GROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING
34 Had very pleasant and productive meetings with home-schoolers in Colo rado and Maine . The Colorado group met on a rainy evening in a large church in Denver. The audience had been given slips of paper on which they could write questions - a good idea, since even among home schoolers some may be a bit shy about asking questions out loud . While in Denver I had an interview with the Rocky Moun tain News, a big Denver daily, and t he Boulder Camera, which put the story on the tront page. The Maine meeting was held in the Rockcraft Lodge in East Sebago, right on the edge of Lake Sebago. Parents (mostly of children still under school age) were there from Maine, New Hampshire, and even Flori da (i n Maine for their vacation). The lodge, which is a big old rambling house mostly used by church groups, was a perfect place for a meeting, not very expensive, with plenty of space for children to play, and a nice place to swim in the delicious lake water . The Maine home schoolers hope to make this a regular annual event. One of the people attending the Maine meeting was Samuel Lanham (see "Friendly Lawyers," GWS #33). He has been working with William Ball on a very important case involving the rights of private schools to be free of excessive state regulation. If they win, it will greatly strengthen the position of small private schools allover the country, and so will help home schoolers. For the time being, the home schooling situation in Colorado and Maine is much the same - the state law allows it, but only with the OK of the local schools, most (but not all) of which have been friendly or at least tolerant . Since GWS #33 went to press, h ave had radio telephone interviews with stations in Urbana IL, Columbus MO, and Philadelphia, and a TV inter view for a Springfield, MA station. - John Holt
HOMESCHOOLERS GET GRANT From Patt Morris in California: . .. Due to unemployment, we ' ve been below the official poverty line for two years, so the thought of applying for some sort of grant repeatedly crossed my mind . Some research at the library (a wonderful free resource') convinced me that foundations give grants only to non profit, tax-exempt organizations and I gave up . But - I received a free sample of Gifted Children's Newslet ter in February (it was their Jan. issue) and read with interest the announcement of their grants competi
tion for subscribers and including a category for individuals with an inno vative idea for parenting or teaching gifted children. I immediately scraped together the money for a sub scription l$2 4/12 iss.; RD 1 Box 128A, Sewell NJ 08080] and returned to the library to learn how to write a proposal. To make a long story short, they liked the proposal and the idea (to provide math and science materials and classes for gifted children being taught at home by their mother and father) and we'll be receiving $500 from them' ...
Indirectly she is learning a lot about wildlife and conservation, and also about US geography as we often get out the atlas to see where the kid she's responding to lives. And, she knows that she is performing a valuaore-service for the Elsa Appeal. By the way, home-schoolers are welcome to take advantage of this service, if they wish to learn more about a particular species, or about endangered species in general. 25¢ per request to cover postage and copy ing is appreciated, and requests should be sent to the Elsa Clubs of America, PO Box 4572, N Hollywood CA 91607 ...
JOHN 'S COMING SCHEDULE Sept. 2, 1983: Whole Life Expo. 5:15-6:00. Gardner Room, Sheraton Hotel, 39 Dalton St, Boston. Oct. 13: Fairleigh Dickinson U., Rutherford, New Jersey. 8 PM. Contact Vicki Roussman, 201-460-5330. Dec. 2: DePauw U., Greencastle IN. 9-11 AM. Contact Myra Rosenhaus, 317-658-4864. Dec. 3: Meeting with Central Indiana Home Educators. Contact Sherry Hamstra, 5724 Diana Dr, Indianapolis IN 46278.
HIGH SCORES ON G .E.D. From the mother who wrote "Hid ing From School," GWS #24: ... Our big news is, Jenifer (~ 16) this spring decided to take the ~E . D. (high school equivalency) test. She heard on the radio about a YMCA program called "Operation Boot strap," which gives free tutoring to pass the tests . She took a placement test and was told she didn't need the tutoring' She took the tests and passed with high scores (got only one wrong, on one test). I'm proud, because (1) she decided this on her own, (2) if still in school she'd have one more year, and (3) she never attended high school . .. Now our 19-year-old married son is interested in taking the tutoring and the tests. He's teaching himself fractions, something he never caught on to while in school ...
