Growing Without Schooling 28

GROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING 28

morning assembly, Exeter NH. Oct 16: Maryland home-schoolers. Contact Manfred Smith, 9085 Flamepool Way, Columbia MD 21045. Oct 17: Conference on children, Kingston NY. Contact Dr. George Wotan, 914-331-4075. Oct 28-29: Universal Education Conference, Pisa, Italy. Contact: Connie Miller, phone (050) 68976-68894. Nov 4: NY State Reading Confer­ ence, Kiamesha Lake NY. Contact Jean Burns, 144 Menand Rd, Loudonville 12211. Nov 17: San Bernadino Valley Com­ munity College. Contact Sonny Wallick, 714 - 882-4437. Nov 18: UC Riverside. Contact Jim Dillon, 714-787-5228.

12) Handling correspondence. 13) Filing. 14) Cleaning, maintaining, and improving the office. 15) Finances and bookkeeping. 16) Keeping informed on such issues as education, society, environ­ ment, energy, peace, and music . We know that help can take many different forms, and we appreciate anything you can do. Also, if it hap­ pens that you send us suggestions and we don't have time to respond, please be sure that we have considered them and that we truly appreciate your concern. --- Donna Richoux VICTORY IN SOUTH CAROLINA

I've been busy as a bird dog since my return from Europe - the busi est summer schedule I can remem­ ber for a long time. Besides the home­ schooling meetings or lectures listed in #27, there was another meeting in Woods Hole, MA, and I'm leaving soori for more in Santa Fe and Albuquerque. I have also done radio interviews in Rochester NY, St. Louis, Providence RI, Saskatoon, and two in Boston. Nancy Plent (N J) and I had a won­ derful time a t the Homesteaders' Good Life Get-Together . Much interest in hom e-schooling. Both Florida meetings drew more than twice as many people as expect­ ed. In Tallahassee we had to find a new room for the lecture, and that room was jammed. I met many home­ schoolers there - as everywhere, they were determined, energetic, and resourceful. They said my visit was good for their morale; it was just as good for mine. The Massachusetts Association of School Committees invited me to be on a panel at their Nov . 4 conference in Hyanni s, but as it happened I was already scheduled for a teacher's con­ ference in New York. So Donna will be going to the Hyannis conference instead; she says it will be a nice excuse to get dressed up' I've bought a new cello, the first decent one I have ever owned, and what a difference' Playing it is a joy - I wish I could do it more. As you will see in this issue, we are adding some cassette tapes to th e list of materials we sell here. Hope you like these. Mary Van Doren has been a regu­ lar and very valuable volunteer in the office . With her comes her 13­ month old Anna, and watching this enchanting little person exploring the office, learning to walk and talk and climb up and down the building stairs, is our joy and delight. I have been tape recording much of her tal k and adventures, and plan to add these to our list of cassettes - a fascinating record of a little child's growth . --- John Holt JOHN'S COMING SCHEDULE

Aug 28, 1982: Louisiana home­ schoolers. Contact June Conley, 504­ 343-9404, or Katherine Reves, 504­ 387-6319. Sept 23: Tuba City (AZ) High School Auditorium, 7:30 PM. Contact Janet Sarkett, 602-283-5126. Sept 24: Northern Arizona U., Flagstaff AZ; 10 AM public lecture. Sept 25: Phoenix home-schoolers. Contact Brian Evans, 602-966-6474 . Sept 28: Colorado home-school­ ers. Contact Nancy Dumke, 1902 S. Oneida, Denver 80222 . Oct 5: Phillips Exeter Academy,

HELP WANTED

I can't ever remember having so many wonderful GWS stories to choose from; it's hard to have to leave out so much good material. John and I are looking for ways to publish more of this material - perhaps by increasing the size or frequency of GWS, publish­ ing our own booklets, saving material for a major book, etc. Whatever we do will take more time, money, and energy, and frankly, we are so busy doing what we are do­ ing already, it's hard to see how to put any new ideas into practice. We welcome any ideas on how we could save - or create - time and money. What we need most of all seems to be volunteers . We are finding more and more ways to make good use of the volunteers who come to our office or live in the Boston area, and we intend to keep doing so. Making prac­ tical use of volunteers across the country seems harder right now, but we're always open to ideas. Of course, what you are already doing is a tremendous help, and we wouldn't be here without you. Every time you tell someone about GWS or TEACH YOUR OWN, or send us a news item or a letter about yourselves, or help someone who is thinking about home-schooling, or start a local group, or monitor your legislature, or arrange a speaking engage ment or interview for us, or buy our books, or renew your subscription , or contri­ bute to our Gift Sub Fund, you are helping us, and we are most grateful. I thought you might like to see an overview of everything we are cur­ rently doing in the office, and it might suggest some other ways you could help us: 1) Putting together GWS - edit­ ing, writing, layout. 2) GWS subscriptions - process­ ing, handling problems, renewal re­ minders. 3) Mail-order booklist - inven­ tory, filling orders, adding new titles. 4) Cassette tapes: preparing and copying. 5) Arranging public talks, han­ dling travel details. 6) Acting as a "clearinghouse" for home-schooling information. 7) John's books - writing, re­ vising, promoting. 8) General publicity - TV, radio, newspaper reporters; devising handouts; periodic mailings. 9) Creating new booklets - re­ printing John's books, GWS articles, new material. 10) Acquiring a computer ter­ minal. 11) Volunteers - contacting, instructing.

