the comrnander could. decide how 'alternathse edrrcation" could fu regulated-

a

distrlct representatives attended thls

hearing under the new homeschooling law was held on November 16, according to the Winter issue of Perutsgluania Homeschool,ers. The Dallas district superintendent had claimed that the family in question had not provlded sufficient documentation as required by the law. The hearing ollicer ruled that this w€ui so but that the documentation the family now provided at the hearing tndicated that the homeschooling program tuas in compliance with the law.

CALENDAR May l8-2O. 199O: Clonlara Home Based Education Program Sixth Annual Conference at the SeaGate Convention Center, Toledo, Ohio. Pat Farenga will be speaking. For information: Clonlara HBEP, Conference Dept, 1289 Jewett S| Ann Arbor MI 4a lO4: 5 17-548- IO 16.

June 8-lO: Washing;ton Homeschool Organization State Convention at the University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, Washington. Pat Farenga rvill be speaking For information: Craig and Carolyn Kunard, lOO29 48th Av, Everett WA 982O4; 206'44A-0574.

June 15-16: Family karning Fair Sponsored by the Family Irarning Organization, PO Box 7256, Spokane, WA 992O7-O2ffi. Workshops for parents and children, exhibitions, talent program, GROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING *74, Yol. 13 No. 2. ISSN #0745-5305. Published bimonthly

by Holt Associats, 2269 Massachus€tts Avenue,

Cambridgc MAO2l4O.$2O/yr.Date of Isue: April l, 1990. Second-class postage pald at Boston, MA. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to GWS, 2269 Massachusetts Avenue. Cambridge MA 02140.

AfTVERTISERS: D,eadlines are the lSth of odd-

numbered montlts. Contact Patrick Farenga for rates.

4 commercial displays. For lnformation:

rc9-467-2552 or contact FLO at the above address.

We are happy to print noilces of major homeschooling and related events, but we need plenty of notice. Deadline for GWS #75 (events ln July or later) ts May lO. Deadllne for GWS #76 (errents tn September or later) ts July lO.

HOW TO FIND OUT ABOUT LAWS AND REGULATIONS Hcrc ffi some wa1ls you can ffnd out the legal sltuation ln your state.

1) Look up the law yourself, ln a publtc librar5r or law libra4r (courthousc, law school, etc.) Laws are indexed; try'school attendance'or 'education. compulsory.' l9 states have reviscd their hone cducadon laws slncc 1982 so check the recent statute charrges. We have printed or summarlzed these new laws ln ourback lssues.

2) Ask the state department of educadon for any laws or rcguladons pertaining to homeschooling and/or startlng a prlvatc school. In somc states (particularly CA. IL, lN, Kn therc are fcw regulatlons concernlng prlvatc schools md so you can call your homc a school. lfyou are concerned about reveallng your name and address to the state, do this through a friend.

3) Contact state or local homeschooling g5oups. This list was last printed ln GWS #72, and is updated and sold separately for $2.5O as

part of our'Homeschooling Rcsource Llst.' Some groups have prepared handbooks or guidelines on legal matters. Often, these groups can tcll you rnore about the legal climate in a state than anyone clse can - whethcr new leglslatton ts pendb:rg, for example, and how the present law is belngenforced.

4) Contact otler families listed tn our Directory. This is particularly useful lf you live tn a state that leaves homcschooli4g dcclslons up to tndividual school districts. When you contact these families, help them by having done some research on your own first.

5) In general, it ls not wis€ to start by asking your local school dlstrlct; they usually don't know the law either. Better to gather the facts lirst on your own.

6) Don't assume that somethlng is required Justbecause sorneone tellslou it ls. (For example, a school district may tell you that testing ls required ofhomeschoolers when the law states that testing is only one of the altematives available.) Flnd out foryourselfwhat the law or regulaton does md does not say.

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TAKING A SATELLITB COURSE: THE PROS AND CONS OF FORMAL LESSONS tastJdI, Katletue MAlpbE

(ME)

u)rote:

Well, the McAlptne famtly has dectded to try school. We aren't dolng thts, I hasten to say, by the conventlonal route but via a friend's satelltte dtsh. whtch beams us Iatln classes three times a week from a high school in Rlchmond, Virgfnia.

The show ls a Vlld feed," which in satelItte lingo means not part of regularly scheduled progfamming, and appears on a non-subscripdon statlon. Nathantel and I were excited to learn about lt because we have often wished to hear l.attn spoken by someone other than ourselves. For my own part, I ffnd my dual role as both lnstructor and fellow student a rather complicated one someumes, and lfs a nice luxury to let someone els€ take over the teachlng for a btt, whtle I stt back and Just learn. As an added bonus, the class ls using the same Ecce Romoni series that we Iike so much, so we alreadv have all the books and are farniliar wi[h the format.

We tape the prog;ams so we can watch at our own convenience and proceed at our own pace. Most of the dme we disregard the teacher's lnstructions about homework asslgnments and Just conc€ntrate on the content ofthe lessons. Each lesson oontains enough repetition and review that we can easily keep up wtthout doing the homework. When a qutz ls given we

answer the questlons orally or mentally instead ofon paper, and feel under no pressure since nobody's Judgtng or grading us. Ms. Tate doesn't even know that we're taking her class, let alone that we're eating popcorn during class and putting the boring parts on fast forward.

The classes ar€ not totally wonderful; they are designed, after all, for public school consumption. We get very frustrated when, as frequently happens, the teacher spends half or more of the lesson time telling us what we should have been

studying, what we should expect to be stud)nng, and what types of study sldlls we should be ustng; whatwe should be enterlng ln our notebooks, how we should organize those notes, and how we should go about memorlzing the material tn the notes; what the next quiz will consist of and whywe must make sure, on this quiz, to avoid the same klnds of mistakes that so many of us made on the last one - typical school stuff. I notlce myself struggling, at such tlmes, not to drlft lnto a "space out" mode and thereby mlss something I really do want to learn. I can see

Nathanlel's attention wanderlng too.

After a few such classes, though, we

think we've got Ms. Tate's number. WeVe learned to anticlpate from her vocal tone, her facial expression and body language, exactly when she's about to launch into a harangue. Thanks to modern technologr, we can simply skip over those parts and spend all our Ume on content.

The negative aspects of school are diminished by our freedom to use the instruction in our own way, for our own purpose. And the negative potendal of television (passive viewing) is diminished

by the fact that we have to make an active effort - ar:rangtng to tape the progra.ms and then vlew them on our friend's machine much as we would lf we were talidng a formal course somewhere. In addition, Nathantel ts gettlng a taste of what classroom learnlng ts llke, without the bother of actually attendlng school, and I think this awareness could be useful to him in the future, should he ever want to take any

tradtttonally structured courses.

Yet another value comes to mind.

Nathaniel has always been fiercely perfectlonlst, and ha"s a tendency to get very angry and lmpaflent wtth htmself if he can't master somethtng as quickly as he thinks he should. Although IVe told him, time and tlme agatn, that trtal and error are part of weryone's learnneg process, it seems not to have sunk ln; maybe he Glt I was Just telltng htm that to make him feel better. Now, \yatchtng this program, he can see for hlmself that other kids, kids older than he, often forget things and make mistakes ln an e{fort to learn La.tin.

I$SJ In mg replg tD Katherine,

I

wrote:

I thdnk it's probably good that you're taking the l-a.dn class vla satellite q.fter quite a lot of work on your own, so that thls lsn't your llrst lntroduction'to Latin and you have a better sense ofwhat you need from the teacher, and what you don't need.

Dtd Nathantel read, or did you read to htm, the other storles (besides his own) in the Focus secHon on when learning is fmstrating tn GWS #71? I would think that tt, like seeing the Latin students, would help hlm to see that everyone struggles as part of mastering something.

Katherite respond.e* Yes, I thlnk lt makes all the difference in the world that Nathaniel had two years of 'messingl around" with Latin prior to

more formally organlzed instmctton. It's lnterestlng how he approaches these classes as somethlng he deflnitely wants rtght now, but also asJust one more way (as opposed to the rvay) of getting what he wants to learn. Out of the blue, he's extremely fasclnated with all the intricacies of Lattn grarrunar and actually enjoys reclting declenslons and prlnciple parts along wlth the class, something I nwer asked him to do.

The sltuatlon may be slmilar to a tlme when, after serreral years of Suzuld vtolin, he suddenly lnslsted on leaming to

read muslc and became obsessed, for a whtle, with all tts techntcal aspects. I think there oomes a natural point in the learnlng process, when we are learning somethlng we love, when the mind says, 'OK, I feel at home with this. Now let's lind out what the structure is, how it all fits together, what the mechanics are.- Certainly one doesn't need classes or teachers to get this stuff. Schools, in fact, seldom let the necessary falling in love occun lnstead, they start out beating us over the head wtth structure and mechanics until

GROWING WITHOTIT SCHOOLING #74

we run ln terror. These Latln classes happened along at preclsely the polnt when

Nathaniel was ready to organlze, in an analydcal way, what he already knew about LatLr, and I thlnk thts has much to do with their appeal for hlm. But I also think that he can take what he needs from the course, as long as lt can offer hlm somethlng, secure ln the knowledge that lattn ls ah'eady h{s.

Re seetng other Ldds make mlstakes: I've wondercd lf tt was actualbr seefrg this, as opposd to Just heartng about lt, that made the dllference. Another very likely possibtltgr ls that readtng those letters in GWS started some wheels turntng, which seelng the lidds tn class ldnd of dramatlzed and conflrmed.

And Jrom

a

Later letten

We've decided to drop the satellite course, havlng agreed that our own haphaz-ard study methods arre a lot more pleasant and producdve. WeVe been watching with growlng dlsmay as more and more class time ls devoted to nocontent stulf. The last straw came when

practtcally all the lnstruction time began focusing on preparation for the Natlonal Latin E:<ams. My cynlclsm about school

returned in full force as I watched the teacher show examples of the comprehenslon secdon of the test and explatn why following the test strategf ('Ftead the paragraph below and then answer the followlng quesUons') was nota good strategr for scortng well. She advtsed, tnstead, gotng straight to the questlons, loohng for a clue word like 'why,'and then qutckly scannlxg the Latin paragraph for a correspondfurg clue word hke 'quod.' Of course this is a better strategr for answering as many quesdons as possible in the allotted time, and as long as her students have to take thls exam, I suppose she ls doing them a servlce of sorts. It's a waste of our time, thougfr, slnce our purpose ls to learn latin and not whiz through test questlons as fast as we can. Even Nathaniel began

salng platntlvely,

"Gee, they nerrer read the Ecce Romrril storles anymore. And it's been weeks slnce we learned any new

verbs.' So we're back to dotng Latin stretched out ln front of our own hearth.

CHALLENGES & CONCERNS HOMESCHOOLING WITH LITTLE MONEY Kothg Pwdg fNYJ rurites:

I haven t errcn flnlshed readng GWS #73 yet, but I feel I must comment on the lmpact Ront Laltberte l'Struggltng as a Stn$e Parent'l describes her llnanctal sltuatlon as havtng on her ability to homeschool.

I am not a stn$e parent, but the large slze of our family (stx children) has placed us tn nearly the same situadon. I have gone through many of the same doubts and concems, I wonder how I can be helptng my childrâ&#x201A;Źn educate themselves when I can't afford to buy them books they're interested in, art suppltes for thetr proJects, lessons in music or whatever else they'r. lnterested ln. I drcol over the rnallorder catalogs full of hands-on learnfng equlpment, tools, books, and tapes. I know what it's like to say, 'No, we can't.'

Yet I would like to point out that it's prectsely because we're surrounded by such abundant riches that it's possible to feel thts way. Certainly relative poverty Iimits our children's ability to enjoy certaln experiences, but ltJust as certainly allows them experiences others do not have. Ifthe children are loved, as they seem to be in Roni's case, then it is clear to them that happiness doesn't come from a surfeit of possessions. If they can't buy entertalnment, they appreciate more the

entertainment they make fior themselves.

Roni wonders what her children have leamed about potency and problemsolvlng; I'd say watchlng a mother continue to seek solutlons to her flnancial problems has taught them plengr about perseverErnce in the face of adversity.

When I start to fret about the educational opportunltles my chlldren are rnissirig, I like to thlnk about l-aura Ingalls Wilder. We have been reading her books out loud and I am condnually amazed at the hardshlps she and her famtly endured and the pleasure they found ln such simple things. B5r today's standards Laura was certainly 'economically disadvantaged," yet she went on to write an awand-winnlng serles of books for children that many adults have enJoyed as well. When you stop to think of tt, many successful people began their lives in poverty - Abraham Lincoln comes to mind, and the countless people who grew up ln the Depression. Who says that my children won't make thelr own slgniflcant contdbudon, especially when they have had much greater opportunity to develop their lmaglnation than most

chtldren ln school?

I don't want for a minute to belittle

Ront's struggles. But I do want to encourage her that lf she ts provtdtng a warm and

suppordve environment for her chlldren, mallng the most of the resources that are avallable to her, the most tmportant part of homeschooltng has been achleved: equtpplng her chlldren to teach themselves wtth whatever materlals and experlences are available to them.

I would like to hear how other relatively poor homeschoolers rnanage to

GROWING WITHOI..N SCHOOLING #74

bring diversttSr lnto their lives. There are people tn my homeschooling mmmunity

who have shard books, rides to the zoo, and newsletterc with me. I have relatlves who make glfts of homeschooling supplies of one klnd or another. We can't go to mncrrts ln person, but we llsten to our publtc radto statlon qulte a btL And don't beltttle the ltbrary - ours ls quite small, but we can request any book we want from

a four-county tnterlibrary loan system.

I've rec.ently thought of lnvittng people to our home to tell us about thelr work, lnvtttng foretgp graduate students from the local unlverslty to dlnner, and wridng letters to cnmpanies or tndivlduals who I thlnk can answer quesdons we have.

I would also like to call Ronl's attenuon to some of what has already been written on the subJect. In GWS #5, p.2, a wornan dlscusses tJle problems lnherent tn attempttng to 'sdmulate" her children and concludes, -The on$world I can show them, with any tntegflty, is my world." In cWS #27, pp. t I - 12, a mother descrlbes the extremely dillicult ctrcumstances under which she was homeschoollng her children. And 7n TeachYour Otun John Holt derrotes a section ofchapter three to "Unschoollng and the Single Parent."

I hope that between what I have written and what others have said Ronl wtll gatn fresh courage and will ffnd a way to structure her family life ln a uray that is consistent with her values.

SINGLE PARENT'S ARRANGEMENTS A gear ago, Ltsrr Spector (CIJ usrote: I'm a single parent and full-time student (becomtng a certiffed rnassage therapist). My class time comes to approxtmately twenty hours per week, during which time I have my daug;hter in daycare. I resisted this until she was almost 4, stalng home full-time with her.

But ln order to support us I had to do something to get a payfng careâ&#x201A;Źr going.

The daycare ls a lovtng one, but most of the time she's there, she's wlth I and 2 year olds, and she ts gettlng bored. I'm now looktng for a preschool. Havtng worked ln both daycare and preschool settings, I'm well aware of thelr shortcomings. My consolatlon ts that my school ls only a one-year program, and after I graduate I'll work, I hope at home most of the time, maybe somedmes outside the home as well. My concern is to llnd the best care for my daughter when I'm not at home.

ISSI

I replted" in part:

I sympathlze wtth the challenges of your present sltuation. You might look at the stories weVe prlnted ln GltrS about chtldren ln the workplace - these often show parents Juggltng different ktnds of arrangements,,, It !s good that you can look ahead to a time when you won't have to use daycare.

It must help to be able to look upon this situation as temporiary. It sounds as though by the dme you're worklng as a rrrassage therapist, you'll be able to have

6 your daughter wtth you most of the time.

In the meantime, ls there any way that sht can come to classes with you sometirnes?

Perhaps,thls ls strtctly forbtdden; perhaps you think tt would be too tedlous ldr her.Do you have any babysttters you tnrst?

Sometlmes brlndng a babysttter to your workplace helps - that is, tf the babysitter can be with your daughter tn the general area ofyour school (I don't know tf tfs a campus orJust a butlding), you would still be close by and if your daughter really needed or wanted to see you for a mteute, she could.

Also, have you looked lnto the possibility of llndtng other adults who would be willtng to spend ttme with your daug;hter because they genulnely like her and want to do lt? Of course, you want a babysitter to flt thts descripflon, too, but I'm talking about something a blt more informal. We've wrltten tn GWS that often people without chlldren are deltghted to have the chance to spend time with someone else's. If you thturk about all the various people lr your lives, you may be able to come up with someone who would welcome this opportunity, and who could then be wlth your daughter some of the time. Perhaps you could oller to trade a sldll or a favor for this.

Other homeschoolers ln the area are a good resource, too, although thslg agarn you would probably want to olfer something tn exchange. Older homeschooling children in the area mtght also like to spend some time with your daughter. If y-ou found someone old enough for you to

feel comfortable wtth the arrangement, this rnight be another posstbiltty.

Slnce your class time only comes to twentSr hours a week (which I know must feel like a lot, but lt's better than having to work forty hours), you're dealing with a manageable amount of tlme, I think, time that could be shared by a vartety of people and arrangements. And you could, perhaps, be able to return the favor for some people durlng some of the other hours (l'm thlnktng of something along the Ilnes of, 'You be wtth the klds on T\resday, I'll be wtth them on Thursday" that sort of arrangement wtth someone else who also has children. If you flnd someone who doesn't have children, you could, as I sald, barter other kinds of favors.)

Asyourdaughtergets older, and as your own schedule becomes more flexible, It seems to me that several other optlons will become avallable to you. We can talk more about this when the time comes. In the meantime, take comfort in the fact that your curr€nt sltuadon ls not perma-

nent, and stretch your trnaginatlon to see what ldnds of resourccs might be avatlable to you right now.

Reenflg, llsa wrote: A year ago I couldn't see how to

homeschool my daughter. Your letter.;blt so good to me. I have used two of your ldeas since then: I barter for childcare flme and a l5-year-old local homeschooler and his mother also help. IVe also found a 12year-old treasure who babysits, and I adore her. I'm now looktng for folks who could use a chtld-frtend.

I'll tell you about some of the arrange-

ments I was able to work out thls past year. Iast sununer I uras taking two classes at rny massage school and urorking twothree days a week for a chiropractor. A frtend and fellow homeschooler took care of Danica for me on my worldng days along with her 6-year-old daugfrter, Autumn. She had responded to an announcement that I put in the Connecdcut Home Educators newsletter saying I was looktng to barter or pa,y for chlld care. I ended up gtvlng her a ltttle pay and when I was totally strapped I gave her massage ,ur barter. This was OK for her and more than perfect for us.

We tried livlng h a house with another farnily, but that dldn't work due to huge dtfferences ln our vlews about chlldren. I thought we had dlscussed everythtng, but the ffrst thtng the woman dld, one day after movlng ln, was spank Danica - that uras lt for mel We moved back to ltvtng by ourselves.

Then a college shrdent agreed to trade a room in our place fior llfteen hours of sitflng a week. We got along very well, but then she dropped out ofcollege and moved

back to her family home.

I took a term offfrom school to regroup and to glve Danica and myself the attention I thought we needed after the

constant changes of the past year. While I worked, during the fall, ffust a Gw hours a week), I used sitters. I found a most wonderful 12 year old through an ad the local Juntor high ran for me ln their newsletter.

I conslder th,is girl a real friend of Danlca's and mine. She's very bright, respon-

sible, and helpful.

In Janua5r of '9O I returned to complete my massage tratntng. I'm talidng two 3 l/2-hour courses, both ofwhich are held at nlght. My slster took Danica for the flrst few Mondays and now a sitter takes her, and the 12yearold vratches heron T\resday.

Flnally, I work on Wednesdays, and a local homeschooltng famfly - the mother and son I mendoned at the beginning of thls letter - are with Danica for sweral hours. I met them at homeschool funcflons. They are wonderful with her - they read to her, do crafts, and include her tn thelr activities. A couple of tlmes there were great excursions with other homeschoolers, too.

I've paid this homeschooling mother

one or two times, offered her massage whlch she has yet to cash ln on, brought fruit, a cake I made, and other things like that. She's left it up to me to gfve what I can - another gift from the communit5r.

read was a focal polnt. Consequently, he has convlnc'ed himself that he will not be able to read and wlll never be able to. We are worklng on thls negadve atdtude and are maklng progress. Fortunately, he has decided that the children who made fun ol hlm are not his frlends, and he has

worked at finding other frlends. This has really helped his self-esteem.

He ls easily frustrated, and an apt analogr ls a thermometer on a hot day. Hc gets upset, tlghtens hls whole body, holds hrls breath, and the color rlses ln hls face, He also glves up easlly, often at the llrst slgn of a dtlffculty, so I have to make errerlrthlng we do as simple and easy as

posslble.

He trles very hard to learn phonics and whole words but he is usuallv unable to recognlze a word after a few s&onds, erren after repeated exposure to it.

He ls easily dtstr:acted. Often, when gfven a request such as to get dressed, he will get distracted and I will lind him playlng with a balloon instead of gettlng dressed. He cannot tolerate much nolse or even someone speaktng to him when he is

doing something dtfllcult.

He reverses letters and numbers, both when writlng them and when reading them. Hls lnterpretatlon of what ls satd to htm ls often lnaccurate. Although he has good language slidlls and a good vocabuIary, he mlspronounces some words even after heartng them correctly.

I had wondered for years why Chris had problems, fearing that he might be retarded although he seemed bright. t ^"t year I met a man whose son had just been dtagnosed as dysle:dc. The father then wa^.. tested and dtagnosed as dyslexic as well. I asked about symptoms, and the ones he descrlbed were very close to what Chris

exhibtted. I started lnvesdgating dysleda and learntng disabilitles ln general. I havc read wery book on the subJect that I could get tfuough our libraqr system, as well as magazlne artlcles. I have lnvestigated professional help in the area and found it to be extremely expenslve and of course geared to children who ar€ ln school. I als<, quesdon lts ellectlveness, based on what I have read and what I have been told by other people, In my reading, I found much

conflicting information along with a few

ideas that I found helpful.

My purpose tn writing to GWS is twofold. I want Chris to know that there

are other chlldren who ar€ homeschooled and have problems, and I would like to Ilnd out what tdeas and approaches have helped other parents.

ISSJ Tho4gh Mota ts l|sted ir1" tle Dircctory and gou can urirte to her directlg, u.te unuld fu grateJrn if gou unuld

SON HAS TROUBLE

WITH READING Molra Nobles (CN wdtes: My son Chris ts g and has been tqring to read for about fouryears. I have never pushed him but have helped him as much as possible. He is extremely sensitive about his problems wlth reading due to an older sisterwho read at age 5 and now reads about twen$r or thtrt5r books a week, and due to the pressure that comes from the nelghborhood children who are in school. They have made fun of h,lm for varlous reasons, but hls not being able to

send us coples oJ gour replles d.s u:ell (and let us knou whetler it's OK to publish your letter and, to use your na ne), fuause I suspect thrrt otlers unuld. b hlerested in seeing uhat gou hanse to sag.

PERFECTIONISM BECOMES CRIPPLING A reader writes: Llke Suzanne Chlasson's son Nickrr l"When Stbltngs Compare Ttemselves,;

GROWING WITHOIJI SCHOOLING #74

7 cWS #7I1, ourolderdaughter (8 | /2) is a perfecdonist. Her'own standards are so high as to paralyze her,' as Suzanne says of her son. From her very early childhood, our occasional offers to teach her something met wlth tears or a tantrum. She didn't mind us doing the thing for her, but to suggest that she tqr lt before she was sure she could do tt perfectly all by herself was to lmply that she was 'dumb.' In trying to show her how to de her shoes, we didn't get past, 'Flrst, you make a loop...' before she burst into tears and screâ&#x201A;Źuns.

Same with a zipper on a coat. So we continued to zip her and tie her shoes without further urging thmugh ages 4, 5, 6, was lt 7? Sometime about then she suddenly began zipping and gdng, qutte

lessons, she even decided to tackle piano agaln herself, somethlng she had started very successfully when she was 6 and had glven up after a mostly-palnful year when she was unable to play wlth hands together.

