GROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING 47 JOHN HOLT April 14, 1923 September 14, 1985
Most of you have already heard the sorrowful news that John Holt died on Saturday, September 14, of cancer (multiple metastatic mela noma). He died peacefully in his sleep, at his home, at 6:50 AM. As we said in GWS #46, John refused radiation or chemotherapy when the cancer was diagnosed in June, believing from his own research that such methods do more harm than good. He spent 10 days in July in a hospital in Bangor, Maine being treat ed (fairly successfully) for fluid accumulation in his lungs; then he spent several days with George and Mabel Dennison in Maine, and the Wallace family in Ithaca, New York. Returning to Boston, John stayed two weeks with the Van Doren family in Quincy and began to receive the Vita min C treatment he wanted. On August 26, however, he blacked out for sever al hours and spent the next 10 days in Mass. General Hospital, Boston. When he had severe internal bleeding August 30, we began to have friends stay with him around the clock . At his insistence we arranged for him to go home Thursday, Sept. 5, where nurses and friends looked after him. Over the last few weeks he lost much weight, was very jaundiced, and spent most of the time dozing. He was rare ly in any pain. John wished to be cremated and his ashes have been sent to his sis ters in New Mexico. On Saturday, October 5 - ten days from now as this is written there will be a memorial service at 3 PM at the First Parish Unitarian Church in Quincy, MA (adjacen t to Boston). Present plans for music include a piano duet by Ishmael and Vita Wallace; a selection by Nehemiah Richardson, a young cellist with the New England Conservatory Youth Orches tra; a short solo on violin by Mary Van Doren, who, with John's guidance, has been playing for a year; a number from Patrick Farenga on sax and Steve Rupprecht on guitar; and John's special request, a recording of the 1st movement of Bruckner's 9th Sym phony. A potluck meal will follow, and we look forward to becoming acquainted with many of John's
A second tragedy has left us all stunned. On September 25, Anna Van Doren, 4 years old, was killed in an elevator accident at our office building. Ever since she was 10 mon~hs old, Anna has been coming here with her mother Mary, and later her sister Helen, now 2. She was dear to all of us, and the friendship between her and John Holt was special indeed. This sudden loss is a wrenching blow, and it will be long before our grief lessens. Anna has been buried in Illinois, and there is to be a service for her in Quincy, MA at 1 PM on the same day as John's service, at the same church .
friends.
We expect to devote much of GWS
#48, the next issue, to a tribute to John's life and ideas. Many warm and beautiful letters are already arri ving, and if you have any particular memories to share, we invite you to send them in. Also, in the next issue, we will tell you a little about each of us on the staff - who we are and how we came to work with John. Furthermore, as John was a pro lific letter-writer until his health failed, some of you probably still have letters he wrote you. If you ever come across something he wrote that you have not seen in GWS or his books, some special point he made, do please send us a copy. As John knew, the staff of Holt Associates and our supporters will continue the work he started, and this helped him to feel satisfied with what he accomplished in his life. It comforts us to remember that we will always have his writings to guide us . --- Donna Richoux, Patrick Farenga, Mary Van Doren, Steve Rupprecht, Sandy Kendall, Mary Maher, Wendy Baruch
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I want you to know of the incred ible amount of physical support John's friends gave him in his last days. The top of the list must be Pat Farenga, who was responsible for every detail of John's care, dealing with innumerable doctors, nurses, hospitals, agencies, making sure John got from one place to another, always finding out what John wanted and doing his best to make it happen. Seeking alternative care in a world full of traditional medical practice turned out to be harder than anyone expected, yet Pat coped superbly . Ar.d now, as Pat is executor of the estate, many duties and responsibili ties for John's affairs will still fall on him. Mary Van Doren and her family also spent much time and energy on arranging details and caring for John in their home, the hospital, and his apartment. At one pOint, when John was in the hospital, a torrential rain flooded his basement apartment, and the Van Dorens and Day Farenga spen t hours removing water from the sodden carpet and drying hundreds of record albums' If several friends of John's had not .come from out of town and stayed in his apartment to do a heroic amount of care, we probably would have had to suspend all regular busi ness - but they came and the work con tinued. Leila Berg from England stayed for two weeks, spending long hours at Mass. General. David ChicKer
ing, the Chicago Symphony cellist who is on leave of absence visiting home schooling families, was especially precious for his gift of music, play ing John's favorite pieces at all hours of the day and night. Theo Giesy of Virginia and her daughter Anita ( 12 going on 25) not only looked after John but also did a tre mendous amount of work in the office (you'll find some announcements in this issue Signed TG'). John was always very comforted when his sisters, Jane and Sue, were with him at Mass. General. Many local friends, too, spent hours and hours at John's bedside: Connie Bernhardt, Karen Franklin, John Hughes, Lynn Kapplow, Merloyd Lawrence, Jean Mur ray, Dick Rapacz, Dawn Reger, and we and our families - Pat's wife Day, Mary and Tom Maher, Steve Rupprecht, and my husband Franklin Ross . We know that many of you would have done the same, too, if you could. --- Donna Richoux
NEW OREGON LAW The bill we described in GWS #46, House Bill 2475, was indeed signed into law by the governor. The relevant portions: SECTION 2... (2) Before a child is taught by a parent or private teacher, as provided in ORS 339.030 (5), the parent or private teacher must notify the (county] superinten dent in writing . The superintendent shall acknowledge receipt of the noti fication in writing and inform the superintendent of the school district of the child's residence. The notifi cation must be received and acknow ledged before a child is withdrawn from school and thereafter before the start of each school year. (3) Children being taught as pro vided in subsection (2) of this sec tion shall be examined annually in the work covered in accordance with the following procedures :
WHAT'S INSIDE Court (MO, TX, Ireland, AL, MI): 2 --- MA District: 2 --- TV: 2 --- NV Turnaround: 3 Local news : 3-4 --- Reforming schools: 4 -- Christians: 5 --- Curriculum: 5 --- Wartes / School-Homeschool relations: 5 --- Credential: 6 --- Reading: N.Z., Chicago: 6 --- Tests: 7-8 --- Teens: 8-10 --- Library work: 10 -- Gloves: 11 --- Scissors: 11 --- Housework: 11 --- Success: 12 --- Hard to live with: 12 -- Free to quit: 12 --- Catalog: 13-24 -- Husband ·disagrees: 25 --- Return to school: 26 --- Latchkey kids: 26 --- Independent schol ars: 27 --- Classes: 27 --- Writing: 28 -- Typewriter: 28 --- Late reader: 29 --- Far sighted : 30 -- - Encylopedias: 30 --- Science: 30 - -- Letters to composers : 31 --- Art lessons: 31 --- Book reviews: 31-34
(a ) The St a te Board of Education s hall a d o pt by this rule a list of a ppr ove d compr e hensive examinations wh ich a r e read i ly available . ( b ) The pa r e nt shall select an examina ti o n fr o m the approved list a nd a rr a ng e t o have the examination a d mini s t e r e d t o the child by a quali fie d neu tr a l pe rs o n, a s defined by rul e of th e Stat e Board of Education. (c ) The parent shall submit the r e sult s o f the examination or the com plet ed e xa mination to the superinten d e nt. I f a completed examination is su bmitt e d, th e s uperintendent shall ha ve it scored and shall notify the par e nt of the results. ( d ) If the superintendent deter min es a fter examining the result of the exa mination that the child is not s howing satisfactory educational pro g res s , a s defined by rule by the S t a t e Boa rd o f Education, the super i nt e nd e nt ma y o rd e r the parent or o th e r pe rson having contr o l of the c hild t o send the child to school for the r e mainder of the school year. ( e ) The parent or other person havi ng c ontrol of the child may a pp ea l the ord e r t o the Superinten d e nt of Publ i c Instruction, whose d e ci s ion in the matter may be app ea l e d to the circuit court.