Delores White (SC) has been keep ­ ing us posted on a long struggle with the local school district . Early in July she phoned us, jubilant over the fact that the State Board of Educa­ tion had decided in her family's favor. She soon sent us this note with a packet of material: . . . What a joy to write good news, and send you the clippings from the local paper. There have been two other newspaper pieces, with similar stories as these, and another local weekly newspaper will come this after ­ noon . .. Two TV stations carried the story last night on the 11 PM news. . . . 1 hope this information is all you will need for GWS . I am en­ closing a copy of the brief that our lawyer sent to the State Board of Edu­ cation and a copy of their reply after their final decision. We are certainly thankful for this ruling. I must run, since TV and news­ paper reporters have consumed a couple of days, and the garden is get­ ting behind. One of the reporters in­ vited the kids to the studio to see the entire process of what goes on behind the scenes. All the news media were very interested and sympathetic, and were fascinated with our large family and our decision to home ­ school. We have been very surprised at the amount of publicity this has received, but since it has set a pre­ cedent for the state, we will help all we can . .. From the Columbia State, 7/10/82: ... The State Board of Education Friday reversed a decision by the Greenville County school board deny­ ing a Greenville couple's request to teach their children at home for reli­ gious reasons. In a unanimous vote, the board ruled the Greenville trustees erred when they denied the request of Mr. and Mrs. Charles W. White on the grounds that neither held a teaching certificate. According to state education officials, Friday's action was the first time the board of education has approved an appeal in a home-instruc­ tion case . . . . Parents may seek to show that the instruction they provide their children is "substantially equivalent to instruction given to children of like ages in the public or private schools where such children reside." The law makes the State Board of Education the final arbiter on the question of whether an instruction program is "substantially equiva­ lent . " However, the board, through

2

its regulatory power, has directed local school boards to make the ini­ tial determination ... In the White case, a home visit­ ing committee, appointed by the Green­ ville school system, reviewed the fam­ ily's home-instruction program and concluded that Mrs . White was ade­ quately prepared to teach her child­ reno The committee recommended that the school system approve the home­ instruction request, provided the instructional program was reviewed on an annual basis and that the White children participated in state and district testing programs. Despite the committee's recom­ mendation, Greenville school superin­ tendent Floyd Hall denied the Whites ' request, stating that "nothing less than full teacher certification and training ... is needed to fully ensure the acquisition of basic academic com­ petencies by ( their) children." The Whites, through their attor­ neys, appealed to the Greenville school board, which upheld Hall's decision. In its decision to grant the White's appeal, the State Board of Education said Hall and the Green­ ville trustees failed to adequately consider the Whites' claim that their instruction was at least equivalent to the instruction offered in private schools in Greenville County . The board noted that "although teacher certification may properly be required for a program alleged to be equivalent under state law to a pub­ lic school program, the Appellants have alledged equivalence to public or private schools. Teacher certifica­ tion is not necessarily a requirement in all private schools, and thus ... cannot be required in a program alleged to be equivalent to a private school." ... LOCAL NEWS

ARIZONA: Sherri Pitman (6166 W Highland, Phoenix AZ 85033) writes, "I was actively involved in the amend­ ments and passage of HB 2116 dealing with home schools in Arizona (GWS # 27). Although we would have pre­ ferred no regulation of home schools, it was a fair compromise . The Senate Education Committee had emphatically stated they would not even hear the bill the way it was sent to them from the House. Therefore, I proposed amendments which allowed the State to be satisfied that the person teach­ ing would at least have the basic math, reading, and grammar skills of a sixth grader, and also the children would take the same CAT test given all public school children. We also included a hearing process for the protection of the parents ... There have been many, many phone calls from interested parents who wish to start home schools next school year . I have decided to compile a booklet which would detail all of the require­ ments ... "

The ARIZONA HOME EDUCATION ASSO­ CIATION (1890 E Don Carlos #1, Tempe AZ 85281) sent us copies of some of their handouts and bulletin board notices, including a one page summary of the new legal requirements, and small ( 2" x 4" ) slips with big black letters reading, "Interested in learn­ ing more about HOME SCHOOLING? (Educa­ ting yo~r children at home). Phone ------And Helen Kepler of Kingman tells us that, contrary to what she was first told, the proficiency tests

