GROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING
N>EX
19 Still very busy here in the office. The mail slackened a little during the holidays, but not much; our newest volunteer, Tim Chapman, has put in many hours helping us cope with it. Latest news from Delacorte is they will delay the publication of TEACH YOUR OWN until August, so they can promote the book on radio and TV during September, which is a good month for that. My editor just showed us what the cover will be like - a great photo of the Van Daam family. An AP story in the Jan. 8 Boston Globe says that the new U.S. Secre tary of Education, Terrell H. Bell, is "a devout Mormon who believes that the desires of parents should always take precedence in the education process." He has been commissioner of higher education in Utah, on the whole a good state for home-schooling - though he may not have had anything to do with that. Let's hope that home schoolers may find a sympathetic ear in Washington. ieople magazine recently ran an artic e on an uns chooling family, Charles and Eva Webb and their two sons (So. Calif. directory). Charles is best known as the author of THE GRADUATE, and has written us a number of good. letters. Some readers may be surprised to find in this issue letters they wrote a year ago or even longer. While cleaning up my office in December, Donna found some wonderful letters that had been earmarked for GWS but overlooked in the general confusion. Good news this time from Ari zona, Colorado, Idaho, ' Nebraska, and a number of other states. - John Holt COM~G
tact Bob Morrow, 416-627-3685. June 11-14: 6th International ,Congress, Yoga and Holistic Living, 'Himalayan Institute. New York Statler Hotel, New York City. Contact Ms. Dale Colton, RD 1 Box 88, Homesdale PA 18431, 717-253-5551. Aug 3'0 - Sept 2: Aus tralian Read ing Conference, Darwin, Australia. Contact Bob Counahan, PO Box 38221, Winnellie NT 5789; Ph 84 4277 ext 40.
SCHEDlli:
March 2, 1981: "Morning Break," WDBM-TV, Washington DC; 10 AM . To be in audience, call 202-686-6160. Mar 18: William Rainey Harper College, Palatine IL 60067; aft mtgs, 8 PM lecture. Contact Jeanne Pank anin, Stu. Act., 312-397-3000 x 242. Apr 7: Fairmont State College, Fairmont WV. 8 PM program. Apr 9: Education Writers Associa tion Seminar, Barbizon Plaza Hotel, New York City. Director, Charles Har rison, PO Box 281, Woodstown NJ 08098; 609-769-1313. Apr 24: Music Educators Nat'l Conference, Arena, Minneapolis MN. 11 AM mtg, ' Minneapolis Convention Hall. Contact Gene Morlan, 1902 Assoc. Dr, Reston VA 22091. May 2: New England Philosophy of Education Society, Northeastern Uni verSity, Boston, 11 AM. Contact Rich ard Lyons, 617-452-5000 ext. 2450. May 9: Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation Conf:, Airport Holiday Inn, Lancaster, Ontario. Con
front (until then I'd hated wearing anything that spoke for me!) On an impulse I pointed to the word and asked Nicole what it said. Without hesitating she said, "The Fi'iendly Book." I somehow knew she'd say that but I was so excited anyway my eyes filled with tears and I grabbed her up in a big hug. She thought i t ' a big joke and was ready to get on with other things but I remained ecstatic over the episode . ... Nicole got magnetic letters
for her birthday. As she stuck them
to the rafrigerator for the first
time, we suddenly realized we were
taking it for granted that she put
them all on right-side-up. Oh , this
is such fun ...
This all comes from nothing more than having plenty of books around since Day One that we've shared with her, memorizing nursery rhymes, etc, at her instigation. This is the way I want her learning to continue. If I can only hold back my excitement enough to keep from "helping," we'll do fine ...
We now have an index of the first eight issues of GWS. Thanks again to Jeanne McDougall and Jack and Nancy Wilson for their work on this. If you would like a copy, send a self-addressed stamped envelope. Or, ask when you're ordering books and other materials, and we'll include one in the package. We haven't had time to proofread it thoroughly, so if someone would like to do this and send us a list of any corrections, we'd be grateful. Also, if anyone would like to help index the remaining issues, please let us know.
