Growing Without Schooling 75

Growirg Without Schooling 75 Susan Shilcockwrote in GWS #49 about how her daughter Amanda, then 9, had helped a friend learn to read in exchange for the friend's helping her learn to dive. Susan wrote, 'It seems to me, as a parent and witness to these episodes, that there really are situations in which a child is unable to accept input from a parent or another adult, but is willing to hear the same information from

another chtld.'

Norna Richotrx Ross (left) md Eoin Gaj look at books together in our ofEce, Children Leaming frcm Each Other is tle subject of this issue's Focus,

INSIDE THIS ISSUE: News & Reports p.2-3 GED Age Requirements, PA Driver's License Law, Attendance Waiver in NM

Dlscusslon: When Does Guldance Become Manlpulatlon? p. 4-5

Femlnlst Homeschoolers

p. 0-z

Challenges & Concerns p.7-lo Talking With Other Children, Older Readers, Challenges of First Year, Single Parent

Watchlng Chlldren Learn p. 11-14 Needs to l,earn Programming, Interested

in Bratlle, Who is Responsible?, Saving the Tfees, Kids and Money

HowAdults Learn p. t+

way.

Book Revlews p. 15-18 FOCUS: Chlldren Learnlng from Each Other p. 19-21

Chtldren as Phllosophers: Inter:nlew wlth Gareth Matthews p. 2L-22

Older Homeschoolers

Wanting to find out whether this was true for otlters in the GWS readership, we asked several children to write about experiences of learning from or teaching another child. Taken together, the children's responses seem to reflect, almost more than anything else, their refusal to fit any general pattern or to conform to educators' (or this editor'sl) assumptions about what ought to happen. That is, some of the children inslsted it was easier to learn from other children, sylng that children's explanations were easier to follow and that children tend to understand one another better. Others, however, very much preferred to learn from adults because adults' explanations were clearer and because it was somehow less threatening to reveal ignorance to someone who was expected to know more anyway. Some felt that knowing or being known by the other person was more important than either person's age.

One thought that did come up repeatedly was about the inspiration or feeling of accessibility that other children can provide. Alison Klein wrote, about preferring to learn horsebackriding from the instructor's daughter, "I think this is because [the daughterl can see my point of view more easily - she knows how it feels to be riding nou.'Kaila Morris explained that she felt more comfortable asking anolher child questions about math because the child was probably able to remember asking the same questions herself. Even when a child ultimately preferred to learn from an adult, as Sara Matilsky did when she found her mother's explanations of division clearer than the explanations given by a friend her own age, she nevertheless acknowledged, 'But David was the one who got me interested in dividing, so maybe I'd already learned a little bit from him.'In Sara's case, the child provided the initial inspiration and the adult then helped her achieve the precise understanding she wanted.

It is also interesting to see how much these children have learned about teaching. Olivia Baseman says that the experience of teaching a class of other children gave her a sympathy for adult teachers that she hadn't previously felt. Nathan Williamson writes that he thinks he learned things about rock climbing from teaching it to other children that he might not have learned any other

p. 2g-24

Resources & Reeommendatlons p. 24-26

Addltlons to Directory, Pen-Pals p.2Z-29

Finally, it's worth noting that just about all of these teaching and learning episodes came about informally, independent of any class or organized framework. Perhaps the reason children are often able to learn from each other so well is that no one lnsists that this happen or includes it in the ordinary set of expectations about children's education. Thus, as Olivia Baseman observes, "We're just talking and the learning sort of sneaks in there.' Even as we acknowledge that some children enjoy or even prefer learning from each other, we should not go so far as to mandate that they try it, both because it won't work for all of them and because such insistence on our part would remove, even for those children who benefit from such experiences, the very element that allows them to work so well.

Susannah Sheffer

-

News

&

Reports

GED Age Requirements In GWS #7O, Judg Garuey andJirn Bergin (ME) turcte that they unre fugtm@ to collect irdormation abut the GED "wilh tte thought oJ one dag challprging the

minimum oge requirenent

h

Mahe."

Right now, you rrurst b rc to toke tle GED in Maine, or 17 ottd. 'slanu a gd. reason-"

Is this an office? From left to right: Matt Nesbary, Nikki Nesbary (holding Alison Farenga), and Lauren Falenga play while the adults hold a meeting upstairs.

Office News

&

Announcements

[SS:] Since the last issue of GWS went to press, Pat Farenga spoke at the New

Jersey Unschoolers' Network conference on April 2lst, and I spoke at the Connecticut Home Educators conference on the same day. As we said in the last issue, several other conferences are lined up for the spring and summer.

We're busy with the production of Nanry Wallace's second book, Child's Work, which we are proud to be publishing.

in time for our fall catalog. I'm also busy with the final stages of A Llfe Worth Duirtg: klected

We expect the book to be out

Letters oJJofur Holt As soon as this issue of GWS goes to press, I'll be making the index for the book. and afterwards I suspect I'll have some stories for you about how adults learn on the spot when they have tol More publishing news: Addison Wesley is bringing out a new edition of George Dennison's The Lit:es oJ Children as part of their Classics in Human Development series. They plan to use John Holt's review of the book (published in the Neru York Review oJBooks and sold as part of our reprint collection) as the introduction.

For the past few years the book has been out of print - we've been selling the remaining stock here, but it hasn't been available anywhere else - so it's good to know that the book will be widelv available once more.

A difficult part of these last weeks was that 8-month-old Alison Farenga was in

the hospital with meningitis - a frightening illness, as any of you who have had experience with it know. We are happy to report that she is well and back in the office with her parents, and appears not to have suffered any lasting effects from the illness. As you'll see elsewhere in this issue, her motlrer Day also has some positive things to say about the hospital experience.

Day and Donna Richoux have been

working hard on a program that will allow us to bring our subscription maintenance (the information about who subscribed when, and so on) in-house. Up to nowour mailing house has handled this, but we wanted to take it over so that we could adapt it more preclsely to our needs and so that we could eliminate many of the problems that our subscribers have patiently endured. Please take a moment to check your label now and let us know ifan error occurred in the conversion.

Other states haw sinilar requirements.

We askedJudg totetus whatprqress she had nrade, and s}e replied:

I am enclosing a report on the current state of efforts to change the CED minimum age requirements in Maine. This report summarizes some of our findings of the last few months. Since it was written to be presented to educators, much ofwhatwe wrote is watered down for that audience.

We have collected correspondence from many others who are very interested in this issue. We just heard from Raymond and Dorothy Moore who will assist these efforts in whatever way they can. The Moores encourage all homeschoolers from age 12 or so to work from practice tests for the GED to become acclimated to the test.

fume errcLosed:

es<cerpts

Jrom the report Judg

As part of the new homeschooling regulations [in Mainel, the GED, high school equivalency certificate, should be adopted as the means for homeschoolers to receive high school diplomas when they have completed their academic work, regardless ofage....

Maine homeschoolers presently have no avenue to receive high school diplomas other than the GED, which is restricted to

individuals over certain ages. Because many homeschoolers finish their academic requirements at younger ages than

their traditionally schooled peers, they

need to be allowed to take the GED without

age discrimination. ... How this new regulation would work; The test would be given and controlled in the same method that it is currently given and controlled. No specia-l scheduling would be required. Homeschoolers would not prepare for the test in

adult education classes. They would simply prepare for the GED at home and, when ready, would take the test at the designated times at designated GED testing centers. ... Some exceptions in other states: Every state has varying age requirements for the GED, ranging from no minimum age in Alaska, to several states with ages 15 and 16, more with 17 and 18, and some few with 19. Alaska does have compulsory attendance laws. However, a person under age 16 who leaves school may take the GED, with no waiting period, regardless of age.

Some states have tried or are cur-

rently uslng "competency testing" programs for their in-school students. From approximately 1979 to 1984, Florida had a

successful "early exit' program. The legislature established a graduation acceleration mechanism to be based upon a standardized test and selected the GED as the test. During that time several thousand students in all grades passed the test and ended their tenure in high school.

Studies on these Florida students indicated that they elected to leave school because of academic fn:stration or career advancement, not because they were having problems at school. The table and correlations indicated that one must be fairly successful in school to experience success on the GED. In otherwords, taking the GED was not an'easv out" for someone who could not handle regular school work. ...There has been no research to show that early leaving has caused damage to any student or to any state. None of the young diploma eEuners in Alaska, Florida, or elsewhere have proven to be more prone to crime, unreliable on the job, anti-social, or dependent on societ5l. In no state has early leaving caused damage to the state's economy. In all studies, the opposite has beenthecase.

[SS:] I spoke with Steve Moltozo of the MAINE HOMESCHOOL ASSOCI,ATION, who is working to lower or eliminate the age requirement for homeschoolers wanting to take the GED, as part of the overall rewriting of the current homeschool regulations in Maine. Steve said that homeschoolers are trying to get a date

Important Information about the f99L Dlrectory

Wc arc discarding all thc namca in our 199O Directory and compiling thc 1991 Directory from gcratch. We do this every couple of years to make sure that

the listings in the Directory are current and active (that they are of people who truly want to be contacted by others). So, if you want to be in the l99l Directory (which will be published in GWS #78), gou must Jill out a Directory enfry Jonn with the complete i4formation- In past years there has been some confusion about this - people have said, "But I've always been in the Directory; why wasn't my listing carrled over?' Even lf you've been in every Directory since GWS # l, you must send in a card now to be included in the next one. You have until October 15, l99O to do this, and we will remind you again in the next issue, but do be sure to do it ifyou want to be in the next complete Directory.

The only people who do not havc to

fill out an entry form

now are those

whose names appear in the list of Directory additions in THIS issue, #75. This issue contains a compilaton of all the additions and changes that have come in since last December, and we assume that these are current and active enough to be included in the l99l Directory. Please take a moment to check and see if your listing appears here. If you see your name in this issue and don't want it to be included the complete 199 I Dtrectory, please let us know so that we can delete it now.

So, again: if you want to be in the l99l Directory and your listing appears in this issue, do nothing. If you want to be in the 199 I Directory and your listing does not appear in this issue, fill out an entry form and send it in.

Growing Without Schooling #75

3 for a public hearing at whlch they can present their position.

I also spoke with Sury Dodd of the Tennessee group HOMESCHOOLING FAMILIES, and learned that a bill, introduced by homeschoolers, which would have allowed homeschoolers to take the GED at any age, never got out of comrnittec during this

legislative session.

Driver's License

they're turned down, they can Just follow the regular homeschool procedures.

Local News For addresses oJstate andlcr.al gtortps, see GWS #72 or our HomeschrcIing Resource l;ist, at;ailable Jor $Z.SO,

Kangas: The February issue of the

KANSANS FOR ALTERNATTVE EDUCA-

Bill in

PA

&verol readers hanp ben watchirtg bills in uaricus states that would prchibtt students wla don't haw high sctrcol diplonus (or, in some cases, students who are rwt attendfu high sctt@l) Jrom getting drir,er's hbenses. Susan Richman nrrites in tle Sprhg 1990 PENNSYLYANIA HOM&SCHOOLERS newsletter abut that state's bill, HB 996, u.rhich ties drh-ter's licenses to school attendance hgd standbgJor sfudents

tle

TION newsletter mentioned Senate BiII 545. which would have lowered the state's compulsory school age from 7 to 6. We called the Kansas State Senate and learned that the bill did not pass out of the education committec this session. A note in the KFEA newsletter, anticipating that the bill would not make it out of c-ornmittee, added,

'But it is important that

we write to let

Lee Ann Roberts (NM) turtes:

them know we are opposed to lowering the compulsory school age ln Kansas. That way, when this kind of bill comes before them in the future, they will take one look at it and automatically say, 'My oonstituents won't want this bill.'"

North Dakota: A mailing from the NORIH DAKOTA HOME SHOOL ASSOCIATION says that on March 23, the Department of Public Instruction held a hearing on the proposed "Quality Assurance" regulations regarding homeschooling. These regulations require homeschoolers to follow specific procedures when their child falls below the 3oth percentile lon standardized tests], and says that parents who have fulfilled the parent qualification part of the law by passing the National Teacher's Exam or by being a certilied teacher must submit two yearly reports to the local school district. At GWS's press time, there had been no wond from the Department of Public Instruction since the hearing.

New Merico readers mav wish to be

increase the upper end of the state's com-

ages 16, 17,and18:

...The bill is moving on the fast track.

As of this writing it is in the Appropriations Committee. When I spoke with Paul Parsells in the Transportation Committee about the issue, he suggested that we may indeed want to see that the bill is amended to speciftcally exempt students enrolled in home education prograrns in good standing.... The whole idea of tying driver's licenses to attendance is a controversial one, without the higft effectiveness its proponents had hoped for in other states, but it is something that is gaining popularity among legislators....

Attendance Waiver

in

NM

Pcnnsylvania: House Bill 947 would

reminded of an option in thi law which can free a 5-8 year old from the compulsory attendance statutes. Under Section 22- l2-2 of the Procedures for Homeschooling tn New Mexico, a "qualified student' (anyone

ofcompulsory school age) can be excused from attendance if \rrtth the consent of the parent, guardian, or person having custody and control ofthe person to be excused, the person is excused from ttre provisions of this section by the superintendent of schools of t].e school district in which the person ls a resident, arrd the person is under Syears ofage.'

We applied for the attendance waiver for our S-year-old daughter Michelle.

Albuquerque Public Schools sent us a form in which we had to state our reasons for requesting the waiver. We used Raymond Moore's books, espectally Home-Style Teachhg, and told them that for reasons of character dwelopment and phystcal health, we were opposed to sending a young

child to school.

We were approved in a couple of weeks.

The secretary we spoke to on the phone said they've nwer tumed anyone down, but I suspect most people don't apply for an

attendancr waiver beyond kindergarten.

We plan to reapply for the waiver

until

Michelle is 8, and then fill out the state homeschooling forms. We'll see what happens.

People really have nothing to lose by applying for the attendance waiver. If

Growing Without Schooling #75

pulsory school age to 18, Susan Richman reported in the Spring l99O issue ofthe PENNSYLVANTA HOMESCHOOLERS

newsletter. Susan writes that the current age is 17, and that there are provisions for students who want to leave earlier (if they have work permits and are working regularly, or if they have already graduated from high school, for example). Under HB 947, these provisions would remaln, even if the age were raised to 18, and the bill adds the provision that students could leave at 17 with parental or guardian consent.

Susan also writes, "The House Education Committee Sta{I Person, Frank Christopher, did tell me that there ls definitely talk among legislators about also lowerirq the compulsory school age...

There is at this time no formal bill or amendment on the issue, but it is one we should all be watching out for closely, as it would directly a{Iect great numbers of homeschooling families. PA compulsory school age is currently 8 {the child.has rerser bjore ben entolbd. in a school..

There are only a handful of other states that have such a late compulsory age, and many other states have been worldng to lower their already low ages even fur-

ther...'

Tenneggee: Homeschooler Sandy Madsen writes. "Tennessee's homeschooling law states that parents who want to teach their chlldren at home in grades 9

through 12 must have at least a baccalaureate degree. The law also says that parents may apply for a waiver from the degree requirement on a ye.rr to year basis. Since this law went into ellect (1985), 36 families have applied for waivers and 36 families have been denied walvers. Education Commissioner Charles E. Smith justilies his rigid position by sayrng that the legislature has given hirn'no standards' to go by.

'Three homeschooling families filed suit here last October and are asking Chancery Court to order state education ollicials to cease denying all degree waiver requests and to discontinue enforcement of the requirement that homeschoolers register with the state by August lst of each

year."

Su.zy Dodd of the HOMESCHOOLING

FAMILIES group tells us that the HOME SCHOOL LEGAL DEFENSE ASSOCIATION's request for this suit to continue as a class action suit has been heard in court.

How to Find Out About Laws & Regulations Here ue some ways you cm ffnd out the lcgal situation in your state.

I) Look up the law yourself, in a public library or law library (courthouse, law school, etc.) Laws arc indexed: try'school attendance'or 'education, compulsory." l9 states have revised thca home education laws since 1982 s check the recent statute changes. We have printed or summrired these new laws ln ourback issues.

2) Ask the state department of education for any laws or regulations pertaining to homeschooling and/or sttrting a private schml. In some states (partlcularly CA, IL, IN, KY) there are few regulatiorrs concerning private schools and m you can call your home a school. lfyou are concerned about revealingyour name and address to the state, do this through a friend.

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

part of our'Homeschmling Rcsource List.'Some groups have prepared handbmks or g:idelines on legal mattcs. Oftcn, these groups cm tell you more about thc legal climate in a state than myone else can - whether new legislation is pendlng, for example, and how the present law is being enforccd.

4) Contact other families listed In our Directory. This is paticularly useful ifyou live in a state that leaves homeschooling declsions up to individual school districts. Whcn you contact these fiamilies, help them by having done somc research on your om first.

5) In gcneral, it is not wisâ&#x201A;Ź to start by asking your local school district: thcy usually don't know the law either. Better to gather the facts lirst on vour own.

GROWING WITHOLTT SCHOOLING #75, Vol. l3 No.3. I$SN #0745-5305. Published bi-monthly

by Holt Associates, 2269 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge MA O2laO.$25/yr. Date oflssue: June l, 199O. Second-class postage paid at Boston, MA. POSTMAS'TER: Send addrcss changa to GWS, 2269 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge MA O2l4O. ADVERTISERS: Deadlines are the lSth of odd-

numbered months. Contact Patrick Farenga for rates.

Discussion: When Does Guidance Become Manipulation?

F\om a letter

tlvt Batt

Brush sent to the E IPIRE,SIATE

HOME EDUCATORS rrcwsbtten ...When does guidance become manipulation? Does guidance mean you show a child something and let him take it or leave it?

Is it manipulation if you require a child to investigate something for a whlle before deciding to continue with lt or abandon it? Can a child really exercise true choice after a mere cursory examination of a subject? GWS #61 has an interesdng letter about this as it applies to drawing. Susan Richman writes, 'As Molly (4) grew in conlidence and ability, her older brothers wilted... Maybe I agree withJacob (Z that he just'isn't interested tn drawing',.. Maybe I should leave well enough alone.' It would appear that Susan has guided her son to drawing, he has chosen not to pursue it, and any further efforts on her part could be considered manlpulation. She continues: "But I felt I had to at least glive my very best try at turning things around for the boys,' and with the aid of a new book and further efforts, the boys became interested in drawing.

Susannah ShelTer comments, "...What does it mean to offer someone a cholce?... It may have looked as though one child had chosen to pursue drawingwhile the other two had not. But...the boys were not genulnely free to choose between drawing and not drawing.

Their feelings of inadequacy left them, by default, with only one

option." ...I'd like to know what parents do and think about subjects that don't lnterest their children. Perhaps a child doesn't like history. Most of us mtght agree that her parents should not get a hlstory textbook and force her to memorize the dates and fill in the blanks at the end ofeach chapter, with tests each week. But do most homeschool parents really believe that absolutely nothing needs to be done to expose this citizen to certain important historical events and ideas? Has this girl exercised true choice and should we simply trust that sometlme ln the future, when she needs it, she will somehow automatically acquire an appreciation of history and all will be well?

The realtty, to paraphrase Susannah Sheffer's comment at the beginning of this letter, is that this young wornzrn ls not genuinely free to choose between bdstory and no history. Perhaps her dislike of history is based on publlc school experiences like memorizing from a dull textbook, Perhaps her frlends who attend school complain about research papers they have to do. In such a case, is it manipulation or ls tt guidance if parents s.ay, "Here's an award-winning novel about a girl your age in colonial Connecticut who's accused of being a wltch. Why don't you try it?' (Elizabeth Speare's The Witch oJ Btackbtd. Pondl Or, "PBS is showing The Wodd At War series on Monday nights. It's a terrific series about World War II and we'd like you to watch it.' If the student reads a chapter or watches an episode, enJoys it, and llnishes the rest voluntarily, we'd probably say the parents have guided the child.

But what if she doesn't like the book or the series or other similar olferings? Are parents Justified in sa5dng, "We've tried to fumish you with enjoyable historical materials, and we're sorry you haven't found them more lnteresting. However, we believe history is important for every citizen, and we must insist that you spend an hour a week on history in one form or another. You may choose howyou would like to go about this, or we will choose." Is this manipulation or, worse, outrtght coercion? Or is lt sttll only appropriate guidance? ...Isn't an important function of teachers and parents to offer as much of the world as possible to children? Or is this manipulation - should we stand back and let our children discover the world on their own? How can we expect chtldren to ask about what they don't know exists? A child may discover birds, automobiles, and local politics on his own, but he mtght not discover the Holocaust, the Gulag, the anclent Romans and Greeks, or The Odgssey for a long, long time unless we introduce him.

[SS:]

I

responded:

I think your questions are important and need to be diskt me see if I can begin to address them in the orderyou raise them.

Hrst of all, on the matter of choice, I llnd it helpful to make the distinction between access and exposure that Aamn Falbel makes in his thesis about the Danish FHskol,en 7O. He says: 'Access implies making someone an offer - an olfer they can refuse. Exposure on the other hand means subjecting someone to an experience.... Exposure is something done to you; access refers cussed.

to prodmity, availability."

I don't think we can choose something that we don't feel is available to us, which is the point you make when you say that children can't ask about things they don't know about. If I don't think I can have it, I can't choose to have it. This is fairly obvious.

I was in a sense talking about avallabilit5r when I talked about Susan's children and thelr drawing. It seemed to me that if the boys felt that they couldn't draw (as opposed to knowing that they could but not, for whatever reasons, actually doing it), drawing was in an important sense not available to thern So I thought that what Susan had done was to give them access to drawing once again, after which they could, truly, take it or leave it.

I think a lot of us say no to things out of this feeling that no is our only option. We think of ourselves as terrible at math or hopeless at fixing things or blocked at writing, and so we stop trying to do those things. And as you say, ifs often the case that these sorts of fears or blocks come from some kind of previous bad erperience - no one ls born hating any area of human activity, after all. So if a child thinks, "I can't do math," it's not so much that she's chosen not to do math as that she feels she has no choice about math.

Given all this, it might make sense to think about how to make, or rather keep, all activities and interests available to children, so that they can proceed through life making genuine, unhampered choices about wery new activitlr they meet. What we must remember, though, ls that there's another important side of this choice question. I've said that a no is not a real no if we don't feel we can say yes Just as easily. Well, this works the other way too. A yes ls not a real yes if we don't feel truly free to say no - if the olfer, to use Aaron's words, ls not one we can refuse. The trouble with so many of the offers we make to children is that they are of this latter kind. We say, 'Would you like to read this book?" and we mean, "I really want you to read this book and will be very disappointed if you don't." Children sense this and resent it, and I believe they are right to. Better for the adult to be honest and say, "I am requiring you to read this," than to offer a choice which is

not really a choice.

But, to continue with your questions, is tt right to require children to try something they haven't been interested in? If a child feels herself able to say both yes and no to something, and happens to have said no, I don't think it's my business to do much to change that. Il on the other hand, the child feels incapable of something, especially something she might truly like to be able to do, I might think about ways to change that, But I would think about them urith the child. We could say in such cases, 'I notice that you seem to shy away from anything that has to do with math. I hate to think of you having to keep from doing things Just because they have to do wtth math, so I want you to know that if you want to work on overcoming that block, I'm avallable." Or, tf we ourselves have had experiences overcomlng varlous blocks or fears, or stmply experiences with learning new things, we can tell our children about these (or better yet, let them see us having those experiences). All of this is much more likely to work, and to be acceptable to the child, if the goal in question is the child's own - if he or she really does want to get over the fear of that particular thing.

Why not be more forceful about this? Because lt is dlscourteous and probably won't work anyway, and because the risks of doing it are so great. Aaron continues, 'There are costs associated

Growing Without Schooling #75

with exposing someone to something: the exposure itself frequently leaves a resldue, a bad taste in one's mouth. Should we expose children to, say, classical music? Should we say to them, Uust sit through this one concert so that you'll know what it's like. After that, you can decide for yourself whether you want to come back for more.'? The problem with this line of reasoning is that ffrst impressions are often lasting ones. A person subjected to classical music might be turned offfor life. Of course, there is also a chance the person may be turned on for life. But in the case where the experience tums out not to be pleasant, there is often extra resentment toward the person doing the exposing. And this resentment colors a person's relationship to the experience itself.. . " In addition to these risks, there is the further risk (and this one may be the greatest of all) that too much exposing, to much deciding for children what they will try, erodes their capacitles as self-educators. I think of Kim Kopel's story in CWS #72 about overcoming her fear of math. Klm described liguring out for herself hou.r to overcome that fear, and I think this is what might have been lost if someone else had decided that it was more important to require her to overcome it at an early age (and I doubt that that would have worked anJrway, as Kim herself points out).

So, are we back to the beginning - is there nothing at all that parents can do? I think we have more available to us than the choice you present ln talking about the child who dislikes history: you suggest that one choice is to let her'somehow automatically' come to like history herself, and another is to require her to try a historical book or a telewision program. This implies, I think, that children only take in those parts of the world that we put right in front of them and tell them to take in. I flnd myself wondering why, if The Witch oJ Blackbitd Pond or that PBS series are really good and lnteresting, the only option we have is to require the girl to read or watch it as an assigned lntroduction to history. Why say, "It's terrific and we'd like you to watch it"? Why not, "It's terrific and we plan to watch it; we'd love for you to join us"?