that home-schooling parents will be required to take will be offered regu­ larly throughout rne-year. CALIFORNIA: Cyd Ropp (200 Ford Rd #251, San Jose CA 95138; 418­ 972-8980) writes, "Here is a copy of my Master's Thesis on Home Schooling in California. This is the most com­ prehensive surve y of the California home-schooling experience I could put together - most of the work is of course applicable to home-schoolers everywhere ... I would like to offer reprints for sale to GWS readers for $12 ... The home-schoolers around San Jose have given me wonderful feedback and have been requesting copies ... " CONNECTICUT: Charges against Deborah and Donald Corcoran (Apple Lane, Kensington CT 06037) that they were not educating their son were dis­ missed in Superior Court recently. They were taken to court by the local school offiCials, who had given them permission for one year of home­ schooling, but not a second. INDIANA: David Longstreet (719 2nd St, Shelbyville IN 46176) sent a letter to other Indiana families, say­ ing that the Governor's Select Advis­ ory Commission for Primary and Secon­ dary Education would be holding month­ ly meetings from May to October, and it was possible they would redefine a "school" and make a new set of guide­ lines for home schools. David encour­ aged others to attend, to write their representatives, and possibly to arrange informational meetings. KANSAS: Cathy Bergman of the HOME EDUCATOR ' S NEWSLETTER told us, "'In favor of the family' was the ruling this June in the case of Keith and Paula White of Miltervale, Kan­ sas ... The State alleged that Zephyr­ us, the Whites' 7-year-old son, was a 'deprived child ' as his parents were purportedly 'not educating' him. The decision was made June 21 by Judge Marvin Stortz, District Magistrate Judge for Cloud County ... " LOUISIANA: Katherine Reves of CITIZENS FOR HOME EDUCATION writes, "We have just finished a successful fight in the Louisiana legislature to retain home-study, prevent manda­ tory kindergarten, and make perman­ ent a law which exempts private schools (those which receive no gov­ ernment aid) from any paperwork requirements. We are thrilled with our success but we know that we need to spread the word and attract new membership in preparation for next year's fight ... " MASSACHUSETTS: Susan Lannen ( Box 579, Woods Hole MA 02543) belongs to a Cape Cod home-schooling group that meets bi-monthly. She told us they met recently with the Assistant Super­ intendent of Schools, and were warmly received . He gave them advice on sub­ mitting a curriculum outline, suggest­ ed they work with the local princi­ pals to have a curriculum roughly com­ parable to that of the schools, gave them advice on texts, and said there would be no external testing unless a child entered school. Susan also said the parents found Danielle Fennema ( "Certified Teachers," GWS #26), to be very helpful. MINNESOTA: Sharon Hillestad (9669 E l23rd, Hastings MN 55033) sent us a newsletter of the MINNESOTA HOME SCHOOL NETWORK, which included one paragraph each on six home-school­ ing families, and announced future workshops. Sharon says, "I sent off 125 of these letters and I hear from prospective home schoolers every day ... Isn't this fun? I really mean it."

NEW YORK: From Harold Ingraham

(Calumet School, Smyrna NY 13464) "My first court case out of 140 families just received a fat dismissal on required standardized testing for home schoolers . The state challenged us in my back yard (Chenango County) so I testified on behalf of the fami­ ly. The judge dismissed the case because of lack of statute require­ ment."

OHIO: OCEAN is sponsoring an Alternative Education Roundup for home-schoolers and alternative SChools, Saturday Oct. 3, 1982, from 9-3. $1 per family. To register and share ideas of what you would like to see at the Roundup, write to OCEAN, PO Box 302, Cuyahoga Falls OH 44221, or call El izabeth Burns, 419-289-8013. PENNSYLVANIA: Susan Richman has started the Western Pa. Homeschoolers Newsletter, with many good articles and ~deas. In Issue #2 she tells about the "First Annual Homeschool­ er's Weekend," June 11-13, at the Richman farm: 34 families with 86 children' TEXAS: We've been hearing about two court battles. A Dallas County Justice of the Peace dismissed the truancy charges against Steve and Bar­ bara Short of Richardson, saying the law inadequately describes what con­ stitutes a school . In another much-publicized case, Ed and Barbara Gonzalez of San Antonio were taken to court several times. They were acquitted once in March, then charged again in May, lost, and were unable to appeal be­ cause of a technicality. The last we heard, the district attorney may not bother to file charges again. The Gon­ zalez's lawyer, Egon Tausch, sent us a good letter about the legalities of home-schooling which we may reprint later. Diane Elder, Nancy Stevens, and Anibal Gonzalez (Greenbriar School, PO Box 466, Elgin TX 78621) have organized the TEXAS FAMILY SCHOOLS CO-OP; annual membership is $5. WASHINGTON STATE: Debra Stewart reported in the Unschoolers Pro~ect (26611 SR 530 NE, Arlington WA 8223) that House Bill 996, which would have made it easier to start a private school, was finally defeated, 37-50 . Also interesting to note that the Stewarts financed the publication of their newsletter by selling the MY YEARBOOK series, $15 books that con­ tain all the reading, math, science, etc, that a child is usually expected to learn in anyone grade. WEST VIRGINIA: Deirdre Purdy wrote-rn-Alternat~ves in Education about the W.V. Supreme Court of Appeals case, State vs. Riddle: " ... This case ~s a lesson in how not to do homeschooling. The Riddles never requested the county superinten­ dent of schools to approve their home as a place for instruction under Exemption B in WV Code 18-8-1 . .. They withdrew their children from school and kept them home until they were reported as truant; then they claimed First Amendment freedom. "The Court acknowledges that the Riddles did an excellent job of teach­ ing their children ( 'p ossibly better than the public sc hools could do'), using materials from the Christian Liberty Academy. The court objects not to home-schooling, but to home­ schooling without permission from and oversight by the county board of edu­ cation - as mandated in the law ... " WISCONSIN: John Ellis of FAITH ACADEMY (Rt 3 Box 84, Shell Lake WI 54871) writes, " ... For a yearly fee of $100 plus the cost of the curricu­ lum, our corporation will establish a

GROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING #28

3

subsi diar y sc h ool at your place of residence that wil l be in fu ll compli­ ance with all Wisconsin state sta ­ tutes ... We are cur r e ntl y estab li s h­ ing subsidiary sc h ools at the rate of 8 pe r month and not one of our schools h as ever been accused of vio­ l ating any state s t a tu tes and none of our s tud ents h as eve r been declared truant ... We h ave just published a manual that covers all the knowledge a parent needs to es t ablish a private school ... For a copy, send $lS ...

WHEN WRITING TO US... He re are some little ways you

can h e lp us speed up our paper f l ow .

1 . ) Wh en yo u send us a number of things - book orders, subscription changes, questions, speaking engage­ ment info, news items , c h atty letters - in one envelope (wh ich is fine), please keep them on separate sheets as much as possib l e . We can get eac h item to the approp riat e person instead uf circulati n g one Ea t bundle. 2 . Ple;!se print or type your full name and address at the ~ of the first page of each letter . Makes it mucn-easier to respond and to file. 3 . If you ask questions, a SASE

or postca rd increases your odds of a

quick answer.

4. Please tell us if it ' s OK to

use any part of your letter in GWS,

and whet h er or not t o include your

name wit h the story . Thanks. - DR

ON BOOK CUSTOMERS Diane Landis (MA) wrote: ... 1 think you ' ve hit on a good idea with the "Prospective Cus t omer " mailing [GWS #27 ) . You h ave an excel­ l en t se l ec ti on of books and I think many people would or d er some if they knew about them. My hu sband and I went through our a ddr ess book and culled th e names of th ose we t hink would be interested in seeing your booklist . I h ope this pays off ... [ DR: ) The response to our re­ quest for names of "Prospective Cus­ tomers" has been heartwarming - as we go to press over 100 of you have sent in names, and there's still mai l to be opened . Many people sent one or two suggested names, many sent about a dozen, and the most so far from a s ingl e pe r son is S8 ' I estimate you ' ve given us a t otal so fa r of 7S0-l 000 names. I'm h oping for 2000 by the time we do our fall mailing. We 'l l keep this file open - any

time you want, send us names. We

truly would like each one of you to

send us at l east one . Thanks so muc h

for your support .

HOME-SCHOOLING REPRINTS We h ave adde d two new reprints about home-schooling t o our list that we think wi ll be useful to many peo­ ple . The first has on one side th e article John wrote for Newsday , "More Parents Saying ' No' t o School, " on wh y sc h oo l s are the way they are and who is choosing home-schooling; the other side is the article I wrote for Education Network News, called " Grow­ rn~ithout Schooling ... Another View­ pOint, " which incl ud es thoug h ts on the " social life" question, looking up the laws, and co - operating with schools . The second reprint is from GWS

GROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING #28

# 27, " First Boston Family," Lynn Kapplow's excel l ent l e tt er abo ut get­ ting approva l from the Boston Scho ol Department, and the " Succ ess ful Curri­ culum" she wrote for h e r daughter, Grace . We think these reprints will pr o ­ vide help to people who want general information on the subject, a nd those who are serio u sly looking at h o w the y could take th eir own children out of school . We plan to mail these o ut to people who ask us lots of ques tions, and use the~ as handouts at confer­ ences. It would be g r eat if yo u want­ ed to do the same . We ~ill be h appy t o send yo u a copy of both r epri l'ts for 2S¢ plus a self-addressed stamped e n ve l ope, or SO¢ without a SASE . In quantity, you can get any 10 for $1, or 100 for $S; this covers postage and p r i nting (allow 4-6 weeks fo r delivery). Thanks . - DR

TALK TO STUDENTS From a reader in New Jersey: ... Another homeschooler and I went to Rutgers University to talk about homeschooling to a socio l ogy class ... There were about 40 stu ­ dents .. . ... One student brought up the point that in these times it didn't seem realistic, as in mos t families both pa r ents have to work . I liked my friend ' s answe r. She said i t was true t hat h ome-sc h ooling wasn 't for every­ one, but that for h er it was a matter of wh ere people se t their priorities. From what I see and h ear, mos t home­ schoolers don't have a lot of money and do have to give up some material­ istic things or incorporate some kind of job that allows them to h ome ­ school, or both. The class was a littl e ove r two hours - it felt like ten minutes. It was a lot of fun a nd I woul dn't mind doing it again . By th e way, we didn't tell the class wha t t ow n s we lived in or our educational backg r o und. At the next class, the teacher (a friend - I babysit her l~-year-old) as k ed the c l ass to guess our e ducati onal back­ ground . Most guesse d that I h a d at least four years of college, probably more . They were surprised to h ea r that I had only two yea r s of high school ...