OHIOC~T~
LEARNIIIG SWAP
An important story from the
Cleveland Plain Dealer, 12/31/80 :
Anne Perkins (MA) writes: ... Grace has company this year, as the Idoine children started home schooling this fall. Grace and Gilly spend at least two days a week togeth er and I thought you would enjoy hear ing about those days. On Tuesdays, they ride bikes or pony/bike (weather permitting) to a friend's house who is a weaver. There, in exchan~e for work they do (childcare, stac ing cordwood, etc.) they learn spinning, carding, dyeing, and weaving. Grace has been doing this for l~ years, and having Gilly along has increased her interest. She sometimes teaches what she's learned, thus learning it better herself. On Thursdays, they are driven to the stables at 8 AM. There they feed horses and muck stalls for two hours, in exchange for a one-hour riding lesson. At noon they take a bus to the university. They walk up to town, go to the library, picnic on the com mon, shop - have "city" time. They catch another bus at 3:00 to a gymnas tics school where they have a class. They are picked up there at 4:30. It's a rich day for them - both 12 years old. The other days are spent closer to home, usually. Grace spends hours reading and at the piano - she's just memorized the first movement of Beet hoven's "Moonlight Sonata." Home schooling is perfect for her' ...
... Ohio's compulsory education law cannot interfere with parents' rights to send their children to reli gious schools, even though such schools do not meet minimum state 'standards, the Ohio Supreme Court said yesterday. The ruling was in the case of a Knox County man who had been convict ed of violating the statute. James Olin was charged because he did not send his daughter, Jenni fer, to a school ' certified by the State Board of Education . Instead, he sent her to Kopper's Corner, a one room Amish school near his home. The Olins are not Amish. Records in the case showed the religious school was without plumb ing, and tbat the teacher, although having had 14 years of experience, had gone no further with his own edu cation than the eighth grade. But there was trial testimony in which school officials said Jennifer's show ing on certain achievement tests ranked fourth grade and higher when she was 7 years old. Although the high court said deciding the case was "a delicate risk," it was done withov.t dissent. "Until such time as the State Board of Education adopts minimum standards which go no further than necessary to assure the state's legi timate interest in the education of children in private elementary schools," the court said, "the bal ance is weighted in favor of a First Amendment claim to religious freedom."
DlSCOVERN3 READN3
Juanita Haddad (BC) writes: ... I'd like to tell you about Nicole's reading (she just turned two.) Her favorite book lately is THE FRIENDLY BOOK -by Margaret Wise Brown and pictures by Garth Williams. For some time now, Nicole has "read" the title and various lines inside while running her finger under the words as we do when we read to her. We've assumed she spoke from memory although she usually underlines the correct words as ~he speaks. Yesterday, however, I put on a T-shirt for the first time that says FRIEND in big red letters across the
READER'S DIGEST STORY
On the front cover of the Jan.
1981 Reader's Difest is a picture of
a child and, in arge letters, the
words : "Is your child's teacher fit
to teach?"
Inside, the magazine has reprint ed excerpts from the Time magazine cover story of June 1~80, called "Help' Teacher can't teach'" Below that title appears this sub-title: "The crisis in our public schools grows worse and worse - at least in part because many teachers are themselves undereducated, unmoti vated, and incompetent."
2 These words, and parts of the itself, may provide many un schooling or would-be unschooling fam ilies with useful ammunition, for' their home schooling proposals, for their legal briefs if they are forced to court, or perhaps for letters about home schooling that they may write to legislators, editors, etc. A word of caution about using this material. As we said in an earli er GWS, you must be careful not to put judges (or educational officials) in a position where, by approving your proposal, they will seem to be giving official support to the posi tion that the public schools are no good. If judges or officials think that giving approval to your plan is going to be seen by the public as a sweeping condemnation of public schools, they are not going to approve your plan. So don't put them in that spot. What you can say, and with some hope of success can ask judges or officials to support, is that such criticism from Time and Reader's. ~~gest shows that the performance of t e public schools does not justify their saying, with respect to your home schooling plans, that ,if you don't do it their way you can't do it at all. And you would probably be wise to add the point that it is ,pre cisely those methods of instruction and evaluation which the public schools try to impose on home school ing parents that are among the pri mary causes of the schools' bad per formance. You should say that you are not asking judges, etc, to agree with this statement as such, but only to agree that the right of parents to teach their own children loses most of its meaning unless the parents have the right to use methods of in struction and evaluation which may be very different from those used in the schools. If any of you put such a state ment into a home schooling proposal or legal brief, we would very much like to see a copy of it, particular ly if your proposal is approved. ~tory
ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM GROUPS
From Michael Krell, DEAN POINT SCHOOL, Box 266, Nehalem OR 97131: ... We would like to spread the word through ydur newsletter about an alternative school and home school ers' festival that we expect to host this coming May 31 - June 2, 1981, at our school out here on the Oregon coast. This gathering is sponsored by a group of alternative schools in the Northwest that meets twice a year to celebrate our endeavors. The focus of this festival will be' music and move ment. . .. We have begun working with parents in home schooling activities this year, and are now developing a correspondence school pr6gram. We can offer legal coverage at this time; we would like to encourage parents of home schools to contact us ... The first issue of Joyce Kin mont's (see GWS #9) Family Education Association Newsletter announced a regular weekly children's program, and a day-long picnic for members. She writes, " ... The Family Education Association is a non-profit organiza tion devoted to supporting and assist ing parents who want to be the pri mary teachers of their children, instead of, or in addition to, the
public school system ..• The Yearly membership rate has been set at $5." The address is 575 South 5th West, Brigham City UT 84302.
