GROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING
25 Two TV shows have taped inter views \~ith me recently, "Portrait of America," on Ted Turner's network, a nd " Evening Magaz ine"; plus, I've done one show live, "People Are Talk ing" in Baltimore . I ' ve talked on radio shows in Toronto, Columbia SC, Woonsocket RI, Boston (two shows), St. Louis, and am about to do one in Reno. As we go to press (end of Janu ary), Pbople magazine says their story a out home-schooling may come out soon . There was a wide variety of peo ple in the audience at last week's home-schooling information meeting in Cambridge, which was organized by Litty Medalia . Besides myself, four h ome-schooling families were on the panel, and I was most impressed at their eloquence in answering ques ti ons . I was also delighted to learn there are now four home-schooling fam ilies in nearby Rockland, which \s on our "Fri endly School Districts" list. I have nearly finished the revi sions of HOW CHILDREN LEARN . Over the h olidays I was able to visit with a number of friends, which I love to do and rarely have enough time for. --- John Holt
COMING SCHEDULE Feb. 7, 1982 : Libertarian Party Confere n ce, 10:30 AM, Somerville MA. Mar 1: KDKA-TV, "P ittsburg h Today, " 2-3 PM; Pittsburgh, PA. Mar 3 : Teachers' In-Service Meet ing, Rockland Public Schools, Rock land MA . Mar 13: Indianapolis Council of Preschool Cooperatives, Indianapolis IN . Keynote address & workshops . Con tact Sally Zweig, Conf . Chair ., 317 257-8275. To register, send SASE: 5163 N Illinois, Indianapolis 46208. Mar 14: Meet with Bloomington IN unschoolers. Contact Lynn Garringer, 812-876 - 4726. Mar 18-25: Stockholm, Vas t eras, Linkoping, Norrkoping, Jonkoping, Vaxjo, Gothenburg, and Malmo, Sweden . Arranged by Ake Bystrom and Stig Nilsson, University of Linkoping. Apr 17-27: Birmingham, London, Oxford, and Sout h ampton, England. Arranged by John Elenor and Iris Har rison, Education Otherwise, 18 Eynham Rd, London W12 OHA . We are also scheduling visits to Denm ark, Norway, Germany, and Ice land, in April and early May.
DEATH OF A FRIEND We were appalled to learn of the death of a leading home-schooling figure, Mary Bergman . On Jan . 5, a former neighbor, crazed by overwhelm ing financial problems, arrived at the Bergman hom~ with a shotgun and
began firing . Mary and an elect ri cia n who was working there at t he time were killed, and two of the Bergman boys were wounded (both now in good condition) . The neighbor left and com mitted suicide a few minutes later. Mary had taught her nine child ren at home for many years in Utah and Missouri, and started the NATION AL ASSOCIATION OF HOME EDUCATORS and Home Educators Newsletter . Many GWS readers will remember her article that we reprinted in GWS #14, about her children's skills in carpentry, mechanics, plumbing, and wiring . We reprint more from H. E . N. in this issue . We hope tha~organization she founded will be able to continue her excellent work, and we know that GWS readers join us in sending our deepest sympathy to her family . --- Donna Richoux
20 YEARS OF UNSCHOOLING From Washington State : . .. 1 consider myself a pioneer home schooler, having resolved back in 1962 that our infant first-born would be educated at home. I taught him from scratch until he was twelve years old at which time we tried send ing him to a church school. After three months we took him out as he was too bored. Later we tried two different correspondence schools, but each time we found that doing our own thing was better. .. . He took a G.E . D. test last summer and surprised us all with a score in the top ten percent. All the years of self-doubt, of worry about the outcome, of concern for the chi ld ren ' s welfare, of turning deaf ears to recriminations of friends and rela tives concerning our little " experi ment" - it was all worth it . Now he is attending the Technical Institute, and is at the head of his class, making straight A's . I asked him the other day how he could get an A in Calculus, when math had been my weakest area and we'd barely made it past fractions . He said, "You taught me how to learn, didn't you?" In his spare time he runs a TV repair business. He already passed his Electronics Technician test (scored 100% while only two others in his class even passed, on the first try.) ... 1 have enthusiastically recom mended home schooling to anyone who will listen . Among our friends are at least ten families who are now teach ing their children at home. Back in 1962 I didn't know of a soul who had even thought of such a thing . But a few years ago I did meet a family whose children, slightly older than ours, had always been taught at home . I was surprised, to say the least' By the way, we do have other children - five altogether - ages 19, 16, 14, 7, and 3, all at h ome . But we don't worry about them - we 're more relaxed now. And the older ones help teach the younger . We feel fortunate that the State has never bothered us. They've been curious, and asked ques tions a time or two, but we live "out in the sticks" and have always tried to be discreet . So far they've just looked the other way. Now the climate is changing and people are beginning to take a real interest, what with the public school system on the skids and state funds drying up rapidly . . .. My hu sband (a nd I) on l y had one year of college, but h e was recently offered a teaching post at our son's technical school, largely
because of our son's being held in such high esteem by the faculty, both in character and scholarship . He accepted the job and is enjoying it immensely . ... Our 16-year-old daughter has also completed her secondary home edu cation, but is deemed too young to take her G.E.D . test. She is getting a head-start on college by poring over her brother ' s advanced math books, etc, in between music lessons and getting some first hand experi ence at running the home while I teac h the younger children . Our 14-year-old is doing 8th grade reading and math, along with many "extra-curricular" interests; and the seven-year-old is just learn ing to read (I concur with Raymond Moore's BETTER LATE THAN EARLY, Read er ' s Digest Press) . I consider my most important responsibility at the moment the foundation work being laid for our three-year-old. To inspire children with curiosity and a love of learning when they are little is, I believe, the best assurance for the success of any home school. ... Show me a young adult who was shipped off to nursery school at three and kindergarten at five, spent nearly every waking moment under pressure to conform to the immature standards of his peers, squandered precious years of his life seeking entertainment rather than knowledge, expecting all his needs to be sup plied by the mostly absent and prac tically unknown parents - and I'll show you an irresponsible, grown-up child who still needs 4-6 years of college just to learn what life is about, wh o has no opinion of his own but is victimized by whatever the "upper hand" dishes out on the tube, and expects his livelihood to be guar anteed by the State . Maybe our child ren are "misfits" - but so was every great person in history ...