She worked through the D'Nealian workbook at a good pace and ended wtth beautlful prtnting. She dtd wrtilng proJects for our homeschool book club, read parts of The Btg bk oJ Amozittg Facts and followed up wlth other science proJects. She breezed lnto plano as if she'd never knoum a hitch befiore, conquered the piece that had glven her so much trouble, and went right on. She did the math willingly enough, grumbltng a little over

competently.

and understandtng it. She took a huge jump in her reading ability.

But after Christmas it became clear that this schedule wasn't worlidng any more. When we sat together for math, her eyes would slide off into the baclcyard, her body tense, and tears come lnto her eyes. (I knew that anxiety. I remembered it from math sessions with my father when he clearly thought I ought to be able to understand, but I didn't, therefore something was wrong with me.) She nearly stopped reading, didn't want to tr5r cursive, stopped writing anything, and wen stopped drawing for a while. I told her that she could go back to deciding what shewanted to pursue.

We have noticed in her interactions with other adults that thev have a different authorit5r with her than we do. Her second grade teacherwas able to ask

Similarly, wlth no other preparation than our reading aloud to her lots and lots, and a few quesflons she asked about sounds of letters, she ptcked o:ut A Pig Cott Ji.g at the library when she was 6 and, almost secredvely, read through lt ln one hour-and-a-half session. Always, she turns aside praise: 'Mom, don't make such a big thing about it."

With each accomplishment I always feel, "Oh boy, here she goes,'but she

always conficunds me - lt ls almost as if she frightens herself. Each epiphany is fleeting, and then she seems to retreat.

Sometimes, like a fighter pilot, I can get in and out with some informadon before she takes offense. But nodce the imagery. Any suggestion ls a violatlon of her airspace.

So what's the problem with simply letting her set her own timetable? It's this: her perfecdonism is preventing her from leaming the baslc skills she needs. She

likes to hear Gullir.rer's Tfotnls, The Prince and tle Paupe1 At the Bock oJ the North Win4 all original and unabridged, but what she checks out from the librarSr are stacks and stacks ofpicture books. She tells fabulous stories aloud, but she writes

very little. Yesterday she did make a book, of the letters of the alphabet and illustrations. She is most comfortable with her art, and makes very expressive original cartoon drawings. Even so, most of her drawings are hasty scribbles. She says she hates math, although she has had almost no formal instruction. In a lovely cooperative preschool that she attended from ages 3 to 7 she had some work with Cuisenaire rods, butwhen she attended second grade part-time for several months fher own choice) she did well in math (but not well enough for her - she sometimes missed one or two on a page). Despite her school experiences, we're still primarily homeschoolers, and up until recently have let her decide what she needs to know.

I rst summer she seemed to take a big Jump in maturtty. Suddenly she was able

to tolerate amblguity and partial knowl-

edge, and even some challenges. Together we set up a schedule which tncluded time

for a D'Nealian handwridng workbook, writing, sclence or soclal sclence, and reading. I ordered the CDA math program because lt emphasizes "friendliness with numbers' and encourages counting concrete obJects as long as the child wishes to, and had her begin way back with the simple addidon and subtraction that I knew she understood. When her three-years-younger sister wanted music

the workbook format but working at

lt

things of her that she would lind terribly threatening if we asked. Perhaps, in her case, it's less threatening to 'fail' for outsiders than for parents.

A while ago we began to consider whether she might be better olT learning somewhere other than in our home. But as time goes by she falls farther and farther behind her age-mates, and to put her into school without the tools she needs would be devastating to her. Although there are other homeschoolers here, there's no one wlth whom we could trade dme, to give her access to other adults. We thought of a

tutor, but that would tell her rnost clearlv that she's not doing well enough to satisfo us.

We're concerned about her sense of inferiority. She compares herself to her

friends and concludes that she is dumb.

I-ast night she said, "l've always been behind kids my age. When they were ln first grade, I was in kindergarten; when they were in second grade, I was in first grade; now that they're in thtrd grade, I'm doing second grade work.' I reminded her that homeschooled kids don't leam all the same things at the same time that schooled kids do, and I reminded her that our local librarians wanted her to sign up for the Book-a-thon because they thought she was a fourth or fffth grader. I didn't tell her that her new friends' mothers were stunned by her vocabulary and the things she discussed, nor that others have been very impressed with her drawings. I don't think she would have believed me.

So what to do with this perfectionist child? Fortunately, the school in the neighborhood we are moving to emphasizes self-esteem, lets children start right

GROWING WITHOLN SCHOOLING #74

where they are, and downplays tests and competition. It ls also on an interestlng schedule ln which the children attend six wecks and are olf two weeks, whtch will allow us to lntersperse family ttme and school time. I'm sure lt's not the full and complete answer, but when we move, lt's where she'll go. Fortunately, she has made two frlends who go there, so she's

looktng favorably on the ldea.

Even better, there are homeschooling families not too far away from where we're movlng who pool resources with maJor help from one non-parent, There may be a place for us there in the fall.

Has anyone else tales to relate or advlce to give about the perfecdonist

child?

[#l I lnpe some chMren wi]I resportd. to thts letter, tm. IJ you can

iderrtifU uffh tfus reader's danryhter

tt

arW waA, can Vou teL us angthing abut whot hrrs ben lulpJul to you, or what gou thlll/r mtglX tu helpJul tn gou?

DIFFICULTIES WITH OTHER CHILDREN In GWS #73 ure reprintedJromthe Northe rn Californla Homeschool Association News a lefter Jrom a honeschder usho wrote

thst she'hadfuenhavng

problems uXh kids anound. mA own age, tuho attend public schmL snubbhg me once schml has started-" Diane Rofurtson (Nl) responds:

Reading Adrianne Nelson-Cavlglia s letter brought to mind all the incidents Bryce (lO), Morgan (6), and I have had over the last few years. Talldng it over we have come to the conclusion that part of the attitude of school-age children toward homeschoolers stems from Jealousy and stress. Schoolchlldren and their parents feel unempowered. The children feel no authority over their lives, and the parents feel they have no power ln the schools.

When I tell parents we arâ&#x201A;Ź homeschoolers, they frequently tell me all the problems they are having with the school system.

When I try to discuss wltJl themwhat might be done to try to improve the system, the answer I often get is, 'Nothing can be done, weJust have to put up with it," We homeschoolers can't conceive of what it would feel like to be in that kind of predicament. If our kids decide to go to school, it is their decision and the decision can be reversed.

Adrianne's friends see her as someone in control of her life. She has the power to change the situations tn her life that make her unhappy. She has freedoml Homeschooling is usually Just one of the areas ln which we take charge of our lives.

I watch the children in our homeschooling gpoup work out their differences. Rarely is a problem brought to a parent's attention.

When lt ls it is quickly solved. Homeschoolers, because they have charge of thelr llves, can be (are allowed to be)

problem-solvers.

Bryce has learned, as he has gotten older, how to cope better with the neighborhood kids. Thev were over the other day and started to-play very rough. Bryce knows by now that this ls a prelude to an all-out ffght. I heard him say to them, 'I

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need to help my dad with some work now.'

He has Itgured out the optimum amount of tlme he can play with them before disaster strikes. A friend of mine told me that once when she was watching her son play Little League one of the klds came up to hlm and

sald, 'Hey, I heard you were a homeschooler. Do you have to do schoolwork?' Her son's reply was, "Yeah, my mom glves me lots of work.' My frlend was surprised because the family really dtd very ltttle organlzed schoolwork. Thinkfng it over, she nealized that her son was handling thls encounter by keeptng the boy from getilngjealous. Feeltng no threat, the boy b could go on to become her son's frlend. It ls unfortunate that thts ls sometlmes nec.

essary; nevertheless we all have soclal needs and must sometlmes compromlse to meet them.

I do notwant to suggest thatall

schmlchlldren and thelr parents are ltke thls, but I do see the dtlemma a lot. We ccrtatnly have experlenccd lt ourselves, Some suggestlons for Adrianne: Do not let the other klds focus their attendon on all you have in your favor as a homeschooler. Concentrate on the Gw klds vou like the most and get more involved iri what they're interested ln. For example,

Bryce plays Nintendo, and whenever he gets a new game the whole neighborhood is over. We can look at thls ln a negative way and say lt's mantpulatlve, or we can face it

realtsflcally and hope that these overtures produce a more endurlng friendship.

Have some theme pardes. When Bryce was about 6 we had a mullln-baking party.

The klds carne over and we made mulllns from scratch, We ffnd that cooking ts always fun and eating naturally seems to bring out more social behavior. Good luckt

LIMITATIONS OF CORRESPONDENCE COURSE I4nne Tlunderstorm (BC) urltes: Raven (lO) ls enrolled in the Brttish Columbla Correspondence Schools Grade Four program thls year. Although she did the grade two course, she didn't do grade three, and lt was her cholce to enroll again this tlme. She really enJoys getting feedback from someone outside the family, someone who expresses interest in her and her work. I decided that was a good enough reason for her to put herself through the often tedious roudnes of the course, but we omitted the language arts prograrn

entirely.

Fc

morc krfcnratirn,

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It's a good thlng we didl We have both learned a lesson thisyear, and I doubt that either of us will suggest taking corespondenc.e again for a long tlme. The schooling has become more a thtng to'get done" than to experience. There is a feeling of pressure that comes from the nature of the counre itself, from lts Just sitting there waittng to be sent in, that doesn't lend itself to being ignored.

I hate lt and Raven hates lt but we both want to get through the year. Raven has read books from an early age and werything from history and science to fantasy and poetry have fascinated her.

Her response to the social studies and science materlal ollered by the course is no dlfferent, but what she doesn't like ls havtng to answer questlons about what

she reads and having to do things in

someone else's order.

The math ln pardcular is bogging her down Just by the sheer volume of the work she is e:gected to do. I wlsh we had waited, as we did with her older sister Leaf, who never took any courses unfll she nras 14.

We had done lnformal self-moilvated work for kafs whole life. When she decided she wanGd to take a formal oourse, she took a placement test and was able to start rtght in on Grade lO math. She was lnterested in French and art and took correspondence courses in them as well.

She continued taklng courses in whatever she was interested tn, including math, more French, chemistr;r, biologr, and so on, but never a @urse that she didn't choose herself. It has worked very well, and she will be bylng out college next fall, to see lf she likes lt.

I thtnk our mlstake vrith Raven has been ln assuming that slnce she llkes sclencc and so on, she would also like the rather reglmented aspect of correspondence schooling as well. In her case, the more she feels she has to get the work done, the more she balks at tt. She can make a page of math problems take up the whole day even though she knows how to do the work.

Her biggest complaint is that slnce starttng corespondence, she has no dme for anythlng else she likes to do. Fortunately, she won't need to go through this agaln.

HOMESCHOOLING WITH YOUNG CHILDREN Katlwrhe Houk wrote h. the Januarg I99O bsue oJtheHorne Schoolers' Exchange: Tahra was 15 and Benjarnin was 5, and they were both learning at home.

Emily was 3, and of course she wanted to be in on everything the big liiids were dotng. That year, and the year before that, I was often very ttr,ed, and often discouraged about home education. Just when Tahra would be olf at a music or art lesson and I would sit dorvn to do a project with

BenJamin, my little Emily would need me, or want to do exactly what Ben was doing, which was beyond her capability. I felt like a poorly trained Juggler, and wondered if I could ever stick with it.

Those of you who know me realize that I did stick with it, and I'm so glad I didn't give upl NowTahra is 2O and on her own, and Ben and Emily are still happily

learning at home...

Whenever tt was possible, I tried to let the little one actually take part in whatever was going on. This meant tatloring the acflvit5r to a 3-year-old level, but if it could somehow be done. I found that thts was the best solution. If we were uslng Cuisenalre rods, I would separate some for Ernily to play wlth. By taking part tn her own way, Emily learned a tremendous amount, and I would somedmes wonder how flrst children ever learn anythingl If the activtty was totally beyond my little one, I would set up another activit5r for her to engage in nearbg.lt is impossible to concentrate on what you are doing with your older chtld lf your younger one is out of sight and it is 'too quiet,"

GROWING WITHOI.I| SCHOOLING #74

I Tahra would someflmes entertaln Emlly wtrtle Ben and I worked. (I remember readlng something one mother wrote about her children. She would pay her slfghtly older chtld to read to or entertaln the toddler for short stretches of time so she could devote undtvided attentlon to the oldest child. The 'babysltter' was very proud of his Job, and felt tmportant to be helptng tn this way. Other liamtlies mtght prefer to consider tt a family responsibility, lnstead of paytng the ctrtld.) Or do you have aunts, uncles, or grandparents nearbl/? Chances are they would enJoy helplng you by watching your little one for short stretches of tlme.

Somedmes Just taklng ffve or ten rnlnutes to glve your toddler a good dose of attention will work wonders. It helps with that 'I'm left out" feeling, and often that little btt ofconcentrated attention goes a long way. The trtck ls to sense earlg when it is needed, before emotions get out of

control.

And there ls always nap time. I know that Emily never ln her Me took a nap that lasted longer than twenty minutes, but perhaps you are more fortunate.

In my situation, anticlpating was a big part ofcoptng: havlng those extra toys and activities handy for Emily, knowing I would use her nap dme for Ben, as opposed to mopplng the ldtchen lloor at that time.

At that ttme in my ltfe, I often felt like those days of Juggling would never end. I had no one to reassure me that thev would, and that things would get better and better with our homeschoolir:rg. My advice to you parents wtth young ones is to hang tn there. The years wtth llttle ones are the hardest, ln my oplnlon, but they also have their priceless moments. And believe it or not, now that my ldds are so lndependent, I sometlmes have feelings of nostalgfa for those very busy, ttrtng, and

lntense Umes.

ENVIRONMENT'S EFFECT ON LEARNING VIuIerue Ed,watds MN) urites:

I haveJust been rereadlngThomas Armstrong's excellent book, In Thelr Own Wag.ln lt he describes the problems of environment for one cleild who was trying to learn ln a classroom'...with ftckertng neon llghts, chalk dust" drab green carpet and the nolse of Jets taldng off..." Thts problem of the envlronment afiecttng barnfng was Just brought to my attenUon by my daughter leonle, who ls 16 and ts worklng on a course on Dental Asslsflng.

A few days ago she spent the day at her sister's photographtc studio. She took her books wtth her and settled down tn the small room behind the studlo to studv.

She was warm and comfortable. It was fairly quiet and there were few intermptions. She spends a lot of time at the studio so obvlously she felt safe and secure, However. when she came home she said with great dts8ust that she could not remember a thlng about the chapter she had read and she had to reread the whole thtng. I read her the above passage from In Tlvtr OunWag and we trled to decide why It was that she had not been able to conccntrate on what she was reading. We

dld not come to any defintte conclusion except that the room dld not'feel rtght" and she seemed to feel edgl and unable to

concentrate.

From thls small lncldent I cannot help but thtnk how lmportant lt is for chlldren to 'feel rtght'before they can rially concentrate - pardcularly if tt ts somethlng that is difllcult for them. Even more important, what about those homeschooled chtldren who must take achierrement tests ln schools? How wtll thelr surroundings allect thetr abtltty to do well? Perhaps not enougfi attendon has been paid to the efrects of surroundiregs

and envlronment. Ttrls would be one more rezrson for parents to fight for the right to give tests - where tests are - ln their own homes.

requlrd by law

HOMESCHOOLING AND FEMINISM In GlIrS *73, Barbara Cgmoszbtslct asked to hear Jrom Jemtrist lvmeschml' ers. We rece&sed several replies that we JonaardedtoBarbara. Here Is one ue uere gbren pemissrrn to prlnt, fiom Patti Winters (OR):

I consider myself a feminist "soon to be" homeschooler. The 'soon to be" is because my son is threeyears old. I have often wondered about the seeming conflict between stay-at-home parentlng/homeschooling and feminism, but I am slowly coming to see homeschooling as a positive and strong erpresslon of femlnlsm, strength, rights, and the feminlne. I have chosen to stay at home and to homeschool - I support choice. I also support equal rights and that applies eve4rwhere: home, ofllce, clubs, etc. Obvlously the ldeal and the realtty don't always meet, but that is the goal. Havlng seen your request {n GWS, I am relieved and excited. I too wondered if I was the only feminlst who believed in these things. Feminism means opportunity, self-respect, and pride, and that is also what homeschooling means to me and a chance to offer that to my son.

MOTHER NEEDS TIME Gayle Young wrcte in th.e March 199O issue oJThe AHA Experience, the neusletter oJ tle AIA,SKA HOMWHOOL ASSroCIATION: Last summer was a dilllcult time ln our lhomel school. Everyt]ring was fine academically. But the teacher felt out of ktlter. I tried for the longest time to feret out the cause unfll one day I took wriflng

materials, found a qulet spot and spent two hours Jotting down ideas. When I returned home, I was amazed at the change - in myselfl TIme alone to accomplish something important to me solved my

dilemma.

It took me ten years of parenttng and half that many of homeschooling to learn an irnportant concept parents must hove their oun time - homeschooling parents especially. It is an lntense ltfe we lead.

Qulet places where one can work undisturbed are sometlmes dtlllcult to flnd. I was faced with leaving the house to discover a spot. But where to go ln a tlny

GROIWING WITHOI.N SCHOOLING #74

town with Gw public buildtngs? I settled

for the library room in the community

buildtng. Positloned on the rug in front of

the slngle electrlc heater, my Pad propped on the step stool, I now enJoy two qulet interludes each week. Families livlng even more remotely wtll need to be correspondin$y more creatlve. Allowlng time for yourself in a busy schedule ls Just as lmportant as planntng school time for the lidds.

Having embarked on my own private time, I was chagrlned to be reminded recâ&#x201A;Źntly that my son ls ln need of proJect time also. I started to protest that he had several hours to hlmself each day when I suddenly remembered the multiple requests I send hls way whlle busy with chores. I quickly saw his potnt and sided with him. He now has blocks of time to work unlnterruPted on hls own proJects.

There is one reason only for the insistent control of programmatic instruction and tests in classrooms.

That reason is lack of trust. Teachers impose progmms and tests when they do not trust children to leam, and politicians and administrators impose programs and tests when they do not trust teachers to teach.

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WATCHING CHILDREN LEARN MASTERS TELLING TIME Ntckg Hofienbryh MN wrttes: I read the Focus sectlon tn GWS #71 ('When l,earnfng ls Fmstratlng,J aloud to my daugfrter Sage (then 6) malnly because I wanted to cendnue readtng GWS, and tt was tlme for her bedttme readlng. She was interested to hear about other children's frustratlons ln learning. After we ffnlshed -Telltng Ttme'by Ma4rrose Dolezal, Sage said, 'I think I could do that'At that ttme she was able to read time from digital clocks but wanted to be able to read clock faces, So far, though, she had been frustrated h her sporadlc attempts to learn.

Hearlng Mar5rrose's story seemed to insptre her to tr5r agaln.

The next mornlng we dld together some worksheets from a math book we had. The exerclses were for reading clock faces whlch told tlmes of quarter past, t'alfpast, or quarter to the hour. Sage did fine wlth those exerclses.

Later that day we happened to be at a computer store and I bought a very tnexpensive prcgram, 'Htckory Dtckory Dock(part ofa package called Educator 2, by Valueware for C-64). While I was coolidng supp€r, Sage sat down wlth the program

and, wtth minimal explanation on my part, was soon sucoessfully answering the quesffons. Before supper, to our delight, she had mastered the program and could

tell any time accurately.

The program has three parts: 'Practice Telltng TIme" (the student is requlred to enter the correct tlme shown on a clock face); "Practlce Settlng Tlme" (the student is asked to set the clock on the screen for a pardcular time by movlng the hands); "Hickory Dickory Dock' (the student races egalnst tlme to enter the correct tirne shown on a clock face).

Sage's learning to tell time at thts point was her idea and she provided the

mofivation. I did do the worksheets with her, and then she learned from the comPuter Program.

WORKING AT FOOD CO.OP, SINGING IN CHORUS Ruth Matflsky (NI) writes:

Sarabeth is lO nowand thlsvear she ts tulfllling our work obligadon it the

producdon of fuldler on the RrcJ. Sara ls one ofthe younger daugfrters and I am Lr

the chorus. Our whole family has gotten lnvolved because my husband Terry brought us the tape and Jacob (8) and Laura (3) ltsten to lt constantly. We are leaming all the lyrlcs. Sara ts playtng the plano agaln (we had started and stopped turo years ago) and everyone ts slnglng. I hadJust about gfven up on anyone belng lnterested fur muslc ln thts famtly and then I reallzed that most of the muslc Terry and I play ts classlcal, and when I was a child my llrst love was muslcals. So we took out a bunch of tapes from the library and the music ls helping us to get through thts cold wlnter.

Sara Just can't get over that all of the adults tn the chorus were glven scrlpts, while the children were not. And on the flrst day, when the cast lntroduced ourselves, all the children ldenttfled themsebes by statlng the name of thetr school.

Sara and her friend Lydia Just told thetr ages which was a dead giveaway that they were different.

WHAT HER HOMESCHOOL DAYS ARE LIKE Chelsea Chrrpman (AN urites:

kt me tr5r to describe our homeschooling. My mother teaches us culture,

htstory, literature and things like that, whlle Dad teaches us math, chemlsby, some history, and physics. We do schoolwork from about 8:OO AM to l2:OO or so, Often we don't do any at all, and we never do it in the afternoon. My Dad works one week and then has the nextweek oll When he ls home, we talk about math and chemtstry, and he glves us some problems to work out. Often heJust draws us plctures of pnotons, neurons, etc. to look at and study.

Today I wrote short essays on Pythagoras, Archimedes, and Avogadro. Knowing about their lives really helps me remember their respective theorems, prtnclples, and laws.

I love physics and thtngs like thatl I have always thought that I wasJust not a smartenough person to understand these things and that they rvere deadly dull anyqray (somethtng I got from school). But now I have disc.overed that they aren't

hard or dull or stuptd, and I am ffnally

getting over the thought that "hard

stulf

food co-op by worlttng there at least two hours aweek. I.ately she has spent much

isn't for everyone.

Noq I satd my mother

more tlme there than that, and her help ts appreclated by the coordinators who wlsh that all the members took thetr work so sedously. San:a loves betng tn the store

history and llterature. We matnly read for htstory. In fact, we read all the time. My I l-year-old slster and I wtll read anything and everything. We are really allowed to

and dweloping relationshlps wtth the

young people ten and llfteen years older than she ls. Another child tn our homeschool group also works there occasionally so there is a rdce balance for Sara.

The co-op is such awonderful resounce for our farnfly. In a couple of years I se€ the possibility of some members of our family working for the local organlc farmer who supplies our produc.e.

There are also possibilifles of apprentlcing wlth co-op members who are carpenters.

Sara and I are fur a commurdty theater

think. can be combined.

FINDING OUT ABOUT COMPUTERS Jonathan KIHer (CN writes: I am lnterested ln computers. Besides my dad, there are three people in pa.rttcular who have helped me learn more abut computers. Flrst, Mr. Warner was my 4-H CIub lnstmctor. He taugfrt me the most commonly used BASIC words. He explained what the commands "PRINT,' 'GOTO," and'INPUT'meant. Also, he taught me about flow charts. Ifuowtng about flow charts helped me to wrlte my own progirams. He also tntroduced me to some new programs. Before I met Mr. Warner I lorew nothlng about computers; I zrm very glad that I met hdm through 4-H. Second, Mrs. Penn is a computer lnstructor at a school. She goes to the same church as I do. When she found out that I was lnterested ln computers, she tnvtted me to work on them with her.

Almost errery Sunday after church I go over to the school rvtth her and work with the computers ln her classroom. I play computer games E[rd write programs. I enjoy these Sundays very much. Mrs. Penn has also lent me books about computers. Through her, I have gatned more appreciation for what computers can do, I am happy that she takes the tlme to allow me to work with her.

When I fust got my own computer, I didn't know how to work anv of the software. I found out that one ofthe dads tn my YMCA Trallblazer group, Dr. Loader,

had the same computer and prlnter as I did. He olfered to help me ffgure out some of the software. I had a lot of questlons about word processtng programs in particular. Dr. Loader happened to have a word processtng program that was easy to use and he copied lt for me. He also spent a lot of time answering questions for me over the phone - and in the beginning I had a lot of questionsl He invited me over to hls olllcne so that he could better explain how the programs worked. Once he even came over to my house on his lunch hour to help me print a llle. I'm really grateful for all the time he has g;iven to me.