WILDLIFE VOLUNTEER AT 9 From Karen Olin Johnston (CA) : . .. We have been mostly home schooling for the past three years . . . Fawn (9) is involved in my own work as a volunteer with a wildlife conser vation organization, the Elsa Wild Animal Appeal. One of my responsibili ties is answering the many letters the group receives from children around the country. The majority of these letters are requests for infor mation on an animal that the child is studying in school. In our home we maintain an extensive file of fact sheets on animal species, from which we answer children's requests. Fawn gets involved by: reading the letters to determine what info is needed (which exposes her to some interesting penmanship and spell ing'); finding the fact sheet on that animal (involving alphabetizing and categorizing as well as choosing material suitable to the writer's age); stuffing, weighing and applying postage to the envelopes; addressing the envelopes (penmanship practice); getting the week's work to the post office; letting me know when supplies are getting low and copying is needed.
WHAT THEY WANTED TO LEARN From Susan Jaffer, RD 2 Box 206, Waymart PA 18472: ... Last year, at the beginning of summer, I asked my daughters what I thought was a casual question: "What would you like to learn about this summer?" They began answering me right away, without so much as a pause, and this is what we ended up with: Suzanne, 8, wanted to learn about stories, poems, science, math, art, music, books, people, planting, animals, places, food, colors, rocks, babies, cars, eyes, and electricity. Gillian, 6, wanted to learn about seeds, bones, plants, books, evolu tion, dinosaurs, and experiments. I tend to think that the fact that I asked them in the summer freed them from the boundaries of school sub jects . In any case, I was stunned by the fact that they had so many sub jects in mind, and that their lists were right there waiting for me to ask the right question ...
TAX BREAK FOR PARENTS Time, 7/11/83: . . . Last week the [US Supreme] court appeared to soften its tradi tional stance by upholding a Minne sota statute that ... authorizes de ductions of $500 to $700 spent by parents on "tuition, textbooks, and transportation" for any child in grade or high school. By a 5-to-4 vote, the court found Minnesota's plan crucially different from other tax programs that had been ruled unconstitutional because the benefit is available to all parents, whether their children attend private or pub lic schools. . .. A day after the court's action, New Jersey legislators intro duced a new tax-exemption proposal, and other states are expected to follow ...
NOTES FROM DONNA FREE EDUCATIONAL SOFTWARE: Ed Freedland, chairman of KRELL SOFTWARE and publisher of the LO,o and Educa tional Comsutin Journa (1320 Stony brook RD, tony rook NY 11790 ) is very interested in GWS and called us out of the blue to offer us 5 free sets of Logo software. They are suita ble for Apple II computers, and each set contains 4 disks, a manual, a poster with Logo commands, and an issue of the Journal. We'll hold a drawing to give away these five sets, so if you'd like to win one, send your name and address on a postcard to FREE LOGO DRAWING, c/o GWS. We'll set the deadline as Oct. 31, 1983, so
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------------------------------------------------------.------ 2 that those in group subscriptions will have a chance . All we ask is that the winners tell us about their experiences in using the programs (and it would nice if they'd reim burse us the shipping cost - about $2) . TRAVEL NETWORK REPORT: Ted and Martha Laux offered to run the "Net work for Educational Travel" in GWS #27, and they have just published a guide that lists 25 families across the US who are willing to host visi tors . They write, "To help travellers know what to expect, we ask members to provide us with basic information such as their name, address, phone number, their children's names, sex, and birthdates, their interests, preferences, accomodations, location, and area attractions. If they send us a self-addressed stamped envelope, we'll send them a form to fill out. For the complete guide, we ask for $1 to cover our printing and mailing costs . Of course, people can always call or write us to see if there is a n yone in the area in which they ' ll be travelling ... "We hope that this guide (though small) will make this year's travels more affordable and enjoyable. The GWS families we ' ve encountered all seem to be pretty terrific . We'll probably do an updated and, we hope, expanded version next spring ... " HOME-SCHOOLING FILMS: Interest ing that we ' ve recently heard about two possible films on home-schooling being worked on in California . Larry and Suzanne Bischof of North Hollywood intend to write a fictional story for a television movie, and Toni Shy of Sh erman Oaks is trying to make a docu mentary. Good luck to both of these projects. NEW RESOURCES : Our friend Wendy Priesn1tz ot the CANADIAN ALLIANCE OF HOME SCHOOLERS sent us Issue #1 of her new publication, Child's Play, a "Family Learning Resources Newslet ter" (1003-129 Wellington St, Brant ford, Ontario N3T5Z9; $15/6 issues; $2 . 