BE YOUR OWN EXPERT Janet Williams (PA) writes: . .. I've been seeing people go off half-cocked - and then calling me after damage has been done. I am struck over and over by the way peo ple rely on other people for informa tion. Not just home-schoolers, eith er' Our local superintendent does not know state law, regulations, or dir ectives - even though they are all there somewhere in his office. When he has a question he does not find the answer himself, he calls someone who should know . Dependence on dubious experts means much incorrect informa tion and understanding . How schooled we have been to turn to the "expert'" But at what cost? I feel it incumbent to repeat certain steps which are ESSENTIAL before making contact with local school people. 1) Read State School Code . The county library should have a copy . You can also get one from your Congressman/woman . 2) Contact State Dept . of Ed. for any pertinent regulations . There are volumes . Some pertinent ones in PA are " Chapter 11 of State Board Regulations" in the "Administrator Handbook for Nonpublic Nonlicensed Schools.·" 3) . You must become Sour own exte You will n ot be a Ie to learn EV R HING before you take action, but lack of knowledge is an unschool er's suicide . You must be able to
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2 rebut when a superintendent says, "Oh, that ' s not my decision," or when the Board Solicitor says, "You do not qualify for h omebound instruction ." 4. Whenever necessary to consult officials, do it in writing. Ques tions are answered more thoroughly on paper (and can't be denied later). ... When families know what they are talking about, they are infinite ly more successful. Each family that goes off in blithe ignorance makes it that much harder for the next .. .
NEWS FROM ALL OVER We don't know how many of the radio interviews John h as been doing lately have resulted from the sugges tion of GWS readers, but at least some have. For example, Jacque Wil liamson of West Virginia wrote, "By the way , thank John for doing the WOUB-FM Athens, Ohio, radio inter view . I h ad requested that one' Fred, my husband, and his mom were on the next day, talking about home-school ing in the 1950's, and the next day was current home-schoolers - three h ours total." Another reader, Janet Sarkett of Tuba City, Arizona, suggested John as a guest to KAFF/KFLG in Flagstaff . At the station's request, the publicity department of Delacorte Press sent them a review copy of TEAC H YOUR OWN, and the producer became very interest ed in home-schooling as a subject. However, they only take studio guests - so we suggested they a~ Sarketts to be on the show' Which they did, and the entire Sarkett fami ly wound up in the studio. Janet said that within two days she had received 30 requests for information about home schooling . Another kind of free publicity GWS readers are taking advantage of: "l etters to the editor." We might l ater reprint some of the excellent, eloquent letters on home-schooling that some of you have submitted to your local papers. Some of the let ters mention GWS, including our address, which we do appreciate. Two Washington State readers, Lorena Ellenberger and Debra Stewart, asked us to remind GWS readers in that state to write and call their legislators in support of House Bill 196, which would establish new, less restrictive standards for private sc h ools. For example, private school teachers wou ld no longer be required to have a state certificate. The Wash ington Education Association, the Association of School Administrators, the State Board of Education, and the School Director's Association all oppose the bill; those groups repre sent a lot of money and influence, so every possible supporter is needed. Also, we just heard about anoth er bill in Wash . State, this one pro posed by Rep. Wayne Ehlers of Pierce County. It would allow parents to remove their children from school after the parents sign an affidavit stating that th e y ar e responsibl e for the children's education . Debra Stewart (26611 SR 530 NE, Arlington WA 98223), who organized the unschooler ' s conference north of Seattle that John spoke at last year, is starting the Northwest Unschool er ' s Newsletter, and plans another conference for next August. She writes, " Two groups have contacted me lately, of about 20 families each, who have been home-schooling and don't know of you or your books. Isn't it amazing?" The Stewarts have also formed their own private school,
