GROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING 40 Just came back from a trip to Phoenix, where I taped a short inter view wi th the Rita Davenport show and l ater spoke to a meeting of home schoolers; to San Diego, where I spoke to a number of meetings of home sc hoolers in wha t is o bviously a very active area; and then on to Washing ton sta t e , where (w ith many ot he rs) I spoke at th e Cleve land Conference at Washington State University i n Pull man, and then later at some very we ll attended and enthusiastic. public meet ings in Wenatchee, in the heart of the frui t country. The Cleveland Con ference, held annua ll y, ordina rily brings together sc hool adminis trators and archi t ec t s t o discuss school cur riculums and buildings . This year the spon so rs of th e conference decided to discuss instead the question of the law as it relates to i nd epe nd ent schools, mostly religious, a nd home schooling. Whether for thi s reason or some ot her, only abou t half th e usual number attended, but th ese seemed to find the conference lively and stimu lating. Returned home t o hear the very welcome ne ws that our dear frie nd and colleague Donna is going to be mar ried this November, probably in the Boston suburb of Concord, to Franklin Ross, who, among ot her things, works at the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard. Another old friend and staff mem ber, Jim Hayes, has l eft to work full time at the Westin Hote l. Hi s place is being t aken by Ross Ca mpbell, who arrived here recent l y from the West Coas t to work as a volunteer, and now becomes one of the regular crew . Mary Gray, meanwhile, is recovering some what from mononucleosis, so it may not be too long before s he is wi th us again. The response t o our recent story about possibly starting a tax-exempt corpo r a ti on called Fri ends of Home Schooling has been so encouraging (about $6000 in donation estimates) that we have decided to go ahead . Bar ring unforeseen and extremely unlike ly legal difficulties (there are thou sands of t ax - exempt co rp orations of a similar nature), we should have the new corporation formed by the end of the year, though it will of course take some time after th at to get our tax-deductible status from the Inter nal Revenue Service . More good news about home school ers and college admission. Theo Giesy, one of our pioneer h ome school ers in Virginia, wrote me that her son Darrin, who has not been to school in the many years I have known him, has been admitted to Antioch Co l lege, one of our most selective col leges, for this coming fall . Brief note on late star t s i n reading . Heard from one homesc hoo l friend that her youngest child, age
11 last winter, has only in the last year or less taken an interest in reading and is now reading we ll, and in fact wrote me a very interesting and well-spelled letter. And on my travels I met a 10~-year- o ld boy who only began reading four months or so ago and is now reading far beyond his grade leve l. Will try to get a l i ttl e more complete story ab out th ese by no means atypical children . Children l earn very quickly when they hav e chosen to do so for th ei r own r ea sons. How much trouble and pain would be saved if more schools could on l y l ea rn this . --- John Holt JOHN HOLT'S COMING SCHEDULE Sept . 8, 1984: Connecticut Home-Schoolers Association. Contact Laura Pritchard, 203-634-0714 . Sept . 13: Holt Associates Open House (seco nd Thursday of each month, 6-8 PM ) . Sept . 28: Sunrise Session, D'You ville College, Buffalo NY 14201 . 8 AM. Contact Robert DiSib io , 716-881 3200, ext. 6112. Oct. 13: Missouri homescho o lers. U. of Mo., Ro lla. Co ntact Albert Hobar t, 314-674-3296. Anyone who wants to coo rdinat e ot her meetings o r lectures around these times, contact Patrick Farenga. GWS T-SHIRT CONTEST Ever want to create an award winning design ? Now you can indulge in your most creative talents - enter your design for our first-ever GWS T-SHIRT CONTEST . Mary and Richard Zimman, the owners of the company HORSESHIRTS', have offered to sponsor the contest. The rules are:
1) The winner will be awarded $25 . 2) Entries must be no larger than 8" wide and 10" high, drawn in black ink on white paper, and be ca mera-ready original artwork. 3) All entries must have name and address of the entrant on the back . 4 ) Multiple entries are accep table. 5) Judging will be by GWS in con junction with Horseshirts' Inc . 6) The winning design will be imprinted on T-shirts as a fund raisi ng and publicity activit y for GWS. 7) Entries should be postmarked no later than Oct. 31, 1984. Once a winner is chosen, the win ning design will be printed on Hanes 50/50 T-shirts in 8 sizes (4 you th and 4 adult). The postpaid pri ce s will be $4 . 75 for youth and $5 . 25 for adult sizes. GWS will receive one dollar for every T-shirt sold, so c reate a design that'll sell a mil lion' We look forward t o your crea tions and encourage all ages to enter. Good luck' --- Pat Farenga REPORT ON GWS SUPPLEMENT Delighted to see that YOUNG CHILDREN: NATURAL LEARNERS is moving briskl y - over 100 sold so far, with n ew orde rs steadily coming in. I'm especially pleased that many peo ple a r e buying extra copies for their frie nds and relatives. For those of you who did not see the announcement in GWS #39, YOUNG CHILDREN: NATURAL LEARNERS is the
first-ever "GWS Supplement, " made of letters and articles we have n o t had r oom for in the regular magazine , and a ll pertaining to chi ldr en from birth to age 6. It turned out to be 12 pages, not 8, in the GWS for mar-with a few i ll ustrations. In the introduction, I wrote, after a few words on our history: "Thr ough GWS, a sizable network has formed of people concerned abou t the tr ue nature of learning . To ou r delight, many of our readers ha ve wri tt e n us about the way they and their children actually do lea rn, and it was has been our great pleasure to print these perceptive, warm, and often witty letters in GWS . Through these shared experiences, like the ones you will find in these pages, a new picture is emerging of what the role of the parents may be in produ cing children who are happy, crea tive, and independent - parents who trust their children's innate abi lity to learn, who provide only as much help as the child asks for, and who allow th e child to become involved in their li ves and work instead o f nar rowing their world down to the tradi tional limits of childhood . We hope you will find these letters and arti cles stimulating and encouraging ." Several of the stories relate to family businesses - an employer in New Hampshire who requires workers to bring pre-school-age c hildren; start ing family-style health food store; a 3-year - old who answers the phone for her parents' construction firm . Some of the other titles: "When a Toddler I nt e rfer es," "Twos Aren't Terrible," "Having Faith in Special Kids ," "L earning to Ice Skate, " and "Thought s on Pre-School." As I expected, because the print ing and postage costs are higher than we estimated, we have had to r ais e the price already to $2, including postage ( make checks payable to Holt Associates) . But to encourage the mul tiple orders to continue, the price will be $1 . 50 each for 2 or more shipped at one time to one addr es s. We'd love to hear feedback on th is booklet . The first response we got was from Joyce Spurgin in Okla homa: "I received YOUNG CHILDREN: NATURAL LEARNERS today ... It is just what I needed. When will you have a not her issue? . . If it was a regular periodical, I would subscribe' " --- Donna Richoux NOTES FROM DONNA Looks like the next four months are going to be very, very busy, what with the wedding, moving house, and the projects at work - the fa ll book list mailing, updating the Directory, the Mass . kindergarten law (see "Legislative News") - not to mention
WHAT'S INSIDE Trading Post: 2 --- NC, MO News: 2 --- Other legal news: 2-4 -- Test results: 5 - -- Frank Lloyd Wright: 5 --- Early grad: 5 --- Zambia: 6 --- On their own: 6 --- Neb raska fami ly: 7 --- Part-time school: 7 --- Success : 8 -- From 14-yr-old : 9 --- Teacher test: 10 --- Cer tificates /Private schools 10 --- Advantages of home-schooling: 11 --- JH Testimony: 11 -- Earning Money / Teacher: 11 --- Montessori: 12 --- Kids & Work: 12 --- Calvert: 13 --- JH/ Violence: 13 --- Schadel/map le syrup: 14 -- Science/nature: 15 --- Computers: 16 --- TV: 16 --- Kids & Money: 16 --- Typewriters: 17 --- Writing : 18-19 --- Co ntests : 19 --- Read ing: 20 --- Scu lpture supplies: 20 --- Text book catalog s: 20 --- Suzuki: 21 --- Music tape le ssons: 22 --- Book reviews: 22-26
2
