Growing Without Schooling 79
Childrcn's Llbrarian Adelaide Gardner fieft) works wlth homeschooler Sarah-Kate Glddtngs. Sce our Focus on Chlldren Jointng Adults at Work, pages l9-21 .
Inside This Issue News & Reports p. 2-4 College Welcomes Homeschoolers, Allowed on School Teams, Certilled Doesn't Mean Better Qualified, Support from Federal Gov't, News from Outside U.S.
Changlng Rrbltc Attltudes p.
5
Challenges & Concerns p.6-7 Homeschooling with Toddler, Valuing Mothering, Critical Relative, Illness in Family
Watchlng Chlldren Lcarn p.8-12 Math & History, Newspaper Volunteer, Cartooning, John Holt on Children's Questions, Involving Neighbors, Support vs. Encouragement, Belng "Behind," Ballet School
EnJoytng Mathematlcs p. tz-t+
BookRevlews p. 15-18 FOCUS: Chlldrcn Jolnlng Adults at Work p. l9-21
Intervlew: Glenda Blsser at Work p.22-24 Older Homeschoolers p. 24-25
Llfelong Lâ‚Źarnlng, not Llfelong SchooUng p.26-27
FYom ttme to tlme we hear stories of homeschoolers having a chance to help out at an adult workplace, and we've printed many of these storles over the years. Such an opportunity is often one of the best parts of a child's homeschoollng experlence, and it's easy to see why. Helplng out an adult workplace gives chlldren a chance to be taken serlously by someone outstde thetr own familles, to do real work (often work that colncides wlth their lrterests), to get a better sense of thelr own lncllnaUons and abiliUes' For this lssue of GWS. we've talked with the adults who have made some of these work opportunltles possible for homeschoolers. We wanted to gtve them credlt for havlng dared to try something so experimental, and to flnd out what tre their experience would help other adults feel able to make a child the same offer. The chtldren ln the storles we focus on here were all under 12 when they helped out at the adult workplace, so their stories are a bit different from the ones about teenagers llnding lnternships (which we also love to printt), most obviously because they are about working once a week, on a fairly experimental basis, rather than full-time. None of the childrenJolned the adult at work as part of an already established ]oung volunteers' program. Each was an tndividual arrangement, set up specillcally to fit the needs of the partlcular adult and child. These arrangements seem to work more successfully than volunteer programs, especially for young children, preclsely because they are flexible and made to fit the tndividuals. All of the adults we talked to made thls point tn one way or another. It's tmportant to remember that although these ecperiences have been so valuable to the chtldren, the adults didn't agree to the arrangement out of altruism alone. They all point out that the child has gtven them real help - that's what makes them value their young volunteer, although they may also like giving a young person an opportunity, havtng a child around, and so on. And having seen that one young person can be helpful, they will be that much more open, ln the future, to the ldea of taking on another. One note about strateggr: lt seems that when children are younger than, say, 12 or 13, it works best lf the parent takes the Ilrst step and proposes the ldea of a work arrangement to the adult with whom the child wants to work. It seems that children maklng such lnquiries on their own - unless they are very well known by the adults ln questlon - can make some adults uncomfortable. I gather thts is because people worry about agreeing to something that the child's parents may not approve of - or maybe it's stmply that such an tnquiry coming directly from a child isJust too unusual. On the other hand, IVe heard from teenage homeschoolers that at that age, the reverse becomes true: people seem to expect teenagers to make their own phone calls or write their own letters of lnquiry, and would be skeptical of the lndependence of a teenager who needed his or her parent to do that work. This may seem strange, but I pass tt along as a plece of advlce. Whether the young people approach the adults themselves or whether thelr parents act as lrntermediartes, it appears that homeschoolers have some advantages: they are more available during traditional adult worliiing hours, and they can present their interest in volunteerlng as part of their'home education program,' which seems to help some adults to better understand what ts being proposed. Susannah Shelfer
-