I'm really fortunate to have all of these frlends who know about computers and arc willtng to help me.

teaches us

study what we choose here. In fact, lt remlnds me of the Summerhill school somedmes. I love poetry and r€ad masses of Blake, my favorite. Shakespeare ts all right; I like Ttre Tempest best. In contrast, I have been readtng DOS (Disk Operating Systems) and dotng a lot on our computer.

We reallyJust work on what we are interested ln. Often schoolwork is none:dstent, when there are mor€ tmportant things to do like gotng to watch the start of the great "Yukon Quest'dog sled racel I'm gotng to be a naturalist/wrtter/ arttstr/poet when I grow up. These all, I

DRAWING SUPERHEROES JtlI Bone (CN wt-ttes: At age llve, Curds went from drawlng shapes, desiggrs, and colors, to drawing superheroes. Ayear later all he draws is superheroes and he wants to be a comic book illustrator of - you guessed it - superheroes. Hls persistence fasclnates me but what ls so exciting ls to watch the development that has occurred. For months he drew his heroes faclng out wlth the arms to the sldes. Then suddenly one day while we were in a poetr5r class for my older kids he drew one upside down and falling and on hls shlrt was another one upside down and falllngl Since then he has progressed

GROWING WITTIOUI SCHOOLING #74

ll to

all sorts of poses and scenes. I didn't see

it as a gradual lmprovement - lt appeared

although he had obviously been obseMng drawings and integrating what he saw durlng all those montles. With a friend he has created superhero puppets ustng Paper and popstcle sdcks and they put on puppet shows for us. They erren dlscover,ed how to make two-sided puppets. When they llrst started thls, Curtls would draw the hero for Joey to color and eventually he showed Joey how to draw them himself. I found that very interesdng, slnceJoey can read and write and Curtls hasn't really erren begun.

Recently I observed Joâ&#x201A;Źy showlng Cur$s how to use a sPacâ&#x201A;Ź to seParate words. And what words does Curds wrlte? Superhero words ofcoursel to be a sudden change

I'm condnulng this letter two months later. Curds stlll loves hls superheroes but now he has a new interest: Anctent Egypt.

He is fasclnated with the lives of the Pharaohs, the pyramtds, and how mumrnies were made. I marvel at how persistent he ls wtth somethlng he ls interested in. He has bullt a pyranrid (with my help) out offoamcore, aboard usually used to back posters, and filled it wtth treasures, including a sarcophag;us made out of Fimo clay and a plastlc ffgure wr:apped up like a murnmy in bias seam tape. He throws himseU lnto his work and keeps at it until he is done.

It ls fasctnatlng to

see

hls learning

patterns as I feel that of my three kids, he has had the loosest dlrection from me' He has the stlmulatlon of two older siblings and thetr lnterests but he has his own quesdons and directtons. He takes piano lessons along with hls older slster and brother but he spent one whole lesson asking quesflons about how the piano worked. He put on a show for his grandparents and us durtng which he talked for

an easy time trusdng my kids to learn what ii necessary. This Problem of resoonsibilitv foreducation seems to be a big bugaboo-to many beginning homeschoolers. My contention ls that, given access to maiertals and an open, stimulatinq atmosphere, all lnids will learn, and no-t lust rnemorlze stuff to regurgttate on a qrrti, brrt really learn tt by maktng tt their

o*t'*o.n

we brought Kate home from school (tn the mrddt of the fall term of second grade, when shelust couldn't cope another-day), we Just platn tgnored math.

She read, wrote, drew, llstened to and dlscussed Just about anything' helped cook, can, plan gardens, sew, etc. $ou reallze all lhese lnvolve numbers, but she didn't rec.ogn?e that as math). She could flgure cups to pints and quarts, convert fracttonal cups to tablespoons and tell me

how many tomato plants went into ltfty feet of ro* if they were three feet apart' b,ut she still couldn'i do a page ln a workbook.

Then she started getdng an allowancc and wanted to order things by matl, ltke I do'

When she was 9 she saw her dad doing the lncome taxes and asked what he was doing. While he explained, she looked over the tix booklet and then asked, 'How often do you get to do this?'When he told her (choking down a laugh) only once a vear, she looked crestfallen (she was iroptng it was monthly) and asked if she could do it next year. He told her she could, but pointed out thatyou needed to know howto add, subtract, multiply and divide and that she had to do lt without a calcuthe machine lator (as he did, u

check ftAures). This didn't faze her a bit, and I figured our low-key approach to math vras working' As an added lncentive for her to master these sliiills I promised her a calculator of her own when she could do all four operadons. She earned her calculator bCfore the next tax tlme and then successfully flgured our income taxes, earntngl us a $5OO refund from the IRS. Ofcourse, her dad and I stgned the form so we had to double check her artthmedc, but we found no etrol'ls' Math ts sflll her weakest subJect, though she can eastly do approldmaHons tn hei head whlle shopplng, ffnd the most economlcal slze and so on. Currently she has chosen to study for the GED which she can take when she ls 16. She has also decided to begin talOng standardlzed tests (here we also have the opfion of non-test evaluatlon, so she has notyet had to take tests). She wants to take them as a way of leamlnA to overcome her block against them. riot because she thlnks the results will be representatlve of her knowledge

and skills.

LEARNING READING, WRITING A reoder writes: In trvlnA to teach our oldest, N.' I had to learn fiouito follow hls lead most of the time. I would try to recognlze when he was in a compliant mood and then take the opportuniW to teach him a new game (or whatever).if t pushed too much at something that was my ldea, he would immedi-

forty-five rninutes about hls stuffed animals, lncludlng such gems of wlsdom as

-[tre camel looks like this because he lives

near the pyramids.' Hls comment afterwards was, "That was very hard for me to do but I really wanted to do it.'The thing that amazes me is how he poses his own problems and creates tris ovrn learning situations. I am sure that when he decides to read he will know e:<actly what he needs from me and will do tt easily.

MORE ON OVERCOMING MATH PHOBIA JJ Faillck oJ Washtlgton

turltes:

We are new subscribers to GWS, and I was pleased to see the letter about overc-ornlng math phobta by Ktm Kopel tn GWS #72. Oureldest, Kate, now 13, gotagood

case of math phobia from an lncldent during llrst g5ade, her one year in public school. Both my husband (an ex-school

teacher) and I realized then how we should have begun wlth homeschooling. MY husband had been adamant about letting the school'have a chance" (to fail? to foul up our daughter?) but we have not repeated this mlstake with any of our other four, who are all happy at home. Kate is happy at home too. She is currently worklng on math and on overcomlng a test phobia as

well.

I don't knowwhy I seem to have such GROV{ING WITHOUT SCHOOLING #74

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t2 ately balk and then it became a battle of wills to see who would wln. Also, I think I compared too much to what other farnilies were doing (or what I thought other famllies were doing) and should have waited undl he was ready. I was selllsh ln wanting to see 'progress" to prove that we were

successful at homeschooling.

I relaxed much more when N. began to read, Thelr dad and I had alwavs read to the children. It's usually our riost relaxing and pleasant ttme of day, so I enjoy lt too. I was pretty sure N, could read a few words, and somedmes he would flll in for me when I left out a word or two. He reallv did not llke to read aloud, though. Singing also seems to be a private thing for him.

We contlnued to provlde books and magazlnes. We encouraged him to read signs and cereal boxes and set a good example by reading books and newspaperri ourselves. Then, one day, N. was looking at a map and he asked me, "Mom, what's this word?' He figured it out himself as he asked lt: 'Med-it-ter-ran-ean?" Inside, I was thrtlled because I llnally had proof that he was able to decode written language. No, I didn't rush him lnto a phonics program or have him study word hsts. I kept reading to him, taldng him to the

library and answering hls questions. Now, a year later, N. ts readtng qutte well and gets a good lesson reading the cereal box in the morning. He also enjoys reading to his brother occasionally and usually reads Ranger Rlck magaztne before bed. He silll does not like reading aloud very much. We haveJust recently started a phonics

program and he is dolng well because he has already seen nrany of the words in books. He has no arudety about being able to sound them out.

Wridng has come slowly, but N, is writing (printtng) at least as well as one of his public school friends. One of the children's favorite games ls pretending to be kttties, so N. created Klttv News. For a short time he wrote aboui one sentence (which took up a whole page tn large print) almost every day using his tnvented spelling. Example: TODAY, A PANTR BAKT IIITO UOR CR (-Today, a painter backed into our car." [,ast spdng we had our house painted and one ofthe crew backed into our car.) Kitty News was forgotten for a sununer, but N. recently discovered it and is now revislng and correcting spelling. We also make a word book for each school year. He cherlshes and llkes to reread these books. I think ofhow ln school he would probably not have the chance to rediscover hls old work. Usually kids get through one grade and would rather leave tt all behind with no looking back.

INTERESTED IN BASEBALL Ctndy Grieshofur oJ Indtrrna. urites: When I read GWS #72,lwas thrilled to Katharlne Houk's wrlting about her child's lmrnerslon in baseball. So often I have read about others'experiences in ballet and theater and muslc and classics.

I was beginning to wonder if I was doing see

somethlng wrong berause my two sons are baseball fanatics. David (9) and Philip (6) have been immersed tn baseball for three years, Every trip to the library yields more baseball books. Both David and Philio can

spout statistics about old timers, to the delight of their grandparents.

In the past I have questloned the value ofsuch an tetense lnterest in baseball. but now I realize how much they are learning through ttris lnterest. There are unlimtted possibillties for learnlng math. Davld has learned to calc 'late batttng averages (addlng, dlvtslon, fractlons, and percentages). Phtlip has learned to add scores and

work wlth fracdons (one man out ls l/3 of an inntn$. We have several electronic baseball games from whlch the boys have learned to stntegize by maldng substituUons for players.

For Chrlstmas this year they received a camputerlzed version of baseball. Within four days they have learned to program their own names and playtng statistics lnto the existing software. As a matter of fac!, they had the game up and running before elther my husband or I had a chance to cr:ack the lnstruction booklet.

Baseball has led to other subJects also. When we saw the movle Etght Men

Out about the 1919 Chicago "Black Sox,'

Philip was curious about what caused an economic depression. This led to a discussion of economlcs, social politics, and banldng. I made a slmple game of spelling baseball for them with four lists of words worth singles, doubles, triples, and home runs. A misspelled word ls a strike. They either take tums giving each other words, or I am all-time pitcher.

Although the boys do go through phases in which other interests overtake baseball, it seems to be the constant to which they always return.

MORE ON FOREIGN.BORN BOYS Pam Rosetll (MA) writes:

In response to Rusty Taylor's letter in GWS #66 about foreign-bom boys: We too

have adopted children from foreign countries. Jonathan and Dayid came from Guatemala when they were 3 and 4. They could speak very little Spanish - mostly 'baby talk" Spanish. Our third son, Daniel, came from India at 3 months.

My advice to Rusty would be to keep her boys home - not only for all the homeschooling reasons but for all the nurturing reasons. I believe children need to be saturated rvith their parents'love and presence when they come at a late age.

They need to knowwho they belong to, and to bond with them. From my experlence it takes one or two years under these circumstances. Sending them out ofthe homejust messes it all up, in my opinion.

My boys have grown wonderfully, belng homeschooled. These children come from enough rejection and separation; they certainly don't need to experience more of it.

Jonathan, who is now 7 l/2, speaks perfect En$ish. He can read on a fourthgrade lwel and is very well-adJusted wlthout ever having entered the 'halls of educaUon." David, who had more strikes eg2inst him - he was born with chronic renal failure and also has hypothyrotdism - is also developlng. He was very developmentally behind when we got him because ofhis illness and povert5r, and total lack of stlmulation. But now. with

the help of American mediclne and a stable, nurturlng famtly, he is improving

daily.

And an ufioteJrcm Rustg Taglon Chuck (6) and Joe (4) are dotng great.

Their Engltsh ls very good - mostly they have problems wlth grafirrnar, lfke mtxing up past and present tense and gender

words. They don't speak Korean anJnnore, except for'oJum' and "dung,'which are the bathroom words. Actually, I like those words when we are in publtc - no one knoq's what the boys are saytng.

We've done a lot of travellng sir:ce we left Alaska last November! so we weren't doing much formal schooling with the boys. They learned a lot about different states, climates, anlmals, people, etc. Thel loved camping, espectally sleeping outside and watching the shootlng stars. I don't think we realize how much a child ln our culture has leamed by the time time he or she is 5. The boys have a lot to catch up on,

and I often have to explain thtngs that I take for granted.

As I was reading Donna Gibson's letter in GWS #71 about her 7 vear old who isn't interested ln reading despite phonics practice, I thought of two things. One is that the key word is interest - I'm sure he will learn quickly when he ls interested.

The other ls that I couldn't help wonderin5, what kind ofphonics practice Donna had done with her son. Chuck really wants to leam to read, so we have an advantage there, but we had a book recommended to us and we have found tt to be excellent in teaching râ&#x201A;Źading phonetically. It's called Alphaplantcs and I believe it was developed for adult non-readers. It has suggestlons on how to teach, but I haven't particularly followed them. There are no pictures and no frills, Just logical progress

through our very illogtcal language, Chuck has asked questions about school because his friend goes, but he likes being able to choose hls activities. When he gets older, we will give him the choice ol' going to school or staying home.

TEACHING HIMSELF Sue Smith-Heatpnrich (NY wrlles: Coulter (3) has always been curious eager to try new things, to draw or paint, trr copy whatever mom or dad is dotng. And he has always loved stories. So I guess I should not be surprised when he starts to 'actually learn things," but for some reason I am continually amazed by what he teaches himself.

We do not have a TV and so we read a

lot of books and magazines througfrout tht: day. For a long whlle it was anything on space shuttles and airplanes, and more recently it is sea animals. We live nowhere near an occan, but Coulter is fascinated by the plctures of fish, whales, starfish, and seaanemones. We happen to have abox of shells, so last week when he asked about sand dollars we spent some time looking at plctures, readlng about them, and actually llnding one in the shell box. We spent perhaps ten minutes doing thts, but what I noficed was that Coulter had a quesflon, decided he needed lnformatlon, and began to look for the library books

GROWING WITHOLTT SCHOOLING #74

t3 about sea life, Coulter loves to type on the computer, and occasionally while dotng thls he would ask me what a letter was, and then make rows of O's or U's. One day wtrile malAng playdoh snakes he asked if snakes could curl up llke a'U,' and then we began to make letters out of the playdoh. He ldendlles letters on blocks, book tltles, and Jr. Boggle game cards and letter cubes. What amazes me ls how natural the pnoc€ss ls. Thls learnfng ts sublle and pervaslve, and ln some ways a btt sca4r (what else am I teachtng, lndtrectly?).

ASKTNG QUESTTONS OF OTHERS More Jrom Chdg Grlesha;br'n When Katherine McAlptne wrote ln GWS #72 about learnlng from her son to be assertive tn aslidng others for lnformation, I could relate immedi,ately. My son Philip ts an extrovert, and althougfr I have always preferred to learn by observatlon, he prefers to dive right tn and ask people.

Recently we went to a local nature preserv€ of pratrie land. When we drove through the entrance we saw a lot of trucks and park employees using llre equlpment. I assumed there had been a prairie fire, but Philip wanted to knour exactly what had happened, He was a little nervous to go ask by himsell and so was I. But the homeschoollng Mom in me took over and I summoned up the courage to go talk to the

workers.

I was so glad we dtd. l'he park ranger explained to us that they were executlng an annual prairie burn, but had to stop for that day because wlnd condttlons were not right for the burn. He then e:<plalned to us how they set the llre and monltored the burn and how lmportant it was to preserve the prairie land. He told us how cruclal wind and humidity condltions were to a

successfulburn.

I think asking that simple question put us ln a real 'observer' frame of mind for the day. Usually the children want to run up the hill at the nature pr€serve a couple of times and go home, but that day after we talked to the ranger we went on a trike and then observed the ducks and swans for a lengthy period. I'm really leaming a lot from my childrenl

IN CONTEXT ALL THE TIME tle

Ilom an ariicle Gogle Yorng wrote in Februarg 799O rewsletter oJ tlv

AI,ASKA HOMESCH@L ASSOCIATION: Maybe a couple of flmes ayear I am troubled by our method of studying one subject for two or ttrree weeks from muldple sources and then taking up a new interest. I am nagged by the fear that we aren't very systemadc (the way textbooks are systemafic); that perhaps we are

leaving gaps.

During the tlme I was gathering lnformation for our Canada study and subsequent trip, I was wrestling with such doubts. I was pleased to lind a fifth grade textbook with a chapter on Canada and eagerly anticipated this extra resource. I was stunned to read the scant information offered and the shallow study questions at

the chaptefs end. Agatn I reaUzed that gathering by research all available materlals about a subJect of lnterest ls exactly the way we adults learn. It must be yalid for children also. Thetr world ls Jammed full of brand NEW ltems to be explored. And tf the parent-teacher can stimulate lnterest tn related ldeas, one

subiect can lead down many roads for sev6ral weeks, Thus deMng lnto Canada not only saw us memorlzing Provinces' maJor ctdes, rlvers and export products, bui also found us explortng customs and immlgnadon, foreign currenqr and exchange rate, the flne details of traveling by ferry, bus, train, and escalator, maP and tlmetable reading, crabapples and pinecones, middens and the metric system.

Good classrcom teachers spend a lot ofenergr setflng up experlences and situations in their classrooms so that the teaching they do will be ln context. At home, you're ln context all the time..'

LEARNING RUSSHN James Hunter oJ Ohio writes: I've just started homeschooling using the Clonlara Home Based Education Program. I'm 14, in the ninth grade. The homeschooling program ls very enjoyable.

I'm learning the Russian language from my dad. He went to Russia for four months. He has pen-pals in Russia but I don't quite know enough to start \Mrittng them yet. I've been studyrng Russian for

two months now. I thlnk lt's an interest-

ing language. I have many books on Russlan and this makes lt a lot easler.

Havtng a father who knows that language makes it a lot easier also. Someday, I want to go and see Russla for myself.

THE IMPORTANCE OF PLAY Marg F}:iedl oJ [Utnois sent us an article abr:iut anina)s' plag Jrom tlv Jwe/ JuIg 1983 fssue oJ Natrbrnl Wtldli.Je bg Barbara Ford called "Learnb'g to Ptag/ Playng to Leam-" An ercerpt: More and more, [Annamarie] Beckel and other scientists who study anlmal behavlor are finding that young mammals spend at least part of their waking hours playing games. In fact, social play is such an lmport:rnt part of many young mammals'lives that most have dweloped signals that clearly say: 'Hey - Iet's playl' Apes grin or look through their legs, hippopotamuses splash water, harbor seals rest their heads on another seal's body, pandas somersault.

Young chlmpanzees and some other primates spend more than half their waking hours playing games that range from fighting for fun to running and chasing each other. Captive dolphins will play u,itlx almost any objects tossed lnto thelr tanks. There's good evldence that bfuds play garnes, too.

What's it all about? Behavioral scientists sugi€iest several explanations: exerclse, practice for adult activities, social interaction and assessment of other animals. Most of the reasons can be lumped together in a single word: learning. 'Play helps animals become better

GROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING #74

monkeys or wolves or whatever creatures they are,' says Frank E' Potrier' an anthropologist at Ohio State University.

Young-anfrnals are the most frequent players, and they are the ones most in ie6a of motor, &gddve, and social skills.

-Those species who need to learn the most play the most,' says Poirier. 'ln the trigher primates, lncluding humans, most if not all of the behavtor ls learned behavlor. So they have to play a good deal in order to learn the behavlors they'll need tn later life.'

INTEREST IN BRIDGE LEADS TO MATH Matian Bet:er (IN) rurttes:

I wrote to you about mY older son's interest in the game of bridge (GWS #68).

One day I saw hlm writing numbers in c.olumns on a piec.e of paper. He said he was writing down the possible distributions of brldge hands. After a while he gave up, frustrated. He said there were too many and he had noticed that with his system of wrtung down the hands, he was getting some duplications. I told him I thought there would be a way of linding out the information mathematically, and did he want me to try. Yes, he did. So we want to his father's math books and selected the one he had used to teach high school seniors. We looked irr the index under permutations and computations and began readlng about this. The very first sentence ln the math book was about a bridge hand. It said something like,

'How would you find the probability of

getttng a bridge hand with at least 8 spades including the ace, ldng, and queen?" We read on, but the book never gave us the answer to thls quesflon. We found informadon about how many ways we could hang live flags on a flagpole using only three of the flags at a time, We could see how this applied to the bridge problem, but the solution we came uP with was not

correct.

When my husband came home he said

this was very difllcult stulf and that I would probably need to review some of the things leadtng up to this before I would be able to Iigure it out. We have not pursued

this further yet, but it is simmerin$ in the back of my rnind. I don't know whether this will ever lead to anything else, but it could.

One of the exciting thlngs for me was to see another one of John Holt's ideas actually corning true in my family. He wrote once about ayoung manwho was interested only in cars. He said that an interest in cars could easily lead to history, chemist4r of paints, etc. I have seen how an interest in bridge can lead to the reading ofhuge books, learning to use the card catalog, and advanced math.

So farwe have not been successful in finding people outside the family to play bridge with. We have heard that there are groups of women who play, but we have not pursued any of these to see whether an I l-year-old boy would be welcome. My guess is that many of these women's groups are at least half social. My son is serious. Are there any other young bridge players out there? I am sure a large city would be an easier place since they often

T4 have brldge clubs. We wrote for a sample copy of tlre magazine Bddge Worl{ thett did not have any help for us in this area but we will perhaps purcue lnformation through them.

LEARNING FROM MAPS More Jrom Mafian

futpn

There are two c.omputer prog;rams out now called PC Globe and PC USA. Thev are wonderful ftut somewhat expenstve). FC Globe generates maps of the countries of the world, condnents, and regNons. Each countr5r can be showrr wlth cltles, elevations, or features such as rlvers and morrntaln ramges. There ls a data base with such informaflon as chmate, populatlon distrlbuUon by age and sex, gross national product wlth perccntages of aggiculture, lndustry, and seMces. PC USA is slrnllar, but uses the states tnstead of countries.

With the rtght equlpment, you can prlnt maps uslng these programs. We prlnted out some and got coples made. The boys have been very lnterested ln coloring in the different countrles and states. Mv older son has gone so far as to c.olor in ihe states ln order from smallest to largest.

The other ntght he amazed us at supper by

rattling olf all fifty states in order from

largest to smallest. I do not know yet what pracflcal use thls may be, but he has had a great ilme with tt.

Today he has been worklng on the countrles of the world. He read somewhere that the Vadcan Ctty was the smallest country. He found it ln the World Book and its rankwas l7O, so he assumes that there are l7O countries in the world. He has been utrifing the countries'ranks, ln slze, on some of the maps. For thls proJect, he has carrled many of our encyclopedlas upstalrs to hls work area. Thls has been a consumlng toterest for several days now and I am so grateful that our home edu-

cadon sltuaflon grants him the flodbility to spend hours dolng thts right now when

hls interest ts htgh. Our younger son ls learning a few thtngs about the states, too.

I overheard the older boy ask the younger, 'Wtrat color arre you gotng to make Mlssouri?" The younger boy asked, 'Where ls Mlssourl?' I assume he was shown and went on wlth hts task.

Homeschoolers Danee Saturday May 12, 6-9 PM

First Bapttst Church 561 Main Street Melrose, Mass.

Old Songs, New Songs, and Chlldren's Songs

Admission: $5 per family

OLDER HOMESCHOOLERS FINDING AN INTERNSHIP In GIVS *ffi, Aruta-Irsa Cox o;f

Michtgan wrote abut wanfrrg tof.td, an Internshtp t]lrl.t dedlt uith antlque clotlttrg. We asked her to tell us usletler, tt tlv past year, slre lvd ben able toJirld. such an Internship, She urltes:

I am findlng out and exploring so many different things. TWo years ago I wasn't even sure I wanted to leave home, but last fall I set off on rnv own to visit friends in Europe for two-months.

Thouglrts and ideas about myself and the rvorld that I thought were concrete are tumbltng down, and new ones are taking thelr place. It ls so strange to think that less than four years ago I rvas telling everyone I knew that I planned to be an actress and a musician. I was lnvolved in many performances and concerts. I even won awards. But now my tnre love ls museum work, tied to an intense lnterest ln antique clothtng. Luckily, my parents have been an lncredible help and encour-

agement, padently supporting me in my exploration and decision-making.