the "Still aguamish Learning Exchange." Debbie Jones ( "News From Idaho," GWS # 19) writes, " Things are going great guns up h ere . Home schooling is growing like you can't believe. There are 11 families in our small district wit h their kids out. There are about 10 to 20 more families in the upper Snake River Valley (eastern Idaho) with kids out or just about to take them out . We are incorporating pri vate h ome schools and it seems to be working well. The school authorities don't like it but they don't know what to do about it. It is all accord ing to Idaho law." An article about home-schooling in the Arlington, Va. Journal, which, like many such articles, has inter views with GWS families, also says, "The Virginia School Code now re quires that 5 to l7- year-old children attend public or private sc h ools or be taught by a tutor . A 'private school ' is not defined in current law, and the state does not have spe cific qualifications for tutors. A bill scheduled to be introduced by Del . Thomas Forehand of Norfolk will seek to r egulate both. Under Fore hand ' s bill, a school would be a place outside the home where students are taught by people ot h er than their parents. Parents could still call themselves 'tutors' and teach their children at home, but only if they held baccalaureate degrees or had special permission from the school superintendent . .. " - DR
PA. SCHOOL CASE Cheryl Veith in Pennsylvania, who is involved with the Bedford Count y Collective Education Center, sent us clippings about a recent cour t case involving that parent cooperative school, and a copy of the judge's opinion. We quote from the ruling below: IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF BEDFORD COUNTY. Commonwealth of Penn sylvania vs . Eleanor Howsare. Crimin al Action No . 37 for the year 1981. Appeal from Summary Conviction . Defendant, Eleanor Howsare, has appealed to this Court from her con viction of violating the compulsory attendance requirements of the "Pub lic School Code of 1949." From the evidence presented to us at a trial de novo, we find that: 1) Throughout the period during which they are alleged to have been unlawfully absent from the public schools, defendant's two school-age daughters were regularly in atten dance at a private school. 2) The private school had been establis h ed as one owned and operated by or under the authority of a religi ous institution. 3) The existence of the private school had been certified to the Department of Education . .. 4) The sponsoring religious institution had no by-laws or similar regulations which prescribed qualifi cations for membership therein and fixed responsibility for operating the private school in question. 5) Defendant was a member of the group of individuals who had organ ized and were operating the private school, and she made a good faith effort to satisfy the requirements of the Code. In such circumstances it is our opinion that defendant is entitled to the benefit of a reasonable doubt, i nasmuch as the provisions of the
Code with respect to legally accept able alternatives to public sc ho ol education are obscure and do not appear to have been construed defini tively. Therefore, we have concluded that defendant must be found not guilty . . .. We find no provision in the Code, nor in any Regulation promulga ted by the Dept. of Education, which requires or authorizes supervision of private religious schools . Thus, it appears to us that it is not within the province of local school authori ties to determine whether or not such " schools" are in compliance with the law, or whether or not the "religious institutions" sponsoring them are bona fide. In the event a false or fraudulent certificate has been filed with respect to such a school, the responsibility to initiate remedial or punitive action rests with the Department of Education. If a private school operated by or under the authority of a purported religious institution has filed the certificate required by the Department's Regula tions, Rroof that a child of compu1 sor sc 001 a e is enrolled therein to
DISTRICT USES CALVERT The Chicago Sun-Times, 9/9/81: . .. In the remote Blue Mountain reaches of Grant County [Oregon], stu dents will get their learning from correspondence courses because the taxpayers won 't pay for bus service. ... 25 pupils living in the Gran ite and Bates areas will take courses by mail from the Calvert Correspon dence School of Baltimore. "We don't have all the details worked out yet," [the superintendent] sa id. "But the district will pay the students ' tui tion." Bus service was cut wh en school district voters failed to pass an operating levy in June. Athletic pro grams and four teaching positions also were cut .. .