50 sample). Among the resources Wendy recommends are materials that have been suggested in GWS, such as the Abrams Planetarium Sky Calendar and the Key Curriculum math work books, and this fact leads me to be lieve our readers would enjoy many of her other ideas . Pat Montgomery of Clonlara School sent us information on ED/NET, " an educational computer network that is designed to serve the home school ing community nationwide." Run by home-schoolers Gary and Gillian Ander son, the system is designed to pro vide legal information, lists of materials, reviews of educational software, electronic mail, an elec tronic encyclopedia, and more. For $175, they will supply you with a com plete " start-up package," which includes a Timex - Sinclair computer and a telephone modem. For more info, contact t h e Andersons at PO Box 191, Timberville VA 22853; 703-896-3358 . Steve Molnar of the NATIONAL COALITION OF ALTERNATIVE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS tells us that the 1983 edi tion of their alternative schools directory is now available ($5; 1289 Jewett St, Ann Arbor MI 48104), and writes, "Up until now the books have essentially been sold one by one to individuals and stores . This year I'm looking to hook into other networks and distributors to help get the information ou t. If you know any peo p l e who mig h t be able to help, please pass their names on to me ." NEW MATERIALS HERE: On June 6, the Ch ristian Science Monitor ran a
good article called "Unschooling - a learn-as-you-go experiment," which was based on an interview with John. We have reprints available - 10¢ if you order with other materials; SASE required if ordered alone . Thanks to many hours of work by volunteer Reba Korban, we now have a "Pinchpenny Press" edition of John's book FREEDOM AND BEYOND, which had gone out of print. (Send $4.50 + 75¢ postage to Holt Associates.) TRAVEL PLANS: As soon as this issue is put together, I'm off for a three-week vacation - a hiking trip in England . This will be the longest I've been away from Boston since I came four years ago' Then later in August, Pat Farenga will be away, too - he and Day Yelland are getting married on the 20th, and are honey mooning in Denmark for two weeks. - Donna Richoux
MAINE PAYS FOR SCHOOLING From Adam Tomash, RFD 1 Box 1590, N Anson ME 04958: We have for sale part or all of a forty-acre homestead in a rural part of central Maine ... The unique part is its location in what is described in Maine as an "unorganized territory." ... We pay our taxes ($150/year) directly to the state and they in turn pay for services such as schools and roads directly on a con tract basis . They pay a local school district $1200 per pupil per year for tuition but they are willing to pay an non-reli ious school t he same amount. eave actua y sent our cnrrctren to an alternative school without cost. A small community built on this property with its own certifi able teacher could collect $1200 per student from the state to defray school costs. For more information please send SASE or call 207 643-2510 ...
HOMESCHOOLERS IN COURT From the Arkansas Democrat, 6/30/83: . . . Wayne and Margaret Burrow, who educated their 8-year-old daugh ter at home, were found in violation of the state's compulsory school attendance law Wednesday and fined $1,000 by Pulaski County Circuit Judge Lowber Hendricks. . . . "As much as I like you folks and admire you, I feel you're in vio lation of state law," Hendricks said. "I really do think this can be solved at the highest level (of court) . " Hendricks also recommended that the Burrows apply for a state permit to operate as a private school if they wanted to continue to teach their daughter at home. The Burrows could have been fined $4,000 in accordance with the state ' s provision of a $10 per day fine, but Hendricks said he felt the fine was excessive . After Hendricks' decision, Wayne Burrow said he would take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary. He also said he would not apply for a permit to operate as a private school . ... Hendricks said, "It seems to me through the testimony I've heard today that Mr . and Mrs . Burrow should not have to work too hard getting approved as a private school . " . .. [DR:] A reader tells us that in
spite of what the judge said, Arkan sas laws require a private school to have a certified teacher and a mini mum of 15 students . She also sent the July issue of the CHRISTIAN HOME EDU CATION ASSOCIATION newsletter, in which Margaret Burrow writes: · .. On first appearances, the ruling Judge Lowber Hendricks gave us may have seemed unfair ... However . . . we are now in a position to help all home schools in the state . Circuit Court does not set a pre cedent; Judge Hendricks set the $1,000 fine to assure that we will appeal to the State Supreme Court. In reference to state approval, the statute to which reference was made is for occupational private schools, such as real estate and beau ty schools. What this has done is to give us tremendous grounds for appeal at a higher level since this refer ence is in error. Dr. Raymond Moore and Dr. Wil liam Randall did fine jobs [testify ing]. We appreciate the financial sup port given by many of you toward get ting Dr . Moore here to testify . We were very fortunate to get all testi mony in without even one objection ... The state did not present a single expert witness ... Lawrence Williams (CA) of OAK MEADOW SCHOOL writes about the May court decision involving Pamela Hackett of Los Angeles: · .. After hearing the evidence and testimonies, the judge made a dis tinction between two charges: the charges relating to the period before they enrolled in the Independen-t ---- Study Program of the Palisades Learn ing Center (the name of the Los Ange les branch of Oak Meadow School), and the charges relating to the period after they enrolled . For the period DeIOre their enrollment in PLC, the ~declared them ~ ... How ever, for the period-arter their enrollment in PLC, the-}UOge dis missed the charges against th~ stating that the prosecution had not presented sufficient evidence to prove that they were not enrolled in a legal private school as of that date. The fines for the guilty por tion of the verdict were ~aived (at the request of the prosecution) and Pamela and Maurice