From the Editor
Contents News & Reports p. 3-5 Homeschooling in Switzerland, Homeschooling in the Media: Positive and egative Choosing Freedom p. 6-11 Facing Fears, Sharing Mistakes, and other stories about the transition from school to homeschooling Meeting a Mother's Needs p. 12-13 More on how homeschooling moms can balance their kids' needs with their own. Growing Without Education: The Discussion Continues! p. 14-17 FOCUS: When Kids Lose Interest p. 18-22 Sometimes kids lose interest in a pursuit or activity. How do they know whether it's time to move on, or whether it's time for a new approach or perspective? Encouraging Exploration: A Conversation with the Founder of the Arts Explorium p. 23-27 How this arts center makes tools and mentors "visible, available, and accessible" to homescholers and others Unschooling Math p. 29 ISSUE #135 JULy/AUG '00
FOUNDED IN 1977 BYJOH HOLT
GWS is based on the idea that young people are good at learning and that learning happens everywhere. Our stories explore how people of all ages learn and grow and how others can best help them. GWS is an ongoing conversation among its readers, and it allows homeschoolers (and other interested people) to share experiences, thoughts, questions, and concerns. EDITOR - SUSANNAH SHEFFER • PUBLISHER - PATRICK FARE GA· BOOKKEEPER & PROOFREADER - MARy MAHER • OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR GINGER FITZSIMMONS • AssOCIATE EDITOR - MEREDITH COLLINS • OFFICE AssiSTANTS - SUZANNE MAcDo ALD, LAUREN FARENGA HOLT AsSOCIATES BOARD OF DIRECTORS: MAUREEN CAREY, PATRJCKFARENGA (CORPORATE PRESIDENT), MARy MAHER, SUSANNAH SHEFFER ADVISOR TO THE BOARD: RON RUBBICO COVER PHOTO IS OFJENNIFER RISLER AT THE ARTS EXPLORIUM. SEE CONVERSATIO ,P. 23. COVER PHOTO Al DPHOTO ON PAGE 25 ARE BY JAMES LEMKIN. COVER DESIGN BY KiM STUFFELBEAM. ADVERTISEMENTS DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT GWS's ENDORSEMENT AND WE CANNOT VOUCH FOR ANY CLAlMS MADE BY ADVERTISERS. Growing Without Schooling (ISSN #074!>-5305) #135, Vol. 23, No.2. Published by Holl Associales, 2380 Mass. A\·e., Suite 104, Cambridge MA 0214D. 26/yr. Frequency: bimonthly. Date of issue: July/Aug 2000. Periodicals postage paid at Boston, J\1A and at additional mailing offices. POST~'IASTER:
Send address changes lO GWS, 2380 Mass. Ave, Suile 104, Cambridge, MA 02140
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SUBSCRIPTIONS, Send to GWS, 2380 Mass Ave, Cambridge MA 02140. See form on p. 31. ADVERTISERS: Space reservation deadlines are the 1st of odd-numbered months. Wrile for rales: Barb Lundgren, Advertising Manager, 3013 Hickory Hill, Colleyville TX 76034; 817·540·6423; email blundgren@home.com.
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If letting young people follow their own interests requires a leap of faith, letting them stop following those interests may require an even bigger leap. A parent who is having trouble trusting the idea of student-directed learning can at least be reassured when a child takes up a musical instrument, begins publishing a newsletter, or starts studying fossils. What if that same child quits the music lessons, stops publishing the newsletter, loses all interest in fossils? Such an event definitely appears more worrisome. In some instances, suddenly losing interest in one's favorite activities can be a sign of a deeper problem. But there are other ways to see this matter of losing interest, too, and if we can get through the worry and manage to discover those other ways, we can end up with even deeper appreciation for young people and for the learning process. Real choice does include the right to choose not to do something, so it's important, first of all, to realize that "following one's own interests" will sometimes mean allowing those interests to go on holiday for a while, or to fade away as other interests take precedence. I've often observed that kids find it difficult to start something if they think they will be expected to stay interested in it forever. "Are you still playing the violin?" well-meaning adults might ask, and those adults tend to smile with approval if the answer is "yes" and look askance if the answer is "no." But suppose that "no" means, "I've realized that the saxophone is really my instrument" or ''I'm so busy with theatre these days that I don't have enough time for the violin," or simply, "I discovered that my heart wasn't in it." The point is that losing interest can actually require the learner to draw upon a great deal of self-knowledge. When we asked young people to write for this issue of GWS about losing interest in an activity and how they figured out whether it was time to stop that activity entirely or instead to find another way to approach it, the responses were thoughtful reflections on how one can know what is right in such instances. Is it right to quit an instrument after investing time into it? Would finding another teacher be the solution, or is the loss of interest a signal about one's true priorities? When is loss of interest a sign of stuckness that can be worked through, and when is it a sign that it's time to stop? These are questions that adults themselves often find difficult, so perhaps we can listen to young people's own questioning with respect and sympathy, rather than only with worry. And perhaps we can also watch the process with interest. A 12-year-old boy once told me about how he had loved dictating stories when he was little. Then he had stopped for several years and spent that time pretending, acting out his stories, instead. Now at 12 he had taken up writing again. Who's to say that the writing had ever really stopped, or that the boy had truly lost interest in it? Our minds, our ways of taking in experience and making sense of it, are so much more complicated and nuanced than that. Losing interests, it turns out, may be just as fascinating a process as following them. - Susannah Sheffer GROWlNG WITHOUT SCHOOL! G
