GG WITFIOI.]T Issue 106
Off-Campus Colleges
â‚Źontet*t News & Reports p. 3-6
The Challenge of Homeschooling inJapan, Cracking Down on Truants, Our Public Image Should Homeschoolers Stop Complying with Regulations?
p.7-10 Readers respond to the question raised in our last issue
Families Learning Together p. 1l-13 Mothers pursue their own work
- with their children
Learning Languages from Native Speakers p. 14-18
worth discussing.
Challenges & Concerns p. L9-22
In Child's
Mother Lacks Enthusiasm, Difhcult Times, A Teenager Begins to Enjoy Homeschooling FOCUS: Learning from Mistakes p. 23-27 Watching Children Learn p. 2&3f How School Looks to a Homeschooled Volunteer, Siblings as Friends, Zoo Work, Opens Her Own Store Off-Campus Colleges p. 32-33 Two Myths about Unscheeling p. 3rf.36 Can a Christian be an Unschooler and Does Unschooling Mean Leaving Kids Alone?
Additions to Directory and Pen-Pals p. 37-38 Book Review p. 39 Issun #106 Auc.,/SnPr. 1995
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crowing Without Schooling #106, Vol. 19, No.31. ISSN #0,17.L,5305. Published by H()lt Associates, 2269 Mass. Avc., Carnbridse MA 02I40;617-86.13100, fax 617-86.t9235, cmail Flolt(iWS@aol.corn. $25,/yr. Date of issuc: August l, l-994. SecoDd-class poslage paid at Boston, N44. and at additional nrailing oIfices. POSTMASTER: Send addrcss changes tt) GWS, 2269 Mass. Ave, (larnbridge, MA 02140 AD\TERTISERS: Space resen'ation deadlines are the lst ol odd-ntrnrbcrccl m(mths. (lopv dcadlincs arc the | 5th. Write lin- ratcs.
2
ln How ChiklrenFailJohn Holt tells about observing a fourth-grade teacher conducting a math class. The children were reading aloud the answers from their math papers. At one point, after a child had read out a correct answer, another interrupted, "Well, I didn't get that answer. I got..." John writes, "Before he could say any more, the teacher said, 'Now,Jimmy, I'm sure we don't want to hear any wronganswers."'\Arhat a missed opportunity this was,John observes. The teacher could have learned something important aboutJohnny's thinking and about what led him to get the answer he did, but it doesn't seem to have occurred to her that a mistake could be
C7^ A aTnD lffi Aail -'- r . lI AfrU, n n ! , - - fJ^ Ttt%e V
Work, Nancy Wallace describes a very
different kind of math teacher: "My friend Dick Furnas ... told me once that in trying to understand why his students come up with certain answers, he always assumes, first, that their answers are correct. 'That is, I try to understand where my students are coming from,' he said, 'by discovering a context in which their answers could,
make sense."'