with us, they may. We received about one inquiry per week last year! ... A California reader writes:
Fro~ Deborah Martin, 22 W 231
7lst St, Naperville IL 60540:
HOUSE (Home Oriented Un-School ing Experience) is the name of our support group. We meet monthly to share ideas, philosophies, curriculum materials, and upcoming educational events. We have talked about alterna tive schooling in general, but our main purpose is to explore with each other the ed ~ ation of our children at home. Occasionally we have a speak er. If you are interested in joining us, contact Pam Chernivsky (106 56th Court, Downers Grove IL 60515) or me. From Sue Welch, CHRISTIAN HOME EDUCATION ASSOCIATION, 8731 NE Ever ett, Portland OR 97220: ... Christian Home Education Asso ciation is a newly-formed and small group of parents who are beginning to teach their own children in their own homes. We have individual reasons, goals, and methods. ... We originally organized as a registered nonprofit corporation to buy educational materials at a dis cou~t or wholesale price. We soon found, however, that the sharing of information, resources, and encourage ment was an even greater benefit. We hope all will feel free ~o write and share questions, needs, sug gestions, etc. If you have questions, you may call one of the officers: Pat and Sue Welch, (503) 254-9162; or Bar bara Eng, 235-7137 ... ANOTHER SCHOOL N PA.
From Joan Kephart, 1 High St, Malvern PA 19355: . .. Our school, GUARDIAN ANGELS ACADEMY, has been registered with the state for three years as a non-public religious school. Since the school is parent-operated and family-oriented, we accomodate each family's particu lar needs. Anyone in the Phila.-Main Line area who would like help in avoiding attendance hassles with the establishment schools, or anyone who would be interested in our experi ences (successes and failures) thus far, could get in touch by calling 215-,644-8319 ... GOOD NEWS
From Bruce and Diane Hintze, Star Rt 1 226, Woodland Park CO 80863: ... For the school year 1979-80, we chose to teach our children at home. Though totally ignorant of the process in the beginning, we visited a law library, looked up Colorado's laws, and then proceeded as pioneers (we felt) through school board meet ings, etc. We were given approval, finally, and had a delightful )(ear at home with our three boys, ages then 7, 9, and 11, using the excellent Pen sacola Christian School Correspon dence Course. This year we chose to try a Christian School, new in our town, but our experience with home study was 50 neat (though hard work!) that we may do it again. If anyone wishes to correspond
... 1 just wanted to mention that a "concerned" neighbor reported our children as truant to the local school board. We were paid a visit by the principal and the health nurse last week. When I told him I'd filed a private schoof affidavit, he said that was all he needed to know. He then gave us an open in,vitation to uSe any of the school facilities we cared to use - any time we cared to use them! I was pleasantly surprised - not to mention RELIEVED! ... From Jeanine Lupinek (CT): . .. I'm enclosing a check for sub scription renewal. Thanks to your help in sending a sample legal brief ahd a Jist of home school material suppliers, our five-year-old daughter is ours again! My husband presented our written request for school board approval yesterday. The Superintendent was very friendly and helpful, even sug gesting that we use the facilities at the elementary school (library) and let Mary participate in special pro grams they have if we desire. We're using ABEKA books advanced kindergarten materials (just books, not curriculum). The cost is under $100. There are three other unschool ing families in our area we know of .. ~ TEACHER AS MND READER
A reader sent us an evaluation sheet that her 6th-grade son had to fill out after a classroom art pro ject. The boy wrote the answers in the blanks; the teacher then wrote remarks on the form in red ink , shown here in capital letters. 1. Did this activity add to your store of knowledge? no I TRUST YOU MEAN YES' 2. Did your individual pro ject(s) stimulate your thinking and creative imagination? no If yes, how? because I was usrng-wood YES, BECAUSE YOU DEvELOpED AN IO~ROUND THE MATERIALS THAT WERE AVAILABLE. 3. Did this activity increase your awareness of and of sensitivity to design in nature? no, because it was a coat rack MITTEN RACK' BECAUSE vuu-NEEOEO TO USE SOMETHING FROM NATURE AS YOUR DESIGN. 4. Did it offer you an opportun ity for creative expression? Why? Why not? 'because I cut my Hnter BECAUSE YOU WERE FREE TO C EATE WVrH MATERIALS YOU ENJOY . 5. Did this activity stimulate your curiosity and desire to explore materials? Explain yes, because I have learned how to make a coat rack. YES, BECAUSE YOU HAD TO FIGURE aUf HOW TO USE THE AVAILABLE MATERIALS. 6. Has this activity increased your confidence in your ability to ex press your ideas? Explain ~~ because we got to use wood--vES, BECAUSE YOU FEEL NOW MORE ABLE TO CREATE SOMETHING USEFUL. SUCCESS N FLA.