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& Reports Swiss Homeschooling Hilary Jacobson writes from Switzerland:
I have had a difficult time trying to obtain permission to homeschool my son here in Switzerland. Benjamin, my third son, has been slow to develop in certain ways. He began to speak in three-word sentences when he was 5. When we were together at home, I began coming up with games that helped with his speech. His kindergarten teacher noticed that he had made u"emendous progress during vacation, and was much better socially. I thought about the fact that his real moments of progress always seemed to occur during vacation, through intensive and creative interaction. I wished I could take him out of kindergarten altogether. I was told, first by his teacher and then by the school psychologist, that homeschooling was impossible and bad for Benjamin, who needed the socialization of school. Then the school psychologist made a big mistake. He said Benjamin had to go to a special school for severely speech-delayed children. We found out how wrong he was when the therapist at that school, a half year later, told us Benjamin was actually strong enough in language and overall development to go to normal public school. We knew, however, that this wasn't true either. Benjamin might be good on a one-to-one basis, as he'd been with this therapist, but he had problems in a large group. He wouldn't do well in a large class. Our only alternative was a special class that takes two years to go through GROWl G WITHOUT SCHOOLING
first-grade material. It has only seven children with a specially trained teacher. The hitch was that after those two years, Benjamin would go to the same second grade as his little sister. We felt that she shouldn't have sibling tensions and familial responsibilities in the classroom. Again I mentioned my willingness to homeschool to the school psychologist, and again I was told that this would be bad for Benjamin. I have pushed for this solution, however. His teacher, saying both that she didn't want to stand in my way and that she couldn't take responsibility for this decision, urged me to take him to an even higher-up psychologist for in-depth testing. So after some tests and discussions with this state-employed psychologist, I got the surprise of my life when she turned to me and said, "Restrospectively, I see that homeschooling may have been the better solution for many of my kids." She was willing to support me! But neither of us knew the exact legal requirements for homeschooling here. The written law specifies that the parent must have permission from the regional board of education. I assumed that with a psychologist's approval, this would not be difficult to receive. But then we learned that the unwritten law only allows homeschooling when a parent has a teaching degree or hires a private teacher. By this time, through GWS, I had been put into contact with other homeschoolers in Switzerland. Very few families have homeschooled during the last decade, but now the idea is taking off in the cantons of Zurich and Argau [Switzerland is divided into regions, called cantons],
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with 24 families joining up just in the last two years. From these experienced homeschoolers, I learned that it is perfectly legal for parents to homeschool in Zurich, Bern, or Argau without a teaching certificate. Local education boards send a representative to the home once or twice a year, to make sure that the children are being taught everything required by the canton for their age group. Sometimes, however, these representatives make new homeschoolers feel insecure and guilty, by implying or even stating openly that their children are being deprived of educational opportunities. Also, apparently it isn't always easy to get factual information as to parents' rights. Friends told me they asked about homeschooling in Zurich fifteen years ago and were falsely told by the authorities that they had to be teachers. I was advised by the Swiss Homeschoolers group to be very careful about how I asked for legal information, because many authorities will withhold the facts. It's better to have a teacher inquire about the law than to ask oneself. Where does this leave my family? Not in a good place. It is theoretically possible to defy the authorities and keep one's child at home. In Germany, where homeschooling has been illegal since Hitler's regime, many parents do just that. They have to pay fines, but if they pursue homeschooling, the authorities leave them alone in the end. However, in our canton, Basel-Land, with its very severe laws, a family actually had to leave the country altogether last year, apparently to avoid legal action against them. Ten miles away from us, it is legal to homeschool. That's life in Switzerland, where each canton makes its own laws pertaining to education. However, the Zurich homeschoolers are hoping that, rather than the antihomeschooling sentiment getting the upper hand, they can work to legalize homeschooling throughout Switzerland. It looks like it will be a long struggle. And in the meantime, if! want to homeschool Benjamin, we will have to move to a homeschool-friendly canton.