When we say that children are self-directed or learning on their own, I don't think this means that they are learning in a vacuum orwithout the help of anyone else. The stories in GWS often show how a child used an adult to learn something, and this ls frequently a subtle and complex process. The story in GWS #68 about Vita Wallace helping her young friend leam violin and then composition ("The Relationship Between karning and Teaching') is a good example of this.

I think that when children are frer- to say no to what we offer them, they do want to hear what we care about, what we think is lmportant. I often recommend books to the young writers I work with, sometimes qulte strongly (saying somethlng like, 'Thts has a lot to do with what you're thinking about or worlidng on; I really encourage you to try if or'I love this book; reading it was very impotant to me"). They have almost always followed up on those recommendations and read the books, though not always immediately. But built into the stmcture of our relationship and of the olfer is the clear understanding that the recommendation is not a requirement. When this ls present, I {lnd that children come

asking for more.

You may be thinking that this sdll doesn't address the issue of important things that children may not come to without some urging on our part. I thtnk you may be underestimating how much a part of our culture the things you mention actually are (and if they aren't, we might want to think about why it's so crucial tlut children learn them). What do you mean when you say that history is important? In what sense is it important? What is it lmportant to you to know about? I leamed about the Holocaust not because it was in the school curriculum but because it was actuallv lmportant to people I knew; lt was a part of the past that had allected their lives and they believed in the importance of continuing to talk about it and trying to understand it. When this is true, no one needs to tell a child what is important. It is simply apparent; it is manifest in the world in which the child lives. And I don't believe that this need be any less true of ?he Odyssey or ancient Eglpt or anything else. My parents loved Shakespeare, so

Growing Without Schoollng #75

Shakespeare was alive in our house, and obviously tmportant - in fact, I probably leamed more about Shakespeare than I dld about btrds and automobiles (which you say are more immediate). It all depends on what's going on in the pardcular family.

So I would say that children get their inltial sense of what's important by what is, in fact, important to the people around them. They sense a dishonest5r or hypocrisy, on other hand, when we say, "This is important" but don't seem to be reading it or doing it or thinking about it ourselves. If you think certain things are important, live that, demonstrate it, let the importance become

apparent to your children,

Brrrt in htm, responded utith

the

Jollowittg comments:

I don't interpret what Susan did as giving her children access to drawing. Drawing was always available, but her sons didn't choose it until they were subjected to it ln a more positive way exposed to it in such a way that their earlier perceptions of it were changed.

Offering the child who says, 'I can't do math- access to math in case she wants to try it Fgain is not enough. She won't choose it because ofher perceptions ofthe subject. She needs to be exposed, gluided, or manipulated in such a way that she has a positive experience. Not 45 minutes a day, Monday through Friday, in the school manner, but once or twice a week, briefly, in a sensitive manner attuned to her interests.

Again, how do we make genuine, unhampered choices about things without experiencing them first? Give children access and some will choose the experience, but those who don't won't know what they're missing unless "exposed,' that is, guided or manipulated to try it. To use an example from college, one need not take a course for credit - one can audit a course, attend lectures, skip the papers, delve deeply into some areas ofthe subJect and skip over others. This is a mlddle ground between taking the course and not taking the course. One gets an overview of a subject without being forced to do work that one linds odious. This is what I llnd mlssing from the dialogue - the educationists say, 'Make the child take the course," and the homeschoolers and reformers say, 'kt the child choose not to take the course.' But seldom does anyone talk about auditing.

I think you're splitting hairs when you differentiate between asking a child to read a book, when we expect him to read it, and simply telling him that he is required to read it. I think in either case the child may resent it, depending on how he reacts to the book and when he is required to read it (when the other kids are playing ball?). At any rate, this is not exactly how I would expose a reluctant child to history, and perhaps I should have elaborated more in my original letter. Assume a child knows very little about World War II and has expressed no interest. I've offered him access but he hasn't chosen to investigate the subject. I'm concerned that he doesn't know what he's missing; ultimately, whether he gets excited about lt or not, I feel it's essential that he be exposed to the war because ofits effects on ourworld today and its lessons about human nature. How do I guide or manipulate him?

First of all, I need not worry about it this year or next - I'm not following a state syllabus or lesson plan worked out weeks in advance. I'm only concemed that at some time during his growing up, say by the age of I 8, he be exposed to this. If he's not ready now I'll try another time.

Now assume he's 16 and sUll hasn't investigated WWII on his own, so I decide it's time to guide, manipulate, or expose him - call it what you will. I still try to be sensitive to his learning style and interests. Is he interested in architecture? A lot was destroyed and rebuilt during the war. Horses? The Polish cavalry charged Nazi tanks. Skiing? The Finns and the Soviets and the Nazis fought on skis. There are good books on all these subJects, but ofcourse they must be found, and this is an important responsibiligr for the guide or manipulator. Books must be age-appropriate, wellwritten, and a choice must be offered. If The World. at War or Vbtory at *avldeo series work better, that's llne with me. I'm not concemed about the regurgitation of names and dates, butwith the human drama of historv. If he still dislikes it. I'll limit the ex-

6 posure to perhaps a half hour twice a week.

It's dillicult for me to imagine a very deep

resentment developing from such a lowkey program.

About exposing someone to classical music: maybe tlris person is really turned off to getdng dressed up, sittlng for two hours in a concert hall when it's warm and sunny outside, and beingunable to see past the older and taller people sitting in front.

All exposures are not created equal.

Aaron's argument is a little simplistic - he fails to distinguish between appropriate and inappropriate exposure. An appropriate exposure to classical music for a chtld would more likely be background music at bedtime,

From the information ln Kim's letter about overcoming math phobia, it appears that she and her mother are missing the point of mathemafics. Ftather than walt until Kim decides she wants to make another try at basic math skills, her mother might try exposing her to an entirely dlfferent kind of math by using Harold Jacobs's Malllematics: A Human Endeatnr, which you sell.

The story about Vita Wallace and her violin student involves a teacher and student who are both self-directed. My questions are about students who are not self-directed ln a given sublect. Similarly, you are working with young writers who are already interested in writing. I'm interested in what parâ&#x201A;Źnts and teachers do with students who don't like to write and won't unless manipulated.

About what is immediate: I meant to suggest that for most kids, birds and autos

are more immediate than Shakespeare.

And what about the parent who studied Shakespeare, decided it wasn't for him, but still realizes its worth. How does he present Shakespeare?

Most parents don't have enough time to live and demonstrate all the things that are important. What do we do about those things that we don't have time for, but would pursue and demonstrate to our children if we could?

[SS:l I could respond again - there's so much to say about these issues - but I d rather hear from some ofyou. I hope both young people and adults will join in this discussion.

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Feminist Homeschoolers We'tn receil,rcd serseral rore respnses to Borbora Cgmoszinski's request to lear Jrom Jeminist lameschders (GWS #73).

Mostpeople who responded asked us to Joruatd their letters dtrectly to Barbaro" but aJeu gave us permission to quote Jrom tletr letters in GWS as r.uell bme etaerpts: Flrom Muriel Polko (MD:

I consider myself a strong feminist, though I would seem out ofplace at a feminist mecting where the main conc.ern is getdng into the fast lane with all the men and compeflng with them for power in the corporate world. Of course I support the need forwomen to achieve status and digntty in the world 'out there," but as a stay-at-home homeschooling mom, my feminism takes a different furn. ...It is amazing how se:dst messages penetrate the minds ofvery young children. I have had an entire group of preschoolers refuse to acknowledge any of the wonnswe had caught as "she." They had a mental block against a female Tlrannosaurus Rex, evenwhen she had eggs. Foran entire story hour I reftrred to a snake and my snake puppet as'she," but most of these tots left talking about "he." All of nature has a decidedlv male tone.

The medii is largely responsible for thls lack of equal representation of females. l,ook at so-called enlightened Sesanne Street After some nice little message of "girls can do anything boys can," ifs back to those guys with the real power and plzzaz - Big Bird, Bert and Ernie, Cookie Monster, Oscar the Grouch, etc. Yes, human females equal males on the show.

But it's all those (male) puPpets with whom

the kids identiff.

The world of literature is just about as

unbalanced. I do not reject good booksjust because oftheir failure to represent females adequately, because these books are wonderful in spite of it. I'll read delightful Winnie the Pah to my daughter any day. But, as with Sesarne Street, I will tell her that I think the author made a

mistake by not including any significant females.

Certainly there are wonderful exceptions - Pippi Longstocking, the Little House books, books by Rumer Godden, and rnany more. And some of the wellrespected authors of young children's books are starting to come around. Arnold

Lobel now has Amanda Pig to add to Frog and Toad and Oliver Pig. But all in all, there is still a lack of female rePresentation in children's literature. So, I frequently take the liberty of changing one of the characters in a male-dominated book to a female character, often at tJee request of my now observant and indignant daughter.

It is more difficult to keep track of the serdsm that our l4-year-old son may be encountering in music, books, movies, and TV. It is not our style to be really restrictive, but my husband arrd I do discuss material that we find objectionable. We let our son watch James Bond movies, but we talk about how the women are portrayed, and how Bond, in spite of all his charm, is really a promiscuous, lrresponsible sexist.

...I do not think sexism or its counterpart, racism, will Just go away simply

because people do not feel themselves to be

sexists or racists, It requires vigilance and activism to rid our societ5r ofall the sexist and racist rernnants so commonplace we fail even to see them or be aware ofthelr inlluence on us and our children.

Ftom Moggi EU,iott

NVV):

I certainly consider myself a feminist

homeschooler. That's one of the important reasons my kids aren't in school. At home, the kids can try their hands at anythlng theyVe a mind to, They're away from the naJty httle games of gi?ls agairist boys and

all the oneupmanship that implies. Sexism is so pervasive in the rural area in

which we live that we have to exude a positively positive force against it Just to stav - in neutral.

...While we were house guests last month, another man visited for a couple of days. Because my 9-year-old son John's hair is quite long, the man mistook him for a girl. When our confusion rerrealed that the girl was a boy, the man com-

mented on how much he'd enJoyed the frank and direct approach of the 'girl" he was talking to. His opinion was that this girl was quite unusually aggressive, and he was delighted with lmagining what kind of person she would grow up into.

That gave me some food for thought.

Ena (6) is more reserved than John, but I never attributed that to her gender' Ena is a natural-born feminist: if I reflexively say 'he" about a toy, she reminds me that it's a "she.'All her drawings feature foreground women. She's proud to be female, and that's a lesson to me every day, because I constantly wished to be male as a child.

I wonder if kids need to nail down some basic boy-girl STUFF before they strike out from an established nexus. I'm reading The Changing Nature oJ Mannghrt now, by J.H. van den Berg lavailable from us, #2OO, $5.95 + postl, and one ofhis points is that the modern age is just so ;multivalent" that kids have a hard time

establishing an identity. By multivalent he meâ&#x201A;Źrns all the incredible vadations we have in the way we do things. A kid can visit ten different friends and see ten different ways of eating, worshipping, keeping house, relating to family, etc. This is bastcally transParent to us adults because we've already made the bulk of our decisions, have a lifestyle, and can handle the diversi$r we face. I read this passage to John and asked him if he found this multivalency confusing, and he said he did. So maybe the magnetic attraction to gender roles is a kind of haven, and as I said we need to let kids drive some stakes into the ground onto which they can cling in the blowing winds of change.

F-rcm Sandee Resnirck oJ Ohio:

I have been a feminist for over twent5r years. I guess I've always been one, but there wasn't really a name for it before the late'6Os. I've only been a mother and homeschooler for seven years, so feminism is my natural way and couldn't

Growing Without Schooling #75

posstbly be separated from my motherlng and homeschooltng approaches.

What does this mean for homeschoolingf, It really means that my family's

Challenges

& Concerns

.].qir"rrtv rTalking With Children ability,

ovEral outlook on life ts-on! and a basic understanding. that WhO GO TO SChOOI achierrement, and work at home and away Amanda Bergson'Shllcxk (PN from home are not gender based. This is not taught any more than readfurg has been writes: taught tn our home. It ts simply the way we I can really relate to Jeremiah live-our lives. It ls also the eiample thit Gingold's (and-his mom-Pam's) storles of my daughter sees ln the lifestylei of most 'waitlng since he was 5 for ldds his age to fdends ind netghbors 'catch |1." ['Conversali9n ls Harder with Don't get tlie tdea that we live ln an tsolated feitnist haven, because we don't. Other Chtldren,'GWS #741. I llnd that this ts tncredibly the case with my peers - I have We live tn the real world. Mv dauqhter has found that what they think and talk about been growtng up, howwer, fuittt J"ttotrg ls mostly make-up, friend-s, clothes,,parUase of tearntn! through my and my ties, boy,/girlfriends, TV-shows, etc. I have partneCs tnvolvement-tn pbhttcal ind -soctalJustice causes, as well as our struggle found lt next to lmpossible to have a conwith flndtng a place to llve that ls stmple-, versatlon about the llght against-drugs-, or the environment, or even something close natural, atid &mfortable, non-violeni, to home like educadon. with little or no lmpact on our Mother My sister Emily ts taklng a-class at theEarth. She recognlzes, as only a 7 year old can, the tnJustt&s m ttrts world: the pltght local middle school, and she tells stories of the ktds playlng Nintendo behind the of Natlve dmericans, the threat of nucliar teacher's back. I wonder, tf the ldds In that war, the ecologtcal dangers engulffng our class don't take schoolwork seriously, how planet, homophobia, ricism, *re difterences between most people and the Gwwith they can take more lmportant things like world events seriously' But maybe they extraordinary powef and wealth. have other things outside of school that ...Yes, shelikes to play with dolls, and they care more about' to dress up and put on rnalie-up. But all of Friends of mine who go to schml tell these stages of development c-ome and go me about passing notes ln class and the naturally at her speed. Her baslc under-teacher not even notlcing. I always wonder: standtng of social poltdcs ls there and Why doesn't the teacher want to learn how solid. And here ls the lmportant part: as a to teach better so that the kids aren't homeschooler, she's not faced wlth what I bored? And, is it that the kids are sitting in c-onslder the lncredtble contradlcdon class thinking, "l wish I could be out of between what we pracfice at home and .r'hat ls taught and modeled ln schools. here so I could ride my horse," or whatever tr^ -

- do they have something that they want to do? Or are theyJust sitdng there bored with no ldea of what else to do? I think the first way ls probably better because then at least

later in life you have things that you want to do.

I do have friends in ballet class, and I can talk to them about some thtngs, like dance, but not about the hlstory ofdance, for example, and not about things that are going on ln the world. They're already different from most lrdds ln school because they have something outside that they do that's intense and that they care about, but the problem ls that they're so busy, with dance and the three hours of homework that they get, that it's hard for me to see them.

I've explained my homeschooling to them and they understand it pretty well.

Once a new glrl came to class, and she asked me what school I went to, and before

I could answer another girl said, 'She homeschools: her mother teachers her but it's not only her mother who teaches her, and she doesn't have a specillc schedule it's really neat." I was glad that she'd really understood what I'd told her about

homeschooling.

I know tltat there are homeschoolers who care about some of the things I care

about. I feel like I know some of them through GWS. I liked Anita Giesy's idea of traveling to visit other homeschoolers l"Plans to Travel," GWS #741. I'd like to do that some day.

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Clonlara gradualst recolvo our prlvalo rchool dlploma and full lrans.cllplr. Glonlara gradualos have i;one lo colleger ahd unlverrltler, to mllltary toMco, to the nrlnlrtry and Inlo lhe work force.

Glonlara atlondt to all of lhs admlnlrlratlve dutlee aisoclated wlth home oducallno wlth and for our on. rolloos. We know tho regulatlons In ovory slato and counlry, r've handlo conlacte befineon school ofllclalg and our onrolloot. Thal laaver parenls fice lo atlond lo lhSlr home cducatlng.

'Mary

Pri<te's

Ris

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1289 Jewell Ann Arbor, Mlchlgan

nf llnme

{810{

Growlng Wthout Schooltng #7S

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(313) 769-{515

Prt Montgomcry, Ph.D. Dlreclor

8

Thoughts from Parents of

Older Readers

Ftom Diane Rofurtson (NI):

Like Moira Nobles' son [GWS #741, rny son Brvce was a'late- reader. I did read to Bryce i lot and had tons of interesting

material around t]le house. Invented spelling was also a big plus in our lives.

Bryce would leave me rrnny notes around

the house and I never mentloned spelling. I am a big list person so I often had Bryce write lists for me. If he did not have a clue as to spelling, I told him to draw a picture instead (of an apple, juice, etc.). This was a big help to me: he knew this and felt good about it.

What benelltted us the most was reading simple but interesting books together.

Sitting next to him, with lots of hugs, I would read a line from the book and he would read the next. In the beginning I would read nine out of ten of his words for him. I never had him sound themout, but when I read them I would enunciate each sound clearly but quickly. As time went on he read more and more himself. This did not happen overnight, but we both enjoyed

it.

When Brycewas 8 l/2 he began reading a fewwords. At 9 l,/2 hewas reading

simple books. I'll never forget when I bought }llm A BorgainJor Frances by Russell and Lillian Hoban. Frances, through a series of events, is deceived into buying her friend's old tea set instead of the one she wanted. At the end of the story Frances tricks her friend into taking the tea set back and has her money returned. I read the story to Bryce lirst. Maybe because this was a dme when he was having some problems in the neighborhood, he loved this book. He literally read it twent5r-live times a day for two months. That seemed to be his launch into the world of reading.

Now at IO | / 2 he can read anything.

From Carole Skrrrer [NS); Our son Nicholas (9) has had the same problems described by Moira Nobles: inability to read, friends making fun of him, negative attitude, easily frustrated, unable to recognize words, easily distracted, cannot tolerate noise, reverses letters, and mispronounces words. Nicholas was diagnosed as learning disabled during his second year at school, and at the height of his frustratlon we turned to homeschooling.

Now, two years later, having been allowed to be totally self-directed, Nicholas still cannot read, but his attltude is no longer negative. Although many of the things I listed still apply, he is a much happier boy now that he has been relieved of the pressure of having to satlsff someone else. I believe that if Nicholas has a serious problem (il say, he is dyslexic), then he will always have a problem with reading, and all my badgering will do nothing more than create negative feelings towards reading. If, instead, he outgrows his delay (as Grant Colfax did atg l/2), then, and only then, he will read.

Nicholas and his younger brother (who has leamed to read at a normal pace) have an endless enthusiasm for 'projects,' from fort construction to collecting

seashore treasures, abandoned birds'

nests, and fossils, to studying the live specimens they collect for their aquarium.

Nicholas taught himself the concept of telling time (in blocks of fifteen minutes), inspired by the need to know when his favorite TV show starts. And the boys practice counting with their card collections, which also prompted them to memorize t]le names of plavers and teams.

And.

York:

Jrom Wendg

Westud.

oJ

New

I was interested to read Mary Van Doren's letter in GWS #73 ["Relaxing About Reading"l. We "held back' our daughter Adrienne for the sarne reason, following her year in public school kindergarten, and started homeschooling the following vear.

- We weren't sure whether Adrienne was ready for kindergarten the fall that she was scheduled to go, but the public school screening, a Purdue Universi$l questionnaire, and reports from her preschool teachers all indicated she should start, despite a late birthday and small stature.

Toward the end ofthe school year, Adrienne's teacher sent home instnrctions to "work with her" on the sixteen sight words all her classmates were expected to learn to read. One look at the flashcards, and a trial run through them with Adrienne. convinced me that no amount of work would make our daughter a reader at that early age.

I could also sense that the pressure to read would be even greater in first grade. I felt that Adrienne would lag behind, be pushed into the "slow" group, perhaps be sent out of the classroom with the reading specialist, and probably would eventually be labeled dyslexic.

To avoid this scenario, and to avoid the pressure of school in general, we chose to homeschool the following year. We decided to call it 'pre-first," to give Adrienne a chance to catch up in size,

maturity, and reading ability. Although our school system also offered a "pre-first" class, we knew it would be full of fmstrated kids and would provide even more pressure to read before first grade.

Since the teacher and principal felt that Adrienne was ready for first grade,

and it was only we who wanted her to have a year off, our first year of homeschooling was a "freebie." Although we filed the necessary reports, and met with the principal, we felt we didn't need to prove anything to the school personnel. Adrienne didn't blossom in the reading department

that year. In f;act, it isn't until this year f third' grade, our fourth year of homeschoolin$ that she can read, really. Ifs still difficult for her. But by homeschooling we're helping her avoid the pressure of

school and some ofthe self-esteem problems that would come from trying to function in a public school classroom.

We haven't entirely avoided those selfesteem problems, though. TWo best friends, slightly younger but a grade ahead now in school, have been early, excellent readers.

Adrienne's had a hard time getting

friendly with certain other kids her age, for whom readlng is a big interest. She's been uncomfortable in certain social situatlons, such as birthday parties where

games required reading or writing, or when

friends wanted to read or write "for fun."

Challenges

of First

Year

Veltnda Mitchell ( Inrge Fanilg, " GWS

*72) urites: This is our first year of homeschooling, and it has been a time of transition.

The kids have taken several months to deprogram from school. At the first ofthe year when I said I wasn't going to hand out grades, one daughterburst into tearsl This was a high-achieving girl who had brought home straight A's since the begtnning, yet hved in perpetual Gar that she would flunk the next year ofschool. She depended on a grade, rather than trusting her sense of mastery ofa subject, to let her know how she was doing.

She started the year with tons of workbooks and a burn-out pace of two math and two science units a day. She needed this to fecl like she was learning. As time has gone by, she has gotten involved in volunteering at a horse stable, at a thrift shop, and at the library. She still works hard at her studies, but I am happy to say she has cut her assignment pace in hall and doesn't always get even that much done. It may sound strange for a parent to be happy that her child is doing less, but I see it as doing more real learning. When she writes a report she still insists that I put on a Ietter grade, even after I write comments which speci{ically evaluate her work. I try to work

within her needs.

I started the year teaching

mY

first

grade daughter to read using the Open Court method; this soon degenerated to the

'whole language" approach. In other words, she didn't like to work with workbooks, but somehow or other is reading at a second

grade level in spite of no formal teaching.

Interestingly, as I more or less compulsively feel that I ought to go over phonics with her (after all, I paid $25O for the materials), she doesn't mind it so much now that it isn't all a mystery to her. Just so I don't insist on drilling workbooks. She writes completely phoneticaliy, and quite profusely. I am giving her a free hand in this for now, but have recently ordered the book Spellbound.

I haven't decided ifI can be patient enough to let her correct her own spelling.

My older daughter is an excellent reader, and writes well, but she also spells many words incorrectly. I never corrected her papers, but was troubled that she really wasn't noticing, and wouldnt correct herself. John Holt wrote that in one class he offered to correct spelltng ifthe students requested it. He didn't get much response from that. but I made the same offer, and got a similar response. I have lately compromised by adding one step to her reportwriting process. She turns in the lirst draft and I serve as editor. We go over it, with the understanding that I will circle misspelled words, and write question marks where an idea doesn't seem clear to me. It gives her an opportunity to decide if she is presenting the information in exactly the way that she wants to. It works out very well; since it isn't intended as linal work, she doesn't feel that I'm attacking her. It seems to help that I am serving as an editor, just like a professional author has, rather than as an imperialistic teacher.

Growing Without Schooling #75

I

Hospitals Can Learn Fl"om

Day Farenga:

Fortunately for us, our daughter Alison's bout of H-Flu Meningids ended with her healthy recovery. Her abilities appear to be normal and back on track, and I am happy to report that a great relationship developed between our family and the hospital stafL I kept thinking of the stories Narrcy Wallace and Mary Maher had written tn GWS #57 about feeling helpless when their children were in the hospital, and being forced to surrender to the doctor's expertise. I feel very luc$ that I felt so much in control of the course of Alison's hospital stay.

From the start, my observations were

taken seriously, as information that

equaled the tests and doctors' observations in importanc-e. The doctors and nurses had their patient's health as their prima4r concem, of course, but to improve her health they did not rely solely on their own equipment and knowledge, but counted on my close observations, my breastfeeding her, and Pat's and my constant, diligent care ofher.

At one juncture, when Alison's condiUon had improved enormously, a CAT scan showed a small puddle of fluid still on her brain. The question was whether or not the fluid was infected. My opinion that Alison's health and physical abilities were improving by the hour was considered good evidence that the fluid was benign and would simply reabsorb. I loved that response: the results ofthe CAT scan were overmled by a mother's observation.

Alison had not been able to nurse for the first three days in the hospital, so my milk supply began to diminish even though I was pumping regularly. The ICU nurse, upon hearing me mention this, ordered the "House Breastfeeding Tray' for me. I was given breakfast, lunch, and dinner for two weeks and told to order lots ofjuices and vegetables. The nurse explained, 'We feed you, you feed the baby."

By Day 6, however, my body was in shock from stress and lack ofsleep, and Alison's suckle was still not very strong, so my milk was practically gone. The hospital's first response was to give her supplemental bottles (with my permission), but when Alison rejected them I was given a cot and encouraged to settle in and rest for the next eight days o[ Alison's treatment. They even allowed Alison to sleep in the cot with me. Within fort5r-eight hours, my milk was overflowing, and Alison

improved dramatically.