In my last letter I wrote about my search ficr a museum lnternship. With the help of friends I was able to flnd one, which I will be golng to in April. Some friends arranged for me to get together with the curators of a costume museum near them. I was a ltttle hesltant about erren trJdng, as I had been dlsappointed so many tlmes, but I dectded to go ahead, and I'm so $ad I did. The curators are three young women, all as excited and interested ln c.ostume as I am. When I llrst met them we talked for two hours straight. Around the end ofour conversation, the head curator asked what museum I was ln charge ofl I dectded to tell her the truth, that I had no museum experience, but she said she was very impressed with my experdse and would still love to have me come and work with them.

It all sounds so easy as I wrlte about it, but getttng to this point has taken enorrnous amounts of tlme and enerSf. In fact, last suruner, when I was ln England wtth my fanrtly, I went through an intenslve search for an lnternshlp. I wrote and called museums. I even had a friend who used to be a costume curator helplng me, writing letters of recommendatlon to old colleagues. But even so, not one internship came of it. So I guess all I can recommend ls to kecp on trytng. There's an internship out there Just waiting for

you, lfyou have padence.

The last tlme I wrote I was sUll

undeclded about going to college. I knew

it

wasn't my only altemadve. I could keep on givtng the htstoric fashion shows I've been gtvlng, or take an lnternship in a muserun leading to aJob. But ln the end I decided that college would gtve me a chance to do more explortng, and I loeew that's what I wanted to do. So I went through the rigors of college :applicadons

ano got accePtecl and accepted at the couege oI my c-ollege:ofmy choice, An interesting note: I found that my homeschooling background, far from being a hindrance, was an asset. With colleges looking at clone high school

students, a homeschooler reall5r stands out and gets nodced. It is true that applying as a homeschooler takes extra work, and Just betng a homeschooler doesn't mean you'll get into Harvard, but tt can gfve you a valuable edge.

Most of the lnformatlon I found about lnternships and apprendceships I got from books. I can't praise them enoughl It wasn't easy to ffnd the useful books in the hundreds ofworthless ones I went through, so, to save other homeschoolers the trouble, I want to mentlon some of the best ones here. TWo ofmy f,avorites are: The Teenager's Gulde to Shldg, Tfar;r;l" and Adtpnture Abrnd. and The Whole WorM Handfulc A Studenf Gulde to Work" Studg, andTtattel Abrc,rcL Both of these books are published by the Councll on Internatlonal Educatlonal Exchange. The CIEE is a wonderful organization which puts out many helpful books and pamphlets about tnternatlonal workcamps, student exchanges, and studies abroad.

They put out a free booklet called the Stndents Trauel Catalq, which explains who and what they are. Just send a dollar

to: Information and Student Services

Dept., COUNCIL ON INTERNATIONAL AND EDUCATIONAL EXCHANGE, 2O5 East 42nd St, New York l.IY lOO17.

I would also recommend:

Adulsory llst o.f Internafional Mtrcationol Transel and Erchange Prqrams, publtshed by Councll on Standards for International &lucadonal Travel, l9OG Assoclatlon Dr, Reston VA 22091.$5.

Tte Yomg American's Scholcrshp

Gutde to Tfavel and.

Iaannrg

Abr@d,,

published by Intravco Press.

Internatlona| Workcamps Dtectory, published by Volunteers for Peace International Workcamps. You can become a member of VPF for $lO and they'll send you the book.

Volwtteer Vacatlons, published by the Chicago Revlew Press.

Interno;ttona;l Dlrectory Jor Youth Internships, by Cynthta T. Morehouse, publtshed by Councll on Publlc and

International Affatrs.

Tlv

Nafiorru.l Dlrcctory oJ Intem-

shps (one of the very best) and Dtrectory oJ Washtngton Internships, both published by the National Society for Internships and Expertentlal Education, 122 St. Ma4r's St, Raleigh NC 27605.

The Eryerlenced Han* A Student Manual Jor Maklng the Best oJ an lnternsh{p, published by Carrol Press, PO Box 8l 13, Cranston RI O292O. There are also many associatlons, businesses, and socletles whlch olfer hands-on experience tn many llelds. Here are the names of a Gw: Earthwatch, 68O Mt Auburn St, Box 4O3. Watertown MA 02 I72. Earthwatch offers two-week expedlttons to many dilferent parts of the world. You must be 16 or over, and you must be a member (memberstrlp fees are $25). They offer grants to 16- 18 year olds (no college students) and to teachers.

(ContLued onpage 24)

CROWING WITHOTN SCHOOLING #74

JOHN HOLT'S BOOK AIIID MUSIC STORE MAGIC TRUMPETS: The Story of lazz for Young People

by Stephen Longstreet #1267 $16.95 In the tradition of some of the history books we sell, such as lftis.fs the Way It UsedTo Be in the Early 1900's,this book tells us stories about the past from the point of view of someone who was there, rather than as a collection of dates and events framed by an academic. Mr. Longsreet loosely organizes M agic Trumpets with a chronological history of jazz, startng with the roots of jazz, which sprung from AfricanAmerican music and from the suffering of slavery and then melded with Christian hymns, and moving through all the major stylistic developments of jazz music: the blues, ragtime, hot jazz, swing, bebop, cool jazz, and jazz-rock fusion. He staggers this chronology with brief biographies of seminal musicians from t}te perid he is describing, often with first-hand accounts of their performances.

Unlike most books that cover this territory, Mr. longstreet doesn't sound like a musicologist when addressing tiese issues, nor does he sound like a groupie when describing individual musicians. He started his career as a graphic artist for some New York papers and magazines that had an interest in jazz in the 1920s. His illustrations appear simple at first glance, but the nuance of expression and line with which Longstreet imbues his at are quite sophisticated.Like a jazz musician, he makes his art seem effortless to the public, but the houn of work leading to the performance go unnoticed. The pictures also capture the musical improvised moment; Longstreet drew most of his sketches while watching jazz artists perform in clubs, streets, and concert halls. He tells his stories simply, in words and pictures, with just enough facts to sustain our intellect and with plenty of anecdotes and recordings to entertain us and make us enthusiastic about listenin g to j^zz. Here are some of his words about Duke Ellingon: He began to play the piano during a part-time job dishing up sundaes and banana splis at a popular soda fountain, and produced his first song: "Soda Fountain Rag." School didn't hold Drke's interest; he worked at some signpainting projecs and kept turning up at the piano with bands around Washington (D.C.)...

With two friends he formed the Duke's Serenaders in

l922.Tlrcy were part of a group that for

a short time invaded New York. Back in Washington Duke was with the Washing-

lonians. But a friendship with Fas Waller brought the Duke back to the Big Apple in 1923.

Duke Ellington told me in 1952, "Really no dude knows why it's called that. My guess is that some hungry jazzman looking for a kip and gig saw the city like some red shiny apple, you know, like one you polish up to give to your teacher. That's how it all must have looked - the city, the big prize - waiting for him, for us all, you dig? Just waiting to

bite into."

When discussing figures as diverse as Louis ArmsEong, John Coltrane, and Benny Goodman, Longstreet often injecs things they told him, and this personal quality makes this book a wonderful record and a warm remembrance of some of America's most gifted and important musicians and composers. One of my favorite lines is about Miles Davis: "Personally, he is not easy to get along with. Said one player who later acquired fame with Miles's help, 'He was like a rose made of sandpaper; you smelled it and got a bloody nose."'Unlike many s[rdies of iazz musicians, this one does not tum nagic figures like Charlie Parker into myths by recounting their prodigious self-destruction; instead Longstreet notâ&#x201A;Źs that despite the personal problems that destroyed Parker or Bix Beiderbecke, it is the music they made that we ought !o concentrate on, not their uagic lifestyles.

This is as important a message as any to budding musicians, and Irngstreet gets it across without preaching.

Longstreet talks not only about people and the music they made, but also about the context in which tley made that music.

Among the many ttrings he discusses besides the great players and their histories ile women in jazz, jazz instruments, jazz dancing and dance halls, the rise and fall of Big Bands, New Orleans at the turn of the century, jazz singers and scat singing, poetry reading and, jazz, jazz in Europe, jazz festivals, and the language of jazz ("That hep cat cut the rug in a set of threads that had to cost a ton of bread").

This book should inspire its readen to listen to the recordings suggested throughout it as well as to read some of the books listed in its bibliography. This is a wonderful introduction to an American art that continues to influence not only our own popular culture but foreign cultures as well.

Pat Farenga

-

THE RECORDER BOOK

by Kenneth Wollitz $142 $12.95

I've been an amateur recorder player for years, having taught myself to play using simple methods books and books of easy Elizabethan tunes. One thing about recorder playing is that you very soon want other people to play the recorder with you, because duets and trios and quartets sound much more than two or three or four times as fine as solo recorder. My 9-year-old son, Jacob, now plays delightful duets with me, and my husband and I also meet regularly with another homeschooling couple for recorder ensemble playing. We've even played at a few (very local!) recitals. We love the recorder's sound, its repertoire, and the possibilities for good companionship and musical sharing it

2269 Massachusetts Ave.

.Iohn Holt'a Book and Music Store

gives our lives.

The recorder is a very friendly instrument. It encourages even the non-musician to try it out and make some pleasant sounds. It doesn't have the sheer difficulty of, say, an oboe, which most of us couldn't get to make even a squawk. AndThe Recorder Boo& is a very friendly book for folks who've just tried out the recoder and want to know more.

Kennettr Wollitz is clearly in love with the recorder and its possibilities, and his enthusiasm is hard to ignore as you dip into his book. I appreciate his respect for the new leamer. He realizes that adult beginners, especially, are folks who may initially feel very nervous about how they will "do." Listen to his attitude here:

I have great respect for anyone who chooses to learn a musical instrument for il is a process which makes him vulnerable to himself and to rhe rest of the world. This is something that should be understood by any good teacher. A student gives the teacher his trust and the teacher must respond with all the tact, sensitivity, and patience at his command.

Wollitz became a recorder teacher in ttre 1950s in the San Francisco area simply because, as he puts it, "I soon found that there were a great many people who wanted to leam the recorder and I was in the fortunate position of being, at that time and in that place, the best recorder player around." He is still active in recorder teaching, and his book is the standard reference on recorder playing.

The book is incredibly complete, and will give a recorder enthusiast ideas and help for ye:lrs to come. Don't feel you need to absorb all that's in this book at the first reading. you can learn about the history of the recorder and how and why it was revived from the dustbin, in our century, to become one of the most popular amateur instruments. You'll find chapters on proper technique, breathing, practice tips, improvising your own scale exercises, playing with an ensemble, playing all &e various sizes of recorders, care and choosing of your instrument (Wollitz highly recommends the Aulos brand plastic recorder, sold by John Holt's Book and Music Store. Many advanced players use plastic instruments; they are not looked down on as mere toys.). The book ends with suggestions of music to play at varying skill levels.

Wollitz's advice is always concrete and based on the reality of how people get along and grow. There is a special chapter at the end for the rank beginner, the person who needs to know how to put the recorder together and hold it, andjust how to blow into it and use the tongue. He makes every effort to help you feel comfortable about beginning the adventure of recorder playing by giving you basic knowledge and by taking you step by step through your first songs.

Don't expect that this is a book that you could give to your 8 year old and expect him to be able to teach himself how to play the recorder, with no further help. The book is defrnitely written for an adult audience, although my children have certainly enjoyed hearing many parts read aloud. The exercise suggestions and technical advice are certainly excellent for the young beginner !oo.

Cambridge, MA02l4O

One thing this book is probably best at is helping you feel a part of the larger world of recorder playing. I wouldn't be surprised ifafter reading it, and practicing on your own for a while, you too start actively seeking out recorder companions.

-

Susan Richman

RISE UP SINGING edited by Peter Blood-Panerson #1280 $14.95 Soon after this book arrived in our office a year ago, several people were exclaiming about how wonderful it was and how they wanted their own copies. I took a quick peek at the book and felt a bit amused. It's just another collection of folk songs, I thought. I already have enough songbooks, including the very good one put out by ttre Folk Song Society of Greater Boston.

A month or so later I learned thatRdse Up Singinghad, almost overnight, become the primary book used at events nm by the very same Folk Song Society. Hmm, I thought.

It wasn't until a few months later that I actually got around to looking carefully at the book. Within a few minutes, I'm embarrassed o admit, I was jumping up and down and saying to myself, "I want a copy of this book!" What a collection! There were words to songs here that I had been wishing for, for years, and wondering how I could find.

What sets off the book most distinctly from any other collection I've seen is that it includes, among its 1200 singable songs, the best loved of the last five to ten years of the folk music scene. Here are all the catchy, memorable, moving songs by people like Stan Rogers, Bill Staines, Gordon Bok, Sally Rogers, Bob Franke. Here is "The Ballad of Erica Levine," "A Chat With Your Mother (The F-Word)," "White Collar Holler,"

"Kilkelly, Ireland," "Waltzing With Bears," "I'm Gonna Be

an

Engineer." If you've ever listened to "Prairie Home Companion" or heard any folk music performer in the last decade, you've heard these songs. And now you can sing them too.

There is, of course, much more. There are many traditional songs and ballads, many of which I had never heard until the last ten years, others made popular in the 1960s, 1950s and earlier. There's James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, some Lennon and McCartney, Phil Ochs, Tom Paxton, Tom Lehrer, Malvina Reynolds. There are a few songs taken from Broadway and Hollywood into the general mainstream ("Sunrise, Sunset," "If I Only Had A Brain...."). There's a scattering of hymns, gospel tunes, and "golden oldies" ("Daisy Bell," "Shine On }larvest Moon.') Everywhere the emphasis is on songs that feel good to sing with others.

No tunes are provided, except for the tunes !o some rounds.

Guitar chords are given in a compact notation. Some sugges-

tions from the innoduction: HOW TO LEARN THE TUNES FOR THE SONGS YOU DON'T KNOW: 1. Lram them from a friend (or a stranger: you may gain a friend!) Most people learn songs much more easily by ear than by reading music.

2. Teaching tapes. New Song Library is in the process of creating a series of leaching tapes for the lesser-known songs

in this book...

John Holt'c Boot and Mugic Store

2269 Massachusetts Ave.

3. Listen to an album or tape

ofthe song, To help you do

this, we have listed as many audio and print sources as we can under each song in the book...

Songs are alphabetical within categories, such as "Ecol-

ogy," "Funny Songs," "Home & Family," "Lullabies," "Peace," "Play,"'"Time & Changes," "Women." There is a cdmplete index of first lines and choruses in the back as well.

Now that I've had the chance to use the book a few times with others, the only drawback I have seen is that because there is so much to look at here, people tend o tune out whatever song is being sung and instead keep reading and hunting for the next one to do! Not good manners, but understandable.

When I reviewed Eest lnved Songs of the American People in GWS years ago, I made the point that folk songs are educational; one cannot help but pick up history and culture through them. I suppose that some homeschoolers still need to be reminded of such things. But to me now, the more important point is that singing together with yow family, with friends, or with a group, can create so much good feeling and so many happy memories. The freedom that homeschooling gives is the freedom to do things that are real instead of artificial, and I hope that ttris book will bring you such genuine pleasure.

Donna Richoux

-

THE KING BROTHERS SING THE KING (audio cassette) #1262 $6.00

About a year ago we received a package containing a cassette tape and a note from homeschooling mother Catherine King. The note said in part, "I thought you might like to hear some homeschoolers who rock!" Intrigued, we looked more closely at the cassette, and saw that a note inside it explained, "The King Brothers are Billy King, age l l, and Kenny King, age 7. They are homeschoolers and this tape represents a project that they worked on throughout the fall. Billy, who is self-taught

a (617)

in music, played all the instruments on the tape. He arranged and produced the songs in our home studio. Mom and Dad helped onl' by keeping three-year-old Edwin away from the mikes!"

Now thoroughly curious, we put the tape on, and out came thr' voices of two young boys, belting out the songs of Elvis Presley with enthusiasm and skill. We could hear, in their voices, how much they loved the music, how hard they had worked to sing it itt the appropriate style, and how well the two brothers worked together.

It's exciting to listen to this tape knowing that it represents such hard work and is indicative of such competence on the part r:i young people - and, of course, it's doubly nice to know that those young people are homeschoolers and to imagine the relationship between the brothers that made such a successful collaboration possible. Anyone who likes Elvis Presley, anyone who enjoys hearing kids making music, anyone who is interested in projects that young people have done on their own, will find this tape a pleasure to have around.

A

& DELIVERY

-

Susannah Sheffer

BABY LEARNS WHAT IS WHAT

by Jacob Richman #1220 $3.50 Susan Richman wrote in GWS #66, "Just yesterday Jacob, now 8, completed a book, his second big book project.The book records many of his observations of his sister Hannah, now one year old, over this past year. He had several audiences in mind as he brought the book to completion. He thought perhaps flrst of Hannah, that it would be a wonderful gift for her, something she"l love having all her life. He then thought of the homeschooling writing club that we attend every other week, as he'd shared manl of the pieces from the book as earlier drafts at club meetings. He thought of his grandmother in Georgia, who is always excited about receiving the children's writing..."

I can think of another audience for the book, too: anyone wittr a new baby in the family, especially older siblings just getting usr:.| to the idea. Jacob has recorded his sister's first year of life in suclt loving (but not sentimental) detail that his book gives us a wondet'

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ful picture not only of a baby's growth but of what being an older brother is like. From the book: I tttought of b,ringing over amirror. Fint Hannah kicked at the mirol baby and then she smiled at it Then she started to bang the mirror against her head and I took it away from her. She stated to cry and I gave it back and she cheered up because she Orought that it was funny to see the mirror baby cry. Later I carried her upside down. She kicked my face and I set her down and she smiled. She had been smiling the whole time.

I find very appealing the matter-of-fact way in which Jacob talla about trying to make }lannah happy and comfortable and at the same time protect her, and sometimes himself and the things in the house, from harm. He is clearly someone who knows a great deal about babies, and, of course, he knows

about them because he has had the chance to care for one and to observe her growth so closely. Years ago we sold a book about a program designed to help young boys become more familiar with babies and baby care. The progam involved mothers bringing their babies into a boys' school classroom, which still sounds like an interesting idea to me, but I can't help thinking that many of those boys might have had baby sisters or brotlers at home, or perhaps babies in the neighborhood, whom they could have learned from without the need for an elaborate program - if, of course, they had not been away at school all day. Jacob's book reminds us of the gmd relationship that can grow between siblings when they have time to spend together, when the older one doesn't feel ttrat he's too busy with friends his own age to have time for his baby sister.

I know that this book will appeal to others besides Jacob's friends and family because when a friend of mine read the book, she immediately decided to buy it for another friend who was expecting a baby, without even knowing Jacob or thinking much about the fact that the book was written by a homeschooler. (Of course, those of you who are specifically looking for samples of writing by homeschoolen will find ttris an excellent one, too.)

SS

-

THE VICTORY GARDEN KIDS' BOOK by lvlarjorie Waters #1296$12.95 This book is basically a record of a garden made by the author and a group ofchildren ranging in age from about 4 to 12. It's a wonderful way to show what goes on in a garden from start to finish. We see photos of real people working in a real garden. This garden is unique, as all gardens are, witl its own successes and failures; everything in the book is so very representative of a small organic garden.

This is the most profusely illustrated gardening book I've ever seen, and just about every picture helps convey useful information. There are lots of photographs of the garden at each stage, most showing ttre children and a few adult friends working. There are also lots of very good drawings. For example, when the author describes how to transplant seedlings, there are photos of children setting out lettuces and flowers. There are also good diagrams for spacing pepper, zinnia, and lettuce

Cambridge, MAO2l4O

plants. More drawings show how to get seedlings out of various kinds ofpots and how to set them in properly. There's also a lifesize photograph of a child's hand next to a yardstick to show how to use hands for measuring spacing.

The phoographs of soil are great, too. One shows a hand holding soil that's too wet to work and another shows a hand with soil that's just righl I've read a number of times about testing soil by squeezing it, but it was never clear to me until I saw these pictures.

The insructions are very well written - easy to understand but not at all patronizing. The book is arranged in a logical sequence, sArting with prepring the soil and going on through composting, planting, caring for the garden, harvesting, and closing the garden in the fall.

The flrst paft of the book gives instructions for a "yardstick garden," a 3-foot by 3-foot plot which is intended as a starter garden for smalfvery young/beginning gardeners. Everything is planned and very specific instructions arc given. I like the idea a lot. The crops (green beans and peppers) are pretty easy, the flowers (zinnias) are nice, and the plot seems small enough to manage while still really producing something.

The second section of the book is called "Kids' Crops."

Various kinds of vegetables and flowers are listed alphabetically, and for each entry there is a little general information about buying what you need, planting, taking care of the crop, and harvesting.

The book is very sraightforward and honesL The author is frank about her garden's successes and failures, and she gives pretty accurate warnings - for example, "Radishes are quick and easy, but they don't always work." She goes on to describe possible difficulties.

There is a question as to whether this is really a useful book for children. Children whose parents garden will probably do things the way the family does, and if a child's family does not garden, it may be difficult for the child to do it all alone. But I think this is a great book for beginning gardeners of any age, and it could inspire the whole family. I have some experience wittr gardening, and have looked at a number ofbooks about it, and I still found a lot of information in this one that is new and useful for me.

Mary Van Doren

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GWS BACK ISSUES, INDEXES, and BINDERS BacL Icsucr: Wc strongly urlge you to get the back lssues of GWS, especlally ifyou plan to take your children out of school. Many of the articles are as useful and lmportant as when they were prtnted, and we do not plan to repeat the informatlon ln thcm. All back issues are kept ln prlnt.

Ratcs: $125 plus postagle for a completc sct. For any other combination ofback issues, mailed at one ttme to one address. the cost ls $2 each plus $2 per order.; Indcrce to GWS (spect$ ltcm number): #38O tndcx to GWS #l-3O, $2.5O: #3a2 Inde>< to #31-4O, $21 #384 Index to #41-5O, $2; #385 tndex to #516O. $2: #3a I Set ofall indexes. $5.

Blnderr are available wlth rods that hold GWS without obscurtng any text. Gold letters on cover. #33O Bindcrwlth 24 rods (holds GWS #l-24), gf O; #328 Binderwtth t8 rods (holds l8 l,atcrlsucs), $9.5O. #326 Sct of 4 Blnders and 78 rods (holds

cws#r-781,$35.

Add pactlng end dcllvery chelge for all ttems (sce chart on prevlous page).

t9

FOCUS: FRIENDSHIPS BETWEEN CHILDREN AND ADULTS IN BLIJEGRASS COMMUNITY

From Hartlson Hamlll (CN:

I am almost ten Years old but I have a lot of grown up friends. Most of them are musiclans. Somedmes I wish that there were more kids who play bluegrass music like I do. But when you are playlng music together it doesn't rnatter how old you are.

One of rnv adult ftends ts named Tonv Furtado.-H. t" 22. Hewas 19 when I He had Just won the National -et hitt" BanJo Championship and the Prlze was a new banjo, so he sold me his old banJo' I bought it so he took an lnterest ln me, because I was playlng his old banJo. He was 12 when he started PlaytnC bluegrass,

what tt ls like'to play a kfnd of muslc that most other ldds have nerrer heand of before. Sometimes he tells me stories about when he would transpose fiddle tunes tnto banJo tablature during math classl The band he ls in travels a lot so he is not in town much. But when he is in town he goes to all the shows and fesflvals and I walk around with him. Sometimes I feel like I am Just a ltttle lidd +a{e|ing along, but he alwavs talks to me and intmduces me to his friends. The best part ls when I get to lam with him. Tony has gotten me lnterested in all dilferent kinds of music so he knows

besldes bluegrass, for exampleJazz, blues, reggae, Irish, CaJun, and Calypso.

Another adult friend of mine ls named Pete Wernick. He is one of the most famous banJo players ln the world. Some people call htm Dr. BanJo because he went to graduate school but then he dectded he would rather be a musician than be a professor. When he is not tr:aveling with his band, Hot Rize, he lives ln the mountains in Colorado.

I met him at a big bluegrass festival. I went up to him and introduced myself as another banJo player. Boy, was he nicel The next day we got toJam together. After the fesdval we started v/rtttng letters. We got to be good frtends. I got scarcd when I heard that he had been in a blg plane crash but a few days later I saw hlm at another festival. He was backstage talklng to some famous muslclans but when he saw me he came over to me and told me all about the plane crash.