Until then, Nangle wrote, "par ents may continue to educate their children at home in the same manner a s they are currently doing ... " Nangle's ruling came in a suit brought against state and local school and juvenile-court officials by parents who have taken their child r e n out o f s chool on grounds that edu cation in the home gives them "a means of instilling their own reli gious values and beliefs into their children." At a hearing earlier this year, several parents testified that their families were facing juvenile-court proceedings over removing their child ren from school. .. . Nangle noted that while the state law allows home education, there has been no definition of "sub stantially equivalent" by the legis lature, education officials, or state c ourts . "The parents have not been equipped with an adequate definition of substantially equivalent to inform them of their obligations under the statute." . .. The law, he said, "is a prime example of legislation which yields an unacceptable amount of discretion to officials charged with its enforce ment." . . .
[ DR: ] There i s another clause in the bill which I can only interpret as being intended to close the pri v at e- school route for home school e rs:
Any decision in the class action suit filed by six Texas families (GWS #46) has been delayed until March '86 because the Texas Education Agency failed to notify the 1,100 school dis tricts in the state about the suit . The Texas Home Educators Newsletter says that a number of ot h er prosecu tions around the state have been post poned pending outcome of this case.
SECTION 4 . .. (2) "Private school" means a private elementary or secondary school operated by a person or by a private agency except as pro vided in ORS 339.030 (5), offering e ducation in prekindergarten, kinder garten, or grades 1 through 12 or any part thereof ... [ DR:] The section referred to, ORS 339.030 (5 ) , is the c lause that says children shall not be required to attend public full-time schools if the y ar e "taught for a period equival e nt to that required of children attending public schools by a parent or private teacher the courses of study usually taught in grades 1 through 12 in the public school" that is, the home school exemption.
COURT NEWS Albert Hobart (MO) sent us this July St. Louis Globe Democrat story, with the comment, ii I have mixed feel ings about the decision . It's probab ly a good thing for those folks who have been harassed by school people in St. Louis and elsewhere. But I have a hunch that the new law, when it's finally written, will make test ing mandatory. Thus, many homeschool e r s will feel pressured to imitate th e kind of education offered in pub lic schools . " From the clipping: ... Chief U.S. District Judge John F. Nangle has struck down a Missouri law that has been used to prevent some parents from educating their children at home instead of s ending them to school. Ho wever, because the ruling also c ould leave a void in Missouri law on the matter, Nangle delayed the imple mentation of his order until May 15, 1986, noting that the Missouri Gener al Assembly "has expressed a desire t o allow parents to educate their c hil d r e n a t h ome."
The Irish Times had a story July 20 about a Mayo County farmer, Aidan P. Brennan, who was appealing his con viction for failing to send his two sons to school. Judge Grattan Esmonde of the Circuit Court agreed that the home education was allowable for the younger son, who was in poor health, but stayed any decision regarding the older son pending an evaluation of his academic progress . .
t~on,
GeOr~ians
for Freedom in Educa
9/8 :
ALABAMA PARENTS NOT IN JAIL After being jailed for four months, Ed and Sharon Pangelinan were released about the middle of August in Decatur, Alabama. They had been found guilty of contributing to the deliquency of their children by educa ting them at home and not in a public school. They were put in jail because they refused the judge's requests for the children to be brought to court . Recently the Pangelinans turned the custody of their children over to par ents in another state. Since the children were no longer the responsi bility of the Pangelinans, there was no reason to hold them any longer ... Elaine Andreski reported in the Home School Journal about three M~ch~gan homeschooling decisions: - A compromise in the case of the Vass family of Monroe, requiring them to use a certified teacher sever al times a week and submit lesson plans to the local authorities. Judge J . McCauley Seitz remarked "The odd thing is there's a complaint here that these people aren't providing something for their child when
they're really probably providing more than most parents." - A ruling against the Firming ham family of Pontiac, who have decided to move. - And a victory for Pastor and Mrs. Don Milano of Tuscola County, whose children are to be tested annually. In a series of articles about homeschooling in the Detroit Free Press, it was mentioned that a-hOme school case is pending before the state supreme court. What case would this be? Other news in brief: Ontario : A second court hearing for the Prentice appeal has been scheduled ' for November 12. Kansas: A suit similar to the class-action of Texas, asking for a declaratory judgement in favor of homeschools, has been filed in dis trict court. - DR
NEW FRI END LY DISTRICT From Jane Reid of Lowell, MA : . .. We met with Mr. James McMahon, Assistant Superintendent in charge of curriculum development this afternoon. He was very cordial . He offered the use of music, art, physi cal education, and computer lab facil ities . He is going to have the art supply person call me - "Don't ask her what she has, tell her what you need." The supplies are to be deliv e"red to my door when she delivers to the local school' If we want to use the school's books we have only to ask . For evaluation we are to submit a brief sample of the children's work four times a year, with a national achievement test to be administered at grades 3, 5 and 9. He also said he's willing to be listed as a "Friendly School District" .. . [DR : ] Delighted to hear it - see "Additions to Resources" for details . May I remind readers that in the next issue we will be reprinting all our Resource Lists, and it sure would be nice to get a few more "Friendly School Districts" in there. I know that some of you are having excellent relations with your schools, so why not ask them if they'd like to be listed ? When they say Yes, tell us the district name, address, phone, and a contact person and title.