NEBRASKA GROUP From Judy Duerr, 4142 Adams St , Lincoln NE 68504 (GWS #19): ... We have started a group in Nebraska called the NEBRASKA HOME SCHOOL ASSOCIATION (name isn't final). So far we meet about every two months and call each other often . Last meeting we contacted the new Neb r aska people listed in the GWS Direc tory. They came to our gathering and were delightful folks. The function of our group is to share ideas, answer questions, and try to keep up with current legisla tion concerning schools ... Some reli gious schools have decided their Constitutional rights are being viola ted by the state requirement of certi fied teachers to be called an approved school . .. . The Education committee of the Legislature held public hearings to give citizens a chance to speak their piece. Religious sc h ools brought in Moral Majority leaders and the Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Joe Crawford, from Nort h Dakota. North Dakota is having a similar prob lem and the teachers' union there is so strong that legislation to exempt religious schools from the teacher certification requirement has (ailed to pass twice. The bottom line for
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3 the ND Superintendent is to put good families in jail. As Crawford said, "This a pproa ches lunacy ." He also re marked , "The only people not against a monopoly are the o nes that have one " (the teachers' union) . Crawford a l so ex pec t s h e won't be re-elected to his position next term . · .. Our governor has come out in favor of a bill that will allow exemp tion of teacher certification require ment for religious schools. · . . Our 9t h grade boy is back in sc hool as we aren't an approved high school and he really likes basket ball ... I'm helping a Learning Center (K-8) get started. Our 13 and 11 year o ld attend the center part-time . .. The fou nd e r of the center has 18 years ' experience in alternative edu cation. I find her ways of organizi ng space for l earning enriching ... HELPFUL SCHOOL
From Birdsong Sa nder, SEQUOIA COMM UNITY SCHOOL, 3031 Franklin Blvd, Sacramento CA 95818 : · .. 1 work and live at an alterna tive school for 12-18 year olds ... We are willing to sign up kids whose par e n ts don't want them in school at all . Last spring we did that for a boy who was too young t o go her e ; now his step-father, our English teacher, brings him to school with him every day at the boy ' s choosing . . . The other home schoolers are a girl who is currently travelling with her mom, and is enrolled here so that her last public sc hool would not freak ou t at her leaving, and a boy whose mom teaches him at h ome . Our arrangement with them is basically one of legal protection. We are only charging them $50 for the school year, and are will ing to do that with others ... I think we could even cover students younger than 12-1 8 ... SUCCESS STORIES
From Elaine Andreski, 30327 Pembroke, Warren MI 48092: . .. 1 have been teaching my child ren at home for going on five years now. The children have one and two years respectively to go before they finish high school. They will receive their diploma from th e Christian Lib erty Academy . I am an avowed advocate of home-schooling especial l y because I have a basis of comparison . Two of my older sons have graduated from the government public sc hools and were ill equipped to handle the outside world . I th ought to myself after wards, could I do any l ess? Well, we've been doing just fine for the last four years; t hi s year, our fifth, is going as well .. . From Gail Knight (AK): ... Just two wee ks ago, my hus band and I took our 6-year-old son out of the first grade in th e e lemen tary sc hool two blocks down the street . The ironic part of it is that my father, who e ncouraged us to take the step a nd called Juneau t o get all the information we needed, has been in educatio n for over 25 years (teac her, counselor, principal, superinten dent). The fact that a fine, innova tive, intelligent and exceptional edu cator and administrator has grave doubts and (ears concerning the quali-
GROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING #25
ty of public education was of serious concern to us . The daily work our son brought home, his change in attitude and personality, the crowded class room he studied in, and the run around we received from both teacher and principal added to our fears . .. [F rom a later note: ] ... The last 3~ months have continued in a posi tive way and we are amazed at the difference in our whole family life' Now I can't imagine the boys going to school. We feel we hav e a special and wonderful quality in our relation ships . .. An Oregon reader writes: · .. We are starting our third year of home schooling. Our son Rishi is starting the third grade and wi ll turn seven next month . We had a very good response from the school authori ties and from the school board when we request e d permission to continue wi th our h ome school . We were lucky in that Oregon law starts mandatory attendance at the age of seven, and si nc e we had home taught without legal interference, our son was well above his grade level. The school felt that we could offer more at home than the school coul d. Permission was granted without any hassl e . ... 1 hav e given Rishi some o ld blank checks, and we ha ve started playing store. He comes into my store, buys certain objects of his choice , and writes me a check. This involves both writing and math. ... 1 am considering not using the Advisory Teaching Service which Calvert offers. We used it for first and seco nd grades and Rishi loved the letters and responses from his Mary land teacher. The only problem is that the Compositions are mandatory . Rishi loves doing tests. He insists on keeping his Advisory Teacher this yea r ... Claudia Jones (OR) writes : · .. We are among eight families in a very small, conservative farm commu nity in northeastern Oregon who have taken our children out of public school and enrolled them in a home study program. We are grate(ul to live in Oregon where the state laws are fairly liberal. After three months of home teach ing I ca n honestly say that I have no regrets . We are so glad to have our- eight-year-old out of the negative, competitive atmosphere that damaged his self-confidence so badly his first year of school . He has not only progressed scholastically, but emo tionally as well . Our decision was greatly influ e nc ed by our faith a nd our own belief that the " training up" of our chi ld ren is very much our responsibility. It was a difficulr-decision to make we are a very middle-class family (my husband and I were both raised in Oregon and attended public schoo ls ), and it was a fearful thing to con sider going against the acceptable standard in our community . We're so glad we had the courage to take that first step ...