Here are some of the things he has told me in his letters. In this ffrst one he talks about my homeschooltng friend

Chris Thile, who plays ttre mandolln' He says, "I enjoyed seelng you ln Grass Valley, and I was sorry to mlss the chance to tell you that you dtd rea$r well tr the late ntght Jam sesslon wtth Jody Stechner agd

me ana Charles. You guys stayed focused on the music, tnstead of the 'aren't we cute' syndrome that you could fall tnto. People are often amazed, ari you know, that you and Chris can play so well at your ages.

But as far as the music itself ts concerned, that's Just a distracfion. I thought yotl were tasteful ln what you played and how you played. Good Jobl' In another letter he said this: 'I wanted to respond to your saytng'I hate lt when people say oh aren't you cute.'It's

easv to understand why you don't like that ldnd of comment, You want to be appreciated for

your musicianshlP,

not your age.

Whether you know lt or not, you're ln the same boat with quite a few others: every good muslcian

under lSorso, or

wtth a phystcal

handicap, or who ls not the usual race or sex associated with

a parHcular ldnd of muslc, Any of these people ts going to

Fbr this i.:ssue's Focus, use asked both children and adutts to write about fiendship between the two. We asked the chiLdren to describe Jriendships theg lnue twd with odults - wlw initiated the frtendship? does it JeeL like an equal one? lrrru are fiendship.s tuith adults dffirent -from Jriendships urfth otlrcr children? antd we asked tte adults to describe fiendships theg hatse had usfih children, or Jriendshrps u:ith adults that theg remember Jrom their own childhoods.

surprise people wtth what they do, and when people are surprlsed they often say the {lrst thing that comes to mind' Then when they talk wtth someone else, they're more llkely to talk about a 9-year-old banJo player than a 3o-year-old one.-Like many facts of life, thts fact isn't really fair, but it's still a fact. I'd suggest you don't let lt get your goat, but Just show wlth your music whatever you want to show wtth your muslc. You can't really control the rvay people wlll râ&#x201A;Źact to you. Just go on and enJoy yourself."

Sometimes I wrtte to Pete about problems that I have, like one time I was havtng trouble with a guy who was being mean to me at the ThursdaY nightJam sesslon that I go to, Pete was in Califomia to teach a banJo cllnic, so we had breakfast together and we talked about my

problem for almost an hour.

Last weekend I saw him at a show that he was in. I got to talk to him a litue bit.

He asked mewhat songs I was working on and he told me some funny stories about hts band. I told hlm about our Great Dane puppies. The only problem with havtng 3uch a famous filend ls that everybody wants to talk to htm so your turn isn't

very - long.

I'm saving uP my money that I earned teaching banJo lessons and mowlng lawns to qo visit him next surrurrer in Colorado.

He-wants me to meet hts wife and his son who ls 7. He thtnks that I might lnsplre his son to play banJo since I was 7 when I

started.Ihopelcan.

WITH A TEACHER F-rom

Meredlth CoruoA PN:

One of my closest grown-uP friends is Tracey Ttllett. Almost two years ago there was an grticle tn the newspaper about our home sihool. Shortly after that we recetved a bdef note from a wornan we didn't know saying she thought homeschooling was a wonderful idea. She is a teacher ior the gifted tn a local school.

Tracty invited my mother and sister to her house for dtnner.

One day Tracey rode up to our house on her bicycle. That was the first tlme I met her. I don't remember e:<actly how we became good friends, but maybe it began

GROWING WITHOI.N SCHOOLING #74

when Tracey did my homeschool evaluatton (this ls part of the new law in Pennsvlvania). She was so exclted to see what *. *..e sfudving that she took four hours to do the evaiuaEonl I think thafs a bit long, but lt was fun and we got to hlow each other better.

Some of mY favorite times with Tracey are late at night at my house. She encouraAes mv mom and dad to go out and she stay-s wt0i us. When my little brother qoes to bed, my sister Fiona and I stay up Iate talldng wt-th Ttacey. I tell her lots of thlngs I wouldn't tell a frlend my age becalse she understands my feelings. I know she wont laugh at them even if

sillv. thev're I like to hear about what her students

are studying. She always tells funny stories about her chtldhood, too.

A most unusual thtng - but one of the

good things - about our relationship is all the leaming we do from each other. Since

the time we met I have lnspired Ttsacey to

do a lot of thtngs wtth her shrdents and at

home wlth her famtly. Another lnterestinA thinq ls that she asks me for mY adlice. II ls unusual for an adult to ask for a child's advice. For example, Trac'ey will ask me, lf I were teachlng a particular subiect, how would I teach tt? Or she will a"k-me, 'Is this lnformation correct?" I enJoy helping her.

I have had lots of other grown-uP friends, too. Debbie rvould take me places, mostly. Thdce she took me to the Bloomsburg Count5r FaIr. I stayed overnlght at her house a few times. Another fi:lend, Jlm' was a baker. I would go down to his house and help htm bake bread.

I feel t can cornmunlcate better wtth adults than with chtldren, but I know no one ls the same. I don't thtnk lt tnatters what age best friends are.

NEEDS TO HAVE ADULT FRIENDS FJom *rena CWold (CN: I personallv nedto have both adults and children as frtends. I like havlng frlends ofdillerent ages because I learn different things from them and do different thlngs wtth them. When I'm with

20 grownups I talk about di{Ierent subjects than I would with ldds. I wouldn't tirlk to a kld my own age (l'm I l) about politics or things that are happening tn the world, because they probably wouldn't know what I was talking about. On the other hand, there are some things that kids understand that adults maybe wouldn't. I probably wouldn't tell my adult friends about thlngs ltke boyfrtends or stlly fears or lnsecurltles. I never know whether most adults can remember what lt's like t<r be my age. I think that therc ls a sort of cultural diflerence between adults and kids. Maybe things were different when these adults were kids, and thev don't

understand personal thtngs. $metimes it

depends on the adulfs age. I know I would tell my aunt, who is 25, things I wouldn't

tell a 45-year-old frienc.

I do feel equal to my adult friends otherwise they wouldn't be my friendst I think adults and klds can share a lot wittr each other. I ltke to know what lfs like to be an adult, and they like to re-experience being a lidd. I have s6me frlends *ho "r. babies right now, and I can't wait until they're my age and I get to be the adult belng friends with ktdsl

ADULT FRIENDS COME NATURALLY Ftom Uuuia. Cror'kett oJ Colorado: Havlng adult friends has always comt. naturally to me. It never seemed ltke a bi6i deal. A good percentage of my friends are adults. My friendships with adults are

defirritely dilferent than my friendships with other ldds. I don't know how to describe it. It Just feels dillerent. Maybe il has somethin! to do with the fact thit most of the ktds I know are younger than me,

Although I have other adult friends, the ones I'm going to describe here are relatives who are also some of mv best friends. For example, my uncle iohn is only eight years older than me. We have a lot of the same lnterests. We like the same rock bands and rock music. We like

hiking, backpacldng, horseback riding,

geologr, photography, and wilderness survlval. We grew up together, sort of.

John has ltved with us on and offand often makes extended vlsits.

Another adult frlend is my new aunt Amy. lve been friends with her since I mel

her over two years ago. She's very friendly and lots of fun. I was ln her wedding. When I get together with her we have so much fun no matter what we do.

Joe, Amy's husband and John's

brother, is another adult friend. We have some slmilar lnterests. I've known him all my life and he's llved wtth us at various tlmes. He calls us a lot and I can tell htm all the news whtle tt's fresh and before tt's history, My aunt Chris has also lived with us on and off over the years. She's an artist

and we make pottery and drawwith her.

We go horseback ridtng and play lots of card games and board games. We get silly,

laugh, and have fun. Havtng adult friends is great for me.

ADVENTUROUS AND PLAYFUL ADULTS Flom Solrcn Sorlowag

(MA):

I have a lot of adults who are mv frlends and a lot of ldds who are mt' friends too. Sometimes I talk aboui things with Just one friend and not with anyone else, but it's not because thev're kids or adults - it's Just that thafs rrihat the two of us talk about. Most of my adult friends are younger than my parents, One good thing is that they're old enough to drive me places.

I like adult friends who are adventurous - like when my friend Kate climbed up giant banks of snow wlth me and then Jumped down the huge cliffs. My frtend Ellie took me to the alpine slide twice and my aunt Ruth went down an awesome water slide on a raft wtth me. Sometimes my parents are adventurous too, like when my mom dectded to learn to ice skate with me last year and my dad trled to learn to ride a bike. But I like havlng adult friends who do different adventurous things with me,

I like adult friends who talk about things that are interesting to me and that my parâ&#x201A;Źnts and kids I know don't know about. Gabriella (she's from South Africa and used to live with us) showed me really cool things that Zulu people made from beads. And it was fun when mv friend Hal told me what GI Joe toys were-like when hc used to play with them. My friend Pandorzr knows a lot about cars and when she comes over that's one of the things we talk about, especially about the fancy cars we'd most of all like to have. Sue is the friend who likes the television show "Bewitched.'

I don't like lt as much as she does but I still like to watch it with her.

Sometimes it's the other way around with my adult

friends - I tell them things they don't know. I uras really amazed that my friend Susarr from Washington state didn't know about toll roads.

I also like adult friends who do things with me that my parents won't do or don't know how to do.,I go cross country skitng with my aunt Ruth because my mom doesn't know how to skiyet but Mom'll work at our store

so Ruth, who works with her, can have

time off to take me skllng. Another exam. ple is that my frlend Katharine is a better cook than my mom, and I love cooking with herl I really have fun in her kltchen.

I like lt when adult frlends do things that usually only kids do. My friend Ellie ls good at Pacman. My frlend Maya has lots ofyoung frlends and one day she invited about llfteen of us over. She playe,l a good game of hide-and-seek wtth all of us. My frlend Davora will scrunch througrr the smallest places in a gfant play structure Just so we can play follow-the-leader or monster. She'll even do it at night in the dark.

Sometlmes when I'm at mv filend Daniel's house all day - Dantel is a kCd and he wants to play Nintendo longer thart I do, I go flnd his mom, Claire. I don't think of her as Just a friend's mother. I have my own speclal relationship with her that I can't really explaln. IVe known her for nine years, slnce I was ll Another Ume I like having adult friends ls when they show me where they work. Lilla showed me everything at the brand new battered women's shelter wherc she works.

I have friends who are younger than me too. My friends'ages Ernge from I to 84. But I like all of my friends because of who they are, not how old they are. I like my adult friends because they're fun, adventurous, or interesting, because they show or tell me things I want to know about, because they trâ&#x201A;Źat me the way I like - they take me seriously and are lntereste<l

in my ideas.

WHAT TRUE FRIENDSHIP REQUIRES F-rom TabXha Moungoy (MO): I am 14 and I have a few people in my life who I really like to be around. I think that for true friendship to last, you have t,) be like a rubber band, as unromantic as it may sound. To be a friend you must never stretch too liar in opposite directions or the friendship will pop. You must have a resistance, like in dancing. That way you can be fatrly wild and unless you really jerk the other person, you're not going to

break apart.

Donna Spector ls an adult whom I admire. I do not see her a lot, because she lives live hours away, but I like to talk to her. I am interested in becoming aJockey.

Naturally I tell Donna about my ldeas. In this particular situadon most adults are 'cold water thrnwers,' but not Donna. I plan to go to college later ln life, because I would also like to be a psychologist.

However, the ldea of spending hours ln books when my energf is at lts height doe. not appeal to me.

Donna found a hole ln my tdea (and I can always count on her for this): I had thought I ought to go to college beybre pursuing being aJockey. That way, if my

youthful amblflons failed, I would still have made some solid investment ln mv future.

Here ls where the 'rubber band' took place. I tnrst Donna, and told her so while I was telling her about my plans. If she had let it go at that the friendship would have been over. But Donna likes me enough not

GROWING WITHOTN SCHOOLING #74

2l to let the friendstrip end over some advice.

She has insight and she almost tmmediately sald,'Or, you couldJustgo to school for four years and then do the other years later." She helped me see that I didn't have to wait to try belng a Jockey. Thls conversation was carried out on an adult-toadult level. I respected what Donna was saying b€cause she was taklng me serlously wen though she was suggestlng somethlng other than what I had planned.

Brenda Norvel ls another heroine of mine. I do not see her very often either, because she lives ln South Carolina and I live in Mlssouri. She ls a nurse ln lntensive care and has cared for the elderly for many years now. She prides herself on being cheerful when everyone else has given up. Brenda does not Put herself above me like so many adults are apt to do.

I never have to fight to be equal wlth her.

Brenda and Donna are both mY mother's slsters, but I think I would be friends wlth tleem anJrway. If I run lnto a prnblem of some ldnd I say to myself,"What would Donna or Brenda do ln this

kind of sltuation?'

Another friend of mlne ls Whitney

Wheeler. I met her when I was 5 and she was 16. I had seen the Black Stallton

motion picture and from that day on I have loved horses. Mother and I were at the grocery store and happened to hear a young clerk talliiing to her friend about her horses. When itwas our turn to check out Mother asked her if she had horses and if I could come over and take lessons, That is how the frtendship began, and to this day, wen though she has gone to college and it is luclry if we see each other once a year, I still call her my horse teacher. And she didn't only teach me about horses. She taught me about dtsctpline and control.

Without her I would never have been able to comprehend what other people needed to teach me. She laid a strong foundation on which I could stake all of my other

I don't think

mY frtendshtP with

them ls very different from my friendships with other teenagers, exctPt for the faci that we have better cpnversatlons. We often fool around wlth each other the way I would with friends my age. I think there are rnany thhgs that I can learn from them, but that doesn't make me feel that they are necessarlly superlor to me. There are-probably thtngs that they can learn from me also. I do think that we have a very equal friendshtp, most likely because they respect me in the same way that I respect them.

Unfortunately thry are moving agaln'

but they have lnvited me and my sister to come vislt them ln Oregon. I'm sure that we will be able to maintaln our friendship even long dlstance, as we rnanagd to bridge the distance between our ages.

''LIKE A SECOND MOTHER TO ME'' Flom Cristi,a

fure

(CN:

I met Gail when I was 2 Years old and she was my vtolin teacher' She soon became a family friend. When I was 4 our family moved to the bay area and Gail moved with us. She lived with us and became like a second mother to me' She has lived with us off and on for the past nine vears.

She often takes care ofus on weekends when my parents go away. We have lots of fun and sometimes go miniahrre golllnA. One weekend there was a big thunderstorm and me and my two little

brothers got scard and ran to Gail's room

skills and lessons.

and she cheered us up and made us laugh.

It's always exciilng to have Gail around, especially when she's in a tickling mood. Then she ends up chaslng us around the house and outside, We get realcra4r and she ls usually the crazlest one of all.

We also play games a lot and half of the time I win. We both like the same kinds of

you know they understand and sympalhize, which ls the most.myone can do for someone else? Whitney has done this for me. I would certainly be a very different

Gail goes to France twice a year and teaches brain-inJured children. TWo years ago I went to France with her. We stayed fol seven weeks and I made a few French friends. I watched Gail work and leamed a

had notmet her, and I do not think I would have liked myself that way as much as I like myself thls waY.

went to the mountains and to the beach and had a lot of fun.

MANAGED TO BRIDGE DISTANCE

FEELING IMPORTANT AND USEFUL

Have you ever met someone You don't even have to tell your troubles to because

person

tfI

games.

little about brain-lnjured children'

Flom

F}om Jeremlah, Gittgold (CA):

I am friends wtth the adults who live in the house next door to us. TheyJust moved there a few months ago. Their narnes ar€ Dick and Susan (everybody calls her Cnrnch). Dick is interested in bicycling and philosophy and Crunch is interested ln word games, movles, and sports. These are all thtngs that I am interested in, which ls one of the reasons I immediately became frtends wlth them.

The other reason is that they take me seriously and respect what I have to say about things. There are a few things that I talk to them about that I don't talk about to most of my friends who are closer in age to me (I'm t3) - for lnstance, politics and education.

Jill Bane

We

@N:

When I was young I had a very sPecial older frlend who I met one day while I was playtng in the woods. I ended up in her baclqyard while following the stream by my house. She was there painting. I must have been about 7, She had suffered a stroke and was home alone most of each day. After that Ilrst meedng, I would often go to visit her and play with her wonderful dogs and help her around the house. I must have opened hundreds ofcans ofdog food' as it was hard for her to do that with one

hand.

I'm sure I was a bright ltght in her life' and she was so interesting to me. She

would listen to my chatter and we would do important things together like feed the

GRO\ilING WITHOUT SCHOOLING #74

doqs and teach them tricks or bake a cake Stie never made me feel like a kid' and I knew I hetped her a lot. I was often home alone and she was a wonderful securit5r to me.

As I got older, she and her husband would ask me to stop ln wery day when he was away on buslness, and I would help her do whatever was needed. Once the two

of them took me to thelr tsland off

Connectlcut.

My parents knew them and were happy for me to have made friends with th6m-but they were nerrer really involved in the relationshtp. As I look back on my, childhood I feel that my reladonship with this woman w€ul very important to me as I grew up. It helped me feel good about mysef ana htroduced me to thlngs I might not have encountered. What I remember most vivldly was belngl able to help her and Geltng important.

''A TOTALLY DIFFERENT SPECIES''

Flom Jan Hunt (ON:

I never had an adult friend until I was an adult myself. When I was growing up' I saw adults as members of a totallY different specles. This was based, at least fui part, on the realities of the forties and lifties. Back then, although they were called "grownups,' adults were not g_rown up chtldren. As far as we knew they had never been chlldren.

Back then, chlldren and adults (muclt more so than today) were consldered to be completely dilferent, and we lived completelv dilferent llves, whlch overlapped ior iew minutes when adults would comr: " house. MY Parents had a large to our number of friends, but the closest I ever grt to them was servlng them bwerages and reciting a Joke or a song. (Amaztngly' I , enioyed that. At least I was being include<l foi the moment.) But soon I was expected to Ao upstairs to bed, to the other halfof ttrJwoitd, my half. It was very clear that I did not belong ln their world.

I remember once snealdng a peek

from the stairway, after pretending to have gone to sleep. I wanted to see what strange things were taldng place. What a disappointmentl There was no steaming cauldron, no weird behavior, no mysterious happenlngs ofany ktu:d. They welg playing cards and talking. Now, I could itay caras and talk, but because of my

isoiation from their world, I still believed that their card-playing and talking were somehow different from my own. Theirs was a mysterlous world which I would Iinally enter the day I furned twenty-one. f had an tmageof that day: I would be at a fancy cocktail Party in a dirnly lit, smolqr room. I would be wearing high heels and a black sltnky dress. I would be holding an alcoholic drink in one hand,

and a cigarette (in a slender holder) in the other, surrounded by lots ofvery rnature, well-dressed adults, and we would all share the secrets ofadulthood. And I would be erlogbtg all thisl I am now fort5r-seven' I have nerrer attended 3 ssskiall party; I do not drink or smoke. AII my fantasies of adulthood led to nothhg, because I nerrer got close enough to adults to discover that thry were

22 human llke me.

My son Jason, who ls 9, spent two hours the other day wtth an adult friend.

Ihey had a delfglrtful ttme playtng with tds Space Lego and talktng of many thtngs. I feel proud that my chtld has had nrany mone opportunltles for adult friendshtp than I had. He knows that adults are Just chlldren who've been around for awhlle.

HARD TO HAVE EQUAL FRIENDSHIPS I}om Dale Vost{tsanos oJ Georgta

I had several frtendshtps wtth adults when I was young - more when I was a teen than when I'uras younger, and all, as I remember, lnvolved a dellcate balanctng act. A neighbor ls the llrst who stlll c.omes vlvidly to mlnd, a frlend's mother who

was wllltng to speak to me ln prectsely the same tnanner (as far as I could tell) as she spoke wlth anyone else, She uranted to share her love and knowledge of plants and gardenlng, and was flattered by my attentlon. The friendshlp was lmmensely saflsSlng to me - as long as no other adults were around. Once an adult arrived, the woman more or less lgnored me and addressed all her remarks to the adult, even if the subJect had been ralsed by me.

Thls same wornan has become friends wlth my daugfiter Sasha tn the last several years, and I have nratched the same relatlonstrlp dwelop. Sasha has had the same experlence of belng tgnorcd by this

friend when another adult arrives, and she has dlscussed lt wlth me ln frustratlon, while I doubt I ever mentioned it to my own mother. Back tn the llffles, we both accepted that tt was normal. How times have changedl

With all my later frlendshtps with adults, school nras normally the setting, or some other sltuatlon tn whtch I functioned qulte apart from my parents. There was no potnt tn attempflng to establish friendshlps lf my parents were there. It wouldn't happen, partly because the adults belteyed tn a gulfthat separated the ages, partly because I recognized that my

mother felt threatened by any other adult influence on me. I was also aware that the adult always retatned control of the conversaflong. They drew the limits, thâ&#x201A;Źy

allowed or reJected toplcs, and most of all, they could rerrert to the adult role (distant, superlor, condescendlng, or lecturlng) at arry flme thcy chose, One had to be c.onstantly on the lookout for clues about "gotng too far' or "gettlng too familiar.'

Not much of a frtendshlp, you'll say. No, but itwas the best avallable to me. and I hungered for lt.

I don't notlcc these problems as much in Sashas relatlonshlps wtth adults.

Adults of my generadon don't seem to be interested in pretendhg to be perfect - in fact, we tend rather to go the oppostte way and boast ofour lmperfecdons, and that openness fosters a more equal environ-

ment.

In my own frtendshtps wlth children,

now, as an adult, I sometlmes IInd the same dlscomfort on the panents' part that my mother exhtbtted - or a suspicion.

Some parents seem to feel that a chlld's contrlbudon to a frlendshlp ls lncomplete, somethlng no adult would wllltngly choose. There ls also the posstbiltty that one's own chtldren will resent their parent's friendshlps with other children.

So ifs sflll a delicate balancing act. And as an adult friend, does one dare to be completely honest, knoMng that what one says nr:ty be repeated, out ofcontext, to parents who may resent alternatives to their'truths" belng presented? In the modern climate of suspiclon, can one be an allectlonate frlend wtthout lurlidng thoughts of one's acUons belng mlslnterpreted, and betng labeled a pervert? How much s5rmpathy and support can one lend to a child who chooses the path less traveled before one is accused (by adults) of encouraglng him ln hls wlllful destructlveness and dlsobedlence, of sabotaging thelr well-meaning ellorts to get him to tr5r harder, to fit in, to take the path that societ5r approves oF Obviously, a lot of thls ls lrrelevant if the child ts the chtld of a frlend. Shared values and close associadon lead to an easler time of lt. One of the blggest obstacles that children have in forging friendships with adults is lack of independent mobtltty - tf they want to see you, they generally need an adult to transport them. Since they cannot freely move about, adults must set the parameters of the relationshlps, and some of those adults may be the parents who, however well-meanlng and approving they are, are a barrier to the chtld's tndependent personalit5r. I, as a child, wished that the adults I wanted to befriend would think of me as their equal - younger, yes, but not lesser. I found the necâ&#x201A;Źsslty of asking firr rides, showlng up wtth my parents, etc., demeaning.

I guess I've dwelt on the

difllculues of adult-child

frtendshlps. Perhaps if I'd had a close aunt or uncle I mfght think differently, as family members are generally allowed more leeway. In my experience, life as a kld was tough, as the cards were all stacked by the adults, for the adults, and I couldn't walt to get old enough to be on the slde that always

CONVERSATION IS HARDER

WITH OTHER CHILDREN Po.m

Ghgdd Jeremlah's and

Serena's natller,

dds:

As our famtly was discusslng the subject of frlendshlps between lidds and adults, we came to reallze that one necessary - even vltal - element rntsstng

from most of thelr relattonshlps wtth other kids is real conversaflon. Conversation is very trnportant to my klds. I have had them come home from skttng, camping trlps, and pardes with only one exciting thing on thelr mtnds to tell me: "I had the best conversatlonl' Although Jeremlah and Serena enJoy playbg wtth ktds thetr own age - the rough-houstng, sllllness and all-around high energr that only youngsters can provide - they both feel that tt may only be possible to have meanlngful relationships with adults.