LETTER LEADS TO TV SPOT Ron Edmondson (ME) wrote: ... I'm sure few homeschoolers were awake August 21 at 2:50 or 4:50 AM to see the "Voices" interview seg ment on the CBS Nightwatch show. Fred Graham interviewed me on the diversi ty of the homeschooling movement. I had written to CBS on Friday in response to their request for "causes" or situations that were get ting unfair or inadequate coverage on TV or newspapers. My point was that media coverage of homeschooling con centrates on specific situations with specific families and tends to identi fy whatever style of learning used by that family as the "regulation" style tha t is followed by every family . On Monday afternoon, the pro ducer called, wanting me down that night' I ~nded up flying down the
GROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING #47
next day. Unfortunately, I didn't get to take Maggie and the children along. They told me that a primary reason for choosing me was that I was obviously not part of an organized letter-writing campaign. When it was over, I wondered if it had been worth all the effort. I don't think I said anything new, but the CBS people said it looked very good ... TURNAROUND IN NEVADA
From Cher Bateman (NV): ... As you probably know, the school district recommended that we terminate homeschooling for Jeb (10) this year due to "serious academic deficiencies." His test results from the Iowa test in reading were in the 3-7 percentile. Interestingly enough, he scored quite well in punctuation, capitalization, reference and map skills, and math computation. ... Jeb's name came up on a wait ing list for the University of Nevada at Reno reading clinic in July .. . The clinic was four weeks, one hour per day, Monday through Friday. Jeb had 12 actual hours of one-on one instruc tion in word attack skills by a certi fied teacher who was learning how to deal with reading problems . She told Jeb all the things I had said but somehow they clicked. He now reads by himself. The day the clinic ended, he read a shortened version of ROBINSON CRUSOE, he reads lots of short stor ies, and is now reading a shortened version of BLACK BEAUTY. He also read a couple chapters of Book 7 in the Chronicles of Narnia . He's really proud of himself ... He asked if now he can read, would I still read to him sometimes. I said, "Of course'" ... We enjoyed a major victory with the Douglas County School Board in August. I had requested a closed hearing on our case, without the administrators present who I said I felt were biased against us so it would be difficult to get a fair hear ing. So at the meeting, we adjourned to "executive session," and after the superintendent, assistant superinten dent, and district psychologist pre sented their case, the board presi dent asked them to leave ... The super intendent and assistant superinten dent told of the rocky road of commun ication they've had with me over the past four years, and a few not so com plimentary comments ... However, at the meeting, the administration did not suggest that we put Jeb in school. In fact, a board member asked if by putting Jeb in school, his read ing would improve, and the Superinten dent said, "Probably not ." ... The psy chologist came with a graph of Jeb's test results for the past three years. He was in the 81st percentile in math the second year and dropped to the 39th percentile this year. A board member asked why the big spread. He answered that the Iowa test had many reading math problems . Since Jeb's problem was with reading, he couldn't do the word problems fast enough. The board asked some very good questions. One woman who works with adult illiterates spoke of the terri ble stories her students have of school experiences and their low self-esteem as a result. She asked the psychologist if ' Jeb was hyper active. He said no, and proceeded to tell her what a pleasant child he was to work with, how he stayed "on task," what a vast store of knowledge
GROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING #47
he possessed, etc. - not one negative comment. After the administrators left, we were deluged with questions from the board, including about our required 25 hours of consultation with a Nevada certified teacher. I had had consultation with several teachers, not Nevada certified, in excess of 25 hours during the school year ... We also felt the UNR reading clinic would satisfy the requirement. .. . We spoke with the board for 45 min utes in peace and then returned to the public session where we expressed our dissatisfaction with testing our children with the other kids in school. We also questioned the valid ity of the regulations. The board voted unanimously in our favor to homeschool for another year under Section 8, which basically grandfathers those who have home schooled for over a year. We are allowed to hire our own tester and may use the test of our choice along with the Iowa test and have our child ren tested in our home. And perhaps best of all is that we no longer are required to communicate with our administration. We are responsible for keeping the Board informed; pri marily, they wantIYiItten verifica tion of the 25 hours of consultation from last year, with which we will comply ... I intend to let the board know by way of an informal letter how the children are doing from time to time. I finally feel relaxed about educating my children in the manner which is most conducive to their learning, that being freedom ... LOCAL NEWS
For addresses of state and local homeschooling groups, see GWS #42 or our "Homeschooling Resource List," $1ALABAMA: Members of the ALABAMA CITIZENS FOR HOME EDUCATION met in September for the purpose of encour aging favorable home school legisla tion. One member estimates that there are well over 250 families in the state who are homeschooling, most of them underground. ARKANSAS: An AP story quoted Ed Bullington, the new president of the Arkansas Education Association, as saying soon after the recent home schooling law was passed [GWS #46], "The issue of homeschooling to me is more devastating than even the [mini mum-skills] testing issue . I am sure there are situations where parents can do a good job but in three or five or seven years' time we will be asked to pick up the pieces when the homeschooling fails ... And I'm sure it will fail and again we will be blamed for something we didn't create.