month from the first consultation wit h the lawyer to receipt of the Cer tificate of Incorporation. Total cost was $73, $10 of which went to the state of Missouri. We will compose our own by-laws a nd file for tax exemp t status ourselves - all part of the educational process. When 1 inquired at the office of the State Department of Education con cerning guidelines o r helpful informa tion, I was told, "If you 're a pri vate school, you're on your own." I visited the superintendent of ou r local school and explained our pri vate home school. I was treated in a professional manner and given copies of Stephen's school records . Most friends a nd acquaintances are understanding and supportive . My on ly negative encounter was with a kindergarten teacher who was shocked that children could so easily be kept at home with no guarantee that they wou ld be taught an approved curricu lum ... From Kate Smith (IN): ... We are in our third week of home-schooling, and though it surely is too early to declare ourselves free of legal hassles, there are two ot her families in Shelbyville who have been h ome-schooli ng since the start of the school-year and, after some initial threatening noises, the school officials seem to have accept ed the situation . Indiana law can be interpreted to permit home-schooling (indeed , a committee h as formulated guidelines for attendance officers lsee GWS #24] that strongly imply that home-schoolers should be treated as any non-public school) and though we know the local school people are not pleased with our efforts, they seem, so far, to be tolerating it so as to avoid any nasty public scrutiny . . .. It feels good to be doing this . We really feel as if we ' ve reclaimed our lives and our efforts are once again all of one piece ... From Michael Carpenter, Rt 2 Box 104, Littlefork MN 55653 : .. . At this time we are teaching our children at home. We have a second -grade boy and a first-grade girl . There are also two more younger ones coming to school-age soon. So far the principal of the elementary school here has been exceptionally helpful. We use the same materials as the school district and keep in close contact with the respective teachers of these grades and with the princi pal. We have a separate schoolroom used o n ly for that purpose and we have a large number of books in our home library for the c hi ldren ' s use. I am a certified teacher in secondary education . Part of my present deal with the school board is to get six credits per year toward my elementary degree . This I am doing, but may not be financially able to continue to do so . I expect trouble if I do not con tinue with these college credits .. .
A MOTHER LEARNS Pam Robinson (UT ) writes:
Anna Sankovich (MO) wrote : · . . During the summer, our family incorporated Chanti c le er Learning Ce n ter, a home schoo l for Stephen, 11, a nd Noa h, 2 . The process of incorpora ting took slightly longer than one
... Well, it is time for me to put aside my fears of spelling and grammatical errors and share my pleasures, fears, and frustrations relative to our home school situa tion. This is our fifth year of home
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schooling . We have four sons: Jared, almost 13; Camden, 11; Kale, 8; and Russell, 2 . ... 1 must share the experie nce that brought h ome to me exactly what my place was (or rat her, wasn ' t) in our home sch ool situation . We had ordered a large floor map of t he world that included a teach e r's guide. As a dutiful instruct or, I carefully r ea d the manual and put away t he te ac hing methods in my head . Some time later, Kale (6 at th e time ) got the puzzle out and was putting South America together o n th e floo r . Jared, who was very much into World War II, came ove r, picked up Germany and Japan, and sa id, " Man, Cam , l ook at this' These two littl e countries fought almost the whole r est of th ose countries and nea rly won. " Then Cam asked Kale if he could put together Asia and th e communist countries . And Jare d started re-enacting WWII bat tles . At this po int, Mommy r emem bered the manual and jumpe d in wit h dis tance comparisons, etc. Jared walked off t o his bedroom . A few minutes lat e r, Cam hea ded for th e kitch e n, and shortly afte r, Kal e we nt outs ide to play . AND TH ERE SAT MOMMY PUTTING TOGETHER THE FLOOR PUZZLE ALL BY HERSELF ! .. . [J H: 1 Such a sa d s t o ry ' Poo r we ll-mea ning Mommy' The happy e nding is that she learned somet h ing from this, o r s he wouldn 't have written t o tell us about it . And it' s fair to guess that sometime lat e r they a ll got back to the pu zz l e . This story illustrates a very import a nt point . Th ousa nd s of parents t eac h i ng th ei r ow n c hildr en ha ve l ea rned from experie n ce just as Pam did, that interfering very muc h in th e l ea rning of c hildr e n ofte n stops it a lt ogeth e r. Parents l ea rn this lesson eas il y . Why is it so hard t o l ea rn for people who t eac h in sc hoo l s? The a n swer is simp l e . The r eason that Pam cou ld see right away that h er meddling had, for the time being a t least, spo il ed the map game for everyone, was that her child ren were free to l eave the room . Sup pose they hadn't been , suppose it had bee n a regular classroom, and the children h ad been compelled, not only to stay there, but to go on doing the assigned wo rk with the map . What wou ld hav e happened is that they would ha ve begun to do as little as they could get away wit h. Instead, they mig ht have daydreamed, or bluffed, or playe d the o ld classroom game of "I don't get it," or bugged t he teacher by putting the map togeth er wro ngl y . But to t he teacher a ll these fake activities would have looked as if t he childre n were s till working on the map, and so the vi t al lesson would have bee n l ost . At th e end of TEACH YOUR OWN, I made th i s same po in t; because chi ld ren have to be in school and have to d o what th ey're told , teacher~rom first grade right through graduate sc hool, almost neve r get any quick and reliable feedback about th ei r teaching . By co ntr ast, people teach ing their own chi ldren, even if they make ma ny mistakes at first, are soon very likely t o become very effective teachers, becaus e, l ike Pam above , they get from their children the kind of unmistakable feedback t hat tells them when t heir teac hing is h elpf ul a nd whe n i t is not . It's like running a restaurant. If you ' re running a restaurant, and put fish on t he me nu, you learn ve r y quickly whether your customers like