When they were worklng on thelr letters for your Focus they were really stumped by the question ibout whetfier they discuss different things with adult friends than with kid friends. They told me that they hardly ever talk about anything with kids. Slnce he was about 5 Jeremiah has been impatiently watting for ldds hls age to grow up to the point where they want to talk about ldeas and feelings. Unfortunately, even at l3 most of his friends are lncapable of this. Except for long{lstance phone calls with their homeschooled pen-pals, my ktds dont have much experienc'e with ldds who want to share thetr thoughts. In wridng her letter to you, Serena had to tmaglne what she u.rould share vrlth gtrlfriends if she had any to talk to.

Recently Jeremiah called a friend to {ind out something about Boy Scouts. Half an hour later I nodced that he was still on the phone, having an anlmated oonversation about the Colfax boys getting into Haward. I was delighted that he was having such a good dme sharing tris interests and his concerns about college.

Later I found out that he had been talking to the boy's notlvr the whole tlmel I don't mean to make a sweeplng putdown of schooled lidds in general. We llve in such an lsolated area that we know verv few. But I feel that somethlng must be verj wrong wlth thts soclallzadon process that we homeschoolers are all mtsstng out on.

As the lidds we know get older lt becomes more and more obvlous that they are living in a very artlflcial rvorld. They seem to know (and care) rrery llttle about

anyone and anythfng not connected wlth their soclal life at school. They refer to people at school ln the same way that we might refer to the president - as lf everybody knows who they're talking about.

It's unfortunate that school offlcials

would probably conslder my chtldren unsocialized, whtle the ldds at school who can barely corrununicate about lmportant things are passing thelr soclallz-atlon with fl5rlng colors. I suppose that ln a few years things will even out and my ktds will be able to talk wtth everyone. But for the dme being, they will have to depend on adults for the conversadon they crave so badty.

won.

GROWING WITTIOUT SCHOOLING #74

23

HOW ADULTS LEARN LEARNING CARPENTRY CarclWilson wrcte In tIEJaII 1989 issue oj Pennsylvanla Homeschoolers: When I was growlng up, the girls took

Home Ec and the boys tok Shop. At the time I, like so marry other young girls, never e\ren questloned the approprlateness (let alone the fairness) of such an arrangement. But then came the women's

movement, and I llved through that time with all the gusto I could generate. I felt my conclusions had so radically altered my former mlsc.onc.epilons that I would certainly olfer my chlldren some very different options.

But I STILL was helpless when lt came

to repairtng our anclent automoblle (and thanked God that I married a man who could ffx And when lt came to all those tools (that guys had so experdy learned to use ln'Shop') I was still the

unrnitigated klutzl Enter the children.

Luke and Rachel knew none ofmv fears and sense of lnadequacy. They were just ready to learn, explore and experlment with every tool that lay around our

basement or garnge. They would just hang out with their Dad, obserylng and asking quesdons and then, later on, try some variadon of their own. Along the way they had each learned enough to handle tools safely and knew thelr own llmitations.

Rachel and Luke eventually asked to have thelr own tools and Luke even acquired a power scroll saw of his own ln order to do lntricate carvlng work. Rachel

regularly thinks up proJects and then proceeds to saw and pound away on her own until she comes up from the basement, proudly displaytng a new book rack she thoughtwe could use ln the lidtchen where a stack of books has been falling over for months. It worksl Luke destgned and built his own outdoor wooden playhouse, wlth his father helptng when needed but adhering to Luke's plans.

Here's my polnt: After all these years of feeling lnept at butlding thtrngs, I no longer dol I dectded, after observing my children, that I would give lt a try. I've found that, although I'm far slower than an ac.compllshed carpenter, my end goals can often be reached on my own, When I needed a special table wtth a rlm for our Cuisenalre rods, I butlt my own. If I need extra shelves to organize the enormous Lego collection, I try to find a way to mount them - even on a brlck walll Once I even sawed and sanded a huge beam to make an enorrnous see-saw. It llts over an old barrel a nelgfibor gave me, and many, many children have enJoyed thls simple piece of equtpment ln our yard.

GETTING ONE'S OWN INFORMATION fuckg

Olson (AZ wrltes:

our kmate learning capabilldes. I can remember several instances throughout my Me when people did not consider my

search for speciflc lnformatlon real or important because lt wasn't linked to a formal educatlonal setting. When I was pregnant wtth my second chlld ten years ago, I read everythlng I could get my hands on about pregnancy, btrth, breastfeedtng, child rearing, etc. While visttlng my ln-

laws, I was reading a book of btrth stories.

When my father-lnlaw discovered that tt was neither written or edited by a phystcian, nor had my own physiclan asstgned the book to me, he flatly stated that the

book could contaln no useful tnformadon and that lt was a waste of tlme to read it. In other words, lf I wasn't belng taught by a proper authority, I wasn't leamtng.

Durtng my many years of formal education, when I needed to wrlte a paper or prepare some sort of report, I would read werythtng I could ftnd on the subJect, becomtng a minl-expert, and then prepare the report. I did the same thlng when we began homeschooling ln earnest - when my kids reached compulsory school age. I bougfrt every back lssue of GWS and spent the summer reading them, along with everything else I could lind about homeschooling. By fall, I had such a rich background that I felt fully prepared to discuss homeschooling with anyone.

It took me ye.us to give validity to my learning which took place outslde of a

formal learntng sltuatlon. If I taught myself, lt somehow wasn't qulte good enough. If I hadn't passed some ldnd of test, I hadn't really learned lt. Througlrout the past years ofhome-based education, two beliefs have been born: I don't grade my own learnlng or base it on the judgment of others, and I have g[ven my children the freedom to learn as they will.

Most of the time I don't know what my children do know, and when I accidently stumble upon it I am amazed at how rich their foundation of information and slidlls is. I have children learning to read, do math, and all klnds of other things and have no ldea how they learned it.

I have given up on'selzlng the learning moment.' I can now polnt out things of lnterest, without tt corrdng across like a lesson. I go on tf I ltnd the children are

lnterested, and stop tf they aren't,tuitlwut taktg It persorwlly. I can llnally give rny children advice on the proper way to use a kniG, or how to use a calculator, without feeling mantpulatlve. I can give informatlon to my children with no strings attached.

LEARNING LANGUAGES FROM NATIVE SPEAKERS Judg Ronas

oJ Washirtgton turites:

I wanted to respond to your request to hear from anyone who ls leamteg a for-

etgn language from a native speaker (GWS As I read the stories tn GWS #72 about

adults describhg and analyzing their unique learntng styles, many emotions rushed through me. Flrst of all I feel tt is a great loss that all of us are put ln a posltion in which we don't belierre ln and trust

#72).

When my husband and I were ffrst married about thirteen years ago, his mother came to stay with us on weekends.

She speaks Spanlsh and very ltttle EngItsh (even though she had lived and

GROIWING WITHOIJT SCHOOLING #74

worked in Chicago for about ten years).

Because her English was so limited, I was forced to tr5r out what little Spanish I remembered from Junlor high school (it was really very little) and I llstened very closely to my husband's famtly when they were together - almost three tlmes a week.

Boy, they sure seemed to talk fastl I remember Just sitttng and listening, concentratlng intently and then realiztng that they were asldng me something. I ne\rer felt embarrassed because they were

family and my husband or slster-in-law would translate. Then I would try my best to say somethlng tn Spantsh. Llttle by little I would recog;ntze the words and phrases they were uslng.

Worklng ln the kttchen wlth my mother-lnlaw or talldng about sewing, bables, clothes, furniture, etc., were all things I uras familiar wlth, so the Spanish vocabula4r became part of my vocabulary.

When I dldn't understand what mY

mother-ln-law satd, she'd rePeat it several times or try to say it tn English. Before long, I'd try to talk to her in Spanish and when stuck, put tn the English word. Her English vocabulary lncreased and so did

my Spanish.

After we'd been married about threc years, we went to Msdco to visit reladves.

I could understand some, but they still "talked tm fast'and I didn't say too much myself. Then, four years later, we went tgeln. Thls dme I was able to understand much more and pardctpa.te ln cronversatlons to a llmlted degree. [.ast year we went again and I had no trouble understanding and speaktng. I'm not completely fluent and it has taken me thirteen years to get to this point, but it has happened almost without my realiztng tt. When my family is together with my husband's, I forget that my parents don't understand Spantsh, it has become so natural for me to hear. As long as the conversations are within my realm of experience, 1.e., everyday ltfe, I'm OK. Now, this is spoken Spantsh and my grammar ls far from mrrect. I would like to shrdy gramnrar (tf I could ftnd the dme with flve kids) and be able to read and wrlte more fluently. But there hasn't been a need for that. Anyway I used to be able to write French on a second year lerrel but couldn't converse well, and I d rather be able to converse.

I think I was helped by havlng a longterm relatlonshtp wtth someone who spoke Spanish, and who essentially spoke only Spanlsh, so that I had to speak it lf I wanted her to understand me. We didn't have a lesson, i.e. you teacher, me student.

Instead, we vlsited, cooked, tmk care of babies. I feel that finding such a longterm, casual reladonshlp would be the best approach for someone who wants to learn another ltttgoag.. Also best would be to Ilnd somebody who spoke ltttle English or used only 'emergency' Engltsh' Then you don't acctdentally fall back tnto

converslng tn En$tsh. t astly, I d say, don't be embarrassed at your own efforts. Use what you know. If you don't speak, your tongue can't adjust to the new formatlons and your ear also needs to hearyou say tt. Before long, phrases and sentences thatyou repeat

24 often will come automattcally, without thougfrt. And when you start dreamlng ln the language, you're halfivay there.

And Jrom Robrr1.. Banks (MD):

_ I had nadve speakers ln my language classes at Syracuse Unlverslt5r (on two different occasions) and I also had naflve speakers ln my classes at Mtddlebury College. It ts amaztng how much language you can learn ln seven weeks (the length of a sununer sesslon). At Mtddlebury, each school {RussLan, French, Spanlsh, Italian, or whatever) llved separately. We had a separate dorm and dfnhg hall, and we took our meals together. We dtd not speak any En$ish at all durlng the seven weeks we were there (exccpt of course when we were offcampus and had to use English with the local natives). Thts ls an ideal way to study a language; lt ls the next best thing to living in the country ltself. Since that time, I have had manv occasions to consult with natlve speaklrs on several questions concerning a phrase or term I

was unsure about. Most people are very

helpful when you display an interest in thelr language, I found this true with Germans when I spent two years in West Berlin - they were always appreclative that I at least trted to learn German.

For more abutJoretgnlanguage, see

p.28.

RELEARNING ALGEBRA

Arwther story Jrom Pennsylvania Homeschoolers NVinter 1990), tl:ris tine

Jrom Ktn Je;ffreg:

There are many people who feel that homeschooling ls not posslble unless the parent fully understands each subJect that they will have to teach thetr child. Implied in this ls often a belief that only parents who were themselves good students in school have the background needed to tackle those same subJects. While I don't deny that parental knowledge and under-

standtng makes ttrings tnttially less mmplicated, I've also learned that past

failures do not preclude present success€s.

I am doing algebra every dayl If someone had told me when I was 14 and l5 that I would still be worklng on it when I was 36 I would have muttered something like, 'Over my dead body,' and that would have ended the conversadon. I'm ffnding, however, that not only can I understand algebra now, lt is lntiresdng, challenging, and creative.

Because one of Nathan's favorite subjects ls math, I made a pact with hlm that I would do every problem tn his algebra book before he dld tt so that I could explaln thlngs to him better. I dtd not at the tlme tell him that I would har.re to do that because I had never tre mv life understood algebra myselfl In the c6urse of these

daily wrestlings with the

&rcn

Math

Algebra I book IVe dlscovered to my astonlshment that I enjoy lL I feel vindicatedl I am not stupldl No matter how often I tried to remind myself that I am an intelligent adult human betng, those humiliattng D's ln algebra have dogged me for twent5r years.

In high school I endured and resented

algebra... Part ofmy anger, I am certain now, was related to the fact that I found

math confusing and humiliating. Invariably I was asked to solve a problem in

class that I cpuld not understand, while the handful that I could gr,urp were always doled out to other students...

Having seen thls algebraic ltght bulb go on in my own life, I become lmpatient with educators who tmply that a child must be exposed to subJect matter in a certain sequence by a certain age or she is doomed to failure. The lnsecure, defeated part of me that kept those D's ln algebra ever before my €yes agreed with that. But the Mighty Mother part of me, who had to comprehend algebra so that my homeschooled son could understand it, suddenly realized that learntng can occur at any flme there ls need and motivation. Of my own volitlon, I rvould never have bought an algebr:a book and worked my way through lt, lesson by lesson - but because thls year I neededto do that, IVe discovered that I cando tt.

My own learning experiences make me wonder about my children's. Adam at 12 l/2 is now readlng. For the lirst time in the seven years that we have been homeschooling, he reads voluntarily, daily, for pleasure and lnformation. He still reads haltin$y at tlmes, he ls not yet reading at his grade level, but the strldes he has made have been astonishing in the last year.

Could I have saved hlm a great deal of anguish and frustration if I had waited until he was I I or 12 to even begin teachtng him to read? Has his humiliation with reading been as great as mine with math?

For no matter how much I tried to shield him from embarrassing reading situations, they still came up at times Sunday school classes with insensitive teachers, family members who worried themselves (and htm) about it, other children who laughed at hlm, a muchyounger sister who could read circles

around him within slx months after she started the Sing, Spell, Read, and Write program. None of these sifuations occurred maliciously or often, but it doesn't take much for a child to lose con-

Iidence or interest.

The harder quesHon for me to deal with, though, is whether I would have had the courage to let Adam follow his own inner clock where reading was concerned.

I thought that I was giving him as much time as I could, but always there was the spertre of standardized testing, of grandparents' expectations, of my own worries about learning disabilities that i feared I was denying or refusing to see (in spite of the fact that he didn't seem to have the usual laundry list of symptoms), Would I have let Adam start reading at 12 and never even pressured hlm about it? I doubt it. But his struggle and subsequent victory have given me the courge to let the younger children take their own time about learntng. It has glven me the confidence to believe that readiness ls a very individual thlng with lttle or nothtng to d-o wtth a child's (or adult's) age, and lt has made me very grateful for a determlned, tenacious young man and his refusal to gtve up on a rasft ft12t was discouragingly dillicult much of the dme. That boy even taught his mother that it was never too late to learn

algebral

OLDER HOMESCHOOLERS continued from page 14 Foundadon for Field Research, 787 South Grade Rd, PO Box 2OlO, Alpine CA 92OOl. FFR ts a lot like Earthwatch: tn fact thry often fund and work on the same pmjects. FFR ls cheaper, but doesn't give

grants.

Open Door Student Exchange, 25O

F\lton Ave, PO Box 71, Hempstead NY ll55f. A non-proflt, nondenominaflonal

educatlonal organlzatlon. Ttrey have

exchange programs all over the world.

They are not alllltated with schools, as most exchange prograrns are, and they have summer programs for those who do not wish to attend school during an exchange.

Smithsonian lnstitute, OIfice of Elementar5r and Secondary Education, Arts and Industries Building Room I163,

Smithsonian Instltute, Washington DC 20560. Has an internship for graduating high school senlors. They offer lnternships in many dtllerent subJects including art, archeologr, and biolog/.

A note about lnternships: most programs arange lnternship prograrns at least two months in advance.

ISS, One nare rate: As Arura-Lisa's own story shours, sonet[rnes the br;st trrtemshrps and. apprentlceshrps are thtough Jriends and. ocquaintantces, so don'tJorget to erylore this as

uselL I suspect thts mag b the fustroute Jor goungel teenagers uho may not b eligible Jor some oJ these pt9grrrrrlrs. Izt us knous uhat happ"ro whengou erylore any oJ these optlons.

PLANS TO TRAVEL Antta Gigsg MN wrltes: When all my friends were

\rlng

to

decide what they were going to do after higfr school, I started dolng the same thing. Among my frlends, there seemed to be three choices golng around: go to college, get a job, or Join the military. I

decided that the military wasn't for me. I thought about college, but decided this wasn't the rtght time for me. Looklng at where I wanted to go and what lidnd of career I rnight want, and thtnking of all the people IVe heard about who changed Jobs halfway througlr their lives to do what they always wanted to do, I decided that if I want to do somethlng that takes a college degree, I can get one later.

So I looked at what I wanted to do with my life now and I decided the answer was travel. That ts when I conceived mv plan to see Amerlca. I'm spendtng thisschool year (what would be my senior year) worklng at a superrrarket and saving my mon€y. Next school year I want to go drivtng around the country. I urant to stay with other homeschooling families.

Different Mestyles, cultures, and ways of

doing thtngs lnterest me.

I have a good frlend ln Massachusetts who I met through GWS. In the summer of

GROWING WITHOI.J"T SCHOOLING #74

25 1987 I went up to her farm for a week and became a part of her farnfly. She taught me about taldng care of her horses and I

helped

out including cooldng, and I went

q/ith her to varlous communtt5l activides.

After that visit I went up two morc tfunes, Five days after I got my drlver's llcrnse, I started on a two-week drtvtng trtp to

Massachusetts and bacli [SS: Antta wrote about thts trtp tn GWS #69.1 That's the kind of thing I'd like to do wlth other families across the country, to come ln and llve as a useful member of the famtly.

I don't want to Just see the big towns and the tourist attractlons. I want to see the little towns wlth all theA character, and farms and werything else there is to see. And I want to meet people ofevery age, race, and background. Some day I would like to tell my children about the places I went and the people I got to know, if only for a brlef tlme. I ltgure tf I want to make the trip ira nine months I won't be able to spend very much tfune ln one place.

I'm hoping that some families wlll show me around their area. But lf any family, who would like to have me stay, doesn't have tlme to show me around. I would still like to come. I know about not having a lot of tlme slnce my mom has been homeschooling me and my three older siblings and taking ballet classes for the last thirteen years, and has also been a

costumer for eleven years.

From the tlme I was I I undl a Gw months ago, I spent most of my time babystttleg. I love children and found myseU being recommended from one family to another unfll I had over eleven familtes. Lately I've been too busy to babysit for any of my old famlltes. I miss

babysitHng a llttle but recrntly I have been

watchlng my l7-month-old sister, and just having her around helps.

If you would be interested in having me stay with you, please write to me: Anita Giesy, 44ll Colonial Avenue, Norfolk VA 23508.

SCHOOL ISN'T THE ONLY ANSWER Flom an article abut teenagers that Joarue Malcanv wrctc tt the March/ April

199O issrrc ojHearth Notes, the newsletter oJ the CONNECflCt/l HOME EDU C A'I ORS ASS OCIATION:

When the children became l3- 14 thev told me that they had decided to go back fo public school. I asked them why and they answered, "We're not dotng anything excitingl' I am beginning to learn not to Jump to conclusions and assume a reason, so I asked, 'What would you like to do?"

Mary said she wanted to act and the only way she c.ould act was to go to htgh school and be ln the school's musical. she

I thought, tf this is the only re.rson wants to return to school, lefs see how

she can get lnto acttng outslde of school.

After some aslidng around we found an actrng school for teenag;ers. However, the

nights they met were a ttme Mary could not go. A teenage friend told Mary that there were tryouts for a community play that he was audiiloning for - would Mary be interested? Our whole family went to support Maqr at the tryouts and it ended up that Mary received a part, plus Joseph

(Mary's brother), Brtan (Mary's cousln), and myself. It was a great time to work together, plus a chance to be involved with ten other teenagers, Just before the close of our play, several of the teenagers lnvited our chtldren to audltion for the htgh school muslcal. The ctrlldren were very leery.

They were afratd they would feel uncomfortable wtth the ldds at the hlgh school.

Thcy were concemed that people mtght tease them or, more tmportanfly, that they would Gel out of place and not be acc.epted. I encouraged them to go see. They

dtd and all recelved parts for "Bells are Ringfng.'They were part of a So-member cast.... They had a wonderful time, met super friends, and were invited to parties dudng the summer....

ASK YOURSELF WHAT YOU WANT ISS./ Back

h

GWS #6O,

use

prbxd a

sllott ercetpt fiom Joln Holt's tttrpubllshad "Notes Jor a Tolk to Studerts,' abutJindtg ore's teaclers and. maktq

world.'

one's otun unlversttg. I oJten talk with (or leor fiorn) old.er lameschmlers wla are ttnkillg abut what to da next, and I thfnk John's 'Notes" cant fu helpJul to this kird oJ tlatkhs, so here are aJew longer ercerpts (bear h mind. ttnt these are rough rwtes, not a polished plece): One of the most lmportant questions I know is, "What do you want: What is really important to you?" When I ask young people this, most of them look surprised. i don't blame them: I wouldn't have known how to answer that question ifanyone had asked me when I was in school. Indeed, there ls no one answer to the question; the urnswer you give at one Ume ln your life will not necessarily be the right answer some years later. In truth, we probably never get a complete or final answer to the question. One way we can understand education is lasl the process which helps us to make this search, to get better at malidng it.

Shaw made a good remark on this point. He said, "Be sure to get what you like, or else you will have to like what you get,'Of c€urse, he did not mean that any of us would get all of what we liked or get it all at once. What he meant was that unless we make an effort to ftnd out what we like, what is important to us, and to get it, we will never get any of it. One could perhaps divide the world up very roughly into two groups of people: the people who think about what they like and try to get it, and those who more or less resign themselves to liking what they get. One question I rnfght try to askyou or getyou to think about ls which of these two kinds of people do you want to be....

We do not have to expect to find our true teachers in the schools where we happen to go. I think tn rrry own fairly high-priced schooling I only found two or three of them. Furthermore, it is not

necessary, to make use ofa teacher, to become a student at the universltv where he teaches, ltol sign up for a cours-e. Often is merely enough to read what he has wrltten. Better yet, you c€rn get into

corresPondence with him.

GROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING #74

One summer I was talldng to a trlgh school student from a small town in one of the mountaln states. She'd heard me talk about flnding one's true teachers, and came up afterwards to say shed tried to do this but could not. She was very much lnterested tn modern poetry, and ln her town, both ln and out of the schools, she'd found nobody who was tnterested ln lt. I asked her, 'Are there some modem poets whose work you parttcularly like? Are there some people writing about poetqr who seem to you lnterestlng, and have good ideas about tt?' She satd that there were many of these. I satd, 'Wrtte them a letter.' She was amazed. I satd, "I mean it, write them a letter. People who are lnterested tn things like to get letters from other people who are interested in them, and perhaps above all ifthe others are students, and lf they can possibly do so, they will answer. You don't have to draw only on your home towr or your own school for teachers. You can use the whole

it

I think it is probably safe to say that very few people ever flnd thetr true work.

The reason is that they don't even look for it, and they don't look for lt because it has never occurred to them that there might even be a possiblltty of finding tt, that it would erren be worth looklng for. Most young people I've talked to take the same posiHon. I suggest that tt really rnight be possible, after some searchlng, to find work that one would really think was worth doing, [andl they look at me with a mixture of feellngs, perhaps enyf, perhaps wistfulness, and perhaps the unexpressed thought that I must be out of my head.

Ayoung man stud5dng to be a teacher said to me the other day that when he completed his studies he would "present himself on the job market," exactly as il he were a piece of meat on a

butcher's

block. I fear this is exactly the way many

young people look at it.

Very often young people talk to me... about the problem of college. They have been there and left, or they are ln and thinking of leaving, or th€y have not yet gone and do not know whether to go. They all speak ofdropping out, and it is interesflng to note that even the people who hate school most, get the least from lt, see it most clearly as a profoundly stupeSing and alienating experience, sdll use this word to describe leaving thls unreal and useless situation. I urge them to stop using this phrase, and polnt out that it ls twenty-eight or so years since I was last in an educational lnstltutlon, and I have not been out of the world; one does not dlsappear into outer space when one stePs oul. the door of a school building. Indeed, it might make more sense to speak of

dropping

iru

26

RESOURCES

& RECOMMENDATIONS

MORE BOOKS ABOUT HOMESCHOLERS Ftom Maty Van Doren MN:

I agree wtth Vtta Wallace's comrnents fn GWS *72 abotut enjo)ring books that are well-urrltten and harrc lnteresttng stories; then, lf th.y're about homeschoolers, Iine.

I think of the follourlng two books as being good books flrst - partly, ofcourse, because many of the maln characters do not go to school and therefore have more time to lead lnterestlng lives.

l.