As you can guess, we prefer the latter approachl Learning from mistakes is preferable to dismissing them. For this issue's Focus, we asked parents and kids to write
about learning from mistakes, either mistakes made in homeschooling or mistakes made while trying to learn something. In both cases, the mistakes can certainly be fiustrating; it's discouraging to get math problems wrong or to use a method of learning music that doesn't work well, as two of the kids described. It's frustrating to feel that you've spent time and money on a curriculum or materials that aren't useful and that create problems within the family, as both parents and kids described. To say that we can learn from mistakes is not to imply that we don't also sometimes feel regret for having made them in the first place; of course we feel that. But what, really, is the alternative? Is it possible to learn anything new without making mistakes along the way? Is it possible to homeschool - that is, to make choices about how the family will learn together - without making some choices that later seem ill-advised or inappropriate? Of course it isn't. So instead we try to learn from mistakes, and to do that well, it's important to follow Dick Furnas's advice, to ask: what was the context in which those mistakes made sense - in other words, what were we thinking, how did we see things, what did we assume to be true, when we did what we did or gave the answer we gave? Dillon Wright-Fitzgerald, in this issue, is reflective enough to understand why she replaced many of her favorite activities with textbooks that seemed to her to be dull but necessary. She understands what she was thinking when she made that choice. Because of the flexibility of homeschooling, she and others like her can act on that understanding and make whatever changes seem necessary. Susannah Sheffer
-
Gnor'r'rxc WrrHour Sc;Hoor-rNc #106
. Auc.,/Srpr. 1995
lbot E,ft7qortt The Challenge of Homeschooling inJapan In GWS #100 Pat Montgomery of the Clonlara Home Based Education Program told aboutJapanese school refusers and the grozuth of homeschooling inJapan. Now Leslie Barson, a homeschooler in London, writes:
My children, Louis (11) and Lily (5), and I went toJapan for a sixmonth trip inJune 1994. My children have never been to school. We have very dearJapanese friends and we traveled extensively with them and
in people's homes that they arranged. We also stayed in Tokyo for two months in the house of a homeschooling friend's brother. Before we left, I contacted any homeschoolers or alternative schools I could find addresses for inJapan. Through someone else I knew, I met Kyoko Nzawa in Tokyo. We quickly became good friends, as did her children and mine. Her ideas about homeschooling are similar to mine, but she faces many problems. She has monthly meetings with parents to talk about the difficulties. I talked at one of stayed
these meetings about projects happening in England. The response was overwhelming. Although they face
enormous problems inJapan, the joy they expressed on hearing about others in the world successfully homeschooling was startling and inspiring. We spent three weeks traveling Japan and meeting homeschoolers. Kyoko put us in touch with some and we met others through word of mouth. Wherever we went, homeschoolers came to meet us and to hear, through translators, what is happening outside Japan. \Arhile we were inJapan there was a conference on homeschooling which I attended with Kyoko. This brought to light a misunderstanding that manyJapanese have about homeschooling. They think it is synonymous Gr.owrNc; WrrHour Scsoor-rNr; #106
with school refusers. AJthough the latter often become homeschoolers, the two are not the same. There are hundreds and thousands of children inJapan refusing to go to school. They do not know of the positive option of homeschooling. There are also many families who, although isolated, are determined to homeschool their children. At the moment this means that they cannot everjoin theJapanese education system and have to find other means of tertiary education. The legal position of homeschooling is unclear, and until this is clarihed, the present homeschoolers are frightened and cannotjoin together. Nor can they advertise homeschooling as a choice for Japanese families. I received this letter recently from the family of Hiroluki-kun in Nagasaki. Hirol.uki is 11 and has never been to school: "Law is one of the big obstacles on the bumpy road of homeschooling inJapan. But anyhow it has been necessary for a long time to solve this problem. Certainly, it must be behind time for Hiroprki's generation. I'm thinking of how to get by somehow, using a bypass or another way." One way is correspondence courses. One school in America has them inJapanese. Another is to learn English and go to America. Both are limiting and unsatisfactory. We must help and support OtherwiseJapan (the name of thisJapanese homeschooling group, after Britain's Education Otherwise) any w^y we can. Would you like a pen-pal? Or could you send a letter of support to them? You can write directly to Otherwise Japan, 3-l+14 Kugayama, Suginamiku, Tokyo,Japan. Kyoko's email address
is
jab0252 I @ niftyserve.orjp.
Keep 'Em Off the Streets? Dan Endslq wrote in the May 1995 issue
ofMentor,
the neusletter of the Home
Education Leagte of Parents:
. Auc./Sep'r.