fish or not - if they don't, they don ' t order it. If you ' r e running a n Army mess (or schoo l lunc h ) wher e everyo ne has to take the fish whet her they like it o r not, you don't f ind out - unless ( like good mess cooks) you pay attention to th e garbage and happen to notic e that th ere ' s a lot o f fish in th e r e . But it ' s n o t so easy , in fact it ' s next to impossi bl e, fo r c l assroom teach e rs to find out what parts of their t eac hing are being thrown into the me ntal garbage pails o f their students . And so the c ir c le winds on: because of coerc i on, they get no feedback; because of no feedback, they d o not improve, but keep o n ma king the same mistakes. ACTIVE FAMILY
More from Pam Robin so n (UT) : ... Ca m is no t much of a read e r . .. After three yea r s .. . I backed of f a nd tri e d desperat e ly to co ntrol my anxiety about hi s r eadi ng l eve l . I do invent reading games from time to time, a nd ke e p a r evo lving sup pl y of r eadi ng material o n hand . This last year I have managed t o leave him a lon e in r egards t o r eadi ng . Thi s fall , my husba nd suggested putting the kids back in school (he wo rries that my very a thl e tic Cam will no t be ab l e t o r eac h hi s potential o r ga in full e njo yme nt of his a thl etic abili ty ou t si de the public sc hools . ) I panicked a t th e s uggesti on. How co uld I put an l l-y ear-o ld r eading a t a seco nd grade leve l back into public sc hoo l? The pr o-educati on people would have a field da y . No o ne wo uld care th a t he had spe nt ho ur s at the riding s t ab l e , ha d been involved in training race horses , was invited at nin e yea r s of age to watch the doc tors perform surgery on th e ho r ses because of hi s inter est and maturity . I grabbed the primers and sat him down to read to me . To my amazeme nt, he was reading a grade level a head of t he previous year ' s wor k regardless of the f act I had no t see n him pick up a "read ing" book a 11 yea r . .. I would like to share the accom plishments of my l2-yea r- o ld . Jared has overhaul e d a lawn mower motor, truck r ear - e nd, a nd transmission . He wo rk s summe rs for a neig hb o r driving a tractor that pulls a hay choppe r a nd large hay wago n. He is paid very we ll because he is one of the most r espon s ibl e , dependable employees in t he a r ea . This year at 12 he had the j ob of training a nd bre a king in al l t he new help, 17- and 18-year-old young men . He is not r equired by us to wo rk , yet he ofte n c hooses to wo rk long hours, Sundays, and holidays . He is comp l ete l y in charge of hi s ow n e du cation . He we nt through seve ral int e r es t periods . He was avid o n American biographies at age 7; later s tudi e d astro nomy a nd went t hr oug h ancie nt hi sto r y, es pecially the Roman emperors; lately he ' s bee n interested in architecture . He does not do much math. He can add, s ub tract, multiply, a nd di vide . He wo rk s wi th fractions and perc e nt ages but is probab l y not up to grade l evel , and is d ef inite l y s l owe r th a n those who have memorized math tables . He reads avid l y, however; spend s very littl e time writi ng , and probably falls down in spe lling, grammar, etc . ... Cam likes Chisanbop a nd o ft e n as ks for math problems (but is probab ly " behind " in math, to o) . He very muc h e nj oys working wi th animals a nd trails be hind the vet anytime any thing is sick on o ur farm. He of t en
is responsible for doctoring the cows on his own . He has worked t he last three summers, mov ing spr inkl e rs for th e neighb o ring farms a nd has made e nough to purchase his own h orse . He has rai sed hamste rs, mice, dogs, cats , r abbits, chickens, fish, and turtles . He has brought home wounded ow ls, killd ee r, s parrow s , c rows, and swa llow s . He has a l so brought home t a rantulas, scorpions, mice, ground squirrels, li zards - th e l ist is e nd l ess . He likes to cook a nd build things. He built hi s own chi c ke n coop and this year wa nts to star t ove r and upgrade it . He also built a toy fort with a ca twalk that actually s upport ed al l th e kid s ' weight ... Sometimes I get very concerned abo ut Cam ' s l ac k of academic inter est . I kn ow my concern is part of th e problem. Any e ncou ra geme nt or'a dvic e wi ll be appreciate d ... Kale has neve r been in sc hool . .. Hi s main int eres t seems to be in the crea tiv e arts. I a m a classica l art ist and he likes to paint whe n I paint . . . He drew miniature replicas of eve r y gun picture he cou ld find, a nd a lso l a rg e machinery. Now he is into finger puppet characters - 52 to date. He r eads very simple pr ime r type books, likes me to give him phon et ic spelling t es ts, a nd e njoys sim ple wo rd games. He adds a nd sub tracts, und ersta nds what multiplica tion a nd fractions are . He prints many of hi s l et t e rs backwards . ( This is hard for Mommy to cope with - a h o ldove