Patricia Ann Mordes (FL) writes: . .. My husband and I were threat ened by the school board this week.
GROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING 119
3 We had thought they would leave us alone because my husband teaches at the local junior college, and has been there for 22 years. He has more than 30 hours above his master's de gree. The school board members are his former students and "friends." They are only doing their job, they say. We went to Tallahassee yester day, to the Department of Education. My husband thought he could register as a tutor with the state of Florida. He found he would have to take 26 extra hours in elementary education and be recert i fied for that. No way! I went to the office of Mr . James Kemp, Room 275, Knott Building, Fla. State Dept. of Education (Talla hassee). He was vefiY polite and coop erative. He said t at anyone in the state could register their homes as schools. The many different religious groups had lobbied to get very flexi ble laws passed regarding education, so they can run their own schools without being certified and without worrying about separation of church and state. Kemp said that what applied to them also applied to any one else in the state. We cannot be discriminated against just because we are uncertified or just" "small fish." There are no regulations regarding content, certification, or minimum number of students. One must keep a roll of students, and they must attend 180 days per year. That's it. ; . . Kemp agreed with me that a child could get a sound education at home. I am sending you a copy of the one-page form required for legality in this state. As of tomorrow I will be +egally registered as a private school. Terrific' ... Another Florida reader just wrote: ... We are listed as a private school here in Fla., since last Octo ber. After writing the Dept. of Ed., as~ing about laws on correspondence schools, I was informed that the state does not approve nor does it regulate private elementary and secon dary · ~chools ... I was worried about not being a certified teacher, until I dug a little deeper in some books I have and found a clause that states the requirements to hold a Fla. cer tificate to teach do not apply to pri vate schools. So I held my breath and decided to call the Dept. of Ed. to see what they suggested. Imagine my surprise when the person I'd written a few times knew exactly who I was and was so helpful that there wasn't a doubt in my mind that there still are some real people in some of those depart ments. When I said that he ' was well informed on this somewhat awkward matter, he said he's talked with many other parents wanting to te.ach their own children (but not as far back in the boonies as us). According to him I've fulfilled my legal requirements for a private school- by filling out the one page registration form he sent us in Octo ber, He'll send us one each year afterwards until we decide to discon tinue pur private school. And if any one questions our legitimacy, have them call him and he'll confirm that we're a registered school. He said call again any time if we have any problems or just to talk, and if we could collect a pile of paperwork such as attendance records, etc., someone would have a very hard time disputing our school.
GROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING *19
I've done a lot of research and written a lot of people when it wasn't necessary, but I'~ glad to have all'the knowledge ~ ve gathered under my belt. And now I have a lot more time to give to my daughter in h~lping her with things she wants to learn. She visited her friends down the road for the first time since summer. Their mother,.. the local first grade teacher, was glad to h~ar we were on our way with · our school. We should be seeing more of them now, Jennifer to play and myaelf to swap ideas with the teacher •.. MAKING BASKETS
Jeanne McDougall (AR) wrote: ... We three have just returned from leading a very successful two week basket-making seminar, held in an open air tent tn a hay meadow in the beautiful Ozark hil!s. The envir onment is so , relaxed, congenial and so conducive to learning in a no pressure atmosphere; we are continual ly amazed and delighted with the results. The baskets our students are able to make in two wee~5 ' are compar able to those it took Doug and me two years to make on our own (back then there was no available instruction). There were a few children in evidence, as the seminar is termed a learning vacation, but many of the students are retired. But with the exception of one nine-year~old boy who was enrolled in watercplor, none of the children were students. His proudest painting was a gift to my 3-year-old daughter, Plum Blossom (self-named). It was a simple, lovely watercolor wash of a single red plum. Who else but a child? The young boy of anether instruc tor hung around the bask~t class, with many questions, dying to make his own material and basket from a tree. We worked with him during lunch until he had woven his own. As for Plum, she had a wonderful time, wandering freely and visiting with everyone, often successfully con ning forbidden sweets, Her favorite class was the woodcarvers, as she watched fascinated as a Raggedy Ann appeared from a solid block of wood, and then, miracle, WaS given to her! Almost everyon~ there talked of their children aop grandchildren, whom they missed while on this "learn ing vacation," and how well their children were dQing in school, etc. Knowing how far back in the woods we live, many aSKed me what we were go ing to do about school for Plum. When I replied th3t she would remain at home with us, we became even more of a curiosity, and the familiar threat ened look appeared in their eyes. So, cautiously, I pointed out to them that if Plum could attend "learning vacations" such as this seminar, I would be all fer it. To which they re plied, "This is not school." No, this is not schoQl, as you know it, I thought; this is a far cry from pris on, this i~ a learning environment as it should be. Why is this environment available, all across the country, to parents and grandparents and so rare ly to 'their children? I know that they would refuse to believe that they but not their kids could learn anything, in such a relaxed atmos phere. Apparently learning vacations are a luxury for mature adults. I would love to se~ seminars such ds this for children - I would prefer to see a mixed group : children and their parents on a learning vacation togeth
er, working side by side. Unfortunate ly, it seems that many are also on a vacation from their children. The upshot of all this and dis cussions with my husband is that we shall request that next year's 3emin ar brochure state that we would wel come children in our class ... [From a later letter : ] ... Since I have been reading so much in GWS about children at work, I want to pass on that Plum has been involved in our basketmaking for all of her 3\ years, since this is how we support ourselves at home. Instead of being jealous of baskets for having taken up so much of our t i me, as lance feared she m~ght, she loves them, has many of her own, and loves to go to shows with us when we exhibit them. She understands that we make many of them for sale and this is how we make our money. She feels that the weaving is too difficult yet for her to attempt, so I'm not pushing her, and she is content (usually) to play and work alongside of me. But her father works outside, splitting the trees and mak ing the material (actually much more difficult than weaving) and this pa.st summer she jumped right in on this aspec~ of the process. After she struggled for days on her' father's shaving horse, he took the hint and built one her size. She was given a very sharp drawknife with brief instructions in the art of hand ling it. Although one draws the double-handled knife toward the stom ach and it looks very dangerous, the nicks and cuts are only suffered while picking up and putting down the knife. For about a week her chief delight was in the amount of wood shavings she could pile up, but her interest never flagged and she eventu ally turned out some beautiful pieces of wood. She was given soft wood at first instead of oak, but now knows the difference and disdains anything but the hard stuff. No one sa i d a word to her about manipulating her tools; she had been watching her dad do it for three years and she figured she knew all she needed to give it a try. We have watched heT learn skills and techniques that simply cannot be taught, they have ~o be a personal discovery. These are things that I, as the weaver, ~now very little about, for I ha~e not spent much time with these tools. This is a source of pride to her, for she knows that she is adept at something through her own efforts - and though she may not be as adept as dad, she is more adept than mom in this area. So she is com fortable in this non-competitive place because we thre~ are undivided , in our endeavours, yet ind i viduals in our accompliShments ... As we often do, we sent Jeanne a draft of the parts of her l etters we wanted to use in GW5, and she wrote back: ... When I read a "success story" in GWS, .1 always think : "Wow, what a fine job those parents are doing, what wonderful children they're ra i s ing," etc. I delight in and learn much from such accounts, but often sense my own shortcomings as regards parenting. One letter made me realize I was doing a lousy job helping Plum learn about money, for example. Thus, my letters seem to convey the same prideful sense that we are ver y far out parents doing a terrific job.