Hackett were placed on summary probation and ordered to obey the compulsory educa tion laws . So, technically, as long as the Hacketts remain enrolled in the Pali sades Learning Center they won't have any further trouble from the school district .. . From the Jan . newsletter of the TEXAS HOME EDUCATION COALITION, reprinted in Home Educator's News letter: · . . Don and Evelyn Culley are a missionary couple who recently returned to the United States. They were schooling their two boys, aged 8 and 10, at home in Odessa, Texas, when they were taken to court by the local school district. They lost at the J . P. level and filed an appeal . They received considerable adverse publicity from the news media. Their home support church, after hearing of their court battle, cut t h em off with out a penny ... But ... the county prosecutor who prosecuted them in J.P . court . ..
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came away with the opinion that home education is an acceptable alterna tive. Last November he was elected County District Attorney. When the Culley's appeal came up for considera tion, he moved that the case against them be dismissed and his motion was granted' The Culleys are now free to continue the home education of their children ...
MORE COURT NEWS VICTORIES: Joe & Wimbric Padgett, McRae, Georgia --- George & Irene Anderson, Kauai, Hawaii (Robert Grinpas, attorney) --- The Kirshen mans, Moorhead, Minnesota --- May Phillips, Trinity School District, Pennsylvania --- Scott Page, St. Matthews, South Carolina FACING COURT ACTION: Jean & Bob Smith, Albert Lea, Minnesota APPEALING A LOSS: Terry & Vickie Roemhild, Stephens County, Georgia --- Charles & Marlee Bergman, West Danby, New York (appeal tentative)
W.V. LAW-PRIVATE SCHOOLS [ DR: ] The West Virginia legisla ture recently passed two education bills: Senate Bill No. 184, which allows for the certification of pri vate schools with minimal regula tions; and Senate Bill No. 365, which lowers the compulsory school atten dance age from 7 to 6 and establish es kindergartens. First, some pertinent quotes from the private school bill, passed 3/5/83: .. . Each private, parochial, or church school or school of religious order shall observe a minimum instruc tional term of 180 days, with an aver age of five hours of instruction per day, and shall make and maintain annual attendance and disease immun ization records for each pupil . .. Upon the request of the county super intendent of schools, any school to which this applies ... shall furnish to the county board of education a list of the names and addresses of all children enrolled in such school . .. Eac h such school shall be subject to reasonable fire, health and safety inspections by state, county and municipal authorities as required by law ... Each ... nonpublic school elect ing to operate under this statute . . . shall administer on an annual basis during each school year to every child enrolled therein between the ages of 7 and 16 years either the Com prehensive Test of Basic Skills, the California Achievement Test or the Stanford Achievement Test, which test will be selected by the chief adminis trative officer of each school ... Upon request of a duly authorized representative of the West Virginia department of education, the school composite test results shall be furn ished by the school. .. . Each school to which this article applies shall: (A) Establish curriculum object ives, the attainment of which will enable students to develop the poten tial for becoming literate citizens . (B) Provide an instructional pro gram that will make possible the acquisition of competencies necessary to become a literate citizen. If such school composite test results for any single year . .. fall below the fortieth percentile ... the school .. . shall initiate a remedial
GROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING #34
program ... If after two consecutive calendar years, school composite test results are not above the fortieth percentile level, attendance at the school may no longer satisfy the com pulsory school attendance require ment ... Any [ school to which this arti cle applies ] may, on a voluntary basis, participate in any state oper ated or state sponsored program other wise made available to such schools by law. ... Any new school to which this article relates shall send to the state superintendent of schools ... a notice of intent to operate, name and address of the school, and name of the school's chief administrator. ' ... No [ school to which this arti cle applies ] which complies with the requirements of this article, shall be subject to any other provision of law relating to education except requirements of law respecting fire, safety, sanitation, and immun ization .. . About this law, Richard Dulee of the HOMESCHOOL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION ( Rt 1 Box 352, Alderson WV 24910) writes: .. . The new regulations are the result of lobbying by a proliferation of "Christian academies" which have existed outside of previous certifica tion requirements. We see it as an opening for homeschoolers . We have already notified the state superinten dent of the establishment of Harmony Hill Private School ... They were sur prised to hear of our plans. They were also unable to refute our inter pretation . We are seeking out sympa thetic legal counsel just in case . The HOMESCHOOL EDUCATION ASSOCIA TION is offering W. V . homeschoolers all necessary documentation and test ing for compliance with the new regu lations. We have recruited state certified teachers and a psychologist and are looking to establish a net work of duly registered private home schools to counter any attempts to exclude us from coverage under the new statute ...
