Growing Without Schooling 80

Growing Without Schooling 80

Ollvla Basernan (centcr) ts arnong thosc who wrltc for thts lssue's Focus,

Inside This fssue News & Rcports p.2-5 In Portugal, Reachtng Out to Professors, What Teachers Can Learn from Homeschoolers, How Support Groups Evolve

John Holt Answers Teachers'[fuestlons p. 6 You llon't Eeve to Ifomeschool to ReadG'WSI p.7 Challenges & Concerno p.8-12 No LongerTeased, Shyness, Down S5mdrome, Involvlng Toddlers, Testlng, Tr5dng School,

Leavlng School

Watchtng Chtldren Learn p. 13-14, 2Lz-28 Electronlcs, karnlng Wthout Busywork, Dolng Real Work, Helpfng Sctentlsts, Ballet, Wrtting and Spelling

BooL Revlews p. 15-18 FOCUS: When

llelp ls Helpful p. 19-22

The Adventure of Self-Educatlon: Intervlew wlth Kendall Ilatley p.23-24

Hlstory Wlthout Tertbooks

p. 25-27

Regources & Reconmendatlons p. z9

What ktnd of help ls tr$ helpful to another person?

What klnd ls unnecessary or even lrrltattng or confustng?

Adults who want to help chlldren stmggle wltJr these quesUons all the ttme. Sometlmes when we try to help chlldren they let us know qulte phfn$ that they don't need our help, dldn't ask for lt, and don't appreclate our maklng them feel that they can't do wlthout tt. A lot of the storles ln GWS are about adults flgurlng out when lt's better not to help. ButJust as often chlldren really do want our help ln learnlng somethlng or ngurtng out how to do somethtng. A lot of the storles ln GWS are about gMng help, too.

So how do we know when to help, and what ldnd of help to gtve? Perhaps more than any other, the questton of help seems to be one that adults stmply cannot answer wlthout tnvoMng chlldren ln the dlscusston.

The most lmportant general potnt that comes out of the chlldren's responses ln thts lssue's Focus ls that good teachers are those who let the learners deterrnlne what klnd of help they want and when they want lt. Over and over agaln the klds say, 'Ask me lf I want help." If we do nothlng more than glve chlldren that courtesy, lt wlll go a long way toward lessentng frustratlon between adults and chtldren.

Chtldren are better than we lmaglne at knowtng what ked of help would be most helpfrrl to them, given thelr parUcular styles, temperament, and needs at the tlme. OlMa Baseman descrlbes a sltuatlon tn whtch her mother was trytng to ercplain a procrdure ln artthmetic by wrlting tt down on paper. Ollvla, knowlng that she understands better lf she can hear the errplanatlon rather than see lt, asked her mother to tell her about the procedure lnstead of showlng her. It worked; OlMa understood lmmedtate$. We usually thlnk that the teacher ls the one who has to come up wlth alternatlve methods of ocplalnlrg or helplng lf the current one lsn't worhlng, but OlMas story demonstrates that the leamer can - and lndeed, should - partlclpate ln thls process. OlMa's mother dldn't have to be clever at thlnktng up new e'cplanaUons as much as she had to be responslve to what OlMa was aslidng for.

The children's vlvld storles of belng ln sltuatlons ln whlch they dtdn't understand and dldn't feel they could say so wlll probab$ evoke memorles for many adult readers. They remlnd us how damaglng unhelpful help can be. But there's a hopefi:l stde to thls, too. When the chlldren told stortes of thelr parents gMng too much help or helplng before they were asked, they also descrlbed how parent and chlld worked things out and managed to turn a frustratlng sltuatlon lnto a better one. We can make mtstakes, and chlldren wlll forglve us, as long as we admit that they urere rnlstakes and back off when we see what we've done. A btg dtfference between belng ln school and beIrg at home seems to be that tn school chtldren often don't feel they can say, That was too much help," or -That didn't help me at all," or even something as slmple as, "I don't get lt.'But at home ctrlldren do say these thlngs, elther wlth words or actlons. Let's pay attenflon so we can learn how to become better helpers.

Susannah Sheffer

-

'x

News

& Reports

Homeschooler in

Portugal C,loda Hantson ("Resoute People,' ryg of a letter that slre tarote to ElsaHaas InSpaln: cWS * 79) sent us a

I am homeschooling tn Fortugal and ln our officc. Katherine Dooltttle (ccnter) shows I^aurerr and Allson Farcqga how to usc the Hitmaster.

Office News & Announcements ISS:I As we go to press, IVe Just come

back from glving workshops at the Mary-

land Home Education Conference, where I saw several GWS readers and frlends. In Februa4r, Pat Farenga was lntervlewed on the World Monltor televlslon show. The show then aired several times at the end of

the month.

Readers around the countqr may be

lnterested to know at whlch uPcomtng homeschoollng falrs and conferences we'll have our materlals avallable. Here's a pardal list: the Vermont state currlculum falr (4/2V, NewJersey Unschoolers Network (4/2n, Clonlara Home Based Educatlon Program (6 / 7 -91, Homeschool Associ,ates of New England (6/ 14-15).

In the past couple of lssues we mentloned ldeas for booklets that we were cpnsiderlng publishing. WeVe dectded to begin with the one about ways ln whtch kids 13 and under have eamed thelr own mon€y, so here ls another lnvltaflon to send us storles about those experlenc.es. We are lnterested tn hearlng from chlldren dir,ectly, so wrlte us a letter about your experiences or let us know tfyou would prefer to be lnteMerved lnstead, If you're older than 13 but want to wrlte about ways you earned money when you wene younger, thatwould be great, too.

Dlana Baseman (PA) wrltes, 'I have beenwantlng to wrtte and commend you for what you are dotng tn GWS wtth dtalogufng wtth chlldren about learnlng.

Whtle tt ts ahrays tntercstlng and supportive to hear from other parents, those of us who truly believe ln leanrer-led educatlon really need to hear more from learners than from teachers, For one thtng, the children, espectdly those who have never attended school, have valuable lnstghts to gfve those of us who have been schooled.'

Dtana glves me a good excuse to thank all

theyoungpeoplewhowrtG to us about thetr thoughts, oPlnions, and experlenc.es.

You're telltng us thlngs we can't leam any other way, whdch makes your wrlthg a valuable contrlbudon to the dlscusslon of homeschooling and educaUon tn general.

A small note about sendlng mail to the oftIce: when you are sendtng mall to one of us ln pa.rticular, make sure thatyou wrlte GWS or Holt Associates on the envelope

ln

addidon to the lndtvtdual's name. Mail addressed to an fuldtvldual and our street address only sometmes gets r€tumed or ls delayed in reaching us.

as far as I know I am the only one here. I

have met about slx homeschooltng famtlles slnce we moved here two years ago, but they were all Amerlcan, Engltsh, or Canadian. None of them are lMng here now. I have nerrer nret wtth the slightest lnterest arnong the Portuguese ln horneschooling thelr chlldren. I know plenty of Portuguese famtlles, as I am Portuguese myself, although marrted to an Arnerlcan and basically followlng an Amerlcan Itfestyle. My hrrdly and frtends think that what I am dotng is very qualnt, very brave, very unusual, but heaven forbtd that they should do lt themselrrcs. And yet thls ls not through lack of love or ooncern for thelr

children, but rather because ofa generdly held beltef in the omnlpotencc of teachers and the government In general.

As far as homeschoollng my own chlldren, I have never met wlth any hassle.

First, my husband and the chtldren betng Americans, most acqualntances assurne that the clrlldren are attendlng a foretgn school. Second, Fortuguese schools, due to the fact that there ls a scarclt5r of them, funcflon ln trvo strtfts. Chtldren go to school mornlngs only or afternmns only.

That means that one ahrrays sees chlldren around In the streets, and my chlldren and I don't stick out like a sore thumb when we go out. No one has ever asked them why

they're not ln school.

Parents here are very dlssatlsfled with the state ofpubltc schools. Although schooltng is free, textbmks have to be bought by the parents. At the beglnning of wery school year, the chlldren come home lrith a list of the books they have to buy.

Then the parents must go to the papelerias (statloner's) or large supermarkets to buy them. Often, there are not enough books prlnted, the shops run out, and the chtldren must go to school wlthout books for several weeks and share wlth thelr 6:lends.

Another problem ls that the teachers are so badly pafd that they often take on a second Job, and sometlrrcs don't show up for classes. My frtend's teenage daughter says that one teacher ts regularly absent wery other Saturday morntng (the gtrl has to go to school on Saturday rnornings, but somedmes she sklps, as she feels the teacher wfll probably not be there anyuray).

With these problems, what do the parents do? Well, the very poor harrc to lump it. The mtddle class, at great ffnancial sacriffce, try to send thetr clrtldren to prlvate schools. These prlvate schools usua\r start out ln a prtvate house, with maybe ten ctrlldren. Wtthln a few months they have a\valtlng ltst and must expand

thelr facllitles.

My brother-ln-law told me that homeschoollng fur Portugal ls not agalnst the law, but he dldn't thtnk many people would do tt, because of the sttgma attached

to tL Tradtdonally, tn Portugal, lf you

don't send your ctrlld to school lfs because you'ne a Srpsy or want to keep your child home to help rrn the liarm. People see school as ollbrlng a way out of poverty, no matter how lnadequate the educadon.

I have often wtshed I could meet Portuguese homeschoolers, but frankly, I don't know how to go about lt. We are on a very

lhfted budget and I can't alford to travel

about the countr5r, or put ads ln the paper regularly. I don't know of any alternative organlzatlons that support such thlngs as breastfeedtng, home blrth, health foods, savtng the envlronment, etc. Any ideas?

I am blessed ln the liact that I stumbled acFoss an ldeal home business about ayear ago, wtrlch ts stardng to show a small proflt, Just enough to keep us from goireg hungry. I tmport and sell Engltsh children's books to the foretgn cornmunity here. I hold book fatrs at the various schools and church baJzaars,I have somettmes thought of adverttstng GWS and John Holt's ldeas at some of these bazaars, but don't know how to go about lt. After all, most parents have thelr lidds ln these expenslve foretgn schools out ofchoicel

Reaching Out to College Professors Jaque

W,llllanrs,on

MN writes:

I nnally got brave enough (cpnfident) that I was dolng somethlng ln the educatton fleld rvorthy of others' knowledge and tnput. I wanted to establlsh professional communlcatlon between homeschoolers and the unlverslty. Another homeschoollng mom and I have had astounding responses, all postuve. Several professors ln the educaflon department at the unlversit5r are exclted about llnally having contact wtth homeschoolers. They ar€ supportlrre and want to lnfuse many of our thoughts lnto thetr work with educators but undl now were relylng on printed materlal. Upshot ls we've been videoed several dmes (our wrlflng club and math otympfad) for posslble use ln classes to show how meanfngful leamlng sltuafions canbe. WeVebeenasked to attend asmall dlscusslon group wtrlch ls focuslng on educatlonal theorles and lmplementation: actually a free-for-all look at education and learnlng.

Our publlc school has welcomed me to attend professlonal development classes for crrtlffcatlon renewal and I've done so.

I'm amazed at how open and supportlve

they are. The supervlsor of language arts for the count5r (who ts also tn charge of homeschoolers) ts worktng on gettlng Permlsslon to brtng some teachers out to obs€we ourwrltlng club. The county ls doing a lot to enoourage teachers to observe each otlrer, but I'm amazed that they'd edend it to homeschoolers, I can't think of better PR than others seelng our writing club. They can ident$ wtth us slnce it is close enough to a school sltuatlon, tn that lt ls a group of slxteen students, but tt ls unusual ln that it has an age range of6-14, not to mention the enthusl,asm and quality of wrtting.

Growlng Wthout Schooling #8O

3

Andfiom Debrah

MerXa oJ New

York: About six months ago I approached our communlty college about teaching a one-night, three-hour cours€ on homeschooling. The school was very receptive and onJune 2l I'm going to do tt.

The woman who lntervler red me about the course tnqutred about errery aspect of homeschoollng imaginable. My btggest surprise came when she asked me what the college could do for high school homeschoolers. Evidently homeschoolers were a topic of discusslon in a prenlous meeting at the college and the school wants to make Itself avallable to the homeschool

community, I conducted a limited sunrey of homeschoolers to see what thelr needs were. The number one requestwas acoess to chemistry and biologr labs. I called back my interviewer wtth thts lnformatlon and she sald she would take tt from therc. New York ls experlenclng maJor budget cuts ln educatlon so I don't know lf we wlll get the use of the labs or my suggesUon of a six to elght-week lntensiffed study ln these two areas. But I detected an openness and acc€ptance tourard the homeschool com-

munlgr that I didn't expect.

What Teachers Can Learn from Homeschoolers Tttercsa Morris oJ tle Neu York Citg Hone Edtrcators Alllan'rce sent us aapg oJ apapr byJatet Renordcalled, -fhe

Unr:omnon Sense oj Home *hooltg: How Teaclers Mtght LeanJromTlnse Wlw

Don't Teach-" We quoteJromtle paft oJ tle papr In whlch the autlrorr descr{bes go@ on aJbA W w/f,hhomeschmlers tn Theresa lvlorris's group:

I began to look into what ts called homeschooling with the assumptlon that those of us who plan to teach [ln schoolsl may beneflt from ffndtng out more about how learnlng takes place outslde the classroom. ... I have tried to focus mainly on homeschooling parents' approaches to language derrelopmenL ...

I ast month, I spent an afternoon at the Brooklyn Museum, where seven adults and twelve children, ranging ln age from ten months to twelve years, wene taktng a tour of the section on anclent Egrpt. My first lmpresslon was that the children were happy, relaxed, and conlldenL Morrts had warnd me that adults are often taken aback by homeschooled chlldren because of theway they speak - because they are around adults more often than peers, they tend toward adult speech mannerlsms and vocabulary. Thls seemed qulte true, erren if they did not always behave like miniature adults; the younger children seemed ordinarily playful, the older glrls were concerned wlth boys and secrets. They spoke as easily to me (a strange adult) as they did to thelr own siblings, friends, mothers, and other adults.

For the flrst hour of the tour, the children were attendve; thry llstened to the guide, asked and rtt"*.i.d questions

Growing Without Schooling #8O

generally as a gFoup. I was lmpressed wtth the length of thet attendon span and by thetr egalitarlan treatment of each other, despite the large age dlfferenc.es. After thls sustalned perid, however, they began to drtft. A four year old uras becoming frustrated: 'Why can't we touch the thlngs ln here?' she asked her mother, not ln a c.omplaining tone but rather ln a tone that suggested shewanted a real answer, whlch her mother supplted. Other children beg;an to pair off, lag behtnd, sldp ahead, play games. B5r the end of the tour, the mothers were the ones llstenlng to the guide, asldng and answering his questions. In the cyes of comnon sense, the tourwould have perhaps becn deemed a failure - the chlldren seemed to have stopped leamtng. In unoomnon sense terms, howsrrer, the children probably learned a great deal: their mothers were providing exc.ellent role rnodels; they ltstened carefully, dtscussed what they were seelng ln terms of thetr past experlence (books they had read, a museutn tour they had prevtously taken, slmllar obJects they had seen elsewhere), and, most of all, they were genuinely lnterested ln the Egpdan artlfacts. The chlldren came ln and out of thls clrcle freely, sometlmes pauslng to llsten, sometlmes asking questions that (whether related, tangenttal, or unrelated) were treated with conslderatlon. I cannot imagine that chlldren could find a better set of what Mayher calls 'living examples' of people usfuig langauge competencles to make meanlng tn thetr own lives.

At the end of the tour, when the gutde produced drawtng materlals and suggested that the children could IInd somethlng to draw, most of them eagerly dld so, elther alone or ln small groups. One glrl, howerrer, mmplained, 'I don't want to; do we have to?" Her mother answered, 'Of course you don't have to, butJust take some paper anyway..,'A few mlnutes later, I saw the same glrl absorbed tn repllcatlng htero$yphics from a stone tablet. Obvtously, she was not dotng thts to please her mother orthe guidebutbecause she had dectded tt was worth dotng after all. ... As a result of my readlngs and conversations, I have begun to form a tentative concluslon about how educators and schools may benefft from llndlng out more about homeschoollng: I would not suggest thatany sort ofsystematic study be undertaken - no nadonwlde or statewlde stattsttcal analyses of homeschoolers (breakdowns by lncome, level of educatlon, degree of formallty, number of chtldren, matertals used, etc.).

Instead, I would take my cue from the homeschoolers who belleve that the best (lf not only) way to learn sornethlng ls to make sure tt ts embedded wlthln a meantngful contexL What would happen tf teachers' own children dld not attend school? Perhaps then real school reform would not only be possible but inevltable.

But for those who elther have no children or who would find tt tm dillicult to support a famtly on Just one salary even for a yearor two ..., I would suggest that they make friends with a homeschoollng family. Have lunch. Spend a day at a muselun. Let thelr chlldren play with your baby. Read to the children. Let the childr€n read to you. The opportunides for leamlng are endless.

How Support Groups Evolve I 9"9

Susan Ricfunan urcte tt tle wlnter lssr.re oJ Pennsylvania Homeschool-

I

Travellng across the state thts fall we had the good opportuntt5l to meet with so many dtllerent support group leaders and hear how thlngs are gotng all over. Ten years ago lfs safe to say that not one support group sdsted anywhere ln Pennsylvania" and nowwlth errery issue we hear of new groups. One cpmmon thing seems to be that the groups are growing by leaps and bounds - and somedmes thts leaves families struggling a bit ln c,oping with such sudden growth. Ifs a welcome challenge, but a challenge nonetheless.

One leader, for fuestance, mendoned that norv thetr group has well over ftfty familtes, and thcy haven't found a good uray to ltmtt lleld trtps to certaln numbers of chlldren, and sometlmes the numbers attendtng are ovenrrhelmlng. 'We don't hear as often as we used to what a wellbehaved group ofktds we have, There are Just too many and we're runnlng lnto problems of not enough supeMslon.'

Some g;roups llke to oller chlldren's acfivlfies ln downstairs rooms during the parents' meetlng upstalrs. Numbers have made thls dtfficult. Sixty chtldren of all ages may show up, and that's a lot of kids to plan for. Parents aren't so eager to sign up for thls volunteer spot, and some have dectded toJust leave the ktds at home rather than brtng them tn to all the hubbub ofsuch a huge gathering.

In some groups, espectally those that have been around for years and years, the

original leaders who used to do everything haveJust recently stepped down. Maybe thry've had a new baby, or maybe tt'sJust tlme to refocus on thelr own famllles for a wtrile. Those who then take the relns often IInd they need to lead tn a new way, using delegaflon and commlttees where before thatJust wasn't nec.essar5r. One leader told us that she very quickly realized that the Job of coordtnadng all the various actlvities that her group was now doing muldn't possibly be done by only one mother - if she wanted to have any tlme left over for her own hrnlly. She let the group know that unless someone came forward to take over the group's newsletter and head up various spectal events, shed have to take that as an lndlcaUon ttrat that service just wasn't needed an5rrnore by the group.

You can guesswhat happened - people came forward who had never been involved ln leadtng and planntng before. She also found that lt was a much better use of her

time to help other mothers learn the sim-

ple baslcs of planntng a lleld trip for the group than to plan all the trips herself.

GROWING WITHOUT SCHOOUNG *8O, Vol. 14.

No.2. ISSN #0745-4305. Publrshcd bl-monthly

by Holt Assoclatcs, 2269 Massachus€tts Ave, Cambrtdge MA 02 l4O. $25lyr. Date of Issue: April I, 1991. Sccond-class posroge paid at Boston, MA. POSTMT{STER: Scnd address changes to GWS, 2269 Massachusctts Ave, Cambridge MA 02140.

ADVERTISERS: Dcadlines are the l5th ofodd-

numbcrcd months. Contact Patrlck Farenga for rates.

4 These plans can then be'shared tn the local

newsletter and at monthly meetings. They have also dweloped a slmple stgn-up registratlon sheet for trtps, wtth clear limits on the size of the group. If someone can't get ln, they are stmply urged to bry to set up another tour at the same locaflon themselves and open that to the group too, Many groups have found that they now need to charge famlltes for the group's services. Where at flrst dues were not erren consldered and all servlcc.s (newsletters, counsellng, fteld trtps, actlvtty days, etc.) were olfered free to whoever phoned, showed up, or took part, now the numbers mean that thls is an unfalr burden on those who arc paying the prtntlng costs, matltng out notlces, putttng tlme and

money lnto acUvlues.

Phone counseltng has also been a

tricky thtng for groups to handle. Usually

one person tn a grou.p llelds all calls, and when that starts growlng tnto saneral long calls each day, many llnd tt's flme to fan out the responsiblllt5r. Some gnouPs no\v have several numbers llsted for people to call for baslc info and help, and leaders are feeling more comfortable suggestlng other people for a new caller to contact lf the call has come at a very busy ttme. Although tt ts so excldng and energlzlng to hear from so nrany new homeschoolers and we are all eager to help, tt can be exhaustlng, and we can s€e somedmes that these cdls can eat tm far lnto our own homeschooltng and famtly ttme. Many leaders now have telephone answerlng machlnes, and espectally use them during the dayttme hours. Famllies who leave messag;es mtgfrt want to let the support grcup leader know that tt ts OK to return thet call cpllect, out ofrespect for the leader's phone blll, Some groups have needed to spltt tnto two to continue meeflng the ne,eds of famllles. Sometlmes thts means that famtltes that used to travel 45 mleutes now only need to go a few miles to the monthly meetlngs. Espectally around large cldes we now see a halfdozen groups tnstead ofJust one or two. One new group fur the Pittsburgh area has seen their membershlp grow from six famlltes to over 35 ln one year. Thetr new geographtcal locatlon ls otndously meettng a need they hardly knev odsted.

A few areas have longtlme 'old hand' groups that meet very lnformally, mostly

for acttvltles for their chlldren. Some-

tlmes these famllies feel, especlally as thetr chtldren get older, that they are mor€ lnterested tn ollering and coordteating these small acdvity groups than tn organizlng open support SFoups thatwelcome new

famllles.

Sometlmes ne\Jv, younger mothers are eager to do the legwork and organlztnt ofa group op€n to everyone, but feel stymted by the group of establtshed famtlles. Would tt be stepptng on toes to ofllclally start a new group? They feel left out of the local gotngs on, want to se more local publtctty and regular meetlngs fcr everyone. But when they approach the older famllles about dolng thts, those longtlme homeschool moms feel they are befurg called upon to organlze yet one more thtng to drain thelr time, and lnstead of encouragement maybe Just say that it can't be done, lt has been tried before and no one was tnterested.

In at least one area, wtth outside encpuragernent the new famtlles Just formed

thelr own Elroup, welcrmed the longterm homeschoolers to take part, too, and everythtng ts worlidng out wonderfully. The older leaders 1r"6rr'1 patt.ed that new farntltes were read5r to take on organizlng work themselves. They u/ere genutne$ thrtlled to be able to attend meetlngs set up by others, sttttng back and enJoSdng themselves at a homeschooltng functlon for maybe the flrst tlme. The phone counsellng

work was also spread out more errenly wtth new c.ontact people establtshed. No hard feeltngs ocrcurred, and the new group has a thrlvlng memberstrtp and glowlng vttalfty.

One large group was reallzlng that

thetr growlng size mtght mean that new famllles would feel lost, wtthout someone speclal to talk wtth. They are starflng up a bU stster/ltttle slster program, matchlng experlenced homeschoolers ready to reach out and help wtth new famtlles. Thcy are trytng where posslble to match famllles who llve near to each other and who mtght have chlldren of compatlble ages.

trust thelr turstlncts wtth their children.

They should feel empowered,'says teacher Sandra Edson, 'to use lots ofpracttcal and hands-on t54pe e4periences to teach baslc sldlls to the young and eager leamer tn the chtld's datly life... We hope parents wlll come to recognize what a ioectal sltuaUon thev are ln and how to use that sltuaflon to the fullest. We speclflcally hope home teachers wtll feel confldent enough to throw away much of the workbook pa.ges and prlnted materials whlch may have been created to keep a cl?"s,roorn full of ctrtldren busy and qulet while the teacher ran around and tried to give tndtvldual attentton, and lnstead use real-llfe

materlals, real-ltfe storybooks (as opposed to sttlted, controlled langn"g. found tn many basal readers), and real-llfe situattons to gutde thelryoung charge through lrts/her ear\r tratntng.'

State News For addresses o;f state rrndlocrrl

How Many in AR, \lT,

dgarizAlbna see GII/|S *78 or our Honesclwling Resource Ilst avallable

ANd ND

Jor $2,5O.

The December l99O lssue o f Updote,

the newsletter of the Arkansas Chrlsttan Home Educatlon r{,ssoclatlon, llsts the followtng numbers of chlldren (not famllles) who are homeschooltng tn Arkansas, based on letters of lntent ftled wtth the State Department of Educatlon: l99O: 245O; 1989:2O40; 1988: ITOO; 1987: I 138;

1986:81& 1985:536.

From the November l99O lssue of the

Vermont Homeschoolers Assoclatlon

newsletten 'Nine years ago, m farnllles homeschooled thetr children [in Vermont].

Currently there are 497 fanrtlies (6O6 students) enrolled wtth the Department of Educatlon ln Montpeller.'

And from the March l99l issue of tlre North Dakota Home School Assoclatlon newsletten "The Department of Publtc Instructlon r€ports that 483 students are belng horneschooled tn the l99O-91 school year. This ls an Increase ol 2796 from the 1989-90 scholyear when 357 students were homeschooled.' The newsletter adds that these flgures refer to 232 and 163 JatnIIIe s, respectlvely.

News from Canada

Wendg fusrdE wrote tt tle March I99I fssne oJChild's Play, tle rewsletter oJ tle Canadlan AlIIarce o;[ Hone Schoolers: The Support Ftom Unexpected Placcs Departmenf i In response to a wholesale overhaul of educatlon tn Brlttsh Columbia, the Mtntstry of Dlstance l.earnlng and Conttnulng Educadon ls updating tts prtmary level correspondence materlals. ...

The new BC style follows many of the phllosophles long ln use by home-based educators. It's good to note that the wrlters who are putttng together the new provlncial primary correspondencc currlculum recognlze that - even tfthey suddenly seem to feel the need to teach us to do what many ofus have been flghttng for the rtght to dol Acctrdlng to a member of the team of writers quoted ln a recent newsletter from the Canadtan Home &lucators Assocladon of BC, tt ls their task to teach parents to

Chellenicr to Prlvete Scbool Optlon

Cellfornle: The February /March

l99l

lssue of the Northern Californla Homeschool Assoclatlon Nerus reports two lnstances of confuslon about homeschoolers reglstertng as prlvate schools by filing R-4 allldavtts (one of the legal optlons ln Caltfornta): On November 26, homeschoolers met wlth Roger Wolfertz, the State Departrnent of Educatlon's Asslstant General Counsel, to dlscuss hts tnterpretation of the prlvate school secdon of the Educatlon Code. Wolfertz plans to send a legal oplnlon to all school dlstricts ln the state saytnS that a prlvate school ls more than Juit a-school tlttat tras llled an R-4 alfidavit; It must charge tuttlon, teach more than one famtly's chlldren, and have a buslness llcense. Melissa Hatheway of the NCFIA stresses that thls ls oPlnlon, not law, but is cpncemed that because the oplnlon is comlng from the Depa.rtment of E<lucatlon, school dtstrtcts wtll tr,eat lt as law' She says that homeschoolers plan to challenge

thls lnterpretation of the law'

The NCHA newsletter also reports that

some of the home schools regfstered as prlvate schools ln Alameda CountSr have recelved letters from the County Superlntendent suggesflng that home schools are

not legfflmate prlvate schools. The Ietter refers to thls tdea as an 'Alameda County Counsel oplnion,'and the NCFIA reports that Meltssa Hatheway has wrltten to the Alameda superlntendent "to cladry the

homeschooler,"s' posltlon and polnt out that tndeed thls ls opinlon and suggestion only, NOT the law.'