The GoldenNane Dag, by Jennie D. Lindquist (publtshed 1955; probably out of prtnt). Thfs b about a glrl whose mother is sick and must be tn a hospttal for a long time. Her liather works and can't take care of her, so she goes to stay with some very close frlends of her mother's, a Large, extended family of Suredtsh-Americans.

For some reason tt was declded that she'd be better olf not golng to school while she was with thls farrdly. It's a nlce story; I

remember readlng lt as a chlld.

2. Tle Gd.Master, by Kate Seredy (published around 1935; probably out of prlnt also). The Good Master ls the owner of a large ranch on the Hungarian plain, probably around the turn of the century, and the main characters of the book are his nlece Kate, who comes to stay from Budapest, and hls sonJanscl. Kate helps on the ranch and tn the home. Eventually she starts school at home ln the winter to teach Janscl and the shepherds how to read (Janscl's father hadn't gotten around to teachtng h,fm). The vlllage school was too far away to go to.

TWo of the strongest polnts about both these books are the clos€, loving families and the attltude that there are thlngs more important than money - family, friends, work done well.

Ftom Julle

lngd

NVN:

We try to read aloud or stng nightly.

The boys (aged 3 and 6) love to have facts read to them: we have read from Petersen's Gutdes to Bttds and all about Nathantel

Bowdltch's theory of navlgatlon and all ldnds of thtngs ltke that, that used to bore me sllly undl I saw the ktds'fascination.

Rigfrt now, we are readtng a

trrly

excnellent

book called Once Upn An Esktna Tfnrr; A Year of Esklna UJe BeJore the WhXe Mon Cane As ToId to Me by My WorderJul Mother Wlase Eskfrro Nanw was Nedercook (by Edna Wtlder, Alaska Northwest Fublbhrng Company, Anchorage).

Nedercook was homeschooled, of course, and learned all sorts of thtngs about huntlng, gathertng, cooktng, sewtng, playtng, and admtrlng natural beauty. She follows her mother as they go though halr-ralslng adventures to gather blrds' eggs from chffs, or go on plcnlc-ltke gathering trtps for sorrel or squlrrels. The mother teaches, but also values Nedercook as an already functlonlng member of the famtly.

lorrab'e Clnrk (PN wrltes: In response to the request tn GWS #71

for books about homeschoolers, I can recommend a currently popular book, WestWith?he Night by Beryl Markham.

Beryl was the first woman to fly solo from west to east across the Atlandc. She had gone to grade school for a short while, and then did not llke tt and stopped gotng. She learned about riding and training horses fmm her father and others, and this became her maJor occupatlon. She was not

from a wealthy famtly, and her work with horses and then her entry lnto the world of aviatlon were done as a matter of

survival.

MydaughterRaine, now 17, hasbeen out of school since kindergarten. Her maln interest now Is rtding and training horses. She has many rtdtng students, both adults and chtldren, who like her lntultlve teaching approach and her ability to make them feel at ease and competent wlth horses. I thfnk Beryl Markham ls one of Ralne's role models, along with a wonderful young veterinarian we

know, The HOME Club, a grcup oJ Boston-

area lameschrclers, responded with their

ourn list Ur

tletr

Manch neusletter:

The Sign oJ the Beaver, by Ellzabeth George Speare. An adolescent boy tn Maine, l7OOs, ts left alone In an isolated cabin in the wilderness. He learns r€spect for the native people who live nearby, and trles to gain their respect.

Rasmus ard he Vagabrd., by Astrid Lindgren. About an orphan who runs away from the orphanage and has adventures in the company of an ltlnerant musiclan.

In Morvt's Garden by Christina

BJork/kna Anderson. Ltinea continues her botanical advenfures on a trip to Giverny with her old frtend Mr. Bloom.

Her enthuslasm for the artlst and his

work is infectious.

My Side oJ the Mowtakr, by Jean Craighead George. About a lS-year-old boy who lives alone on a mountainside in the Catskills for a year, pursulng hls dream of ultimate self-sufflciency.

Stone Fox by John Reynolds Cardlner. To help hts atltng grandfather, a young boy takes over the farm and takes on the legendary Stone Fox ln a dog sled race.

Elizabth Hantll (CN writes: I wanted to respond to Wendy

Martyna's letter ln GWS #71 about contemporary chlldren's llctlon portraying the lives of homeschooled children. I was recently talking to a llterary agent about chtldren's flctlon, and about how tough it is for a writer to break lnto that market.

She was telllng me that contempora4r publishers expect chlldren's books to flt a c€rtaln formula, and that they must always have a moral to them. In the end, the 'problem' must be solved by the child character's own "lngenulty," and the story must contain a "fortiSrtng message." She said that a verv few alreadv famous authors can g.t with breaking this form"oriry ula, but those instances are rare. fhbhshers are aware that critlcal revlews of their

books will be primarily written by school teachers and ltbrartans, so ln order to win acceptance the book must comply with thelr presumed values.

Shortly after I talked to thts agent, I happened to read three books by children's author Clive Ktng. All three had protag;onists who were extremely resourceful boys, about eleven years old.

Throughout each ofthe storles, none of these protagonlsts was ltterate. Only one had any problems wtth thts - Rtngo, the hero of Me and. My Mllllon gets himself into a serles of wild adventures when, because of a 'reading dilliculty,' he gets of the # 14 bus instead of the #4 l. But he

survives magniffcently, and learns what he needs to know quickly, things like how to operate the locks in a canal. In Nirrny's Boa4 the spirtted hero helps build an ocean-worthy boat and helps steer on a dangerous voyage to unknown waters; and In The NlghtWater Cane Apu manages to survive alone on an island after hls entire civllization ts wlped out by a cyclone, But in the last chapter of each book, the boy decides that it might be a good thing for him to settle down and learn to read and

write after all.

Somehow, it Just doesn't ring true, the way this always happens at the end of the story. I don't know if the moral of these stories was Clive Ktng's tdea, or if he was pressured tnto it by hts publishers. But it seems to

llt the mold that the literary

agentwas describlng. Would it even be possible to publish a book ln whlch the protagontst decided that he NEVER needed to learn how to read and he lived happily ever after? Might it also be unlikely that a publisher today would accept a story in whtch the protagonlst's hatred of school is appreciated by adults and he is allowed to drop out of school? I thtnk it would be very interesttng to read an lntervlew wlth someone from a publishlng company who would be willing to discuss this censorship of certain controverslal tdeas tn chil-

dren's literature. I would like to know if it is really true.

Anyway, as you suggested, the current rage at our house ts books by homeschool-

ers. Flnnegan (fl was so tnsplred by Jesse and Jacob Rlchman's books that he wrote one himself, and he's selltng tt around the neighborhood at a healthy prollt of$2 per copy. He's worldng on the sequel now. (By the way, he would love to exchange copies of his book with other homeschoolers who have written their own books.) Also, I want to add how impressed we were by Britt Elarker's book Letters Home. I would gtve anythlng to have read it when I was growing up.

[SS:l We're pleased to announce that Letters Home (a nonllctlon book wrltten by a homeschooler) ls back tn prtnt and available from us agatn (#431, $5.5O + post). Also, Jacob Rlchman's book A Baby Lerrms WFp:t Is What, whtch Ellzabeth mentlons, ls available from us as well and ls reviewed on page l7 of this issue of GWS.

Finally, the well-known author

Madeleine LEngle's newest book, An Acceptable ?Irne, has as lts maln character a girl who is essentially a homeschool-

GROWING WITTIOL]T SCHOOLING #74

27 er - she ls not going to school during the time that the book describes, but is irestead leaming from books and from the people around her - and from the adventures that befall her tn the book. You should be able to ffnd thts ln ltbrarles and bookstores.

HELPFUL MUSEUM

Jarie Matisclr.lo (MF) wrltes:

A tiny newspaper arflcle last fall reported that the most complete flrannosarrus Rex skeleton ever found had been discovered tn the badlands ofeastern Montana and was belng assembled by researchers at the Museum of the Roclides in Bozeman. My son Jamfe (4) is passionately lnterested in dlnosaurs, so we wrote to the museum to ask whether a photograph of the skeleton was for sale, I wrote the letter and Jamie sent a drawtng of Tlrannosaums Rex, one of hundreds he did last fall.

Jamle and trls slster Maddy (2) got a

handwritten, personal reply and a ttrick packet of materials about dlnosaurs from the museum's Assistant Dlnector of Education, Bonnie Sachatello. I got a catalog that contalns books and glft items relatlng to dlnosaurs as well as the hlstory and geologr of Montana.

I was lmpressed wlth the time and

thoughtfuLeess that went tnto a reply sent directly to the kids, The museum looks like a high-class operadon. I only hope we can get out there someday to vlslt, For anyone lnterested, the address ls Museum of the Rocldes, Montana State Untversit5r, Bozeman MT 59715.

INVENTION SEMINAR fuda Tagli{eno (NY

audience of two of hls shows. He was intervlewed about his invention, and as a result, a number of trls friends called to congratulate hfm. I also had lots of fun meetlng people in the parents'waitlng room, and explatnlng how my extremely outgotng son leamed how to 'soclallze' ln our home school. He's such an outgolng character that everyone got to know htm. I once heard that the best way to convince people of the valtdtty of what you're doing ls not to talk about lt, but to show them by your example how thtngs work. Certalnly, a number of mothers ln the waittng room were convlnced that you don't have to go to an lnstitutionalized school to know how

to

socialize.

GOOD ALGEBRA TEXT Izshe Hehbbryer

oJ l<enfircky

urltes:

ence.

One result of attendlng the conference was that I spoke to Ken Hakuta (aka "Dr. Fad' of the televlston show of the same name) Just before his shoq/ got poPular. H€ gave me lnformauon about tris shout, and

my son, Erlc Thorner, appeared tn the

Thought you mtght like to know that our daughter Amber ls successfully teaching herself algebra- We ondered Elenentary Algebra, by Harold Jacobs [#258, $25.95 + post.l from John Holfs book and Muslc Store last fall, and she has been worlidng at it ever slnc€.

Algebra was a big stumbling block for me in high school, so I dreaded getUng to the point where Amber would need help.

We trted tutoring but she was fnrstrated with that, so we ordered your book. It is Just rtght for her needs, so she ls enJoy'ng (no hddingl) the dreaded algebra.

LOOKING FOR HISTORY OVERVIEW Gleru Records

oJ

Oregon wrlles:

I wonder lfanyone can recomrnend an interesting overvlew of world history.

We've tried A ChM's History oJ tl'te Wofld and Htstory oJ Manklnd both over flfty years old and consequently too sexlst, racist, and Euro-centered for even my mlld preferences. Stlll, they provide the btg plcture, the framework for all the other lnteresfing storles to fit fuito. I read H|story oJ Manlcind. (wtth editing) to my daughters when they were 3 and 6, and they loved it. They're asldng for lt again now two years later. Does anyone know of a better book?

_

Here's one suggestlonJrom Natalie Mortensen NVA): We found that the Tlme-Frame serles, a Ttme-LlG set of books, are excellent.

They begin in 35OO BC, and teach hlstory as tt happened, simultaneously across the

$obe. For example, the book for

15OO-6OO

BC has one chapter on Egpt's golden age,

another on the Minoans, and another on anclent Chinese soclety, all of whtch existed at the same tlme. Each book in the serles condnues where the previous one

leaves olf.

The books contaln time-line charts, wonderful plctures of the art of the period, and, when appropriate, e:camples of the

literature or diagrams of important historlcal achievements, such as Roman

construction projects.

There are about sixteen books ln the series, and although they're somewhat

GROWING WITTTOUT SCHOOLING #74

are mor€ up-and-coming homeschoolers in your family. Or, a homeschool support group could share the expense. Th.y'r.

avallable from Reader Informatlon, Tlme' Llfe Books Customer Servlce, Box C32068, Richmond VA 23261-2068.

Another wonderful book ts Hlstory oJ ArtJor Youtg Paplc, by Janson and Janson, Abrams Publtshers, 1987, an art lrtstory book written for teenagers. We read ttrts ln conJunctlon with the Ttme-

Frame serles.

So many extlra proJects can be done along wlth this readtng, accordfurg to the chtld's tnterests. Ariel (14) likes to draw the clothing of the pertod we shrdy, since she wants to be a costume desig;ner.

Peter Ebrgson (PA) recommends a

human htstory chart avallable from

Lnrltes:

About two years ago, I attended the "Invent Amerlca' semtrar for teachers (am I not a teacher as a homeschoollng parent?), It was a fasctnatlng group of speakers and workshops with the common goal of bringing out creattvlty and lnvenflveness in one's students. In addttion to the semlnar there is also a yearly invendon contest held for grade school students.

The thing I found most exciting about the whole weekend was that one of the speakers mentloned that the "Invent America' contest uras open to elementar5l school children in'public, private, and home schools." One of the teachers ln the audience took offense at the fact that "each homeschool can send one chlld from each gradel Why, that's their whole family and schooll' However, the speaker calmly repeated the rules, whlch lnclude homeschoolers.

I assume that the workshop ls on every year. The only address I could come up wtth ln my flles ls Invent Amerlca, PO Box 5O7&1, Washtngton DC 2OOO4. They asked for a small postage fee for sendlng the forms and booklets for the contest, but no charge for tnformatlon on the confer-

expenslve ($19 each, tncluding shlpptn$, they are really worth tt, especially lf there

Helen Omlor, Joyful I-eamfng, Box 1294, RD #2, Holtwood PA 175,32. The chart is about six feet long and allows you to see what events were golng on in dlfferent parts of the world at the same time.

DESIGNING FANTASY HOUSES More Jrom

Ellzabth Hatnlll:

One thtng my boys like to do is deslgn fantasy houses. Sometlmes it's Just a simple cabin wtth a lofL and other times it may be an elaborate, star-shaped manslon wlth courtyards, fountalns, an enorrnous library and a conccrt hall. They try to draw them to scale on graph paper, adding lots of fasclnattng tmagtnary detalls.

We've found a very good book that has given us lots more ideas for playing

around wlth archltecture, called Architecture ls Hementary: Visurrl Thfrr/r,trtg Ttvough Architectural Concepts, by Nathan B. Wnters (Gtbbs M. Smlth, Inc., Peregrine Smlth Books, 1986). It's designed to be a "self-instruction" book, so we've found tt ideal. There are chapters explalntng conccpts (with beaudful lnk drawings on every page) such as balance,

proportion, patterns, function, and forrn Some of the suggested acdvides involve maldng structures with toothpicks, folded paper, boxes, orclay. Some suggest taking a walk around your neighborhood or city to look for examples of what was discussed, such as 'ffnd as many roof styles as possible' or 'Ilnd buildtngs wlth

unusual relief textures on thetr walls.'

There are more challenging projects also, such as "Design a church for factory workers. Do not use any past styles, but create totally unlque forms whlch youVe nerrer soen before - something you think would be approprlate for the workers'

sptritual meditadon,' or 'Make a plan for

a small ctt5r. l,ocate the buildlngs accord-

tng to logical relatlonshlps of funcflon'' Our whole famtly has enJoyed worklng on some of these together.

NON-COMPETITIVE SCRABBLE More Jtom Glena Rectnds:

My farnily plays a non-compedtive game of Scrabble whtch others might

2A enjoy. We call lt TWengr{ne, for the numbcr of words we form. lf there are three of us we each take seven turns. Anv other number of players leaves us w|t[ an odd turn or two at the end, but bv then we're usually worklng together so well that we have a go at it Jointly. The obJect is to cumpile a group score which beats our last score ln TWent5r-One. There are three changes ln the rules (from regular Scrabble): you play your tlles fac.e-up so eyeryone can see; lfyou have more than one of any letter you can trade tt back lnto the box lid and draw another; and you can swap letters wtth another player tf someone else has something you need with thetr permlssion, of course. Otherwise the rules are the same as regular Scrabble. These changes have made lt possible for our be$niing speller to take a more equal hand in the game, and have eased the tension of the regular compeil-

tive game.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE MATERIALS Arn Bdule (CA) wdtes: I want to call your attendon to an extraordinar5r language tape, French for Tots. Despite lts name, lt makes an ideal introducdon to the language for children much older than 'tots,' and even for adults. It can be used before or along with other courses, ltke The learnables. But unlike other courses it ls also suitable ficr yery young children. It's not at all comprehenslve ln the way that The LeamableJ is, but it's a very good lntroducdon and Mll make whatever course that follows be that much easier. lt has ten short lessons and enough reassuring directions and gutdance that even parents with no foreign language background can feel conlldent learning this course wlth thetr children.

Each lesson starts with a song followed by dialogue using some of the vocabulary from the song. The complete French iranscrlptlon, phoneUc transcrlption, and

English transladon are included for all songs and dialogue. French forTots,

OptimaL€arning l^anguage l-and, 88-D Belvedere St, San Rafael CA 949O I : I -8OO-

672-t7t7.

Andrea Keller (21424 Sudleg RQ Gatnesuille VA 22065) torites: I've been reading Spantsh books to

my daughter for l5-2O minutes every weekday slnc-e she was 5 (she's now 6 l,/2).

I am not fluent in Spanish and have to look up practically every work in the dictionary, though I am learning and remgmbllng mor€ as ilme goes by. A big problem I have is not always being able to llnd !h9 w-ord o-r erqrression in my dictionar5r (whtch tncludes ldioms). This is extremelv frustratlng _for me and I'm afratd tt may wentually force me to stop doing tt.

I wonder lf someone fluent ln Spanish would be wtlling to translate slngle words and expressions for me as I send them to him or her. I am willing to send a stamped envelope or postcard each dme.

I'm using children's books and chilCren's school textbooks, obtained mostly

from Iectorum Publications (call l-8OO--

345-5946, or ln NY call 212-929-2833 for a 9O-page catalog of books for preschoolers thmugh young adults, and a few-page catalog of adult books. They also sell popular rnagazines

in Spantsh), and Santillana

(for a IOO-page catalog call l-800-526O lO7 on the east coast; l-8OO-526- 1676 on

the west coast; 2Ol-espanol tn NJ; l-8OO245-A584 h CA).

Anyone lnterested in French or German (must ask specifically for catalog dealtng with pardcular language) children's books may contact Gerard and Hamon, Inc., 1-8OO-333-497 l.

ADDITIONS TO DIRBCI'ORY Hcrc arc all the addlUons and changes to the Dlrcctory that urc havc rccnelvcd slnce thc last lssue wcnt to prcss. Thc complctc lg(D Directory waspublished tn cWS #72.

Our Dlr€ctory ts not a llst of all suhscrlbers, but only of thosc uho ask to be ltsted, so that othcr GWS readers, or other lnterested people, may get In touch wlth them. Ifyou would like to be Included, plcase send the entry form or a 3x5 card {one family per card). Pleasc take cue to include all the informatlon - lqst rnme, full address. and so on.

Pleas remember that we can't control how the Directory is used: ifyou recefuc unwantcd nail as a result of being llsted.Just toss it out.

We print bitthgeats of children, not ages. If wc madc a nistakc when converilng your child's age to birthyear, please let us know.

Please tcll us if you would ratler have your phone number and towrr listed lnstead ofyour mailing addres. We don't have space to list both.

If a Directory llstlng ts followed by a (H), the family ls willing to host GWS travelers who nake advance mngemcnts In wrlting.

If a namc in a CWS story ts followed by a state abbreviation in parentheses, that penon is in the Dircctory (check here ondiu: #72 & #751.

We m happy to forrvrd mail to thosc whos addrcsses trc not In tlre Dircctory. Mak the outside of the envelope with name/description, issuc, and page number. If you don't muk the outside, we op€n the envelope, sec that you wmt somcthing forwarded, and then have to readdress the lettcr and use our own postage to

mailit.

When you send us an address change for a subscription. pleasc remind us if you re in the Directory, so we can change it here, too.

AL === Robcrt & Sharon FIEYM (Blakc/85.

Kyle/8g) 6O5 Whispering Hill Cir, Hartselle 35640 O{)

AI( === Paul & Gayle YOUNG (Nathm/ao, Tamar/83. Hilary/86) Box 8OO5, Port Alexmder 99836 (rt CA. North (ztpr 94OOO & up) === P66. & Marsha (Nova/83) FEAR NO SCHOOL, PO Box 781, Ben Lomond 95OO5 === Kathleen & Stephcn HUNT (Huckleberry/a4, Hallie/86) 1548 Maplc St #31, Redwood City 94063 === Randy & Lynne KNOWI-ES {Anthony/77, Jersry /29, J orrna / 84, Arly/86, Elspeth,/88) I 4556 Little Greenhom, Gras Valley 95945 (change) (H) === Harry& Michaelc MAURER (Joell26, Deidre/83) 546 Jefferson St., Hayward 94544 ==- Janet & Pcter RUDHOLM (Shoshanna/82, Coral/89) 1954 Butterfl5r Valley Rd, gutncy 95971 === Robert & Naomi WILUAMS (Storm/8S) 216-8 Haz,el, Santa Rosa g54ol === Eve YAZMBIAI(-

THOM.&S (Eva,/83)

22929W 4th Ave. Stwinson

95374

CA Slouth (zlpr to 94q)O) === Doug &

Natalie AHI^STROM (Brtttney,/85 , tan/Ai) 222 E. Palmdale Ave, Orange 92665 (I0 := Deam CHEUNG & Rasoul SHARIFI (Marina/85) ALLIANCE OF CONNNUUM SCHOOI^S. 3I18

koquols, long Bcach (IO === Luala & caty HOTzER (Wflllam /a3,Josr'.f lan 1a527 Edgebrook Ln. Huntington Beach 9264a =: Paul & Patricla HYDE (Emily/78, Dara/Sf) 266f Lee St. Slml Valley 93O65 === Bob & Debbte SIAGGS (Lar.ual82, Michael/87) HC-l Box 5952, Yucca Valley 92284 ==- Rod & Dentsc STANFIELD (Camllla/ a4, Neal/85, Serene/87, Joshua/89)14451 Mercer St, Arleta 913{tl (H) CO === Jlm & Judy HOLMBOE (Cartte/85, Laura/68) 85O Kalmta St, Boulder 8O3O4

CT === Donald & Nancy BUTERA (Danny/ Pl, Danbury O68lO ===

tr|. Davld/86) 32 Grove

Lydia & John FLYNN (Michael/84, Caitlin/87) 9 Corinne Dr, Tolland O6Oa4 === Earl & Ellen PAPPAIARDO (IlI/8:!, Eve,/89) 95O Farmtngton Av #A-35, New Brltaln 06053 Gll FL === Vickie & Curt HOLMES-MORRISON (Eamon/76) 628 Citrus Av, Ovtedo 32765 (change) === MaIk & Dawn WTDENER (Christopher/8S, Michael/afl 7240 Adele Ct.,Jacksonville 3221I GA === Spiros & Dale VOSfiTSANOS {Sasha/7e) Oak Sprtngs Rd. Rt 4 Box 4046, Clarkesville 30523 (chaqge)

HI ==- Terra & Newman LOVE (Forest Gray/al) 5l I Ollnda Rd, Makawao 96768 ID === Gerald & Afton ONDRICEK (Crystal/79) 85O E. Countrystdc, Idaho Falls

43404 (r4

Iil === Andrca & Dave RUSIN (Victorla/82, Nicholas/84) 604 N 6th, Dekalb 60l 15 fiIt === Steven MOORE & Paula IAWSON-MOORE (BenJamin/82) Rt 5 Box 238, loutacltyr 5224O LA === Sherri & Darrell DAIGLE (Ross/82.