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In the Media - Positive and Negative [SS:] As many of you know, homeschooling was the subject of an Oprah Winfrey Show in April. It's always hard to determine the effect of such media coverage, but in any case it's interesting to see homeschooling treated fairly routinely as another educational alternative. I've also gotten calls recently from writers doing stories that focus on very specific aspects of homeschooling. A writer for Mothering magazine called us for a story about parents who are delaying their children's school entry because of the increasingly academic orientation of kindergarten nowadays. Another writer, working on a story for a local newspaper about graduation ceremonies in the area, called to ask about different kinds of rituals or ceremonies that homeschoolers create. It's a pleasant change to get these specific questions instead of the all-too-familiar general ones. And then there are the times thankfully quite rare, but always troubling - when homeschooling appears in the news in conjunction with a story of child neglect and abuse. In late April, a story in the Boston Globe told about a 9-year-old Rhode Island boy who had been removed from his grandmother's home after it was discovered that he was suffering from terrible neglect. I won't list the details here, but it's enough to say that they are details anyone would consider terrible. A day or two later, another story appeared, with the headline, "Rhode Island Boy Was OK'd for Home Schooling." Oh dear, I
thought. The article says that the family had been authorized by the local school district as recently as this past March to homeschool under the Rhode Island statute. It isn't clear from this article whether the family had been receiving homeschooling approval every year or just this one. The article doesn't place all the blame on homeschooling, by any means. It's a fairly low-key piece, and it raises questions about how all sorts of people could have missed this situation, especially the neighbors (the family lived in an apartment complex). But the article does quote the chairman of the school committee saying that the situation bothers him and that "if a parent wants to homeschool, I think that's a good thing, but there certainly have to be guidelines." Even one story like this would bother a school committee chairman, or a neighbor, or any of us - and I think the challenge for homeschoolers and homeschooling advocates is to balance all the ways that it bothers us. Here's what I mean. Understandably, we worry about this negative publicity for homeschooling, and we worry that fears about these worst-case scenarios will lead to tighter regulations. Many of us have heard legislators express concern that under the cover of homeschooling laws, a family will be able to keep an abused child hidden. We know that, as the saying goes, "hard cases make bad law," so that a law designed to protect against the worst case usually ends up making things unreasonably difficult for everyone else. And we know that schools and other agencies can fail to notice abuse
and neglect, too. (Indeed, it's the class issue that seems to loom largest in this story: the boy lived in a "nice neighborhood" and the family seemed financially well-off, so fewer suspicions were ever raised about his living conditions.) We know these things, and we know that misconceptions about homeschooling still linger - misconceptions which, when turned into generalizations, end up clouding the issue. The article says, "The boy might have escaped notice because, as a homeschooler, he didn't have regular contact with adults outside his immediate family." It's not at all clear that regular school attendance would have saved this boy, and it's not at all clear that the state's homeschooling law is what made the neglect possible. We do need to keep letting people know that most homeschoolers have regular contact with the world outside. And somehow we do need to keep that boy in our minds and remember that whatever the cause, his situation was terrible. The challenge, in other words, is to think about how to protect homeschooling rights and protect children from neglect - both.
Office News We are sorry to announce that we have had to cancel plans for a conference at Eisner Camp in September 2000. The camp is in the middle of renovations which we had hoped would be ready in time for our conference, but it looks now as though that won't be true after all. These and other logistical factors convinced us that an Eisner Camp event was not feasible this year.
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We are, however, planning an exciting fall lecture and workshop series. On Sept. 16, in conjunction with Paths ofLearning magazine and the NJ Unschoolers Network, we will present a one-day event called "Homeschooling for All," with David Albert, Nancy Plent, Pat Farenga, and Susannah Sheffer. The NY- or NJ-area location will be announced. In early October, again in conjunction with Paths ofLearning, we will present an evening event with John Gatto at the Mass. College of Art in Boston. John will speak about his new book, The Underground History of American Education: A School Teacher's Intimate Investigation into the Problem of Modem Schooling, and filmmaker Roland Legiardi-Laura will preview portions of his latest documentary, The Fourth Purpose, based on John Gatto's new book. Tickets for both these events will go on sale in late June. For further details, watch GWS's pages and our website, www.holtgws.com. or call our office at 617-864-3100.