Chellcngc to Ccrtlflcetlon Rcqulrc-

ncnt

RcJectcd

Iose: In GWS #7O we wrote that the

rcqulrement that homeschooling parents

be cerflfled teachers was back in effect in Iowa, and that the Home School Lcgal Defense.{.ssociatlon had filed sult on be-

half of llve famtltes who had been threatened wtth prosecuflon, When the lawwas changed to requlre homeschooling Parents to have teachtng ccrtlllcates (in 1953), the

Grorrlng Without Schooling #8O

c btll dealt wtth more than one toplc. The Iowa consfltudon requlres that bills deal wlth one toptc only, so the sult charged that the law was passed ln vlolatlon of the Iowa consUtutlon.

OnNovember 16, 1990, thelowa Supreme Court reJected this challenge to the teacher certlllcatlon law ac.cordtng to the January,/February lssue of Tfte llonre *tropl &urt Reptt HSLDAg newsletter.

Meanwhlle, the March l99l nenrsletter of the Iowa Home Educators Associatlon newsletter reports that two House Study Btlls are belng comblned lnto one a tnranqr blll and the proposed Govemor's btll on homeschoollng. The home school porUon provldes only two opdons for homeschoolers, certlffcatlon and testtng.

Ed Dlckerson of IHEAwrltes ln the newsletter that homeschoolerc want to add to the btll the optlons of enrolltng tn a satelItte schol, and keeptng aJournal and/or a portfolto of work. He adds that'shrdy btll' status means that many changes can be rnade to the blll before lt ls {ntroduced as a

regular bill.

Homercboolcr Oppore Uendetory Strnderdkcd Tcrtlng I[cr Yorl: The Januar5r l99l lssue of the Home Schoolers' Exchange nervsletter reports that some homeschoolers are pr€' pared to challenge the mandatory standadlzed testtng requlred under the state's homeschoollng regulaflons. Ihthartne Houk and Seth Rockmuller wrlte, "Many famtltes around the state are flrmly op-

posed to the testlng and have lndtcated that thcy urant to use an alternaUve a.ss€ssment ln the sprlng of 1991. A statewtde support glroup has formed for those who oppos€ testlng so that they wtll be able to

approach any dllffculiles that arlse ln a unlted way. It ls easler for Large lnsdtutlons to lnttmtdate tndtvtdual famllles than lt ls for them to tntlmtdate famlltes that have the support ofmany others. The contact people for the group are Allen Fannln, Box 62, Westdale M 13483; 315245-2aa7 andJudtth Utttng-Ford, I 158 Cartl's Stralght Path, Dlx Htlls NY 11746;

local publtc school superlntendent; rpnltorlng of home schools urould harrc been done through prhrate schols; parcnts would have pafd all costs for the erraulatlon that the law rcqutres for chlldren whose standardlzed test scores are below

the 29th percenflle.

Meanwhlle, horneschoolers tntrroduced SB 25.12, wtrtch calls for the recognltlon of horneschoolfng as prlvate educatton, allows parents to have thelr ctrlldren tested outstde the honre, and deals wtth quesflons that have come up about the requlred monltorlng of homeschooled chlldren (how many hours are requlned, who ls quallfled to do the rnnttorlng).

The March nenrsletter reports that ttrls btl passed ln the Senate on Febrrar5r l8th, 48-4. Itwas arnended so that recognltlon ofhorne schools as prhrate schools ls no longer pa.rt of the btll, but lt nras also amended to allow any certtfled teacher to rrpnltor homeschoolers, In the pa.et, rnonitors had to be employed by a stateapproved public or prfirate school. Under thls new blll, homeschoolers who are certilled teachers would be able to monitor

others.

At GWS's press time thls blll was about to be heard ln the House &lucadon Commlttee, so check wlth the NDHSA for the latest lnformatlon,

Wclt Vlrglnh: Homeschoolers are urcrldng on proposed amendments and addldons to the homeschool law wtrtch they hope to lntroduce durlng the current legfsladve s€sslon, accordtng to the January 199 I newsletter of the West Vtlgfnta Home Educators Assocladon. Among these prcposed addtflons are a clarlllcadon of the requlred outllne of plan of lnstmcilon; an alternatlve to annual testtng (the famtly would keep a portfollo, submlt lt to a certlffed teacher, and then submtt the teacher's wrltten evaluadon to the county superlntendent tr lleu of test scores); a way for homeschoolers to get htgh school crcdtts schools wtll acrcept (by scorlng above the 4oth percentlle ln the particular subJect area, or by presendng a portfolto ofurcrk).

5t6-242-7579.

'At the January 9 rneettng at the State

Judge Ruler Ageln.t Sulrcrlntcndcnt Pennrylvenlr: Federal .Judge Don-

Educatlon Department, ure dlscussed one posslble route for an alternatlve to standardlzed testtng. The Commlssloner's r€gulatlons provide for a varlance from the rcqulrements of Part IOO of the reguladons (the home lnstmcdon regulaflon ls ln Part IOO). The State Educatlon Department is currently consldering whether the nariance procedure can be applted to the tesdng rcqulrements of the home lnstructlon regulation, and we lntend to stay ln close cutact wlth the Educatlon Departrnent, encouraglng lt to use the varlance procedure as .rnlrry'.erlrremeasure untll the regulatlon can be amended to expltclt\r provlde for alternaUve assessment procedures at all grade lerrels.'

ald J. Lee rrled agdnst Ptttsburgh School

Blllr Pcndlng

trorth Delote: The March lssue of the North Dakota Home School Assoctatlon newsletter reports that HB 160l, whlch had been tntrcduced on behalf of publlc school adminlstrators, nras defeated 82-22 on Februaqr l5th. The btll unuld have requlrred horneschoolers to report to the county superintendent rather than the

Growtng Vlt{hout Schoollng #8O

Supertntendent Rtchard Wallacc and tn favor of the homeschoolers ln'nolved, accordtng to theWnter l99l lssue of the Pennsylvanla Homeschoolers newsletter.

The case tnvolved the superlntendent's attempts to make requlrements of homeschoolers which arc not ln the state law.

Hourard Rlchman wrote ln the PA Homeschmlers newsletter that at the beginnlng of the 1989-9O school year, Wallace wrote to Ptttsburgh homeschoolers telltng them to brtng thelr chlldren to publlc schools to take the Monttorlng Actrlevement tn Plttsburgh [MAP) tests. These tests ar€ part of the Ptttsburgh publtc school currlculum but are not requlred ofhomeschoolers. The families refused to do thls. Wallace then told them to brlng tn their portfollos and get mtdyear e',raluatlons, whtch superlntendents may do, accordlng to the homeschool law, tf they have 'reasonable bellef that educatlon ls not taldng place. When the superlntendent refused to wlthdraw thls request, the famlltes, ln ctnJuncflon wtth the Horne Schol Lrgal Defensc Assocladon, Illed sutt.

The PA Homeschoolers newsletter quotes from Judge Lee's oplnlon: 'A reasonable beltef should be based upon substantlve fact and af[.rmadve knowledge, not upon nonocclurenoe and presumpdon.

Wthout an evldentlar5l foundation upon whtch Wallace could base lts'belief,' Superlntendent Wallace was without statutory authort$r to requke that the pordollos of records and materlals... be subrnttted prlor to the concluslon of the school year.

Fatlure to pardclpa.te ln MAP testlng, a requlrernent not found ln the home educatlon stahrte, ls not determireadve of the measur€ of achlerrement of the home school program.'

Lcgl.htlo! Illot Rccomncndcd

lPlrconrln: In GWS #76, we wrote that a Irgtslattve Council planned to study horrrschooltng, wtth proposed legfslation a posslble result The Wsconsln Parents

Assocladon opposed the sfudy because lt beltcved the current liaw was worktng well.

Durtng the past several months, homeschoolers worked to educate leglslators about homeschoollng and the effecdveness of the curr€nt law. T\vo thousand suPPorters of homeschooltng came to the Capttol on Februaqr 6 to rally, present a petldon wtth 50oo slgnatures, and speak wtth legislators. WPA now reports that the commlttee of the kgtslattve Councll did not flnd any substanflal evldence of problems with homeschooling ln the state, and voted urrantrnous$ not to r€commend new

homeschoollng leglslatton.

Thts Februa4r lssue of theWPA news-

letter (arratlable for $3 from WPA) c.ontalns a detatled look at the results of the l-egtslattrrc Councll's study and at how homeschoolers' elforts were successful. One

excerpt:'Homeschoolers throughout Wisconstn remalned unlted and worked together through WPA.. We did not offer leglslattve proposals, Ttrose who use car€fully selected, admtnlstered, and lnterpreted standardlzed tests dtd not say that state-mandated testtng rvould be okay wtth them. Famtlles that choose purchased currlculums dld not su€lelest maldng them

mandatory...,

'We were able to butld on our pa.st

work. Many homeschoolers had

alrready

c-ontacted thetr leglslators and establlshed good worlrdng relaHonshlps wtth them.

Thls work had to be grassroots and lnvolve many people; lt crould not have been accompltshed by a ferr lndivtduals. For example, l@ homeschoolers ln the northwestern part of Wtsconsln attended a meetlng wlth thetr leglslators. Other homeschoolers met ln small study groups wlth thetr legislators: sdll others had one-on-one meetlngs.

All of these approaches were effectlve,'

Calendar

Mav 17. 18. 19. l99l: Families Leamtng Together of North Carollna

sprtng gatherlng ftr Wnston-Salem, Actlvltles for adults and chlldren. For lnformadon: Sarah Honrc, 16l I Maryland Ave, Durham NC 277O5: 9 I 9-286- I O84.

We are haPPy to prlnt announcements

of maJor homeschoolteg and related 6/ents, butwe need plenty of nottce. Deadline for GWS #81 (errents tn July or later) is May lOth. fleadltne for GWS #82 (events tn September or later) ls July loth.

6

John Holt Answers Teachers' Questions Q. How are children lrats€d tn non-traditlonal waysl gotnS to

conslder a waste of dme at all - thlngs such as talklng wlth one's frlends. The talk I had wtth my frlends durlng my own schoollng uras wlth very rare excepuon more valuable tn my educadon than almost anythfng I heard ln class.

A The quesflon tmpltes by lts very words that

thts, that, or tlre other?

Some questlons that teachers asked John Holt ln 1968, and trls answers:

IIt tnto socteM

Q. Won't ctdldren be sorry later lf we don't make them study

a Ilxed, unchangtng thlng tnto whtch people must IIt, ltke keys tnto keyholes. The assumpflon ts false for two reasons. Flrst, and thts ls the r€ason thatJefferson urged publtc educatlon, tt ts the duty of a citlzen ln a free country not to..;flt tnto socteg, but to malce soclet5r. Secondly, our soclety ts changlng so rapldly that no one can any longer be prepared to fft lnto lt. A person who qren thlnks of hls Job as 'fftttng'wtll to ttnt extent be at a hopeless dtsadrrantage. What urc must have ls curloslt5r, resourcefulness, tma€Irxasoc.lety ls

tlon.

Q. How are ctdldren going to learn selfdtsctpllne If they are not made to do things?

A. One does not learn selfdtsclpllne by betng made to do thtngs. One learns tt by dtsctpltntng oneself; tlnt ts, by dotng dlfflcult thtngs of one's own choostng. Self-dtsclpllne ls not a hablt one learns by belng tralned, llke PavloCs dog. It ts a sklll, whlch one learns by practlcc. The fact ls that chlldren at all ages, lncludtng the earlles! urork much harder on the tasks of thelr own chooslng than almost any children work ln school. In fact, one of my chtef crlilclsms of convenflonal school ts that tt makes tt nearly lmposslble for chlldren to leam self-disctpline or what lt ts ltke to devote one's full energles to a task of one's own chooslng.

Q. Won't chlldren Just waste thelr ttme if they are gfven a chotce of thlngs to do?

A. Interestlngly enough, rnore than a few students have asked me thls quesdon themselves. They often say, "If I weren't made to do thtngs, I'd never do an5rthtng worthwhtle.' When I hear thls, what I answer ls, 'In the flrst plac.e, I don t believe you, In the second place, lf tt were tnre that afteryears of schooltngyou had found notltng that rvas sullclentl5r worth dotng, so that you would do tt wtthout betng made to, then thls ls the worst lndlctment of your schooling that I can lmagtne.'The fact is that a gr€at many chlldren, exren when under hearry pr,essure from school, spend a great deal of ttme and concentrated effort on acdvldes of thelr own chooslng. I must add that tn my opinlon, a great many of the thtngs whlch schools generally call a waste of tlme I do not

rd Sometlmes people say to rrr, 'Iwas made to study such and such, and dtdn't lfl<e lt, but now I am glad.' Posstbly. On the other hand, they mtght have come to tt anyway, or they mtg;ht have dtscorrcred sornettrlng else for themselves that rnight have given them more pleasure. The argument doesn't prove anythtng.

Nobody can do all things ln one llfetlrne and whatever we do, and howerrcr much we enJoy tt there may always remaln the possibtltty that urc mtght have enJoyed other things as much or more. This ls not an argurnent for trylng to run other people's llves for them.

The fact ls that rpst cldldren do not learn to llke the thlngs they have thelr noses rubbed ln, and that when we with rntsguided good lntentlons try to make a chlld do somethlng tn the hopes that he wtll ltke tt later, the most probable result ls that he wtll hate lt.

What ts even mone to the polnt ls that chtldren must be given the opportuntty to tqr what they wtll do, since tt ts only by maktng cholces and Ilndtng out that some of them are bad that we ever learn to choose wisely. Furtherrnore, tt ls only when we are free to llke somethlng or not to ltke tt that we ever llnd out what we really like - somethlng that too few people know.

Q. Won't children waste all thelr time playing?

A. Thts question shows how much we are sdll vlctlms of the CaMntst-Pr-rrttan notlons about work and play. We can sum up these nodons as follows: work ls what you don't like to do, but do because you have to, and doarg lt ts good for you. Play ts what you Itke to do, and dolng tt ts bad foryou. Thesc dlsdncflons are nonsense, Nobody who ls really ltvtng, really involved ln what he ts dotng, makes any such distlnctlons. Ask a person who ts truly allve and deeply tnvolved with Me whether what he is dolng at any moment ls worldng or playlng, and he wlll say, "I don't know.' As Robert Frost says at the end of hls poem, 'TWo Tramps ln Mud Tlme,'only when work and play are one is the deed ever truly done for heaven and future's sakes, Q. How do you get a child to erraluate htmself and his work

wlthout dotng tt ln comparlson wlth the progfess of other children?

A What Bllly X. wants to know ls not whether he ts doing somethlng better than or as well as Jtmmy Y., but whether he ls dotng tt better than he dtd tt yesterday. When ctrlldren are very young, learntng to walk, talk, and acqulre many other sldlls, they are very much aware of thetr own progress wlthout betng continually compared to other chlldren. What they do, as they learn, is oompare thelr own performancc wlth the competenc€ models that they see all around them, adults or older chtldren. And thts is what any serlous learner does at any age. I am a writer. I want my wrldng to be as good as I can make lt, and to get better. I don t need to have people around me telllng me that I am better or worse than otherwrlters. Such people, lf there were any, rvould be of no use at all. What I need to know ls how I can lmprove, and I can best ffnd thls out by compartng my work wtth the work of other wrlters I admlre. In the same uray, learnlng to play a musical lnstrument, I learn to compare the sounds I make with the sounds I hear rnade by good muslclans. In short, the standards o€alnst whlch children rreasure thelr performance must lndeed come from the outslde niorld, from people more sktlled than they are, but the actual comparlng must be done by the ctrlldren themselves.

Gro\rtng Wthout Schooltng #8O

You Don't Have to Homeschool to Read GWS! ... or to contrlbute to lt.

These wrlterg are respondlng to Donna CrosB'B query

ln

GWS #78.

Remaining Connected F}om Kanen

*hulb.

oJ IEtnoIs:

To answer your question about what GWS olIers to someone who ls not home-

schooltng: For me, lt ls a way to remain c.onnected with a manner of chtldreartng and teachtng that I respect and admlre. I know that I feel somewhat dtsappotnted tn myself for not keeptng all my chlldren home, and ln away contlnuingwlth GWS helps to assuage that gutlt. Many of my friends cnntinue to homeschool their children, so lt is also a way for me to keep abreast of and be sensltlve to their lives.

For the future, I plan to keep myyoungest daughter at home at least through kindergarten and hopefully longer, so the lnformaflon I glean from GWS ts and will be valuable. Llke you, I think that homeschmlfurg extends beyond school hours, so what I gather from GWS applles to my two schoolers as well. It helps me remain close to them by remfndhg me to value their unlqueness and to help them tdentifr and value that as well.

Viewing All of Life Educational

as

Flom Krtstirra Felfuk oJ Mbttesota: We have been receiving GWS for three years. Ouroldest son ls 6 l/2, and we are not $etl) homeschoolers. With each issue we are challenged by the vision of a ctrild's

full potential and by the idea that there are

alternatives to the publtc schools.

Before kindergarten we struggled wtth the'do we send hlm or not' quesdon, but after meeting and observlng the teacher whom Daniel would have, ure felt comfortable ln sending him to the publtc school.

F)rst grade was a much sadder situailon, however, with a new teacher and a room of needy ldds, and I am convinced that lf we

had not been readi:ng GWS fafthfully all these months, wewould not have had such a clear ldea of what we expcted and would not have been able to act as qulckly as we did. It was still a long and dllllcult decision to remove Dantel from the school, full of gutlt on my part for deserdng the public schml system. We enrolled hlm tn the Friends (Ouaker) School of Mlnnesota ln late November, and have been happy wttlt our declsion, although it ls not a pennanent change (we cannot aIlord it over the long term). Danlel ts still not homeschooled, but er,ren the change to Friends School would not have happened so quickly tf we had not loeown about all the people out there who are not content with the status quo and who are always searching for better ways of raising and educatlng

their children.

Groqdng

Wthout Schoollng

#8O

A secondary lmpact of GWS has been

to glve us permlsslon to vlew all of Me as educational. Ttris means that we do not hesttate to go on famtly trtps durtng the schoolyear, râ&#x201A;Źgardless of the school calendar. For example, tn February we wtll be gotng to Sarrannah, Georgfa for four weeks to help butld some Habitat for Humardty

houses. Danlel wtll be away from formal cLasswork for fourweeks, but I am conlldent that he wlll contlnue to learn as avidly and as wtdely as he has done slnc.e

hewas bornl

I condnue to vlew homeschoollng as an altemadve, but am not ready for lt yet partly due to my netd for a reg;ular break from the bickering that goes on between Danlel and hls younger brother, and partly due to Dantel's deltght tn all lrts frlends.

Perhaps when our 3 year old ts ready for school, homeschollng for the two boys mtght make rrrore sâ&#x201A;Źnse.

Helped lVhen Daughter

Left High School

Flom furnle Norman oJ Cal[fornto: I have been subscribtng to GWS for flve years. I have a l6-year-old daughter, Kelly, and a 6-year-old son, Paul. I have lots of ambivalence about schools and publtc educatlon. My husband completely supports Paul betng ln school (lidndergarten, whlch he loves a lot). Kelly dropped out of high school Just before she turned 16 (tt's a very long, emotlonal, and turbulent story).

She teaches swtmmtng at the YMCA and plans to go to IA Valley College for the spring semester. Readlng GWS all these yearrl gave me the perspecflve to feel IIne about Kelly belng done wtth htgh school early. But I don't thlnk I am as nlce or latd back as most of the GWS parents seem to be. I do have high expectatlons and often feel frustrated and resendul when Kell5l is Just lying tn bed readtng for hours, although ru admtt that school seems to be not the least of our motherdaugfiter conftct. I would welcome nr,re correslrcndence; IVe often wondercd if any other GWS readers don't homeschool.

Learning About Learning Flom Motle In Drug: I am a GWS

involved

Wrut autltor oJThe Plugsubscriberwho ls not

ln homeschooling tn the narrow

sense of the term. My offictal schooling took place tn regular schools, and so did that of my chlldren. Nerrertheless, I have nerrer considered our school experlences to be the stgnt8cant part of my or my ctrtldren's educaflon, and ln that sensewe have all been homeschoolers for a long ttme: what we learned at home and ln the world has alurays seemed rlcher and more deep$ educafional than anything transmttted to us ln school. It ls for that reason that I enJoy reading GWS so much: by readtng

about the llves and problems and thoughts of parents and children lrrvolved tn the adventure of educatlon outstde of the offlcial school stmctures I have learned more about the nature of learntng than any course ln eplstemology rniCht posstbly have taugfrt me. I also find the accounts of parents and especlally ofchildren describlng thelr strrggles, thelr successes, and even tlrelr fallures to be most lnsPiring.

Al4feWqthAuLng and Cttllds Work ln your local library

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Challenges

&

Concerns

No Longer Teased In

GIVIS

#73 u;e

ptutd

a query Jrom sald. that

Addarue Nelson-Caulgllg wla

h her nelghbrW. hd been srubbiry ler. We askdher { slta hd gotten arry helpful r?slronses to thls qtrcry, ail. lJ slle had marWd. to sdt:e tle prcHem. SFe wrote:

that now that she ls homeschooltng, she lsn t as shy as she used to be. I wonder lf homeschoollng has had thts effect on other readers.

brothers urould. Very ltkely he will do better wlth thlngs broken down lnto stmple, clear-cut steps. Occaslonally I may need to polnt out something he has overlooked. But tt seems that I can trust fum to

Ilomeschooling Son With Down Syrdrome

show me what help he needs and wants.

Those needs rnay erren lnclude some therapy - Just as Lucas may one day want to take German lessons, Duncan may want help with hls speech.

school lcicls

IVe solved my problem with the public school llds teasing me by flnding out who started lt and why she dtd tt. It turned out that the person who started ltwasJealous of what she thought I had that she dtdn't have. She enltsted all of our mutual frlends to treat rne the same way, unttl they got ttred of dotng lt. Later on she moved auray.

adults responded to my query.

Both of them thought there uras Jealousy TWo

lrrvolved, wtrtch appeared to be the case.

Homeschooling Helps Shyness Inllrrletter about

GIVS readers

who

oren't la neschdlrg, Dorma Cross mentlond tlwt she uuas rehtctant to ltuomescltml, fucause she tlaught U mlght exacerfute

ler dauglder's

shgrness.

Cgnthlt Callanan oJ Mbvesota respords to thls: My oldest daugfrter was also extreme$ shy, so I enrolled her ln preschool at age 3 for halfdays. By age 5, shewas even more shy and uncomfortable ln all soclal slhratlons. Of course I thought that school would help. She began gotng all day at 5.

Just before she turned 8, we began homeschoollng, although my husband was concemed that someone so shy would langutsh wtthout the soclal sdmuladon of school.

The opposite has occurred.

After one and a halfyears ofhomeschoolireg, frtends remark that she has truly blossomed (friends who don't homeschool, that ts). She ls now qulte comfortable around people ofall ages, engagtng tx sptrlted conversatlons wtth adults, playtng wtth peers, entertainlng; bables and toddlers. One day as we drove home around lunchtlme, we passed her old school, where the chlldren were out at r€cess. She sald.

'Mom, one thhg I llke about homeschooltng ls now when we go outslde to play [at gatherlngs ofhomeschool friendsl, I have slx or elght frlends to play with. When I was at school, I had no one to play wtth.'

And thts on a playground of75-1OO chlldren ages 6, 7, and 8l I feel that a shy child ts bombarded by people tn a school sltuaHon and responds by clamming up even further. Attempts to teach the social graces are wasted. I'd prompt herwtth ldeas of what to say, but she could neyer get beyond 'hello' and 'I'm IIne, thank you.' I had to do most of the cdltng to arrange play dates wlth 6lends.

All that has changed. My daughter has made frlends through homeschoollng that are destlned to last for years.

ISS:I A l4-year-old horneschooler who went to school up to seventh grade told me

Mary Pat Kengmana oJ Hotg Korg sent us a apg oJ a letter she tatotc to Dtane Mrcbth fSpectal-Needs Chfl&en' GWS tt77l:

I was so glad to read your letter ln GWS. It ts great to knorrr there are poten-

tfally lots of other homeschoollng par€nts of spectal-needs chlldren. Our thlrd eon, Duncan, also has Down Syndrome. We had flrmly dectded to horneschool our other two boys, now 3 l/2 and almost 6, Just before Duncanwas born, so I was derrastated to thklk all our plans would be dashed because ofhts handlcap. Fortunately, GWS has a resource ltst of people wtlltng to glve advlce on homeschoollng children wtth Down Syndrome lsee GWS #791, so I wrote to everyone on lt. Everyone wErs very suppordve, but ln fact only two famllles were actually homeschooltng fulltlme. One had only taught her daughter to read at home, and another famtly had nerrer homeschooled at all. I recelved a really wonderful and suppordve letter from Rosemar5l Flrstenber[i lsee GWS l*781.

She began homeschoollng her daughter at 16 after years ofearly lnterventlon therapy and spectal schools. She adopted two rnore chlldren wtth Down Syndrome and ls homeschoollng them as well. It ls her conclusion that therapy can only speed thtngs up by a few months - push forw'ard an emerglng sktll, shall we say - and doesn't make much dlfference In the long run.

This ls exact$ what I wanted to hear, because I ftixd all thts early Intervention lntrusive. I take Duncan for a one-and-ahalf-hour session once a month, Just to get an ldea of what to expect ln terms of developmenl With turo other boys at home I am not lnterested ln spending any more of our tlme at therapy, I don'twant our farnily life to revolve around Down Syndrome. And Duncan seems to be dotngjust Ilne. At l5 months he ls crawllng (stratghtbgg.d, crulslng around furnlture, and begtnning to show stggrs that he understands what we are saytng. More lmportant, he takes lnldadve ln explorlng his world. He ls by no fleans a lifeless lump who constantly needs to be sdmulated.

(Granted, wtth two active brothers and a father who works at home ln additlon to Mom, he has plenty to see and do.)

It strtkes me that Duncan is only slower than 'norrnal' children, but that basically hls way of learnlng can be respected because lt ls eflective. This ldea of respect seerrn no dilferent to me from the respect that Nancy Wallace writes about tur Chfld's Work.lt ls the same attltude thatOWS argues for. And if Duncan ls

leamtng effecUvely at 15 months, why should he not be able to learnJust as well when he's 5 and lO years old? Thts ls not to say he won't ask ficr more help than trls

Involving Toddlers in Family Life I4n

Mllum (FI) urltes:

In response to Ruth Matlls$'s letter tn GWS #79 about homeschooling with a toddler: I have a lO-year-old daughter, Anrren, and a 2-year-old son, Mlchael.