W.V. LAW - SCHOOL AGE
[ DR: ] Next, a look at West Vir ginia Senate Bill No. 365, passed one week later than the previous bill, on 3/12/83. The reader who told us about it thought it lowered the compulsory age from 7 to 5, but although the law is confusing and almost contradic tory, it does clearly change the mini mum age to £. To quote: l8-8-la . . . Compulsory school attendance shall begin with the school year in which the sixth birthday is reached prior to Sep tember one of such year and con tinue to the sixteenth birthday. The bill also requires county boards of education to provide kinder garten for children who have turned 5 before the school year begins . The difference between "The public schools are required to provide kin dergartens" and "Parents are required to send their children to kindergar ten" is vital, but easily confused in the press and in people's minds. Any one involved in similar legislative confrontations in other states should make a point of being clear about which kind of compulsion is involved. (Just think how much happier home
schoolers would be if all compulsory education laws had been-written in the form, "The community shall pro vide schools for children," not "Par ents shall send their children to school'" ) Further confusion enters in the W.V . law when it states: ... Prior to entrance in the first grade . .. each child must have either ( 1 ) successfully completed such publicly or privately support ed, state-approved kindergarten pro gram or Montessori kindergarten pro gram, or (2) successfully completed an entrance test of basic readiness skills approved by the county in which the school is located: Pro vided, That such test be adminis tered in lieu of kindergarten atten dance only under extraordinary cir cumstances to be determined by the board ... What this will mean to a family that wants to keep a child out of kin dergarten but send her/him to first grade, I don't know. The fact that the compulsory age is 6 says they have the right to do this, but I can imagine some boards of education be ing upset about whether those ~ere "extraordinary circumstances." Clear ly this bill was not written with home-schoolers in mind. Although we've heard of attempts in various states to lower the compul sory school age, this is the first bill we know of that has actually passed. We urge all readers to ce alert for such bills. It's beginning to be a very popular notion in educa tional circles (see, for example, the highly publicized report of the National Commission for Excellence in Education) that the quality of educa tion in this country would improve if children only spent more time in schools. The Japanese-start school at age four, they say, and look how successful ahe~ are. (When you start using this ~n of false logic, there's no end to what you can justify . ) Teachers' lobbies love this kind of legislation, of course, because it guarantees more jobs. Plus, the many parents who are now paying for day care for their young children would be delighted to get it free from the schools. So, such a bill could easily slip through the system, as there is no organized, powerful opposition unless we help create it.
LOCAL NEWS ARIZONA: Sherri Pitman (6166 W Highland, Phoenix AZ 85033) has raised the price of her book on the Arizona home-schooling law to $9. She informed us of some small changes in the home-schooling statute, including the interesting addition, "The Depart ment of Education shall upon request provide any information which the department provides to teachers and
GROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING, Vol. 6 No.3. ISSN #0745-5305 . Published bi-month ly by Holt Asso ciates, 729 Boylston St, Boston MA 02116. $15/yr . Date of Issue, Aug. 1, 1983. Second class postage paid at Boston MA. POSTMASTER : Send address changes to GWS, 729 Boylston St, Boston MA 02116. ADVERTISERS: Deadline for Christmas shopping ads is Sept. 15 (Issue mai l ed late Cctober) . 20% off for ads run in three or more consecu tive issues. Contact Patrick Farenga for rates . CUSTOMERS: Please men t ion GWS when writing to our advertisers!