WINNING IN MISSISSIPPI Sandi Myers (MS) wr ites: .. . Ours has been an interesting relationship with the school sys tem. In March I contacted th em to see if there were any rules I oug ht t o know about concerning homeschooling . We live in military housing and a neigh­ bor had turned us in to the Base Housing Office for h aving crea tures (two ducks, a turtle we see occa si o n­ ally, a dog, goldfish , and a ge rbil ) and for having the kids o ut of school. Come to find o ut , th e law is even more supportive than I h ad imagined. The school co de ac tual ly states that children s hou ld go to school or be adequately trained a t home' When I contacted the local super­ intendent, the Assistant Superi nten­ dent was faSCinated, even t h ough he strong l y disagreed wit h me, and we talked about an h our on the phone, him asking about various areas a nd h o w we handle them, and me answeri ng them . He asked if my husband and I

wo uld consider coming to talk with him, the Superintendent, and the lady who takes care of curricul um for ele­ mentary grades. I said sure, and went in about a week later . My husband was unable t o accompany me. The kids and all supportive neighbors were sure it was a "set-up," and Scott even sug­ gested that I take hunting knives hidden in my socks in case I had to cut my way out of th ere' We talked about two hours . The Superintendent and the woman in charge of curriculum were far more positive than the Asst. Superinten­ dent. But all were literally fascina­ ted by the psychology and goals we set, agreeing with them completely . They listened to our methods and approaches and nodded as I talked. I was completely honest. When they asked what a normal day was for us, I said that I didn't think we had had one yet. They were amazed that the children weren't bored a good deal of the time, and loved it when I told them of the older c hildren's a natomy session with THE ANATOMY COLORING BOOK and John Michael (3~) st ripped down to undies, drawing his parts allover him. The kids even included a legend beneath his lungs to show what was intended by a sec­ tion with diagonal lines, and one wit h dots, and so on. I also said that I cut the session short when I insisted that they not do it with permanent markers again - water color marker s, yes , but permanent ones, no! John wore his lungs fo r about three weeks' I had an ulterior motive when I went to talk wit h them. I asked if they would consider loaning or sell­ ing me books fr om the school book depository, and give me a copy of the curriculum they set for each grade. At the end of our talk, they asked me to call the Asst . Superintendent in a few days to see about both . When I called back, I was not too surprised by his comments, but they were funny. He said that I could probably t e ll that I had them eating o ut of my hand when I left . He also said that they had had to talk it over among themselves for several days before they got back to their original point of view that what I was doing was wrong . He could under­ stand if it was from a religious point, but just because I thought the c hildren were d o ing better at home was not justified. He felt particular­ ly sorr y for that little first grader of mine (S hell ey, 7) who had never been to school at all . ( At that point I asked why he didn't meet that lit­ tl e first g r a der o f mine to judge her personally . He didn't answer) . And since this went against his convic­ ti o ns so much, he just couldn't give us boo k s . He was particularly con­ ce rned about us not going by a sched­ ule of any sor t. He did say that the c urriculum they are using now is abso­ lutely useless and they expect to ha ve a ve ry good o ne this summer, and for me t o call later o n and they could get o ne to me. He was speaking ve ry nicely to me, so the conversa­ ti o n was n o t unpleasant. I said that we probably would not use the school books as they wo uld ha ve u s use them anyway since, d o llar f o r dollar, they just don't measure up t o some ve ry goo d informa­ tion th at is avai l a ble, so that wasn't a big loss, and invi ted him or o thers t o meet and visit with the c hildren t o better understand the per­ sona l choices we had ma de. I also told him that we o ften go t o the beach for a picnic lunch and a couple

4

of hours before or afterwards, and invited him to come play hooky some day and join us to see the beauty of children learning and doing what is important to them. He said that he still feels we are making a mistake, and I answered that I could not say that I am not making one, but I have had to rely-Dn my knowledge of my children and my intuition in the past and seem to have made wise choices even though they were not always in directions that were in vogue at the time, and would trust that I would make the right choices now. During our talk at their office, he had asked me if there was a chance that my children weren't getting a view of the "real" world with keeping them at home. I answe red, possibly, but I thought they were getting a bet­ ter view of the "real" world because the things they do are real .. . I asked if he had seen some people who get boxed in in "education" and never know the " real " world. He had to laugh and admit that he certainly had. All in all, I feel the match went to me, and at least if a family comes in who does use schedules or does it for very religious reasons, then they may be more supportive of them for having known me' ...