Pat and I chose (is there reallv a choice

in these matters?) to have one of ris with her at all times, to rock, feed, play with and console her, to give her conslstency in this !t!ange, frightening, and sometimes painful world. Some children's parents were not able to be with them all the time. and I

saw that the hospital stalT made it their job to rock and hold these children. There were volunteer "grandmothers' who came in every dayJust to rock the children. Once, when Alison was still in ICU, I came in one morning to find a doctor holding her while talking to the nurses about another case.

That was a nice discovery.

I am grateful to all who have gone this way before me and pushed for change - all

Growing Without Schooling #75

who fought to be allowed to stay overnight with their children, to be kept informed of medical possibilities and allowed to make choices, to be allowed to nurse their children back to health. I reallv felt that the hospital stalT and our family worked together as a team to save Alison and restore her health. Hospitals can leam.

Another Single Parent's Arrangements Lori Delagrammatikas oJ California turites: I am writing to reply to Roni I-aIiberte's letter in GWS #73 ["Struggling as a Single Parent'|. Not two months ago, I was in the same position - a single mother doing daycare in order to stay home with her son, not making enough money to do any "enrichment' type activities or even to keep up with the bills, and facing the prospect ofhaving to send my son offto school in the fall. Things were grim.

I thought about trying other home businesses, but I didn't have enough money to keep us afloat until they started paying off. So, I decided to rethink how I ran my daycare business. In California, you can get a license to care for six children or a license to care for twelve children with an aide. Doing some arithmetic, I figured that by hiring an aide at minimum wage and increasing the number of children I care for to twelve, I could increase my income by nearly $5OO a month (minus the additional operating costs). This profit includes allowing my aide to bring her son with her to work. I feel I'm underpaying her but she is really pleased with the arrangement. We are still building the business butwe are hoping to be able to hire a college student next fall to come in a couple of hours a day. This will allow me to spend some one-on-one time with my son and will give my aide a real lunch hour.

As with all aspects of being a single parent, this isn't a perfect situation. Daycare means working twelve to thirteen hours a day, which leaves little time and energ/ for oneself. It also means my son spends his days with babies and toddlers.

While this isn't bad in and of itsell I would rather he had more peer interaction. I haven't really come up with a solution to that one. And. of course. I'm still not making a great deal of money. However, for the moment, this plan is working for us.

Balancing Needs of Older and Younger Children Katharhe Houk turote in the last issue abut unrking with oLd.er children with little ones anound.. Here's anotler

oJ GWS

Ietter on tle same toprb thct Susan Richman utrote in the Spring 199O issue oJ

the PENNSYLVANIA HOMESCHOOIERS newsletter:

I have to admit that it can be verv trying and downright hard to work ai-ound little ones at times. And some babies and toddlers are easier than others - some fit in on your lap and hardly peep, or they play quietly on blankets on the floor nearby, while others only want to rip any'big kid's' book from your hand or have you all to themselves ('rubt f.tot Read onlv to MEl"

even my lovely sweet Hannah at two and a

half says, pleadingly...). I know that when Hannah is down for a nap (and I manage to stay awake while getttng her a nap, and acfually make it back downstairs during that nap to be with my older ones) it seems that an incredible calm comes over ME and working with the older kids is so pleasant and peaceful and EASY. No leaning over a squirrning baby, no dropping pencils or books or science equipment and not being able to pick them up because a toddler is on my lap. It's nice. Doesn't happen all that often. but I treasure those times.

At the other times, when Hannah is up and wanting to be doing what everyone else is doing, old workbooks sometimes help.

Hannah today announced, when she saw me helping Molly with her math, that SIIE would do her math work, too. She knows where we kecp "her'workbooks - low down where she can reach them easilv. She owns a stack of ancient phonics books with (to her) charming pictures of baby animals all through them, that we found one time second hand. She scribbles away happily in them, sometimes pausing to seriously ask me, 'What should I do on this page, Mommy?' Many families find, even if they aren't partcularly into workbooks and their older children hate them. that the littlest ones think they are wonderful, a sort of sign that they are big too.

We also let Hannah have a toy microscope whenever we use the big one, and she's thrilled with that. She sometimes likes to listen to tapes, and feels like a "big grl" to use headphones, which keeps things quieter for the rest of us. I sometimes set her up at the sink with water and unbreakable dishes, and she scrubs away busily. Sometimes we dump Scrabble letters all over the floor for her to sift through - today she actually very carefully put them onto a little balance scale I let her use. The older ones enjoy reading to Hannah, and Hannah is usually up for the love and attention of that - and if I remember to, I mark down 'oral reading" for the older ones in my log. As often as possible she is right

in the thick of things, taking

part as best she can. And just very gradually she'll fall right in with what the rest of us are doing and we'll wonder where the toddler went.

One mother mentioned at a seminar recently that she felt that our older ones grow by realizing that they need to be responsible for keeping up with their work even while we are temporarily out of the room tending to littler ones. It is a time for them to learn some independent study skills and for them to begin weaning themselves from needing Mom always nearby to give instant feedback or encouragement or

directives.

I also feel that the younger ones generally should gradually learn to respect your time with the older ones, or at least come to expect it as the way the world is, just how things are done on most days.

Toddlers do love a sense ofroutine, and this can be one of them. We just have to be sure that there ls something positive in it for them, too - times with activities they can take part in readily, supplies for them that they can get out themselves, attention in little ways throughout the time spent working with the older ones. Many of us have been amazed at how much our

10 younger ones have picked up informally from overhearing lessons and discussions with older siblings. In many ways it's a perfect learning set-up - there is no prâ&#x201A;Źssure on them to perform or understand, but the info is there for them to accept or not.

It's surprising how often they just soak it

all in.

Help for Perfectionist Christine Willad (CN wrLtes: This is in response to the letter about perfectionlsm in GWS #74 ['Perfecdonism Becrmes Crippling"l. I have had a similar behavioral problem with my daughter, now 7 L / 2, although I do not think in her case it is a result of perfectionism so much as her own dramatic, over-reactive Personality and our somewhat limited social

situation.

She seems to have an ideal, almost Platonic image of how the universe ought to work out, and when it doesn't, no compromise is possible. Also, she often reacts violently to any suggestion from me. I read stories of mothers sitting down and doing workbooks or simple projects with their children and wonder what that would be like. Sounds nice.

However, I'm able rlg;ht now to be slightly optimlstic, as we seem to be in remission right now. That's the first polnt I'd like to make: that this comes and goes in intensity for us, as it also seems to for you. I'd say keep track of the better times and remember them during the bad times. I 'really don't think these children's learning is as limited by their personalities as it

seems it must be. My daughter seems to be doing fine and, desplte the IIts and starts' it sounds as ifyour child ls, too.

I don't think you should worry that a tutor would emphaslze the problems you are having in schooling her at home' It's not you who are dissatisfled with her progress, it's her. Asyou note, she gets along with everyone better than she does with you. My daughter often finds me the most severely lacliiing human on earth. It's hard to lind other people who can recog-

nize herunusual energy, butwe have found two, a drama coach and avoice teacher.

She bene{its as much from a positive relationship with them as she does from

their advice and expertise.

We had a piano teacherwho lasted eleven minutes, and have been in many

situations in which she Just found herself

on the wrong side of everyone. Her relations with the world are some$mes dubious and I do feel I have to be a little

careful.

I am a single parent and we have no nearby relatives, so there are no other adults tn her life to help her learn how to moderate relationships. It's my theory that in establishing themselves as individuals, some children Just do it with a lot more drama and distress than others.

Incidentally, we discovered that she really did enjoy drama, and she has appeared in eight or nine shows in the past two years. She loves it and tt does provide some kind of outlet for her, something that can be her own, I've also observed that she learns in leaps, rather than gradually. So if she spends five minutes on piano one day, it

usually seems that the next time she plays, she is much more lmproved than one would have guessed.

Try not to be too discouraged. I write that for myself as well as for you. I see this as a challenge this child will have to learn to live wittr, and I must be very patient. You already know there ts little you can do that will make any difference. Try the school situation with an open mind. Growing up ls tougher for some than for others and she needs whatever help and supPort you can g)ve and that she will accePt.

Teacher as Actor?

A reader writes: When I was teaching elementary school music, I was once told by the principal that I had to put on a characterwhen teaching, that I couldn't be myself in-class, that I had to be more enthusiastic. What a tremendous actor I would have to have been to do thatt If I did as suggested, I would alwavs have had to be 'on," nerrer relaxed, always somebody else. What if the students cauAht me offAuard and found out I was pre6nding, lying really? I ligured I would end up evin more exhausted than I already *"r d"v'" end, and for what?

"t

[SS:l This reminds me of a Passage in the revised edition of John Holt's Hour Children FaiI:

Early in our work together Bill Hull

once said to me, 'We've got to be inter-

changeable before this class.' In other words, we mustn't appear to them as the Bill Hull or John Holt we are, but only as whatever kind of teacher we decide, in our private talks, we will be. We soon learned that this could not be done' We were very different people - in some ways, more different than even we knew at the time and we could not pretend tobe the same unless we pretended to be nobodY. But a humanbeing Pretending to be nobody is a very frightening th!ng._...

Many of the adults who hide themselves from children, pretending to be some idealized notion of 'Teacher," might well say they do this in order to make themselves consistent and predictable to the children. The real me, they might say' is capricious, moody, up one day and down the next. It's too hard for the children to have to deal with that changeable, unpredtctable real person. So lnstead, I will give them an invented, rule-following, and therefore wholly predictable person. And it works exactly backwards. Children, unless they are very unluclcy, and llve at home wtth adults pretending to be model Parents (which may be a growing trend), are used to living with real, capricious, up-one-dayand-down-the-next adults - and with their sharpness ofobservation and keenness of

mind, they Learn

lau

to

predict these

stange huge creahres, and to read all their

confusing signs. They know the complicated ernotional terrain of the adults they live with as well as they know their room, their home, their baclryard or street. But trying to deal lrith adults who have tried to

turn themselves into some kind of machine is like trying to find your way in a dense fog, or like being blind' The terrain is there, butyou can't see it.

Growing Without Schooling #75

Watchirg Children Learn Needs

to Learn

Programming

People oJten ask wletler child.ren wln are leaning outsid.e oJ schml wiIL

ever chrcse to learn something tl'o,t theA were not inttialtg drawn to or interested in- A letter Jrom Gusen Meehan ['Iot:es Graphic Desigrl " clVS #731 addresses this

question usell:

Patrick had become very depressed

about his need for programming expertise on the computer. He had been learning the Basic language, but he found out that that was not appropriate for what he wants to do (design video games). One of the profes-

sors from the Electrical Engineering Department at the University of Central Florida is a frlend of ours, and he came out to the house and spent hours with Patrick diagnosing his current level ofexpertise and helping him understand why he needs to develop in some tedious, but necessar5r, areas (namely, matJr through Calculus, physics, etc.) He also suggested strongly that Pat learn the'C'programming language.

So now Pat is panting to get a tutor who will teach him "C." Pat has wonderful ideas for plots,

graphics, characters. His mind bubbles with very sophisticated fantasy which, when compared to what is available on the market already, is very saleable. But he must learn all the technical tedium to put it together. And, above all else, he must somehow make adults believe that a young person could accomplish all this. But at least he is facing the facts and no longer expecting the nuts and bolts to materialize out of thin air.

Homeschooling has proven such a boon to Pat. He is all smiles and enthusiasm now as compared to the sad, wilted, depressed, suicidal person of last year.

Interested

in Braille

Susan l-elshbo (CA) writes:

Recently I went on a tour of a Braille Institute in Santa Barbara. Before this I didn't know of the many things that the blind can learn to do for themselves. On the tour one of the places we stopped was a room for clay working. Some of the

projects there were really nice, like there

were these beautifullv crafted cats. One of my favorite parts of the tour was seeing (and feeling) how the blind tell time.

Agnes Lelstico, Susan's mother, adds:

The tour sparked an almost passionate chord in Susan. Prior to lt she had no thoughts or feelings one way or the other regarding the blind. Now she can't seem to leam enough. She has taught herself

Braille from the handout she was given on the tour and even wrote part of heithank you note to the tour g;uide in Braille.

Imagine her delight when she received a letter in Braille from the tour guide in returnl This shows the importance of letting our youngsters have a variety of experiences. Never in my wildest imagina-

Growing Without Schooling #75

tion would I have thought she would have more than a mere passing interest in

Braille.

Who

is

Responsible?

Sha,nnon Stoneg

[lV]

r-urites:

The exchange between Susannah and

Kim Kopel about the extent of kids' responsibility for education ['Overcoming Fear of Math,'GWS #721 was interesting to me since weVe been wrestling with that

ourselves. I personally feel more comfortable giving kids the majority of the responsibili\r for leaming basic skills. I really hate the role of the pusher and prodder, and I hate encountering resistance from a bored, resentful child. Other homeschool moms and I have talked about how mad we feel when our kids resist spending even the comparatively short time on, say, math practice, that we ask them to, when if they were in school they'd be subjected to hours of the stuff. When I got to a certain Ievel of frustration about this. I felt like abandoning the whole idea of teaching. I decided I would just be there to answer questions and help when asked.

This would no doubt be an ideal wav to homeschool, and it comes closer to the scenes John Holt and Ivan Illich imagine as ideal leaming environments.

But alas, in Tennessee homeschool kids must take a standardized test at the end ofsecond and fifth grade (and other grades too - about every two or three years).

If you don't pass, whatever that means, you have one year to catch up, and then ifyou still don't pass, you have to go to school.

My son Will wants to have the freedom to go to school or not, as he chooses, so he wants to pass the fifth grade test. He is in third grade now. Whenwe discussed the idea of his being totally responsible for his own learning, we both came to the realization that it is too much to ask of a third grader to plot out a course of study for the next three years that would ensure that he would cover everything he needed to know to be at fifth grade level in the spring of '92.

So we solved the problem like this. I am responsible for acquiring books and materials. I also make daily assignments for him on a big calendar. (l do it at the beginning of the month, for the whole month). It's his job to actually do the assignments - to plan his day so that he has time to do them. If he's gone all day at a friend's house, he makes it up the next day.

He even chooses to read all day, some days, and put off the assignments until the next day. That's OK. So, no more nagging from me, but he's not burdened with lOO0/o of the responsibiligr - yet. As in everything else, as he grows, his responsibility for how he deals with the bureaucracv and the rules of the school system will grow until it's totally his problem, not mine.

Right now, I only make assignments in writng and math. He can read very well, and he reads a lot, so I assume he Aets a lot of general knowledge about the oGer subjects from reading, TV, conversation, etc. But his dad is bugging us about doing more history and such. I was reassured by the Colfaxei' book, Homesctvnltng Jor '

ErceLetrce. They used historical novels and primary souroes mainly, with only a little bit of textbook stuff, which is what we've been doing, But even more reassuring, they feel that'the basics, combined with a rich mix of special activities,

projects, and general reading, should provide almost any child with more than enough... well into the tecnageyears."

Some homeschoolers here teach with the test very much in mind. They use the same textbooks that are used in the local school for grâ&#x201A;Źrmnrar, science, etc. The textbooks look as boring as I remember them being, and they teach the same concepts in lifth grade that they do in third grade, only a little more so. The books seem to teach words without anv context or clear explanation of the reality behind the terminology. How can a g year old appreciate the fine distinctions between ordinary weight and something called "mass"? Will there be a question on the test where you have to match up the word 'mass'with a plausible definition? Would a child who had read a text like the ones the school uses, his eyes glazing over no doubt, have a better chance of guessing right than a child who hasn't, but who plays with marbles a lo

t?

I'm not sure at all where my responsi-

bility lies - to help Will pass the test, or to help him learn. Is it rcally very likely that a reasonably well-read and intelligent child would fail the test? My instinct is that it's very unlikely that Will would lail, but I would like to be able to see a sample of the test to be sure. Unfortunately, Tennessee now uses a unique test that is used only in Tennessee, so you can't order test preparation rnaterials keyed to it. They did this precisely to stop teachers from "teaching to the test." I don't yet know if it's possible to acquire a sample test - this is the lirst year of this test.

I really wish we could get rid of these oppressive tests, but it seems unlikely - I can see how people who aren't homeschoolers might think they were necessary. I didn't resent the tests at lirst, but now I see what an insidious pall they cast over our homeschool efforts. I guess they are meant to insure accountability, but ironically the end result is that the learners have less responsibility and hence

accountability for their own learning, even while school olllcials busilv endorse teaching kids to be responsible.

Strangely, at the junior high here, kids about 12-l6years old are thrown back on their owrr râ&#x201A;Źsources when it comes to dealing with some prett5r adult issues; substance abuse, sex, death, guns, etc. The school oflicials resolutely avoid these reallife issues, except to issue a bland, 'Just say no.' In other words. kids themselves are responsible for dealing with these problems when they come up. And they shouldn't tre loOo/o responsible here; here they need adult guidance, support, and protection. But they mostly don't get it.

However, they could be almost lo@/o responsible for their own learning at this age, their leaming of what we usually think of as academic skills. But here the bureaucrats are quite willing to step in and take over completely, dictating the

12

minutiae of what every kid shall learn. So the kids are robbed ofa chance to be responsible in an area where they could probably succeed. And the bureaucrats scold them for not being responsible about dmgs and sex. How can they, if they haven't practiced by being responsible for something like what books they'll read?

This issue of who is responsible for what, atwhat age, is indeed a rich area for speculaflon - thanks for bringtng it up.

More on Friendships With Adults From Erin

Md

(IN):

My friendships with adults lsee GWS

#741 are very similar to my friendships with friends my ou/n age. We talk about the same things and go out and do the same things. Of course my friendships with adults vaqr from friend to friend, Just as they do with friends my own age.

The diflerences that there are between

my friendships with adults and my friendships with other teenagers are really very small. Since a lot of mv adult friends are also friends of my motirer's, I would probably hesitate to t - them something I didn't want Mom to hear about. The other main difference is that since the majority of my teenage friends go to public school, and none of mv homeschooled friends is a local phone cail away, it's nice to have friends who are homeschooling moms and are home during the day, so I can call them

orwalk down the street to see them. When want to go somewhere we have free access to a car and don't have to wait for

we

her parents to get home from the store to ask if she can come borrow the car to pick

meupl I can't think of any problems I would discuss with an adult and not a teenager or vice-versa, but there are nrany I would discuss with both just to get a different outlook on it. The teenager could relate to it and say, 'Yeah, I know, I can't decide what to do about that eitl,er." The adult could relate to it and say, 'Yeah, I went through that too and here's how I solved it."

I work for the local communit5l theater, sometimes as much as ten or even fourteen hours a day on some weeks, and

since it's run by adults, I work with adults a lot. (A lot of the shows are crewed by teenagers.) Because we're all working together for the same goal (a decent show), a lot of

socializing comes ln while we're trying to come up with answers to dillerent problems that need to be solved before a show

can oPen. Because I have close relationships with the people there, they often think of me whenever they need help or just company on a slow day. We have a costume shop at the theater and one day a few weeks ago, the asslstant manager called me â&#x201A;Źrnd asked me if I could come in and work with her for a couple of hours that day, which I've done several times before. We had a great Ume and were extremely busy, so it was a good thing I was there because it was too much work for one person. But what really made my day was when, as we were closing up the shop, Helen said, "Well, Erin, I'm so glad you were here todayl I didn't think I'd really need you to work. I Just wanted to have you here to keep me

companyl' It was really nice to know that she wanted me there as a friend, notJust as an extra stalf member.

I have an easygoing relationship with all of my adult friends, and all of my mother's friends, so I got a real lauglr over a letter printed in a child-care section ofa magazine from a mother who was upset because her teenage daughter talked to her mother's friends just the way she talked to friends her own age. The mother wanted to know how to teach her daughter to have

"proper respect for her elders'l

Wants

to Save the Trees

Elven Nagel

oJ Washington sent us a copg oJ a "Sante tle Trees Ctnln Letter" that he created. It reads, 'Wite to someone irt the govemment tola can lelp sanse tle tees. Copg this letter and. setd it to tun or nare people,' We asked Ehren to teII us

abut hou tle choinletter urorks hou he got tlw ideaJor Il, taw he eru;istons otlers respond@ to X - ottd, abut law he more

got brterested in the need to He replied:

sanse

tle

trees.

I wanted to make the chain letter short so itwould be easier to copy and use less paper. Maybe some GWS kids would like to do it. I think each person will have a different idea about who to write to in the government and what to say. I found out who to write to from our public library.

Here is what I wrote to our Congressrnzrn: 'Dear Rep. Swift, If we keep cutting down trees they could become extinct. I know that trees have a lot of uses, like paper that I amwriting on now, and lumber, and I am sure there are more. A lot of paper is thrown away that could be recycled. I have seen howwhen they cut down trees a lot are left to rot. I hope you will work hard to save

our forests.'

Wherever I have gone with my mom and dad in British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon I have seen lots of brown mountains because all the trees were cut down. I read that a third of the Amazon raln forest has been cut down. Trecs make oxygen and help produce rain, and they are important for other things too. I took part

in another chain letter and thafs what this one. Besides this chain letter, I helped plant trees along the gave me the idea for

street by my house and I look for ways to save paper and wood.

[SS:l The April l99O lssue of Sanctuarg, the Journal of the Massachusetts Audubon Society (South Great Road, Lincoln MA 01773; 6 l7-259-9500), is com-

pletely devoted to stories of children working to help the environment. These are wonderful stories, not only about environmental work, but about the competence and ingenuity of children. One story is specilically about children who worked to save the trees. I phoned the Audubon Society and leamed that single copies of that lssue are available for $ I each plus 650 postage ($ ]'25 postage for 2 copies).

Children and Money More Jrom Velbtd.a Mitchell: Recently I tossed out the very detailed work-and-payment system that I had used

with the children. It seemed like if I asked a chtld to do the smallest thing, I would hear, "It's not my job." And I felt that they were becomlng obsessed with making money, and with what various Jobs were worth. I had worked out a way for them to earn money to pay for basic needs such as shoes, underwear, and school supplies, and to have money for spending and even longterm savings. Somehow the results were children who resented spending money for things they needed, and when they had spending money it would obsess them until they spent it. I was constantly being plagued to go to the discount store, and when I asked why, they didn't even know, theyJust wanted to ffnd something to spend money on.

Nancy Wallace's letter about money matters tn GWS #7O got me thinking. Her kids didn't get paid for doing work, received ttrings when they asked (within reason, so it seems), and yet sfill were growing up with a responsible attitude about money, and a desire to help pay for some of their activities. Well, that's how I was raisedl There were six children, and we never had an allowance, or got paid for work. When we wanted to go to a movie, or buy new shoes, we asked, and negotiated.

As soon as we were old enough we took on

babysitting and various other part-time jobs. We continued to work our way through school, and even helped each other out financially at various times of need. We have all gone on to be responsible adults

with (I think) fairly healthy attitudes

about money.

I would like to get a kld business going with my children, to generate some spending money which otherwise Just wouldn't be there. I still don't know whether I'll end up giving a small allowance or not. I do remember disliking having to ask for everytJring, as a child.

If my letter has a message, lt is for a family to keep experimenting until they find a system they feel good about. After you have put a great deal ofellort into a program, it is hard to admit it isn't meeting the goals you had hoped for and set it aside.

Here are t.tn stories Jrom tle April/ May issue oJ the NOKITIERN CAIIFORNIA HOMECHOOL ASSOCIATION News about kids earnbtg their ousn raneV: FYom Harrison Hamill:

I got my lirst Job around my eighth birthday. I was volunteering at a soup kitchen where homeless people could come and get a hot shower or they could wash their clothes or they could get a hot breakfast or they could just sit and watch TV. This was in a church in our neighborhood.

When the pastor saw how hard I was working he offered me ajob as the groundskeeper. I accepted theJob and I do lt once a week. I mow the lawn and rake the leaves and that kind of stuff. I get paid $3 l.5O at the end of every month.

Our whole family has a job doing all kinds of stuff at a place where musicians play. We do gardening and we help mail calendars that tell you what kind of music is going to be playing there. Instead of paying us money they give us a free pass so we can go to any of the shows for free.

Growing Wthout Schooling #75

l3 I also have ajob teaching banjo lessons to a 6-year-old homeschooler. I give him a half-an-hour lesson for three dollars every week.

I saved up my money and bought a guitar last year and now I pay for my own glritar lessons. Now I am saving up my money so I can go to banjo camp in Colorado next summer.

And Jrom Gretchen PJeil: Every Friday for six weeks we sat ln

my living room, poring over wool and books, splashing each other as we worked to clean the wool. This was my spinning class; the class I teach. TWo adults and live kids (not a constant by any meansl) come to learn to produce hand-spun yarn. I haul out samples of my hand-spun, samples of fiber, and odd equipment.

My maJor source of income is these classes, but I don't just teach for money. I teach simply because someone will listen to my talk of wool. I teach simply because I LOVE spinning and would like to share the joy of itl The profit that's left after wool is bought and lessons learned I save to go to Convergence, the national fiber conference.