Arwen and I also feel a ltttle shortchanged at tirnes by the llmttaflons of M{chael's 'two-ness.'I do have a few ldeas foryou, though, some from our experience and some about your sltuation.

I'm always looldng for new creative distractions for Michael so we can concentrate on other things. Some ideas I use are: rotate some toys so they seem new every few months; put some plastic containers in the dishwasher that the babv can load and unload; put a sheet over a tible to make a cave: let the baby play tn the tub with pourlng cups and toys (with supervision); glve the baby a btg box to color wlth crayons that he can hlde ln or use as hls house.

Ask your children to help you come up with more ldeas.

I become most fmstrated with Michael's need for attention when I am tnlledble about dming. Since Michael really doesn't understand tlming, all his needs and deslres are immediate and escalate rapidly tf he isn't acknowledged. If I respond and approve or redirect his activities, he is usually content. Also, if I don't expect to ffnish werything I begin in the way that I would like, and if I intellectually and emotionalbr accept Michael's "two-ness,'the days flow much more smoothly.

Toddlers are extremely sensitive and reflect thelr emotlonal environment. If they expertence frustration or r€sentment towards them, they understandably rebel, loudly demanding the love, paUence, and acc.eptancc they need. When I welcome and celebrate Michael for all he is, hls response

is most cooperative and pleasant.

To Ruth: If you do c.onsciously put Matthew ln the center, involved, included, exposed to the focus ofacdvtty your older chlldren are busy with, he wlll more and more lmltate that self-modvated independencc. If he is more often left out, without irrvolvement wtth those he needs to learn from by imitatton, he may feel deserted and lost. Hls feellngs of exclusion would easily be erpressed as disruptive behavlor. He needs to have enough models from whlch to fashlon himself.

For solid concentration dme with your older chlldren, maybe you c.ould have one spend Ume wtth Matthew while you spend dme wtth another. Plan lleld trips,

crowlng Wtthout Schooltng #80

I cro-op days

and ltbrary vlslts on the days

Mattheds father takes hlm to work. We use a babysltter for Mchael once ln a wtrile, but tr5r to tnclude hlm as much as posslble. Sometimes Arwen and I sanre a proJect unttl my husband, John, comes home so Mtchael can be oc.cupted wlth trls dad. An hour of mlnlmally lnternrptei tlme ln the errening can be very sattsfidng.

Set reallstic goals. Ftnd some speclal thlngs you want to share with each chlld, and arrange to do lt. Focus on what you ane able to do and enJoy tt, don't focus on what ts too dtlficult to do rlght now, Don't let yourself burn out. Delegate lots of school

and famlly responslblltles to your chlldren, Arwen does one olllctal home chore a day, plus takes over playlnC wtth Mtchael for at least an hour a day. When I get ttrne to nourlsh myself, I then feel I can truly

nourlsh my family,

Preparing for Tests Lh Kemryr-Walloce wrcte ht the

January/Febnnry 1991 tssue o-f the

Tenw ssee Homescttmlhg Fanlllr s

neusletter: ...One thing I dtd do to prepare for the TCAP lthe test that Tennessee homeschmlers are requlred to take tn grades 2, 5, and 7l vras to call the prtnctpal of the school to seewhat the testing slhrationwould be, He had planned to put my son ln wlth one of the classes, and invtted us ln to meet the teacher some ttme before the test. I asked tf Itwould be possible to have my son tested

separately. The prtnctpal is not required to do thts, but he satd he would be happy to gtve the test tn hls oflIce. I also made sure

he knew that I would be ln the room durlng the test, He ts requlred to allow thls and he didn't seem to mind at all.

It was not easy for me to ask the principal these thtngs. He was extremely nlc.e,

but it can be tndmtdatlreg talktng to any authorttSt ffgure. (I spent 13 years anniding

talking to the princtpall) Speaktng to trtm on the phone, I had more courage than I would have had tfwe had been face-to-face.

Jeremy and I dtd not enJoy much of anythtng about the achlevement test, but when the day came ltwas easler to go ln knowtng that the anrangements had been taken care of.

I had been stron$y urged to do some practlce testing wtth a different standardized test over the perlod of a month or two before the TCAP tn order to farnlltarlze my son rvith the lns and outs of testlng. Slnce we are unschoolers, testing was a strange new terrltory for us.

Unfortunately I put off the practice test unUl the day before the TCAP. We had all the subJects to cover and only one day to cover them ln. As we got lnto the practic.e test I could see that I'd made a mlstake ln waiting so long to get started. There were several subJects, with serreral sectlons ln each subJect. Each sectlon had a new tJpe of problem that I felt needed to be cuered.

I'm not sure how much learnlng took place after the flrst half hour, but we tmdged on for slx hours with a fewbreakdowns. Each sectlon looked pretty short and easy, but all of those sectlons put together tmk a long tlme to finish.

Even though my son dtdn't get much practlce for the TCAP and he was not very

Gro$'tng Wtthout Schoollng #8O

farniliar wtth the styles of questlons on elther test, ln day-today llfe as a llttle boy he had acqulred the lorowledgp to ansurer

rnost of the quesdons correctly and to ncone average to aborre-average ln dl areas.

Hls scores would have been htgher tf he'd been rnore comfortable wlth testtaktng. A.s tt uras, he was able to rneet the exp€ctadons of the State of Tennessee wlthout ever havlng had any formal schooltng. He was able to llnd the ulord that ended wtth the same sound that'dog' beganwtth (boot, u,ood, cow); hewas able to Ilnd the church on the rnap: he was able to name the holtday assoclat€d wtth the Ptlgrlms tn plcture #3. He knew all of thts wlthout havlng spent thrcc years of lds chtldhood ln a cliassroom. Nobody taught trim accordtng to state g;utdellnes. He slmply leamed by ltvtng, playlng, rcadtng, Itstenlng, and was able to apply trts knowledge to the test questlons.

As I was gtvhg hlm the practlc.e test, I saw that lt was nery confuslng to trtm tf the quesdons wer€ too slmple or the answers too obvlous. He used up a lot of flrne trylng to ffgure out the loglc of some of the questlons, thlnklng that what they were testlng forwould make sense. Hewondered about the slgnlffcanc.e of the fact that 'nrood' ended wtth the same sound that "dog' began wtth. He eventually realized that tt wasJust a bunch ofquestlons.

I do urge anyone wlth a test comtng up to g€t a set of pracdce tests to admlnlster to thetr chtld so that helshe wlll be ac.customed to the type of thtngs achievement tests test for. Most of us are unaccustomed to talidng tlmed tests, so lt wtll help htm/ her to get some experlenc€ wlth the dmers gotng. It wtll also help you to see what subJectsyourchtld may need to brush up on. It may even furcr€ase hts/her scores.

But the maln thfng ls that lf your chlld has leamed test-taHng lt won't be as frtghten-

Stop Comparing Laurb Hudfrnan r.txote ln tle Febnnry tssne oJtle UtahHomeHtrcation

I99l

Assoc{atfon neusletter: I used to recommend that new homeschooltng mothers vlslt veteran homeschooltng rpthers to take a look at which materlals thry use and to ask quesuons.

I'm much more cautlous now. For a long tlme I dtdn't reallzeJust how much uze tend to compare ourselves wtth each other ln order to get a flx on where we feel we should stand. What happens, tn realtty, ls that we try to get our b€artrgs but mlss the mark.

We set our slghts on what we thlnk ts the North Star, and lt's really Just a flashy satelltte. No wonder we get dlzzy trytng to keep up, and can't always flgure out our

positlon.

Some people, espectally perfectlonlsts (I lorow because I am one),

want to know

how to do somethtng perfecfly before they errer begfn. It qrculd be too frustratlng, too embarrasslng, too exhaustfurg, to cr€ep along at a normal pace, make all the same mlstakes everyone else ls maklng, and get hung up on the same trlck questlon everyone ls fusslng aboutl And then there ls the posslble end result starlng us in the face: fallurel What would €veryone sa5/? How could I ever liace any of my nelghbors agatn? How could I forglve myself? In order to try to avold all these nast5r feellngs, we need the answers beforehand from those we percclve to have tt all ffgured out.

A certaln amount of thls is normal, but,

lng for htm/her to go lnto that unfamtllar place among strangers on the day of the

test.

JacH WilLad. usrote in the same neur;letter: Each year homeschoolers ln grades 2, 5, and 7 are forc.ed to have thelr educa' tlonal prog;ress evaluated by the state by taldng the TCAP tests. ... It ls extnemely

tmportant that we prepare our chlldren for these tests, However, we need to t4r not to

panlc our children about what mlght happen tf they don't meet the expectatlons the state lmposes on homeschoolers.

Precisely because the whole test-taktng conc€pt ls so allen to our chlldren we must not make the sltuaflon any mor€ stressful by allowtng our chlldren to belteve that tn order to contlnue homeschooltng they

must pass thls test wlth a certain score. ,,, As a group we seem qulck to point out that our Tennessee homeschooled children test out above g5a.de level ('years ahead') on these Gsts. Consider the lmpllcadons of dolng thts.

Why are we so proud of thls tf we don't buy into the concept of standardlzed testlng or the use of thes€ tests as an erraluatlon tool? If we act as if the norm ls to test out at aborre grade level - and make no mtstake about it many of us do - then wtll ctrildren who test out at grade level feel like

failures?

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10 more often than not, we end up dtstllusloned when the answers fail to meet our needs, leavtng us stranded at squar€ one -

agaln,

Just as ln any other fleld of achleve-

ment, the only failure ln homeschoollng ls ln refuslng to try the untrted. To feel fatlure at havlng to reevaluate, or havtng to pawn the klds off on Grandnra or a compasslonate nelghbor for a day oflelsure, or for needlng help with a school subJect we

don't understand (or wen llke), or for throwlng out a bothersome progrzrm, or maybe for gotng back to school ourselves (the ltst ls endless), ts a ltt0e llke screamfng "Flrel'when someone strlkes a match.

It's all out of proportion wfth realtty.

The truth of the matter is, we all learn best by maldng mistakes, and by havlng to start over, and by havlng to admlt we aren

t

tnfalllble. Reality ls not compa.rlng

oursebrres wlth each other's tma€lnd successes, but tn comparlng ourselves on the

basts of havlng had stmtlar experlences... I do enJoy homeschoollng compantonshtp now and then, and enJoy tallidng about feeltngs, but I amvery cautlous when the quesdons take on a sort ofprobtng quality: "Whatbooks doyou use for,,. Doyou agree wtth so and so's advtce thaL.. Whatwould you recornmend I use for,.. Do you thlnk I should...?" While everyone's heartfelt quesflons deserve answers, it might be ln e\reryone's best lnterest lf we were a little less willing to assume we have the rtght answers,..,

New Homeschooler Finds Support Morg F*kstebt oJ Malne wtltes: We're golng to start homeschoollng on March lSth - I sent ln my notlffcaflon on Saturday and have only to u/att thfrty days. One of those weeks ls wlntervacatlon, so there are only nlneteen school days left unfll Mike ls homel I ffnally persuaded my husband that there was no polnt tn watttng untll the end of the school

year. He could see Mlke was havtng a hard ttme. Oddly enough, now that Mlke lorows he'll be leavlng soon, he seems to be doing better. I guess he feels more relaxed about the whole thing now.

We went to a meetlng of the Southern Maine Home Education Support Group on Friday. Mike came too. There were about 3O-4O adults there (some were almost ln

tears at llndtrg so much support for thelr homeschoollng) and at least 5O ldds. What struck me was hou although there uras the usual amount of nolse from the Hds (ages tnfant through htgh school), nobody got tnto a ffght, everybody found somethlng to do, and nothlng got broken. The chlldren themselrres ln EFoups around

narlous actnldes. Thcy were free to come and go fur the parents' toom, but there were no whlners or temper tantrums, Irlly son made two new frlends and can't walt for the next meetlng. It was gr€atl

ftrying School Jereniah CIryoA (CN wrcte seueral nonths ago: I am 14 and I have been homeschooled all of my Me up unttl now. I Just recently started golng to a small alternattve publtc hlgh school part-ttrne.

I dectdcd to go to school tn part because of wherewe llve. We ltve about forty mtles from Yosemtte NaUonal Park, and the area ls very lsolated. Althoug;h lt ls rlch tn natural beauty, tt doesn't have much to offer ln the nny of soclal life or educatlonal and cultural opportunltles.

When I was younger I really enJoyed the freedom of homeschmllng, wen though I never had many friends around, but as I've grown older IVe begun to feel a need for tnteracttng wlth people my own age.

I've actually trted school twlce before: I lasted almost a month tn third grade and two weeks tn Juntor hlgh last year. Hower,rer, senlor hfgh ls a much dtllerent experlence for me so far, Ferhaps tt ts only that I'm flnally old enough to handle the school envlronment. On the other hand, perhaps the school ltself ls much better.

One thtng I really like ts that I don't have to attend every day unless I want to, I'm really only required to attend one day a week, like tn Independent Study (which is what I'm really enrolled tr:). But I enJoy golng more often, usually about three days aweek, and I can take the schoolbus and stay all day. Although lt ls exhausttngl 0 have to hlke one and a half miles down a tr:ail to get the bus, and then hike up agaln after school), lt ls fun to be on my own.

We do schoolwork for trigh school credits, and I really ltke the credtt system. I like to be able to keep track of how much work IVe done and where I stand. There ts very ltttle pressur€r so I don't feel stressed out, even when I fall behtnd for a whlle. I

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can work at my own pace, Just as long as I errentually earn enougfr credits to graduate.

I sflll have tlme to do lots of my own projects at home and to do lots of reading.

Of course, school llfe ls not exact\r peaches and crearn. Because thls ls an alternatlve (contlnuatlon) school, I have ldds ln my class who can't make lt in the regular schools, rnostly because of behavlor problems, Howerrer, I don't llnd them hard to deal wtth, even though I haven't had that much social experience wtth ldds. The worst problem ls that about 9096 ofthe studentbody are dedlcated smokers and I can't stand clgarette smoke.

They go to the smokt:g area at breaks and lunch, so I am left alone a lot. I also haven't had much experlence at sports and

do terribly at volleyball, whtch ts the schml game. T?ris ls probably rrry worst embarrassment.

But the atmosphere on the whole is very easygolng. The stalT ls helpful and wen wtlllng to bend the rules lf necessa4r.

Ttrcy do thelr best to make sure each student llnds a way to stay ln school.

Taken all together, I'm fatrly happy wtth the whole experlence, or adventure. I stlll conslder myself a homeschooler, slnce I work at my own pace and can quit any time I llke. I like to be in control of my own life and my own education, and right now I feel that thts ts the right thing to be

dohg.

Some nonfhs later, Jeremlah's motlvr, Pan\ w,ote:

Jeremlah's feeltngs about school have changed. At flrst gotng to school was fun because lt was a different experienc.e, but the worklng ln workbooks ls (of course) not sttunulattng enouglr fior hirn This is the same klnd of mindless activity that I pmtested as n asttng hls time when he was ln ffrst gnadel The tuming point seemed to come when he recelved an electronlcs kit for the holtdays. All vacadon he was worldng on the experlments and teaching hlmself computer progiramming. He was doing valuable urork that he loved, yet it dldn't count for anything towands school credtt. All of a sudden he was overcome by the absurdtty of tt all. Although in many ways he's been painfully aware of the absurdit5r ofschool bureaucracy slnce he was around 5, it hit hlm at a different level.

At the same tlme, he's passionately lnterested tn becomtng an electronlcs engineer. So as not to let him get bored enough to stop trylng, I had the idea to have him attend one or two classes (science, shop) at the regular hlgh school. They agreed at the altematlve school to drive hlm over to the other school every day for the class and then pick him up.

Hourever, the htgh school prlncipal Just refused. I'm trying to decide whether to Ilght thts. The State Educatlon Code ls on our side - lt says, 'Independent Study students shall have access to classes and functions at the publtc schools.' Or we have the opdon of letttng htm try enrolling all d"y and seeing lf he can handle tt.

F}om a later letter Patn wrote: We took our request all the way to the school boand, but they dented tt for two neaaons. One ls ADA money - who gets it,

Growlng Wthout Schoollng #80

tl the high school or the Independent Study Program school (that ls, the home school)?

But the second, underl5ring reason ls that they have a fear of people thcy can't con-

trol, people who want to malntatn control

over thelr own llves and refuse to comply

wlth all the rules. Perhaps Jeremlah's unlque posltlon would cause other klds to quesdon the rules. The counselor kept saying that he couldn't take responslblltty for Jeremiah's education lf he only attended one class. He couldn't get tt thicugh hfs head that we dtdn't rr;cnt htm to take responsibllity for anythtng, we Just wanted

Jeremlah to learn biologr.

Jeremlahwrote to us about horo hts att:ltude towatd.

scttd

had. changed:

I had hoped that the alternatlve school would be more comfortable than a

larger, more structured trigh school. Unfortunately, as I soon realized, the school ls really only meant for people who only want to pass the GED and get a1ob. I found that I was not gettlng the lorowledge and sltdlls that I needed, and I began to feel dlslllusioned with the credlt system. I had to do a certain amount of prescribed work, which might or might not have had anything to do with my interests and/or goals.

My family and I talked lt over, and decided that tt would be best for me to tnr taklng a couple of science and shop clasLs at the maln htgh school. But the prlnctpal refused to let me take "his' classes unless I enrolled at'his' school full-tlme. Obvtously this was not what I wanted. The more I dwelled on lt, the angrier I became. The state pays the school distrlct around $2SOOO to be used for my educadon, yet I never see a dollar of it. I could do so much with that money - buy a computer, microscope, materlals, books, etc.

The Gbgdds are rrow tlttrl/rtng oJ wags to lelp Jereminh learn ullo:t le wants to leatn wlthout gotrlg to schmL Parn

urites:

IVe found him a computer class for adults that meets Mondays and Ttresdays from l2-3. I lorow the teacher, and he's a really sweet person who works with each student tndividually, so lfs not quite like school. Then I also found a computer club that may or rnay not still erdst, a computer fix-it place called Ed-Tech where he might be able to get a surnmerjob, and one of the school board members called up to say that he was sorry Jeremlah wouldn't be allowed to take a class at the school but he's an

electronics englneer and would be happy to talk to all of us about what ktnds of things Jeremlah will need to study. And he'll let Jeremiah vlsit his shopl I'm hoping this ls not a ploy to get us to putJeremiah in school full-ttme, but maybe he can help us see some alternatives.

Leaving School Krlstfrr lVflltarns MD wrltes: I ast year when our thrree middle chlldren were Ayanna, 14, Tulant, I l, and

James, 7, we decided to stop sendlng them to school. I don't say we began to home-

schml because we have always taught our chlldren at home. In fact one factor ln

Growtng

ptthout Schoollng

#8O

dectdtng to homeschool vras that lt seemed like it would be easler to Just teach tt rtght the flrst ttme and not have to work all the time to undo what was golng on durlng school. Our two older chtldren, Jtlo, 20, and lfe, 18, attended tnstttutlonal schools for the usual amount of Ume, Our youngest, 3, has never been to school.

We were ahrays very vocal and actlve in crtflctztng the schools, supportlng our chlldren ln thelr crltlclsms of or hassles wtth the schools spectflcally and wtth soclet5r tn general. Our famtly has nwer felt lt necessar5r to be 'normal'and have taken some prtde tn our dllfer€nc.es, such as wearlng our halr natural (urc are Black) or disagreelng wtth U.S. foretgn poltcy.

Slnce we hanrc nerrer had a lot of extra money, all the ldds started worklng and earnfng extra money, both to help out and to have some to spend, as soon:ul th€y could, from dellvertng papers to helplng wlth my doll-maktng buslness to rvorldng wtth their father to clean the church.

Perhaps because of this, we dldn't reco€lntze our ctrildren ln Jlm Bergln and Judy Gawey's letter ['Recoverlng From School,'GWS #761, and they didn't recognize themselves. They have their'school storles' to tell, too, but we talked werything to pieces when it happened so there wasn't a lot of rehashing when we took them out. Of course we can't say what any of us would have been like lf we'd never been to insflflttonal schools, and any experiences we have allect us, but I don't think any 12 year old's creaflvlt5r and lnterest tr: ltfe ts golng to look the sarne as a 4 year old's. And they are not going to

interact with others, lncludlng parents, ln the same way. We do not personal$ know any other homeschoolers, so we can't report any studies we have made outslde

our family. All stx of my children were creaflve, interesflng, and lnterested people when thcy were ln school, and they are now that they are out, too. Now that they do not have to waste their tlme at school, they can pursue their own lnterests more widely.

We work on some thlngs together, like Spanish. I try to interest them in some things that some of them aren't lnterested in, ltke math, periodically. They work together and we help on some thlngs, like puttlng out a newsletter, and sometlmes they work on proJects of their own. We don't do anythlng wtth workbooks or school texts. Ayanna, now 15, ls worlidng on a diploma from Clonlara, but James and T\rlani have yet to express any andety about or interest ln credentials.

Mentor, tle wwsbtter oJ tle Home Hucation Leogue oJ Perrysbrtrg (Otil, intervlewed Kira Erdsleg abut tle tansltlon

to lonrrsclwlirrgt in its February l99I issue, KIra. raw 16, fugart

..from school

lrrnlschdbr1g when slte uras

that, I declded to keep going. I satd, -There's no sense ln going back now.' It was more prtde than anythlng else. I really enJoyed homeschooling.

I was angry at flrst because I thought homeschoollng would alfect my friendshtps and my soclal life.,, I was really angry wtth my parents, but after a while we got to be a lot closer than we used to be . The feeltng of famtly came back, but for a while at the beglnntng I wasn't talldng to anyone. ... IDurtng the ffrst ntne weeksl I mostly watched TV, read a few books. Our family also has famlly chores that we have to do. That took up some of the tlme, but most of the tlme I watched TV and talked on the phone wtth my frtends. After a while, I watched so much TV that I Just got stck of tt and wanted to get up and do somethlng else.

I also had to adJust from havlng to get up at 5:3O to not havlng a specillc ilme to get up.

After maklng that adJustment, I started to want to do thtngs agaln.

I guess you could say I was fatrly popular ltn schooll. I wasn't a cheerleader or anything, but I hung around a lot with the cheerleaders. I'd do a lot of things with them on the weekends, go to all the dances.

I guess lt's not that much different than now, but at the tlme my social life seemed like everything to me. [My friendshipsl are more fulfflling now. I have two or three of the same friends now as I did then. I have a lot deeper frtendships now because I have tlme to focus on them lnstead of on a whole group of people. A lot of my friendshlps now ane lnterest-based, My frtends are lnto actlng: they're ln my actlng classes and the plays that I've been in. Some are older and some Eue younger. They're notJust in my age group anymore.

I don't go to marry of the dances anymore, at least not here. I do go in other towns where my frlends live. Dating is just as acdve and most ofthe pardes I go to are cast partles, whlch are more fun to me anyway because I know everyone there and we all have a common lnterest. And weVe all Just completed somethlng we're proud of. They're not Just frivolous get-togethers.

Educationally, I think I'm learning a lot more lin homeschoolin$. Also, I have ume to go deeper into the thtngs I really love, like actlng, singing, and dancing; being with my animals and family (not necessarlly ln that onderl).

I've gotten more interested in history

Pinewood School Brinos Home Educotion to Yo-u (303) 638-4418

Olivio C.

Lorio

Director

13. Here are

ercerptsJtom Kira's ansuers to tteruteuser' s questions:

tle

[When we started homeschooltn$ I was really angry wlth my parents. They satd Just to try tt for the ffrst nlne weeks.

So I went ahead and trled tt. It was okay. I wasn't mlserable although I acted like I was. After the llrst nlne weeks, I sald, "Well, I don't want to go back now. I'll wait another nlne weeks. I'll go back to schml at the second semester.'And then after

I

l2 Rood D Pine Colorodo 80470 Serving Home Educotors Since l98l

t2 than I ever was tn school. A whlle ago, my mother and I rented a movle, Arrlre oJa TlnusandDags. I loved lt so much thatwe went out and got a lot ofbooks about Henry Mll and trls wlves. Then after that we watched the movie Lodg Jate. That was such a sweet story thatwewent out and got the few books that there are about her. and found out that the story realJ5r lsn't tnre ln

the movie.

I'm more lnformed on current enents tham l errer was ln school. I know more of what's gotng on ln the world. I don't get my tnformadonJust from a teacher, or one polnt of vlew. I get tt from tlre news, rr5l

parents, my frlends. Ifs notJust what your teacher thlnks, ifs what you thlnk. And you can compare all the sldes of an lssue and make a declslon onyour own. .,,, I also got more tnto antmal sclence and btologr, anirnal sclence meantng worklng wlth horses. And my lnterest ln reading branched into much better llter-

ature. I really enJoyed To Kill a Mxldngbird a couple ofyears ago. Just recently I read A Conedg oJEnors by Shakespeare and I really ltked that. When I was in school, I would nerrer have thought of

reading Shakespeare, let alone enjoying ltl I like a lot of wlldlife books, Jack London books. ... One thing I really love ls animals, so we went to a local vetertnartan and we asked htm lfhe could use a volunteer. They always acc.ept help, so at first I worked ln the olllcel then I went on farm calls and observed ln the operating room. I learned that I didn't want to be a veterlnarlan. It was gmd that I learned that. I also learned about buslness, how veterlnarlans work and run thelr buslnesses. After that, I started taldng rtding lessons and I thought I wanted to become an equestrlan rider, It was fun for a wtrile: I really enJoy ridtng, but I'm not the most compedflve person. I enJoy horses and I enJoy rtdlng but I realized that the compefltlve part of tt

wasn't for me. ... Durtng that time, I was taldng acflng class€s. I d always been lntlmtdated at school, so much so that I wouldn't try out for the plays, even though actlngwas somethfurg I was always tnterested tn. I dectded I dtdn't need to be tnttmtdated anymore and started taktng classes, Then I started to go to audidons and help backstage on things. This ls the longest IVe stayed wlth something, and I don't see my

Creative Home Study

ffi

Grades K-12 Since 1975

Integrative Learning For hd51 lufind and $irit Oak

Madow k)hml

Post Office Box

7 L2

Blacksburg,VA24063 (703) 73r-3263

tnterest changtng.

I thlnk I'm a lot more open to people and to tdeas [stnce I began homeschooltngl, a lot more rnature. I thlnk that school stlfles you. It's taken a few years, but IVe Itnally started to open up and really love barnfng and love new thlngs. My tnterests have grown. In generd, I thfnk I'mJust a lot better person. I also have more selfconJldence, more selfesteem... I would say my famtly's a lot closer.

My brother and I have grown closer.

There's not as much stbltng rfiralry as there was whenwe were school klds, In my fanlly, educatlon ts a fam$ thtng and our whole fam$ helps my brother and me when we need help wtth sornethfng. They help us ftnd thtngs rve want to study or read, One reason we'Fe a lot closer ls nrc have a lot more tlme to spend wtth each

other.