SUCCESS IN FLORIDA

I'm thinking about framing it' ... [From the H.R.S. letter to the school superintendent: ] As part of our investigation of the truancy re­ ferral on Daniel Mordes, we talked with Dr. James Kemp, Department of Education, Tallahassee, Florida. According to Dr. Kemp, the Mordes Academy is listed with the Department of Education as a private sc h ool . He told us that on December 17, 1981, the Fourth District Court of Appeals ruled that a private school 1) must charge tuition which supports school activi ties and 2) cannot limit enroll­ ment to a single family. Dr. Kemp stated that the Depart­ ment of Education has no policing powers regarding private schools, and your responsibility is limited to checking attendance records (FS, Sec­ tion 232.01). We could not determine that the matter of certification of teachers in private sc h ools has been addressed by Florida Statutes. In view of the above informa­ tion, we cannot determine that Daniel Mordes is a truant child; therefore Juvenile Court ha s no jurisdiction in this matter. We are closing our case as an unfounded report and notifying Mr. and Mrs. Mordes of our decision ... [Signed by the District Intake Superviso r and Direct Services Super ­ visor . ]

Ann Mordes (FL) wrote: ... 1 wanted to let you know that my husband and I have been under fire here in Jackson County . H.R. S. (Health and Rehabilitative Services) called me on June 26. The social work­ er said they had been given a refer­ ral on my son, Daniel, from the school superintenden t. He had told her that we had a truant child. I told her that was not true, that we operated a legally registered private school in our home and Daniel was enrolled. She asked that we come to her office and talk about it. ... The next morning, I wrote her a letter (on school letterhead sta ­ tionery) inviting her to come out and visit me. I gave her explicit instructions on how to get to our school and home ... I informed her as to what the laws were regarding pri­ vate schools in the state of Florida, and told her to check on these with Dr. James Kemp's office at the Depart­ ment of Education in Tallahassee. The next day this woman called my lawyer and told h er that she felt that H.R.S. had no jurisdiction over us, due to the fact we were a private school. The social worker told my lawyer that she felt they were being "used" by the superintendent ... "If I can get out of it, I am'" she said. My attorney said that she thought that was a good idea, as we were registered as a private school and in her opinion acting as one. ( I had already educated my lawyer regarding private schools.) My husband and I also ran a small ad in the local newspaper, say­ ing that our private school was now taking applications for the fall . We had one phone call. The social worker never showed up nor called again . My husband and I went over the Tallahassee to visit Dr. Kemp last Friday. He knew what the problem was the minute I walked in the door. He was extremely cordial, as he always is ... When we returned home, we received a copy of a letter that H.R.S. sent to the superintendent, and I thought yo u might like a copy .

MORE SUCCESS STORIES

I mean that literally . Both my son and I have contemplated suicide as a result of being declared insane sim­ ply because of his resistance to attending public school, and my efforts to obtain appropriate educa­ tion for him. ... It has been nightmarish try­ ing to find some legal recourse with­ in my very limited means ... July '82: I am happy to say that the situat~on I wrote you about has been resolved. An officer of the court, affilia­ ted with the Welfare Dept. who was not so intent on seeing pathology in my concern for my son, after a visit to our home, determined that it was the best place for Ray, rather than public school, residential care, or any of the other drastic alternatives that had been proposed. Since then, Ray's depressi on has lifted, he is muc h more active and healthy physically and SOCially - and even bikes six miles into town to study at the library' All this on his own initiative ... . . . 1 have considered suing the local school district for the night­ mare they put us through so unneces­ sarily - but just being out of it and having had my attorney let them know there was a possibility seems suffi­ cient, at least for now. I do wish that our experience could somehow benefit others in their struggle against the (benign) tyranny of the system ...

Lois Porter (NY) wrote: From Barb Parshley (NH) : Apr. 30: . .. The " Committee on the Handicapped," which includes the school superintendent, approved our curriculum for John. We patterned our home schooling cover letter after several in GWS. The committee was very impressed with the thoroughness of the proposal, the legal precedents Cited, etc. It was the first such re­ quest they had ever received. Actual­ ly, our letter informed them of what we were doing. We were very clear, without being belligerent, abou t . our rights. The board of education will approve or disapprove the program on May 25th . The superintendent assures us they will rubber-stamp it. There is just one fly in the ointmen t . They are insisting on doing IQ testing on John this fall. They claim that NY State law mandates such testing every three years for "handi­ capped" chi ldren . I don't want thi s done ... June 7: ... Severa 1 pieces of good news. Our home schooling propo­ sal was passed by our school board without incident. In addition, the superintendent informed me that he had looked up the "c ompulsory, " every-three-year IQ testing rule for so-called handicapped children . .. He told me that if for any reason the parents felt such testing would be detrimental, we simply had to write a letter stating that fact, and the testing would be waived' That's quite a relief' John and I are doing well, 2~ months into our home-schooling ven­ ture. He is less anxious, and his frustration tolerance, while still low, has improved markedly ... From a California parent: Nov '81: ... The Phil Donahue show on-Wnrch you and your colleagues appeared may ha ve saved my life. Yes,