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COLORADO: The Colorado Home School Network News lett er reports that parents on the Homeschooling Advisory Committee [GWS #46] continue to meet with officials from the state Department of Education. Two parents who hold teaching certificates will help to review future homestudy mater ials for possible state approval . The state supervisor of school finance told the committee that a school district, is eligible for half-time funding when a student is enrolled between 1 and 3 3/4 hours per day, and full funding when a student is enrolled for 4 or more hours per day (Colo. Revised Statutes 22-50-102 and 22-50-104) . The newsletter also contained a story by Terry and Nancy Kipp about their meeting with Dr. Dale Moore,
Director of Program Evaluation in Jefferson County, who said he is available to offer any assistance he can to local home schooling families. FLORIDA: State Representative Jim Fr~she of the 57th District sent us an editorial from the St. Peters burg Times that was critical of home school~ng. Rep. Frishe wanted the other side to be told' I forwarded the editorial to Karen Jackson of FLASH, and both she and Ann Mordes sent the Times very eloquent rebuttals-.-HAWAII: A group is working on new homeschooling legislation, and says they know a sympathetic represen tative who is willing to introduce a bill in January. Contact Lora Burbage, 45-535 Luluku Rd K-l, Kaneohe HI 96744; 808-247-1509. INDIANA: The CREATIVE ALTERNA TIVES NETWORK newsletter (18166 CR 48, New Paris IN 46553) asked Jim Browyer, the state's Liaison for Non-Public Schools, if there are any requirements for homeschoolers. He said, "Unless the children are consid ered enrolled in their local school district, an annual report of the num ber of children taught at home needs to be sent to us ... And it's impor tant to keep good records to substan tiate that 'equivalent instruction' is being provided." Browyer said there is a possibility that the state will establish more specific guide lines. IOWA: Patti Rowe (IA) writes, "Here~Iowa we in the homeschooling movement have been quite involved recently in hearings related to the DPI's 'emergency rules' to clarify what they mean by 'equivalent instruc tion by a certified teacher .' ... There were many ( over 400) who came to Des Moines August 22 to testify ... A significant number of those \~o testified, myself included, were former public school teachers ... "On August 26, Governor Bran stad's Task Force heard witnesses who encouraged them to look at other states that have found ways of accomo dating homeschoolers. More than once it was pointed out that the concern about equivalent education should be directed at the public schools. "Dr. Raymond Moore brought out some good points on testing ... Those of us who are trying to minimize the early formal schooling and/or have late readers are not so anxious to show off' So it was good to have that angle pointed out . .. "The last word I heard was that the 'emergency rules' were to be re written to clarify the 'supervisory consultant' role to our advantage ." Another Iowa reaoer sent us an Associated Press clipping, 8/1/85, that said the Des Moines School Dis trict has a year-old homeschooling program for grades K-8 . At least 44 students are expected to enroll in the state-approved program this year. KANSAS: Bonnie Sawyer of KANSAS FOR A~TIVE EDUCATION writes, '~he Department of Education has a new Director of Legal Services . I con tacted Dr. Bieker in June to inquire what stance his office would be tak-
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ing on home schools . According to him, the position taken by his depart ment would remain unchanged from that of David Kester (former director) . Dr. Bieker said that when he received an inquiry from a school or county official, he explains that the Kansas law is vague and unspecific, informs them o f past Supreme Court decisions, then leaves the decision to prosecute or not with the local officials ." MARYLAND: The newsletter of the MARYLAND HOME EDUCATION ASSOCIATION says the state has yet again modified the definition of a private school, in order to rule out any chance of homeschoolers using that route. The definition now reads, "Any individu al, partnership, cooperative ... organ ized for the primary purpose [of] pro viding instruction for an organized group (or groups of pupils pursuing defined studies at a defined level) of pupils at least two of whom do not have the same arent or uardian and at east two 0 w om are not e1n~ instructed on a regu lar da1l~ bas1s by the 1r parent or guard1an. However, the State Board did finall y step in to aid a family in a two- year struggle with the Howard County schools, after first refusing to consider the appeal because it was made after the 3 ~-day cut-off period. MINNESOTA: In October the Senate Educat10n Committee is to hear the views of homeschoolers and educators on the compulsory attendance law, which is expected to be revised in light of the State Supreme Court's Newstrom decision [GWS #46] . Ellen Loeger1ng of the MINNESOTA HOMESCHOOL NETWORK says the group is trying to decide if an expensive professional lobbyist is necessary. She says they also met with "a representative of William Ball (a constitutional lawyer who has won the big decisions for pri vate and home schools). His represen tative said we should go for a clean approach to home education, i.e., call it home education and provide for it and protect it ." MISSOURI: Steve and Debra Baird of Gower sent a letter to a number of parent educators, recommending that they meet according to state legisla tive districts, evaluate candidates, and work for their election. NEW YORK: Karen Schadel writes that she and her husband met with the local superintendent about their home schooling and all went smoothly . However, "There still remains a ques·· tion about possible state-mandated testing to be given at the end of 2nd, 5th and 6th grades ... Apparently Albany is attempting to make the test ing a requirement for homeschoolers ... "We signed up with Clonlara (MI) for the purpose of obtaining a cur ric~lum . .. One interesting item - on our visit I requested copies of the 1st and 3rd grade curriculums and dis covered that there really aren't any, per se ... It made me wonder how they would evaluate our curriculum ... It really seemed ironic that they are reviewing homeschoolers when they may actually be deficient themselves ... " NORTH DAKOTA: According the the Home School Journal of Nebraska, the state Superintendent of Public Instruction, Dr. Wayne Sanstead, told the legislature's Education Committee that "homeschooling will not go away," and everyone needs to "search for a solution" because the courtroom is not the "preferred method." PENNSYLVANIA: The homeschooling bill, HB 1478, is in committee and is expected to be voted on this fall or winter. It is modeled after HB 877, whi ch sets min i mum r equi r eme nt s for