Syluta Shalberg (CN wdtes:

I attended publlc schol unill serrcnth grade. I was ahvays conslder€d by the other klds to be one of the smartest ktds ln the school, and as a result I often felt tsolated. I have an espectally vlvld memory of a spelllng bee one day In slxth grade, wlth the class dtvtded tn two. I knew how to spell wery word that was asked, which caused a lot of resentment from the slde of the room that I wasn't on. I ended up burytng my nose In a book (a common practlce at the ttme) and refuslng to answer

anymore, When I entered Junlor high school tn seventh grade, I doreloped anorelda nervosa and was taken out ofschool for health reasons. After a few months of rest, the school system prorrtded me wlth a home teacher, wtth whom I worked for the rest ofthe school year, although I was basically too lrrvolved tn my lllness to benellt much from thls. Over the summer I gafned qulte a btt of wetght, and thought I was well enough to go back to school. I dectded that I would rather go to a prlvate school than back to my old Juntor high school - I had too many bad memorles from there.

I ended up enrolling ln a nearby Lutheran school, wlth only about IOO ktds.

It was rea$r qulte a nicr school, but apparently not the rlght thing for me at the time. I began to have problems wtth my weight agatn, ard would cry ln the mornlng because I didn't want to go to school. After a month of battllng over thls dilemma, my parents flnally decided to Just let me stay home agaln. lnevttably, I ended up wtth another home teacher from the publlc school system a couple of months later. I was having a lot of personal problems whlch my teacher dldn't seem to be able to sympathlze wlth or understand, whlch was unforhrnate. But that year was very valuable to me ln other ways. I went places with my mom, wrote to pen-pals all over the world, developed my lnterest tn baldng and cooldng, read as many books as I wanted to, and, most lmportant, never felt pressured about school work. I became a stronger and more lndependent person than I had errer been before. Nonetheless, I dectded that I wanted to try to go back to publtc school for nlnth grade, rn hopes that trtgh school unuld be a better experlence

for me than Juntor hlgh school had been.

Thlngs started out flne, slncc I stlll had an lndependent streak ln me from homeschoollng. For the llrst tlme in publlc school I uras amazlngly able to abstain from worklng to perfection, yet still recelve A's. But by tenth grade I had gradually become more trlluenced by frlends who were obsessed with studying undl they knew cver5rthing upslde down, nwer settllng for less than the best. As I became more and more concerned with knowtng everythtng put before me, I llked school less and less, but felt powerless to do anythfng about lt. I was also faced wtth the 'problem' that I was actually lnterested ln what I uras learnfng, unltke all the other klds who only cared about g5ades. Once agatn I wae lsolated, Just ltke I had been tn elementar5l school.

Thtngs finally got so bad thls year in eleventh grade that I said, 'That's lt - I'm not golng back to school anymore,' and I dtdn't. I had a few months of recuperation, which meant dotng WIIATEVER I felt like dotng, be lt baldng, reading, cutdng reclpes, or watchlng a movle. I had a lot of gutlt feelings durlng that time about not betng ln school, but fortunately I have wonderful parents who reassured me that whatl had donewas OK. Last month I got a new home teacher from the publlc school system, one who ls much more s5rmpatheflc and cartng than the prevlous ones I've had. At llrst I was worrled that I would never be able to know when to stop studying, but amaztngly I am learntng to follonr my feeltngs about this.

My teacher now tmsts me so much that she baslcally leaves my assignments uP to me.

Stncr I work part-dme at a local library, I am very exclted about being able to use any of the thousands of books around me as part of my school program. I am also taktng art, a new experienc.e for me, as I only took'soltd' c.ourses whlle I was at public hfgh school. I am llndtng great sadsfactlon ln chooslng art proJects that I enJoy dotng, and dotng them MY way.

Stnce I have so much more time now than I used to, I am also able to pursue mybaking lnterests further than ever before. The only mlnor problems I am facing are PreCalculus and Chemlstry. I have never liked sclence very much, so hopefully I will elther be able to sktp Chemtstry or take lt at the Communtty College ln the summer.

Pre€alculus I have decided to wait on because lt was too much stress for me at thls dme, although I do enJoy math.

GWS has been a sourcc of great comfort to me ln the past few months. As I read about other ldds who are homeschooling and benefitlng from tt I no longer feel guflty about my declslon to learae schml. I rather feel proud of myself and exclted aboutwhat the future will

brlng.

Ifyou respond to any ofthe letters rn thls sectlon, please send us a copy ofthe letter and let us know whether tt's OK to publish it andto use yourname.

crowtng Wtthout Schoollng #8O

l3

Watching Children Learn Interested

in

Electronics

Mote Jrcm Jacqrrc Wllllnnson MN:

Nathan (14) ts head-over-heels lnto electronlcs, building radios, taktng a short-wave class to prepare for a llcense, readtng very btg textbooks on theory (and even on mathemafics, like bdgonomet4l), readtng hlstory ofelectronlcs books. Our nelghbor (PhD tn astrophysics, tnventor, and self-employed) continues to amaze us with hts lnterest ln and tlme for Nathan.

His lnlluence has been the yeast, really startlng and fueling Nathan's lnterest. It's so excltlng to watch it develop.

Learning Without Bus5rwork l4rne Tfuuderstonn Nlneteen-year-old

(BC) wrltes:

kaf

made As ln

art, calculus, and btologfcal sciences durtng her flrst semester at a medlumslzed college a thousand mlles from home, but she wrltes that it all seems so polntless.

Ten-year-old Raven plays hard, reads constantly, works on the famtly farm, and plans to change the world, but she worrles that she Just doesn't know anythtng.

Three-year-old Fox wakes up each day ready for the chores, proJects, and adventures that come hls uray, but he wonders why people get so angry wlth htm. These are my three chlldren, and what they have ln common ts that they hate bus5rwork.

It's no wonder.They have nener gone to school, and thelr e:rperlences wlth correspondence courses and other structured educatlonal sltuatlons have been

mlntmal. All three have been a vttal part of our small homestead's operatlons, worklng ln the fields, building bams and furnlture, caring for the antmals, and gro$dng and selltng vegetables. A" th.y grow older their responstbtllttes and skills growwlth them. They build fences and do routine machlne maintenance as well as deal wtth veterinary emergencies and clogged up vrater lines. They do werythtng we adults do.

Leafhas always been a doer. She taught herself to read when she was 5 and ln her favorlte fantasy play she was 'the famous ctrlld artlst, Kaleendy Slmone,' who tr.'aveled around the world wlthout her parents, rescutng needy people and astounding them wtth her acc,omplishments and skllls. Now ln college, she feels frustrated by school schedules, hemmed ln by a forced lifestyle, and not sure what to do next.

She had no tmuble enterlng cnllege as a full-ttme student last fa[, wen though she dldn't have a high schml dtploma and had never been to school before, She had taken courses from the B.C. Correspondence School slnce she was 14, but she always chose subJects she was tnterested tn, whether they were required or not. The gaps ln her knowledge did not bother her.

Her days were full and self-balanced. The college was wtlling to take a gamble on her on the basls ofa personal tntervlenr and

Growtng Wthout Schoolng #80

wrltten autobtogpaphy. I don't know tf they had ever dealtudth a self-schooled student before, and l:af was lnltfally afrald she would be so far behtnd she d never catch up. How h"ppy o," all are that thls hasn't happened. She was completely prepared tn all areas, exc.ept Engllsh composldon, and her enthuslasm makes up for that.

When l.eaf left home, she had hoped to broaden her soc-lal as well as her educatlonal opflons. Whtle thls has happened to some extent, she ls not sure that gotng to college or unlverslt5r ls the best way for her.

She ls used to relevance ln her da$r acttvtttes, lntegratlng bread labor wlth personal

growth, communlgr lnteractlon wlth solitary studles, creattvtt5r wtth Just plain

urork. Much ofwhat she doee now seenur polntless to her, lllltng up ttme, sectloned

off from the real nprld.

Raven, on the other hand, seems to need time out of thls world. She ls a dreamer and a planner, a slow cnokerwho can't be hurrted. Whtle she wtlltngly mns

errands, grooms the horses, mllks the goats, takes part ln farm liG, she crtrges at anything that srnacks of school. It's not that she hates academlcs per se. In fact, she devlsed such an ambltlous currlculum for herself thls year that anyone would run from lt tn frightl No, what she hates ls hNW to do schoolwork, being locked lnto a program, forced tnto someone's 'Ilrst

thls, then that, and ftnally thts' sltuatlon.

So we dectded she

cruldJust hang out

ttrls year. She satd she wanted to do 'real stulf,' and I was all for tt. But boy dtd my anxiety level rlse as I watched her seem to do nothtng but dream her weeks away. She Lay tn the hammock, she lay on her bed, she lay on the couch, she squatted ln front of ctrlcken nests waltlng for the eggs to fall.

And she read - everythtng from fatry tales and horse storles to ClanoJtlv Canse kar and Chatm Potoks The Chosenand Ttle homlse, She spent hours readturg to her little brother frrom plcture books and the Iaura lngalls \trllder serles. I had to force myself to qutt ptcktng on her, because wery tlme I suggested she do some math, or wrlte ln her dlary, or do a llttle French or map work, she retreated lnto herself and slammed all doors.

Raven mtght have looked like she wasn't dolng anythlng, but she Just about floated. She was frlendly, relaxed, mmmunicadve, and ready to pltch ln and help wtth anything.

Then one day she dld a drawing. For four hours she sat. absorbed ln herwork, and ended up pleased wtth the results. We hung it up. Another tlme she sewed a patchwork plllowcase for her frlend on the old treadle machlne. She cooked us a pumplrdn pie popover plcnic from scratch, and wrote a long letter to Leaf - In Frenchl Each day brought new surprlses from Flaven, unasked for, freely offered. lots of tlmes a slid outing or a dress-up game mtght be the rrain acflvlty of the day. For the most part, Flaven secms pleased wtth her creadve endeavors and tt ts only I who feels a need to differendate and call some thlngs schml and other thtngs play, though I should know better by now.

I don't know how other famllles sque€ze four or more hours of acttvldes

lnto thelr datly ltves. I do know that tn sptte of pertodtc flurrles of worrytng that she doesn't know as many facts as her frlends do, Rarrcn Just can't or won't "do school,'as lt ls called around here. She doesn't feel a need to be busy all the tlme, and I bellerre errcntually she wtll tntegrate her deslre for knowledge with her need for

autonorny. For now, sacrillclng productivIt5r for peacefulness ls hardly a sacriffce at

all.

Already, at 3, Fox ls the same way. He knows what he likes, and what he doesn't llke most of all ls what he conslders to be dummywork. He needs to do whateverwe are dotng. When I sew he doesn't want hls own plle of buttons and cloth and a threaded needle, he wants to sewwhat I am sewfng. So he cllmbs on my lap at the treadle machlne, starts the wheel, lifts and lowers the foot, forwards and reverses the sdtches, and snlps the thread. Whenwebulld wtth wood he doesn't want hls own boards and nalls to hammer nearby, he has to hit real nalls that are going into the bookcase or stdtng. So we start them and let him flnlsh them off. He can't be bought off with a make-belleve task, ever. lt makes things hard, and somedmes we get annoyed and frustrated wtth hlm for betng that way.

Every task has to have a bullt ln Fox factor. When we shovel manure, stack IIrewood, wash eggs, or plant tomatoes, Fox does lt too. When we let htm lnto the world ofouracdvlfles graclously, he ls easy to get along wtth; he feels peac.eful and good about llfe, accepted and cherished.

I worry sometlmes that self-schooling ls maklng mlsflts of my chlldren. Will they be crtppled by thts feeling kaf has that much of what pass€s for modem life goals ts polntless? Will they be lonely and different, unable to do what other people do?

Or wtll they ulttmately be empowered by thls whole experience and dwelop a sense of dtscrimlnadon that wtll enable them to make creative choices, to form lasting relatlonshlps, to work for what they decide

ts tmportant? kaf, like Raven, was often teased by

netghbors for playing all day long. Maybe dlowtng our klds that unintern:pted, selfdtrected tlme for intense concentratlon on whatwer they do ls the most important thlng we parents can ever do.

Doing R€al Work

At tle 1991 Marylorld Hone Mtrcation Assciatlon an{erence, Peter krgson ud, lns darryhter Amando furgsonSh{lcak (PN ,cd a u.nrkslwp called "Real Worl<, ReaI T@ls, ReaI We,' In uthbh tley tallcd, abut la u: yotng people canleant Jrom dobtg real rrrrrk and partlctpatlng tt real-ItJe octlult|as outslde the classroorn Herc ate some etc'erptsfomAmonda's tolk abplut the actiutties slv ll,r.s ben

Innhlpgd bu I've been homeschooled all my life, and IVe done a lot of thtngs that have lnvolved takfng thtngs like math out o[ the

t4 classroom and puttlng them back lnto the real world. ... For several years IVe been dotng double-entqr bmkkeeptng for Open Connectlons lAmanda's parents' buslnessl.

It started when I was watchlng my mother do lt, and I sald, 'That looke tnterestlng, can you show me how to do tt?'When she llrst showed me how to do tt, I thought tt was pretty complicated and somethlng I mlght not be lnterested ln after all. But about a year later I went back to tt. I sald, 'I want to be worklng on my math, and I urant to do some real work, rather than math sheets or math workbooks or whaterrcr.'

So I began dotng the bookkeeping, and l\rc really enJoyed tt and all the math that tt

entalls, When I was

acclunt. A lot

6I

got my own checldng

of people satd to me,

'I never

got my own checklng account unfll I was ln collegel What ls a 6 year old gotng to do wlth one?'I had to have a co-slgner, so lt uras ln rny mom's name and mtne, butl had

a wonderful tlme balanctng tt wery month. I generallyJust wrcte checks for llttle amounts ltke flfty câ&#x201A;Źnts or a dollar, for thtngs I was sendlng away for ln the rnafl. I dtd wrlte ttre checks for my ballet Iessons, too, because I wanted to do that, but agaln, I dtdn't feel ltke I was slttlng down and dotng math. ... I began doing publtc speaktngwhen I was technlcally in thlrd grade. We had dweloped the hablt of gotng up to the local elementary school at the begtnning of each year to talk to the teacher and ask her tf shed bewtlltng to let us know tf they were gotng on any speclal fleld trlps and to glve us thelr worksheets from tlme to tlme so we would understand what therr were work-

tng on. She asked us a lot ofquesdons

about homeschooltng and was very enthuslasdc about lt, She came up wlth the

tdea of havtng me come ln to the classroom to glve a llttle lecture about homeschool-

tng. I thought that sounded llke awonderful tdea, and my mother suggested that I bdng fn some glldes of rr5r actMdes to help show the chlldren what I was taftfng about. I really enJoyed dotng that, and then Dad and I started dotng urcrkshops together at a La hche League conference once or tndce ayear, and at homeschooltng conferences. When we were trylng to get a new homeschooltng btll passed tn Penn-

sylvanla we had several leglslattrrc breakfasts and I spoke at those, and then spoke a couple of tlmes at Rotary Club meetlngs. ...

Helping Scientists

Grw l)eur.lly'l. rr.ttosc booh The Teenage Ltberadon Handbook Hout to gult School and Get a Real LtG and Educailon,

uttllb

outthlsJall, sent us tlefo&owbg

ercerpt: Outstde ofschool you harrc a chance to get lnvolved wtth real sclentlsts and real

sclentlllc worlc My frtend Heather, currently a Rhodes scholarstrlp flnalist and senlor blologr maJor at Reed college, suggests helplng sclentlsts wlth thelr research. Sclentlsts always hanre more ldeas than they have tlme to follow through on, she says. A btologlst, for example, mtght need someone to catch aquatlc lnnertebrates, record lrformadon from clmate gauges, check traps, or cpllect water sarnples.

Phone up graduate students -who cannot afford to pay research assistants and ask lfyou can help. Or put up neon plnk notes ln unlversltlr science butldings.

If you ltve near a college wtthout any graduate programs, approach senlors, who often have a labor-tntensive proJect to complete, or professors.

Ifyou try thls, expect to be lnspected.

Although you are olferlng to provlde free labor, you could completely ruln someone's research by befng bresponstble wlth data- Heather says lt's a good tdea to do an tnventory ofyour past before you start to cutact anyone, Ltst all the experlence you have whlch shows you can be preclse and systematlc. Thls could be descrlptlons of sclentlffc nrork youVe done on your own or ln school. It could tnclude recommendatlons from prevlous teachers. Work as a suwcyor's asslstant ls the ldeal background: certaln ldnds ofcooktng - candyrnaHng, for example - require preclsion too, So do woodrvorldng and drafung. If you have httle e:gerlence with anythtng of this nature, be ready to explain convlnctngly that you know you'll work carefully.

If your sciendst feels you aren't yet quallfled, ask what you can do to become that way.

Another Serious Dancer Laurel Skousen oJ Mbhlgan wrltes: I was lnterested

ln the letter that

I tlllarr g|1r and her son Matthew wrote in GWS #78 because I, too, am serious about

(anttlnudonpage

27)

clonLc_Rcl sclrool Home Based Education Program crealo your own hormo school currlculum wllh the help of Clonlara schoolHome Basocl Erlucalfon Program, lhe well.balancsd homo school program offorlng flexlble or slandaid approach.

"L'lonlara slresses nranipulative lealrrlng tools and Ieal'lite experiences In place o.f endless wor.kboohery....Yuu cleale ygur 0wn individualized program with ttre help of the Cloniara curriculum.

The clonlara slaft lr avallable to answer quosllons over lho Dhone or bv mall. Any concornr famlllos have whlch rolale to homo oduclilng can bl addrsssrid.

Clonlara graduates rocolvo our prlvale school dlploma and full lrans.crlplr. Glonlara graduates have gone lo collegee ahd unlverslller, lo rnllltary sotvlco, lo the nrlnlslry and Inlo lhe work forc6. clonlara atlonds to all of lho admlnlstrallvo dutles assoclalad wlth home oducallno wlth and for our en. rolloes. We know lho regulatlono In ovory slato and counlry, we handlo conlactc befueen school ofllclalc and our onrolloos, Thal leaves parenls fice lo allend lo thSlr home oducatlng.

'Mary

Pri<le's

Bis

Elook

of lloms

1289 Jewett Ann Arbor, Mlchlgan 48104

l-earnins

Pat Montgomcry, Ph.D. (313) 769-45r5

Dlrector

Growlng Wthout Schooltng #80

JOHN HOLT'S BOOK AND MUSIC STORE The Fossil Factory

by Niles, Gregory, and Douglas Eldredge #1480 $8.95 + post.

Ihe h6sit

fcldtry

The Fossil Faaory fills a real need. Just about every

child I know has some interest in dinosaurs and fossils.

Those monstrous, mysterious beasts and those creanres and plants changed forever to AMMbDEE@IbW@ &Efrlt@dM4f,b stone, as if touched by a magician's wand, hold a fascination for kids. When my children were under their spell, we naturally looked for books on the subject, but were never quite satisfied with what we found. The books that they could read themselves contained little real information, based on the mistaken ttreory ttrat kids can't understand and don't want to tackle big words or complex concepts. The books that did contain real information and used words that paleonologists would use were written by sober-minded people who not only used big words but somedmes didn't feel a need to explain them. The snrdy of dinosaurs was obviously a serious business, no place for fun here.

My kids did manage to learn quite a bit about dinosaurs and fossils, but how I wish Fossil Factory had been around then, because it shows how much fun you can have while studying something seriously. Perhaps it helps that the book was written by Niles Eldredge, a Curator of Invertebrates at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and his two sons, Gregory and Douglas, who "help their father out on fossilhunting expeditions." Just a quick look at some of the titles of the sections will give you the flavor of the book "Making a Good Impression," "Bubble, Bubble, Soil and Rubble," "A Sedimenal Journey." And the jokes convey a gmd amount of information. Beginning to explain how fossils are formed, tle Eldredges say:

lie

Your teeth and bones are really stones already. They are made of a chemical called calcium phosphate, which is also found in nature as the mineral apuite (not appetite - that tells you when it's time for dinner).

There is no stinting on real vocabulary here but it is presented in such a way that kids can undersand it and remember it by connecting with things that are already part of their world. The many black-and-white drawings sprinkled generously throughout the book serve a similar function: they make you smile but help you remember important details from the text. You'll remember one big difference between conifers and flowering plants (and which one developed first) when you see a large dinosaur, a Camptosaurus, sneezing in the middle of a

forest.

The Eldredges don't forget that learning by doing is often more effective than just reading. They include a few projects ttrat illusrate a point they are trying to make, as well as a list of fifty-nvo places in the U.S. where you can see actual fossils. I can remember when Emily was 9 and we were living in Connecticut. She went with friends to Dinosau State Park, a wonderful place where hundreds of dinosaur tracks have been discovered. She came back with many tales of the size and number of the fooprints, but vaguely disappointed at the same time. She had wanted to find them henelf, but these had all been found already. We remedied the situation several years later when Christian and Clare were interested in fossils as well. We went on a very successful fossil-hunting trip with a local naturalist and came back with bags of fossils, which were still important enough o the kids to survive our give-away/throwaway sessions before our move last summer. The list at the back of the book includes not only museums but also places where you can hike around and find fossils on your own.

Tlw Fossil Factory will certainly not be the only book on prehisoric life that your child will read if that becomes a major preoccupation of hers, but this book could spark an interest, kindle an interest that is weakening, or answer many of the questions of someone who is already curious about those great beasts and the remains of the animals and plants they lived Madalene Axford Murphy among.

-

More Science Experiments You Can

Eat

by Vicki Cobb #1502 $4.95 + posr

I am drawn to books that deal with science experiments.

I've read many of these books but have sometimes been disappointed when I realize that I'm reading a clever disguise of something that has already been done by someone else. When I

sw

More Science Expeinunts

You Can Ear, I thought to myself, "Another one?", but I decided to read through it to see what Vicki Cobb had to say.

After all, her previous work, Science ExperimentsYou Can Eat, was delightful. Now I'm so glad I decided to pick it up.

Cobb explains in the innoduction that this is a very different book from her previous one. Whereas SEYCE deals with using fmd to understand scientific principles, the emphasis in MSEYCE shifts o using scientific principles o explain what happens to fmd.

With the exception of the very first experiment, each experiment in the book builds on the one before it. The fint

22

John Holt'r Boot rnd Mudc 9torc

69 Massachusetts Ave.

experiment deals with the rate at which a fruit ripens; that experiment leads o one that deals with mold. (I confess that I'm not too thrilled with the gIr;n finzy stuff making its home on the orange that sis on a comer of my desk, but at least now I understand why the mold exists and how to prevent iE recurrence.)

Making cottage cheese was interesting; Cobb used this particular experiment to emphasize the importance of documenting results and of changing only one thing at a time o obtain accuratâ&#x201A;Ź results. We had to choose between using whole or skimmed milk and using rennet" lemon juice, or vinegar as the chemical that would make the milk separate into curds and whey. The factors in the experiment were the milk and the coagulant, and we had o make barches of cottage cheese, changing only one factor at a time so that we could determine what caused the difference between one batch and another.

After doing this experiment a few times changing only one factor at a time and documenting my result" I realized that I was becoming more observant, not only about the experimenting process but beyond that about my surroundings in general. I also realized that I enjoy homemade cotglge cheese (at least six different types!). I may do this experiment more often!

I like the fact that Cobb takes time to explain the answers to some questions my children have wondered about and that I didn't have a concrete answer to, such as why cucumbers tum to mush when they are frozen and then tlawed, and why Vitamin C keeps certain foods from firning brown. One of my favorite chapters deals with making the perfect cup of tea (a fine art" if you ask me) and producing a close likeness to the flavor of a very famous cola beverage. There is a chapter on food additives and preservatives and how the senses react to different chemicals, on whatreally makes puddings thicken, on the artichoke phenomenon, and on Mapping the Tongue.

The experiments in this bmk require more planning and time than the experiments in Cobb's earlier book, but the rewards are worth the wait If readers enjoyed the earlier book but found it too elementary,I think ftis one will offer more of a challenge. I enjoyed the experiments I performed and am looking forward to completing the remainder of challenges the Ann Barr book has to offer.

-

Tops

by Bernie Zubrowski #1520 $6.95 + post.

rewffi sgKs,# x#$a*w$fi

i

BernieZubrowski is a strange and wonderful man, a gown-up who not only hasn't forgottâ&#x201A;Źn how !o play but plays for a living. His books reflect the idea that messing around with snrff is a good way to learn about the world.

He says in the innoduction to Tops:

Don't be discouraged ifone ofyour devices doesn't work the first time. Try again. Part of the fun in these p,rojects is to figwe out how things work. When something goes wrong, it is an

Cambrldge, MA02l40

oppormnity to make discoveries. If you are persistent and resourceful, you can overcome dry diffrculties that might

In this bmk, you can learn how to make successful tops and yo-yos with snrff you might have at home or, if not, that you can easily get at local stores. The auftor includes a section at the end on possible extensions beyond this book, and encourages you to keep exploring and playing.

While my daughterJenny (10) was taking her achievement test last spring, Alex (8) and I sat on the concrete floor outside the test room in the central school offices and built, tested, and refined our paper plate tops, using paper plates, pencils, spools, and rubber bands. Later, at home, Jenny wanted [o try it too. We leamed th,at different shapes and launching techniques can make a big difference in spin time. My favorite launch technique was the two-ribbon launch, but the kids loved the hand-held electric mixer launch. Alex's favorite part was observing different visual effects that could be obtained by adding colored dots to his paper plates before spinning.

There was something funny about sitting outside the test room, spinning paper plate tops while we waited. I'm afraid we were a bit of a disruption as we learned together in a playful way. Bemie Zubrowski might have liked that.

The activities inTops are fun, can be understood on many levels, and are easy to write up if you have to keep a portfolio of your child's work. Get this book, some plates, margarine tubs, Ginger Fitzsimmons or whatever, and play!

-

Find

It

Fast

by Robert Berkman #1478 $9.95 + posl

Find It Fast is an exceptionally clear, concise, fact-packed

How-To book. It goes beyond the usual research manual, including, for example, several chapters on talking to experts, and information on electronic resources such as The Magazine Indexin the library and computer databases. The book is geared to real-life situations - sort of a businessman's approach rather than an academic one. This is a book to keep on hand because, after reading it the flust time to learn the author's very good ideas on research, you will want to have it available to look up the names of indexes, or telephone numbers, or *'hatever, later on. You could never collect all this information and remember it yornself. Well, maybe you could, but Mr. Berlqnan has already done it for you. Let me give you some examples: The Association of College and Research Libraries (their address and phone number are included) will help you find a library specializing in a particular field. An example of the usefulness of this is that I have borrowed books of Norwegian genealogy from the University of Wisconsin on interlibrary loan through my small library here on Long Island.

"Telephone Contacts for Data (Jsers" is a free booklet from the Bureau of the Census (address and phone number given) listing names and phone numbers ofexpers on various kinds of data, for example in religion, transportation, housing.

In Chapter 2 is a list of 36 "gnmmar hotlines" at colleges

.Iohn Holt'c Boot and Murlc 9torc

2269 Massachusetts Ave.

l I

around the country, and an address for the Grammar Hotline Direcory. Yep, that's right, they'll straighten you out about all those tricky little questions of grammar.

In Chapter 4 there is a phone number you can call to find out if there are any bills pending in the United States Congress on any issue that interests you, and what committee they are in, so that you can contact the authors.

I found out tlat several directories exist in which you can look up almost any publication by subject, including the small ones like GWS. In relation to this, the author suggests calling the editor to find out if they have had articles on your subject" and to request copies.