... 1 am just so excited to tell you that I am now officially allowed to home-school my boys. The books John wrote, especially TEACH YOUR OWN, were a great help. GWS gave me many ideas on how to write my applica­ tion also. When I went to th e superinten­ dent, I received all sorts of nega­ tive answers . He tried to act open­ minded, yet quietly intimidated me by reminding me that children are sub­ jects of the state, that they would have to come into my home and evalu­ ate my teaching, -trnd yes, they do have trouble once in a while with par­ ents who want to do this and have to try and take the children away . I was glad I was so well informed. He did change his attitude great­ ly as we worked together. When we eventually went to the school board, h e actually backed us and recommended we be approv~en to the point of interceding o n our behalf when a board member became agressive .... If I can be of help to anyone else I would like that opportunity, so you may add my name to the dir­ ectory . . . [ DR: We don't have the room to print the many other "succ ess stor­ ies" we have received lately. Many of them are similar - people took our advice and were delighted that it worked' For more such stories, see GWS #27 . ]

IN THE MAIL " .Sometimes I get to feel that I must be really strange or some­ thing, because I've always wanted my kids around - I ' ve never desired to "send-them-off " somewhere. Seems most parents we know are into babysitters, day-care, sc h ool (as babysitter),

GROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING #28

5

whatever - just to get their kids out

project. (Ta lk ing sense, making con­ tracts, sc r eaming a nd yelling , e tc, all failed to get Krista to dress her­ self before 2 PM . No problem now . ) Today we made the h ectog r aph. We've a l so done potato printing, gone t o a local historical mus e um, and made tri­ h exaf lexagons and tetrahexaflexagons (f rom the book HOW TO ENJOY MATHE­ MATICS WITH YOUR CHILD , by Nancy Rosenberg) . The academic sc h e dule is still in a state of flux. I have been r ead ­ . . . I've read a few letters in ing aloud to Krista (we ' ve finished a GWS where someone comments on the Dr. Doolittle book, and are now read­ fact that most letters are full of ing UNDERSTOOD BETSY) abo ut every glowing accounts of home-schooling, othe r night. Sometimes we wo rk on a wonderfu ll y intelligent c hildr en, topic in math, like fractions o r mul­ etc, etc, etc. And my letters are tiplication. Sometimes we use Cuisen­ usually like that, also - whether to ai re rod s, or just paper and pencil, GWS or ot h erwise ; who wants t o h ear or workbook pages. We've just been wh at a drag some d ays can b e? . . given a couple of Miqon Math Lab Well, just for the rec ord - it h as books (GWS #1 4, 19) and Krista has taken me an inordinate amount of time independently done a few pages in it. to finis h this letter because of the We've fall en off wit h the journal squabbles , ac h es a nd pains, acci d en ts writi ng, which I had o riginally and misbehavior of my children today. required daily. I am wai ting for our mutual needs to bring abo ut a jelling One of those daYfi' you know? So I think I~op ere and go take a of o ur academic time, but one thing nap after banishing the wild ones t o six months of home-schooling has the far reaches of their own rooms taught me is that there is no need to where they can do what ever they want be frantic abou t it. Somet hing will (and I don 't have t o know about it'). happen when it is ready. Becky Howard (AR). In spi t e of a ll th ese so-called sc hedule s, we are really ve ry flexi­ ... Just go t # 27 and I'm e njo yi ng bl e and th e kids h ave a lot of free every article. I was most surprise d

time to themselves. One of the to see t h e Arizona l aw article. Is it reasons for the sc h e dules, in fact, really happening th at fast? I never

is to avoid the ar bitrary filling-up expected it to happen in my lifetime

of the kid s ' time . . . even, and it's starting already .. .

--- Mary Jane Be rnt sen (TX).

of the way. Then there's the between­ parents shift: "I h ad to have them all day yesterday, so you better take them today. " You might think it was some object being discussed. People regularly as me , "But how do you stand it a ll da y? " What I want to Know-is h ow can they stand it? How can they bear to miss all the new dis­ coveries, the joys? It al l goes so quickly ... --- Kathie DeWees (VT) .

from Louis Lamour Western fiction to an interest in Western hi story, then t o the hi s t ory of the United States, and is now in the process of memor­ izing the Constitution word for word. I am wondering - what public sc h oo l t eac her could ever coerce a 14-year­ old into MEMORIZING th e Constitution? In addition, Becky has l earned to t ype and is working for h er dad, typing letters, doing payroll and other office work. We put her on our busi n ess checking account so she can eve n sign the checks, though we do check them over before they go to the men . They d o NOT have mistakes .. . I never ha ve been able to accept the idea of total freedom in educa­ ti on for children. Maybe I' ve been t oo affected, myself, by our modern concept of education. Th e children are r e quired, among ot h e r things, to do some math every da y, or almost every day. The y also must write some ­ thing of their choice every week, so we can wo rk on composition, grammar, etc. Both children take to this writing ass ignment, and Becky, who is required to write three pages eac h week, will easily write TEN. They can choose their own su b ject. It can be a r epor t o n something they are study­ ing, something philosophical, or fic ­ tion. Matt loves Mother Earth News in pa rticular, and much of his reading and many of his pr o j ects come from "her" pages. His hop e is someday to write an article that will appear in Mother Earth News. He is forever look­ ing for ~deas for hi s article ...