GWS itself every two months. I'm get OLINIANS FOR HOME EDUCATION (PO Box ting rather nervous about how it will 752, Concord NC 28025; 704-782-3930): all get done. But I suppose, with lots of help, I'll make it through! ... TRADING POST - Many of you Franklin Ross and I met several have curriculum materials which your years ago contra-dancing (we plan to children are no longer using, yet are have a caller and musicians at our still useable, while others can't or wedding'). He's very different from don't wish to pay retail price for me in some ways - I was good in materials they will use for only a school and am a habitual reader, year. This can apply to teaching whereas Frank learned almost every aids, student or teacher texts, audio thing in his field from direct experi materials, reference books, or even ence; he spent about 10 years travel h obby , craft, or science equipment ling around North America, collecting which is no longer used. If you have, and studying reptiles and amphibians or are looking for any of these for museums. I find him to be strong things, send us a full description of and capable and thoughtful, and I'm the item: title, publisher, grade sure we'll be happy. level, subject, condition, etc. - any Ross needs a home: When Ross information that would help identify Campbell came from California to help what you 're offering or seeking . in our office, he was planning to Please be sure to include your name, live with a friend. But that fell address or phone number - some way through, and right now he's staying for interested persons to reach you. for a month with the Matilsky family We ask that you enclose $1 to help (GWS readers), and is looking for cover the printing/mailing costs for other such places, fairly close to the Trading Post ... our 'office, where he could trade some household and childcare work for room and board. Ross is also a fine violin [DR:] Kim says they'd be happy ist (trained by Suzuki methods) and to run listings from outside of North would be happy to share his music Carolina, since most actual sales with families. Please call the office will be done by mail anyway. We will (437-1550) if interested - we'd like print the address of the Trading Post to keep him in the area as long as in GWS from time to time, the way we possible' do for the Network for Educational Travel, (which is at 1853 East Shore Cheat handout: Tired of loaning Dr, Ithaca NY 14850) . out yourack issues of GWS and never getting them back? We have about 30 By the way, when the question of copies of GWS #37 that were goofed up selling used Calvert materials arose in printing - each consists of two in an early issue of GWS, someone sets of pages 9-24 instead of 1-32. said the school makes customers sign You could take them apart and have an agreement not to sell or give away its books . However, a reader recently two partial samples for people to get an idea of what GWS is about. All we sent us a copy of Calvert's Enroll ment Agreement, and it turns out that ask is that you pay the postage - 50¢ each (specify "Pr inter ' s Goof.") If only the Lesson Manual is restricted we run out, we'll return your check in this way. if it was made out separately; other WIse, we'll issue a credit slip. Safety concern: Michael Kern of NEWS FROM NORTH CAROLlNA. .. Washington wrote in response to Sharon Hillestad's idea (GWS #39) More from the newsletter of NORTH CAROLINIANS FOR HOME EDUCATION: about modifying the TV plug to con trol her family's TV watching: "This ... We strongly recommend that would create two serious electrical you enroll your children in one of hazards. Male plugs should always re ceive current, rather than deliver the several regional schools current ly being formed for parents who wish it, because the conductors are ex to teach their own children ... The posed, and would present full house schools have an opening day when all current if touched. Very possibly a lethal shock. I'm sure the idea was the students meet at a central loca tion, and meet about once a month to always plug into the TV cord, then thereafter. Otherwise, the students the wall - but if your concentration are taught in the finest of class slips, or a guest doesn't know the rooms, by the best of t eac hers: in system - ZAP. The other hazard in their own homes, by their own parents. volves polarized plugs. Most TV's are For more information, call: John designed so the +1- polarity is McKinley, 704-683-4471, Asheville always the same. This is to reduce area; Terry Manahan, 704-233-4568, th e shock and fire hazard from the TV Charlotte area; Claudia Eldridge, itself. One would have to carefully 919-885-0743, HP/Greensboro; Debbie maintain that polarity in any modifi Leverette, 919-544-2809, Raleigh cation to the cord ... " area; Susan Oates, 919-291-4137, Good news from California: From Wilson/Rocky Mt ... the Summer '84 CoEvolution Quarterl¥, Or you can form your own non reprint ed in Georgians for Freedom ~n public school, as long as you have Education: "Last year at San Juan one student from outside your family Ridge Un~on Elementary School in (his/her parent can teach that stu northern California, a whopping 15% dent in own home) . . . of the students were enrolled in COURT NEWS: ... Two important Independent Study." The San Juan dis