Even though the book has a preponderance of information relating to business, homeschoolers may find this more useful than you might imagine. For example, there is information on Thonas Register, in which you can look up companies by product, like snowshoes or probably anything else you can think of. You can also use it to look up addresses so you know where to send your complaints. There is also help here for starting a new business. There's a place called Wisconsin Innovation Service Center which sells a service to evaluate your idea for a new business in terms of legality, competition, environmental impact" erc. There are also enough resources listed that you could probably use them to do this job yourself.

Isn't this stuff great? This is a book on many levels: simple enough m be easily understood, yet containing high-powered information useful to professional researchers. I liked the tips, which save the listings of resources from becoming overwhelming. The tips are penonal notes that help you get the most out of the sources. They are clear and simple. There are several chapters filled with good advice on talking to experts, from how to find them to how to evaluate what they have told you.I also thought the author handled the chapters on computer searching well. I was impressed by a section titled "Think Twice About Using the Computer When...".

Claudia Brosnan

-

& DELIVERY

1

PACKING

',

Wc shlp UPS whenever possible.

We only shlp vta U.S. Mail to Canada and IlO boxcs.

Iftotal is:

Charge:

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CAITIADIANS: Add $2 to abovc charges.

Chccks must bc drawn on USbanks.

OVERSEAS SURFACE MAIL Scnd 2O9$ of

total.

UPS 2nd Day Atr is available. Plcasc call

for ratcs.

by John Cassidy & Michael Sroud #1490 $12.95 The Klutz Book of Magic is a good book. I've been interested in magic for quite a while. Once in a while when someone comes over, I do a show, or sometimes when I have a prop on hand I just do a single nick for one person or several people. I did a magic

show at my sister's birthday party. She was tuming eight years old.

I did some tricks from The Klutz Book of Magic and some others as well. One of the Klutz tricks I did, the one which was my favorite, was "the silken dollar."

The Klutz Book of Magic uses pictures, which makes it a lot easier to do the tricks. It has "illustration one" and "illustration two" - the different steps of the trick. Some good props are irrcluded with the book, such as a metal ring, a blue square of silk, and also a blue rope, which I made magical.

I would recommend this book to beginning magicians, or people who just want to try some magic, because it has quite easy

tricls.

-

Benjamin Rockmuller

Back Issues, Indexes, and Binders Beck lsaure: We strongly urge you to get the back issues of GWS, especially he articles are as useful and important as when they were printod, and wo do not plan lo rep€at the information in them.

Very little of the material in GWS loses its value o\,€r time. We can no longer atford to reprint early issues as stock runs out. W€ will photocopy them as needed, but the reproduction is not as good, so we adviso you lo act now and order while the highquality stock remains.

Rates: $130 plus posage for a complete set. For any other combination of back issues, mailed at one time to one addr€ss, tre cost is $2 each plus $2 per oroot. lndere to GWS (specity item number): #380 lndex to GWS #1-30, $2.50; #382 Index to f31-rO, $2; rB8+ Index to #41-5O, $2; #385 Index ro #51-60, $2; #381 Set of all indexes, $5.

Blnders are available with rods that hold GWS without obscuring any text.

Gold letters on co\rer. ,r3:t0 Binder wih 24 rods (holds GWS tr1-24), $10; #128 Binder with 18 rods (holds 18 later issuos), $9.50. f326 Set of 4 binders and 78 rods (holds GWS #178), $3s.

Add packlng and delly.ry charge for all items (s€e chart below). if you plan to begin homescfiooling. lvlany of

tl

Friday

864-3100

I

Klutz Book of Magic

Mastercard and Yisa Phone Orders Accepted Between l0 - 4 Monday -

a (617) t

Cambrldge. MA02l40

Or clip and mail this form with a check or money order John Holt's Book and Music Store

to

(617) 864-3100

Shtp to (Please give name, and street address for UPS):

Subtotal: 5olo

Sales Tax (n{e resldents only):

Packtng & Dellvery (see chart):

Total Enclosed:

.Iohn Holt'r

BooL rnd

2269 Massachusetts Ave.

furlc

A SECOND LOOK:

These favorites have been but may be new to some of you:

Books: From Writer

to

Reader

by Howard Greenfeld #1222$L2.95 + post.

One of the best books we know of that akes you behind the scenes of one part of adult life. Tells and sfuws you how books get thought of, written, and published, with wonderful photos, facsimiles and illusrations, and lots of detailed but clear discussion of how aduls go about their work. The book's style is so accessible, and yet the information so deailed and interesting, tlut it is impossible to tell whether the book is intended for children or adults. It's of potential interest to everyone.

Digging Dinosaurs 'by John Horner and James Gorman #1238 $8.95 + post.

Through hunches, hard work, and luck, Jack Horner and his co-workers discovered the first massive dinosaur breeding grounds, which revolutionized our understanding of how dinosaurs lived. Donna Richoux wrote in GWS #72, "The book gives an excellent picture of science at work - the uncertainty, the hypothesizing, the painstaking effort, the lucky breaks, the theorizing and raising of new questions. Many books about dinosaun simply present facts, but this book, because it shows someone doing paleontology, gives a clear picture of how and why scientists can make those assertions when after all, they are only working from some old rocks." This is a readable and exciting book for older children to read to themselves or families o read aloud ogether.

In Christina's Toolbox

by Dianne Homan #374$5 + post.

Phoebe Wells, on our staff, says that she and her 3-year-old Eoin love this book because it's the only tool book they've son seen that shows children using the tools. Other books show adults with the tools, or picnues of the tools by themselves.

Phoebe says that when Eoin looks at the book he is inspired o make what Christina is making.

illusration from

/r

Christina's Toolbox

Storc

Cambrldge, MA02140

in our catalog for a while,

Pianica A 34-key combination of piano and harmonica.#Sl2 $49.95 + posL

Mary Van Doren wrote in GWS #53: "A couple of years ago, John Holt had us take the office pianica home to see how we all liked it. We have enjoyed it so much that I keep putting off returning it - I think we're going to have to make it a permanent part of our musical life.

"The children especially love the pianica. There seems to be something special about making the thing work by providing the air yourself. That's the way other wind instuments work too, but the keyboard allows very licle children to make more of a variety of sounds since it takes less coordination than many other insfuments. The only disadvantage we have found is that you can't sing and play at the same time, though Helen (3) can hum and occasionally darrces while playing. ...

"The really asounding thing about the pianica is that it is virtually indesructible. It has taken almost every kind of abuse imaginable (mostly unintended) and has stood up to it. Even the tube from the mouthpiece to the keyboard is still functional though it has been stretched, twisted, and chewed on. There are a few tiny holes in it but it doesn't seem to matrer. For children, sturdiness is a great advantage. Porable electronic keyboards are available at good prices now, but they're rather delicate. Our children are generally as careful as they can be with things, but accidents happen - and we've foud we don't have to worry about the pianica.

"Even with apiano in the house, the pianica gets a great deal of use. We recommend it highly."

The Magic Feather: The Truth About Special Education

by Lori and

Bill Granger, #454 $9.95 + posl

We were sorry when this important book went out of print after we had added it to our catalog years ago, and we are delighted that it is available once again. It is the sory of the authors' fight o challenge the label that lest resuls had placed on their son. At 6 years old, already a capable reader, Alec was diagnosed as having an IQ of 47. His parents refused to accept this s to allow Alec to be placed in a Special Education class. In addition to telling the Grangers'personal story, the book looks at the (honifying) history of intelligence testing and the current response to what educators call learning disabilities. It will help anyone challenging testing and the labels that result. One useful chapter is called, "Breaking Through the Special Ed Jargon Jungle." The Grangers answer a question about attention-deficit disorder by saying, "It's simple gobbledygook. In plain English, it means your son doesn't pay attention in class. It is not a disease. Why teachers won't use plain English in talking to parents is one of the appaling questions clouding Special Education and the whole education process."

FOCUS: \Mhen Help

is Helpful (and when it isn't!)

When ls adult help truly helpful to chlldren, and when ls lt annoylng or confirslrg or counterproductlve lnsteed? We asked scveral young GWS rcaders to tell us what klnd of adutt help they appreclate and what ktnd they would prefer to do wlthout.

Feeling Stupid, Feeling Competent Ftom Sarc Dlilllplrrrc oj Mcssochusetts: Here are some examples of sltuatlons and people that helped me, or dldn't help me. One of my school teachers (when I went to school ln thlrd grade) trled to teach me multlpllcatton, But usually tt dtdn't make sense to me. She would try to explaln stulf about the tlmes tables to the class. I would Just be blank. The more she exphfned, the more I got confused, She wasJust repeattng the same thlngs over and over agaln. But I Just couldn't understand.

She made me feel stuptd, ltke ttwas my fault I dtdn't have any ldea what she rvas talldng about. I remember sltting there, my face all hot, trylng to understand what tn the world she was talktng about.

By the end of thtrd grade, I hated math. I hated lt because I Glt ltke I was stuptd about lt and would never get lt.

Now, at home, my mother has tried to help me ffnd lots of diferent ways of learnteg math. We started to do mental math a lotwhen we stopped going to school, like when we went on walks.

(Mental math ls ffg".tttg numbers out loud, like sklp-countfng by 2's, 3's, 4 s, and 5's, or addtng and subtractlng tn our heads.) IVe been trytng to flgure out how that helped me and I thtnk tt was 6..411s9 u/s all dld tt together - me, my mom, and my slster Susle and we practtced and started to memorlze sldp-countlng, and tt was fun. It was more ltke a game and lt wasn't scary. It dtdn't make me feel ltke I had to 'get' tt and lt dldn't make me feel stuptd. It could also be that tt helped me because lt urasn't wlth pencll and paper (like a test) but out loud.

It also helped that we got some Apple computer gpmes, llke Number Munclers.It's fun and lt's not llke a worksheet and you're Just playing agahst yourself, your own score. Math Blasters, whlch ls another ptece of softurare, ts ltke a worksheet and I sttll get a block ln my head when I by to play tt, although now I canplay lt and tt's not so bad. ThIs makes me thlnk that what maybe helped me most ln mathwas that my mom let me go at my own speed. I guess that how an adult can help the most ls to let Hds learn when they're ready, not before.

Another thtng ts that when my rrom and I were worldng on fracflons last year, she was trytng to help me understand a problem, but I dldn't understand. I trted but lt was llke a block was tn my bratn that was prercnttng me from understandtng. Sort of like ln school, but not as bad. But then all ofa sudden I dtd understand. My bratn clcked. My mom dtdn't keep repeattng the same e:cplanaflon over and over, but trted dllferent examples,

dlfrerent ways to help.

My plano teacher ls a very nlc.e person and I ltke her a lot.

When I have my lesson, she helps me wtth thingls I don't get, ltke worktng ln my Theory Book. But sometlmes - actually lt happens a lot - I don't understand what she means orwhat aword means.

But I don't say anythlng. IJust nod my head, pretendtng I understand what she's saylreg. I don't knowwhy I do that, but tt's probably because I know she'll get snappy and say rnore words I don't get. AND she'll get a look on her face llke - thl" Srl ts stuptd.

When I don't understand, I get really nen ous and afratd she'll get

Gros'lng Wtthout Schoo[ng #8O

mad, Not that she's mean or Orat she's always confuslng. She helps me a lot lnways that do help me get lt. For example, when I don't get the rhythm ln a plece, she wlll clap tt, or use dlflerent examples undl I do understand. But the other tlmes, she wlll talk and talk and my eyes wlllJust g)aze wer.I think thafs away a gro$rn-up someflmes can NoTbe helpful - to talk and talk and not r€allz€ that they lost the ldd somewhere along the way.

My ballet teacher always pays attentlon to all the kids tn the clasg, and makes sur€ they're dotng thtngs rlght. To me, she makes sense all the tlnre when she helps rrrc by demonstratlng it for me flrst. Then lf I'm not dolng tt rtght she c,orrects me. She moves my arrns or legs lf I'm dolng tt wrong, or compliments me lf I'm rtght.

She doesn'tJust tell us what we're dolng wrong, she shows us on herself, and on us.

I have a real lnterest tn bables and younger children. I took a serren-week class at the library about babysttflng, I learned lots of lmportant sh.rlTabout llr,e and safety and what to do ln an emergency. But mostly, it wasJust talHng and tt was pretty bortng.

They passed out lots of sheets and pamphlets. But I couldn't see myself gotng to babystt Just from taklng that class.

But what really helped was gotng over to my nelghbor's house and actually helplng her with her slx-month-old baby boy. She helped me learn a$out bables because we would talk about things and then she sho{ed me how to do thtngs. lke change a dlaper, feed the baby, thtr{gs ltke that. I asked her questlons and she answered them. Br\rt she also let me do all the tlrtngs myself. It's very useful and helpful to really do theJobs and be wtth the babtes, lnstead ofJust heaftng people talk about tt. After betng a mother's helper, I feel confld{nt that I can be a sltter.

Wrtdng thls piec.e and talHng about lt made me understand more about my ourn learntng, and whatways adults can help ldds leam and what doesn't or can't help ktds learn.

IYhen People Help Too Much llom Kottto

MIIler oJ North Carcllna:

Sometlmes people try to help too much, and sometlmes your teacher doesn't know what Hnd of help you want. But some chlldren don't ltke help. They want to do tt all by themselves bcfore they ask for help. Thafs how I am. I like to try to do tt all by

myself.

I

One thtng that helfed me on my readlng was my tutor. We read alongwtth tapes and that helped, and urc dtd flash cards. Here are some of the thtngs that don't help me: for lnstance, when me and Mom are slttlng on thelcouch dotng school, and as I'm dolng somethlng she keeps o[ tattong and trytng to help but IVe taken ln as much as I can. I ltnally harrc to say, 'Mom, please stop

talklng."

Some Kind l\om

I

of Help...

Clane Mwphg (PN:

I Odnk that Shel Stlversteln wrote a good poem to express what I feel about help. Hls poem'Helpfng'ends by saflng, 'Some ktnd of help ls the llnd of help that helptngs all about, and some klnd of help ts the klnd of help we all can do wlthout.'

When I am maldng somethlng and I get frustrated, Mom or Dad often helps by telltng me how good tt wtll be or how I can make lt better. I am mahng a game that tests my hmtly's knowledge about the Mtddle East. I sort of bogged down on lt because I dtdn't thtnk tt was a good tdea anymore. Mom got me

20

excltd about lt agaln by helplng mewrlte down the cttles and rernlndtng me to do tt. ffhat happened a lot.)

Sometimes I don't outwardly say I need help, I usually htnt that I need some help. I am maktng a mushroom for my leprechaun doll to live In - I mean, under. I'm makhg ft out of pa.pier mache (nenrspa.per and urater and flour). I nras rrnklng the rounded top by puttlng crumpled-up newspaper on a clrcle of cardboard.

Mom had already told me hour to make the ctncle by puttlng a pln tn the mtddle of the cardboard and t5rtng a strlng to tt wtth a pencll on the other end. I looked at the 'mushrmm' and satd, -Thls ls never golng to workl' I uras htntlng for some help. Mom got tt and sald, You have to get the pa.pler mache on lL Then lt wtll look gr€atl'And tt dtd.

My dad ls readtng me Olir.er?lristby Charles Dickens. Now as

you probably know, Dlckens ls not the easlest writer to understand. Dad often stops, at hls own wlll, to explaln a word. I someflmes don't want to stop him to ask about a word because I don't want htm to thlnk I am shrpld or somethlng. But I like lt when he stops and asks me whether I know what's golng on.

Sometlmes Dad tells me a word I already know. A lot of adults do that to me. If they're outslde the tmmedi,ate family I don't want to lntermpt them because they would be embarrassed, But when th.y'r. tnstde the famlly I say ln an tone, 'l know, I know I know, I know.'You get the ldea.

My g5andmother ts great at sovtng and knows how to make a lot of thtngs, She recentl5r rnoved near us and I have started to take advantage of her ablllfles, For Chrlstmas I gave some pom-poms wlth faces on them to people. I dldn't know how to make the pompoms and asked Nana lf she could show me because she had made a lot of them. She dtd. Itwas gr€at. She was very helpful ln many ways, The only problem ts that sometlmes she is overly helpful.

When I was making a Vlctorlan-style dress and Nana was helping, tt sort of turned lnto Nana maklng the dress and me helping.

Sometlmes I didn't feel comfortable sewlng something and let her do lt, but sometimes NanaJust dtd tt. She also taught me thtngs that I already knew and, slnce she uras not tmmedtate famtly, I didn't tnternrpt her. For example, she showed me how to use the sewing rnachine, whlch I already knew. It would have been better if she had asked me first lf I lorew somethlng. There were quite a few other thlngs but most of the thtngs she taught me were to my

beneflt.

That brtngs up another potnt I want to address. I ltke to do thlngs myself. When Mom gets stck I sometlmes do the cooldng, whtch I llke doing. Sometlmes even when Mom is sick she comes tn and helps me. I hate when people do that to me - Just come in and take over. I want to be tn charge. Often adults do that to me (espectally vtstting relatlves).

I don't really have any more examples of bad help. Most help I get ts g@d. If you look tn the wr,ong placcs then you'll get the wrong lidnd of help. But tfyou look ln the rtght places blngol a door

opens: thoughts flow. Even from thlngs you alr,eady know you can leam. If the pennn tells you somethlng you already know, ask quesdons and you may llnd out more about the subJect. You can leam thtngs from everybody and everything.

Help in Finding Teachers Flom Emllg Lbvt (M0: IJust turned 13, and have been studylng harp for four and a halfyears. i{y nrst teacher, wlth whom I studted for three years, uras an excellent harpfs! but I stopped progresstng and was beglnnlng not to enJoy the harp. My mother and I sat down and she asked me lf the problem was that I dtdn't llke muslc or the lnstrument, and I replted that I loved both. Then she asked lf perhaps there was a problem wlth the repertotre or the teacher. I decfded that the r€pertotue was flne but the teacherwas the problem. So we set out to llnd a new teacher. The way my mother helped me declde how to proceed wtth my harp study is a good example of the ktnd of help I appreclate.

We lnteMeq,€d (by taklng a sample lesson) nearf all the harp teachers ln southeastern Mchlgan, and when we got to the last one, ure knew she was the rtgfrt teacher for me. My present teacher, Dr. Lynne Aspnes, and I are a perfect match. Lynne is the head of the harp department at the Unlverstty of Mtchigan, which in itself has opened doors for me, such as the opportunl$r to attend the Natlonal Muslc Camp at Interlochen, Mtchtgan. Lynne is a nailonally known harptst, but even more than her outstandlng reputatlon, she ls an extraordfnaqr teacher and friend to me. Wlth Lynne's help I am maktng rapld progress and look fonvard to my lessons wlth her. LSmne bellerres te me, and her understanding, support, and friendship add greatly to theJoy I llnd in music.

I love muslc and have had many dlfferent experiences wtth it.

I have played recorder for slx years, took plano for one year, sang ln an audiUoned children's cholr, sang in a school choir, played ln an orchestra for ffve years, and had one ye:rr ofviolin study.

Recently, I made a special arr:angement with a renourned music teacher ln Phtladelptria who ls going to give me theory lessons by phone and matl. He speclallzes ln muslc theory and has taken an tnterest ln my muslc study.

I love muslc, but I don't know lf, as an adult, I will be a professlonal muslclan, as I enJoy many dlfferent areas of study.

Erren lf muslc ls not to be my prtmary vocatlon, I know that I will always be able to llnd work as a harptst, but perhaps most lmportant, my muslcal experlences have opened many wonderful opportunldes for me and wlll contlnue to enrlch my life.

Helpful and Unhelpful Piano Teachers Ftom Maryrcse Dolezal MN): One sltuadon ln which an adult trted to help me but lt wasn't usually helpful nras with my flrst plano teacher. She yelled if I wasn't prepared. How the lesson urent would depend on her day. If she'd had a bad day, the lesson would not go well. Somedmes I was conlldent that I'd practic.ed enough and knew the lesson well, but she'd get really upset over some small mlstake. On the other hand, she d be so happy lf I played a song well that I d be worrled about not playlng the next songwell. She would tell me what I played wrong, but not glrrc me any advlce about how to lmprove lt. She dldn't focus on my needs. AIso, she compared all the time. She'd

'I don't understand why you're not dolng lt correctly. You did well last week,' Or shed ask, 'Why don't you know this song?" I

say, so

n,k::

really never had an answer for her, and yet she expected me to answer. I thlnk that she took errcqrthlng personally. I found I was practtcing to make her happy, not for my own benelit and enJoyment. I was Jubtlant lf a lesson had to be canceled.

In splte of the fact that I nrasn't getilng anywhere ln plano, when I finally changed teachers I was very heslstant. I had gotten used to the llrst teacher. I was concerned about what my new teacherwould be like. I was used to blamlng my old teacher for the

crowlng Wtthout Schoollng #80

2L fact that I wasn't progresstlg. If I dldn't make progress wlth a new teacher, I'd have only myself to blame.

I'm so glad that I did change teachers. My present teacher ls much more understandlng. She realtzes that I have tndtvldual needs and that some days wtll not go as well as others. She doesn't take thtngs personally. She looks for something posltlve and corunents on lt" and then polnts out partlcular thlngs for me to work on. She doesn't get upse! but olfers adrdce as a professlonal who knows more and is passlng on her knowledge. She doesn't make tt seem llke I have to get tt perfect for her. Instead, she lets me know that she has confldence that I can play rcally rvell, and so I have conlldence ln myself. Now I llke to pracdce. It glves me a sense ofsatlsfacflon to work on perfecttrg a song. I enJoy my lessons because I get tlps on horrr to become a better player. I now play the plano for enJo5rment whenever I can.

Learning to Read Music I}orn Tleresa

blezal

3/4

and

4/4

tkntng tn muslc. I have played many lpngs wtth these ttme stgnaturcs, but I could ahvays llsten to them ffrst. My Suzukt vtolin teacher dldn't want to put the new tunes ln my note reading book on a tape for me. Sheuzanted me to ffgure out the tlmingwithout listenlng to the tune. I trted but IJust couldn't get lt. I,Iy mom and teacher tried helplng me by counting lt out for me but it didn't work. I was getttng extremely frustrated.

Thls went on for three weeks and I really uzanted to be able to do it - like, SNAP. My teacher suggested I work onJust two or three measures at a tlme. That day we got ln a car accldent and I dtdn't play the vtolln for almost a month because my neck hurt. When I Itnally dtd play, I played fun songs that were really easy for me.

Mom potrted out that some of the easy songs were ln 3/ 4 or 4/ 4 timhg. Thr,ee days before my lesson, I decided I'd better pracdce the songs I'd been havlng so much trouble wlth. I counted them out Ioud once with my mom, I also wrote ln the counts. I tried one line at a tlme and pracdced a few measures two or three tlmes and I Just was able to do lt - off the bat, llke that. I don't know why but lt was easy and I passed the songs at my lesson.

I thlnk tt's tmportant that when I started playing after the accldent I chose when I wanted to play and what. Mom didn't pushed me and I think that really helped because I wasn't under pressure to do tt at a certaln moment.

Here ls another experlencc. I was getthg fmstrated with changtng inches to yards and that sort ofthtng. I could do tt ifI used rulers and yardsilcks, but when I dtdn't have rulers handy I got confused. I rrranted to get the rtght answers my way, but my mother sald, 'That's not the best way to do lt because you'ne sometlmes getting the wrong answers.' I wanted to get the rtght answers, but I wanted to do lt my way, too, so I got râ&#x201A;Źally mad and frustrated.

F'tnally, my Mom came up with a chart for me to use. When Mom was Just telling me how to do tt, lt wasn't helpful. I felt ltke I didn't know anythfng. The chart was helpful though. I needed help wen though I dtdn't want tt and the chart shonrcd me the steps to use to get the problems rtght wtthout actually showlng me the answers. Then I wasn't so frustrated.

Adults Should Ask First F}om

Merdtth Corvog

@A):

I have had many oqperlences wlth helpful and useless help.

One of the most beneflclal experlences IVe had ts wtth my father.

Dad helps me wlth nrath. When I leam somethlng new, Ilrst Dad wtll show me how to complete the problem on a sepa.rate sheet of paper. Then he glves me a speclllc asslgnment. Thls ls helpful to me because he makes sure I understand what I'm dotng. He tells me exactly what to do and lets me work lt on my own.

An example of lne{Iecflrrc help ts a certaln tncldent wlth my

Growlng Without Schoolng #8O

mailed my entry, Most of the tlme I'm grateful when adults help me, especially when I ask for lt. There are perlods when I don't want asslstance, though. Sometlmes I know lt would be easler to let someone help me but I don't want thelr tntervendon. If I set out to do something I want to prove to myself that I can do lt, erren tf lt's somethtng little Itke untangltng a strlng. Ifs that determlnatton that helps me llnlsh the Job. If sorneone wants to help me, I appreciate thetr asktng tf I want thelr asslstance. If I say no, I value thelr respectlng my answrer and not tr5rtng to push nr, If I say yes, I prlze thetr helping me. It feels good to know that I dtd rnost of the work by myself.

Different Kinds of Help with Math

MN):

I recently had an erperlencc leamtng to read

rnother. I uras wntlng a story for a contest. Mom was helplng me make sllght edttfng changes, but I dtdn't approve of them. It felt as though she was taklng over my story and was gotng to send ln her story wtth rr5r rrarne on lt. The changes were not that btg, but I thought they were and got very upset. We llnally worked lt out and

F'ron Mqharut O'DaV LtR): When I am learnfng somethlng new in math, I ltke Dad's help more than Mom's. Dad stts down wlth me and he shows me errerythtng step by step. Wtth Mom, however, we are always tntern-rpted by someone, and even when we are not she tells me too much. For example, when I want to know multlplication she tells me that AND algebra. But both Mom and Dad help me with history, current events, and stuff llke that.

If I am dotng somethlng and someone trles to help me without my asktng for tt, that lrrltates me.

Just Answer the Question f}om Gretclrln Kaseman (WI):

I flnd tt helpful, if I have a quesdon, for the adult toJust ans\per the questlon tastead of tryfng to have me flgure lt out, because I wouldn't harrc asked the quesdon lf I wanted to Rgure it out myself. For example, tf I ask what 8 flmes 7 ts, I don't want the adult to say, 'Well, whafs 9 tlmes 7?'or'What's lO dmes 7?Sometlmes I already lsrow the answer and I Just want to see lf I am rlghL Just because I ask a questlon doesn't mean I don't know the :rnswer, Sometlmes I'm ln a hurry to know somethlng because I don't want to get sldetracked ngudng out every llttle problem and having lt take a long tlme.

When I'm worklng on somethlng and want feedback on how the adult thinks tt looks, lt helps lf the adult makes posltive comments unless lt really doesn't look very good, in whtch case (suppose I'm sewlng and I made a mtstake) tt's helpful to me lf the

22 adult ollers to rlp lt. Then tt doesn't seem llke I'm spending so long on one part, ifall I have to do ls resew lL I don't ltke lt when I'm dotng flne wtth a proJect" but an adult trles to help me. Or tf I harc one llttle questlon and the adult takes the proJect away from me andJust does lt, Once I was at a 4-H meedng where u/e were maktng baskets. I notlced that whenever a kid had a questlon, like how to start a new reed, the leader nrould Just take the basket and do lt, not showlng the ldd how to do tt. A little later the ldd would need to start another reed and stfll wouldn't know how to do lt,' One thtng I really hate ls betng lectured to, especlally about sometldng I already know. Or suppos€ IVe made a mistake and know how to correct lt and how not to do tt agaln and I'm feelfurg a litfle bad about tt. If an adult comes along and starts lecturlng to me about how not to do lt and how I shouldn't hane done tt, tt makes thlngs a whole lot worse.