Lucas/83, Camt/88) 622 Steele Blvd. Baton Rouge 7O8OG === Tigq6y & Thomas SHERRY (Jenna/85, Jacob/88) 6O55 General M€yer Av, New Orleans 7Of 3f (I{

UD === Christopher MAHONEY & Carolyn COHEN (Bran/85, Tara(Perrny)/871 98lO Lib€rty Rd, Frederlck 2l70l =: I^aw & PegS/ WATKINS (Nathantel/74, Sophta/79) 23615 W Harris Rd, Dickerson 2O842 UA === John & Ilnda ALTCO ll.aney/78, Christlnc/81, Molly/8{t, Travis/87} l5 Mlll Pond Ln, Dr.rxbury O2*t2 (charrge) 00 === Peter & Karen POWER (Brldgzt/74, Danny/78) 6 Parkman St, Dorchester 02122 UJ === Davld & Rebecca FIAGEL {Benlamtn/78, Sarah/8o) f 46f E David Hury, Ionta 48846 (change)

UO === Dave & Janice LUCKENBACH {Sarah/82) Rt I Box393,Ava 65608 === Bi[ & Jan PIERCE (Sonnet/76, Naomi/8o, Eval82) Rt Box 69. Eldrldge 65463 (II)

GROWING WITHOLTT SCHOOLING #74

I

29 ItV === Paul & Ctndy BODOR (Daniel/8o, Jason/82, E;rlk/871 23 Morltz Wv, Mt Charleston

49t24 NH === Dlannc & Brlan CAHILL (Mtchacl/ RFD 3, Manchester

8l, Jcffrey/8{}) l6 Wnter Ctr, 03l03

NJ === Joy & Paul COHEN (Michacl/83.

Barryl8g) 39 Skyhne Dr. LIpper Saddle Rtuer O745a (change) === Arthur & Marlane EDELMAN Ocsslca/84. Heather/88) Llcrvcllyn Park, West Orange O7O52-49O9 {change)

Arllngton 22207 === Clndy & Dave HOYT (Sara/ 82, Amy/86, Judl/8g) 2r l2 Weytrldge Dr, Virgfni,a Beach23454 wA === Donald & J.l FALUCK (Katrlna/76, Amelia/78, Talltha,/81, Amanda/8S1, Halley/85) Rt 3 Box 72F , DavenPort 99 I 22 (II) === Gene & Sandi HALL (Kyle,/8l, Casslc/82) 23S15 264th Av SE, Maple Valley 98O3a === HOMESCHOOL ERS' SUPPCTRTASSN, PO Box 413, Maple Valley 9a03a (change) === Marcy & Mark RAY lNe'K/A2.

Colln/a5, Tom/aa) 206-789-7306. (Scattlc) (H) === W.{SHINGTON HOMESCHOOL ORCANIZATION (WHO), PO Box 938, Maple Valley 98038

NU === creg SENN & Barbara Klapperlch SENN (Jennifer/85, Jacob/88) PO Box 961,

(change)

Portales 88130

CAIYADA: ALTA === Meg FIAINES {Bobby/7g, Cassy/ a2,Matt/a4l 11851-71 St, Edmonton TSB lW4

NY === Kim & Gordy ILOWTI (Mlcah/8l, lsalah,/8S, Arlanna/8a) RD #l Bor( 56. Oneonta

13820 (H) := Marguerite MILLER & Stevcn HOTOWMaTk /a4,1*ahla7,Pa:al/89) RR I Box 4, I 5 Pa* St, Moravia l3l l8 === Pat & Jeff NORDSTROM (Kut/77, Trlsha/81, Chrlstrna/ 85, baby,/go) 2OOW loath St apt 2A, NewYork lOO25 04 -=Jim & Sheila SAVINO lcabe/A2, MaxJm/A7l 45 Sergemt St, Sodus 14551 === Pam & Stwc SITMCK (lm/78, Dylan/8f ) lO22 Westmlnster Av, Dix Hills f f 746 (IIl

NC === Ron & Deanie FIYDLER (Jenny/79,

Justln/83, Summer/85) 32O Whitehead Av, Spencer 28f59 0Il === Bbb & Susan NOrTSINGER (Daniel/74, Keely/76, Sara / T9,BenJamln/ 84) Rt I Box 741-D, Mantco 27954 === Ellzabeth & Terry WOODFIELD (SaEh/84, Katherine/88| fOS Hillary Place, Cary 27513

OH === CHRISTTAN HOME EDUCATORS OF OHIO, FO Box 1224, Kent 44240 (change) === CREANVE THOUGHTS FROM OHIO HOME SCHOOL.S, c/o Amy Vanorlo, 2 lO8 Kemper Ln. Ctnclnnatl 452OO === Brlan & Gina GEORGE

(Phillip/87) I,ot 187, 5965 Harrlsburg-

Georgesvllle Rd, Grove City 43f23 === Ford & Pam KEBKER {Eric/8o. Melissa/ai}, Davld/86, Paul/88) 2Og llth St, Genoa 43430 (El === Dirk & Barbara PETER (Grcgory/85, Jordan/8g) I126 Bedford Woods Dr, Toledo 43615

OR === Orlando & Bonnle GONZALES (Michael/72, Matthew/75) 63676 HlEh Standud Dr. Bend 977O1

BC =-= Jan & Ron KIRKBY 0.oren/8o, Jesse/ai}, Brady/86, Mclody/8g) RRl, Perrder Island VON 2MO === Scan & Ltlltan SLY (Andrew/ TT,Matthew/79. Heather/82l 295O Colman Rd, RRI, Cobble Hill VOR lL (change)

OTHER LOCATIONS === Jim & Anna ADAMS (foby / 7 7, D annyl8o, Jessica/84) 282 Katmmba St, Katoomba 2780, NSW Auttnlle === Debbie & Magdy ARMAMOUS (Ellzabeth I aO, Luke / AA 2 Malua St, Doll's Point Au.tr.ll. === Joanne & Greg BEIRNE (Gregory/8o. Rebecca/82, Stephen/84, Mary-Beth/89) l8 Arnold Av. Kellyville 2f 53. NSW Aurtnlle 0{) === Jo-Anne & Jacob BRUGMANS (Kylle/83, Stephen/86, Nicole/89) 37A Klng St, Heathcote 2233 Auttr.ll. === Jo & Ian IIARPER 0.eonie/78, Michael/8O, Stephanie/83, Miriam/89) r Basil St, Riverwood 2210, NS\Ir' Au.tnlle === HOMES CHOOLERS AUSTRAUA PTY LTD, PO Box 346, Scven Hills 2147. NSW Autttrll. === Monica HUDSON (3 children, 85,87,90) 4r West St, Balgowlam Heights 2093, NSW Aurtrrlh === Joaquim & Flory MONTEIRO Myola/76, Myron/85) PO Box 76a2, Dubat, Unltcd Arab Emlretcr (I{) === Lily & Peter Nesbitt-Hawcs (Timothy/84, lanura/87l NSW Ccntral Coast Horneschool Group, RMB 6346, MacDonalds Rd, Lisarow NSM2SO Auttnlle === June & Matthew SCRIBER (3 children) 24 Homan Close,

Umina 2257, NSW Aurtrrll. === Iaw & Peggr WATKINS (Nathmlcl/74, Sophta/79) Nangaretu, Mal,akara via Edayaranmula, 6895.32 Kerala,

Indle === Kmn & Dale WLLIAMS (Grant/al.

PA === PENNSYLVANIA HOME EDUCATION NEWS,4ll North Duffy Rd, Butler l6OOl

Elisa/8s) YARRA VALLEY HOMESCHOOLERS, Salisbury St. Warburton Auttrrlh

I

l-3 words on intertsts === STAATS: 1625 Jug Rd, Dover PA 1731 5: Christinc (ll) reading, outdoors, cats; Nightflower (15) art, rcadlng, wrtttng === Emtly MORRIS (f O) Box 5 RR # I . Wlnlaw BC VOG 2.JO, Canada; reading, cats, ballet ===Jared BEAM (6) l8Atlanta. Irvine address. and

CA9f272O: Nintendo, bildng, collecbng === Lara BROOKS (l l) 2906 Percgoy Dr, Kcnst:gton MD 2O895; animals, reading. swimming =- Lynn SCI{Anf (? Rl Box 2l I, Mt Jackson VA 22842: anlmals, envlronment, muslc -= MAYOR, 26824 Howard Chapel flr, Damascus MD 2O872:

Jenrry (l

l) music, rudlr{g. animals; Kevln (5)

painilng, reading. anlmals === DeMAsl, 4 Pond Crest Rd, Danbury CT 068l l: Laura (fO) ballet, art, ice skatlng5 Sara (8) ballet, acttng, ice skatlng === BOAS, 4425 Pleasant Hill Rd #579, Klssimmee FL 34746: Ambcr (lO) art, dolphins, reading; Jenny (9) anlmals, cooldng, babies; Timmy (6) dogs, waterskltng, cards === SIIELL, RR 2 Box 289C. St Albans VT O5478: Sar:a (lO dolls, reading, wildlife: Emlly (? dolls, pets, crafts === MclNTfRE, 28 Waldo St, Randolph MA O2368: Lindscy (8) reading, art, animals; Philtp (6) computers. legos, ftends === Vallie RAYMOND (f O) 8l I U St. Port Tomscnd WA 98368: Smnastics, plano, cats === WOSLUM. 1325 l2th Av SE, Rryallup WA 98€172: Matthew (l l) soccer, highland dance, nintendo; Barry {9) soccer, coolring, mythologr === Jericho BIGGS (9) Box l8l, RR #4, l,antngs Wharf l{I Oa3O2: nature, 4-H. sailing === HERBST. 813 Wyntuck Dr, Kennesaw GA 3O144: John (l l) comics, reading, basketball; Jeffrey (6) guys, nintendo, g6rnlss === SCHNEIDER, 6lO E Elm, Taylorvtllc IL 62568: Jcssica (9) readtng, skaur4, baktng: Megan (8) readircg, balung, art: Melissa (5) swimming. hilldng. skatingi Stcphanie (5) reading, wrlttng, swlmmtng -= I{ART,l43l Potter Blvd. Bayshore NY l17O6: Annle (9) cats. cmking, crafts: Paul (7) nintcndo, baseball. GI Jms === Liorah CROCKETT (lO) PO Box 67, Walsenburg CO 81O89: U2, horscs, barel racing === ELS{YED, I I Ccnter Ln, E Brunswlck hI"I Oa8I6-29II: Aladdln (I4) computers, puzzles, sports; Amern (12) roller skating, humor, dolls: Amtra (lO) rcadlng, math, dolls: Amardean (8) legos, sports, reading -== Kathcrine SIIARIF (7) 17782 Sa Lcandro I,rt, HB, CA 92647: ponyrlding. anlmals, skatlng === BrJm JOHNSON (9) PO Box 23, Hawali Nat'l Park HI: hoffi, acting.

Srmnasttcs === lvl{URER, 546 Jefferson St, Hayward CA 94544: Joel (13) snakes, videogames, c.rrsi; Deirdre {6) animals, reks, storie === KatieARTHURS {A Rt 2, Box 561-8, Thomasville NC 27360

=== Williarn ROGERS & Ellen STAATS

(Mglrtfl owcr/ 74, Christlne/78, Justln /8

JW Rd, Dover 17315 === Carl & LuAnn

I

) f 625

RUMBALSKI (Carl/78. Kalina/8o, Yurl/82) Box 18, Mack€yville f 7750 (H) === Bill & Brenda VAN MATRE (Btlly/8s, Emily/87, Lydla/8g) 331 Venango Ave., Cambridge Sprlngs 16403

SC === Dave & Jim GROVES (Tlmon/75.

AusHn/8O) 2O4 Brandywlne Dr, SummeMllc

29485 (change) SD =-= Sue & Van RADOSTI (Adrlana/86) 3O2O Btrry Circlc, Sioux Falls 571O5 (chaqge)

Tf, === Grant & Dorura ITOVEIOY

(Meredith/87) 32Ol Mardn Lydon, Fort Worth 76133 VT ==- Joanna & Duane GORMAN (Rowen/ a4, Lsa/ a7l RRI Box I 147, Ludlow O5149 VA === Heidi & John BRENNAN {Charles/ 84, Marianne/86, Cara/89) 36O4 N Upland St,

ADDITIONS TO RESOURCES

WHEN YOU WRITE US

Certified Teachers Willing to Help Homeschoolers: Cheryl Cooney, 22 Foxcroft Rd, Albertson f.IY ll507 (tIY, Nt, r{A) === Mary Frced, 1 825 W Gracc St. Rtchmond Y A 23220 (Montessori) === Irur{rula Perkins, Rt I Box 22C. Penobscot ME 04476:207-326-8609 (X-8) ==- James A. Petratt, St. Jos€ph High School, Plot 3. Rt 2, Frederiksted. St. Croix. Virgin

each letter.

(3) Ifyou ask questions, cnclose a self-

lslands OO84O Hclpful Lauyer: John hce, 317-a42-4AO7 0ndiana) Helpful kofessor: Brian D. Ray, Ph.D. tn Scima Education, cducator. speaker, editor of Home Schol Resa.rcher.25 W Cremorra. Seattlc wA 981 19.

Singlc Prent: Lisa Spector, Unionville CT 06085

l2l-B

Perry St,

PEN.PALS Chlldrcn *entlng pcn-pelr should write to those listed. To be listed, send name, age,

GROWING WITHOI.N SCHOOLING #74

Plcase - (l) Put scparate ltcms ofbusiness on separate sheets of paper(2) hrt your namc and address at the top of

addressed stamped envelopc.

(4) Tell us if ifs OK to publish your letter, and whether to us€ your rrame wlth the story. We edit letter for space and clarlty.

CATALOG INFORMATION Our fall catalogwas bound into GWS #71.

Separate copi€s of the catalog are sent out with yourbook orders, and are available upon request.

Please ask about obtait:ing quantittes of our catalogs for distrlbudon at local events, libraries, or other places where lnterest is likely.

On request, wc will photocopy and mail the GWS revlew of any ltem ln our catalog. Send 50 cents plus a SASE for one; add 25 cents fior each additional.

Home Schooling doesn't have to be a choreA Beka Book has three easy options.

Options

Textbooks and materials These qualrty Christian character-building materials are used by over 600,000 students across America.

A BekaVideo Home School Frees the parent to be a "mom" while she lets

the master teachers of Pensacola Christian School teach by videotape. HeIpfuI manuals and textbooks are available to,-further the parent' s involvement and supervision of the Iearning process.

A Beka Gorrespondence School Using A Beka Book materials, your child learns at home and sends work to our home office to be reviewed by experienced teachers.

For more information about any of these options, caII or write today.

^{;o-erca.

gome Sdflool

in Christian Home School Education Station GW . Pensacola, FL . 62523'-9f 60

Excellence

1-800-8?4-BEKA

@

r-l tvr'rl lrt

GRO\ryING WITHOUT SCHOOLING #74

3l

INFORMATION ABOUT SUBSCRIPTIONS Subscrlpdons start wtth the next issue publlshed. Our rates through May 3 l, 1990 are $2O for 6 lssues, $36 for I 2 issues, $48 for 18 issues. GWS ts published every other month. A single issue costs$3.50.

Foreign payments must be either money orders Lr US funds or checks drawn on US banks. We can't allord to accept personal checks on Canadlan accounts, even lf they have 'US funds' written on them. Outslde of North America, add $fO per year for alrmail (otherwise, allow 2-3 months for surf,ace

mail).

Addrcer Chrngc.:

If

you're

moving, let us know your new address as soon as possible. Please enclose a recent label (or copy ofone), Issues mlssed because ofa change tn address may be replaced for $2 each. The post ollce destroys your missed lssues and charges us a nodficaflon fee. so we can't allord to replace them without charge.

Whenyou send us achangeof address for a subscrlptlon, please let us know whether vou are ln the Directorv or on our other reiource llsts as well.

Group Subrcrlptlon.:

all

coples

are mailed to one address. Please pay

with one chccl. Here are the current

(through May 3l, l99O) g;roup rates (lX means you get one copy ofeach lssue, 2X meurns you get 2 c€pies of each issue, 3X means 3 coples, etc.)

6 iss.

2yrs. l2 lss.

3yrs. l8 lss.

$20 $36 $48 $60 $70 $78

$36 $64 $eO $ll2 $r30 $r44

$48

I year

lx 2X 3X 4X 5X 6X 7X,

a)f,,

$sO

$126 $156 $180 $216

etc: $12 per person peryear.

EffectlveJune l, 1990, thegroup rates wlll be as follows: $18 per person; groups of 5 or more wlll receive the

leader's subscripdon free (in other words, a group of 5 would pay 4 x $18 and receive 5 copies ofeach lssue).

Please send in the names and addresses ofmembers ofyour group sub, so that we c€rn keep tn touch with them.

Thanks.

The number that ls underltned ln the example tells the number of the llnal lssue for the subscrlptlon. The Smtths' sub expires with Issue #75, the next issue. But lf we were to recelve thetr renewal before we sent our ffnal aocount changes to the matling house (June l), they would qualifi for the free bonus lssue, Renewal rates are the same as foi new

subscrip$ons: Thro"EF May 31, l99O: for 12 lssues, $48 for 18 issues; .s ofJuDG I, 1990: $25 for 6

$2O for 6 lssues, $36

issues, $45for 12issues, $6Ofor 18lssues.

Please note: unfll May 31, you can extend your subscrlption for up to three

Chll&cl cen lcrrn pl.no .t homc without prlvatc lessons. LcrnMuslc Systern of Music Instnrctlon. Box l8:)4, Carmtdrael, CA 95609.

DECLASSIFIED ADS

s€nd lmmedlatel5l for brtef sr:ruey. Donrra Gibson.2517 Overlook Drlve, Gcrmantorpn, TN

Rate: 7otlword. $l /word boldhcc. $5 minimum, Please tell thesc folks vou saw the ad tnGWS.

AIIIEBNA FOR 9d GRADER,g & UPI 4x+2=2x+lO ls nov chlld's play wlth this patented, vlsual/ldncsthedc system, Used tn I.OOO homes natlonwlde. Order HANDS-ON E$UATIONS for $34.95 plus $4.5O SErH from BoRENSON AND ASSIOCIATF,S. Dept GWS, Box 45O, DublinPA 18917.

HOMESCHOOL BOOKSHELF - Free catalog, over sixty booksl Home EducatlonMagazlne - Now 56 pages bimonthly. current lssue only $3.5O. Home

Educason 98a55.

kcss. Box

1O83, Tonasket, WA

Ccntrrl OK:

Sceldngl homeschoolers who do not necessari$ teach for r€llglous reasoDs. 3968031.

USBORNE B(X)KS AT HOUE. Build your home librarlr while earnlngl money selling bcautiful childrcn's books through homc party plan. Contact Medke Tamm, 777 Hillview Street, Spartanburg. SC 29302, 803-583-4018.

HOUE SITPPORT AVAILABLEI Responsible vegetarian mom ofone sceks livc-ln plus salary posluon wlth llke-mindcd famlly to help run your home - childcare ctc,l N.VA, DC. MD areas preferred. Lcave message 7o3-631-9725 or write: NannyAvailable, Box 1995, Centrevtllc VA 220.20.4970.

!Ex-rni

publlcatlon about chlldrctr sdtlng et home.

3al3a.

rREE CATAL(X}I NTW IDEAS F'OR FAilILIESI Chotces ln carly learnlng, nn€ art program/supplt€s, for€lgn language, kcyboarding, math gamcs and manlpulattves, Hour-To, geography, hlstory, sclence equiPment/tnquiry sets, standardlzcd and GED test help. Teaching Guidcs with exclflng alternadves. K-8 urrit studics and wor*books. LEARNING AT HOME, P.O. Box 27o-gws74, Honaurrau, Hl 96726. 8O8328-9669.

EDUCATTONAL AOFIWARE - Get ready NOW for the upcomlng school yearl lBM. APPIE, MC, COMM, TANDY, AI\dlGA and ATARI lncludedl HOME SCHOOLERPRICESand, as always, FREE POSTAGE on all ordcrsl \l/rltc for fr,ec catalog: SCS, PO Box 1396, Dcpt. G, Concord, MAol742.

Small unffnished cottage on P.E,l, needs ffnishtng, Exchangc accomodadons for labor.

Write: Box 242, ComwallP.E.l., CanadaCOA lHO.

Are gou interested tn placbtg a drclassllled ad? Deadltnes are the 15th of dd-runberd months.

Dtsplay aduqttsers: pbase wrtte for our ro,t€s.

FORM FOR DIRECTORY

If you would like to be tre the Directory andttow notAet told us, send in this form, or use a postcard or 3x5 card (only one family per card).

Adults (flrst and last names): Organizatlon (only tf address ls same as family):

Children (names/birthyears): FullAddress (Street, City, State, Zip):

label:

Were you in the l99O Dlrectory (GWS #72) Yes _ No - Yes Or were you in the addlUons and changes tn GWS #73?

t2345 JIMAND MARYSMMH 27 0175

OllIl

oR97013.

PLEASE HEIPI Gatherinlg ir:formaflon for

At the bottom of the next page ls a form you can use to renew your subscription. Please help us by renewing early.

How can you tell when your subscription explres? lpok at thls sample

PIAINVILLET.IY

FREE 9clcncc frlrrlnc loaded wlth experiments: TOPS ldeas, lO97O SMullno Rd, Canby

years at the curent low rates.

INFORMATION ABOUT RENEWALS

16MAINST

CHILDRENS RECORDINGS. Mail order Records. Tapcs & Mdeos lrMtcs you to s€nd for our free 32 page catalog of over 2O0 tstles.

Featuring thc bcst recordlqg artlsts of childm's muslc, sto4/tclling, and educadonal actMfiesl PC) Box 1343, Eugenc OR 97440.

-

No-

Are you willtng to host GWS readers who make advance arrirngements tn

GRO\MING WITHOUT SCHOOLING #74

No

wdting? Yes

-

-

cWS was foundcd

by John llolt.

"GWS lsn't Just about homeschoollnt, lt's about parentlng, learnlnt, respectlng others - lt's about ltvlng well.

I love lt and look forward to every lssue."

- T.P., Ontarlo

& Subscrlpdon Manager Day Farenga OIIic.e

Book Shtpper/Receiver - Ikthy Munro Ofiice Asslstants _ Lenard Drggins, Mary Maher, Connle Nesbary, Phoebe Wells

"GWS ls one of the few magazlnes I get that I do read cover to cover. It ls always an lnsplratlon to me - food for thought and a source ofspecllle ldeas to try and books to read."

- J.P., Mlssourl

Shipping Assistant

- Gtnger F'itzslmmons

Holt Assoclates Board of Dlrectors:

Ann Barr, Patrlck Farenga (Corporate President), Tom Maher, Donna Rlchoux, Susannah Sheller Advisors to the Board: Mar5r Maher, Steve Rupprecht, Mary Van Doren, Nancy Wallace

I'I have been a subscrlber for over a year and Just devour ever:r lssue as soon as lt arrlves. Thank you for lncludlng letters from chlldren and young adults, as my chlldren llsten attentlvely to thelr problems, solutlons, and vlews on learnlng and llfe ln general."

-M.W., \P'lsconsln

Copyright Ol99O Holt Associates, Inc.

All rights

'Tlhenever I need some posltlve support for homeschoollnt, I get out the back lssues.

We couldn't do lt wlthout you."

-P.M., Washlngton

reserved.

It Rl3 6tE

irF

ts E.lâ&#x201A;Ź F }F

Use the form below

to subscrlbe to Growlng Srlthout Schoollng, or to gllve a gtft to someone who needs the support and lnsplratlon lt provldes.

Act by May 31, l99O to beat the rate lncrease.

3l

1977

Edttor - Susannah Sheffer Publisher - Patrlck Farenga Contributtng Editor - Donna Rlchoux &lttortal Asslstant - Mary Maher Edttortal Consultant - Nancy Wallace

What people are saylng about Growlng trrlthout Schoollng:

(See page

in

s

rh

^s 6'13

'eld clq

for more information about subscriptions and renewals.)

SUBSCRIPTION AND RENEWAL FORM

--t

Use thls form to begn or renw a subscription to Growing Without Schmling, For renewals, place thc label from a recent i$sue below, lf possible. tf not, prlnt the lnfo. Clip thls form and send lt with your check or money order in US funds, or subscribe or renw by phone with Mastcrcard or Visa: call

617-864-3100. Thmks very much.

_NewSubscripdon _Renewal Account number (ficr rcnewalsl;

Gift subscription to be sent to name showrr

-

HEH

6XZ vuo

Name:

<;Q

Explration code (for rcncwols):

n3h

Address (change? yes/no) City, State, Zip:

_

6 issues,

Group sub:

$2O _ 12 tssues, $36 _ 18 issues, $48 _ copies of _ lssues, $_ {see chart on prcvlous

Note: These rates June 1, 19â&#x201A;ŹD.

page)

tre effective througlr May 31, l99o only. scc previous pagc for rates after

It ls OK to rcnt my name and address to other organizations, yes

_

No

_

CL 74

C;I

}WING WITHO{JT SCHOOLING #74