This is one way for kids to make money, by teaching what they know. The students don't always have to be younger than the teacher.

First Days Out in the Real World Jerry MbXz,

u.rho

hasjust fugun to

telp tomeschd his niece,

ten-gear-old.

JeniJer Goldmon" sent us a report Jenlfer wrote abut a trip she and. Jerry t@k to tle Natrlonal Coalition oJ Alternative Communtty Schools co4feretrce near Washingtorg DC. Jerry writes that there usere orser fu)entA alterrtatitse schools ond. a dozen homeschrcl Jotnilies at tte conJerenre, and. tJaat

tle W marked the bginnhg

oJ

Jenlfer's homeschnling. Flom Jenifer's report:

This is the kind of thing that is very hard to describe, but I felt that I was taking in a lot of information. I felt like I learned a lot. The flrst night, one of the first things that I did was help people set up the conference store. One of the adults came up to Jerry and was talking to him, and then asked me if I wanted to help out with the store.

I priced the items in the store, and then set it up, and sold them. I went around looking for some other kids to help with the store. It turned out I found two other kids to help.... Another thing that I had to do was tell Josh the things that we were running out ofthat we needed to order.

Josh was ttre adult who was in charge of the store (he is l7). He wasn't always around, but he'd stop by every once in a while to pick up t}te cash box and to pack the stuff uP.

Some of the people questioned the prices, especially since we had to take the tags offthe things that had been bought before and raise the prices a little bit. We had to explain to them that we had to make a profit, and we certainly didn't want to take a loss, and that the'money was going to the Coalition.

Growing Without Schooling #75

While running the store I made a lot of new friends and met a lot of new people. ...On the second day of the conference we went into Washington, DC. We were going to see our Congressmen to tell them about alternaUve education, and to see museums. Firstwe went to a couple of Senators' oflices. They weren't in, but we left them information. From Senator Moynihan's ollice we got passes to go into the Senate, which is one of the places where they make all the laws. It turned out that what was going on wasn't very important, but it was worth it just to see where it naPPens.

...I really enjoyed this trip. It gave me a chance to feel what it was like to have freedom. To me, freedom means a chance to make your own decisions. It's not Just that you have to respect other people's rights. Even without freedom you have to respect other people's rights. But I felt that my right to make decisions was being respected also.

The kids at the conference seemed to be more like me, and I was able to get along with them. Whenever I go to other places, kids are always so concerned about

fashion, and I have to look exactly right, or I don't fit in. Here, I still wanted to look good, but I felt that I didn't have to be so worried about whether I looked perfect or not. I felt that we were treated more f,airlv by adults, and kids were treating each other more fairly. Their whole attitude toward life and what it means was different. They didn't believe in violence. They didn't exclude other kids because of their race or color. Their overall view seemed a lot kinder and better.

Planned and Unplanned Time Marg Gor'rcannus oJNeu York writes: Alexandra (4) seems to need a balance between planned activities and unstructured time. This allows her time to be creative and initiate her own projects, and at the same time organizes them into a sort of time-frame.

Earlier this week she woke me in the morning by announcing that she wanted to write a letter to our friends who recently welcomed a new baby into their family.

She trotted off and returned with drawing paper and a pen, then began asking me which letters made up their names. After wrifing, "l,ee, Mahala, Rachel, and Isaac," she got hung up on the'N' in "Alan." After three attempts she decided that she should rewrite the letter, using tJeis time, at my suggestion, the lined paper I had recently bought her but she had so far resisted using.

This time she fairly flew along with those words, recognizing the neatness produced by using the lines as a guide, and then dictated the body of the letter to me and returned her pen to the paper to write, "Love, Alexandra."

In the meantime, a neighbor called asking her to come over to play, but she insisted she had to finish her work first, then really concentrated on completing that letter and her other (required) morning chores (making bed, feeding fish).

When she returned from playing later that aftemoon, she told me she would like

to wash the car. She asked me what she needed and went off to get it. She set herself up and g;ave the car a good scrubbing from the hubcaps up the sides, standing on her bicycle to reach the top.

Her more global concern lately has been the plight of poor and homeless people, introduced to her on her once-

weekly rounds with her dad in our delivery trr.ck (we own a bakery). The backs of supermarkets give her, among other things, the opportuni\r to see people foraging through dumpsters, and they regularly pass the homeless people's camp, as it is called.

One morning last week she began questioning me about poor people - what is poor, what do they eat, where do they wash clothes, â&#x201A;Źrre we poor (we are not exactly of high socioeconomic statusl), etc. So we talked about standards of living in different countries around the world. different lifestyles, living simply. We looked at the map and a fewbooks.

Then she decided that most poor people must not have washing machines.

Perhaps some use the laundromat when they have the money (she has witnessed me counting quarters to try and decide whether to dry on racks or at the laundry), but many must wash by hand, she reasoned.

Abruptly, she disappeared and returned carrying the basin from her play sink in which she wanted to wash all her dress-up and doll clothes. This took almost an hour of sudsing, rinsing, and wringing.

Then she hauled them out to her own kidsized clothesline. and, with doll-sized clothespins, hung them all up.

That evening as the sun was setting she remembered her clothes and, on her own accord, went out, took them a-11 down, brought them in and put them away in their boxes, the whole while exclaiming, 'What a lot of laundry I have to dol" (decidcdly echoing my often-uttered statement).

All this doesn't mean that she never needs urging to complete something she has started or help with picking up. She is a normal kid, or shall I say human? Adults have those same problems, IVe noticed all too well. It's just that we lind with a rhythm to our days and weeks, and a balance of the planned arrd unplanned, she - and we - are able to feel freedom without floundering for lack of direction.

Writing Group Studies Racial Prejudice Debra Menta oJ New York writes:

This past fall three young people and I got together every Thursday evening to write. At first I told them what to write or gave them topics, but as theyear has progressed this has not been necessary.

After reading two books, F-ree to Write

by Roy Peter Clark and The Writing Project

by Hawey Daniels and Stwen Zemelman, I realized some things I was doing right and some things I was doing wrong. The authors of ?he Writiry Project point out how important lt is for the teacher and studcnt to write together. If there is someone oldcr who is not writing but just giving orders, it makes the others feel threatened and inferior. When I was not writing with the group they depended on me for ideas and corrections, but when I startcd writing

t4 with them they started to take responsibility for their own work and helped one another with spelling and grammar. As a result, everyone's wrifing skills are improving and the young writers are realizing that they have opinions that count. They have also realized that thev can communicate to others through wriiing.

Out of this class grew a project tJrat had a profound effect on all ofus. At the end ofJanuary we decided to focus on black history. When I asked if anyone knewwhat

the word "discriminate" meant, the chil-

dren at lirst agreed that it meant 'to describe.'Then they started to read books.

Every week each person read a different book on a famous Afro-American person.

All together, they read books on George Washington Carver, Benjamin O. Davis, Phyllis Wheatley, Harriet T\rbman, Winnie Mandela, Sojourner Thrth, and Martin Luther King. They soon realized that

discrimination meant to treat someone differently because of their color.

The climax of this unit sfudv came when we invited a close Afro-A-merican friend of mine to come to our gathering for an interview. Pat told us what it was like to grow up in a Pittsburg! ghetto in the'SOs and '6Os. She also told us that her dream was to become an airline stewardess but she could not go to the classes because she was black. This was very enlightening to all of us. There were also four other adults here the night Patwas here, and they also asked her questions. All ofus carne away from this experience with a greater understanding of the evlls of preJudice and how it ruins lives.

Watching Cltildren Leam continrtes on

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How Adults Learn Learning Algebra More Jrom Carole Skinner: Part of my winter days were spent learning algebra (see Kim Jeffrey's 'Relearning Algebra," cWS #74). The same friend who convinced me that my math phobia need not be permanent also offered free phone tutoring. I have found my own attitude towards leaming greatly improved since becoming a homeschooling Mom. Although I was a high school dropout, this does not at all reduce my conlidence or determlnation to continue homeschooling my four youngest children. If I should lind myselfi, at some stage, incapable of assisting them, the chances are that their fatherwill be able to do so, and if he is not able, then we'll seek outside help.

Writing for Local Newspaper Cindg Grieshafur

oJ

Indiano. writes:

Regarding getting information and self-teachtng: About three years ago I decided I wanted to do some freelance writing. I really wanted a back-up method of making some money in case something should ever happen to my husband. I had done some writing for our state I-a kche League newsletter, and had edited the memory book for my high school reunion (a lot of funl). I decided to take a correspondence course for writing non-llction. I paid for the course and dtd about three lessons, then answered an advertisement in our local newspaper for correspondents. To my surprise I was asked to write for the newspaPer'

I did not finish the correspondence course because I didn't ltke being graded, but I do use the books that came with the course. I hope I remember this when my own children stgn up for a course and don't want to finishl I have had about twelve articles published in the newspaper. I thLink it is helpful for my children to see my writing experiences, too. One day David was watching me as I wrote an article. I could tell he was bored as I was reading through some notes and consulting the dictionary. I asked him what he was thinking. "I'm waiting for you to write," he said. I was glad to have an occasion to show him that reading and research are part ofwriting.

Playing Around With Physics ISS;J lrr olways lor:ed thts story jrom Surely You're Joking, Mr, Feynman, bcause X telps me remember how odul* learn and. law we should- approach our unrk. Fegrunan is writittg abuthis early dags os aproJessor oJ phgsics:

,..Then I had another thought: Physics disgu.sts me a little bit now, but I used to e4iog doing physics. Why did I enjoy it? I used to p&zy with it.... When I was in high school, I'd see water running out of a faucet growing narrower, and wonder if I could figure out what determines that curve. I found it was rather easy to do. I didn't have to do it; it wasn't important for the future of science; somebody else had already done lt. That didn't make any difference: I'd invent things and play with things for my own entertainment.

So I got this new attitude.... Within a week I was in the caGteria and some guy, fmling around, throws a plate ln the air. As the plate went up in the alr I saw it wobble, and I notlced the red medallion of Cornell on the plate going around. It was pretty obvious to me that the medallion went around faster than the wobbling.

I had nothing to do, so I start to Iigure out the motion of the rotating plate. I discover that when the angle is very slight, the medallion rotates twice as fiast as the wobble rate two to onel It came out of a complicated equationl Then I thought, 'Is there some way I can see ln a more fundamental way, by looking at the forces or the dynamics, why it's two to

one?I don't remember how I did it, but I ultimately worked out what the motion of the mass particles is, and how all the accelerations balance to make it come out two to one. ..,I went on to work out equations of wobbles. Then I thought about how electron orbits start to move in relativity. Then there's the Dirac equation in electrodynamics.... It was effortless. It was easy to play with these things.... There wasi no importance to what I was dolng, but ultimately there was. The diagrams and the whole business that I got the Nobel Prlze for came from that piddling around with the wobbling plate.

Growing Without Schooling #75

JOHN HOLT'S BOOK AND MUSIC STORE STORY OF A BILL: Legalizing Homeschooling in Pennsylvania

by Howard Richman #1292ffi.95

:

Believe it or not, I read this 150-page book in practically one sitting, so

,: ,,ri ,*. $ ;$ 3 :/n

engrossed was I and so eager [o find out what happened next. The political process is usually considered to be stodgy and dull, but not this blow-by-blow account of these families' struggle to chanse an erraLic law which

COMMUNITY DREAMS: Ideas for Enriching Neighborhood and Community Life

by Bill Berkowiz #1232$8.95 1.7 l--

.o$o;*S'"il

The less we rely on outside institutions, such as schools, !o meet our needs, the more important our homes, neighborhoods, and local communities become. and the more we must become responsible for making them the sorts of places where we wanl [o liv e. C ommunity Dreams is

allowed some school superintendents to forbid homeschooling.

Back in tlte days when I wrote the legal news for GWS, I watched similar dramas unfold in state after state - Georgia, Virginia, Wisconsin, Florida, then many more within the next year or two. Story of a Bill contains events similar to those in these other states: the disparity of officials' treatment of homeschoolers; the first shy, fumbling efforts of the homeschoolers to contact legislators; the attempts by the educational establishment to prohibit or tightly restrict the option; a court case throwing out the compulsory education statute on grounds of"vagueness"; various drafts of bills, visits, meetings, hearings, bickering, and compromises.

What I particularly liked about this book was that it gave the same detailed picture of the final few hectic weeks of activity - getting the bill voted on by the House and Senate as the session drew to a close, and ttren getting it signed by the governor - as it did to the more leisurely early stages. The local newsletters and newspaper clippings that were my sources for the other states could never go in[o such depth. I only got hints now and then of frantic activity, despair and exhilaration.

It's a little like when acquaintances have a child - there's the long gradual pregnancy, and then silence, and then there's the baby. Those few pivotal days of labor, dramatic and exhausting as they were for the participants, are rarely re-created fully for outsiders, especially because there's a new baby who requires a good deal of attention.

So as much as I already knew about the process, I still could marvel at a lot of chicanery new to me in Srory of a Bill.

For example, because of a rule that says a bill has to be read out loud on tlree different days in the Pa. House of Representatives, the speaker will on, say, October l2,bang the gavel, declare that

a fresh and off-beat collection of small-scale, local-level ideas for enriching community life. "Community" can be defined here

it is October 6, read the bill, bang the gavel, declare that it is October 7... Can you believe the nerve? Or did you know the House can take a Senate bill that passed the Senate, eliminate all the words, substitute an entirely different bill, and keep it going tlrough the process? Or how about the way a Representative, at

reclusive neighborhood grouch bought two!

We have also instituted a neighborhood newsletter, a welcoming committee, weekend work parties, swap meets, and a soup kitchen, all ideas presented in the book. And after enough of these small steps, we are indeed finding that "the upshot of all

(conlinued on next page)

(continued on rcxt page)

in many ways - it could mean neighborhood, town, church, support group, or workplace. Most of these ideas can be set into motion by ordin-ary people with little or no money, technical expertise, or government intervention. They do require a healtlty dose of cooperation, openness, sharing, and vision.

There are thirty-five "dream topics" in the book, and each has its own chapter consisting of anywhere from five to fiftyfive visionary ideas. These encourage tlre reader to dream ofall the possibilities, then to pick and choose the ones that might work best in a given community. Some of the topics are neighborhoods, street life, health, housing, festivals, libraries, parks, churches, workplaces, arts, families, and traditions. The visions are presented in the present tense, and sometimes even in the first person, which makes them seem as if they really are happening somewhere. (In fact, many of them are actuzllly happening in my neighborhood, since I gave copies of this book to several of my neighbors for Christmas a few years ago.)

Most of the ideas seem !o be small and manageable steps in the right direction, and they're all presented with an infectious sense of optimism. Our neighborhood group couldn't resist trying out ttris gem, which we found in the chapter on beautification: "A plant-lover on the block buys a bunch of window boxes wholesale and sells them to neighbon at cost. The block has the greatest profusion of flowers per capita for miles around.

They are dazzlingi symbols of hope in the world. On a more practical level, they fight crime, for somehow it's harder to break and enter when a petunia is looking you in the eye." But instead of buying the window boxes, we hired neighborhood children to build them and paint them n specification. Even the

John Holt'g Book and Muelc Store

2269 Massachusetts Ave.

STORY OF

A BILL, continued

the eleventh hour, out of the clear blue sky, tried to tack a totally irrelevant and controversial amendment about uniforms for public school students onto the hard-fought homeschool bill?

The point is not whether Pennsylvania wound up with the best possible law (I've heard that some families who were virtually ignored by the state under the old law are disgruntled that ttrey now have to deal with portfolios and evaluations). The point is to learn what an incredibly hard job it is to get any law passed at all, when you see all tfre hurdles that must be cleared, and when missing a single hurdle means deattr of tle bill.

Homeschoolers seem !o be extraordinarily willing to spend long hours driving, phoning, and lobbying in order to preserve

their way of life. In fact, I can't figdre out how Howard Richman could have spent all that time scurrying about from one legislalor's office to another and still have time to write down notes for this book!

I hope you share this book with your children, as a lesson in civics that should mean a lot to them. I suspect, they will be pleased to see the central role that children had in the process, as Howard repeatedly gives them credifi "We discovered that we had a powerful tool to use in our legislative effort - the testimony of our own children. From then on, whenever we had an opportunity to speak to the legislators or the press, we called Donna Richoux upon our children."

-

Cambridge, MA02l4O

COMMUNITY DREAMS, continued this activity is that my neighborhood is a place where I feel grounded and secure. I'm known, I'm recognized, I'm accepted.

My neighborhood cloaks me, comforts me, keeps me snug on the inside." More important, it does these things for our children. Learning how to become integrated into, contribute to, and be responsible for their home communities can be one of the most rewarding skills that chil&en learn.

In his poem "Word and Flesh," in the book What Are People Forl, Wendell Beny says, "Make a home. Help to make a community./ Be loyal to what you have made.../....love your neighbors - not the neighbors/you pick out, but the ones you have." In Community Dreatns, Bill Berkowitz says, "The search for the ideal community must not be abandoned. If our mindsets go sour, if we accept the agenda of slash and burn, we hold a ticket to desolation." This book should be an inspiration for those of us who are not willing to abandon the search, but who insist on showing our children how to create a better world starting, one step at a time, closest to where we live.

-Elizabeth

Hamill

objective is to reach a tie with the other person. Orlick writes: When Eskimo youth began cross-cormtry skiing, they skied hard but tried to cross the finish line at the same instant, and Australian Aboriginal children often run races to a tie. uied this one day when I was out running with a friend. It was kind of fun because you're never quite sure of the other's strategy. You run hard and they run har4 they slow down and you slow down. The last 40 or 50 yards, when you are usually cliping along a ahealthy pace, is all anticipation.

How are we going to hit the line at the same instant? Then...

I

THE COOPERATIVE SPORTS AND GAMES BOOK

by Terry Orlick #1234$9.95 We added this book in response to the warm reception our other non+ompetitive games book, Everybody Wins, has received. Everybody Wins is a great compilation of 393 noncompetitive games for young children; "young children" is defined by this author as ages 3-10 though the games can, of course, be adapted to any age. The Cooperative Sports and Games Book contains well over one hundred specific games and covers not only "young children" but teens and adults as well.

Cooperative Sports and Games also covers material than is not in Everybody lTins: Author Terry Orlick, in addition to presenting games to play, offers his insights, rationale, tips, and a bit of the history of non-competitive games. This reflects not only Mr. Orlick's academic background in this field (he belongs to the School of Human Kinetics and Leisure Studies at the University of Ottawa) but also his desire to provide his readers with tools for thinking about and making their own cooperative games.

Orlick offers many useful anecdotes about things he and others observed while inventing and playing these games. He describes how people in North Carolina, Kansas, Monreal and elsewhere devised this way of playing soccer or that way of playing tag, which makes us ttrink that this non-competitive game concept is relatively new. But this book also makes us realize that just as competitive games are part of our human heritage, so too are non-competitive games this is not. some passing fad. The chapter on "Cooperative Games from Other Cultures" is particularly entertaining and eye-opening in this regard. For instance, some cultures play games in which the

-

victory!

When writing about cooperative play with very young children, Orlick notes that the children who do not join in cooperative play are often the ones who could benefit the most from it. What to do? He describes his attempts to cajole these children "to join in the fun" and his discovery that this doesn't work. "What is crystal-clear from such experiences," he writes, "is that you have to take your time with children. Things don't always happen instantaneously. You must fight your own disappointment when change does not occur overnight. It takes time to learn to be cooperative and considerate, particularly when other social forces are pulling in another direction. It trkes time to develop feelings of trust and acceptance, more time for some kids than others."

The chapter on remaking adult games makes us realize how seldom we adults actually practice the old adage we repeat to our children, "It isn't whether you win or lose, but how you play the game." This chapter offers ideas for keeping adults involved and happy while playing games by making them "semicooperative": scoring is optional, rotation between and among team members is encouraged, there are no referees - self-control and peer-control regulate the games, and so on. Making team sports fun, enriching, and a good work-out for adults is probably as important a task as making them this way for children, and Orlick offers many suggestions for us all n ny.

John Holt'e Book and Muslc Store

2269 Massachusetts Ave.

What is most apparent from this book is how, while many of the games are invented or adapted by adults, it is most often children's ingenuity and sense of "playability" tlat makes them work. The chapter that contains eight games created by a group of nine- and ten-year-olds during one half-hour session with the author is a wonderful testament to children's ability to think for and entertain themselves without making the "bang bang you're dead" sort of games most adults would think they would create if left alone to do so. Orlick writes:

All these experiences with yormgsters have convinced me that we must depend more fully on the creative power of children and youth for altematives. With a few simple guidelines they can often think in a way that has been conditioned out or made obacure by blinders in everyday adult life. They have the capacity to contribute so much more than we realize, toward their own learning and development and loward the beuerment of society. Why not give them the oppornrnity to do so?

-

Pat Farenga

IOINING THE LITERACY CLUB

by Frank Smith #1260 $13.50

Frank Smith may be the closest ally we have who is also reaching the traditional educational audience. His J oinin g T Iw Literacy Chtb is as gmd as his other two books 0rat we have been carrying for years (Insult to Intelligence and Reading Without Nonsense).lthas as much common sense and wisdom about reading, writing, and learning in general as the other books do, but it also makes some fascinating poina [hat, aren't in the other books at all.

For example, one essay looks at ttre alphabet in ways I had never before considered, discussing the ways in which it isn't necessary (children don't need to know the alphabet in order to leam to read, for example) and then going on to argue that it has advantages we don't often think about:

Imagine trying to tell someone how to write a word if you could not refer to the alphabet. Could you explain that houseis drawn from left to right wi0r two upright strokes and a crossbar, a circle, a vertical oval open at the top, and so on? How would you explain the difference between there artd their if you could not refer to the letters? Imagine the teverse - someone trying to ask you to identify an unknown word by describing its shape to you. With the alphabet, talking abofi wrinen language is easy....

It is probably easier to talk about written words than about any other object in the visual world. I could not describe a face, or a tree, or an animal, with such precision.

In the same essay, Smith offers the best explanation I have seen of our peculiar English spelling, first arguing that it's not so peculiar after all: Speiling does not desdrve the reputation it often has for being difficult or defective. The system may not represent the sounds of speech precisely, but that is not its main priority. The spellhg of words usually reflects their meaning. Where sound and sense are in conflict - as they often are - sPe[ing respects meaning. This principle explains why words \ke medichc arrd medical both have a c in them - not because c is sometimes pronounced /s/ and sometimes /k/ but because the two words share the same basic meaning. The principal explains the "silent" g in sign and b nbornb - not that the letters are intruding or performing some odd phonological function, but because we would have to explain their sudden reappearance in signature and bornbardif they were taken away.

I find this an extremely sensible and satisfying way to think about spelling and to explain it to children who are struggling to leam its patterns.

In another essay, Smith criticizes what he believes are several misleading metaphors of education, among them the idea that reading is the acquisition of information, and the ideas hat have grown out of our use of the words sti//s (as in "leaming reading skills") and, process (as in "engaged in the writing process"). I found myself sometimes nodding in argreement and at other times arguing back with Smith while reading this short but very compelling essay. Reading Frank Smith's writing is like having an

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interesting discussion with a man who takes nothing for granted.

Finally, Smith's last essay, about why the educational establishment was wrong to think of education as being like psychology, and why it should instead see it as being more like ethnography, is worth the price of the book alone. I won't give the argument away here, but I will say that the moment I finished it I was writing to Frank Smith to tell him how much I appreciated it and hurrying to tell my colleagues how important it was Susannah Sheffer that we add this book o our catalog.

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PENROSE TILES CIPHERS

TO TRAPDOOR

by Martin Gardner #12'14 $13.95

I've been fond of Martin Gardner's work for many years.

We looked forward to his "Brain Teasers" in Discover magazine and have enjoyed his columns in Scientiftc American, so when Penrose Tiles to Trapdoor Ciphers arrived in the office I volunteered to read and evaluate it. Both have been my pleasure.

Mr. Gardner has the rare ability to take that which is mundane and easily overlooked and transform it into something marvelous and magical. He offers us tle opportunity to discover mathematical order in the plane universe using tiles of different shapes and characteristics. I discovered that there are two different kinds of tiles - periodic and non-periodic: A periodic tiling is one on which you can outline a region that tiles the plane by translation, that is, by shifting the position of the region without rotating or reflecting it...

Think of the plane as being covered with transparent paper on which each tile is outlined. Only if the tiling is periodic can you shift the paper, without rotation, !o a new position where all outlines again exactly fit... For instance, a regular hexagon..,. A checkerboard is easily converted to a nonperiodic tiling... simply bisect each squ:ue... altering the orientations to prevent periodicity.

Roger Penrose discovered that the most intriguing pairs of tiles were what are called "darts" and "kites," non-periodic tiles which are constructed of specific angles. How Penrose arrived at the exact angle measurement is not what captured my attention. What made me pay attention to all of this is that the ratio of kites to darts is the same ratio - the "Golden Ratio" that is responsible for many patterns in nature (seeThe Mathe-

nwtical Mystery Tour,reviewed in GWS #69).