Getting Help from Teachers

in

School

Ftom RacFr;l lrvnrln 0N): Slnce attendtng school for the ffrst tlm€ as a freshman at a prfuate trtgh school two years ago, IVe been subJected to many forms of help. There was aesthetic help, given mostly to obtaln approval from colleagues, whlch came ln the form of my freshman En$ish teacher, Ttrere was misgutded help, which came ln

The more she expl,alned, the more I got confused. ... Shc mede me fecl stupld, llLe lt war my fault I dldn't have any ldea what she was talklng about. I remember slttlng there, my face all hot, trylng to understand... the form of my freshman algebra teacher. FInally, there was genulne help, which I obtatned from my sophomore phystologr teacher and my freshman biologr teacher.

As you may have guessed, my freshman year was not the best.

I don't mean that I recelved bad grades, but I dtd have personallt5r conlllcts wlth a couple of my teachers. My Engltsh teacher was somewhat uncomfortable wlth our class. Feeling a loss of control, she overcompensated with spurts of what I can only describe as temper tantrums, Because lt was my flrst year of school, I simply had no clue aboutwhat she expected ofme. I caught on to the idiosyncrasies of most of my other teachers, but I could not get a ftrm gasp on thls teacher's way of teactrlng, I completed my assignments, listened and took notes, but I dtd not do well on her tests.

After a few months of thls confuslon and after conferences wtth my guidance counselor and my parents (due mostly to my constant complaining about thls woman), she felt compelled to take me ln for "extra help.' She tried to explain concepts to me wlrtch I already knew. No rnatter how hard I trted, I simply could not please her with any of my writing on essays or creatlve c.omposltlons. The year proceeded with me getttng good grades on obJectlve tests and not so good ones on written materlal.

My algebra teacher stmply could not provtde the rtght form of help for me. I soon sat glassy-cyed ln class. When I went ln for help, he would explatn thtngs the very same way he had explatned them In class. Hls help was mtsguided and flew over my head.

In comparlson, my btologr and physiology teachers have genulnely helped me. IvIy blologr teacher took ttme to find a dtfierent way to e4platn cuc€pts that I dtdn't grasp. But, most of all, my btologr teacher belleved ln me, That was the greatest help of all.

My physiologr slass ls composed ofJunlors and senlors. I am the only sophomore. My teacher ls exclted about teaching us. She's happy, outgotng, and always rcry wtlltng to help. The thtng that stands out in my mtnd the most ls how happy shewas the day that

I got the hlghest grade on a test. She ts always so proud

ofher

students, thereby lnsdllfurg a srense ofself-respect and pride in them that I'm sure wlll not be ephemeral.

I'rc learned a lot ln my turc years of school. In addition to gafdng book knowledge, IVe algo leamed a lot about human natur€ - Me lessons.

Working

It

Out With Adults

F}om dfiulo. Bo.seman oJ Permsgtvanln I'\rc had a lot of help from my mother wtth stnglng. I sing ln shows, and she wlll have me stng for her and then crltlque it, and polnt out rrgr strengths and weahresses and help me with my dlcflon. It's helpful to have someone you can do that wlth. There are times when she's too helpful, though. I can thlnk of one example. I was practtctng a song for an audldon, and my mother asked me to stng lt for her so she could help me. I did, and she kept on talhng about speclffc words and maldng me do them over agaln, but I rvasn't ready to hear about llttle things yet. I needed an

overall crlttque at that point, I got really upset and ran upstairs and rpouldn't let her help me.

Afer that lncldent I was able to explaln to her that I needed her to tell me certaln tlrtngs but I didn't need her to tell me werythtng, I needed to do some of it myself through trial and error. I learned from thls that lfan adult asks you tfyou want their help, you can say no, or you cam say yes, and you can also go on to say, "But I don't wantyou to do thls or that,' or'The last tlme you helped me I didn't llke lt, so can we try it a different wa5/?'You have to try to work lt out diplomatically, which is hard but it can be done. That's what I trSr to do, although it doesn't

always work.

Sometimes it's hard to explain what lidnd of help you need, though, especlally wtth subJects you have trouble wlth. Somedmes ln math I'U try to explaln what my problem was, and I don't know the subJect well enough to ar$culate tt. I thtnk tn that sltuadon the adult should stop you and say they don't understand, or try to put tt tnto words and ask you tf that's what you mean. If it's not what you mezrn, you have a chance to try to say it again.

If you're worklng on somethlng and there's something you're dotng wrong, an adult can try to very gently potnt out to you that you're maklng a mlstake. I don't think hearlng, 'You're wonderful' all the ttme ls very helpful elther. It's more helpful if they tell you what you can work on. That gfves you something to build on.

At least, that's true with me and stnging because singing is somethtng I w<rrrtto work on. But f ifs something I don't want to work on, it's harder.

IVfy mother likes to learn thlngs by looking at them. She likes to draw thlngs, but I need to hear lt rather than see lt, When she was teachlng me to borrow and carry, she kept wrldng lt down and I dtdn't understand tt at all. I sald, 'Just tell me about if and when she did that, tt took me flve minutes to get tt. That was so helpful.

I take ballet, and there have been times when I have gone to my ballet teacher tf IVe been havtng a lot of trouble wlth a step, and asked her what to do. She'll explaln lt to me, and that's very helpful. But sometlrnes she'll force the e:glanadon on me, and that's not helpful. Adults should walt for young people to ask them for help. I suppose there are probably some sltuatlons where the adult feels they should tudtiate somethlng and lt does work out, and that's great, but usually lt doesn't work out.

I know thls from betng wlth little chlldren. If you go to a young chtld and try to start helptng them, somedmes it'il work but mostly they're Just not lnterested. But lf they come to you and ask you, you can go hto depth and they'll llsten. My httle brother asked my mother about bones, He sald, 'What are these hard thlngs ln my hand?' and she explatned lt to htm. We went to the llbrary and got books about bones and he loved them, but lf he hadn't been lnterested I don't thlnk lt would have worked.

Please tell us about gourerqrerlences wlth helpful and unhelptul helpl

Growlng Wthout Schoollng #80

23

The Adventure of Self-Education: Interview with Kendall Hailey ss: Astde from vour rn her book The Dq r Mame ant (*L4zo, Autodtd,act $e.gs + port.j, S#,"J:*"ff ?Tir5t reactlons?

Kendall Halley tclls the story of how she left hlgh school after eleventh Krr: I sflll remember grade and spent the ncrt several behglzandberngasked, ycar3 cducatlng herself by readlng'whatcollegearevou-golng llterature and hlstory, lnltead oi :"3;f"f$.t,H.f*" golng to college. We spoke wlth Kenhuirch into the.*pt tration: 'Actualg, I've dectded dall tO learn what made her declde tO path, t"ke thrs and to exprore some of ;'#,:"*'Jffi*;*,t::S the slmllarltles between her erperl!"";;."ith.rr",rJlrg"ments about academlc and enCe and the e4lerlenCe Of hOme#i,$fl?:3ff}t;""SJ',

echoorers

Susannah Shefier: How dld vou origtnally decide not to go to college?

Kenddl llallcy: I hate to Sve

my

eleventh grade English teacher too much credtt, but tt basically came down to how unhappy I was ln that class. Llterature was my liavorite subJect, and it was belng rulned for me on a datly basls. It was almost a desperate race for me to read the books on my own before they rvere read, dtssected, and subsequently - I felt - taken away from me ln class. As I read the books on my outn, I saw how much more I loved them that way, how much closer to them I felt. It opened my eyes to a whole new way

of dotreg thlngs. I thought that college would probably be more of the same, and I wondered why I couldn'tJust keep readtng

on my own

tnstead.

SS: Dtd you talk about thts with anyone who had been to college?

tH: I talked

about lt with two verv

biased people, my parâ&#x201A;Źnts, who loved [he tdea of havlng me at home and didn't think college uzas the glreatest thtng etther. But I

was also basing my feelings on my htgfr school friends and what they urere gotng through. I saw the pressure tn applying to c.olleges, and what that was dotng to their last years tn high school. tearning was Just being hurled out tJle window in favor of quesdons llke, 'Am I taking the right classes? How is my transcrlpt golng to look?' If that was the way you prepared for these lnstrtudons, it made me doubt the

lnstltutions.

SS: Yet you knew that you wanted to

spend those years in what ls tradttionally thought ofas an academlc way.

,back, f,B:

That's right. I really wanted to go In dme and live the wav the nineteenth crentury young ladtes dld. That was my tdeal, to settle down tn my own room wlth a good book, I was exctted by the ldea of plannfng a rea.dtng ltst for myself. I wanted to take on academla" but on mv own terms.

Grosdng

Wthout Schoolng

#8O

someot.-*ho would say, "I

think that's fantastic.'

The tdea that I would mlss the soclal Me of college was far and away people's biggest obJectton. I found tt comical that my educaflon was secondary. I would say, 'I'm readlng t}re ltia{'but people didn't care about that. They uanted to know, 'Are you dating;? Are you maldng frlends?' Now and then I felt lsolated, but you can sure feel lsolated ln school, too.

SSI:

You mentlon ln the book that

some people worrled you were ltving too

sheltered a llfe.

EII: That rvas certalnly a concern that soclety was ficrclng on me, so I did wonder about lt. There I vras, at home, supported by my parents In every way, and I wondered, 'Is this really real ltfe?'

But I found that the challenge of scheduling my own day, and all the self-exploratlon I was able to do, requlrcd more courage than leaving home did. It's a great blessing to be gven the opportunity to make your own ltG worthwhile, with that as your only oonoern, and I thtnk it builds muscles for dealing with life. I don't thlnk these years have held me back. As my friends neared the end of college I crould feel the panlc rlstng tn their letters about what the real world was going to hold, whereas I felt I'd been in the real world from the moment I left school.

SS: Over the years, dld your gut Geltng

about selfducaUon dwelop into more of a phtlosophy?

KII: Itdid, because my origtnal declslon was

just to take

a year

off

before going to college. I always forget thts now,

in my zeal, but ortglnally Just wanted to tr5r out the ldea and see what tt

I

was like. But the more time I spent away from

r

s\

school, and the more I heard about my

frlends'e:<perlences ln college, the more Ilrmly crnvlnced I became that thls was definftely the rtght thrng for me, and probably would have been the rtght thing for many of my frlends, too. So many people thlnk that college ls the place to llnd out what you want to do, but practically all my frtends who went lnto college not knowlng what they wanted to do still don't know.

SS: I can tmagfure people saying that readtng on your own ts all very well, but you mlss all the great dlscusslons that go on ln college, the sense of belng part of a communt$r of people.

KII: Yes, I heard that argument again and agatn. I dtdn't want to hurt people's feellngs, but ln fact I dtdn't mlss those kt:rds of dtscusslons at all. To me, group dlscusstons ln school were about who could best rephrase what the teacher had said about the book.

SS: What about the lmpulse to talk about a book you love with someone else who has also read tt?

EII: People thlnk you can't do that lf you don't go to school, but therc are ajeu: people who don't go to school who also readl It can be wonderful to dectde to read the same thfng udth another person and then talk about lt. But I thtnk ln a lot of cases Slreat books are being taken away from the ones they were written for regular people. Everyone buys the idea that yorr needa certain ldnd of analysis and dlscusslon to fully understand a book, but you don't.

SS: Another cridclsm rnight be that you couldn't have had any idea how to choose a reading list for yourself. How did you know where to begfn?

KII: There

ane so rnany

lists ofgreat

books out there, so you can always use those as checklists. But I really began by

24

WRITING STRANDS The hardestjob you have is teaching writing. Writing is seen as being so complicated that the critics of American schools maintain that teachers can't do it because they don't know how. WRITING STRANDS was written to help homeschooling parents do what the public school cannot do.

If you

are not a uained writing teacher, if yoru children are sick of grammar drills and workbooks, if you want them to leam to use their language effectively, you owe it to them to look at this complete language arts pro-

followlng my passlon, what I really vranted to read. Jesslca Mltford, the Engltsh Journallst was the one who tnsplred me.

She's where I got the urord 'autodtdacL' because that's how she would descrlbe herself. I started by readlng herbooks, and they led me lnto the world of her llterar5r farntly. Then Nancy Mttford nras frlends wtth Evelyn Waugh, so that led me to hirn, and for a whlle I uras readtng ln that pertd. If you start by readlng what you passlonate$ want to read, lt leads errcrywhere. I found myself readtng thfngs I wouldn't have thought I was lnterested ln.

98: A common crltlclsm of homeschooltng ts that tf you let Hds do Just what they rpant, that wlll never lead to rlgor, or thorougfrness. f,E: Yes, what ls that tn our character, that makes us thlnk that the thlngs we don't want to study are the thtngs that are good for us? I uras always challeng[ng

gram.

Eight levels of *riting were designed to leach specific skills in explanatory, creative, argumentative and report writing. Each 90day level has listed objectives, models for the student to

follow, prewriting experiences, and a day-by-day breakdown of each assignment. They produce essays, reports or creative pieces.

READING STRANDS The other half of your children s language afls program teaches you, in one book, to help your children understand ( on their levels) what the fiction they read can mean to them. Your children need more than just reading experiences, more than just comprehension. lnterpretative techniques are explained in a dialogue format so you can see a parent/teacher leading a stude,lrt to understanding. A most complimade easy and tun to

:::1oto""rt

TAPES Dave Marks has taped introductions to the assignments in levels 3 and 4 as an effective and fun way !o start the exercises, A 45 minute workshop tape gives the research justi$ing this approach and discusses grammar and spelling drills and how !o help a "re-

luctant writer."

This program is guaranteed to please and satisfy you or your money will be refimded. lnquire:

National Writing Institute 7946 Wright Rd.

Niles,MI49120 (616)-684-s375

I

wondcred, "Is

thls really

real llfe?" But I found that the challcngc of schedullng my own day, and all the sclferploratlon I was able to do, requlrcd more couragc than leavlng home dld. ... I don't thlnt these years have held me beck. myself. I found that I learned hou to challenge myselfi, outside of school. In school I alurays felt that the key obJecdve was to flnd out howyou could do the least and make lt look ltke the most. No one ever ptcked the longest book for a book report.

We always plcked something tlmt was slim but that might look lmpresslve. You're considered a goody-goody ifyou try to do anything harder. School really teaches dlshonest5r. I don't thtnk I would harre

learned how to challenge or test myself if I

had stayed ln school.

SS: How does the ldea of starttng self-

educatlon much earller strlke you?

EII: Oh, I'm passionately fcr lt. I'm so Jealous of homeschmlers, My family had an ldeal envtronment for homeschooling, but we didn't know tt walr an option. My par€nts often took me out of school to tr:avel with them, and they certalnly dtdn't have any tngratned respect for the educational system, but weJust didn't knowwe could challenge tL SS:

Ifs tnsptrtng to know that lt's

nerrer too late to start self-educadon, though. Some people worry that if thetr children have spent several years tn

school, lfs too late for them to regain their curloslgr and self-dinectlon.

EII: I thtnk lf you've

gone through

school you appr€clate the freedom of selfeducation all the more.

the ktds have to get school out of their system, so to speak. They have to unleam some of the attltudes thev learned in school. Was that trre of5iou, too?

ffi: I was very motlvated to work hard, because I wanted to show people that I could use those fouryearsjust as well as people in college. But one thing I did have to get over - and I feel I haven't completely rec.overed from ttrts yet - was the feeling of betng so separated from great books in school. So many thlngs were made out to be beyond our grasp, and so ln necd of pulling apart before ure could even begln to understand them. It really created a barrler.

SS: What have you been dolng slnce

your book came out? Clearly you haven't yet felt the need to go to c.ollege.

KI* I don't rule lt out, but no, the

for people to value the ktnd of education I chose, lf they uranted tt.

I've bastcally kept up with the craft that I began apprendcing ln during the years that are in the book, IVe been wrldng, and I've Just finished a novel.

That's what I see myself doing, for now. I'm luclry because I have a lidnd of built-in workshop at home. Both my parents are wrlters, and we've been having daily edittng sessions about thts novel. If I didn't have them I would deflnitely seek that out lnother places - and I do that even now,

Sl8: That's an tmportant point, because I thtnk some people thtnk that being selfdtrected means worlidng alone, not lnvolvlng other people in what you do.

f,E: When you're not provtded with professors, tfs wonderful to seek outyour own mentors, IInd people who have done the thlngs you want to do. I crave lnsPiratlon, and have a lot of tdols. All that interactlon wlth other people is so valuable, SS: Wouldn't lt be great if college counselors, tn htCh school, asked kids ruhetfter they wanted to go to college, lnstead ofJust whlch one they wanted to go to? And asked that of weryone, notJust the klds who don't have a good chance of getttng lnto college ln the llrst place?

Krrs $s many of the klds I went to school wtth dtdn't really want to go to college, but thelr parents wanted them to, or they dldn't know what else to do. So I thtnk tt would be wonderful lf counselors would ralse those quesdons. It would encoura€le people to take their llves into thelr ovm hands as early as posstble whtch ts what I thlnk ls so wonderful about

homeschoollng.

Other books ln our catalog on the same

toplc:

dlega

Coueers

Wttlout

(# f z166;

$7.95 + post.)

by Jo Ann Russo

Tfe Questtotts bllAe, by Herbert Kohl (#

SS: Parents who take thelr older chlldren out of school often observe that

need

crrtatnly hasn't come up yet. The point I was really trytng to make in the book was

lSlO: $ 17.95 +post.)

latters Hotw, by Brltt Barker (#43 l, $5.5O + post.)

Growlng Wlthout Schoollng #80

25

History Without Textbooks Renaissance Festival Sparked fnterest Ftom Shari Hervg oJ Mbtresoto: Mnneapolls metropolitan area, had no frlends as of yet, and lt uras a beaudful summer day (wtrich are fewup here, so one needs to We were newcomers to the

capltallze on them). The Flenalssance Festtrral was ln town and out of a lack of

anythtngbetter to do, wewent. My husband Tlm and I expected to have a gneat time and we ffgured that the chlldren, T.J. (5) and Rebekah (2), would enJoybelng outside. To our anuuement, not only dtd they both enJoy betng outslde, but we could not have anticipated the lnterest ln trlstory that day would ldndle fn TJ. As we wandered around the festlval, he was full of questions about everythtng from what it must have been hke to llve wlthout electricitv to the dnlest detatls about the art of falco-nry.

The hfgh[ght for T.J., not so surprtslngly, was theJoust.

The next day, as he woke up with even more questions, we headed for the library, bookstore, and a quality toy store. A few hours laterwe came home armed wtth loads of books (Macaulay's Castle,

Ilhntuir;tlorts by .Jonathan Hunt Altkl's Medletnl Feast and Usborne Publlshlng's Castles and KnJghts wer€ anrong hls favorttes), two coloring books by Dover Publishlng, a descripflve poster ofa castle, and a small Playmobil set of kntghts [.J. decided to spend his long-saved alloryancc for thls last ttem). The poster was hung and T.J. would frequently stop to study tt. He did not seem to tire of colorlng a vartety of plctures ofkntghts and castles, and often a particular picture would lead to an tedepth discussion.

He also began to sketch varlous castle plans on hls own. Because he could not get a castle deslgned Just the way he wanted, he

enlisted hls dad's help and together they made up a set of plans from whlch thcy plan to butld a small model of a castle. In addidon to gatnlng a sense of what a castle was and howltwas butlt, T.J. developed an appreclatlon for the usefulness of mathemadcs as they measured walls, etc. Slnce then, T.J. can be found nranderlng about wlth a measurtng tape or mler, 'practiclng' rneasurlng.

T.J. also sketched a vartety of Coatsof-Arms, from which I asked hlm to choose so we could make one large enough for a slrteld wtth wtrich he could play. He dectded ar5r ofhts sketches, howerrer, and "galnstlnstead to make a repllca of the chose shteld urom by the hero ln Joe Lasker's book ?oumament of Krtlghts. Wtrile he enJoys playtng wlth the shleld, he more often urcars the fabulous knlght costume our nelghbor made for hlm to wear on Halloween (at hls request). Aborre all, he spends a lot of tlme playing wtth trts Playmobll set ofkntghts and horses, and he goes to great lengths to dtle the llgures appmprtately and have them act accordtngly (squlres seMngl the kntghts, etc.).

I've notlced that he someflmes sllps tnto an Old English dlalect when he plays,

Groq'tng Without Schooltng #8O

which he must have plcked up from the actors at the Renalssanc.e Festlrral.

At 5, urcrds llke quintaln, Joust, alchemlsL and Normans seem to have become part of trts permanent vocabular5l.

I almost laug;h out loud wtth Joy when I

think of how he has learned all ttrts

through hls own self-dtrected enthusl,asm, whereas I palnstaldngly leamed the same thfngs by betng borcd by textbooks and lllmstrtps and then belng tested on the facts when I uras about ten vears older than he ls now.

Reading Biographies and

Historical Fiction hom

Pant trirssettl oJ Mossachusetts,'

Hlstory has always been of spec-lal lnter€st to me. One thtng that bothered me about school history was how borlng lt was. The people weren't real, George Washlngton was not a man who crled or feared or Glt pa|n. 'Just the facts, ma'am."

It was totally dead and unlnspiring.

At home we have done a lot of study of tristory through the readtng of btographies and hlstortcal ffcdon. Matt (lO), Jonty (9), Dan (8), and David (fl getexctted about what ls gotng to happen to Harrlet T\rbman or whoever.'Read the next chapter, pleasel' th.y cry. They can think about what the Holocaust or the underground railroad means to their ltues. Would they be brave enough to do such a thfurg - to save another? They become tnspired by some people's lives and angry at other people's. I love to see the emoflon because therr are thinldng, feeltng, sortlng things out, and maybe prepartng for acdon someday.

basls. Desplte the focus on adventure and the good times ln these books, it doesn't take much readtng between the ltnes to asccrtaln the realltles of Me. Illness, inJury, dlsease, hunger, and death are not foretgp to the characters we have read about.

Serteral years ago, when Fleuben was almost 3 and Franccs was 4 l,/2, we began readhg the l.aura Ingalls Wlder series.

Most nights for close to a year the children were enthralled as my husband Jelfrry read about the adventures ofthe Ingalls

famtly.

I've ahrays enJoyed htstory and felt that learntng about the subJect need not be the dry, dull rnemorlzatlon of dates, places, n.unes, and battles that'textbook history' ls full of. Secure tn the knowledge that other homeschool families wene successfully learnfng hlstory without following the textbook method, I began the search for other hlstorlcal novels. I found useful lists tn books wtrlch contaftr reyiews of children's books, like Books CliWren Love by Eltzabeth Wlson and ??re Rerrd-Aloud Handfuk by Jrm Trelease.

After we read the Ingalls serles, I threw out my prevlous plan, whtch had been to begln our study of htstory with world history. The children wanted to know more about the'olden days' and the people who llved here before us.

We've found nurnerous ffcflonal books whlch cover Amerlcan hlstory from the landtng of the Ptlgrtms to the early l9OO's.

Thus far IVe chosen to read books that deal wtth the llves of fafrly ordfnary people. I

have lntenUonally stayed away from

Focusing on

Ordinary People Susan Trelurakb'Ju2,

from realtty. For those who think that trtstortcal flcdon ln and of itself ls a ftght from realtty, I would strongly dlsagree. The Me of the peoplewho came to this country before us was ruggd and harsh on a daily

(I)

wrltes In

response to Michaeb Maurcfs letter In GWS *78, 'RehrctatX to Shtdg History':

Llke Michaele's son Joel, I find certain aspects of history painful and prefer that my children are tntroduced to the horrors of htstory vla my route versus that of the more tradttlonal history text. In the oourse of our readlng we have touched on some of the abominable acts which one group ofpeople has perpetrated upon another. We have enc,ountered rellglous, raclal, soclal, and class hatred; nElssacr€s, slavery, and nrars, as we have read through

numerous htstorlcal flctlon books wrltten for ctrlldren. In some lnstanc€s the children have been the ones to lnstigate a discusslon, and other tlmes, especlally when the preJudices ane more veiled (i.e. referrlng to Indians as heathens or savages) I have brought the toptc forth for eramination. The advantage of discusslng the

horrors of hlstory ln this manner ts that the length and depth ofthe dlscusslon are more within the realm of the chlldren's and my control, and because I am careful about the books we choose to read I am not havtng to adopt the appearance of fleeing

storles that focus on wars or well-knovrn Amerlcan heroes. It has been my lntention to llrst gfve the chtldren a feel for what life was llke for tlre early settlers and Native Amerlcans. It ls also easler for them to relate to these people, as most of the maln chan:acters ln these books are chlldren llke themselves.

Horvever, desplte our focus on the llves ofordlnary people, references to key people and errents ln Amertcan hlstory have prompted dlscusslons about these people and events. In some cases these discussions have led us to a search for more readings on a pardcular toplc. The chlldren have taken a parttcular tnterest tn the ltves of the people who tnhabtted thts cruntry prlor to the arrtrral of the settler. We have read several good books (flction and nonflcflon) about Amerlcan Indians and are trytng to locate others.

Learnfng about the hlstory of our c$untry tn thts rvay has been interesfing and excltlng for all ofus. Just recently as we drove across lowa, Missourl, Kansas, Colorado and home again via Nebraska, we envlsioned the westward travel of all the little chlldren, flcdonal and nonflcdonal, and were awed by the dlstance and the difftcult terrain. It was movlng beyond words to stand by the Platte River and envlslon the wagons, the people, and the

26 anlrnals as they moved westward full of hopes and dreams along the Oregon Trall, and even more inspirlng to stand ln the mountalns ln Colorado and tmaglne what it must have felt like to be seelng those mountains for the llrst time and knowing they must be traversed by wagon.

We have a friend who teaches American Hlstory at a nearby unlversl$r. He uses movements, not wars or well-known heroes, as the foundaUon of trls ceurse.

This is the phtlosophy that I adhere to.

F.iglrt now, as I have described, our focus ls on the westward movement in American history. What made these people tick?

What was thelr life like? How dtd thetr movement and subsequent settlements allect the people, the animals, and the plants that had inhabited the land prior to thelr arrival? These are some of the questlons we try to answer as we read.

From the Community F)om Jeanne Ferranir-Amras oJ Hawatl: We leam about local htstory through

the communlty and from taktng trlps. Our ctrlldren wlll usually become lnterested tn a place after vtstting lt, and then we study local htstory. When I say study I mean we all talk about where weVe been, the chlldren ask questions and we ask them quesdons. When we go to the beach or on a

hlke we talk about what the Hawattans used for shelter, pointlng out dllferent trees and plants, and what fish they ate, whlch leads to science, talking about wtrlch llsh live ln streams and rlvers and whlch ltve ln the ocean.

We've also become lnterested ln h'tstory because of our lnterest tn reltgton, which has spured our lnterest ln art, too.