1995
Armed robberies, car;jackings and general mayhem have taken a back seat to school truants, at least in Glendale, C,A. In a recent sweep, Glendale police corralled 36 truant students by combing parks, convenience stores and fast-food joints with an intensive city-wide search during school hours. I wonder if the mayor called a tactical alert. The truants, many of them handcuffed, were taken to the main school district office where they were frisked, then held for a parent or guardian to arrive. A police sergeant, plus nine uniformed officers, conducted the wide-ranging search as part of a random program which began several years ago. The search of the students' clothing and backpacks turned up several under-age smokers as well. With two strikes against them in one day, I wonder if the new "three strikes and you're out" law will apply. Soon Los Angeles will follow. Not
to be outdone by its small suburb to the north, the L.A. City Council passed far-reaching legislation which will require student-age people found in the streets of L.A. during normal school hours to be taken to a police station for questioning, and held until they can prove they have a legitimate reason for not being in school. (I wonder if bored to tears or fear of great bodily harm would suffice.) The new law does not consider that many L.A. schools operate on a year-round or staggered-year basis, thus making it nearly impossible for police interrogators to know whether a person's school is in session that day or not. Repeat offenders will be fined and expelled from school as well as being charged with a misdemeanor crime. Expelled from school for truancy? Isn't that akin to receiving death penalty for being convicted of a failed suicide attempt? The measure was passed by an I I to I vote. Interestingly, the lone dissenting vote was cast by the only former school board member on the council who termed it unworkable. Maybe alternative legislation mandating that schools provide a valuable educational experience in a safe, enjoyable environment would be more effective. I'd love to see the penalties for violating a law like that.
*
Nrws & Rrponrs
.l
and so on. HELP, Suite 131, )208
Linda Villatoro ako urote more about this issue in her local homeschooling group s newsletter: The
l.A.
Timesreported Wednesday, May 10, 1995 that the L.A. City Council and the mayor are about to approve a new truancy policy. They promise stiffer penalties for truants such as a fine of up to $50 or community service. The definition of truancy used in the article was, "Students caught on the streets when they should be in school." This made me wonder how such a law would affect homeschoolers. I called the mayor's office and was informed that all private schools who allowed students off campus would have to register the names of all their students with the police department. Then I finally got in touch with the author of the bill, Eric Rose, from Councilmember Chick's office. He assured me that the information I had gotten from the mayor's office was wrong. He said that the police wouldn't go around looking for truants, but if they did happen to stop a homeschooler, they would just call the parents or guardian and veriS permission to be on the streets. Homeschoolers who are on the streets of Los Angeles without an adult may be bet-
ter off with a note from their parents or some kind of a student ID which states permission to be off campus and a daytime phone number of their parent or guardian. [SS:]
Wib
thne are obuiously many
issues inaolaed here,
in
tenns of the
immediate question of protecting homeschooling kids from this hind of harassnxent, years ago, readers discussed this issue in GWS and some carne up with the idea of graing their children an LD. card which uould anify that thq uere a homeschoolzr and allowed out on the street. Others suggested that a lcttrrfrom the parent would ako work. Dan Endslry oJ HELP has olfered to reate LD. cards for any homeschoolers who
think thq woul.df.nd them
useful. For photo I.D.s, send fi5 and a I " x 1" (black-and-white or color) photo and the student's name. For I.D.s without a photo, send $4 and the student's name. HELP will ako mahe "teacher I.D.s" for homeschooling parents who could use them to benefit from teacher discounts at bookstores
Cahuenga Blud West, Los Angeles CA
90058.
Our Public Image Pat Farenga unites:
Have you heard that... "The Federal Trade Commission is
going to make it illegal for homeschoolers to teach phonics."
"The United Nations will shut down homeschooling." "The Federal Government is going to shut down homeschooling in two weeks."