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parents of public school children relating to the nationally standard ized achievement test" which home schooled children must take. Sherri also 'sent a letter from State Attor ney General Bob Corbin in which he gave the opinion that "the private school exemption, as contained in Paragraph 2 of ARS 15-802.B, does not encompass what is, in fact, a home teaching situation . .. " AUSTRALIA: Heather Cousland-Keck of the newsletter Other Ways (GWS #31) tells us that the rates for sub scriptions to America are $24 (U.S.) for air-mail, $16 for sea. Money should be in Australian bank draft or Australian travellers checks. BRITISH COLUMBIA: Tunya Audain of EDUCATION ADVISORY (2267 Kings Av, W Vancouver BC, Canada V7V 2Cl; 926 9081) has a "Home Learning Pak" of information and reprints useful for would-be homeschoolers in B.C. CALIFORNIA: Pamela Pacula writes, " Ma1hng list for the HOME CENTERED LEARNING newsletter [34 Katrina Ln, San Anselmo CA 94960; free] has grown from 96 to over 250 since February. Our last picnic in San Jose two weeks ago was the big gest yet' I contacted the Lifestyles Editor of the Independent Journal, Marin County's largest newspaper, and she said, yes, she would like to do a story on home schooling in the near future . " From Linda Simmons (CA): "We organized an informal get-together for home-schoolers in our area. Adver tisement in our local newspaper, radio, and word-of-mouth brought together 15 home-schooling fami lies . .. Some knew each other, some did not; some had filed a private school affidavit, some had not; all had varying reasons for making their decision . It was GWS in person' . .. " After John appeared at a home schoolers' meeting arranged by Jane Williams of the CALIFORNIA HOME EDUCA TION CLEARINGHOUSE, she wrote, "Financially, we took in enough money to cover the cost of the hall, your [additional] plane fare, hotel, print ing costs, and postage to cover the flyers sent out announcing your visit." This is encouraging news for any of you thinking of arranging for John to come a home-schooling meeting when he has a fee-paying engagement in your state. But help us get those university and conference dates first' From Pam Gingold (CA): "Thank you for listing Nancy Reckinger's name under 'Professors Willing to Help Homeschoolers.' Together we are working to get Los Angeles City Schools to accept Independent Study students in the primary grades. She knows many people in the State Educa tion Dept. and perhaps they will allow her to try a pilot program because she is well-respected ... Also, she is becoming a well-loved friend, which is as important . " COLORADO: In what the Denver Post ca l led a "major victory-ro;=-fun damentalist religious schools," the governor signed a bill that requires only that private schools be in session 172 days, that they provide a "basic academic education," and that they keep attendance records. A handout of the COLORADO HOME SCHOOLING NETWORK (SASE to 365 Hooker St, Denver 80219) says they have been holding monthly meetings, their news letter is $8 per year, and their "Homeschooling in Colorado" legal packet costs $5 . FLORIDA: Ann Mordes of FLASH announces, " Barbara Plunket has agreed to become the South Florida
Director of FLASH . I feel very lucky to have her aboard. Anyone from Sara sota down through Miami, feel free to contact Barbara (2012 N Huntington Av, Sarasota FL 33582; 813-921-6009)." GEORGIA: A good idea from Connie Shaw in A Different Drummer: "Each year we have not1ced that home schooling children are sometimes sad and even upset on the day their friends go back to school . . . We are planning a special day for all home schoolers on this first day of the school year. The children will be doing much of the organizing and pre paring ... " Connie's group also offers a info packet for Georgia home school ers for $5 (4818 Joy Ln, Lilburn GA 30247) . Phillis Bostar is publishing another newsletter for Georgia home schoolers, The Creative Mind (4953 Womack Av, Acworth GA 30101; $6/6 issues) . MICHIGAN: Pat Montgomery's book let, HOME SWEET SCHOOL, has much good legal information for Michigan fami lies. Don't know the price - contact her at Clonlara School, 1289 Jewett St, Ann Arbor MI 48104; 313-769-4515. OREGON: Jane Joyce has started THE LEAR[lNG CONNECTION (3530 Galice Rd, ~lerli n OR 97532) and says "Please list me in 'Schools that will help home-schoolers, , for all of Oregon . We've been operating since Nov. '82 