Movles often spark our lnterest ln a pardcular pertod in hlstory, as dtd Dorrces wllhWdrses recentlv. We became fascinated with the ltveiof the Indlans, and the slmllarides and differenccs between them and the Hawallans, whlch led to talk about the Esklmos.

From Acting, Traveling, Talking to People I}om KathA Hezal

MN):

Even before we started offlctally learntng at home our family leamed hlstory by dotng. When the glrls were young, Bob worked ln an alternative htgh school pnrgram that had a School on Wheels segment during the sumner. Once a week for five weeks his class toured Mtn-

nesota's hlstorlcal sights. The gtrls and I followed the bus he drove. This went on for seven years. Many ofthe sights had reenactments, people ln period costumes, and hands-on activities. We had lots of fun and without really trying leamed lots about Minnesota and the people who live here, Every summerwe take a one- or twoweek trlp to a dlfferent part of the country, tallidng about the places we are passlng as well as those we visit. We often find free or inexpensive tours. Many places are open free one day aweek. We ask lots of ques-

tions and almost always llnd out things

from tour Erldes that we'd nerrer learn from hlstory books. We tr5r to focus on plac.es where we can get actlvely lnvolved,

and at the glrls'request sometimes buy books about the plac.es weVe been. Sometimes an interest leads us; for example, we vislted many of t}re U;tfl.e House sig;hts when the gfrls were lnterested tn that series. Other tlmes we make vacadon plans and then keep oureyes and ears open for

information about the places we'll be

visiting.

Eachyear since we started homeschooling the girls have taken part in a one- week Old Ttme School program sponsored by the local tristortcal soclety.

They dress tn pertod costurnes and teacher and stu-dents act as though they're llvlng ln the year l9OO. Toptcs they cover nange from nafive wild flowers, rocks, and local crops to lmmtgratton and cltlzenship, Everyone ls gfrcn a chancne to r€clte at the end ofthe week. TheyVe had great fun playtng old-ttme games, uslng a pump organ, singlng, and meeting people like wood carvers and poets. There are no grades, but the teacher does wrlte positive comments tn thetr log books at the end of the session. The amount of informafion squeezed lnto that week and the amount of knowledge the gfrls retain ls unbelievable.

Katrina graduated two years ago but last yearvolunteered as a teacher's aide. A slmilar school using World War II as the theme ls also olfered.

Another great souroe of lnformatlon was our good friend and netghbor, Emil, who died last October. His family actually homesteaded with wagons and oxen ln South Dakota, and later moved by rail to Canada. He told many colorful stories that made the last century c-ome to life for us.

When we've been able to coax them tnto lt, grandparents and great-grandparents have told us a lot about their experlenc€s, too.

In our learning, one thing leads to another all the dme. For example, for a number of years Katrina's great interest was reading htstorlcal novels. I thfnk learning historical facts ln the context of an lnterestlng story makes them easier to remember. At some point she became interested ln the underground rallroad, which led her to invesdgate the roots of slavery. That led to books on toplcs ranglng from apa.rtheld to Httler to the Japanese peoples' lncarceratlon ln the Untted States durtng World War II. Next, she became lnterested ln Natlve Amerlcan cultures. I was nerrer Involved ln chooslng books for her. She would come home wlth twenty library books. Those that lnterested her, she read. Those that dldn'twere returned. I was only vaguely aware of what she was readlng.

On the other hand, she dtdn't and we still don't learn ln a vacuum. Any article in the paper, an ltem ln the news, the cover of a book, might lead us into dlscussions about very dlverse toplcs ln which we share our knowledge with each other. Occasionally, we'll read a book together. t(atrtna walt some[mes concerned that she wasn't learning as much as her schooled frtends. When she started attending the public hlgh school for some classes, she commented that she now realtzes she probably knows more facts than most klds her age, and has a much better feel for the dlfferent perlods of

history.

Vistting wlth foreign exchange students ftrtgh schools often look for

€lroups for the exchange students to visit) has been one way to hear of the history of

other countries. Hearing a Japanese

student talk about Hiroshima while malCng an orlgami dove, listenlng to a student from Honduras describe how her

brother was killed in the marketplace, hearing a Dutch student describe the dikes of Holland brings history home.

The gtrls took part in the Peace Child chorus oneyear. Halfthe actorswere from the Soviet Union and that led to lots of discussion and readlng about that part of the world.

Visits to museums where we watch dlnosaurs belng reconstructed, watch a slrdt on Esapuan mummies, stand in a real spacecraft, pound corn tnto grain, view the artifacts of ancient clvilizations and so on also bring hlstory to life. Reading and watching slidts about Biblical wents brings up dlscusslon about historical events as well as about the role of religion in world

affalrs.

The glrls partlclpate in a statewide non-c.ompetlttve geography fair that has been the impetus for stud5ring many regions of the world. In the process of leaming about world hunger, Minnesota agriculture, rain forests, and the worldwlde spread ofthe honey bee, weVe picked up a lot of lnformation about the history of reg[ons of the world we wouldn't normally encounter.

Public Televislon productions often place us smack in the middle of history. We don't cnncentrate on learnlng bits of

lnformadon; rather, we enJoy ourselves.

The lnformatlon ls gathered lncidentally.

We've learned about Panama, Taire, Jamaica, Ctrina, Japan, and many European countrles through Ilrst-hand

accounts of frlends who have lived in these

countries.

A chancc encounter with a hot air balloon launch led Maryrose into a study of the history of hot air ballooning and of the scienilfic discovery of molecules. She wentually dld a sclence fair project, built a mlnl hot alr balloon, and dweloped a 4-H photo exhtbtt on hot air ballooning.

On occaslon we've used hlstory texts as resources, but the hlstory we encounter all around us ls much more invlting.

Other Interests Lead to History More Jrom Kdst{n Williams

(MD

:

I can thlnk of two dmes that I became lnterested ln history through an interest in somethlng else. The llrst was when I was a high school student, ln the'6Os. I became very lnterested tn the Cuban revolution, which hadJust happened. I started reading everything I could llnd about the revoluflon and then began to want to knowwhat had happened before that, and I began to go backwards ln time to lind out. Consequently, I know quite abit about Cuban history.

When I was a c,ollege freshman, I read

Sigrld Undsefs book, Kristin Lansrensdat' ter, mainly because my mother named me after the herolne. Over theyears I reread the book several times. When I had four

Growing Wtthout Schooling #80

27 children, I read on abookJacket that Sigyid Undset wrote this masterplece while raising slx chlldren. I wanted to know how, when I could hardly take time out to read a book wlth four. I read all of her works I could flnd. I read other Norwegian wrlters.

I took a correspondence course ln Norwegian. I began to write places that I thought would have informadon about her.

Through dotng this, I met someone who also had an lnterest tn Sigrtd Undset, and we began to correspond. Through thts correspondence I ended up getttng a scholar:shtp to spend seven weeks ln

Norway at the Unlverstty of Oslo Summer School, and also to do some traveltng around In Norway. My oldest daughter,

then I l, accompanled me. I leamed a lot about Norwegfan history, both by reading

all those novels and by being in Norway

and gotng to folk museums and many of the places that were mentioned ln the books. We even vlslted Sigrid Undset's home and talked with her daughter-inlaw about her Me and how it allected her work'

Watching Children Learn continued from page

14

Dancer, continued ballet. I'm l3 and have taken dance for slx years. I'm audittoning for several summer dance programs, but I don't thlnk I have the prospect of staylng a full year with any of them, thank goodness.

The reason I say thank goodness ls

that I would not llke gotng to school.

Homeschool gfves me a lot of freedom, and I'd miss that. When I llnish my schoolwork, I can dance, read, or do any number of things at home. Since I am serious about ballet, I might go to a ballet school fulltlme at some point in the future. But for now, I'm happy with the way thlngs are.

I have a real advantage over most of the other girls at the studio where I dance, especially during performance season. I belong to a student company called The Oakland FesUval Ballet Company, in Rochester, Michigan. When we're practicing for ?tre Nutcracker, I dance every day fior up to slx hours a day, and that can be very strenuous, especially lfyou have to prepare for exams, or do a lot of homework, too. Slnce I'm homeschooled, lfs much easler, because I can wake up later and still get as much accomplished as I feel I need to. When I'm perforrntng, I'll get home at rnidnight or even later, and having to get up by 7:OO to go to school would be really hard.

The best thing about leaming at home ls that I can work at my own pace. I love to spend as much time as I vrant reading about e\rery aspect of ballet, as well as being able to dance an extra hour or so a day. Gotng to school would really change the way I live, and I love the way I live.

Reading and Writing

Without Being Taught Marg

Hd.

(MD) wdtes:

Recently, my daughter Gtnny (lO) rec.eived honorable mention in a storv mntest for Cdcket nT gazlne, the sarire

weelg her older brother Sam, who entered school last fall for the first dme at age 12, was selected as the only serrenth grade reprcsentatlve for a school-wide newsletter. Neither of these kids uras aner tanghtto read or write.

I have always believed that ldds could learn to read without being subJected to endless phonlcs drllls or workbook pages.

From the ffrst, I could see that the approach we were using was successfu l. We read to the hds, made phonlcs information available to them (mafnly ln the form

Growlng Without Schooling #8O

of games or televtston shows like Sesanre Stree0, and shonred them by example how lrnportant readlng was to the adults around them. Wtth very rnlnlrul lnstructlon from anyone, the trvo oldest have passed ser.eral standardlzed tests ln the 9oth perc.entlle ranges. More lmportant, they read voraclously, everJrthtng from Babgsllter's Club books to adult classlcs like Oliuer ft.r.rist Our thirrd chtld, who came along at a time when I was too busy to lnterfere, taught himself to read wtth absolutely no help from me at all, and ls now busy trylng to help hts younger sister

learn.

Despite these successes, I remained concemed about the development of wrtdng sldlls. I really beliwed that the same approach would work ln this area, but after endless walttng I had begun to have second thoughts. This past year, things have sudden$ come together. The boy who had so much dilficulty putting together two coherent written sentences at age 8 is now wrifing newsletter ardcles, plays, and storles. When I asked his English teacher if he was behlnd tn any way in grammar. spelling, and wridng skills, the teacher looked surprised and said, "Why, nol Why do you ask?'When I told him a mlnute later that Sam had decided to come back home at Christmas, after only three months of school, the teacher was genuinely distressed, and complained, 'I won't be able to have arry more class dlscusslonsl' A lot of educators put a g;reat deal of emphasis on the teachlng of so-called reading sldlls. Slnce we never worked on

thtngs ltke 'ffnding the maln ldea' or 'locating information' (except when we really needed to ffnd tnformation), I was also pleased when Sam's test scores

arrtved in the mail the other day and he had aced yet another standardized test ln these speciffc areas. I don't really put a lot of stock in these types of test results anyway, but, as my husband says, 'It does gtve credibility to what we're dolng.'

Spelling Finally Clicks More Jrom Kathy

blezal

(MN):

Katrina (now 16) was lO when she left the publtc school system. She was an excellent reader and ln the school's gifted program, but she hated to wrlte and couldn't spell words like 'went,' 'week," and 'very,'In school she always got lOO06 on spelllng tests because she could memorlze the words for the test, but bv the next

day she had forgotten the correct spellings.

Oncc home where she had the opdon of dolng what she wanted to do, she read constantly, baked, became very lnterested ln geologr, art, and Native American cultures, but she wrote nothing, not even lists.

I assumed that the maln reason she didn't write was that she couldn't spell, and the teacher ln me declded that maybe she needed to learn some basic words to give her the push she needed to startwriting. So every once ln a wtrile I lnsisted that she "do' spelling. She protested vehemently, coooperated reluctantly, and usually it got to be such a hassle that I'd give up after a fewweeks. We dtd nranage to get through hundreds of words that year.

The next year {stxth gr:ade) she still couldn't spell and sfill had no interest ln writing. You'd think by now I would have known better, but I was worrled. I thought

that someday shewould need to be able to write, and she'd be angry at me for not helping her learn. My worrles eased a little when I typed as she dlctated the results of a sclencâ&#x201A;Ź fair proJect she d worked on. She had pages ofdata, from hypotheses to conclusions, ln her head in a fairly organized way. That year I lnsisted less and less often that she do spelllng. Through her seventh and etghth grade years she contlnued her other interests, learned sign language, made a laser hologr:am, generally dabbled ln and out of many things, and read constantly. We stopped doing spelling though I contlnued to be concerned. Although she dlctated two more papers - one on honey that took second place tn a state compedtion, and another on holography - the tlmes when she actually took pen ln hand and wrote were few and far betwecn.

The total amount of writing she did in four years, tncluding grocâ&#x201A;Źry lists, etc., wouldn't have filled half a notebook. She still couldn't spell stmple words. During the summer between etghth and ninth grades she wrote a letter home that had spelling errors ln almost errery other word.

At that potnt I read an article that compared the abtltty to spell to the ability to play a mustcal lnsbument. Pracdce might help, but some people areJust more talented than others. I reJoic.ed that clmputers had spell check programs and ngured Katrlnawould some day end up paying people to write down her thoughts as she dlctated.

She had taken band and two other non-wrldng classes at the local public school tn eighth grade. But two of her choices tn part-ttrne ntnth g5ade, social studles and physlcs, would dellnttely

%3

wrtflng, tncluding research papers and essay tests. I was very appr€henslve. I could see her doing mtserab$ because the teacher couldn't declpher her spelltng. I'm stlll amazed at what happened. She did the requlred papers on the computer (she'd taught herself to type) usfng qutckspell and me to check spellrng. It helped that the teachers were very specl-Ilc, telltng the students e)<actly the format thcy wanted used, And the essay tests and ln-class papers? She had no problem wrtilng clnclse, comprehensive ansurers. The words she had trouble spelllng were ones llke'went'and tery.' She eastly and conslstentf recelved top grades. How could tt be that tn July a letter home was full of errors, but ln October she could spell correctly, erren sclenttffc terms she'd nerrer used before? All I know ts that the tlme was rtght, the desae to be successful was there, and she had confidence in herself. Somethlng cllcked. Katrina has no other explanatlons. Wrfthg ls sUU not sornethtng she does datly, but her 4-H records have gone on to state competldon, she wrltes poetry for her own enJo5rment and cpntlnues to galn conlldence ln her writing ability. By the way, she still has trouble wtth those easy words she leamed for spelltng tests back in elementar5r school. lrrvobve

of skltng ln Colorado. It was our second day of drtvlng, We d alrready been stttlng for four hours. My body ached and Oklahoma and home were stlll another four

mlnute and ts atmlng to get hls fourthleyel ham llcense...

hours away.

Courler, 7/2a/9O:

Melang Cueva (ON tarltes:

Ourcar sped along the hfghw'ay, headlng home from a fun but exhausting week

NSTEIN'S PLAYROOM Educational Software Math, Science, Language Arts, Science & Nature books, kits, and.robotlcs Self running demos availablo from: Broderbund, Compu Teach, MindPlaY, PC Globe, Pelican, Ventura, and morel

5585 Broadway. West Linn. Or. 97068 (50

?irffi-#ffiffi /UW( |I.\d/%*

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Both the material presented on video and that found in the 1lO-pase zuidebook have been written and researched by education lnd music professionals. The standardE ofthe Day Schml and the reputation ofnearlySSyears inhome instruction are your guarantee of academic excellence. Write or call for free infomation.

Cdwdsch@t, oept. GWSMLTusy

Rd., Balimore, M021210 (301 )24s6&10

tle

Grants Pass (OR/ Daily

The sllence was suddenly broken.

'Thls ls a btll,' proclatmed Kate, our 7-

There ts a 65-year dilference ln their

year-old daug;hter, as she handed thls medculously rolled up plece of paper, neatly tted wlth a ptece of strlng, to Chrtstopher, 8. 'You are the House ofCongress.'

Carefully Chrlstopher unwrapped thts precious document. There, wrltten in brown marker, was the lnsptradon of a weary traveler: "Planes should cpst less so you can always rtde them.'

Chrtstopher took hls polftfcal responslbtllt5r ln strlde, exerclslng hlg power to edtt. 'Planes should cpst less for poor people but cost the same for the rlch and the people that are dotng OK.' Thls was then passed to the Senate, my husband and me sltdng tn the front seat. Debate ensued about the ramlllcatlons of passlng such a btll. How do we determlne who ls poor? Is tt falr that the rtch should pay for the poor? \Vould the alrli:nes go out of bustness? Would more people fly lf it cost less? What impact would ttrts have on the auto tndust4/? The blll errentually dted on the table, or should

I say ln the car.

Learning through Playing

And.fiom

The game had taken hold. The bills were f\dng now. Next on the agenda: 'I want the tax lower so I can buy a toy,' a btll authored by KaUe. Thts passed through the approprlate chaln of c,ommand and emergd wlth the followlng revlslons: 'Chtldren under the age of 12 wtll be tax exempt when purchastng toys which cost less than $lOO.' We waited wtth balted breath as Kafle, now presldent, pondercd these revlslons.

At last lt was stgned and approved.

We were ln s€sston for the next two hours until my husband and I demanded that we adJoum. I could not have planned a more comprehensive, Informafive session on Amerlcan government in action. The ac$vity can only be traced to a thlrtyminute School House Rock vldeo on history, whlch I checked out of the library a month ago. Through song thls vtdeo lntroduced Amerlcan governnrcnt. Stnce that tlme I don't remember any real dlscussion of the subJect, so you can lma€;lne my surprlse when thls wonderful actMty surfaced from the back seat.

After homeschooltng for three years, I am stlll continually annazed at the spontaneous creadvt$r of children. Meantngful, poslflve learntng occurs at the oddest dmes and in the strangest places.

TVo lVho Love Ham Radio We'

r*enfly

rn

sec.n two

that creates a generaHon gaP

wlder than the Grand Canyon. But a mutual love alfalr wlth amateur radios has butlt a brtdge that spans the years between l4-year-old Alex Joycr and 79-year-old

Emil Gtsel.

Glsel and Joycc are the oldest and youngest members of the Southern Oregon Amateur Radlo Club, a band of IOO amateur radlo operators, or hams, who gpther at 7:3O pm ln Grants Pass High School cafeterla on the thtrd T\resday of each month. ...At age 14, Uoycel has achieved skills that have allourcd htm to progress at rapid speed from novlce to technlcal to advanced class, a deslg5ratlon generally reserved for hams seireral years hls senlor.

Ltke any novice ham, Joyc-e had to learn radlo theory ('a sort of lesson in physlcs,'he satd), rules and regulations of amateur radlo ("there is an etiquette among hams') and to transmit and translate the cltckety-clack of the Morse code.

His achlevements are no surPrise to tris mother, Jane Joyc-e, who said that her son likes to tlnker and remembers that at the tender age of 4 he liked to take thtngs apart and see what made them ttck. His mother satd the love allalr with the radio has replac.ed hls former hobbies: stamp collecdng and rock hounding.

TIE artlcle desn't menttan tlvt Alex

homeschools, but hls nother odds br a

postscr{pt to us: Alex has been homelearnlng all his life. He went to preschool for two days and sald, 'It's funner at home." He took a computer class at Ore community college when he was lO, electronic assembly at 13, and now, at 15, driver's ed and auto maintenance. He works Part-time at a fast food restaurant (he was employee of the month) and deslgns and runs lights and sound for the local little theater and summer musical producHons. Recently, a high school teacher asked htm to train some of her students ln theater lfghting. After teaching my two chlldren and several other homeleamers, the college drlver's ed teacher has dectded nerrer to send his grandchildren (who ltve with htm) to publtc school. He sees the calmness, clarity, and attentiveness of homelearning kids.

We'd ltke to hear from (or about) older homeschoolers who have

rew sPaPer stodes

lomesclders with a stnllar b0eresL Ftrst, a bdeJ nentlon

ages, a fact

abr:lut

In

Tlnre magazlne, lO / 22 / 90:

...Astde from a brlef sdnt ln Preschool, Bo lYoderl, 15, has never been ln a classroom. Whtle hts peers puzzle through the mysterles ofa new htgh school year, he

left home or are thinkxxg about ways to do that. Your stories will be interesttng and helpful to us and to GWS readers.

slts at home, qutetly explortng the arcana

of radto waves. He ls a ham nadio fanatlc, can take down Morse code at l3 rvords per

crowlng Wthout Schoollng #80

29

Resources

& Recommendations

Boys and Girls Clubs WendyWartes (!VA) sent us the calen-

dar of homeschool programs at her local Boys and GlrlsClub, and suggested that others mtght IInd Boys and Glrls Clubs helpful to homeschoolers. Tbe calendar Itsts proglrams ln muslc, French, Spantsh, hands-on history, dance, cooklng, and

theatre-lntensive summer.

You may wrlte or call Tom and Gretchen Splcrer, Rt I Box 15, AvocaWI 535O6; 60&532€365 or c/o Amerlcan Players Theatre, PO Box 819, Sprlng Green WI53588:6O8-58,A-74o1.

B.C. Town Welcomes

crafts. Wendy cornments:

Families

Ttrls homeschool program fs really terrlllc. It came about after a horrrschool-

OceanFalls BCVOT IPO) rllrdtes:

schmllng but was lntrtgued and qutckly offered more thanJust a Slm, The club ls a

Thanks to GWS, we have embarked on the farnlly adrrcnture of a llfettme. After respondteg to a small notlcr ln GWS #7O about a ghost tov,rn tn Brtttsh Columbla, we

er herc asked about rentlng the grm. The dtrector had never heard about home-

million-dollar, fully-patd-for butldtng. It

has a kttchen, dance room, art room, gfm, and learnlng center ln addiflon to the rnaln games (pool, table tennls) room. The homeschoolers help bratnstorm for class ldeas and tnstructors. The club has gatned 225 homeschoollng members (chtldren).

We've found the lnstructors wonderful, as these are people eager to share thelr passlons wlth chlldren. Some are parents, some club employees, and others were

found ln the communlty. Thfs year the club ls nomlnadng lts homeschool program for the exc=llence award glven by the Boys and Gtrls club associadon to outstanding programs tn t:dtvtdual clubs.

Iheatre Opportunity for Older Homeschoolers TomSpber (W0 sert us thls annoutlcement: I am House, Grounds, and Facllltles Manager at American Players Theatre, an eleven-year-old outdoor professlonal theatre presentlng classtcal works ln repertory. Our schedule this season wlll

lnclude Tatfidfe by Moltere, AWbter's ?ale and The e-omedg oJErrors by Shakespeare, and An htenry ol ttle Paple by lbsen.

I am looklng for four stalf people lnterested ln house managlement poslHons trrvolvlng ttcket-taldng, usherlng, concesslon sales, etc. The season nms fromJune 24 through October 6. Some fledbilfty posstble. $165/week. 16and older. You get to see a lot of llrst-rate theatre. Sprtng Green, the theatre's home, ls a srnall town on the Wisconsfur rlver, forty-flve mlnutes west of Madison.

My wlfe and I are parents of slx homeschooled ctrlldren. We and at least four of the homeschooltng families ln the area are posslblfifles for room and board. Many of the homeschooltng ktds ln the area have worked at APT and hane been ln many producflons. I Orfnk thts could be a great opportuntty for an older homeschooler.

You may also be tnterested ln the Summer Youth Educatlon Theatre Program whlch lnnolves the Young Players Theatre Company, wtrtch wlll be performlng A Mlds'.lururrrr Npfu's Drcdrn- A person could hold down a house managementJob and be ln the educatlon program at the same tlrne, wtrlch rvould amount to a

Growlng Wthout Schoollng #80

Mary Ann Hubbll (560 I'Iotnlnfn Dr,

sold our house, put our belongtngs lrl stonage, and packed four ldds, two dogs, and a parrot lnto ourVW bus and headed north. A week and elerrcn hours of ocean travel later we found ourselves ln Ocean

Falls.

Ocean Falls nras a pulp mlll town of 4OOO people untll l98O when the mill closed and the people moved away.

almost

They left behtnd a complete comrnunity of houses, apartments, schools, and a 35G rmm hotel. The govemment couldn't allord to malntaln the slte so they came ln and bulldozed and bumed most of the houslng. They aucdoned olfwhat rematned and left the area to return to nature. Weather ls hard on unheated structures ln the north, and tt has only taken a fewyears for the damage to show.

A few of us refuse to let the tourn dle.

We have reclalmed some of the houslng and more ls avatlable - all we need are selfmotlvated people to come help us. We are a communltv that bellerres that famtlv and espectalybur chtldren come ffrst. *e strlve to instlll te them responsibtltty and self-sufflciency. Electriclty ls here, water ls here, erren cable TV Is here lf that ts what ts lmportant to you. Houslng ls available to rent or to buy. Homeschooling ls posslble here, erren encourag€d. We enclurageyou to vlslt, vacaflon, and STAY ln Oc.ean Falls.

For more informatlon crontact us. If you are from the states (we came up from Caltfornla) and have questlons about enterlng Canada, I can share our erperlence wlth you.

Genealogy Packet

for Kids

We recehd tlv Jdowtttg anrlunae-

nl€ntt

The YOUNG F\f, LKS GENEALOGY PACKAGE was destg;ned to help chlldren

start their famtly trlstory research. It was successfulf tested at the fifth grade lwel.

The packet conslsts of ffve slmple sheets: l) a general overvlew of famtly research; 2) an lnstructlon sheet 3) a baslc glossary of genealoglcal terms; 4) a famtly group form; 5) a four generatlon ancestor chart. The cost of the package ts $1.5O (check or mong/ onder) and can be ordered from LEONARD DATAQUEST, 3lO E Seventh St, Staunton IL 62088. Illlnois resldents add

6.2596 sales tax.

Low-Cost Camping WatdaRczu(MN wdtes: I recently dlscovered that Massachusetts State Parks have a program called Host Famlb CamPtng. The lnformatlon sheet says, "Thts program allows an lndtvtdual or famtly to camP free of charge at pardctpattng campgrounds ln exchange for asststlng park staff wtth a variety of tasks, rangfurg from carpentty and cleanlng to vlsltor servlces and lnterpretive acflvldes. Host famllles are requirred to stay a mtntmum of two weeks and volunteer at least four hours per day. longer stays may be posslble ln certaln parks.

Host famllles may lnclude a ma:dmum of two adults and three children,' I thought thts mtght be a great opportuntty for homeschoolers - and perhaps slmllar programs are avallable or could be set up ln other states. Thls could enable travellng famllles to spend some time explorln! Massachusetts at minimal c.ost, wlth some 'educational work

experlence' thrown ln.

Famllles lnterested in the Massachusetts progra.m can contact: Massachusetts

Department of Envlronmental Management, Bureau of Fiecreation, IOO Cambridge St, Boston MAO22O2.

Additions to Directory Here are he additions and chanoes to the Directory that havo come in since ths last issus. Our complete 1991 Directory was publishod in GWS #78.

Our Direaory is not a list of all subscribers, but onfy of tfrose wtp ask a be listed, so that other GWS readers, or oher interestsd people, may get in toucfi witr trem. lf you would like to be included, please send the enlry brm or a 3x5 card (one family per card). Please lake care to include all the information last name, full address, and so on. Tell us if you would rafrer have yorr phone number and town listed instead of your mailing address (we don't have space to list boh). lf a Directory listing is lollowed by a (H), the family is willing b host GWS travolers who make advance ar€ngements in writing. lf a name in a GWS story is follotirsd by a state abbreviation in parentheses, hat person is in he Diroctory (check here and in GWS *78 and *79l.We are happy b foftvard mail to hose whose addr€sses are not in lho Directory. lf you want us to forward the letter wiilrout roading it, ma|k he oulside ot the envelope with writor's name/description and he issue number. lf you want us to read the lener and then foruard il, please endose anofier slamped envalope.