points to remember about the Duro trict is on our "Friendly School Dis decision [GWS #38,39]: (1) The trict" list (GWS #36). - DR state's "compelling interest" in the educa tion of its citizens was upheld: we ARE accountable to the state for SELLING USED MATERIALS the education of our children. (2) It was not the validity of home educa [DR:] Several of you have asked tion which was in question in this if we could print your offers to buy case: Duro did not even try to prove or sell - or even give away - books, that his children were being properly magazines, and so on. We have simp ly educated, claiming, rather, that the been too short on room to do this and have suggested you try the local news state had no right to compel their education, in view of his First Amend letters. Now comes this good idea from Jeff and Kim Golden of NORTH CAR- ment religious liberties. This ruling
was in no way a comment on the accep tability or legality of home educa tion, but a ruling on the right of the State to ensure that its citizens are being prepared to take their places as responsible members of a democratic society . The Delcontes [GWS #25, 37] were charged with violating compulsory attendance laws in educating their children at home . . . The issue here, however, is not that the state claims that the children are not being educa ted, or even that their education is inadequate, but that, based on a December 1983 opinion by the Attorney General, Rufus Edmisten, a home school does not qualify as a school. ... In deciding this case, the judges must decide if the Attorney General's opinion is legally valid or not. The case is currently before the North Carolina Supreme Court ... Decision is expected to be issued in September. ... The Catos [GWS #26] .. . received a favorable ruling from Dis trict Judge Warren, and have contin ued teaching Lori at home. The Gottfrieds of Randolph County ... had charges dropped the week of their court appearance be cause they received private school status by forming a private school with another family . The McKinleys and Millers, both of Buncombe County ... both had their cases dismissed at pre-trial hear ings ... Both have since either gotten private school status, or enrolled their children in a private school ...
...AND FROM MISSOURI New law: Carol Myers-Brown (MO) tells us th a t the legislature passed a bill which would stop the Family Services division from investigating reports of home-schooling, and instead, transfer that responsibility to the local district attorney and the school district. The law will be in effect for only one year, so Carol says home-schoolers are organizing, establishing phone trees and raising money in order to get favorable legis lation passed in 1985. She says she now knows of about 1,000 interested families in the state, and is sure there are many more. Preliminary injunction: Earlier this year, the suit initiated by FAMI LIES FOR HOME EDUCATION and families in Warren and St . Charles county suc ceeded in getting a preliminary injunction to stop the harassment by Family Services. Ozarks peaceful: Albert Hobart (MO) writes, " Fortunately, harassment by social workers hasn't been a state-wide phenomenon, and homeschool ers in our part of Missouri have had relatively few legal difficulties. In fact, homeschooling in the Ozarks seems to be doing better than ever.' Recently, for example, the Rolla Daily News included two favoraore art~cles featuring several local home schooling families ... Since then we've had a couple of home schooling get-togethers to give interested par ents a chance to meet experienced homeschooling families ... We plan to get together about every two months, and everyone is welcome to contribute to our newsletter. For more informa tion, phone Carol Ratliff (314-341 3216) or me {314-674-3296) ... " State convention: Albert also told us he enjoyed the Missouri home schoolers convention sponsored by FAM ILIES FOR HOME EDUCATION in June. A state legislator and two lawyers were on one panel discussion. GROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING #40
3 Hel~ful school: Carol Brown also wrote, " e ' re a school for homeschool ers . We live in an old stage coach stop ... We meet once a week (more or less) so our children can have a day together . Last year a child came whose father was the principal of a public school .. . Our latest interest is creative play and dramatics . . . Our community has a nearby theater which has been out of commission since piano-playing silent movies . It's open now' " For more information, con tact the LITTLE PINEY SCHOOL, Rt 1 Box 20, Newburg MO 65550; 314-762 2036. - DR