Calendar August 5-6: Third Islamic Education and Muslim Homeschool Convention at the Islamic Center of New England in Sharon, MA. Pat Farenga, Cafi Cohen and others will be speaking. For info: 508-226-1638; www.home.ici.net/-taadah/convention/2000.htm Aug. 18-20: California Home Education Conference at the Radission Hotel in Sacramento, CA. David Albert will be speaking. For info: Barbara David, CHEC95@aol.com; www.homeedconference.com Aug. 25-26: Homeschooling for Everyone 2000 Conference in Aurora, CO. Mary Griffith and others speaking. For info: www.pcisys.netl -dstanley/ conference/htm ~ : Virginia Home Education Asssoc Conference near Richmond, VA. For info: Shay Seaborne, 540 832-3578; s-seaborne@juno.com Sept. 9: Salt Lake Home Educators' Fall Seminar at SLCC Redwood Campus, Salt Lake City, UT. Cafi Cohen speaking. For info: 801-501-0344; jmdeboer@worldnet.att.net •
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Parents Face Fears
Choosing FreedoID
Brenda White ofMassachusetts writes:
Three teens and a parent write honestly about how choosing the freedom of homeschooling also means taking responsibility, facing uncertainty, and admitting mistakes.
Community Life, Not School Alex Miller of Washington writes:
When I was in 7th grade, my writing skills were quite rusty and I needed somebody to show me how to process ideas and thoughts into words. My parents asked one of my English teachers to help me with my writing. Seventh and 8th grades came and went and not one teacher helped me. I think that was the straw that broke my trust in schools. When I graduated from 8th grade, I thought to myself that I could and wanted to do more with my life. I told my mom and she said, "Well, let's try homeschooling and if you don't like it, we can send you back to school." The rest of my family (my sister, brother, and father) didn't think it was a good idea. My brother and sister are out of the house and starting their own lives, so I didn't think they'd mind what I did with mine. Unfortunately, I was wrong. I do not get the support I had hoped for. They check up on me, or try to make sure I am studying as much as I can. It's interesting how they were never involved in my school activities before, but now they are involved in my homeschooling. It's insulting. Fortunately, it has not stopped me from doing what I love: learning. Only because I am now homeschooling do I have the opportunity to involve myself in the community. One day last spring, while searching for a way to become involved, I came upon an ad discussing Kosovo. An agency said they needed volunteers to help. I called them and told them that I wanted to learn more about what was happening in the world, and would like to help. They said they would love to have me. I worked at Mercy Corps' 6
international headquarters in Portland, OR, for about four months. I met lots of people from around the world and learned, from behind the scenes, about a major relief agency. In addition, I became friends with the people who worked there. Mter working there, I wanted to explore world trade so I volunteered for the summer at Ten Thousand Villages, a non-profit world trade store, where I learned that not all stores that sell exotic goods actually help the people who make them. Two of my greatest interests are the lost arts of blacksmithing and hand carpentry, especially in the . colonial times. Around September I got to the point where I wanted someone to teach me more about these subjects. My mom knew of a reproduction of an 1840's fort just a few miles from where we live - Fort Vancouver. We checked it out and discovered that they have an apprentice blacksmith program. I decided to spend three days a week there, dressed in period clothing and learning the art of blacksmithing. All the tools used are hand tools and we make everything from nails to axes. I am still very involved and hope to be for some time. In addition to learning a lot about history, foreign trade, and public relations, I meet people from all walks of life who are great to talk to. I somewhat regret not leaving school earlier but I am very happy that I did when I had the chance. I did acquire some invaluable knowledge in school, and I had good friends, but if! could do it all over again, I probably would have started to unschool sooner. I think school can take away your individuality and voice in your own education.