without any hassles from the authori ties, and will expand out of this area in September ... " NEW HAMPSHIRE: There are monthly state-wide homescfiooling meetings, according to the N. H. Home Schools Newsletter; for a copy, send a SASE to Kath1e Dupont, RFD 2 Box 255, Laconia NH 03246. OKLAHOMA: The Oklahoma Home School Association held its first meeting on Feb. 12 at the Native Amer ican Association in Oklahoma City . Speakers included attorney John Eidsmoe. Around 100 adults and child ren attended. There are three chap ters of the OHSA that hold regular meetings: Tulsa (918-455-6390), Okla homa City (405-946-4600), and Lawton (405-355-6954) . TENNESSEE: According to the new ASSIST Newsletter (PO Box 1851, Knox ville TN 37901; $5/yr), there was so much negative reaction to House Bill #1033 and Senate Bill #1116, which would have placed many restrictions on private schools (see GWS #32), the sponsors deleted the entire content of the bill and substituted a pro vision that would place on the par ents the "burden of proving that a child is being afforded an academic program and curriculum comparable to that offered in the local public school system." The bill will be con sidered by the Subcommittee on Secon dary Education over the summer. - DR
WORRIED SCHOOL From Sandy Hurst of UPATTINAS SCHOOL (see our "Helpful Schools" list, GWS #33): ... We have had some bad news from Harrisburg. Some superintendents and other people in Pa. have let it be known that we "enroll" home school ers, and the Director of Non-Public Schools has let me know that we are not allowed to do this - at the risk of losing our license to operate our school. He seems willing to cooperate as long as we don't use the school's name . I can use my own name as educa tional consultant, but the school must not be mentioned .
... We are working on a correspon dence course offering, which we'll have to have licensed . If we get the license, we'll be able to work through that more easily. I'm hoping that the superintendents will feel more comfortable with allowing people to work with us that way . .. . 1 would welcome any com ments . . . I don't have the support of my whole school community to just go on the way we've been doing it. We are really concerned about our license being pulled. If you get calls, tell people to call me for more personal treat ment . . . We'll still do all we can to protect them or help them write up proposals for their superintendents ...
A PSYCHOLOGIST HELPS Andy Peterson (PA) wrote in the Western Pa. Homeschoolers #5: . . . For the past two years I have had a home education specialty as part of my private practice of psycho logy [see GWS #20 and our "Professor & Allies" list]. There are three main services. The first is offering an information packet on home education specifically geared to our Pennsylvan ia situation. I ask six dollars to cover postage and copying costs . Second is home education consul tation and evaluation. This is for parents having difficulty with super intendent-approval. My official cre dentials are Professional Psychology License and School Psychology Certi fication. I can do a professional psychoeducational report regarding the prognosis for a child benefitting from home education and the extent to which the parents are "properly quali fied" as tutors . . . The purpose of this report is to present a specific home education recommendation in pro fessional jargon, to critique past evaluations, and to provide the super intendent with a back-up professional opinion for his decision. In some cases, this strategy can smooth the approval process. Usually, I interview family, par ents, and child . Some traditional psychometric tests and a parent ques tionaire rr.ight be used . A rough draft of the report is reviewed by the par ents and corrections made. The final draft, along with cover letter and enclosures, is sent to the superinten dent. I am then available for a school conference, if needed. Consul tation by phone is included . A third counseling service is sort of a de-programming conversation about past experiences with education ists. Parents may be either home schooling or not, but would like an outsider such as me to comment on and question their view of Johnny's aca demic-type skills and his over-all development. This would include a meeting with the child, maybe some tests, and a critique of past school programs and evaluations . A subse quent meeting with the parents or the family would provide opportunity for discussion .. .