r from schoo l days - "A second grader oug ht to be able to ... " ) . . . I'd just as soo n opt for out of school socia l ad justme nt . My child ren get along mu ch better wi th other c h i ldren now than they did the few yea r s th ey were in public sc h oo l, and they wo rk around teenagers a nd adults comfo rt ably . My three olde r c hildr e n a re all capable of handling money, s hopping, making bank de posits and withdrawa l s, coo king meals, driving and mai ntain ing cars, trucks, tractors a nd other farm machinery. But they also a ll have pr oblems to work ou t a nd things to learn like any o th er hum a n being ... Toward th e middl e of summer I was at th e hai rdr esser ' s , a nd a num ber o f mothers were dis cussi ng t he woes o f summer vacation, th e ir thank fulness for day-camp, a nd desire to get the kids back in sc hoo l . One woma n commented that she was sick of hea r i ng, "M ommy, what is there to do? " I realized how very l ong it had been s inc e I had heard those words' . .. When Jared was 9, he had a playmate ove r . They d ecide d t o play cowboy . With no adult supervision wha t soeve r, t hey got out the Britan nica Ju ni or, looked up "t elegra ph" a nd proceeded to build a telegraph. They used an old piece of wood from a di sca rd e d d oo r, some wiring they found in the shop, and metal strips torn from a broken bucke t. Believe it o r not, it worked when they got it finished. I wal k into ou r little sc hool r oom and see th at, and it excites me more than a ny father sa nd ed science fair project I have ev er seen. I have a l so e nj oyed the spoo k al l eys they have made th at a r e full of the cutest, happi est monsters you cou ld imagine. They always devise clever triggers for the pop-up s k e l e tons a nd swoopi ng bats. Our roll s of ne ws pr int have made stores full of paper merchandise and money, forts, African hut s , Wester n towns, and Egyptian tombs. They almost always refer to t he encyc l o pedia or library books for authen-
GROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING =25
5 t icity . · . . A friend told me her hu sba nd said, "W hatever th e Robins on kids l ear n at home, it's not taught in pub l ic school . When they say something, you can tell they've thought about it and understand what they'r e t alki ng about'" What better endorsement of h ome education could one r eceive? .. 14-YEAR-OLD'S DECISION
Verna Helmke-Scha rf (NY) wrote to John: · . . Jud, our 14- year-o ld son, who h as here for h ome school l ast year and wh o had decidedly ambiva l ent feel ings about being home and being 13-14, has decided to return t o the public school . I wis h that I could say t hat I received the final deci sion of hi s gracefully a nd serenely . I did not, but I have come to ... We know eac h other better a nd I really think that we love each other more, so who cares what the arena or the issues are? I wish him well, will try to be there for him, and wi ll see just what does happe n in that jungle environment (my opi ni on , not necessar ily his). If he is genuinely happy about his e xperience than I think I'm going t o rejoice for him no matter what our differences . But I still have my thoughts, too . So around it goes . You suggested in your last let ter that a teenage person needs to h ave time with peop le who did not kn ow him or her when th ey were young e r. I'm rig ht with you on that one . Jud spent many hours working at a h orse farm with a wond erful familv who are all very good at what they do. They came to be verv fond of him and he excelled. We made a point of not being involved there and trusting him to do what he wanted to do . And we got to see glimpses of him outside of our environment. What a pleasure to see a fine mature person who has a lot of ability and a great sense of humo r just blossom on hi s own terms. Last year Jud read horse books and westerns exclusively after the fi r st few months of home school . We let hi m do it and we ' r e glad we did. I know that he would not have learned any more than he did if we had made him "hit the books." What he did gain last year was a large measure of self-esteem and I really don 't think th at he is going to compromise that as he goes back to public school to complete what he calls unfinished business. We will go in next week to the high sc hool to request that he not be t es ted. We hope that they will give him a six week trial period ... I think that he will do better because hi s a nxi ety about school work has lessened, and the decision to return to school is hi s ... Our three-Dther children (11, 9, and 2) are all dedicated home school ers and are immediate and adamant about having h ome sc hool again this year . And so am I .. . I have to admit that their doing so well makes me less defensive when people query me. But they are doing so well simply because the shackles of public school ' s homogenized think ing a r e dropping off and they are be coming free to be what chi ldren a r e meant to be . · .. We had a homeschool gathering here Sunday - three couples in the Itha ca area interested in h ome schooling their c hildr en . We have been approached by about twenty fami-
GROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING h25
lies within a radius of 30 miles this year . The interest is growing but few people seem to hav e the courage to actually do it. We are getting to know more who are doing it and our children are nOW-writing to four home-schooling kids . By the way, our three voungest didn ' t spend a minute wishing that the y could be with their school friends last year - they were simplv too busy. They saw ot her c hildr en through 4H and Girl Scouts and Cub Scouts. Socialization was no problem; thev became especiallv attract ive in those groups because thev felt so good about themselves .. . LIVING WITH LONELINESS