Penrose patterns are created by starting with dars and kites around one vertex and then expanding outward. I can "inflate" the basic dart and kite design by adding row after circular row of tiles as many times as I wish. While I was working wirh my dart and kite templates, paper, ruler, and pencils spread out all over the living room floor, I was brought back to my quilting days when I'd lay out the quilting pattern pieces in whatever pattern I had chosen, and then try to get as far away from the pattâ&#x201A;Źrn as possible so I could see the entire project at a glance.

Putting the pattern on paper with tiles made this task so much easier. Using Penrose tiles to create quilt pattems has given me more pattern options than I ever thought I had because I am not limited by periodic tiling, which is what most of quilting

Cambridge, MA02l4O

usually is.

Another section of ttre book deals with wordplay,like palindromes, perverbs (oining the first half of one proverb with the second half of another, as in, "A rolling stone gets the worm"), modified homophonic proverbs ("There's no place like Holmes"), and Mobius Poems.

Other sections deal with checkerboard challenges, pool-ball triangle puzzles, limerick paradoxes, negative number puzzles, ciphers, hyperbolas, graph codes, dice, playing card and chess tricks, and logic puzzles. All topics invite audience participation and encourage the reader by offering easy challenges along with answers.

I do not wish to paint a simplistic picture of this book. It is challenging, especially when Mr. Gardner speals of calculus, square root ratio line measurements, analytical geometry, and

"universalizing" life's cellular space. However, although I know very little about these things, I am able to understand the essence of what he is trying to tell me because he is a very good explainer. I don't need to know tlte "why," only tie "how," and the Ann Barr "how" is what this book is all about.

-

John Holt's Book and Music Store Top Sellers for 1990: Learning All The Time Instead of Education Homeschooling Resource List L,earning Materials List Never Too [,ate Teach Your Own Better Than School Should I Teach My Kids at Home?

Responding to Children's Writing Escape from Childhood This is the Way it Used to Be in the Early 1900's Freedom and Beyond

GWS Back Issues, Indexes, and Binders Back Issues: We snongly urge you to get the back issues of GWS, especially if you plan to take your children out of school.

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Focus: Children Learning from Each Other Learning by Watching Flom Rgon Wtllilrlr"son MN: I'm a quiet person and prefer not to teach other people, but sometimes people leam from me by watching. When they are interested, usually I get intrigued enough to give them tips. This is how I like to learn and how I like to help others. Here's an example: I am lO and I have six little friends who are half my ag;e. I was walldng up from the pond when I saw the little kids walking out of the woods with handfuls of vines. I ran up to them and asked what they were going to do with the vines. They said they didn't know. I asked if I could make a wreath with the vlnes. Thry said yes. So I started to weave a wreath. Pretty soon they wanted to help, so I showed them how to make a vine weave around the other vines.

Then they started to weave. They didn't have much difliculty. They're smart and follow directions well and we all like each other. Sometimes they did have trouble and I helped them correct their mistakes.

We made two wreaths. Wewere happy at how pretty they were and we went up to tJ e house to show everybody else what we'd made.

Easier

to Learn Division

from an Adult

Flom Sara Matrlsky tNJ): One day a few months ago when my frtend David was over here, we were playing school and he taught me the basics

of dividing. I didn't know how to divide and I asked him, so he showed me. But I

don't know if I would rather learn from another child, because a few days later my mother taught me to divide, and it was totally different. David didn't really show me all the steps; heJust went straight to the dividing part, and I didn't really understand it. Maybe he wasJust doing it in his head and not telling me what was in his head.

I told my mom that I wanted to learn more about it, and when she told me it was much easier to understand. She gave me more detail. She made up a whole bunch of easy problems, and then made them harder and harder. But Davld was the one who got me interested in dividtng, so maybe I'd

already learned a ltttle bit from him.

This reminds me of the time I saw a girl at the pool teach another girl how to swim. She kept getting frustrated when the other girl didn't understand; she thought she shouldunderstand. Shewas doing the strokes very fast, and the other gtrl seemed very confused. I think she should have done it slower and tried to help the other girl more, and shown her more details.

When my friend was over today, we were playing ballet class, and I was being the teacher. I know more than she does about ballet, but I didn't really know how to teach it; it's very hard. Finally I tried to say things that my ballet teacher says, like, "You should pretend you're a tree,"

Growing Without Schooling #75

and that helped her.

I taught my brother how to ride a trike. but I don't remember too much

aboutwhat thatwas like because I was 4 and hewas l. I pushed himup and down the street, and he had his feet on the pedals, and every so often he would do it

himself, until linally he learned how So far, IVe had better experiences leaming from

grown-ups. I seem to

For thfs issue's Fircus, ue asked seDeraL chtldren to urite about Learning Jrom other childrert We asked, "Did the other person lcnow Aou uere learning Jrom him or her? Is it easier, or harder, or somehau) di,fferenL to Leam Jrom ataoter Aoung person cts opwsed to learning Jrom ant aduLt? Hotu?"

We also asked to trcar about children teaching other children, either consctouslu or simpty bg letting others uatch andleam Jromttrcir example.

learn things better that way. I'm taking sewing classes from a grown-up and it's much easier than trying to learn sewing from a child. She gives more details and I understand it better.

But it's easier to learn from someone who isJust starting out at something, because people who really know something very well don't always know what to tell you about. They think you should understand what they say. For example, my mother and I are trying to improve our eyes, using the Bates method, and she's

just

starting out, too. She's reading the books and then telling me what she's learned from them. I think that's easier than if she already knew it.

Learning Riding; Teaching Dance Steps

Flom Alison Kein oJ Maryland

I have learned a lot from my riding teacher's daughter. She is 17. Sometimes she is purposely teaching me, like when she's giving me a lesson. Sometimes she's not, like when she's just riding and I sit and watch her. I think it's easier learning

from her than from her mother. I think this is because she can see my point ofview more easily. Her mother knows everything about riding from her past, but she does not ride now. Her daughter rides every day and she knows how it feels to be riding now.

I was in a play last year called "Talent Machine II' and I'm in it again this year

('Talent Machine III").

I know almost all

the dances, and I help teach the kids who don't know the dances so everybody can

learn them faster. It took us kids three

weeks of practicing for our teacher (an adult) to teach us the dances. Once I learned

it I taught it to my friend and it took her

ten minutes to pick it up. I think it mostly has to do with being friends. It just seems to be easier and more fun to teach or to leam from a friend.

Learning Algebra from Friend; Teaching Ballet F\om Olh:ia Basemon

(PA):

My best friend often does algebra

when she's talking on the telephone with

me. Her mother likes her to do some math, and she thought that doing it on the phone would be an lnteresting way to do it. I end up kind of doing it with her - she'll be talking to me, and I'll hear her saying parts of the problems to herself, and I'll ask her, 'What are you doing?" She'll tell me, and I'll ask her about the problem, and then try to help her solve it. I've done a little bit of algebra before, but not too much, so a lot of times she ends up helping me instead. I know things now that I didn't know before just from talking to her.

I think ifs easier to learn from someone you know, Rather than someone saying, "We're going to do something now, ' we're

just talking and the learning sort of

sneaks ln there. It's much more painless.

But I have had experiences with adults that were simllar to this.

I would rather leam math and science

from a child, because I'm not really good in those subjects. My friend was going to be evaluated [SS: The Pennsylvania homeschooling law requires periodic evaluations by someone outside the familyl, and her mother wanted her to do a science experiment, so she was looking through this book of experiments, and we were discussing which ones sounded more interesting and which sounded more plausible for her to do. I know she's not conlident in math and science either, so we both sort of boost each other.

I taught my sister the alphabet when I was about 8 and she was 2. I would put her at a desk and I would get the blackboard, and get some rnagnetic letters and teach her the letters. She was a quick learner, and that was how she first learned the letters. I think it made it easier for her to learn to read. The books she was learning from would expect her not to know how the letters sounded, and she already did.

I was really interested in teaching at that tlme, and I thought I should get some experience doing it. So I used to spend hours doing that with her, and I never got tired ofit. She liked it, although after about an hour or so she would get tired of it.

I rememberwe used to have arguments about it - I would want her to keep going, and she would want to stop. Now I understand how she felt, ofcourse. I understand that you can't make someone learn

20 somethlng.

Another e)ample is that I take a religion class, and my teacher is interested in alternative education. so she asked me and another girl if we could teach the class.

She showed us how to use the teacher's manual, and she sald, "Do whateveryou

want, my only requirement is that you do a whole chapter and give a homework assignment.' We don't live near each other so we had to plan the whole thing on the phone.

It was a very interesting experience. I learned a lot about teaching, like we asked a question and they wouldn't say anythtng.

What do you do then? Youjust have to cope with it. I always thought of adults as being teachers, but then being a teacher myself really gave me inslghts into it. I have a tendency to complaln and say to adults, 'I don't like your teaching methods,' but after that experience I had more tolerance.

I was also a teacher's assistant ln ballet class three years ago. That was really hard because I was young. I was only 9, and I had never babysat or anything, and I was dealing with 3 and 4 year olds. My teacherwould do the steps and I would demonstrate them, and then I gSaduated to actually fixing their feet, putting them in the right positions. My teacher trusted me to do that. The hardest thing was that there were some kids who were reallv hard to deal with. I felt that it was my Jib to see that these children learned, and that they liked it. I wanted them to learn it but I

didn't want it to be a horrible experience.

At first when they didn't learn I would feel upset. This one girl would never do anything, and it used to really upset me because it made me fe€l like she wasn't trying. Finally my teacher told me that if

she wasn't going to do it there was no way I could change that, so I should concentrate on the kids who did want to do it, because they were the ones who really wanted my help. It was a lot easier after that. I think there are sifuations where no matter how hard someone tries to teach someone something, if they're not ready they're not going to learn it.

I know the kids in the class respected me. I got a present from one with a thank you note. Another little girl used to play ballet class with her sister - her sister would be the teacher and she would pretend to be me, the assistant. It was really arnazing to me. I didn't think that that would happen, that they would respect me so much.

Sometimes I teach without even realizing I'm teaching. I am a singer in a play right now, and I have to practice every day, and do warm-up exercises. My sister has learned all my warm-ups and a lot about singing just from listening to me sing. I'm just doing it for myself, but then later on in the day I'll hear her doing it and I'll think, "Where did she learn that?" and realize that she learned it from me.

Learning from Teaching Flom Nathan Willianson NN: I lind that I help others where I can in my speciflc knowledge. But I see that as I

help others I'm also teaching myself.

As a Senior Patrol kader of our Boy Scout troop, I have the opportunity to help

teach younger Scouts knots, lashlngs, flrst aid, etc. I {Ind that this helps me to learn because I have to answer so many questlons. I therefore have to know the subject inside out. When a new Scout comes to me and asks me how to tie a knot, the llrst thing I do is to tie the knot and show him the final look. Then I untie the knot and go step by step through the procedure. After that I let him try his hand at it. If he gets it, great. If he doesn't, then I do one of three things: correct the wrong move, verbally tell hlm how to correct it, or simply tie it slowly over again. Most of all I try not to give uPl

Sometimes I get the feeling that younger kids assume that the teacher knows most everything and the pupil is just simply leaming. This seems to happen more in school situatlons. Maybe tt is ideal for the teacher to know everything about the subJect he or she is teaching, I don't know. Here is one case where I did not know a lot and yet I took on the role of

instructor.

I have always been very interested in climbing. I made myself some climbing

gear and did some small climbing. A friend of my dad's saw my climbing gear and gave me some r€al gear. some of my friends wanted to learn to climb, so I started

helping them learn. Climbing is very physical, so small kids or those who could not do a pull-up had a harder time. I therefore had to have many di{Ierent methods of teaching. I felt great when the first of my friends made it to the top of the twenty-foot cliff. Others, however, had to have a little more time and help. For those, most of my teaching was simply telling them where to put a hand or a leg.

Climbing is harder to teach than other thtngs I have taughtbecause there is no one right way and because each cliff is different and therefore the climber must have a lot of knowledge of climbing, and that is almost impossible to teach. All I could do was help out. The rest was theirs. By watching them make mistakes and also make great moves I think I learned a lot more about climbing than I would have if I hadn't helped them out.

Harder to Learn from

Other Children F^rcm

Datun Shuntan

(PA):

I remember, from when I was small,

leaming how to put make-up on and put my hair in ponytails with my friends. We used to practice on each other. It would be nice if I could say, for instance, that I learned to speak French from my best friend, but it just doesn't work that way for me. Usually, I get very frustrated at people my own age trying to teach me anything. I feel like I ought to already know how to do it, because they do. I'm not sure that it would be any dlfferent for me with people ofdifferent ages, either. As at least one person said in GWS #74, the age of friends (and, I think, :rnyone you c€rn learn from) doesn't really matter.

A good deal ofwhat I have learned from my age group recently has been about human nature. I am amazed at how inane and cruel a group of people approximately myage (13) canbe. I haven'teverbeen

around large enough groups ofhomeschoolers to know whether thls ls some automatic part of being in a group of preadolescents and teenagers (perhaps a group of any age?), or whether, perhaps, there are groups of people out there who do not automatically pick on the weakest member or spend hours arguing about things which do not matter to anyone. I wonderwhether people ln different cultures react this way what my mother calls the sheep elfect.

Most things I learn by osmosis, by watching. I remember a few years ago trying to construct almost all of my questions ln such a way that no one would know what it was I really wanted to know. I can see it as rather silly now, but at the time it was very important to me to have no one know my thoughts... to have no one know I wanted to learn.

I have obviously grown more comfortable with learning my own way, and now, thls summer, I must decide whether to learn at home, my way, or in a higlr school, someone else's way. I'm not at all afraid that I wouldn't be able to handle the academic work in school, only that I rnight miss leaming something that can only be learned my way. I'm also afraid that I wiII be engulfed by the popular American psyche, that I rvill become less me. I would like to know what other people who have made or are making the same decislon think about this. It is something I cannot learn from an adult (parent-age) because almost no one has ever had that choice, I think that this is the hardest and most valuable gift of all that parents can give to their children, the gift of choice, and the knowing that there always is a choice.

No Difference Ftom Django Bolven (IA):

I learned how to warp to level 4 in Super Mario Brothers (a video game) from a total stranger, He didn't know that I was learning from him. I just learned from watching carefully. I don't find any difference between learning from adults and leaming from kids because some adults are more patient than others and some kids ar€ more patient than others.

I guess I have taught my friend Gabe how to build an engine out of legos, but I'm not sure that he understood werything that I showed him. In order to show hlm, I had to break it down for him to understand what I was talking about. I have also taught other llds how to warp in Super Mario Brothers by letting them watch me play.

Prefers to Learn Math from Kids From Kaila Morris (BC):

I think it's easier to learn from kids than from adults. It is certainly different.

Kids use different words than adults do easier words. When you ask a twelve year old, 'Where does the decimal point go?", she won't think you're really stupid, probably because she asked the same

question last week. An adult probably can't remember ever asking that.

I helped my sister, Anna, leam how to read. Ijust thought she should learn (she

Growing Without Schooling #75

was Tyears old). I read aloud to her, and she read aloud to me. She wasn't always very thankful to me, but I think we understood each otherbetter than, say, a student and teacher at a public school ever could. She still doesn't love reading, but it's easy for her.

I showed my friend Tessa how to play football. Teaching her was different (and easier). I simply asked her if she wanted to learn how, and she did, so I taught her.

Learning and Teaching Drawing Ftom And.re Bohren (IA): I have learned how to draw eyes from my cousin, andyes, he did know hewas

teaching me. I think ifs easier to learn from other kids than from adults because, say I wanted to learn about a car engine. An adultwould say, "OK, the spark plug sends a spark to the piston, which gets the pistons to start moving up and down," and so on. A kid would say, 'This thingamagig sends an explosion to this doodlythingy, which would start moving, and get the whole car goingl" I have taught another one ofmy cousins how to draw mouths for people and monsters. It was fun.

I have also learned things indirectly.

For example, I was reading a comic and figured out how to draw noses.

Thoughts from Parents And Jinally, some tloughts Jrom parents. Flrst, Jrom Jo Hinsdale (M0: Robin (l l) is a person who generally prefers to make her own way, asking questions as she goes. I have never heard her do much academic learning from other kids.

But I do lind that Robin seems to like learning other types of things from other kids - new songs for the piano, for instance. I get the impression that she likes to keep up musically with her friends. It means a lot to her to hear what thev are playing, and to try it herself. I'm suire it is also much fun to learn this way. Several times, other lidds have brought on musical growth spurts for Robin. It's great to watch.

On the other hand, I notice that there are some areas of learning where Robin prefers to learn from adults. She is very interested in theater. and relies on the expertise of her directors for her learning.

Following a recent rehearsal, I happened into a discussion in which an older child was offering Robin some suggesUons about how to deal with the problem of someone else botching up lines, in case it happened during a performance. Robin was clearly unhappy with the advice she was getting, and only relaxed when I suggested she have one of her directors work with her and the forgetful child before the performance. In theater, she opens herself up to lnstruction in a way I don't see often ln other parts of her life. I see her learning from the older, more experienced children by observing them. However, she clearly gives control of her learning over to the adult, much as an apprentice ts led by his master. (contiruted on page 27)

Growing Without Schooling #75

Children as Philosophers: Interview with Gareth Matthews ISSJ In his rcuiew oJ Gareth

Mattheus'Philosophy and the Young Child [auailable here, #548, $5.95 + posL]

Jolvt Holt wrote, "In this sllrlrt, very

reodable but olso very prcJonnd and impoftant fuk, Dr. Mattlews,.. mokes cbar Jrom martg oJ his corurersatrbns uith young children (oJten his ournJ thol many oJ tteir surprisrrg and nairx remarks and. questions, which u:e adults are tm liable to dismiss as igrarant attd sillg, are inJact questirns ttnt t|le greatest philosophers in history hanre stnggled wilh sitrce tine bgan" Mattletos' second book, Dialogues With Children, [#242, $14.50 + post.] continnes tltis discussbn and lm,ks at law chJd,ren ard. adults can u:ork as col-

leagues, We interuieund Mattlews to Jurtter erylore low adults can recqrize tle volue oJ children's obseruations and comments ond taw Mattheus' tlaughts al,trut children ond. philosophg can applg to our relations ulth children in general.

Sueannah Shcffcr: What's an example of something a child might say that you would think was interesting

philosophically?

Garcth Mgtthcws: Children, from the ages ofabout 3 or 4 to about 7 or 8, raise

almost all of the basic questions of

philosophy in some form or other. Adults usually don't know how to react but find this interesting or lntrlguing, and often remember the comment, which might be a quesdon about dreaming - I have an example in PhiLosophy and the Young Child of a child asldng, 'How do I know whether I'm dreaming nou/?' It might be a question about God, or about perception another example I give is of a child going up in an airplane for the first time and being reliwed to observe that people don't shrink as they go up in the air, which is what he had thought. Really, all of the basic questions ofphilosophy can turn up in the conversation of a young child. In my experience, these comments tend to disappear at about the time children get well socialized in school, so that's a rather unfortunate commentary on our soclety and our schools.

like

SS: How czrn we respond to comments these?

GM: What I've been trying to convince adults to do is to think about the questions themselves, to get rid of the assumption that most adults have, that they know the answer to any question a child of that age

could raise. I encourage adults to engage the child in a discussion of whatever he or she has rajsed, wen if they are not at all clear themselves about how the answer will come out.

adults might say, "But I don't even know the first thing about how to respond to that sort of comment.'

SIS: Some

GM: I think adults react this wav

because they assume a position ofsuperior-

ity to children. Thry assume that children are incapable of thinldng about matters that adults don't know the answers to. But once adults free themselves of that assumption, I think we're all capable of thinking about these questions. Maybe the

more pracdce we have, the better we get at it, but we're all capable of it, and I try in my books to give some examples of how the discussion might go on after the child's inltial comment.

SS: How do you think children react to the adult not knowing the answer?

GM: Well, I think the best thing to do is to begin to explore the issue - could we say this, could we say that - and let the

If a chlld ls puzzled by a

developmental psychologlst's questlon, the psychologlst may be lncllned to thlnk that the chlld ls slmply at an early stage of development, lnstead of thtnktng that the questlon may truly be guzzllng, to adults ss well.

child participate in that process of trying to answer the question. Now, the child may suspect that this kind of reply is phony, that the adult really does have some answer in mind. but that's because of a certain phoniness in our dealings with children in general. Socratic questioning in schools is by and large rather phony; the teacherjust uses it as a way ofstringing the child along until the child gets the answer that the adultwants. But if we can develop another kind of relationship with the

child, this kind of questioning and trying things out won't seem phony anymore. The child will be prepared to believe that the adult really is thinking about the issue and isn'tJust trying to get a particular answer out of the child.

SS: Perhaps if the child and adult have had other experiences ofworking together on something, the possibility of working together in a philosophical discussion won't seem so skange.

I'm interested in your discussion, in your books, of the effect of dwelopmental psychologr on our thinking about

children's philosophical abilities.

GM: The idea that there are stages of development, which came chiefly from Jean Plaget, is very powerful, and it's hard to get out of the grip of it. But the danger is that we ask children questions only to determine whether they're at stage one or

22 stage two. Mlssing tn that endeavor ls any appreciatlon of what ts phtlosophically problemaflc about the terms of discusslon.

Piaget proceeds as thouglr there were nothing really problematlc or puzzling about dreaming or thlnking or life or any of these things whtch he quesdons children about. So if a child is puzzled by the psychologist's questlon, the psychologlst may be inclined to think that child is stmply at an early stage of derrelopment, instead of thinking that the question may tn:Jy fupuzzling, to adults as well.

The trouble wtth developmental

psycholory is that lt can lead to a view ln which one sees children almost Ers members of another culture, with ways of thinking that are so dliTerent fr6m ours that we can't hope to share their outlook and ifs not just that thelr ways of thinldng are different, but that they are at an earlier stage of development, one that we have moved beyond. There's â&#x201A;Źrn enorrnous condescension built lnto this, because we .lssume thatwhatwe need to do, in

responding to children, is not think about things in their terms but instead goad them into moving along the stages of development so that they will learn to think the way we do. In my view, this ellect of dwelopmental psychologr is very con-

stricting and keeps us from rerognizing that very often children are much more sensitive to what is phdlosophically interesting and philosophically problematic than adults are. So instead ofbeing condescending toward them and encouraging them to develop adult ways of thinking, we should take advantage of their natural puzzlement, their sense fcr incongruity and misfit in language and thought.

SS: I wonder, then, if there's a danger in focusing on how children do philoso-

phy, as you have. Couldn't someone accuse you ofcondescending to children by focusing on how children do philosophy instead of simply on how everyone does

philosophy?

GM: Sure, there is aworry there. But it seems to me that there are both differences

and similarities in the way that children

and adults do philosophy, and the differences have to do with a kind of spontaneity and directness that is often in a child's comment. I think adults can prolit from this - from the way children do philosophy. I sometimes use a child's comment ln a philosophical paper because ofthe vividness with which the child ls able to present something.

SSi:

In that case, you're really

allowing the child to contribute to adult

philosophy.

GM: Yes, and children can contribute in other ways. Once a group of children helped me by notbeing puzzled by something that is traditionally considered a paradox in philosophy. All these years I'd been teaching this to college students, and of course they just take notes and ligure out what they have to learn to take the exam, but these younger kids wouldn't buy the paradox, and so I realized that I had failed to understand something that I had thought I'd understood.

8Sl: I'm stlll lnterested ln the questlon ofthe segregatlon ofchildren. You talk

about the question of chlldren's art tn the

paper that we published tn GWS #56, and tt comes up for us when people ask whether we publish children's lyriting. In fact, we

publtsh a great deal of children's writing, but not in a special section called 'Children's Writing." Some people think that children are served by a special section of a magazine, or art gallery, or whatever, devoted especially to them, and others think that this is condescending or

dlscriminatory.

GM: Of course, that ffts in wtth other issues of discrlmination - gender dtscrimination. raclal discrimlnation - which are hard issues. I think what we have to do to get rid of, or at least minimize, our prejudice against the products of children's efforts, whether thinking or writing or painting or whatever, is to appreicate some of the wonderful advantages that they have, as children. There are some things we can get from them that we can't get from

adults.

SS: Can you speculate about how

children feel about this segregation issue?

GM: I think they probably expect to be segregated, but it's interesting - I think one reason I was able to work well with the group in Edinburgh, in the music school, was that they were treated as musicians.

They were young and inexperienced in various ways, but they also had to Lre relied on to perform, so they were recognized as musicians. The more that we allow children to be tn the positlon of doing things that are valued for their own sake, and not

simply as signs tJlat they're developing properly, the more we will be able to deal with some of this prejudice. $S: You stress what children can offer adults in doing philosophy. What about what you can oller them? Do you hide your greater experience and knowledge in some areas, or do you make them aware of it?

GM: It may be harder with some knowledge that's clearly cumulative, like science, but it's easier in philosophy, because a good philosopher can always start over. Ifyou're going to do it well you have to regain the puzzlement that motivates the whole thing. But you don't have to

hide anything from children. An adult philosopher has a better sense ofwhere the ques$on might go, a better sense of the language, a lot more background, so you're a more informed respondent. But of course that very competence can have a kind of deadening effect, because it may mean that we don't see what's puzzling or problematic or interesting. So I think it balances out prett5r well - adults and children each have something to give the other. I think the children I've worked with recognize that I have philosophical knowledge and experience that they don't have, but if they're really gripped by the philosophical question, they also realize that they neâ&#x201A;Źd to work it out for themselves. so the most I can do is be a sounding board for them or maybe give them a little direction here and there.