NOTIFYING SUPERINTENDENT EARLY Susan Richman wrote in the same Western Pa. Homeschoolers: . .. Having a child just approach ing age 6 who ' s never been enrolled in any school, I've been wondering for a good while about the best time to begin working out a homeschooling
GROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING #34
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arrangement with our school district . It seemed silly to contact the super intendent when Jesse had just turned five, a nd I toyed with thoughts of waiting un til age eig h t, PA compul sory sc hool age . Finally a number of factors (baby #3 arriving in late sum mer, among t hem) helped me to decide to request official approval this spring, j ust before what would be con sidered Jesse ' s first grade year. Al thoug h each family must find wha t is best for t hem , I t h i nk t he r e are a lo t of possible advantages for families in begining a dialogue with school people early . Approaching the superintendent now put us in a very favorable light - we were showing we were ready and willing to cooperate, even though it was not legally necess ary. I kn ew t hat t he s t ate held no power in the situation, and that my district had no reason to worry that ttl Y were doing anything even vaguely i egal by cooperating with us . Although in our situation, I knew be forehand that the superintendent would be very friendly and supportive of our c hoice, I also knew that if for some reason I didn't like any of his recommendations or conditions, I could simply say, po l itely, " Thanks, see you instead when Jesse is 8," and be free of all dealings for a few more years . Those years could give time for a change in the climate of accepta nce for h omesc hooli ng, or possib l y even a c hange in superinten dents. And meanwhile, nothing would be lost . .. I felt these two years could give a superintendent time to really get to know a family ' s situa tion, to slowly grow to trust in the parents ' handling of their own chi l d ' s education. Once two years of very informal cooperation go by, it seems to me that it's quite a simple matter for a superintendent to contin ue giving approval when a child reach es compulsory school age . After all, this was a family the superintendent already knew well, not a strange fami ly he knew absolutely nothing about and suddenly had to make a decision about . I presented a Home Education Plan for Jesse at my initial meeting with the superintendent and his assis tant . It included a short statement on our philosophy of education, and a conven t ion al sub j ect matter breakdown - language arts (listening, talking, reading , writing), mathematics, social studies, science, art, music, and physical education and health, and also a section on evaluation pro cedures . I had already looked over the dis t rict's curriculum outlines for kindergarten and first grade and felt vert confident that what we were doing ~n ormally at home easily met all grade level requirements, and in ract went much farther. Under each subject heading, I simply described, in normal language, not educational jargon, our basic approach in the area and listed specific interests and activities that Jesse had been involved with over the past year, indicating that we planned to con tinue in the same manner in the up coming year. When I wrote these lists, I began to be amazed at how thorough, how GOOD, we looked on paper. Why it even looked like it might have been rlanned' (Reminded me again that our ea r ning is never c haotic or without form, but just naturally creates its own fo r m a nd order ... ) This type of curric ul um write-up was almost a deligh t to do, since I was simply shari ng some of t h e experiences of a favori t e little person, and I could
GROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING #34
avoid the drudgery of trying to come up with dry behavioral objectives, goals, future teaching strategies, etc . And no superintendent could say, as one in western PA did when shown a homeschooling plan, "Pshaw' Idealism' It will never work''', for our plan wasn ' t describing what we vaguely hoped mig~t happen, but what actually had alrea ¥ happened. It was fact and couldn t be argued with . .. It also makes me feel more confident now when people ask what we do all day or how I can manage to know what to do NEXT . I can now say, perhaps even with an air of mystery, that of course I have our written educational Rtan, if they'd like to see it . .. so, by showing up at the initial interview, detailed plan in hand, I also showed I was organized, serious, self-motivated and ready to dialogue . I was not waiting to be told a format for our plan, or waiting for them to specify what to include. So everything is going well with setting up a cooperative relationship with our district . Communication lines are open, feelings are good on all sides, and school facilities will be available to Jesse as we feel we want to use them . Glad we didn't wait until age 8 to begin the process' ... SUCCESS IN N.H.
Jan Olmstead (NH) writes: . .. We have just finished our first year of home-schooling . I wrote
to you about a year ago to say we had submitted our home schooling pro posal. Taking our kids out of school was easier than we had dreamed it would be. We had absolutely no trouble. In New Hampshire there are state guidelines for home schooling and the people at the state level were very helpful . They suggested that we not try to prove "educational hardship" (i.e . the school's short comings) but that we focus on the edu cational benefit of home study. The basis of our argument was the Congressional report on the educa tion of the gifted and talented. We had our kids professionally (private ly) evaluated and had a letter from the psychologist stating that they are academically gifted. Then we addressed our proposal to each para graph of the state guidelines . When, on the week before school opened, we approached the superintendent, we had a copy of our proposal in hand . He didn't even have a copy of the guide lines' .. . The kids had to attend school for one week - until the first school board meeting. The board asked the superintendent if we had met the legal guidelines and that was it . We contracted with the school to : meet quarterly with the principal, gui dance counselor, and special ed . (who else?) co-ordinator; to submit a monthly portfolio; and to have the kids take yearly achievement tests and the Gates-MacGinite reading test twice a year . We felt the reading tests and monthly portfolios excess
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