A parent writes: . .. So many people write about t heir c hil dre n being lonely at hom e, a situation sometimes e nding with the c hildr en going back to public school. This was a problem we confronted with E, our oldest daughter . . . Even when she was just 3 or 4, it created diffi culties in finding a neighborhood where we could both be happy (I was a single parent at the time and she mv onl y child). She was 7 when I got married and we moved here, all quite suddenly . Up till then she had alwavs lived in a citv, seen lots of her grandparents, cousins, aunts, and uncles, and attended either dav care, free school, private school, or pub lic school . The c hange was drastic for h er in all wavs. We have since then almost alwavs lived in a seclu ded spot, and our life is verv quiet . It happens that here we know verv few people who have children close to her age, and in our new familv the next child is 5~ years younger. She let us know she did not like not havi ng any friends. The possibili ty of taking h er into town for extra curricular activities usually present ed large problems in transportation and timing . For one year we lived practically next door to the l ocal two-room school ... E was sometimes included in special school eve nts and s he en joyed going to birthdav parties and occas ion ally bei ng able to visit some of the children at their homes. One girl lived verv close but there was not the basis for a good friend ship between her and E, and eventual Iv E preferred being alone to visit ing with this girl. Another vear E was able to take sports lessons with the public schools of a nearby town . She came to not like going, complaining that the other kids made fun of her because she didn't go to school, had a funnv ha ircut, etc . Now I see that from time to ti me she runs into o ne of these kids when we are in town, and she is happv to have the chance to sav hello or to have a little chat. E is now l2~. During these past five vears I have often felt bad that she had to rive without friends , especially that she had no special pal . Relatives on all sides made their disapproval plain. Now I feel the tide turning, within both me and E. I think loneliness for a child is somethi ng that can be endured and a child mav even grow to be a better person for having gone throug h it . I don't think anv of the children I hav e r ead about in GWS hav e desired social contacts more desperately than E. Yet I do not believe those con
tacts are necessarv.
It's that old " socialization " bugaboo . I think the peer group has
been overplayed in our time . The real world is full of people of all ages and varieties. As adults we do not relate only or eve n primarily to peo ple of our particular age. " Social contacts" are indeed necessary - let me clarify myself - it is "peer group" co ntact s that are dispensable. I would not arbitrarily deprive a c hild of peer-group contacts and nei ther would I strive to provide them artificia llv. And it is a verv rare c hild who does not h ave enough social contacts just as part of her ow-n---- life. E has come to consider some of our adult friends her own friends, a nd quite correctlv so. She has be come closer friend~ with her next younger brother as he has gotten older. She can relate well to people regardless of their age and I am satisfied . We can't give our children every thing thev want, and if we could and did, thev wouldn ' t grow up into very nice adults . The peopl e who are r ais ing their children in "is olation" are giving them countless benefits and opportunities of a dif ferent sort, and reduced social co nta cts must be accepted as one of the trade-offs . .. ON A VERMONT FARM
Pat Mattison (VT) writes: . .. Early last spring I gently informed the school that Brian (8) would not be returning in the fall and Heather Jov (6) would also be learning at h ome . .. It has been a won derful weight from my shoulders and a great joy . I was just sending them to school because that's what is expected, certainlv not for the educa tion. . .. With the children home, they
can be more a part of life. They
don't have just the token chores but
instead have real work that is neces
sary for us to have the life we
choose. Most of the work involves
feeding and watering our animals but
also includes checki ng each of the
animals . This is especially important
at l ambing time and to make certain
that the sheep and calves are not and
hav e not been molested by dogs or
coyotes (both serious problems). Both
children know the importance of their
chores - Brian has already chased
dogs worrying the sheep once this
season - and that they are not just
created jobs to give them something
to do.
We feel their artwork is very important. Much of the art is done for the pure pleasure it gives us and a lot is done for something else . Like yesterday, they spent a good part of the dav preparing for their father's birthday, making cards and pictures and decorating the bag his presents were in . Thev are also work ing on designs for a Christmas card I wi ll have printed for them to use. We each have our own nature sketch books . The nature sketch books are a real delight; as we work on our draw ings, we also make pertinent notes and date each page - we each decide for ourselves what is important and if someone doesn't want anv notes with a particular sketch, that's okav . We do use some of the books pro vided by the school and it can be fun . In one of Heather Joy's reading books there was a play, a nd the child r en spent most of the · after noon fix ing a stage, making puppets, and re hearsing . When Dad arrived home that night, we were entertained bv their rendition o[ "Billy Goat Gruff ," com