When you send us an address dtange for a subscription, please remind us if you are in the Directory, so wo can drange it h€re, too.

Please remember that we can't control how the Directory is used; if you receiw urnvanted mail as a result of being listed, lust toss il out.

Judy CA, North (zlpe 94000 & up) FITANIDES (Andreaz9, lhry/8it, Th€o/85) 1 9008 Ty'er Foote Rd, l,levada City 95959 -. Bob t Janet MENSCHEL (Chamber/80) PO Box 2369, Citrus Fleighls 9561 1 -. Gina & Brian PAISLEY (EliovS:},

-

30

-.

Emily/86) 18813 Park Tree Ln, Sonoma 95476 lihry & Todd PHOENIX (Sarah/8s) 224 Hudson St, R€dwood City 94062 CA, South (zlps to 94@0)

-

Nathaniel & Jane

ADAM (fvka/8o, LilytS4 1$72 Salt Wator Cir, Huntington Beach 92il8 Sunny DAUN & Philip SHOFNER (Brian/8s, Jordan/8g) 12034 lvhrshall St, Culwr City 90230 .- Carol DOOSE (Brian/88) 2098 Airedale Av, Ventura 93003 Nancy FRIEDLAND & Alan MOSES ([rarina/84, Ethan/87) 259 Safatoga Ct, Goleta Sll 17 Michael & Caroline GORDON (K€nny/87) 61&3 Coral Pink Ck, Woodland Hills 91367 (change) -. Halstein & lda STMLBERG,1lol Hill st, Santa Monica 90405

.-

-.

-.

- Peg FEUREY t Jim KITLE (lanr8s, ByrorVS9) 87 Knollwood Ln, New Canaan 068rO -.

CT

Lisa & Norman LoDOUX (Jilliad82, Megan/86, B€hany/88) 37 Powin Av, lvhosup 06354 (H)

Grcupe to edd to th. Dlrectory ol Organizalions that wa. publlshcd In GWS J78:

- Bob & Suzanne SERO (Jenniferfi8, Elizabeth/8o, Sharcrv86) 100 Haioler Ct, Lak€hufsl NJ

0873i1 -. Christine THOMPSON & Chades BAR RANCO (Christopher/83, E mi lyl86) 6 Wiscasset Av, Ewing 08618

Nt

-

Dan & Haniet SHULTIS (Micaelar/3, Sk

Lancelof4, Robertr/s) PELONCILLO PRlliARY, PO Box 91, Rodeo 88055 (H) NY Lanny & Virginia KENDRICK-BOi TSER (Eveo/83) O49 Nash Rd, Elbridgo 13060 (H) -. John & Donna KURTZ (Kirsten/8o, hladt&z, Gunher/&4, AbrarVST) RD 1 Box 61 , Andover I 18(b (H) Claudia Cain & Bill MATONEY (Geneva/86, Jackson/ 88) 205A W Maple Av, Monsey 10952

-

.-

llc TC & Nimsne SOLI (Krbra/81) Rt 1 Box 320, Stokes 278Iy' (H, -. Sam & Jane SPICER (Pete/ 82, MatV84, Allerv87, KirlvSg) 5801 Oak Blufl Ln,

-

- Robert & Ginger WELCH (Rian/76, e,p,rianS,ltlara/81, Tra\r€rygil) 3507 20lh St NE, DC

-

GA Greg & Vicki SCOTT (MicfiaoltT, David/ 80) 125 Copelend Rd, Apt 342, Atlanta 30342

-

(change)

OH Paula & Jeff LOl.lG (Katid82, Olivor/84, Quincy/86, AislinrvSg) 313 Tappan St, Columbus 4i1201 (H)

-

lL

- Keith & Elizabeth CAMERON (CheryUSO, PauU84) 804 Clover Ln, Mahomet 61 853 (H) - Jamie & Kermit THOMPSON (Searv84, Ryan/8s, Kyle/88, Kory/go) 5864 Old lvlorgantown lN

Rd, lvhrtinsville 461 5 1-9061 (change)

-

John & Anne HILL (Christine/82, Chailie/ 87,Karcnl|3/.l215O5 S Cloud View Dr, Oregon City

-

97045

PA Gary & Shari MILLSPAW (KedrorV83, Tegan/86, Sarn/8g) PO Box 443, Waterford 16441 (dlango) -. Timohy & Janet NORMILE (Beht1, lhggifls) RD #5 Box e6, Caraopolis 151 08

-

KS Tom PETERS & Barbara MICHENER (Arthur/84, Jos€phine/87) RR 1 Box 496, Peny 66073 (H)

W Man & Scout PROFT (Silag86, Uriell/88, EbervSS) RR I Box 707, E Dorset 05253 (H)

- Pam & Bryan DYER STEWART (Jesse/ 8'1, Gons/8i!, Hala/8s, Sanvgo) BFD 1 Box gt,

Juneng, Orioru9o)

-

]{E

Harrington il643 (H) -. Thomas & Nlary ECKSTEIN (MichaeU83, Marie/86, Peter/88) RR 2 Box 54, Sebago Lake 04075 Ken & Constance JONES (Andrew84, Alan/8s) 127 Leland St, Portland 04103

-.

James & Judifi Kadan WARNER

(Susannah/85) 11865 Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring 20904 (H) -'Carolyn & Rodney ADAMS (Elizabeth/89) 4 While St, Arlington 02174lH,

-

*2U

John Oren & Joyce LACKEY (Jasorv82, '121 Alder Dr, Sedro Woolley

Wl Tom & Gretchen SPICER (Jacobl7O, S€thfrc, Jsssicaz4, lsaac//S, Esalr/8l, liloriah/87) Rt 1 Box 15, Avoca 53506 (H) ". Phillip & Janice ZINDEL (Sarah/87) 85 S Sumac Dr, Janesville &3545

-

Alt.

-.

lll Kathy & John DONAHUE (Eric/82, Katie/ 8tt) LEARNING TREE RESOURCE CENTER, Box 8oB S Superior Rd RR 1, Adantic Mine a9905 Francina & Walter KNALL (Shannorv8s, G€oftr€y/87) 14380 Evergreen Rd, Detroit 1|8223 (H) -. James & Kristin Wf LLIAMS (Jibn o, f errc, Ayannat6, Tulani/ 78, Jameg82, Cabral/87) 5621 S Lake Shore Dr, ldle|vild 49642

-

-.

llN Deborah AtvlAZl & Paul STOLEN (Evan/ 86, MartirvSS) RR 3 Box 1 16, Fosston 56542 (H) Kahleen SINNOTT (Jo€y/80) PO Box 1 1 12, Big Timber 5901 1 -1 1 12 (cfiange)

-.

NH Laura & Stelan FOLEY-SHARFF (Aarorv 84, WillianvSS) RR 3 Box 90, Comish 03745 Jennifer WRIGHT & Stan McCUMBER (Vanessa/69,

-.

WA

-

Janet E Ray KEIP (Jaime/8s) Box 5027,

Peace River T8S

-

-

-

Cenade:

llA Terry & Kathy COLBERT (Sarah/82, Samanlha/86) 74 Old Stage Rd, Chelmstord 01824t1536 -. Ellen EPSTEIN (lz4t82) 22 Wobb St, Don & Sue GMNT Lexington 02173 (change) (Apriu8l) 24 Trumbull Rd, Norhampton 01060

-

Families Leaming Together, 58 Lakey Creek, Franklin NC 28734; 704-369-6491 Home Education Network of New York, 2938 Clovef st, Pitrsford NY 145ix; 716-381 -9279 National Home Education Research Institute, 25 W Cremona St, Sbatde WA 981 19; 20C283-3650 The New Zealand Home Sctrooling Assoc, PO Box 77, Waimauku 1455 Now Zealand

Addrres Changeo: Homeschoolers Assoc of Northern Alb€rta, 1 0968 35 Av, Edmonon TAJ 2V3 Vermont Homeschoolers Assoc, c/o Liz Swift, PO Box 161, Pittstord VT 05763 802-4&l-6296 Home Schml Researdrer, 206-283-3650 (new phone number only)

1

R7 (H)

BC Bany & Terry BEER (Jdyn7, Robirv86, Kyle) General Delivery, Lund VoN 2G0 (H; -. 1i1;6o1" HAtulAN & Robin DASS (Sacha/8l, Mischa/8s) 19677 21 Av, Langley (H) -. Lynn David MIODLETON (Andrewtl, JonahanfT4, BenjamiMT8, Katie/8 1 ) 2095 Flynn Pl, North Vancouver V7P 3HB (H1 -. 51v PALi/GREN & Rudy FRIESEN,31810 Chadotte Av, Clearbrook V2T 4.J3 (H)

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I

llan Ron & Lillian MEISTERS (TrislarvSl Persis/8s) Box 4348, The Pas RgA 1 R2

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Ont Tim HARRIS (Zanel83, Zafiaryt8/') 238 E Baltour, Sault St€ ilarie P6C 1Xg (H) -. Aleta KARSTAD & Federick SCHUELER (J€nni€/86) Bishops Mills, RR 2 Oxlord Station KoG 1T0 (H)

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Other Locatlonr

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Dave & L€ora GROVES (fimorv

75, AustirvS0) PO Box 2632, APO N€il York 09224 (Turkey) (change) Heaher & &mes HACKETT (i/hni/84, Noa/91) Nakayagiri 30&1, lvhtsudo, Chiba

-.

Jrpan

trom llgt ln GWS #7E: Natural Loarning N€twork (under Sate or Local

Groups, Washington)

Pen-Pals

OK Richard E Suzanne HILL (Androa26, Claire/8o) 3013 Old lvlallard, Enid 73703 OR

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63gl

D.l.t

Lyn MILUM & John McGMTH (Arwen Mairv8o, Michael/88) 1219 Timborland Trai!, Altamonte Springs 32714

llD

Homeschool Associatos of New England, 1 16 Third Av, Auburn ME 04210: n7-7774O77 Learning Tree Resource Center, Box 8o-B S Superior Rd RR 1, Atlantic Mine Ml 499O5; 906-482-

Wilmington 28+OO

Washington 20018 (change) (H) FL

Davkl/8s, WilligSs) FIC 00, Box 5O, Quaker City, Charlestown 03603 (H)

Chlldrcn wantlng p.n-pals should write to those listed. To be listod, send name, age, address, and 1-3 words on interssts ". KNICKEBBoCKER, 5304 Bercot Rd, South Whidbey lsland WA 98249: Vanessa (7) 4-H, basketball, drama; Heidi (10) 4-H, horses, drama -. Alexandra Paquene (1 1 ) 1 7 Pond Crsst Rd, Danbury CT 06810; dancing, reading, dogs -. SEIDEL, 838 W Axton Bd #55, Bellingham WA 98226: Joromy (6) books, TinTln, nature; irelissa (4) art, books, ftsps6s ... LOl,lG, 313 Tappan St, Columbus OH 43201: Katie (8) cats, hors€s, reading; Oli\€r (6) logo3, bikes, dimbing -. Bren HART (6) a2 White St, St Catherines, Ontario, L2N 127, Canada -.

Emily LINN (13) 9120 D,vight, Detroit Ml 4821a: animals, reading, ans -. Grace RITTER (10) 607 Cascadilla St, lthaca NY 14850; reading, drama, drawing -. CAMERON,8O4 Clovsr Ln, Mahomet lL 61853: Cheryl (10) animals, dinosaurs, mythology; Paul (7) skatoboarding, math, turdos -. HARRISON, Box R, APO N€w York 09678: Anna (6) reading, writing, animals; Sophia (6) reading, writing, dressing up -. LeDOUX,37 Powin Av, lroosup CT 06354; Jillian (8) dancing, horses, Earbies; lvlegan (4) bikes, coloring, hous€ .- Emily ALAND (11) 27O Penits Ln, Athens GA 30605; reading, animals, music -. MALI, 421 1 S Grav€nstein Hwy, Sobastopol CA 95472: Tamar (10) skating, TV, reading; Dahlia (8) drawing, gymnastics, candy -. Laurel PAGET-SEEKINS (10) PO Box 229, Philo CA 95466; reading, acting, sportrs -. BARRANCO, 6 Wscasset Av, Ewing l,lJ 08618: Christopher (8) piano, oomputers, soccer; Emily (5) ballot, birds, singing -. Cana SCOTT (8) 161 Owdand Dr, Md(inney TX 75069; rocks, painting, wriling -. 911111, 6101 Ravenna Av NE, S€attle WA 981 15: Celeste (12) and Veonica (9) music, TV, magazines -. Lucy REMINGTON (10) RR 1 Box 5158, Noflidr VT 05055; horsos, writing, history .Ryan SI'EE (9) PO Box 520 New woodslock NY 13122; in\renting, science fiction -. WILKINS,218 Satara Dr, Wilmington NC 2U12i Ridrard (10) baseball, bagpipes, Nintendo; Jan€tte (8) art, animals, Barbies; Daniel (5) baseball, googleplex, pets DECOTEAU, 45158 Fontenot Rd, St Amant LA 70774:,Dean (9) Nintendo, hunting, sports; Lela (5) cooking, dress-up, dolls -. Will BONE (11) 1931 1oth Ave, Honolulu Hl 968.|6: horses, surftng, hiking .Sami MILE$PRYSTOWSKY (7) 731 Mt Whitney Circle, Corona CA 91719; dolls, bikes, reading

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271

Growlng Wthout Schooltng #8O

3l

Subscriptions

& Renewals

Subscriptions start with the next issue publish€d.

Our current ratss are $25 for 6 issues, $45 for t2 issues, $60 for 18 issues. GWS is published every other monttr. A single issue costs $4.50.

Group Subscrifllons: We offer group subsoiptions, in which several copies of each issue are mailed to one address. The prica is $18 per person, and groups of 5 or more receive the leader's subsaiption fr€€ (in other words, a group of 5 pays 4 x $18 and recsives 5 copies of eadr issue). Please pay for group subscriptions with onr check. Please send in the names and addresses of members of our group sub, so trat we can keep in toucfr with them.

Forolgn paymenti must b€ eilher money orders in US funds or ched<s drawn on US banks. We cant atford to accept personal cfiecks on Canadian ac@unts, even il they have 'US funds'wrinen on them. We suggest hat foreign subscribers use lilastercard or Visa if possible. Outside of North America, add $15 p€r year for airmail (otheuise, allow 2-3 months for surface mail). Ask us about air mail rates for group subs.

Addrosr Changes: lf you're moving, l€t us know your new address as soon as possible. Please enclose a rec€nt lab€l (or copy of one). lssu€s miss€d because of a change in address (hat we weren't notifi€d aboul) may be replaced for $2 each. The post office destrcys your missed issues and charges us a notification fse, so we can't atlord to replace them wihout charge.

Rcnewalr: At th€ bottom of he next page is a form you can use to renerv your subscription. Please help us by renewing early.

Hoil can you tell when your subsoiption expires? Look at this sample label:

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1234s6 SMt01111 JIM AND iJIARY SMITH 16 [,lAlN sT PLAINVILLE 01 111

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The number that is underlined in he example tslls the numbor of the final issue tor he subscription.

The Smiths' sub oxpires with lssue #81, the noxt issue. But if we were to receive treir renewal belore we sent our final account changes to the mailing hous€ (lt/hy 31), they would qualify for he free bonus issue.

Declassified Ads Rates: 70?/\^'ord, $l /word boldliace. Please tell these folksyou saw the ad ir: GWS.

HEARTLEAtr: IIoUEUADE UUsIc, ART. & XO'[|EUENT.,, bccausc homc ls wherc thc art ts.

Frec catalog ofbooks. tapes, and muslc. Heartlcaf, Box 4O-A. Slocan Park, BC CANAfTAVOG 2EO. EDUCATIOIIAL SOFIWARE dcslgyred to tcach and hold thc student lntcrest. CweE most subJccts tar:ght from Prcschool througlr Htgh School, For a 2OO page catalog that contalns over 7OO cducaflonal programs scrrd $2 to DAVMAR, 17939 Chatgworth #418F. cH CA 91344.

FREE 8clcncc X.Sulnc loaded with expcriments: TOPS ldc^q, lO97O SMulireo Rd, Canbv

oR97013.

UNIOIf ACRES INTENTIONAL COUUUItlIIY - Bcaudfrrl mountain horncsltcs for sale near Smo$ Mountain Naflonal Park. Rt I Box

6lJ, Whittier,

NC 28789. 7O4-497-49M.

HOUESCIIOOLIII|G FARX COXUUNITY IT|ORTIIERN C.ALIFTORIIIA. Threc famtlles with

croudng Without Schoo[ng #80

young chtldrcn scek other famtbes with trtcr€t or stllls ln part tkne organtc markct gardcntng on IOO acrcs of bcaudful larrd cast of thc oastal tonm of Mendoclno, We have cstabllshcd a nrral communtty wlth lndivldr:al, mcmbcr bullt homcs, a variety of homc bas€d pnofesslonal buskrcssrcs and shared llacthdcs. Waldorf/Oak Meadorp parcndng and a vlcw of land stcrvardshlp guidcs our overall vision. Info. with photos avall. Jane or Russ 707-9{17-2315, CCF, Box 167, Comptche,

ct9il27.

ALGEBNA FOR sRD GNAI'ENA & IJPI 4s<+2=2x+lO ls novy child's play wlth thls patented, vlsual/ldncsthcdc system. Uscd in morc than l.(XX) homcs nadornvlde. HAlfDSOlf EIUATION8 ls avallable for $.34.95 plus $4.5O S&H from Borcrrson and Assoctatca. FO Box 3328. Dcpt. GWS, Allentown, PA l8106.2f 5820-5575.

SAVE $S$$ ON MORTENSEN MAI}I. BEST PRICES TOLL FREE Ci{LL. VISA/MC. FREE

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FIORIDA DISNEY CONDO - 2 bdrm, 2 bath, fully cquippcd, slecpe six, ameniues, near attractions.

Spring/Fall Spcctal $385 weekly. 314-487-ola4.

HOME EDUCATTON MAGAZINE features lntervterps wtth Pat Montgomery, Davtd and Mlcki Colfax, and lbthlccn McCurdy tn-dcpth fcaturcs on lssues such as research, testing, homeschooltrg and thc medl,a; rcgular columns

by Pemy Barker, Earl Stevens, Kathleen Mc{urdy. Janc Williams, Kathleerr Creech, md Susan Evm: ncrr:s from NIIA md much nore.

56 pages bimonthly. Current lssue $4.5O. One year $24, Frec catalog. Home Education Press, Box l08ll, Torrasket. WA 98855.

Sacre tracts. communlty land, cooperative potenflal. Brochure: Paideia, Box 122, Athens, Ohio 457O1.

WORLDWIDE PEN-PAL SERVICE. Stamp cxchangc, group rates. IPF, I l3il Beaver Rd, Alger, Ml 218610-9401.

CATALOG CALL l-800-33a-99t|9.

INCREASE CHILDRENS CREATMTY. Ncrv HowTo Book: CREATwE PLAYAREAS. Hundr€dscasy, affordablc products. Send SASE details or $l 1.95 ppd, Sadsfacdon cuarantecd, INNOVATION STATION Box 62O-G. LaVcrldn, Utah

BOARD GAfdES (tlardwood and marbles). TlcTac-Toc - tf6. FREE BROCHURE. Gan Eden, 73O

Essington, Buffalo Grovc, IL 6OOa9. 7Oa-AOa1923.

u745.

Annie B's Homc School Art Supplles, SASE. 481 South 2nd. Cornclius. OR 971 13.

APPLA tr USERA: XOI|I11On YOI,R CHILDRTN'S fATIr PR(XiRtAa. Onc 5 l/4" dlsk contalns randomly generated practlce

EXCHANGE NEWSLETIERSI You famlly homeschool newslettcr te cxchange for ours. The Kern Farntly, l9l Jamic La, Toney, AL 35773.

problcms and tcsts on all middle school topics except geometry. word problems. Results of tests stored on dtsk for parent monltorlng. E:<c'ellent for skill development, malntenanc€, reinforccment. Comprehenslve prcparatton for sccondary math. Teacher created. classroom reflned. Disk, documcntadon, $65. Mikc Collins, 17623 County Rd 9, Avon, MN 56310. 612-a45-2n7.

Stay home, make moncy. Over 2OO companies nccd homerporkcrs immcdlately' Complete rcc.ordcd lnfomatlon. 818-957-8243 ext. 3.

HAND$Oil LEARMNG. The very bcst for youqg chtldren ln math, scienc.c. art, hlstory. for€tgn languages. muslc, r€adtE and wrltlng. Frec 4o-pagc catalog. LEIIRIYII|C AT HOXE, Box 27o-gws 80, Honaunau, HI 96726: 8O8-328-9669.

Single rnother wlth dauglrter. 2. lnterested in cooperadvely sharing hcr cormtry home ln Central NY. ffi7 -A42-6€49.

Femlllcr Lc.rnlng Togcthcr - new

statewide

homeschool group, Contact Doug Woodward, 68 Lakey Crcck, Franklin, NC 28734. 704-3696491.

Homcschool ballet classes taught by homeschool Mom tn Sprlng, To(as. Member Impertal Society of Teachers of Danctng. 713-28-4042.

LEARN & GRO'Y n'lth Real Tools for Children.

Tooltng Around carrlcs a complete ltne of quality products stzcd and welglrtcd for young children.

For gerdcnlnl, crrpcntry. and helplng rround thc hourc, these functlonal tools are thoughtfully sclected for safcty and easc of handling. FREE CATALOG. Toolng Around, 385A Delmas Ave. San Jose. CA 95126: 408-286-

9770.

Ad deadlines are the 15th of oddnumbered months.

ENTRY FORM FOR DIRECTORY Use this form to send us a new entry or a substantial address change to be run in the next available issue of GWS.

Adults (first ond last names): Organization (only if address is same as family):

Children (names/birthyears)

:

Full addrcss (Street, City, Statc, Zip):

Are you willing to host travcling GWS readers who makc advance arrangcmcnts in wriUng? Ycs _ No _

Are you in thc 199 I Dircctory (cWS #7fl)'/ Ycs _ No_ tf this is an addrcss change, what was prcvious state? _

32

Books by John Holt Ineterd of Educetlon

How Chlldren Fall

How teachlng

one - How grade teacher came to see that what he was dolng ln hls cla*sroom was getting tn the way of chtldren's learnlng, rather than helplng tt. John added many of hts later thoughts to the 1982 rwlsed edltlon, glvlng readers a chance to see how ttls thfnkhg evolved and how he looked back on hls teachlng errperlences. #356 $9.95

and learnlng happen outstde of coercive lnstltuUons, and what sorts of resources communltles mtght provlde tnstead of compulsory schools. Flom the llrst chapter: 'This ls a book ln favor of dolng - self-dtrected, purpo.seful, meanlngful llfe and work - and agatst 'educatlon' - learnlng cut off from acUve llfe and done under pressure of brtbe or threat, greed or fear." #387$8.e5

How Cblldrcn Learn - How Itttle chlldren use sklll and tntelltgence to flgure thlngs out and make sense of the world around them. The revlsed editlon contalns newchapter on fantasy play, the ways adults try to learn about chlldren, and much more important matertal. #358 $9.95

Tcach Your Osn - Comprehenslve optlon, wlth look at the homeschoollng many dtrect quotes from famllles.

Useful sectlons on cornmon obJectlons and on how stn$e parents or parents who work outslde the home can teach theiros,n. #752$11.95

ffih

GWg r|' ioundcd

by Johl IIoh.

l^ lg77

Editor - Susannah Sheffer Pr.rblisher - Patrlck Farer4a Contrlbuflng Edltor - f!,onna Richoux

Edttortd Asststant - Mary Maher Edttortal Consultant - Nancy Wallace

& Subscrlpflon Mart^Eer 'Day Farenga Book Shlppcr/Recclvcr - Katherine Doolittle Offfce A,sslstants - Lâ&#x201A;Źnard DigS[ns, Mandy Maher, Mary Maher. Phoebe Wells OfDcc

Shtpptqg Asslstants - Gtnger Fltzslnmons, Kat}y Munro, Janls Van Heukelom

Holt Assoctatcs Board of Dlrcctors: Patrtck Farcnga (Corporatc Presidcnt), Mary Maher, Tom Maher, Dorura Rlchoux, Susannah Shcffer Adnlsors to thc Board; Ann Barr (Clerk). Mary Van Doren, Nancy Wallacc Cog;rrlglrt @1991 Holt Assoclates, Inc. All rights rescwed.

Learnlng All the Tlmc - How chlldren learn "the basics" without being taught, and what hlnd of adult help ls helpful. Dlscusses readlng, wrtting,

Frccdom and Bcyond - Useful dlscusslon of the tenslons and dlfficulUes of freedom and chotce tn educatlon. Important chapters on authodt5r and dlsclpllne, and on why schoollng can't cure

math, sclence, and muslc. #f 492 $8.95

A

llfc Worth Ilvlng

John's letters

from the '4Os to the '8Os, about education, poltUcs, vrrlUng, and much more.

Many letters are to others ln the school reformmovement. #1491 $f 8.95

poverty.#302 $4.50

Eecapc fron Childhood - The case for treating ctrildren like real people, and making available to them adult rlghts and responslbllities. Chapters on the danger of seetng children as cute and on what chlldhood means ln our soclety. NotJust for adults many chlldren have read and enJoyed thts book, tcr' #262

; Bl9

1

*1rL< f lE

Sharfng Treaeurcs - Book reviews and lntroducUons from 1965-85. John Holt's personal recommendatlons, and many of hts thoughts about educatlon. #1512$5.s5

;r

,'",r=* : l!'-n1:;* I ..{ F'ltl ; # - = rR -,:

For rhlpplng chargce on booke, BGG

lragc

l7

$7.95

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SUBSCRIPTION AND RENEWAL FORM Usc thts form to begtn or rcncw a subscrlptton to Growheg Without Schooling, For renewals, place thc label from a rcccnt lssue below, tf posslble. lf not, print the lnfo. Clip this form and scnd it wlth your check or money ordcr ln US funds, or call 617-864-3lOO to subscrlbe or renew by Mastercard or Visa. Thmks very much. {For morc details about subscrlptlors and rcncwals, sc lnsidc - pagc 31.)

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New

Subscrlptlon

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Copy ALL numbers on top llne oflabel (for renewals):

Gift subscrlptlon to be sent to name shown

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Namc:

xEg

Addrcss (changeZ Yes/No)

Eg! d

Clty, Statc, Ztp or Postal Codc:

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If change of addrcss, what was old zlp code?

hEu

l2 lssues, $45 _ l8 lssues, $60 Group Sub: coplcs - @ $18 each, for a total of$- (note: groups of 5 or mone recefue leader's sub free) Plcasc scnd -us thc names and addrcsscs ofothergroup membcrs.

It ts OK to rcnt my namc and address to othcr orlanlzations: Ycs- No-

_ 6 lssucs,925

Growtng Wtthout Schooling #8O