"Attorney General Reno said on TV that people who homeschool are candidates for surveillance by the government because homeschoolers are typically cultists." We periodically get calls from people who say things like this and we try, as best we can, to separate fact
from fiction. After all, no matter how outlandish these statements may seem, there may be some truth in them. Typically, as in all the examples above, we find that they are at worst lies and at best exaggerations amplified by people's fears. However, the despicable and tragic bombing of a Federal Government Building in Oklahoma is now causing repercussions for all homeschoolers because of the parallels that some people are making betlveen these two kinds of "anti-federalism." I think it is time for us to reflect on our public actions and image, and to consider what we can do to keep homeschooling in the public eye as a good choice for any concerned parent to make rather than as a misanthropic act. Since the Oklahoma bombing, ?Dz Boston Globe and The Natt Yorh Times have continued to run stories that link homeschooling to militia membership. Timemagazine twice ran stories
explicitly linking violent right-wing politics with homeschooling. This is
from the May Sth issue of Time magazine:
People are drawn in under this soft umbrella of anger at the government and are soon taken into the more violent part of the movement if they continue to
express interest, says Mary Ann Mauney of the Atlanta-based Center for Democratic Renewal, which monitors hate groups. Unfortunately, newcomers to the movement will find few guideposts that signal, This way the true believers, that way the dangerous zealots. The ranks of
the antifederalist insurgency include plenty of the former: tax protesters, home schoolers, Christian fundamentalists and well-versed Constitutionalists. But the groups also contain an insidious sprinkling of the latter,
including neo-Nazis and white supremacists. \\hat binds these diuerse elzments is a fmtent paranoia.
[My emphasis - PF]
Homeschooling is mentioned again in the same article when a
militia leader is interviewed and it is reported that his three children are being taught at home. Since when are all tax protesters, homeschoolers, Christian fundamentalists and wellversed Constitutionalists automatically considered "hate groups" in need of monitoring? What separates hate groups from others working for political change is, above all, their violent t-actics. So the questions come to my mind, "What is happening to homeschooling's public image? Are homeschoolers themselves at all responsible for the way Timeand other publications are now associating homescholing with negative. antisocial acts?" The answer I come up
with has several layers.
In recent years, many homeschoolers have been urged to vocally protest federal issues that have little or noth-
ing to do with homeschooling. These high-profile political actions, such as the opposition to HR 6, certainly put the small homeschooling movement
on the map for the general public, but with the price of homeschoolers also being seen as isolationist reactionaries who are easily led to protest any perceived or imagined threat. It is this perception that comes through in Time's reporting of the bombing. I'm afraid it is also a perception homeschoolers themselves can engender with certain actions. One example of an action that can
GnowrNc Wrruour ScHoolrxr; #106
. Auc.,/Sspr. 1995
* engender this perception is homeschoolers' withdrawing from public debate about education or social issues except to defend our individual rights. I believe we need to show, more persistently, how homeschooling is not just a narrow "I got mine, you get yours" educational choice. Homeshoolers have much to contribute to the general discussions of our society's problems since we are not necessarily under the spell, as nearly all our society seems to be, of viewing education as the solution to all our ills. Homeschoolers can show, for example, how families of diverse backgrounds can work together towards common goals in their communities. We can enrich local community life when we and our children participate in the life of our communities. We can show how ordinary parents can help their children learn and grow without needing advanced degrees, mandatory parenting classes, or expensive learning equipment. Most families can't or don't want to homeschool even though they are dissatisfied with their children's education; some parents do abuse, neglect, or abandon their children; some children have neither homes nor schools that are sympathetic to, or
understanding of, their particular problems. Our society must somehow work with these citizens. It is far too smug and self-righteous for homeschoolers to think, "If only they'd be more like us then everything would be
fine in America." I think homeschoolers need to be more pro-active instead of reactive. Homeschoolers have to stop acting as impediments to programs and services that primarily benefit people who are not homeschoolers. During the HR 6 fight, some homeschoolers and their allies were not contentjust to stifle the amendment that might have affected home schools, but were also trying to shut off funding for all schools and school programs by gutting the entire bill. But most Americans do want school reform - that's what Goals 2000, OBE, vouchers, charter schools, and all the other proposals are about. Yet homeschoolers are often asked to actively oppose these school programs. Homeschooling isn't just about what we're against, but also about what we GnouqNr;