Two years ago, my daughter (now 9) was a first grader in the local public elementary school. She had been reading before she entered kindergarten, and was excited for first grade where she thought she would learn new and wonderful things. To her dismay, the class was learning to read. We tried to work with the school, but they could not provide her with the challenge she craved. The school was sure that if she just continued along that she would eventually level off and the others would catch up with her. I have heard that referred to as dumbing down. I was afraid they were right, and that she would lose her love of learning as I had as a child. My husband and I were raised very traditionally, with conformity being a way oflife. The idea of going against societal norms was daunting, at best. When the assistant principal, in one of our several meetings, suggested that "possibly public school isn't an option for your daughter," it gave me pause. Wasn't public school supposed to address the needs of all the students? Weren't our taxes working for our own child? How could public school not be an option? When discussing what to do about this unfortunate situation, we tried to weigh all of our options, which were few: private, public, charter, or homeschool. I had read How Children Fail, byJohn Holt, and an issue of GWS. Both began to help me see how the school could fail even if they assured me they were capable of success. We looked into several private schools, but the high cost was prohibitive and there were no available slots in the local charter school. We have a close friend who homeschools, so we kept in close contact with her about how it was working for her family. She kept telling me how wonderful it was and how it fit into her family's life. She did everything in her power to convince me that it would work for us, as well. We didn't like what we had heard about dealing with the local school district as homeschoolers. Fortunately, we found a parent-cooperative private
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school that serves homeschoolers and has a very reasonable tuition. The largest motivating factor for teaching Rhiannon at home was Rhiannon herself. She had been so bored at school that while we were having those meetings and discussions with the school, she already began teaching herself the things that were of interest to her. We had seen a change in her attitude while she was in school that we were not fond of, but it began to change back when she had time at home again. Her determination alone, not to return to school, was enough for us to keep her at home. Rhiannon has many friends and has more activities than we can keep up with. To think we were afraid she would be socially isolated! She also probably gets to play more than most kids her age, and she definitely has more freedom to learn what interests her most. Today she is that happy, amiable child I remember, who thrived on learning new information. This morning as I watched her playing with a new microscope, I laughed at my fear of homeschooling. Her exploration of a new minute world reminded me of the days before school was a part of her life. Days when she learned because she wanted to and loved it. Days when her world was full of exciting things to explore and new ways to look at life. Nearly three years later, homeschooling has become the norm in our home. We find there is learning in almost everything we do. The girls' education does not begin or end when a bell rings, or for summer vacations, or when they are playing or sitting down to dinner with the family. Finances are also not the problem we had imagined. We figured out how to tighten up in wasteful places, and I supplement our income with part-time night work.
More Resources Transition from School to Homeschool (GWS back issue booklet). More stories about the transition process. Available through our catalog, 888-925-9298 or www.holtgws.com Panel: From School to Homeschooling (cassette tape). From our 1999 conference - four teenagers and an
I like that I can spend so much time with my mom and my sister. My sister and I playa lot. We can go outside whenever we want. I feel badly for schooled kids on beautiful days. I can sit at the picnic table and do my fractions and decimals, which I love, while they are stuck inside a yucky building. My mom and I play games, so I can learn without it being like a chore. We play Scrabble, Brain Quest, Phase 10 and Name That State. I love learning about the states. I wrote a letter and sent it to each of the states asking for information. About 30 replied. To keep myself occupied, I play with my sister and read. I read a lot. I also take gymnastics once a week, horseback riding on Saturdays in nice weather, and swimming twice a week. I like to compete. With the local homeschool group, my sister, my mom and I took French. It was great and I can't wait for it to start again. With my school group we do an activity every Tuesday. I don't like when we do dissections, but I love it when we go to a location to learn something new. Most of the kids in homelearning are nice. I think they act their best because their moms are there. My friends are girls and boys, all ages, even some teenagers.
Rhiannon White adds:
I love homelearning. I can learn what I want and don't have to wait for the teacher to choose it. I am interested in dolphins and other marine mammals. I signed up to volunteer at a new rehabilitation center, and when it opens, I can work with them. GROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING
The Mistakes She Made Kate Gould of Oregon writes:
I have been out of school for the last year and a half. It has been my
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adult moderator. Available through our catalog, 888-925-9298 (mention item #2493) Liberated Learners. Newsletter from the Pathfinder Center regularly features stories from teens who have left school. Call 413-253-9412 for free issue.
goal, in deciding to unschool and in many other choices in life, to do what is most important to me. I have learned that achieving this goal is a lifelong process, partly because what's right for me is always changing, and partly because we live in a world of vast possibilities. When I was in eighth grade, I was hospitalized because my appendix burst. I had time to read a lot of books, including A Sense of Self. I was blown away, and in love with the idea of homeschooling. I also read a magazine article about homeschooling in Teen Voices and finally The Teenage Liberation Handbook, a book I have read more times and marked up more and own more copies of than any other book. It still excites me every time I pick it up. Often I think of different mistakes I have made that I want to share so that other people don't have to make them. I see a lot of super happy stories in GWS, and I could share some too, but I've also had my share of problems with homeschooling. The problems that people run into and how they approach them are always different, but these are my experiences and how I have dealt with them. The first mistake came at the very beginning, and had to do witl1 my communication with my parents. When I began unschooling I was so adamant about it that I didn't listen to a word my parents said. They suggested I consider trying high school first, or, if I was determined to homeschool, to maintain some sort of structure in my homeschooling. We 7