private and parochial schools. Under HB 1478, homeschoolers would merely file a notarized affidavit with the state and agree to teach specific sub jects . Howard Richman wrote in the Western PA Newsletter #13, "Our bill will become the law if we can line up 102 supporters in the House of Repre sentatives and 26 supporters in the Senate ... We are one-third of the way in the House of Representatives ... 20 different homeschooling families in western PA have agreed to coordinate efforts in their own Senate district and in about four House districts. In eastern PA, the homeschooling support groups have similarly divided the leg islators ... " TENNESSEE: A reader told me on the phone chat it was his impression that the state was not granting any exemptions to the requirement in the new law [GWS #46] that pa~ents of high-school age homeschoolers have a college degree. It appears that many families are using the clause that exempts "parents who are associated with an organization that conducts church related schools ... which admin ister standardized achievement tests" from all other requirements - but this only applies to grades K-8. Vickie Tolbert wrote us about the difficult legislative battle. "At one sad pOint, one homesch091ing group was writing to kill the bill, while another group was writing to support it. The legislators were con fused . .. Memphis is 50 -50 black/ white . Therefore, the homeschooling movement was perceived by some, especially black legislators, as another example of white flight ... " TEXAS: Mike Shepherd says he has finisnea-fiis dissertation on home schooling and will make parts availa ble at cost to anyone who requests them. He has chapters on "Homeschool ing in Texas," "Arguments For and Against Homeschooling," and "The Future of Homeschooling." Address: 728 S. Winnetka Av, Dallas TX 75208. UTAH: Laurie Huffman of the UTAH HOME EUUCATION ASSOCIATION writes that one of the special events of this year's annual convention was the acknowledgement of Utah and Idaho's home school "graduates" of the last several years . A booklet was pub lished with their photographs and a brief write-up on each one and what they are pursuing since graduation. 19 graduates are listed. Laurie also reports that the Granite School District in Salt Lake City has established a loaning lib rary for homeschoolers, free of charge, with curriculum development when requested. VERMONT: Yet another state in which homeschoolers plan to introduce legislation. Kathy Blair of Lea rning at Home, Vt. says that the state edu cat10n ott1cials have been increasing their requirements, and when she objected, they said that the law .is so vague they do not feel limited by it. Homeschoolers have met to discuss what legislation to propose, have set up a phone tree, and expect Represen tative George Gruner of Morrisville to sponsor a bill. VIRGINIA: In GWS #43, Jennifer Seip told about moving to Floyd County and, among other things, help ing to work on an evaluation plan for the many homeschoolers there. Now, Ed Wilhelm of Floyd writes, "Last year, we went as a group of 17 families and 24 homeschooled children to the Super intendent with a proposal to perform our own evaluations and just submit summaries to him . .. We presented the
evaluations to the school officials on July 30. The Superintendent didn't respond directly to the evaluations we presented, but he approved us again for the next year. I assume this means he viewed our evaluations as showing adequate academic growth." WASHINGTON: The August FLEX news letter (FAMILY LEARNING EXCHANGE) reports on various steps taken to implement the new law lGWS #46]. By now, the state director of private education should have devised a form for notifying one's superintendent of homeschooling plans. One of the ways to qualify for homeschooling is to take a course in Home Based Educa tion, and the Community Colleges of Spokane are offering such a course. We · would like to know where else such courses are offered, and whether they are being taught by homeschoolers' The same issue of FLEX has a long and very interesting transcript of a talk given by Senator Lois Stratton about the passage of the home school bill. She said, "I think you folks should know what you've accomplished in the short time that you've been working on this ... is nothing short of phenomenal." The change of attitude of many of the legislators was due, she was certain, to the hard work of many home school ers, particularly Kathleen McCurdy who acted as the bill's "mama." Sena tor Stratton praised the WASHINGTON ASSOCIATION OF HOME EDUCATORS' deter mination to guard the hard-won free dom from abuse and mismanagement, for, she said, legislators often for get about what they have passed. WISCONSIN: The WISCONSIN PARENTS ASsoCIATION has put together a "Hand book on Home Education in Wisconsin." To order, send $10 to Betty Walton, ~12 W Cramer, Ft Atkinson WI 53538. - DR CAN HOME ED REFORM SCHOOLS?
John once said in an interview, "I think in time the homeschooling movement will do more to change schools than anything I ever did when I spent most of my time talking to schools. Only when enough people give them a vote of no confidence will schools begin to think seriously about change." I was reminded of this quote by two items received recently. One is from a report of a public meeting with Democratic Congressman James Jeffords in Newport, Vermont: ... The asbestos problem in the Charleston School was brought up by Maren Whitlock who lives in East Charleston ... "Four of my children are not going back" to school this September, she said. Truancy is going to be a problem for the school until the asbestos is removed. According to John Spargo, 38 parents are not going to send their children to the Charleston School this fall. He also said that despite the fact that some parents are plan ning to get textbooks and other mater ials to use to teach their children at home, the state will consider them to be "criminal." However, Mrs. Whitlock said, the state's attorney has been contacted and "he said that he will be willing to put it in writing that he will not prosecute truancy" in this case. Mr. Jeffords agreed that "there is no question that we have to remove those health hazards, or at least seal them in a way that they are not creating any sort of problem." He said he supports the program which
GROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING #47
5
calls for the removal of the asbes tos. But, he noted, they will need more adequa t e sta te or federal fund ing to carry out their plans . . . Also, we got thi s note from Marta Clark (KY): ... My friend Joy accompanied her daughter on her firs t day of school, to sign papers and pay fees, and got swept up by some sort of action com mittee of parents. This group formed a couple of years ago when a senior honors student was expelled fo r hav ing beer in th e trunk of his car i n the school parking lot. The g rou p took the school to court and won $40,000' Since then they have stuck together and have brought action s against teachers who've done c rue l and arbitra r y things, such as strike a girl's hand with a ruler for put ting a comma after the name of the month instead of the date. There are 48 parents involved. One woman exp l ained to Joy, "If the schools don't toe the mark and-oo what we say, we threaten to p~ll our kids out and home sc hoo l. They can 't a ff ord to l ose that muc h money." She went on to tell Joy that there are three homeschooling famillies in the Southw est county district and that the schools are afraid more families will do it. When Joy said she knew one of the families, the woma n wanted to know why we are doing it - it's one thing to take your kids out if they're having trouble, but she couldn't figure out why someone wouldn 't even sta rt school ... [DR:] Interesting to hear about these actions, though only time will tell if they are truly effective. If the schools call the parents' bluff, how many will actually take their children out, and how long wi ll they keep it up? Even parents who sincere ly believe home education to be best often find the first few months to be rough gOing . Furthermore, if educa tors feel too threatened by home schooling, -rfiey may find ways to make it more difficult or prohibit it. Nevertheless, it seems logical that a viable, inexpensive alternative to public schools competition would force them to improve. If you hear of similar stories to these, do please send them in . ON CHRISTIANS
... As Christians, we are sorry that there are some extremists in Indiana giving Christian home educa tion a bad name (GWS #46). We person ally are excited about what the Lord is doing in our home and othe r s we know. Please don't label all Chri s tians in your minds as extremists we too are personally embarrassed by those who use the name of Jesus Christ to do what they want and not wha t He wants. - AN OHIO READER. . .. 1 was sorry to read of the experience one mom had with a "Christ ian" home school group ["Excluded Because of Religion," GWS #43]. I am part of a large group here i n San Diego, cal l ed CHRI STIAN FAMILY SCHOOLS; there are 12 park days all over the county which meet at l eas t once a month, f unct ionin g somewhat as support groups. We plan field trips, seminars, beach days, and picnics; in June we had a "Curriculum Fair" which was attended by abou t 300 people . Any-
GROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING #47
one is welcome at any of our f unc tions, regardless of religious beliefs (o r the lack thereof); we do no t actively proselytize, our main purpose being to help homeschoolers, but certainly, if the subject comes up, we will talk about spiritual things . As for the reader from Indiana and his extremists (GWS #46) - I too have met people like that; in certain ways I agree with them, but not with th ei r comments about the government trying t o take control of us all - I think a lot of that stuff is plain wacko' ... I.have met those same kind of radicals who were not "Christian" and s till come up witn-5ome wacko ideas. I just don't want people to begin equating all Christian home schoolers with the wackos who believe th e big bad government wants to con trol my children's minds . We aren't all like that . - ELL IE ANDREW (CA). ... 1 have been thinking about the reader in Indiana who was appa lled by the group of 40 Christ ians who ac t ed in ou tlandish ways. They don't sound like MOVE to me, for one th i ng the y are n ot barricaded i n a rowhouse and blasting their message through a l oudspeaker system. ... My religion differs from basic Christianity in several ways, but I admit that my homeschooling efforts could not be taking place without a long and unpleasant his t ory of Christian ac ti vis m in the field of education . Those cour t decisions which bolster all homeschoolers' legal position have come through the sacrifices of Christian educators . It is ignorant to bad-mouth the latest batch . Many social c hanges and govern ment policy changes have occurred when groups of people have risked looking foolish and have risked cen sure to speak their minds. The forty angry Christ ia n homeschoolers in Indiana follow a long tradition of similar a nd effective people. - AN ILLINOIS READER. CURRICULUM GUIDE
Parents who need to provide a hi g h schoo l curriculum or program of study to th ei r local sc hool district might find MODEL CURRICULUM STAN DARDS, GRADES 9-12, published this year by th e Ca lifornia State Depart ment of Educa tion, t o be helpful . The 200+ page book includes sections on English/Language Arts, Foreign Lang uages, Hist ory , Social SCience, Mathe matics, SCience, and Visual and Per forming Arts . It is intended as a "model, not a mandate." The language is descriptive, giving standards or goals and then suggestions of read ings and activi ties to achieve those goals. In co ntrast to teacher guides which give eve ry word and intonation the teacher is to u se, it is written as a guide for people presumed to be intelligent and competent . The goals seem r easo nable and broad. Co pies are avai l ab le for $5 . 50 each (p lus sales t ax for CA re s idents ) from Publ i ca tions Sales, PO Box 271, Sacramento CA 95802-0271. --- Theo Giesy
I began purchasing materials from her about two years ago. About nine months ago I sent another order along with a check. The ca nce ll ed check came back but no materials arrived . There have be en no replies to written correspondence sent to the Kendrick, ID address. I tried phoning but there was no Emery listed in directory assist ance. I realiz e you' re not i n the busi ness of handlin g complaints - and I don't expect you to. I just thought perhap s you cou ld shed some light 011 the situation . .. [DR: Carla, are you out there' If anyone knows how to contact her, please tel l this office . ] EDUCATOR/ HOM ESCHOOLER RELATIONS John Wartes (16109 NE 169 Pl, Woodinville WA 98072) has written an 18-page handout en t itled ONE EDUCA TOR'S OBSERV ATI ONS ABOUT HOMESCHOOL lNG, which he and Wend y offe r for $2. Some excerpts:
. . . 1 have observed a tendency for homesc hoole r s t o assume th at school admi n istra t ors and superinten dents know about homeschooling and know that it works . Therefore, when an administrator speaks out against homes chool ing, they wonder, since homeschooling works, why he is nega tive. They searc h for other motiva tions. The ot hers are all negative (e.g . protect teacher jobs, protect funding, desire to impose a particu lar philosoph y on all studen t s.) Mos t educators are where I was a few yea rs ago. They know lit tl e about homeschooling and because it seems contrary to many of the accep t ed ideas about quality education (e.g . need for highl y tr ained teachers), the y conclude that it cannot possibly work. I believe that 80 to 90% of edu cator resistance to homeschooling is based upon their belief that it doesn't work. Upon being shown that it does work they wil l become posi tive. . .. During th e 1985 legislative session, I received a phone call from a radi o talk show hos t who was prepar ing a show on home schooling. He was looking for a public school educator who was both knowledgeable about home schooling and op posed to it. Obvious l y , I was not that person. I l ater learned he never found that person' First impre ssions may often be nega tive, but on this t opic, the second look is almost always positive information breeds under sta nding and acceptance. ... The foremos t challenge facing homeschoolers is to create the condi tions whereby others are willing to take the second l oo k . I offe r the fol lowing suggestions: 1. Invite educa t ors to your home - let them meet you and a few other
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Smithsonian Family Learning Projttt ~W"'·
1986 Science Calendar
Developed by the Smiduoruan Family uaming Project
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Learning Every Day
SUPPLIER DISAPPEARED
From Jeris French (NY): . . . Would you folks happen to know how I can get in touch with Ca rla Emery? She advertised her busi ness TEXTBOOKS FOR PARENTS in GWS .
Route I Box 5
Fairftdd. WA 99012
l...t:aminr rNllma fot families
math muip.aliitM., IcirnCI: and ~m.J~boob.
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5 home schooling families personally. 2 . Describe why you c hose to h omesc ho ol. Emphasize the positive as pect s of homeschooling - minimize refer en c e s to the negative aspects of co nventional schooling. 3 . Fr o m time to time, provide additi o nal information such as writ t en a rt i cl es , case histories, a book, i nv it a t io n s t o suppo rt group meet ings, e tc. 4. Gi ve th e m time. It took me 18 mo nth s o f pe rsonal contact and study t o co rne ar o llnd' 5 . Alw a ys be honest in what you
say and do.
... Fo r th e pr e sent I would ca uti o n hom e schoolers t o not claim that h om es c h o oling is academically su perio r t o conventional education . Th e r e is indeed evidence to suggest th a t h om escho o lers do better but i mpo rt a nt variables have not been con tr o ll e d. Current research may suggest t h a t h om es c hoo led childre n, who as a g r o u p have highly supportive parents, d o bett e r than conventionally educa ted c hildren, who as a group have par ents wh o ar e less involved o r support iv e . It is unclear whether the differ e nc e is due to the educational deliv e r y s ys t e m o r to parent s upport. Com munit y vari a bles are als o influential (s ocial and economic conditions, com mun i t y values, etc.). In homeschool i ng r e sear c h the way to control for commun i t y d i ff e r e nces is to sample homesch o ol e rs and traditionally educa ted students who live within the same sch oo l district. If a pattern emerges for a va ri e t y of districts then gener aliz a t io ns can be drawn. There are, how e ver, a number of Washington dis tri c t s wher e public school students typic a lly s c ore in the 70-85 %ile. Will horne schooled children from these distr ic t s c o nsistently do better? Merc e r Island 8th graders scored at th e 91 %ile in a spring '85 test' My pOint is this: to a researcher (and most s c hoo l administrators have train ing in rese a rch ) th e present evidence d o e s n o t suppo rt the superiority of one me thod over the o ther. For the s ake of c redibility, it is best to avoid an y such claim . . .