Wrrnour ScHooLt.*c #106
o
News & Rlponrs
.l
are for, and I want to see more of our public efforts working to communicate that. I don't like the reforms I just mentioned, but I also can't fault the schools for trying to address their problems from within their own parameters. Let's maintain our homeschooling freedoms and gain support from the general public by offering alternatives, not just vociferous opposition, to school services or programs. Actions speak louder than words,
so those homeschoolers who get them-
their children involved in local communities do far more their for homeschooling's good image than do studies that show homeschoolers are well socialized and achieve good test scores. People who know homeschoolers, who live near them, work with them, and so on, and then read a description of homeschoolers as isolationists, know that that description doesn't fit all homeschoolers. "The homeschoolers I know are not like that," they can say. Let's make it so that is what they d,o say. I think we also have to be careful about refusing to support those who we think aren't the right tJpe of homeschooler. There are new numbers of families coming to homeschooling because they are told by school officials that their kids are too disruptive in school and should be homeschooled; I've heard such reports from several states. These kids are called "push-outs" and their parents are often unenttrusiastic homeschoolers, since they literally feel forced to homeschool. Then there are parents some homeschoolers call refugees from schools: families who can't afford private schools but who know that their kids are not thriving in public schools and so, out of desperation for a different kind of education for their children, they opt for homeschooling. I've heard reports that both these groups are receiving an increasingly ungenerous welcoming from some homeschoolers who fear these families dumb down, or corrupt, the homeschooling movement. I think this is a big mistake for homeschoolers to make, not only because it truly does make us seem xenophobic, but also because some of us were once in similar situations and over time we came to enjoy, indeed promote, homeschoolselves and
Auc./Srpr. 1995
ing. Perhaps homeschooling doesn't work for every family, but every family should have the opportunity to try it and see if it might work for them. The issue of exclusive versus inclusive homeschooling groups also gives us a paranoid image. Certainly people of similar faiths or philosophies have the right and the need to form groups of like-minded people; there is nothing wrong, to me, about this sort of exclusivism. After all, we need support that is deep as well as broad and no one homeschooling group can be all things to all people. But where it does turn wrong is when these self-selecting groups seek to impose their point of view or political stamp on all homeschoolers in their state or in the nation. Establishing respectful local- and state-level dialogues among the diverse homeschooling groups for the purpose of protecting all our homeschooling freedoms is a wise route some states are taking. I think we also have to be careful about activating phone chains without checking the accuracy of the information to be disseminated. Our credibility as a group and as individuals is undermined when we treat everything as if it were a dire emergency. If people - legislators or others - are consistently hearing uninformed protests, are they wrong for thinking that such protesters are a bit paranoid? Certainly we at GWS are critical of schools and of the government at times; one must speak out against injustice or foolish actions. But the constant feeling that "they're out to get us" that some homeschoolers fall into is not useful, it seems to me. Finally, by focusing so much on the Federal government and the U.N., homeschoolers are losing energy that could be used to work well together on local problems. After all, there are only so many fights one can participate in.
When I spoke in West Virginia this past fall, a state legislator addressed the group and told them they should not only be proud of what they are doing but should also get out and spread the word since many people, and educators in particular, are well aware that homeschooling is a legal right but are not aware of its positive aspects. Indeed, the West
Virginia
.i. Nnws & Rnponrs legislature has designated an annual homeschoolers' day (as have other legislatures), towards this end. But by giving up our local and individual voices to national groups who see enemies everywhere and whose political agendas go far beyond promoting and
securing our right to homeschool, we fuel the media's portrayal of homeschooling as part of the lunatic fringe that is connected with such disasters as
in Oklahoma. Let's show the public that we do not in any way condone, or ally ourselves with, those who commit such horrific acts. and we witnessed
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*
that there is more to homeschooling than isolationism or negativity.