35: You sald tn the chtldren's art paper that chlldren's liberatlon would mean llberation for adults as well. What did you mean by that?

GM: In the same way that it's a liberation for men when they don't have to rely on the false assumptions of superiori$r that go with sexism, so it is with a new view of children - there's a new freedom to approach the child as another human being, coming from a somewhat different experience. We no longer have to say, 'This is a child at such-and-such an age, at suchand-such a stage ofdevelopment, so one

can expect the following things,- and put all lidnds of limitations on the possibilities for lnterchange with the child.

SIS: Do you think ifs erler useful to think in terms of ages, or of how a child might be thinking developmentalp

GM: I think it's always useful to think about where the child is coming from, what differences there might be between the way the child thinks about something and the way I think about something, but I think this is alwavs true with another human being, espeiially one from a very dillerent background or different experience. There may be some generalizations you can make about children at various ages, but I think one should be very wary of these generalizations, because we should be constantly surprised by how children vastly exceed the expectations we may have for any particular stage of development.

SiSi:

What issues are you looking at

these days?

GM: I'm interested in issues of development, which we've just been talking about - how can we think about children, what ts a child - and that moves lnto questions about children's art, children's literature ftoth by and for children). The

questions about literature.for children are fascinating; some people think that writing for children must be phony, because the author is no longer a child, so if the author says, "I'm writing this for myself,' how can that be? And I've moved into discussions of children's rights and the place of children in society. Often the justifications for llmiting children's rights have to do with these developmental theories - theories about cognitive dwelopment or about moral development and I thtnk this is very problematic.

Parents have written about children's philosophical comments, and ways of responding to them, in the following GWS issues: GWS #6 t : "3 Year Old's Thoughts"

GWS #62: "Children's Comments" GWS #63: 'Attention toWords"

We are always interested to hear more of these stories.

Growtng Without Schooling #75

Older Homeschoolers Another at Harvard Ftom an drticle ln cazette,

5

T

te VI) Hardwick

/ 2/ 90, bg Richrrrd Kleinarl:

To those familiar with homeschooling, it's no great surprise anymore when a student taught by his or her parents at home is accepted into a prtstigious universit5r. But for Elye Alexander and his family, who have becn teachlng and learning at home for the past six years, it was still prett5r exciting to hear of his acceptance into Harvard Universit5r.

"I was de{initely pleased; my toP choices accepted me," said Alexander yesterday over tJle telephone. He was also accepted to Middlebury College. Alexander is even more even-keeled than most l8year-olds. He is contemplative and inquisitive, writes poetr5r and studies insects and birds, and is a black belt and state medalist in the martial art Tae Kwon Do. Though he was the only homeschooler in a week-lon$ orientation session at Harvard last week, he said, "l didn't feel in any way out of place.'One thing about Haward, he said, is its incredible diversity.

Alexander said homeschooling offered him the freedom and flexibility to go as far as he could with his wits. 'Under my circumstances, it was certainly the best option," he said with a touch of selfassurance. His brother, Ben, who began homeschooling in third grade, six years ago, is now 14.

Applying to colleges proved more difficult fior Alexander than for students from traditional academic backgrounds.

The Alexanders had to fill out reams of paperwork and provide extensive documentation of their son's achievements.

Before being accepted, he was interviewed not once - like most other applicants - but five times by different intenriewers. ...Ten years ago, there were about 4O Vermont families involved in homeschooling. Today, that figure has jumped to around 375 families. Peg Meyer, of Calais, is the state Department of Education's Iiaison to homeschoolers.... Meyer said she heard anecdotally of several Vermont homeschoolers who've been accepted to colleges. One homeschooler was taken by both Trinity College in Connecticut and the University of Vermont.

College Admissions Process Shan-rn Kendrbk, wlase Letter to her school snperfntendent uras n our cotdq Jor mang geors attd is printed in Teach

YourOwn, nowwriles:

Our daughter Celia is aJunior in college. Her current grade point average is 3.8 and she has been an honors student for three out of five semesters. This year she was awarded a $4,OOO scholarship toward tuition. She has been a teaching assistant and department monitor since her sophomore year. What distinguishes Celia from most of the hundreds of other students who could lit this description is that, until she went to college, she was

Growing Without Schooling #75

homeschooled all her life.

Before she turned 17 Celia had been considering college as an option for

achieving her career goals in {ilmmaking.

When she was between the ages of 9 and 12 she had taken summer workshoPs in

animation and had then continued with animation and live-action lilming on her own. She had begun to realize that in order to work with equipment more advanced than her little Super 8 camera, she would have to get access to other equipment, and instrucilon, somewhere. After some research Celia concluded that the Rhode Island School of Design, one of the most

prestigious art schools in the country, was the only college within commuting distance that had the kind of program in filmmaking and animaUon that she was interested in. A happy coincidence was that the worrnn who had first taught Celia anlmation was now the head of the film department at RISD. In Januar5r of 1987 she decided to apply for admission. With some trepida-

tion, I phoned the admissions department to inquire about procedures and to investigate whether a homeschooled student would even be considered. I was told that students without a high school diploma may apply as long as they take tJle SAT and

obtain a GED certilicate. Because of their artistic orientation, not all students

verbally, as well as visually, oriented' Just be fore the February l5 application deadline, we took the packet of draw-

ings, slides, and essay to the admissions olfice along with our Projector and two of Celia's recEnt films. ielii showed the films to the admissions counselor and left them for the film department members to review. Just as we were leaving, the counselor checked with the head of the admissions department and found out that since our circumstances were unusual, the director would prefer Celia to take the GED as soon as possible, wen thouglr high

school seniors do not traditionally have their diplomas when thry apply for college admission. In addition, the admissions director requested that I outline in a letter the course of study that Celia had followed, and said that a letter from t}le local superintendent veri$ing approval for Celia's home education would probably also be useful.

Celia called the local cornmunity college and found that the next GED testing session was the following morning. So w'ith one day to prepare herself mentally for another test, she again Performed the necessaq/ task. Celia submitted a copy of the scores to RISD, and I typed up a letter explaining the curriculum Celia had studied. The letter said, in part:

applying to RISD are expected to do well on the math portion of the SAT, so although a combined score of IOOO is preferred, sometlmes students with lower scores are considered. We were told that since Celia did not have a traditional high school

"First, I wish to assure you that Celia's education has included the traditional

recommendation would be given added

grarrunar, composition), English literature (short stories, Poetry, plays, novels), mathematics, geography, world history,

transcript, her pordolio and letters of

weight.

Celia had just a month in which to take the SAT, prepare slides of her drawings for her portfolio, do the three assigned drawings, write her essay telling why she wanted to go to RISD, and ask people to write letters of recommendation for her.

She discovered that the only SAT she could take that would get her scores to RISD by the deadline would be given the following Saturday - one week away. She obtained a copy of T akinS he SAT from a nearby high school and went through the sample test with a time limit to acquaint herself with the procedure. At first, we thought she should spend time reviewing and preparing for the test, but in the end we advised her to just "go with what you've got' - there didn't seem to be much sense in trying to crarn a lot of facts into her head in a week. It would only make her more anxious about the experience.

Celia had never belore been in a school to take a test. Although I had administered a Basic Skills test to her once at home, she had never taken a test under the circumstances she would now encounter. She did what she had to do, though it wasn't a pleasant experience. Since math had never been an area ofinterest for Celia, the low average score on the math section was what we expected. Her high scores on the verbal section and on the Test of Standard Written English were not surprising either, as she had always been

subjects of study. Using correspondence courses from the Calvert School of Baltimore, Maryland, and the UniversitY of Nebraska-Lincoln, her curriculum has encompassed: language skills (spelling,

science (life science, biologl, physical science), and elementa4r German. In addition, Celia has made an independent study of a wide varietlr of subjects: archaeology; world mytholory; folktales and legends; natural sciences, including a detailed study of the habits and habitats of anima-ls; filmmaking; animation; ES/ptolory; and the cultures of ancient societies.

"As her teacher and parent, I have had the opportunity to observe Celia's strengihs and weaknesses in all aspects of her learning. Rarely have I seen anyone of any age so open to learning and so committed as to devote hours ofindependent research in an area of interest. The results ofher independent study usually find expression in her art work. Academically, Celia's main strengths are her receptivity to knowledge, her mental discipline, her skill in comprehension, and her ability to write well. The only subject Celia has had

difficulty with is mathematics. Because she lacked sulficient interest in the subject earlier, her work remained at a level below average. To address this deliciency, she enrolled in an arithmetic and introduction to algebra class at a local communi$r college last fall. She worked very hard, and by the end of the semester, her performance had improved, and her conlidence in her math abilities had risen considerably.

I have no doubt that Celia is capable of

24 performing the academic work that would be required of her at RISD. The primary reason we chose to educate Celia at home was in deference to

the extremely high level of creatlve energ5/ she manilested, which touched every €rrea of her life. Her intense curiositv about the world, its history and inhabitants, impelled her at a young age to seek and gpasp the means to educate herself....

Homeschooling enabled her to obtain a traditional education wtth the necessary basic skills, but also allowed her to dev6te rnany more hours to ttrose areas of lndependent study that advanced her skills and helped her to clariff her own purpose, vislon, and style of expresslon...."

Since our relationship with the local school superintendent had been for the most part a cordial one, I did not hesitate to ask him to send a letter to RISD. Actually, the superintendent, guldance counselor, and local school comrnittee members were tickled pink by Celia's acceptance at RISD and her performance on the SAT. I suppose there was some measure of relief involved - now they felt they had been right to approve our plan all these years.

Ifwe had been aware of the deadline, we certainly would have encouraged Celia to go through the application procedure earlier. As it was, after a very hectic and sometimes emotionally gmeling month, all Celia could do now was wait. In the meantime we investigated many dillerent sources of linancial aid and scholarships.

In mid-April Celia was notified of her acceptance at RISD. The happy news ofher acceptance was somewhat tempered by the

total lack of financial aid from the school.

The financial aid ollicer explained that a large part of the basis for awarding scholarships is financial ne€d. After that, the students are ranked according to a deter-

mination made on their portfolio, academic record, and letters of recommendation. Since many freshmen transfer or drop out after the first year, it is probably considered somewhat risky to give generous aid before a student has proven his or

her ability to achieve in the college setting.

Several weeks later I spoke with the RISD admissions counselor. Susan Kieronski, and asked her if Celia's home education had been viewed as a drawback.

She replied that no, it had not been; the fact that Celia had achieved so much outside of school and on her own initiative had been greatly in her favor.

Recentlv I asked Susan if the school's policy had c-hanged, or if homeschoolers would still be considered. She satd that homeschoolers are welcome to apply as long as thry are willing to fulfill the necessary requirements - taking the SAT, obtaining a GED certificate, submitdng the

portfolio and other application papers.

Each applicant, she said, is considered on a case-by-case basis and is viewed as an

individual.

As I often told Celia during our discussions about college, a person who has a degree is not necessarily more qualified than a personwithoutone. Acollege degree is not necessarily a gateway to a successful car€er. The major benefit of a noncompulsory learning institution is that, if one can manage the finances, one has access to

materials, libraries, equipment, and knowledgeable teachers that one might not otherwise have. College ls not and should not be considered the only way to achieve an education toward a career goal. Yet many young people do have a dream that at this time can best be achieved through a

&

Resources

ulrrites:

My four daughters love to play games, We own a few of the newer non-competitive games, butas these tend to be more expensive than the traditional hits, most of our games are the popular ones widely available at sale prices.

My girls have transformed these highly competltlve, dog-eat-dog games into non-competitive games in which the object is to wander merrily along, succumbing to as much silliness and imaginative play as possible. They place great emphasis on being nice, and on attempting to get parents to stay in the game as close to forever as possible.

Once it was my way to insist that "rules are nrles.' Fortunately tt didn't take too many times of breaking up all the fun, in the narne of following the rules, for me to learn. Games are much more fun now that I can follow the lead of mv children.

I-and on a square that says, 'SLnd any opponent ofyour choice back lO squares"?

Ignore it. Draw a card that says, "You may conllscate the painting of your choice from any player'? Instead, ask your "opponent" if she wishes to sell a painting, and if so, which one would she like to sell, and how much does she want for it? See that a fellow player is running low on funds? Ask if you can straighten her money for her and sneak in a few thousand dollars while you do it.

One of my children's favorite games is Life. According to the rule book the object is to be the first to retire in Millionaire's Estate. According to my children, it is to adopt as many babies as possible, sometimes several cars full, name them all, and wander through Life being as helpful to your fellow players as possible.

No one has ever gone

rewarding quest for third-party or private scholarship assistance is that lt would be nice to see a John Holt Scholarship Fund instituted to help support homeschooled children who go to college.

Recommendations

Making Games Cooperative (TM Sondg Mad.sen

college program. One thougfit that came to me during our long and eventually un-

bankmpt in

Monopoly at my housel Of course the game never se€ms to end, but when it does, everyone feels good. Another of our favorltes is a game called Made for Trade, a history game set in the colonial days of America. The purported object is to be the Iirst to purchase all the objects on your llst from the colonial shops. Of course that has been changed to: be as helpful as possible, so that all players may purchase their items. Mysteriously, shillings appear in the gaol to help out the poor humiliated players caught stealing chickens.

I remember playrng some of these games with my children before I was able to follow their lead. I remember hurt feelings, tears, losers, unhappy times. How many times do parents break up the good times in the name of "Children need to leam to follow rules'? Whv do we never

hear, "Children need to learn to improvise and make up their own mles'?

Some would argue that my children are missing out on learning how to be good losers. I feel that they are leaming that they can all be winners, by cooperating and looking out for their fellow travelers.

Still MORE Books About Homeschoolers Here aJew nare readers' reamm,endations oJ fuks in which chidren don't go to sctrm,l, or manage to pursue whatttey lorn outside oJ schrcL, FtrsL Jrom Wendg Westrud oJ Ne'.r.l York: MU

Life Witla

tlv

Chimpanzees, by

Jane Goodall (Pocket Books) is an autobiography for children, and it explains how Jane's interest ln animal behavior started and was nurtured by her understanding mother. She makes passing references to school and how she disliked it, walting for opportunities to pursue her real love, observing animals. She describes getting her firstjobs, based on her extensive experience pursuing her interest. Later she has to go to school to get a degree, in order to secure funding for her project, but this is only a short lntermption to her work in the {ield.

And Jrom Patricia Street (lN):

ln Tle Bonourcrs series by Mary Norton, the heroine teaches herself to read and write (her parents are illiterate and in awe of their daughter's learning). The family is presented as nearly the last of a \anishing race" of tiny people, so school for them is nonexistent. These are fun books because the Borrowers are so resourceful and resilient. lnThe *cret Gardenby Frances Hodgson Bumett, the heroine is allowed to go without any schooling, even the custornary governess, for a time, as she rnanages to get the adult characters to agree that what her physlcal and emotional health requlre is the freedom to have the run ofthe estate and gardens and to experience the joys of chtldhood which she had missed.

We have Just read The fusaar Children

by Gertrude Chandler Warner, which is the lirst in a series. This book was delightful to our older children (9 and 6) because the four young people in the book (recently orphaned) enJoy a summer of independence when they set up housekeeping in an abandoned boxcar in the woods and suMve by thetr wits and teamwork.

Finally, in Ftu'e Httle Peppers by Margaret Sidney, the action involves the warm adventures of live children and their mother at home. All the children work Growing Without Schooling #75

25 hard in whatever capacity they can to help the impoverished, widowed mother. A recurring theme is Mrs. Pepper's determination to get good educations for her children, though it is not seen how, as they are "too poor' to get schooling. But we find that the older children know how to read and write, can run the household unsupervised, do the baking, and take the most tender care of the younger children,

including telling them elaborate stories they make up on the spot. In the last half of the book the education dilemma ls solved when a rich gentleman more or less adopts the whole family so that they all can have tutors and music lessons. What is striking is how the reader experiences this change in fortunes as a let-down after the wonderfullv warm adventures that the familv has had in'the little brown house.'

Frnally, Jo Hbtsdole (MI), u:ho is

unrking as a librariany writes:

I ran across something interesting in Kirkus Reuiews, Zilpha K. Snyder's new book, Libby on Wednesdag (Delacorte Press), has as its heroine a girl who is entering Junior high school after having been home-educated up to that point. They gave it a good review, and Snyder is usually quite good.

texts and have found the ESP sheets the least confusing to use. The math worksheets provide a logical progression of skills and exercise. Often, however, the explanations confuse and c,omplicate

basically slmple operations. For this reason, we use only the actual problems, and I provide the explanation and instruc-

tion

myself.

3. Sam has subscribed foryears to

Geqraphb World. a magazine for children published by Nati,onal Geqraphic @epatunert OO989, 17th ord. M Streets

NW, WashtutgtonDC 20036). The photography has inspired Sam to someday have one ofhis own nature photographs appear on

the cover. Through this publication we leamed of an excellent book, Erylorhg Your WorW also published by National Geqraphic. It is a miniature encyclopedia of geography with enticing photographs.

4. A globe. We purchased a globe and use it while we watch the national news on TV (this can also be done with newspaper articles). Sam locates the site of the news and laterwe talk about the background of that area as it allects what is happening there.

5. For career exploration we enJoyed reading through The American Almanac oJ Jobs by John W. Wright (Avon Books) and Ollbat Careers by Al Sacharov (Ten Speed

Press).

From New

Homeschoolers

Barbara Freemant (FU wriles:

Sam has always worked slowly but thought quickly. In public school he would grasp the lnformation quickly but only be able to complete five math problems instead of twenty or write three sentences instead of ten in the time allotted. The first week offourth grade he cried and refused to go to school. At this point he was placed in

an alternative classroom and did well for

the next two years. As the time for middle school approached, Sam, his teacher, and I were all concerned about how he would cope. With encouragement from a friend who already homeschooled, from Sam's 'altemative teacher," and from GWS, we took the plunge and decided to try home-

schooling.

During this year we have started and abandoned many resource texts, projects, and goals. In spite of this Sam has managed to learn and grow. We are both confident that next year will be even more productive as we adjust to our homeschooling experience. The best materials we have used this year are: l. PBS. I can't emphaslze this enough.

Sam discovered on his own the six-part 'Miracle Planet" series which was an excellent presentation of how the earth has evolved. Every day we watch 'Reading Ralnbow" and "3-2-l Contact," which presents sound science in an understandable manner without talking down to tlee child. The photography is also excellent.

2. For making sure we covered grammar and math consistent with his grade level, we ordered the ESP Superfuk (PO Drawer 5O8O, Jonesboro AR 724019985). The ESP series consists ofworksheets that are designed primarily to supplement regular classmom instmction.

I've looked through numerous gramnur

Growing Without Schooling #75

6. Fictional reading material that attracts the attention of an I I -year-old boy is not easy to find. Most books written for this age appear to be targeted at girls. Sam does, however, have a great love ofcomic books and I encouraged him to read the Batman and Green La.ntern series. He

bought a Batman anthologr and enjoys comparing the various styles of the Batman authors and artists. These comic books have surprisingly adult vocabularies and I feel that fostering a love of reading is more important at this point than reading more traditionally acceptable material. Sam enjoys reading each new comic out loud to me before he goes to bed

at night.

For lield trips we have gone to the state museum, taken guided nature cruises, and gone out on a boat to feed dolphins. We play Scrabble and do the word scrambles in the newspaper. We have learned to relax and if something is too dilllcult we drop it and come back to it later. At home you have the luxury of waiting until the time is

right to learn specilic information. Sam is delighted that it is no longer necessary to fake it when he misses some vital Diece of information. Most important, he has kept his natural zest for learning and watches out on his own for PBS programs or local events that might expand his knowledge in areas he is interested in.

As an addendum to my letter, I would like to add that during the past month Sam has become "unschooled" enough to forsake television and Nintendo for birdwatching. In a short time he has devoured the lield guides, scoured the neighborhood for species, and is looking forward to joining the local "adult" Audubon group on its next field trip. I was becoming concemed that he hadn't developed selfdirected leaming and interests to the degree that I had hoped he would. But, as others have written, it takes time and a certain amount of boredom to restore the

Joy of self-directed learning to children who have previously been in school.

Outdoor Camp for Homeschoolers WandaReznc (MA) urcte

tntle Mag

t99O issue oJ tle MASSACFIUS.EIIIS HOME LEARNING ASSOCIATION new slet-

ter abut tle Hulbrt Outdor Center in Vermont, uhich olfered afu:e-dag camp Jor laneschrclers this Match-

Hulbert Outdoor Center is in Fairlee, Vermont, about l5O miles from Boston. It is a non-prolit educational organization which runs outdoor camps during the school year, as well as Team Building Seminars for corporations and other groups. The cost was falrly reasonable for this type ofcamp. $l3O per person covered everything for the week - food, lodging, and all activities. In fact, there is nothing to spend money on at Hulbert except camp shirts and sweatshirts, so kids are encouragd not to bring money with them.

This year was the first time Hulbert has tried having a camp specifically for homeschoolers, and it was an unqualified success from everyone's point of view.

When I took the girls up, I was impressed

with the location and the facilities. It's in a beautiful, rural section of Vermont, with a large lake and mountains surrounding it.

The winterized cabins are new although there are unheated cabins that they use during the early fall and late spring. The fmd (l stayed for lunch twice) was simple, hearty, and healthy - vegetarian meals are

available.

The stalT seemed quite friendly and open to all of our questions and concerns.

They got the kids involved in games and activities right away, and they made friends very quickly. There was quite a varie$r of kids - some who lived in relatively lsolated situations, and others who were used to lots of friends - but they all seemed to come together as a group very well. The stafl told us that thev were exceptional in terrns of the adhesiveness of the groups, and their cooperation and support for each other.

I was wonciering if my kids would like aweek as'structured" as this one seemed to be. My fears were completely ungrounded. They loved every minute of it, and had fun ALL THE TIME. Jeannie said they even liked doing the dishes, kitchen chores, etc. because itwas so much fun singing and being together.

The week included studying the muck from a pond to discover what bugs were hibernating in it, and a high ropes course which had the older kids walking across a log bridge and climbing rope ladders 60 feet up in the airt The safe$r factors were excellent - hard hats, harnesses, etc. The girls said they were bicked scared," but did it all anyway. No one was forced to do anything, and apparently there was a real supportive atmosphere - the girls both said they felt no pressure or judgment from either stalf or the other kids - iust fun and encouragement. They played iots of New Games - non-competitive games that are apparently t OTS of fun, judging by the enthusiastic response. One day the groups each did a mountain hike that lasted all day. The weather was great for them, and

26 both my girls are eager to go back next year.

Watching Children Learn, continued from page't4

Kim Alger of the Hulbert Outdoor Center adds that the next program for homeschoolers will be September 4- lO, lg9o, for children ages lO-15. For information: RR l, Box 9 lA, Fairlee VTO5O45: 8O2-333-

Writing Club

9840.

Apprenticeship Organizations [SS:] We've heard recently of two groups

that arrange apprenticeships. The first is the APPRENTICE ALLIANCE, l5t Potrero

Jacqrrc Williatnson (VAJ sent us thls article Jrom tle ChotfoftsuiJ/,4 VA Dally

abut the lameschalers' wrhing club to which her chidren fulonq.She says oJ the otters in tte grcup, 'You'll ratice uE crre all listed ln tLe GWS Directory. Thls [s a dynanile grcup!"

Perhaps otfer groups arowtd the courtb1g canuse this exanple as a ndelJor setttrg up their oun writing clubs: Progress, 4/ 12/90,

..."Who wants to read first?" asks Ave, San Francisco CA 94 1O3: 4 15-863-866 f.

Jacque Williamson, who monitors the biThe opportunities are mostly limited to the weekly Writers'Club meetings. About a Bay Area, although there are a few elsedozen homeschoolers ages 5 to 13 gather to where. The contents of their l99O Direcread and dicuss origlnal works of liction, tory includes such categories as: Archipoetry, and prose. tects, sculpture, silk-screen, business, law, The 5 year olds go flrst, reading from computers, fumiture, fashion design, fmdthe viewpoint of a salamander, dragglng a related, galleries, gardening, interior Iinger across the page for a little brother. deslgn, music, markedng, publlshing, nonRachel Wilson, 7, asks Mrs. Williamprofit organizations, theater, writing. The son to read her story about falries. "lt took Directory lists names of "masters" and a half a year to write," she tells her their requirements for an apprentice. It audlence. costs $25 ayearforapprentices tojoin the Wow, they say.

ALLIANCE and $5O for masters to join. The 'It sounds like something a grown-up literature says that apprentices must be 18 would have written," says Gussie Abraor older, but when I spoke with the exechamse, leaning forward on the couch. utive director, Lu Phillips, and told her "How much of the half year did you about homeschooling teenagers, she was spend rewriting;'?' asks Adele Abrahamse, interested and said she thought they'd be Gussie's mom. willing to relax the age requlrement in those cases.