OTHER LEGISLATIVE/ STATE NEWS
ILLINOIS: Mary Friedl (IL) wrote, " That last draft I sent you called a Statement of Assurance was passed (not approved) by the Illinois State Board of Education. Some region al superintendents plan on using it for the '84-85 school year . They say it'll be voluntary and will only be used for statistical purposes (but that's not what some regional super intendents have said) . The State Board made it clear that this was a first step toward regulation." Sally B. Pancrazio, Manager of Research and Statistics for the State Board of Education, put together a summary of comments made by four home-schoolers (Karen Demmin, Mary Friedl, J. Lynn Currie, and Deborah Saalfeld) on the new form . Their con cerns included the fact that the Statement of Assurance asked for information that private schools did not have to submit; that the question about "the highest level of education attained by the instructor" could be used against the parents; and that the form had to be notarized. Becky Currie reported in the Springfield HOUSE newsletter, "Repre sentative John Birkinbine in Cook Co . District 57 is in favor of home schooling . His own child(ren?) attend Christian Libery Academy's day school. His address is 1336 Shermer Rd, Northbrook IL 60062; phone 312 564-3490. He may be of help to us in initiating some positive home school ing legi slation ... " And Dee Cox wrote in the Chicago HOUSE Door #2 : "On March 27, Dorothy Werner and I attended a lecture given by Dr. Donald Gill (head of the Illi nois State Board of Education) and Dr . Richard Wagner .. . Dr. Gill stated that one of his goals was to change state mandates from ' You shall take such and such subjects' to ' You shall prove competency in such subjects .' I asked Dr. Gill if these new mandates would affect private schools, he stated, ' Why, no, I can 't mandate pri vate schools .' I have written him a letter to elaborate on this issue , and to see if it directly applies to home sc hool s ... " KANSAS: Daniel Glynn sent a copy of Senate Bill 712, which would allow home-schooling if (1) the parents notify the State Board of Education before Sept. 15; and (2) the child "demonstrates the attainment of mini mum competency objectives" based on reading and math examinations adminis tered by the state each spring. Daniel says, "I honestly haven't heard ho w it currently stands, but I don't see much advantage to the bill as written. Legally speaking, I would rather be considered a private school under the current law than be consid ered as homeschooling under the pro posed bill ... The only requirements for a Kansas private, nonaccredited
GROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING #40
school are (1) a "competent" instruc tor (not construed to mean degreed or certified), and (2) in session sub stantially the same amoun t of time as the public schools (which is easy to prove). Kansas cases are usually lost on the competency question, which is often a matter of presentation or flaws in representa ti on, as the law yer in the Sawyer case admitted at a meeting I attended . (By the way, when that loss was publicized, I made sure to write a letter to the superinten dent here explaining the ruling and stating that it had no bearing on our situation whatsoever; he told me he appreciated the letter . ) ... " LOUISIANA: From the newsletter of CITIZENS FOR HOME EDUCATION, NORTH WEST LA. CHAPT ER: "During this last legislative session, three bills were introduced concerning home schooling. First - Repeal of Home Study. The sponsor of this bill, Rep. Alphonse Jackson, withdrew this bill before it got to committee. Second - Screening and Testing of Home-study Children upon re-entry into the public school system - this passed wit h little or no objection from homeschoolers . The third and most opposed bill required mandatory testing of home study child ren. The bill was amended to th e fol lowing that passed both houses and is now the "new" homestudy law . Most homeschoolers view this new law as a victory even though there are now more restrictions; the opposition feels that an adequate compromise has been made and will probably be less likely to severely attack our right to home school for a whi le (we hope!)" The substance of the third bill, now R.S. 17-236 . 