FROM WESTERNS TO HISTORY

A HOME SCHEDULE

Arlean Haight (M I ) wrote:

ELAINE MAHONEY REPORT From Elaine Mahoney (MA):

Karen Elder ( " A New Jersey

Family," GWS #27, page 3) wrote:

... This is our first attempt at a letterhead for o ur home sc hool, made on a hectograph. I'd n ever heard of hectographs until reading GWS #19 just a few weeks ago . We are still learning the ins and outs of it, but we really enjoy all our experime nts. We are slowly coming to grips with various "problems" of h ome­ schooling, particula rl y the difficult one of scheduling/non-sc h eduling. We have several different schedules now. One is the social ca lendar: u sual ly, Brownies every Tuesday afternoon; home-schoolers meeting every ot her Wednesday (ends up being an a ll -day thing for Krista and a half-d ay thing for Robi n and Dawn); Dungeons and Dragons two out of three Friday even ­ ings; visit to grandparents almost every weekend . Ot h er events , special (weddings, picnics, overnights) and everyday (playing outside with friends) fill out this schedule . The project schedule h as finally been firmed up. We ' ve been home­ schooling for about six mont h s; some ­ times we would be very busy and ot h e r times we would just get caught up in a mothe r-h ousecleaning/kids-p l aying situation. What bothered me most about that was the kids would start to complain that ther e was nothing to do . "No schedule " just didn't work. Now what I do is pick out three or four projects on the weekend to do during the next week . Projects are supposed to start at 10 AM and go until just before lunch, but some ­ times everyone is finished in 45 min­ utes and sometimes we go on all after ­ noon. The trick here (aha') is that only those people wh o have eaten breakfast, gotten dressed, and combed their hair can par ticip ate in the

GROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING #28

. . . Ju st tho ught I would give you a report o n Becky (now 14 ) and Matt ( n ow 11 ) ... The local s uperintendent did approve our sc hool program. We had incurred a $75 legal fee before the tabl es were turned for us, but it was worth it. It wasn't the attorney th a t accomplished th e victory, but he HAD don e some research, for which we were charged, of course. . . . When we took the children out of school nearly two years ago, we had advice from several people, among them Dr. Pat Montgomery of Ann Arbor, Mic higan. She told us if we would let the children follow their own inter­ ests, and just h elp them when they n eeded help, they would learn more than if we put them o n a pre-planned c urriculum. I r espected Dr. Montgomery, and was grateful for h er h e lp. But I just coul dn't see any g limm e r of hope in Becky. It seemed that 7 years of pub­ lic school had successful l y stamped out any inclination s h e might ha ve had t o l earn . By her own admission, s h e h ad learned to cram for tests, make A ' s and B's on her rep o rt cards, and promptly forget almost everything she had "l earned ." Whenever I allowed her free rein o n " sc h ool, " her one interest was mindless fiction ­ nothing of any va lue that I could see . Pat tried to encour age me, but I h a d the misgivings a nd insecurities that I see in so many other parents new to h ome-sc h ooling. I was afraid Becky would learn nothing at all. So - we embarked on a " c urriculum." It turned o ut to be just a duplication of the old pub li c sc h oo l pattern. So I went pretty easy wit h it, still a ll owing her freedom, and limiting her fiction reading to what I felt was least objectionable. But, Pat was right. It finally happened. Thi s yea r Becky progressed

... Kendra and Kimberlee are fine and continue to appreciate learning at home . We recently met with the cur­ riculum committee, consisting of an elementary curric.ulum director, high school curriculum dir ector, assis t ant superintendent, etc. Bot h Kendra and Kimberlee were present and did a fine job of s haring past and future learn­ ing ex pe riences and opportunities. The me et ing seems to have gone very well ... I was concerned at first, thi s being Kendra' s first year at high sc h oo l le vel, but from what I hear, we are going in the right dir­ ection for continued good wi ll and support. Kendra has been using th e Massa­ chusetts Department of Education Cor ­ r es pondence Engli s h cour se, and has been doing very well. What s h e especi­ ally likes about the course is that s h e can work at h er own pace and re­ ceives assistance wh en requested. What I like about the course is that s h e does get so me feedback in a sub­ j ec t that I do not feel particularly comfo rt able wit h , the materials are ve r y r easonably priced, and if the sc h oo l district expresses a desire for a more precise and objective form of eva luation, then we have available assessment from the Mass. Dept. of Education ... Ke ndra is a 4-H t een this year. It a lways see med a simple matter to meet the home-stud y needs of general socialization; the girls simply went out int o the community and utilized any avai lable resources, library, museums, science education center, YWCA courses, ballet lessons, Park a nd Recreation sports, etc . But, as Kendra grew o lder , I was concerned about the availability of opportuni­ ti es for boy-girl interactions, com­ pa ni on s hip, and oppo rtuniti es for