The second is calledTIME OUT, 619 E Blithedale Ave, Suite C, Mill Vall€y CA 94941; 415-383-1834. TIME OUTis a serrice

run by educational counselor David Denman (who knewJohn Holt and who certainly seems to be of ltke mind). Denman helps young people arrange travel, work,

and apprenticeship experiences. The fee is $95O for one year of his services, or half that for the sumner, or, in some cases, an hourly rate is negotiated. I spoke with David Denman on the phone, and from our conversation I can tell that he would be very supportive of homeschoolers, and interested in working with them, since he believes that young people are better served by learning in the real world than by leaming in the classroom.

Do let us know if you contact either of these organizations.

JanHunt

(OR) sent us this note:

Here's a recent conversation between Jason (9) and his father

Marcus, after playing Trlvial Pursuit: Marcus: "How did you learn so much?"

Jason: "I taught myself. And how did I learn to teach mysell? I taught myself!"

"I did quite a lot of rewriting,' Rachel

says.

Her brother, Luke, shoots a grin.

'Rachel, one time you got so tired of it you shoved it in a drawer and didn't pick it up for two weeks."

"I did not. Lukie.'

The children laugh. It's time for the next masterpiece.

While most don't read Iinished works, their writings dance. Picture R5ran

Williamson's pink-tailed beavers, Noah McMurray's third world war, Luke's Boston Observer article on Paul Revere, Bjorn Sorensen's spooky room, Kim Ifuibbe's rainy tears on glass, Gussie's freeverse black stallion and the shape ofa song, and Suzanne Slezak's adventure backstage during the performance of "Charlotte's Web' (Suzanne played the baby pig).

One young writer is working on a novel. Settling into a chair by the window, Nathan reads a new scene from his novel about kidnapped kids escaping down a river. The scene provokes quesdons and a few plot suggestions from the group. 'l want to make one point,' Nathan answers. "I have no idea where this story is going - your corrunents are helping."

Then, when they buy the book, they'd be reading their orin ideas, someone points out.

"But I'd still need to buy it,'Gussie

how these writing clubs work can turn to the Just-published book, Writirg Jrom Home: A PortJdio oJ HomeschrcIed Student Writirrg, by Susan Richman, which should be available from us by the time you receive this issue ($g.gS + post.). The book contains lots of samples of chlldren's writing and several discussions about how to help children write, including a whole chapter on wridng clubs.

Effect of Rewards Back irt GWS # 56 use ran abng discussrlon about the elfect oJ rewards on chidren's actiuilies. Nout Julie InCd (WN

writes:

For the last couple of months, IVe been a long-term substitute at the local school. One of the observations my c-oteacher has made is of deep interest to homeschoolers. She said that when she was teaching child development at Stanford, they did a motivation study on preschoolers. They put out a stack of felt pens in the classroom, which were a new thing at the time. Then they selected the kids who seemed most excited by the pens and put them in another room. They told the kids that if they played with the pens they would get a reward, Well, everybody did play with the pens and got their prlze. Then, back ln the regular classroom, they showed no further interest in ever playrng with the pens. It was a clear-cut case of the reward ruining the experience.

I ffnd this doubly lnteresting because I think we are learning so much about rewards. My parents were raised with the punishment method: if you did right, well and good, but ifyou did wrong then you were punished. Schools were set up like that, too. Then after B.F. Skinner came along, people ligured out thatyou could get people to do more ifyou praised the good and ignored the bad - opposite to what had been believed before. Teachers got inservices on how to use rewards and praise ln the classroom. But then people ltke John Holt pointed out that the acdon itself ls its own reward. and external rewards sometimes (always?) draw attention away from the action and to the reward, or to the rewarder. Sure, we ought to be nice to our kids, but we can drown them in praise just as much as in punfshment.

Ongoing Raft-Building Proj ect Gayle Young urote in the April./May I99O issue oJThe AHA Experience, tfu

neusletter oJ tlv AIASKA HOMES,CHOOL ASSOCIA?ION;

says.

These homeschoolers love reading and wrlting. They write at home - ideally, every day about 30 minutes to an hour, at least. Then they bring a sample to read.

And every sesslon presents a slew of minilessons in imagery, metaphor, style and

comparative literature....

Readers who want to hear more about

Nowadays there are so many ongoing

kid-projects at our house that I smile when I recall my apprehension that those rragnilicent and wonderfully creative projects I read about 7n Crowing Wttlaut Schoolirg might nwer grab my kids. It was simply a matter of timel.., Several summers ago the idea of building a raft came up. I went about my

Growing Without Schooling #75

chores picturing a neatly built, sturdy raft.

I prepared to help. The raft, in reality, was an old. flat-sided drift chunk that the kids converted during several days'work. When it was completed, one or two children could sit astraddle on it. I adJusted my picture.

For me the best part about the project was that for a Gw brief days all the neighborhood kids worked amiably on a childconceivd project. I've never seen tltat happen since.

The raft idea came up again the following summer. That year it was two old chunks of four-foot-wide boardwalk found floating. Most of the work entailed attaching styrofoam to its underside. It was never

vew stable.

Last summer raft #3 was built. Its pieceswere carefully measured, cut and nailed from boards borrowed from the surplus lumber pile. Its owners were nine and five years old and it was wonderful. It looked like the raft of my dreams. It carried its builders easily, I'm sure this year there will be another raft - no doubt utilizing a small outboard motor. I'm excited to see it but I've learned a lot about patience in the

meantime,

Thoughts From Adults continued from FOCUS, page And

I

2'1.

trom Agws Leistico

(CA):

sec my children constantly learning

from other children of all ages and, in turn, helping other children learn. For example, we care for a neighbor's 4-yearold daughter two to three days aweek. Both of my girls, each in her individual way, work with Coral all day long. Susan (lO)

imparts her appreciation for nature constantly ln our bac\rard, which contains three fishponds, thousarrds of polywogs in with the fish, scores of birds, all sorts ofbugs, lizards, spiders, plants, and trees. Coral insistently asks, 'Wh5l7" and Susan patiently explains. One day I overheard Susan explaining contrasting and complementary colors to Coral after our issue of Kids Artcame. laurie (12) is helping Coral learn to read and write as she shows readiness in the most natural way.

All on her own Laurie began a monthly class in science and/or craft activities for any other home school children who wish to come. She does all her planning, even offering simple refreshments. The otheryoungsters love to come. One month

she had them prepare little slidts to present

at our Christmas potluck dinner. She is one ofthe most popularbabysitters around here because she so naturally comes up with great ldeas.

Additions to Directory of Families Here is a completc llst of thc additions and changes to the Directory that we have received since the full l99O Directorywm published in

cws#72.

Our Directory is not a list of all subscribers' but only of those usFo ask tobe lsted, so that other GWS readers, or other interested people' may get in touch with them. If you would like to be includcd, please send the entry form or a 3x5 card (onc family per card). Pleasc take care to include all the infomation - last rrame, full address, and so on.

Please remember that we can't control how the Directory is used: if you receive mwanted rnail as a result ofbeing listed, Just toss it out, Wc print birtlqears of children, not ages. If we made a mistake when converting your child's age to birthyear, plcase let us know.

Please tell us ifyou would rather havc your phone number and town listed instead ofyour mailing address. We don't have space to list both. lf a Directory listing is followed by a (I{1, the family ts willing to host GWS travelers who make advarrce mangements in witing.

If a name in a GWS story is followed by a

state abbreviation in parâ&#x201A;Źnthcses, that person is in the Directory {check here and.in *72),We are happy to foruard mail to those whose addrcsses ac not in the Dircctory. Mark the outst& of thc envelopc with namc/dcscriPtion, issue, and page number. If you don't mark thc outside , we open the envelope, see that you wmt something forvcarded. and then have to readdress the lctter and use our own postage to mail it.

Whcn you send us an address change for a subscription, pleasc remind us ifyou are in the Directory, so we can change it here, too.

The comple te l99l Directory will be published in GWS #78. If your name aPPears in the summa4l of chmgesbelow, you will automatically be includcd in the l99l Directory md do not need to do anything else . If your name dcs not appear here and you want to be Included

in thc l99l Directory, Vu mrst send. us aJom with tle JuU infornvtion by Oct&er 15, 1990, even iJ you usere in

the 19ffi Dircctory or

hae

ben in otler Dtectonbs !n the past.

AL === AI-ABAI/A HOME EDUCATORS, PO Box 16O91, Mobile 361 16 (change) === Robert & Sharon FIEYM (Blake/85, Kyle/89) 6O5 Whispering Hill Cir, Hartselle 35640 O{l -== Kathie & Al SHULTZ (Peter / 79, Mafii'l / 82. Katina/84) 4810 Pertree Ct, T\rscaloosa 354O5 === Fic & Cynthia SMITH (Hmnah/85, Emma/88) 1355 Beaumont Dr, Montgomery 36lll AK -== Karl & Nmcie ELLIS (Anika/84) PO Box277, Kasilof996lO === psgl & Gayle YOUNG (Nathan/8o, Tamr/83. Hilary/86) Box 8OO5, Port Alexander 99836 (I4 AiZ === TtlE AIICHES, POB 58176, Ti.rcson a5732-a176 (chmge) === Will & Thea HOFFMAN (Brian/78) l43O Camino Amapola, Sierra Vista 85635 === TUCSON HOME EDUCATION NETWORK. POB 58176. T\rcson a5732-8176

Where the child finds enjoyment is where the child finds wisdom.

(change)

Greek Proverb

CA North (zlpr 94OOO & up) === Ronnie & Marsha (Nova/83) FEAR NO SCHOOL, PO Box 781, Ben hmond 95OOS === Debt & Bill AIAMEDA (Mandy/79, Molly/83) PO Box 1o572,

Growing Without Schooling #75

AIr === Gregg & AnrE DILLINGI{AM (8r, 84,86. e8) 1273Box 637, Berryville 72616

Iake Tahoe 95731 === Jill & Greg BOONE (Cristie/78, Paul/8o, Curtis/8:l) PEMNSUIA

So

HOMESCHOOLERS, 2427 Grandby' San Jose 95130 === Gary & Melisa CIARK (Amy/85, Nicholas/a8) PO Box 884, El Dorado 95623 === Karen CIAUSSEN & David BOSTEDER (Nicholas/83) Star Route l, McArthur 96O56 === Glen

DAIS & Debra CALDWELL-DAIS Qared/a4l 24o Poplar, Manteca 95336 (change) (I4 === Sta'la

DEAN (Christy/8o) 18f l2thAv, SantaCruz

95062 (I{) === Mike & An$e DEPEW (Taylor/83' Mason/84, Klark /a7ltlo--Frc.x259l, Lake lsabella 93240 (F0 === Sam & Jackie DICI(ER (Michael/ 84, Jessica/87} 275 l4th Av, Santa Cruz 95067 (change) (I4 === Kathleen & Stevcn EMMER (Matthew/85, Elliot/88) 468 Corte Madera Av, Cortc Maden 94925 (I4 === David & Margaret FRAI.IK (JoMarie/66, AnrMarie/68' D.J/83' Jack/ 8a) PO Box lO2, Walnut Creek 94597 (I{l ===Judy GILLIGAN & David KLINE (Zacharyl 80, Caitlin/a:t, Sandy/8s) 1416 Monmh Ln, Davis 95616 (I4 === Kathleen & Stephen HUNT (Huckleberry/84, Hallle/86) l548MapleSt #31, Redwood City 94063 === Randy & L5mne KNOWLES ltnthony /77 , Jervty /79, Jorma/84.

Arly/86, Dlspeth/88) 14556 Ilttle Greenhorn, Grass Valley 95945 (change) (I4 === Ann

KoSITSKr & Peter FIAIMAN (Aaron /82' Jos}]^ua/ 84) lOgO Miller Av, Berkeley 94708 ==- Jon & Dana LEVINE (Nathm/76, Me gan/79'Ovten/ 85) 9f6 Pendegast St, Woodland 95695 (ID === Dennis & Janc MACRINA (Aaron/8l' Bryan/7al 387 Oak St, Sonoma 95476 (II) === Harry & Michaele MAURER (Joel/76, Deidre/83) 546 Jefferson St, Hayward 94544 === Mary & Todd PHOEMX (Sarah/8s) 7O7 -725-622A (Fortuna) === Leonrd & Barbara RITTER (Aaron/77' April /8O, Jeremy/S2. Rachel /8 5) 22O Bolling Dr' Novato 94949 === Janet & Peter RUDHOLM (Shosharun/82, Coral /89) I 954 Butterfly Valley Rd, Quinry 95971 === Ellen SAWISIAK &David ALBERT (Aliyah Shanti/87) PO Box 582' Santa Cruz 95O61 === Iaura & Steve SHMANIA (Susan/86, Amy lagl 7221Via Maria. San Josc 95139 === Robert & Naomi WILLI.AMS (Stom/ 88) 216-B Hazel. Santa Ros 95401 === Bvs YAZEMBTAK-THOMAS (Eval831 22929'w 4th Ave. Stevinson 95374 === Vicki & Neil ZIEMBA (Corey/85, Irene/89) PO Box 197, Bod.ega94922

cA South (zlPc to 94OOO)

=== Doug &

Natalie AFILSTROM (Brittney/85, lan/ aSl 722 E. Palmdale Av, Orange 92665 04 === Jillet ASIAIN (Margarita/8f ) 86 West St Apt A, Salinas 93901 === Deama CFIEUNG & Rasoul SHARIFI (Marina/85) ALLTANCE OF CoNTINUUM SCHOOLS, 3l18 lroquols, Long Beach (I{) === Russel & Cormie COLTEN (Chris/7\, Sham/74' Dwin/78, Donika/83, Trevor/a8) I l9lnyo Irt' Oceanside 92C54 === Stanley & Yvonne CRANE (Kevin/82, Megharrr /85, Kollin/88) I 23 brimer St. Salinas 93901 === Steve & KaUe FLEMATE (Alisia/84, Andie/86) 573O Fair Av, N. Hol\rwood

91601 === Morey FUGATE (Christopher/76) PO Box7482, Spreckels 93962 {change) === Bill & Jill HEA"SLEY (Brock / 77,l,rlgan / 79, McKay / a4' Tller/85) 4312 E Buckinglam Way, Fresno 93726 === Luana & Gary HOIZER (William/83' Josf/87) 18527 Edgebrook In, Huntington Beach 92648 === Paul & Patricia FIYDE (Emily/ 78, Dara/8l) 2661 ke St, Simi Valley 93065 === Patricia MIIJARAK (John/75) PO Box 721l.

Spreckells 93962 === Robert OTT & Lenore FIAYES-OT'I (Nigel/84) 228 Corona Av, bng Beach 9O8O3 ===John& SueAm POWER (Arme Marie/al) 96O Yalc St, Santa Monica 9O4O3 === Michael ROWIAND Uess/76) 8OO5 Waring Av #4, Los Angeles 90046 (H) ==- Bob & Debbie STAGGS (Laura/82, Michael/87) HC - I Box 5952, Yucc aYallerJ 922a4 === Bob & Debbie

2A STAGGS

llat:ra/a2, Michael/a7) HC-l Box 5952,

YuccaValley 92284 CO === Sallie Harpcr BEACH (S€th/74,

J*emy/76, Sarah/82, Chelsca/a6) 421 SCcdar, Yuma 8o759 === Jim & Judy HOLMBOE (Catte/85, Iaura/6a) 85O Kalmia St., Boulder 80304 CT === Donald & Nancy BUTERA (Danny/ 83, David/86) 32 Gruc Pl, Danbury O6AIO === Louts & f!,onna CANN (Jason/8O, Ouintin/83, Aubrey/8€t) 246 Clintonville Rd, Northford O6472 === Ktmberly ENDAIIL & Mark TSOCANOS (Nina-Alexandra/84, Nikolas/a6, Sebastian/a9), UNSCHOOLERS SUPFORT GROUP, ll Charles St, Darien 06820 === Lydia & John FLYNN (Michacl/84, Caitlin,/87) 9 Corinne Dr, Tolland 06'084 === Earl & Ellen PAFPALARDO (D.J./83, Eve/89) 95O Farmin€iton Ave #A-35, New Britaln

o6053

FL =-= FA[,I|LY LEARMNG EXCHANGE, 2O2O Tr.rrpentlne Rd,

Mims 32754

=-- Vickie &

Cr:rt HOLMES.MORRISON (Eamon/76) 628

Citrus Av, Oviedo 32765 (chaqge) === Cheryl & Peter KoZAKIEWICZ (Nathan/ 78, Jordan/8o, Sara/83, Jcsslca/85) 1453 Alabama St, Navarre Beach 32566 (IIl === Scott & turn IANIER (Bob/ 70, Atnanda/ 73, Brian/75, Justin/84) I 79 E Crcst Av. Winter Garden 347a7 === Gwen & John MEEFIAN (Patrick/76) l52O BriercliffDr, Orlando 32aO6 === Mark & Dawn WIDENER {Christopher/85, Michael/87) 724O Mele Ct., Jacksorwille 32211

77,

cA === Mark & Velinda IUITCHELL (Emily/ Meftitt / 79, Cory/8o, Miriam / a2, E,tene / aSl

3OO4 Erik Ct, Augusta 30r€106 === Spiros & Dale VOSTITSANOS (Sasha/78) Oak Springs Rd, Rt 4 Box 4O46. Clarkesville 3O523 (change)

HI === Steven &Elise GATES (Mari/8I, Keizo/85) 24 Sand Island Rd #27, Honolulu 96819 === Terra & Newman I,oVE (Forcst Gray/ 8f) 5f f Olinda Rd, Makawao 96764 === Tlna SIERRA & Dwiiht D'ARMAS (Ku'ulel/87) HAWAII HOMESCHOOLASSN, 6696O Kuewa Dr, Waialua

967sr

(H)

ID === Gerald & Afton ONDRICEK (Crystal/79) 85O E. Coungslde, Idaho Falls 83404 (I{) === Jsyn6 SORRELS (Ryan/8a, Jillayne/a5) l8O2 \I/ Washington, Botse 8Il7O2

IL

=== William & Katherine BIANCHETTE

(Candace/85, Andrew/88) 2O9 Aquarius Dr, Shiloh 62269 (II) === Michael & Kathryn COLBRESE lE;gatt/72, Arna-Marta/73, Paul & Michael/74, Erin/75, Colleen &David /7 6, Michaela/79, Daniel/81, John/ai}.Adam/76) 2w7 2j7th St N. East Mollne 61244 =-= Chet & Diann DICKERHOOF (Alexandra/85) I I Forest Hill Dr # I O 1 , Glen Ellyn 60 I 37 === John & Sharon ECKLUND (Scott/75) 215 Lake St, Galesburg 61401 === Don & Carol HURTIG (Jennle/8l, Amanda & Patrick/82) ISOO T!'r€n Av, Park Ridge 60068 === Bill & Kathy KING

(Caleb/77, Jacob/8O, S€th/83, Ernily/a6, Lillian/ I Strykcr Av, Joliet 60436 === Ramachandran PUTHUVAL & Terry QUAIN {Sarala/83, Kannan/85) lO5 S Ellsworth St, Apt I, Naperville 60540 (I{) === Andrea & Dave RUSIN (Victoria/ 82, Mcholas/84) 604 N 6th, Dekalb 60rrS EII

88) PO Box 185, Orange Clty 5l04l (I{) === Stcven MOORE & Paula IAWSON-MOORE {BenJamin/82) Rt 5 Box 238. Iowa CJty 52240

LA === Sherri & Darrell DAIGLE (Ross/82, Lucas/8{t, Cami/88) 622 Steele Blvd, Baton Rouge 7O8OO === Tracey & Thomas SHERRY Uenna/85, Jacob/88) 6055 General Meyer Av, Ncw Orleans 70f3f 0O

UD === Robert & Audrqf BANKS (Brendan/79, Alyssa/8f) 2Of8 Suffolk Rd, Flnksburg 2f O48 (change) === Delay'ne & Dantel COATS (nffany / 77, BenJamin/8l, Molly/86) 2939 A 2nd Army Dr, Ft Meade 20755 === Ttmothy & Sheri JACKSON {shelley/86, Stacey/88) 5O4l Bass Ct' Waldorf 20603 === Jim & Janet IATHAN (Corinna/67, Catherine/70. Kenneth/78, Allyssa/8O) ANTIETAM FAMILY EDUCAT'ION, 418 Robinwood Dr, Haglerstovrn 21740 W === Laura LYNDS & Charles BREf{TON (Amella/86) 316 lst Av SW, Glenbumie 2l06l === Christopher MAHONEY & Carolyn COHEN {Bran/85, Tara[Perury)/87) 98fO Uberty Rd, Frederick 2l70l === Frank & Laura SCOTT (Jonathan/85) 9419 Chadburn Pl, Gaithersburg 2o,479 ===

Gayle & Ma* TANENBAUM (Yonit/a6, Metav/ 9Ol 7 Ambiance Ct, North Potomac 2Oa7A === Jim & Judy WARNER (Susannah /85) r 1 865 Old Columbia Ptke, Silver Sprlng;2O9O4 === Iaw & Peggr WAfiINS (Nathaniel/74, Sophta/79) 23615 W Harris Rd, Dickerson 20842 === Wa)me & Sandy WATKINS (Tim/72, Jason/79) 45Ol Roop Rd, Mt Atry 21771

Mrt === John & Linda ALICO (Laney/78, Christine/8l, Molly/83, Travis/87) I 5 Mill Pond Ln, Dr:xbury 02332 (change) (I4 === Jmis & Chris BAKER (Stephanie/68, Michael / 82, Alexander/86) 25 James Way, Scituate O2066 === Sheryl & Quint CAII'WELL Uohn/82' Brandon/84. Brittmy/8g) 234 Middle St' W Newbury === Michael & Diane D'ARCANGELO (Julie/75, Stcph anie / TT,E,lizabeth/79, Michelle/ 81, Michael/83, Jimmy/85. Jos€ph/86) 94 Hillside Av, Merimac =-= Pat DILLIPIANE & Bob GOTO (Sara/l O, Susarura/8) 6l Hurcn Av, Cambrldge O2f38 F0 === ChristoPher & Deborah FINCH (Joseph/82, Carter/86, Samuel/ 88) 74 Wentworth Av, Lowell Of 852 0I) === Dave & Sue GIULIANO (Jesse/79, Jenna,/82) 31 9uail Trail, Westport O279A === Nicky FIARDENBERGH & Garrick COLE (Forrester/8o, Sage/83) PO Box 1514. ManchesterOl944 === Im & Joseph LeVANGIE (Dmiel/76, Joshua/79, Joseph/82, Jesse/85) PO Box 27 4, Wendell === Heather LITTLE-ANDRADE (Jesse & Raquel/82) 287a Elm St, Dighton 02715 -= Faith Joncs OZAN (Aydin/84) 7 Lincoln St, Newburyport Ol95O === Peter & Karen POWER (Bridget/74, Darrlny/78l 6 Parkman St, Dorchester 02122 === Elizab€th & Brlan PRESCOTT (Luke /76, Tamas/ 78, Michael/88) 40 Phillips St, tlr I, Grecnffeld O I 3Ol === Valerie VAUGFIAN (G abnel / 75, *an / 85) 761 Federal St, Bclchertom OIOOT

MI === David & Rebecca FIAGEL (BenJamin/7], Sarah/8o) 1461 E David Hwy, lonia 48846 (change)

89) I I

IN === Thomas & Marian SEVER [Mark/

78,

David/8l) 7869 N IOOO East, Wlkinson

46186 (change) (H) IA === Janlne & Doug CALSBEEK (John/

MN

:=

Olivla/86)

Cheryl & Jeff BERG (Emily/82,

RR 3 Box 77, Red Wing 55066 ===

l4th Av South.