1: A parent shall apply to the state Board of Elemen tary and Secondary Education for approval within 30 days of starting to home-school. The initial applica tion shall be approved if th e parent certifies that the home study program will offer a sustained curriculum of quality at least equal to that offered by the public schools . For a renewal application to be approved, any of these conditions must be met: (1) the parent submits a packet of materials such as a complete outline of subjects taught during the previ ous year, lists of books, copies of the student 's work, copies of tests, progress reports by third parties, etc . , for the Board's approval; (2) the child passes a competency-based education exami nati on which will be offered by the local school board and the State; (3) the child scores at or above grade level on an approved stan dardized test such as the California Achievement Test; or (4) a certified teacher submits a statement saying the teacher has examined the program and finds it at least equal to that offered by public schools (t he Board may review this evaluation) . MAINE: In the beginning of June, MainelhOffie-schoolers learned of a 24-page draft of home-schooling guide lines, written by the State Dept . of Education with no input from home schoolers . 150-250 people, including Dr. Raymond Moore, showed up at a hearing June 13, protesting the lack of input as well as some of the pro posed restrictions, and got consider able TV and newspaper coverage . As a result, four home schoolers were asked to be on an advisory committee, along with four school superinten dents and three Department officials, to work on the guidelines . MARYLAND: The State Board passed the home-schooling regulations it had proposed last January. These require a family to submit a written schedule
and "specific instructional objec tives" in order to show that the pro gram provides "regular, thorough and comparable instruction of those sub jects usually taught in public schools to children of the same age ." A correspondence course is acceptable if specifically approved by the local superintendent. A home-schooling par ent must have a Maryland teaching cer tificate, be a college graduate, or get a waiver from the local superin tendent. The superintendent is also responsible for monitoring progress and determining placement upon re admission to school . MASSACHUSETTS: Part of a big edu cation reform package (House Bill 5704 - Section 20, Paragraph 2B(d), and Section 28) would lower the com pulsory school attendance age to 5 and require districts to offer 4 year-old programs. We at Holt Associ ates expect to do a mailing to the 1000-1500 Massachusetts names in our files, asking people to write or phone their legislators. The bill is due to be voted on soon after the sum mer recess ends Sept. 27. To find out the bill's current status, call the State House at 617-722-2700. NEVADA: Marian Sorenson writes, "The n ew Nevada regulations are enclosed . They are not the best, but after months of work, it seemed the best compromise we could get . Most of us feel that we can live with them ... Most families know a certified teach er who is willing at no cost or a nominal fee to meet the consultation requirement ... There may be some who are concerned enough to fight for a more relaxed set of regulations, and if so, I'll help them. Selfishly, though, because we can accomplish our goals under this set, I'll do just that and not make waves ... " The new regulations allow four alternatives for home-schoolers: (1) a certified teacher as tutor; (2) a parent with an appropriate teaching certificate; (3) "consultation" wi th a certified teacher, for at least 25 hours during the year, on planning, teaching, and learning problems; or (4) an approved correspondence pro gram. A child must be tested before being excused from school attendanc e. For th e board to renew the "grant of excuse," it must see evidence of "reas onable educational progress," such as test scores. Students i n grades 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, and 8 must be given the same standardized tests as public school students. The require ment for a consultant must be waived after one year when it has been demon strated that the child has made rea sonable educational progress. The waiver will apply if other children in the family are excused at a later date from school attendance. OHIO: An article from the Yellow Springs-TOH) News, 2/1/84, said:-rrtne State of Ohio, as part of its educa tional reform program, has extended its guidelines for approval of educa tional options - but gives local school districts the authority to set their own standards ... In essence, the state offers its approval to optional programs as long as the stu-
GROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING #40, Vol . 7 No.4.
ISSN #0745-5305. Published bi -monthly by Holt
Associates, 729 Boylston St, Boston MA 02116.
$15/yr. Date of Issue, Aug. 1, 1984. Second
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