Office News [SS:] As you receive this issue,
it
will be close to the tenth anniversary ofJohn Holt's death (he died on September 14, 1985). I think of all the thingsJohn would see if he were alive today. At our event with Grace Llewellyn onJune 16th, where many teenagers came from up and down the east coast (one 13-year-old traveled by herself from NewJersey!), a mother remarked to me, "Howwe've grown up!" She meant the people in the audience - you wouldn't have seen a homeschooling event with so many teenagers and their parents ten years ago and she meant the ideas, the depth of the discussion, as well. (If you missed this event, we're selling a 1O8-minute tape recording of it for $15 plus shipping.) The many books that we've been promising would be available this fall will indeed be available by the time you get this issue, or close to that time. See our fall catalog for details. John's How Child,ren Fail and How Children Learn are back in print, thanks to Merloyd Lawrence at Addison-Wesley, and his \\hat Do I Do Mondal and Freedom and Beynd are kicking off the Innovators in Education series that I'm
editing for Heinemann. Also, we have a limited supply of the British edition of Teach Your Own. It's available for $11.95 plus shipping. Since the book is not otherwise in print, this is the only way to get copies right now, and several ofyou have asked how to order it, so do take advantage of this opportunity. Some people have also written to ask about my book A Sense of Self Listening to Homeschooled Adolescent Girk - it too will be available by the time you're reading this.
This is the time to check your Directory entry as it appeared in GWS #102 or in any of the subsequent issues. Make sure it's as you want it to appear in our 1996 Directory (GWS
#108). If not, send in any address changes, corrections, or new baby listings by October 31, 1995. Send in any new entries or deletions by that time, too.
Calendar Ausust 18-20: Homeschoolers' Campout at Winecca Retreat Center in Hopewell, Ohio. For info: Cassie Holderman, 6l +7 87 -107 3. Ausust- 25-27 : California Home=Education Conference at the Radisson Hotel, Sacramento. Pat Farenga, the Colfaxes, Donna Nichols-
White, many others. For info: Barbara David, 9l|39l-4942. Ausust 25-26: Minnesota Homeschoolers Alliance conference in at Inver Hills Community College, St. Paul, MN. Susannah Sheffer, keynote speaker. For info: MFIA, 612491-2828. Sept l-2: CC-PALS annual "NotBack-to-School-Campout" at Malibu Creek State Park, Malibu, CA. For
info: 310-831-4150. Sept. 2-3: "Rethinkins Education: Celebrating the Natural Learning Process" conference in Dallas/Forth Worth, TX. Activities for adults, children, teens. For info: Barb Lundgren, 3013 Hickory Hill, Colleyville TX 76034;817-540-6423, Sept. 5: 6th Annual "Not Goins Back to School" Picnic in Queen's Park, New Wesfininster, BC. For info: Jan Beers, 604599-7051. Sept. &10: "Blazins New Trails in
Learning" 5th annual family conference sponsored by the Alliance for Parental Involvement in Education (ALLPIE) at Chimney Corners Camp, Beckett, MA. For info: ALLPIE, PO Box 59, E Chatham NY 12060; 518392-6900, allpiesr@aol.com. Sept. 8-10: Families Learning Together fall gathering at Camp Falling Creek, NC. For info: Trish Severin,/ Doug Woodward, 7 0 4369-649 I . Oct. 12: NYC Home Educators' Alliance Homeschooling Celebration withJohn Taylor Gatto and others, in Manhattan. For info: 212-505-9884. RTricamo@aol.com Oct. 2l: "Diversity in Education" conference in Thornhill, Ontario. John Gatto, Pat Farenga speaking. For info: Canadian Alliance of Homeschoolers, 519-448-4007. We are huppy to print announcements of major homeschooling events, but we need plenty of notice. Deadline for GWS #107 (events in November or later) is September 10. Deadline for GWS #108 (events inJanuary or later) is November 10. I
GnowrNc Wrruour Scnoor-rNc #106 o
Auc./Snrr. 1995
Should Homeschoolers Stop Complying with State Regulatiorc? These uriters are responding to the question
Judy Garuq andJi,m Bergtn raised in GWS #rc5.
From Andy Migner (MA):
The letter fromJudy Gawey and was thought-provoking. Bergin Jim Their strong urgings to "liberate all children from the bondage of forced schooling" tugged at my heart strings.