RENEWING HER CREDENTIAL Frances Bauer ( MI) writes: ... This will be our sixth year of home scho o ling. Last fall our s ch oo l district found that my certifi cation had expired several years ago. They s aid they were going to take us t o court and I immediately enrolled in si x hours of college courses to apply t o ward my recertification. This is not the best answer to the prob l em , but it was the fastest, least painful way for us to comply with the i r requirements . We've covered our s elv es , but this option is available t o o nl y a select few . ... 1 was a bit leery of the edu cation courses in which I enrolled . I was afraid of being ostracized, mis underst ood, and corning away from c lass wo rrying about what my children we ren't getting . To the contrary, eve r yon e was quite curious and I r e c e iv e d much support from classmates a nd i n s tructors alike. Af ter completion of three cour s es ( reading, math, and science), I was mor e convinced than ever that I wa s d o ing the best thing for my child ren. I have the best of everyt h ing: an ideal learning situation, recep tive students, and none of the prob lems the other teachers in my classes face each day .
... The reading instructor wanted me to publish something about our experiences. The scie n ce i n structor was impressed by my final paper which described our science curriculum . Throughout the course, he kept saying that kids don't ask questions and need "artificial" experiment setups to be sure they explored all areas . kept saying that kids do ask ques tions, and that's what-r base my cur riculum on. ( I have the advantage of fielding questions 14 hours a day. ) After he read my paper, he said that our curriculum sounded excellent and he wished more kids lived in homes such as ours. My paper was simply a record of one week's worth of occur rences, experiences, and conversa tions which could be classified as science related ... All in all, the classes were an interesting experience and we didn't have to give up our homeschooling ...
NEW ZEALAND READING WORKS... An August '85 article by Chris Barber of the Gannet News Service, headlined WORLD ' S BEST READERS AMONG CHILDREN ARE FOUND IN NEW ZEALAND: In New Zealand, schoolchildren have few homework aSSignments, no spelling drills and they don ' t fill in workbooks. They aren't given standardized tests for reading comprehension - or for anything else - until the age of 15. Yet New Zealand students consis tently outscore the rest of the world in reading . To find out why, members of a New York educational group we n t to New Zealand recently to study the system . "I saw more success than I anti Cipated," said Mary Eichas-Gavigan, an elementary teacher in Hilton. "I wouldn't say it's the only way to teach, but I would say it's a very successful way of teaching." New Zealand children progress at their own rates and do not compete against each other, she said . "There is not the egomaniac com petition," Eichas-Gavigan said . "They understand the fact that every stu dent has a capability, and they share in the joy when tha t student does something well." New Zealand's approach to educa tion differs sharply from the beliefs of many America n educators who think a return to the baSics - such as drilling of phonics and grammar - is what students need, said Miriam Thomas, a New Zealand remedial read ing specialist . The New Zealand system incorpor ates the best e l ements of teaching in the horne, she said. Reading is a skill that, in New Zealand, is nurtured from the moment a child enters school, S 0 ~n ~ftp reaching the age of 5, In ~··· s said. Training begins with "shared read ing," in which a teacher reads to a group of children, just ai ~~~y par ents do at horne. Thomas said the key to New Zealand's educational success is apparently capturing and then keeping the child ' s interes t in readi n g by using materials the child can enjoy . "When we read, as adul t s, it's for enjoyment a n d learning. We don't read because it's a job, do we?" she said. "So t h ey star t the kids th at way - reading for pleasure and infor mation . " Much of the e mpha s i s on read i n g
has corne in the form of large, bright ly illustrated books. Called "big books," they feature large illustra tions and enlarged text but also employ what Thomas calls "natural language." A sample: '" Oh, love 1 y mud,' said the cow, and she jumped in it . " Thomas compared this with an American beginning reader, which showed a black-and-white drawing of a dog running away with a girl's doll. The dialogue: "Stop, Tag, stop' "Oh' Oh' Oh' "Corne and see Tag. "Corne and see the doll." The New Zealand books' natural language style - often coupled with surprising or humorous endings helps make them so enjoyable that children beg to read them, Thomas said. Schools in the United States have only recently begun to use "big books" imported from New Zealand. Using the New Zealand system, a teacher will read the book to the children and point out the large words. As they become more aware of the words, or know a word that is corn ing, the children are free to shout out the next word. And, Thomas said, they receive great praise for doing so . The reading program is supple mented by other innovations, especial ly in class structure, Thomas said. There is little delineation between subjects in New Zealand schools. A pupil's "art class" might be making a picture to illustrate a story. A "wri ting class" might be creating an end ing to a book . ..
...AND CHICAGO READING DOESN'T From Page One of the L.A. Times: .. . Last month, after an outside study found that two-thirds of its ninth-graders were reading at "an appalling, low level," the Chicago school system scrapped its highly touted program that broke reading into 290 separate skills [ GWS #2J. Education researchers who origin ated the program had contended that all children could learn to read if they were carefully taught and tested at each step of the way. In practice, however, this often meant that teachers were told to ensure that children had learned their "consonant blends" and "dip thongs" and could "identify homonyms" and "select topiC sentences . " And for pupils, this meant sit ting at their desks drawing lines from the word "red" to a red balloon or circling the consonant that appeared most in a sentence . In Chicago and elsewhere, teach ers complained that they were bur dened with all of the paper work of certifying who had mastered what. Children complained that they were bored . But critics noticed an even more fundamental flaw with this approach: Children rarely got a chance to read. "It was like teaching someone all the skills of tennis, but never letting them play the game," &aid Prof. Benjamin Bloom of the Universi ty of Chicago, who devised the mastery l earning concept in the 1960s, but disavows the program in the Chicago schools. "If there is a way to screw up any theory, there ' s always a school system that will find the way . " But other educa t ors claimed the