Bloomington 55425 =--= Bill & Susan REES (David/79, Dana/83, Aleta/85) 5652 NPike l,ake Rd, Duluth 5581I === Kathy & John SZYMAN-

Leslie L,AVANDER (Joy/8O) 9037

SKI (JohnJay/78, Mark/81 , Maryl83, new baby/

90) RR 2 Box l(X)D, Alden 56OO9 -=- Linda WINSOR & Andrew PROKOP (Louis/84, Evan/a7l 1927 James Av, St Paul 55105 (H)

Mo === Gary & Jean BL{CKWOOD {careth/76, Glles/82, Tegan/87) Rt 3 Box 29OA' Carthag 64836 F{) === Davc & Janicc LUCKENBACH (Sarah/82) Rt I Box393,Ava 656CrS === Brll & Jan PIERCE (Sonnet/76, Naorni/8o, Eva/82) Rt

I

Box 69, Eldridge 65463

(H) MT === Dennis & Nancy DUPRE (Jesse/8l, Rebekah/82, Clare/86) 92 I Missoula, Helena

5960r (Hl NV === Paul & Cindy BODOR (Daniel/8o' Jason/82, Erik/87) 23 Moritz Wy, Mt Charleston

49t24 NH === Dianne & Brian CAHILL (Michael/ 8f , Jeffrey/8tt) 16 Wtnter Cir, RFD 3, Manchester OSlOg === Arthur & Marie GALIAGHER (Christopher/8 l, Daniel/83, Sara-Beth/85) 8 Hayes Pl, Portsmouth OSAOI === Doris & Paul HOHENSEE (Michael/8O, Erin/81 . Kira/83' Douglas/86, Gregory/aa) 9 Blueberry Ln' HI.JFFMAN Nashua 03O62 -= Ken & Iaurie (Alexander/82) Gagc Rd, Box I12, Wlton 03086 NJ === Joy & Paul COHEN (Mtchael/83' Barry/8g) 39 Skyline Dr, Upper Saddle Rtver O745a (change) === Arthur & Marlane EDELMAN Uesstca/84, Heather/88) LleqrelVn Park' West Orange O7O52-4SO9 (change) === James & Mlchele MALONEY (Iarall80) 432 Donaldson St,

Higftland Park Oa9O4 NM === Charles & Shalisha MULLIGAN' 5313 A Heritage Way NE, Albuquerque 871O9 === Ross & Lee Ann ROBERTS (Michelle/84, Rachcl/88) 6OOO Topke NE #256, Albuquerque 87log === Grcg SENN & Barbara KIAPPERICH SENN (Jennifer/85, Jacob/88) PO Box 961 ' Portales 8al3o === Tom & Sandy SHEALY (David/81, Nathan/a5, Joam/8o) 1065 Fairuay

Ter, Clovis 8€llol NY === Mary BALFOUR & Andri GONCAROV (Alexandra/86, Violet/8g) 53t|f Hevcrly Rd, Trumansburg 14886 GJ) === Shar:on HOTCHKISS & Dave KAIVIP (Galen/83) 133 Irroy St, Potsdam f3676 (I4 === Kim & GordY ILOWIT (Micah/al, Isaiah/a5, Arianna/88) RD * I Box 56, Oneonta t3{t20 (I4 === Jonathan KLINE & Flora MARRANCA (Irahl83' Aphra/85' Mattea/8g) 5O66 Mott Evans Rd, Trumansburg 14886 === Tom & AnnMarie L,TOUGHLIN (JerunT aO.

Brian/83, E;nc/AV lO5 W 4th St, Dunkirk

14048 O{l === Marguertte MILLER & Stcven HOTOVY(Mark

/A4,kah/A7,Paul/89)

RR

I Box

4. l5 Park St, Moravia l3l l8 === Pat & Jeff NORDSTROM (Kurt/ 77, Trisha/8l, Christina/ 85, baby/g0) 2ooW lo8th St, Apt 2A. NewYork lOO25 (H) === Kathy & Gary RICFIARDSON (samantha/84) 6325 Babcock Hollow, Bath 1481O (change) === Hank & Jane ROBERTS

(Jacob/al, MaryAutumn/8s| 6O3f Brmk Rd, Tmmmburg 14386 (I4 === Jim & Sheila SAVINO (Gabe/82, Maxim/87) 45 Sergffit St' Sodw 14551 === p66 & Steve SITMCK (lan/7a, Dylan/8l) 1O22 Westminster Av, Dlx Hills I1746

(H)

NC === Ron & Deanie FIYDLER (Jenny/79, 32O Whitehead Av' Spencer 2S159 (I{) === Brob & Karen McALISTER

Justin/83, Summer/8s)

(Jenny/8l, Will/8412222 Monz Dr, Albermarle 28OOf GD === Bob & Susan NOFFSINGER (Daniel /74, Keely / 7 6, kra / 7 I, Benjamin/84) Rt

I Box 741-D, Manteo 27954 === Elizabeth & Tcrry WOODFIELD (Sarah /84, Katherine/88) IOS Hillary Placc, Cary 27513 Growing Without Schooling #75

29 oH === CHRISTIAN HOME EDUCATORS OF OHIO, PO Box l224,}(ent 4424O (change) === CREATIVE TFIOUGIITS FROM OHIO HOME SCHOOI^S, c/o Arny Vmorio, 2lO8 Kemper Ln, Cincinnati 452OG === Brim & Gina GEORGE (Phillip/87) Int 187, 5965 Harrisbug-

Georgesville Rd, Grovc City 43123 === HOME BASED ED. LEAGUE OF PERRYSBURG (HELP), c/o Terry Endsley, 13947 5 Pt Rd, Perrysburg 43551 === Ford & Pam KEBKER (Eric/8o, Melissa/83, David/86, Paul/88) 2Og I I th St, Genoa 43430 (Hf === Theodore & Susan LANDOLL (James/75, JoAme/8 I, Anastasia/87) 3791 N SR 53, Tilffn 448a3 F{ === lvlaggie &Jim MEYER {Enc/76, Arrm/al, Serena/a5) I lO54 CR 54, Findlay 45840 === Dirk & Babra PETER (Gregory/85, Jordan/89) 1126 Bedford Wmds Dr, Toledo 43615 === AnyVAMRIO (Joshua/84) 2 I O8 Xemper Ln, Cincinnati 452Oo === Michacl & trsley WESTRUM fMadeline/ao,

James/8l, Rebekah/a5, Rachel/87) Rt 4 Box 482A, Portsmouth 45662 (change)

OK === l-aura & Philip WESTERVELT (Amanda/76, Abrgail /791 Rt I Box l42, Meridian 73058

& Bonnie GONZALES (Michael/72, Matthew/75) 63676 High Standad Dr, Bend 97701 === Patrick & Mdie MES (Andrew/ao, Ammda/84, 7achary / A7l $3 OR === Orlando

Kingwood Dr, McMinnville 97128

VA === Heidi & John BRENNAN

Wmdbridge 22192 === Sally & Franklin DOMINGUEZ (Benjamin/76, Dmiel / 7 al 7 O22 Stmford Dr, Alqmdria 22307 === Cyndy & Dave HOYT (Sara/82. Amy/86, Judi/89) 2 I l2 Wcybridge Dr, Virginia Beach 23454 === Andrea & Ktrl KELLER (Petra/83,'Ihane/a6l 4424 Sudley Rd, Gainesville 22065 WA === Donald & Jj FALLICK (Katrina/76, Amelia/78, Talitha/8 I, Amanda/83, Halley/85) Rt 3 Box 72F, Davenport 99122 (IIl === Rosmary FIRSTENBERG (Kyle/ 73, Cherise/75, Skyla/76, Starr/78, Katie/82, Matthew/a6, Sarah & Shcena/87, Michael/8a) I 3O45 27th Av NE, Seattle 98125 === Qsng & Sandi FIALL (Kyle/8l, Cmsie/82) 23335 264th Av SE, Maple Valley 98038 === Richrd & Catherine FIAYWARD, lOO5 Key St, Bellingfram 9a225 (change) === HOMESCHOOLERS' SUPPORT ASSN, PO Box 413, Maple Valley 9803€l (change) === Rod & Arlene PAYTON (Robert/75, Shannon/ 76, Christopher/8o, Stephen/86) 2O939 Kaster Rd NW, Poulsbo 98370 (H) === Mtrcy & Mrk RAY (Nex / 82, Colin/85, Tom/88) 206-789-73Oo (Seattle) (I{) === WASHINGTON HOMESCHOOL ORGAMZAflON [wHO), PO Box 938, Maplc Valley 98O38 (change) === $ssig & Jm WNTERSIECK (Azal83. Nlan/871PO Box I547, Vashon

Islmd PA === Clar-ence & Charlotte FREED (Bart/ 78, Natali/7g) 24O2 Brumer Rd, Emmaus 18O49 === Chuck & Barbara PAGE (Charlcy/83, Alexander/85, Christian/87, Oliver/a9) 205 W Virglnia Av, Munhall l5l20 === PENNSYLVANIA HOME EDUCATION NEWS, 4l I North DufS Rd, Butlcr l6OOl === ften & Marilyn PEREIRA (Josh / 73, Molly - Arut / 7 7, J ock / 7 5\ 880 I Stenton Av, Philadelphia l9l l8 === Bill & lrrctta PIETRANGEI-O (lnra/7g, William/82) 56 Paul Circle, Glen Mills 19342 === William ROGERS & Ellen STAATS (NIghtfl ower/74, Christine/78, Justin/81) l625Jug Rd, Dover 17315 === Call & LuAnn RUMBAI-SKI {Cull7a, Kalina/8O, Yuri/ 82) Box 18, Mackeyville f775O (I4 === Patti & Xevin VAN BUSKIRX, RD I Box 868, Newfoundland 1a445 === Bill & Brenda VAN MATRE (Billy/85, Emily / 87, Ly dia / 891 33 I Venango Ave.,

Cambridge Springs 16403 SC === Jim & Carolyn BROWN (Jenny & Catherine/79, Rachel/82, Julie/83, Laura/86, Robert/87) 1637 Yellow House Rd, Wadmalaw Island 29487 (II) === Dave & Jim GROVES (Timon/75, Austin/ao) 2O4 Brandywine Dr, Summeruille 294a5 (change) SD === Sue & Vm RADOSTI (Adriana/86) 3O2O Berry Circle , Sior:x Falls 571O5 (chaqge)

TN === Judy HI{iDIN & Bnrce BOTTS (Kimrey/83) Rt I I Box 92, Greeneville 37743 --== Karen SMITH (Allse/ 79, Rhianna/83, Dterdre/ 87) 2202-4 Greenbriar Circle. Johnson Citv 37601

TX === Maltin & Julia LEWTT (Rebecca/ 83. Deborah/89) lTOO Mulberry. Richmond 77469 (8, === Grant & Donna LOVLTOY (Meredith/87) 3201 Martin Lydon, Fort Worth 76133 === Susan McKMGHT (Trsta/77, Shauna/8l) 19o8 W Second St, Arlington 76013 VT === Joanna & Duane GORMAN (Rowen/ 84, Asa/87) RRI Box I 147, Ludlow O5149 === Cheryl & Scott SAUTER (Kyle/85, TVer/87) RR I Box lO1-B, West Danville 05873 [H)

Growing Without Schooling #75

(Charla/

Mrianne/86, Cara/89) 36O4 N Uplmd St, Arlington 222OT === Jerry & Cmella CIEMT{Y (Grace/83, Caralina/86) 12767 caabo Ct, 84,

98O7O

WV === Mary Ellen SULLIVAN & Don FISHEL (Jake/8l, Doug/82, Max/as) Rt 2 Box l13, Mannir:gton 26582 (H)

U[ === Jim & Jan ERDMAN (Martin/76, Will/78, Ryland/8l) l3l 7 Meadow Hill Dr,

lad / 75,

Cory

cl[ 7t4

OTHER,I.OCATIONS Jim & Anrra ADAMS (Toby/77, Danny/8O, Jessica/84) 282 Katoomba St, Katoomba 2780, NSWAugtralla === Debbie & Magdy ARMAMOUS (Elizabeth /AO, Luke/ 821 2 Malua St, Doll's Point AustrslL === Joarme & Greg BEIRNE (Gregory/aO, Rebecca/82, Stephen/84, MaryBeth/8g) la Amold Av, Kellyville 2153, NSW Australle (I{l === Jo-Anne & Jacob BRUGMANS (Kylie/83, Stephen /86, Nicole /a9) 37A King St, Heathcote 223:t Australla === John & Beverly GOIDEN (Judith /81, Gabriel/83, Zachary / a6, Rachael/89) PSC Box 86a, APO New York O9291 (Crctc) === Elsa HAAS, APRENDER SIN ESCUEIA (Spanish GWS). Hortale-^ 4,5 iz4, 28OO4 Madrid Spetn (I4 === Jo & Ian FIARPER (Leonie/78, Michael/8O, Stephanie/83, Miriam/ 89) I Basil St, Riverwood 2210, NSWAustralla === HOMESCHOOLERS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, PO Box 346. Sevcn Hills 2147. NSWAustralla === ffienis3 HUDSON {3 children, 85,87, 90) 4l West St, Balgowlm Heights 2093, NSW Aurtralla === Judith LYE, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo 158 Jepsn === Josqpip & Flory MONTEIRO (Myola/76, Myron/a5) PO Box 7682, Dubai Unltcd Arab Emlratct (I! === 1i1t g p.,..

Nesbitt-Hawcs (Tinothy/a4, I:ura/87) NSW Central Coast Homeschool Group, RMB 6346, MacDonalds Rd, Lisarow NSW 225O Augtralla === Khalid & Terrie RASHEED (AMullah/83) PO

Box 25239, FJyadh, I 1466 (Ssudl Arabta) (I0 Jgn6 & Matthcw SCRIBER (3 children) 24 Homan Close, Umlna 2257, NSW Australls === Law & Peggr WATKINS (Nathmiel/74, Sophia/ 79) Nmgmtu, Malakm via Edaymmula, 689532 Kerala Indle === Karen & Dale WIL LIAMS (Grant/8l, Elisa/83) YARRA VALLEY HOMESCHOOLERS, I Salisburv St, Warburton ===

Menomonie 54751 (change) 0{) === Annie & Richud KRUPNOW (lsaac/83, Sasha/87) l56Ol Hwy O, Menill 54452 1*{, === Paul & lnis SOLIKUP (Paula / 72, Marlene / 73,

Nicholas/79, Christopher/82) c/o Martin, Box 242, Cornwall COA IHO (Hl === Bw & Chris ROUMBANIS 0saac/77, Cecily/74) 485 St. Peter's Rd, RR 3 Charlottetom CIA 7J7 tlll === Conrrie & Ron SIEMENS (Lukc & Amy/a3, Natalic & Kristen/aal 7 Glencove Dr, Southport

/

76, Jana/78, Aden & Ely/79) NlSlO Hwy I{FI, Lyndon Station 53944 === John & Ellie THOMASON (Adele/8l , Becca/8s) Rt I Box 9l -B,

Australle

Mason 54856 (H)

Additions to

Canada

lllta

=== Meg FIAINES (Bobby/79. Cassy/

82, Matt/84) I

l85l-71 St, Edmonton TSB lW4

=== Js6[ & Ray KEIP Uaimc/85) Box 5027, Peace River T8S lR7 (H)

BC === Nicole I{AMAN & Robin DASS (Sasha/8l, Mischa/85) 19677 2lstAv, Langley V3A 4P4 G4 === Jan & Ron KIRKBY (tnren/8O, Jesse/83, Brady/86, Melody/89) RRl, Pender Is'land VON 2MO === Janey & Francis PRINGMILL (Kristen/83, David/86, Angela/8g) General Delivcry, Bowen Island VON lcO === Sean & Lillim SLY (Pndrw/77, Matthew/79, Heather/ 82) 2950 Colmm Rd, RRI, Cobble Hill VOR ILO (change)

Man === Gary & Sandra HOIIT (Joshua/ 80, Tasha/81, Benji/83, Sunshine/86) 199 Kitson St, Winnipeg R2HO7A NS === Gail REBBECK & Brock ELLIOTT (Cassin/79, Barrie & Rory/83, ki€h/87) PO Box I138, Antigonish B2G 2I-6 (IIl === Jan TAYITR & Tom BUSFIELL (Emily/84, Treya/89) Box 9202 Stn A, Halifax B3K 5M8 (H)

Ont === Herb & Barb JONES (Oliver/8l, Anna/85) RR l, Gananoque K7c 2V3 (H) PEI === Paul & Riada ROCH (Colin/77,

Resources

Helpful Psychologists: Jan Hunt and Nanry Conachy, Box 9306, Bend OR 97708: 503-3821547 (prenatal and family counselingf .

Down Syndrome, Learnins Disabilities.

Special Ed (willing to conespond about): Rosemar5r Firstenberg, 13O45 27th Av NE, Seattle WA 98125.

The complete lists of certified teachers, helpful lawyers, professors, psychologists, school districts, and people willing to correspond about vrious subjects were published in GWS #73.

Pen-Pals Chlldrcn wrntlng pcn-p.L should write to those listed. To be llsted. send name, age, address, and 1-3 words on Interests === O'DAY, Rt I Box 417, Clinton AR 72031: Meghann (lO) New Kids, 4-H; Katherine (8) grmnastics, Bmwnies, hulahooping; Bridget (5) dance, computers, sewing ==-- HAIMAN, lO9O Miller Av, Berkeley CA 94708: Aaron [8) animal behavior, violin, peacel Joshua (5) clowns, animals, cooperation === J6shus WHITE (16) PO Box 143, Jordanvillc NY 13361: larlguagc, gardening, art === Ia'la MALOIIEY (lO) 432 Donaldson St, Highlmd Prk NJ O89O4; at, science, sfrrts === Kimberly SKELTON (5) 12350 Natural Brk Dr, Chcsterfield VA 23a32; pets, dolls, 5fisksls ===

laduertLsementl

Home Schooling doesn't have to be a choreA Beka Book has three easy oBtions.

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 Iearns at home and sends work to our home office to be reviewed by experienced teachers.

For more information about any of these options, call or write today.

^{;percaSc^IrooI Hombin Christian

Excellence

Home School Education

Station GW . Pensacola, FL .

62523-9160

, I-800-874-BEKA

@ E I tnvrtr'

I

Growing Without Schooling #75

3l

Catalog Inf ormation

Declassified Ads

Our liall catalog was bomd Arto cWS #71 .

Separate copies of the catalog are s€nt out *'ith yourbook orders, and are available upon request.

Please ask about obtaining quantiHes of our catalogs for dlstributton at lmal events, librries, or other placcs where interest is likely.

On request, we will photocopy and mail the GWS review of any item in our catalog. S€nd 50 cents plus a SASE for one: add 25 cents for each

Rates:

additional.

When You Write Us Please - (1) h:t separate items of business on spdate sheets of paper. (2) R:t you name and address at the top ofeach letter. (3) lfyou ask questlons, enclose a self-addressed stamped envelope . (4) Tell us if it's OK to publish you letter, and whether to use your mme with thc story. Wc edit letterc fior spacc md cluity.

Subscriptions Subscriptions start with the nqt issue published. Our current rates are $25 for 6 issues, $45 for 12lssues, $6O for 18 issues. GWS is published every other month. A single issue costs

7otlword, $l/word boldfrcc. $5 minimum. Please tell these folks vou saw the ad inGWS.

'PRACTICAL PARENTING.- booklet by mothcr of four. $4.'Family,- Dept. H, P.O. Box 173O.

kbanon. MO 65536.

EDUCATIONAL SOF|WARE AGES 3-18. spelling, Reading, Math, Art, Science , etc. IBM, MAC, Apple, Amiga, COMM, Atari. Over 7OO programs for 60 publishers. For a 2OO page catalog wnd $2 to DAVMAR, 17939 Chatsworth #418F, GH CA

91344.

Travel camp for homechmlen agcd l1-14. Train from NY to CA SF, LA, Disney, etc.6/24/90-7 / l6/70. For details md other trips contact AERO, 5

l6-621-2 195.

Foreign pa1m€nts must be either money

yer

for aimail (otherwise, allow 2-3 months for surface mail), Ad&csr Changcr3 If you're moving, let us know your new address as soon as posible.

Please enclose a recent label (or copy of one) . $15 per

Issues missed becausc ofa change in address may be replaced for $2 each, The post oflice destroys your missed issues and charges us a notilication fcc, so we cm't afford to replacc them without charge.

Group 9ubrcrlptlonr: We offer group subscriptions, in vyhich several copies of each issue are mailed to one addres. The price is $18 per lrerun, and groups of 5 or more receive the leader's subscription free (in other words, a group ofS pays 4 x $18 and recetues 5 copies of cach issue). Pleare pay for group subsaiptions

with onc chcct.

Movlng, Wllmlngton, llC area. Looking for connections. Secular education, simple living, ecologl, arts, alternative business, spiritulity.

Resnick. PO Box 47G. Athens. OH 45701.

LDS Homeschoolers ncwsletter available, making dircctory: $6, NAMHS, 2770 S IOOO W, Perry, UT

84302.

Please send in the rnmes and addresscs of members ofyour group sub, so that we can keep

EDUCATIONAL SOFTWARE - Get ready NOW for the upcoming school yearl lBM, APPII, MAC, COMM. TANDY. AMIGA and ATARI includedl HOME SCHOOLERPRICES and, m always, FREE POSTAGE on all ordersl Write for free catalog: SCS, PO Box 1396, Dept. G, Concord. MAOI742.

ALGEBRA FOR 3rd GRADERS & IrPl 4x+2=2x+lO is now child's play with this patented, visual/kinestlretic system. Used in I OOO homes nationwide. Order IIAIIIDSi-ON EQUATIONS for $34.95 plus $4.5O S&H from BORTNSON AND ASSOCIATES, Dept GWS, Box 45O, Dublin PA 18917.

CHILDRENS RECORDINGS. Mail order Records, Tapes & Videos invites you to *nd for ou free 32 page catalog ofover 2OO titles. Featurlng the best recording arttsts of childrcn's music, storytelling, and educational activitiesl PO Box 1343, EugeneOR9744O. FR"EE Sclcncc Magazlnc loaded

ments: TOPS ldeas, 1O970

r'foth: Individualized selflearnin€!. Intemationally lorown patented mastery system gives each child the opportunlty to work at his/her own speed at home from basic counting and number tracing up into college-level work. koven in 30 years of u* aror:nd the world to help children develop a strong foundation, build self-conffdence. and reach their maximum mathematical potential. Self-paced work also helps the child errich cognitive skills and develop habits of

neatness, attentlon to task, and strong workplanning skills. Please write for information to The New karnng Center, IOO Dorset St, Box l9C), South Burlington VT O54O3.

Alphe Plur introduces Thc 4th Rt Rcrtonlng.

Quarterly newsletter subscription

S

with experi-

Mulino Rd, Canbv

oR97013.

Hating." Challenging and fun math activities K'8. $21 .OO includes postage PLUS home educators rnath scope/sequence guide. Alpha Plur box 185-H, Chewsville, MD 21721.

FREE CATALOGI New choices in music, science labs, history, sports, math, maps, md pa.renting.

Continued grcat selection of educational resourccs for families. LEARMNG AT HOME, Box 27o-gws75, Honaunau, HI 96726.808-3289669.

HOMESCHOOL BOOKSHELF'- Free catalog, over sixty booksl Home Education Magzinc - now 56 pages blmonthly, current lsue only $3.50. Home Education Press. Box 1O83, Tonreket WA 98855.

SIERRA NEVADA FOOTHILI,S. CALIFORMA. WC are looking for homeschooling families (or otlers

of like mind) interested in shiling stewardship of land where we can have lndividual homes and perhaps shrcd facllities in a small, cooperative , ruml community. We are an editor md an environmentalist with two small children. If you now live In such a community orwould like to talk with us about starting one together, please contact Vicki Ziemba, PO Box 197, Bodega CA 94922t 707-476-3429.

HEARTLEAF: HOMEMADE UUSIC. ART, & MOVEMENT... becau* home is where the art is.

Free catalog ofbooks, music, and tapes. Heartleal Box 4O-A. Slocan Park. BC CANADA VOG 2EO.

Chlldren can lcarn plano at homc without

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Use this form to enter vour name in the 1991 Directorv OR to submit a new entry that you would like us to run in the next availabie issue.

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Growing Without Schooling #75

FREE

Famlly Math: "Bc Math Happy Not Math

in touch with thcm. Thanks.

At the bottom of the next pag€ is a form you cm use to renew your subscription. Pleree help

$ I O.OO.

sample issue, Box 185-H, Chewsville, MD 21721.

$4.50. orders in US funds or checks drawn on US banks.

We can't afford to accept lrmonal checks on Canadian accounts, wen if they have 'US funds' witten on them. Outside of North Amcrica. add

private lessons. kmMusic System of Muslc Iretmction, Box 1834, Carmichael. CA 95609.

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Growlng trrlthout Schoollng ts full of storles showlng that

chlldren are

competent, and capable

of

helptng adults do real work.

For example: GWS #43: Working in a pet store

Holt.

ln

1977 by John

Editor - Susannah She{Ier Publisher - Patrick Farenga Contributing Editor - Donna Richoux Edttorid Assistant - Maqr Maher Editorial Consultant - Nancy Wallace OIIlce & Subscripdon Manager Day Farenga Book Shlpper/Receiver - Ibthy Munro OIIice Assistants - knard Diggturs, Mary Maher, Connie Nesbary, Phoebe Wells Shipping Assistant - Ginger Fitzsimmons

Holt Associates Board of Directors:

Ann Barr, Patrick Farenga (Corporate President), Tom Maher, Donna Rjchoux, Susannah Shelfer Advisors to the Board: Mary Maher, Steve Rupprecht, Mary Van Doren, Nancy Wallace

GWS #45: Apprentice architect G\FS # 51: Working in a museum, in a library

Eoin GaJ makes a photocopy for his mother, Holt Associates ofiice assistant Phoebe Wells.

GIIS was foundcd

Copyrtght @1990 Holt Associates, Inc.

All rights resewed.

GWS #59: Working in a family business

Subscrlbers may ordcr the back lssues mentloned here (and any others, too) for the low prlce of $2 each plus $2 per order, or $tz5 plus $ro postage for a complete set (over 7O lssues).

GWS #62: Doing construction work, helping in an orchard, in the theater, in a pharmacy GWS #63: Helping in optometry office, in a restaurant, in a store GWS #64: Interview with Kaye Inwman, author of the book OJCradles andCareers

9HH

irF

n Bj{ Sol.r

>=E g

rh

.s 6'19

" elc glo

and much moret

FuTFcnrprroN

;Nt

nE-rvnwl-r-r-onM

-

--_l

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hsh No_ Growing Without Schooling #75