I find myself, not infrequently, observing my children playing/working in an atmosphere of freedom and contentment. Aware of how they are blossoming into such free, strong, compassionate, and intelligent young people, I think to myself, "All children should be nurtured like this." And I recall a couple of years ago, when driving past the local elementary school, listening to my son Christopher, then 6, speaking passionately about how he would like to free his friends from that
"prison." I agree withJudy andJim that compulsory education has failed and continues to fail our children and our society. But I'm not sure that refusing to submit applications and evaluations will bring us any closer to educational freedom. I also don't believe that the problems begin with schooling. How our children are birthed, nourished, and handled as infants and then how they are guided as children sets the tone for how they are respected or disrespected in every sphere of their growing years. Many
of
us find that noncompulsory education is a natural outgrowth of the attach-
ment-style parenting that had been evolving in us since before our first children were born. Sticking infants in daycare for 40 hours a week and then sending them to compulsory schools as soon as they are old enough is an outgrowth of our society's interference
with bonding between parents and offspring. Extensive prenatal testing (worrying that something is wrong GnowNc WrrHour ScnooltNc #106
with the baby can interfere with bonding), followed by hospitalcontrolled births, bottle feeding, isolated sleeping, dogmatic or absent parenting, all lead to detached parenting. And this is the norm. This is what we are up against. So, as far as strategy goes, I think that supporting midwifery, breastfeeding, and attachment-style parenting (which of course necessitates economic support for a parent to be home with young children) will go a long way toward supporting homeschooling. I also think that it's possible for people to change their parenting style or educational choice at any step along the way, and hence I have some other thoughts on strategy: attraction, not promotion. People do not like to be told to do something or bullied into it. When told, "Your way is wrong, do it my way," most people rebel, retreat, and get more entrenched in their own position. But when people are suffering, and then they see an attractive alternative, this is when change can come about. Conflict and antagonism are not attractive to people. Harmonious living, health, faith, and joy - these are drawing cards.
We are very pleased to have an
amicable relationship with our local school system. We are completely up front as "unschoolers" and in response to our initial homeschooling proposal,
our superintendent told us, "That is exactly the kind of education I would like for my own children." With this obvious support for our homeschooling, I do not find it to be much trouble to inform him of what we've been up to, byway ofa progress report, or to submit proposals annually for my children. I would prefer not to do these things, but as long as it
. Auc;.,/Sepr. 1995
is the law, and as long as I can do so with complete honesty, I am willing to
comply.
Both my family and our community benefrt from our amicable relationship with the local school system and I believe that this relationship helps us to spread the homeschooling word. It is easy for me to go into the school, with or without my children. We have access to the computer room, the library, special events, and any classes my children might choose to attend. As a homeschooling family, we benefit from access to these resources. Even when what the school has to offer is of poor quality (such
as a
second grade play we recently attended where the children were not even given any speaking partsl), we
benefit because we feel afhrmed, once again, in our choice. We live in a small town and we are very visible. At *y children get older and their maturiry, their easy interactions with adults, their sharpness of mind. and their kindess towards others stands out in a crowd, they are powers of example. Scout leaders, Sunday school teachers, parents, coaches, and other children begin to see homeschooling notjust as a fringy alternative but as a better choice. And perhaps it is the other children seeing this that is most important. A revolt from the inside could work. But we have to be in the world to have an effect on it; we have to educate and to be seen. Change is slow, but I truly believe it is coming.
FromArthurHanq (ME): Let me comment on the proPosal for thousands of Maine homeschooling families to stop cooperating with the state regulations. This can be a valid tactic for a family ready to face the consequences - which would probably be little or nothing in many
Still, if some official or influential private citizen makes an issue of it,
cases.
a penalry is possible. The great major-
ity of families will not take this path, despite the irksome features of the system, because they obey laws whenever possible.
I also question the rhetoric that says, "Schools are tremendously