concept itself was deeply flawed As I knew he was a good reader, and because it put the focus on skills they offered to supply the test and that could be easily taught and pay for the scoring, I readily agreed. He did extremely well, and tested. Indeed, a recent study found the handwritten comment from the reading instruction in the nation's assistant superintendent was to the primary schools consisted mostly of effect, whatever you're dOing, keep pupils doing exercises in workbooks. doing it. Very little time was devoted to read The next year the tests were not ing stories. Among the nation's offered - nor requested. As we are fifth-graders, 50% read on average not far from the University of Iowa, for less than five minutes a day, I stopped in and asked if it would be according to the report, "Becoming A possible to buy a test and answer Nation of Readers" l GWS #45]. sheet. I told them we're homeschool ... "Our main criticism of the ing. I was told, "No problem, just (Chicago) program was that it just take one, but when you're done with didn't work. Our ninth-grade reading the test booklet, return it rather scores are just dismal," said Sharon than throw it away." I did administer Weitzman, research coordinator for the test that year, but never had it Designs for Change, a citizens group scored. in Chicago that issued a harsh indict It has been offered by the ment of the school system's reading school again this year, but I declined (no pressure at all). With program. "We found that students had to our second son being a late reader, I work through page after page of work don't want any problems. ·1 wouldn't books. Teachers were judged on how mind finding a test that doesn't well ( the pupils ) were mastering the depend on reading - but then that's skills, not on how well they were the ultimate measure of everything in reading," Weitzman said. "It was a school. Any ideas? I have thought of monster that gobbled up all the read giving the ITBS orally ... ing time." ... "If you want children to love to read, you have to give them real [DR:] The folks at LEARNING AT books and fantastic stories. They are HOME (Box 270, Honaunau HI 96726) not going to love to read with ditto phoned to say they have just arranged sheets and workbooks," said Beatrice to sell the test-preparation series Cullinane, a New York University pro SCORING HIGH, which they are very fessor and past president of the enthusiastic about. There are SCORING Interrtational Reading Assn. HIGH books for the California Achieve ... Los Angeles Schools Supt. ment Test, the CTBS, and the Metropol Harry Handler, in a recent speech to itan, teaching test-taking methods the district's 700 principals, and giving samples just like the real stressed that the goal of reading exams. There are different volumes instruction is comprehension, not for different grades; LEARNING AT just recognizing words . HOME will be happy to send anyone a "It's easy to believe you are free brochure on levels and prices. making great strides in reading when you are teaching word recognition," Handler said. "Our analysis shows TEST NOT SO CRAZY that we are teaching the mechanical skills of 'decoding' (words). We are A Canadian reader writes: weakest in comprehension. "Cu'r rent practices in delivering ... 1 do think the article on reading instruction haven't worked page 17 of GWS #44 was unfair and mis and aren't working now for far too leading. As you can see from the many children," Handler told the prin enclosed instructions to teachers, cipals. He urged primary teachers to the child is not left to figure out use "high quality" literature like the words from the pictures ... The CHARLOTTE'S WEB and JOHNNY TREMAIN to child is given the words to rhyme-by teach reading. the teacher, the p~ctures only serve as add~tional reminders ... [DR: Readers will remember the test pictures that we reproduced ACQUIRING TESTS fang, mink, bang, etc. I'm relieved In GWS #46, we reported that to get this straightened out - it was some readers had trouble obtaining not pleasant to believe that anyone tests from the BUREAU OF EDUCATIONAL could be as irresponsible as the MEASUREMENTS ( 1200 Commercial, Empor designers of that test seemed to be.] ia KS 66801). Another reader responds: ... When I first sent for tests from the Bureau of Educational Meas urements I, too, was refused. There is a phone number on their litera ture, 316-343-1200 ext. 296, which I called. I explained our circumstances and asked if there was any way around the refusal. They were very polite and helpful. If I would send a copy of our school district's permission to homeschool, they would send the tests. The copy was sent, along with another order, and the tests were received .. . Patti Rowe (IA) writes: ... When the school authorities first became "officially" aware of us, and came to observe our home school, they asked if I would admin ister the ITBS to Matthew, then 10.
GROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING #47
TESTING: A TALE OF WOE
Kitty Semisch (VA) wrote, 4/85: ... I'm sure you know that our new law requires homeschoolers be evaluated by August 1 of each year, either by scoring 40th percentile or better on a standardized test or by an alternate assessment which, "in the judgement of the division super intendent, indicates that the child is achieving an adequate level of edu cational growth and progress." The problem is that division superinten dents as a group seem to me to be sadly lacking in imagination. They all seem to want to apply that 40th percentile rule . I don't like the idea of testing anyone, much less my son Christopher (5~). I received a letter telling us that that's what the school officials wanted to do ••• I wrote back express
ing my regret . I t ol d th em about po rt folio assessme nts, and interview assessments, a nd some of my reserva tions about te s t i n g (i t s inaccura c y , the invasi on o f pri vacy, the stress it inflicts ) . Then I said that if they want e d to kn ow about alterna t ive assessment s I could find some schoo l districts which used them. I proba bl y s hou ld have left i t at that, but I finished my letter by saying tha t if t hey insisted on test ing Christ opher, it s hould of course be in a sit ua t ion compa r able to that under which sc hoo l children are test ed, that i s, i n t he environment i n which the y di d t~eir learning. Some time later I got a phone call from the assistant division superintendent, a very polite phone call, asking for more information about alt e rnat e assessments . I to l d him about the Fr iendly School Dis tricts listed i n GWS, but he said he reall y wanted Virginia school dis tricts, s o I s a id I 'd see what I could do. I cal l ed your office and talked to Donna Ri choux, and she said to tr¥ Fl oyd Co unt y [GWS #43 & this issueJ and gave me some addresses. Then I made an appointment to see the di v isi on s up erintendent. My husband and I bot h went, as Jim O'Toole (VA) advised us, and we lent him some i s sues of GWS, for he had expressed a n inte r est in seeing them (he'd read some of Jo hn Holt's books ) . We pa ssed a l on g the informa tion abou t Fl oyd . Then he told us that the y pl a nn ed to go ahead with the testing anyway , a l though they didn't want t o app l y t he 40th percen tile rule t oo rigid l y . He said they'd be using the SRA k indergarten test, that Christ o phe r would be tested wit h the other homesc hoo l er of his age in the district, in th e administration building. I po i nte d ou t some of my rese r va tions about st and a r dized testing , he listened po lit e l y, and then I agreed to it, with th e understanding that if Christopher did n 't score above the 40th percentil e, h e wouldn't be dragged o f f t o school . This is whe r e I made my mis takes. I s hould have as k ed whet her the SRA 1S ad m~n~s t ere d to k~ndergar teners ~n the sc hoo l . It 1sn ' t . I should ha v e aske d exac tl ! how lon~ i t takes - a bout 3; hours. shou l d ave been more rel u ct a nt, but in my eager ness to be coope r a t ive and pave t h e way for fri e ndl y rela t ions between homeschoolers a nd the schoo l dis trict, I forgot t o stand up for my own positi on. I had the examiner ' s booklet for the test, and Chris t op her and I looked at it t oge th er . I t seemed easy for him, bu t bori ng . He liked to do the first few i n each section a nd then to go on t o th e next batch. One thing I kne w h e d id n ' t know was sh and ch and what so unds th ey make ~ so
S.L.L. ASSOCIATES P.O. Box 212 New Hope, Pa.I8938