Issuu

GROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING -55 1987 begins the tenth anntueraryyear for GWS, and urc are planntng a special

commemor:ative issue, #58, whichwill be published in August, We'll beginworlidng on it in April, and we particularly tnvite GWS readers and homeschoolers to write us about your memories of ten years ago and your reflections on howyour lives have changed since 1977. We'll hunt through our subscriptton records and see lfwe can determinewho is the longest continuing subscriberl Plus we'll have an inside look at the history of GWS, and more. Sadly, we continue to experience stalf changes. Afterhelpingus outwtth the lall and Christmas rush, Sandy Kendall has left to work as awriter, and our dear friend and coworker Mar5rVan Doren is planning to move soon to Maine where her husband Mark will be taldng aJob. We will miss themvery

much. Got a letter from Bobbie Groth of Strlmer Crllege (PO BoxA5OO, Waukegan IL 6O079; 312623-8400) who says, "As the Dlrectorof Admissions at Shimer, I am attempting to make public an admissions policywhich welcomes homeschoolers." She describes Shimer as a small but vital "learning community"with an emphasis on classlcal educaUon and self-government. We certainly would be interested in hearing about other colleges that activelywelcome homeschoolers perhaps we could startasmall listinour Resource section. I belierae I heard once that BrighamYoung Unirrcrsity has such a policy c:rn someoneverifv this? --- furul.oRlchottx

SUBSCRIPTION DRIVE In 1986, HoltAsociates business Lncreased by $ I O,OOO, but our growth ls not keeptng up wtth expenses. In the past, most of

thedeficltwas made up outof.John Holfs pocket - and now out of his estate. We can't keep thls up forever. In particular, our subscrlption count has stayed about the same - near SOOO - for four years or so. That ls, new subs acquired have been wenly offset by old subs not renewed. This ligure counts ALL subscribers - a member ofagroup sub counts the same as an individual paying full price. In December'86, the count took a DOWNWARD tum, to 428O. We are nota membershJp orgarrizadon, but stillwe are strnllar, and we know that

manyofour readers have asense ofloSralty and 6ebngtng. If every subscriberwai responsible for gettlng ONE new subscrlption such as giving a gift, or getti:rg a friend to subscribe -wewould DOUBLE oursub figures. The printing and malllng ofmore lssues does not greatly increase our costs of operadon. In fact, larger press runs lower the cost per issue. Ifwe pt IOOO new

subscripdons, for example, the extra revenue thatwould bring inwould go a longway toward coverlngourannual deficit. 2OOO new subscriptions would coverour deficit and give us abit extra to retire our debts, grow and

improvel In order to do this, we need your help. We know there's a lot of good will and good ideas out there - it's dme to translate them into results. We are not merely askingyou to put money in our pockets. The more people who knowaboutGWS, who read lt, who are altected by it, the betterolfyou will be - the more like$ you will be to find the ldnd of supportand communit5ryou are looldng for. Before I continue on the subject ofwhat you cando, letme talkaboutwhatwe're doing. We know that the small prlnt ofGWS has lost us some renewals and discouragpd others from subscribing. With this issue, we have begun using a new process to put together GWS. Because time is short, we were on$ able to make the transition onto the new machines and put out somethlng that is a reasonable facsmile ofwhat vou are used to seelng. But clearly the Mactitosh technology is more flexible than our old way, and we will

toexperimentwith some deslgp changes thatwe hopewill improve the readabiJity and usefulness of our publicadon. Some of the elements ofCWS's destgn were due to Lmltations ofour old machlnes, but otherswere deliberate choices. We are not going to totally change our appearance - Just take advantage of some newoptions thatare possible. Anythlngwe can do to make GWS more attracdve and readable, wlthout sacrlflclng content or quallty, can only help to wln us new friends. We welcomeyour opinions about be able

ourchanges. We will be brainstormftig here over the corning months on howwecan increase our subs to 5OOO, @OO, wenup to IO,OOO. Andwe ask thatyou look forways to make ttrts happen - and thatyou tell us about them. Stop and thlnk right now of people you know - relatlves, friends, neighbors, colleagues, librarians, educators. Isn't there at least one personwho has been intrigued by your ideas regarding education, and who might like to get GWS? It doesn't have to be a hoineschooler or even a p.rrent. I can think of one person right away and I betyou can too. rlot that name down. Is thls someonevou could give aglftsubscripdon to? Hav6you wer shown this person acopy ofGWS? Have you ever suggested s/he subscribe? We'll conflnue to announce ideas for this drive tJratwe gatherand generate, and report our progress in each lssue. Meanwhile, we

invite each ofyou to think about howwecan prevent a downward trend and break through the plateau we've been on. Participanng h this drive is your opportunity to contribute, on an individual level, to our real and long-

o 6 o

lFarewell to the Van Doren family, who have sewed lon the HoIt Associates Board of Direoon and lparticipated in GWS for five yean. Herc Mary and lMa* hold Helen and Greta.

valuable llsdngwithout strainingyourryes. The l-arge-type Directoryis avallable for$5, includir:rg postage. I can't reslst polnting out, fcr those ofyou who wonder uhg we use that teeny print, that it took the Mahers over 6O pages to cover the ldentical materlal thatwe put on eCaht pages tn #541 - DR Eweryonc Ir Abb: fplodtng the Myth of lrarningDlrabllitiee. Ourl6full of new letters (thanks to all ofyou who answered ourrequest for stories) as well as arHcles from our llles, excerpts frombooks, and stories from GWS. page booklet ts

Of particular notels a two page secdonlistlng the "symptoms" that educators say lndicate

learning dtsabilities ['is dlsorganized; is easily dtstracted; displays furconslstencles in behavior") . A wonderful gtft for crtflcal

ftends and relatfues,

as well as belng an excellent lntroductlon to ourwork ln general. Thecostis $3, plus postage (see centerir:sert for charges). --- Susannah Shefer

OPPONENTS COME AROUND Joge

Kirrullort/|.J"T) wrcte

Intlle

Nor.prnber Tender Ttrtor:

About nineyears ago our school district hired a new superintendent. One of the first things thts mandeclded to dowas stomp on me. He was convincâ‚Źd that home school would harm my children and tlrat itwas his responsibility to get in control ofus. In the two or threeyears hewas here, he and I, and an assortrrrnt of other people, "went the rounds" a number of tlmes, with a great deal of anger and noise. Then the superintendent rnoved on to Nevada, and then laterto CaltfornlaThis summer I was given a llyer

Wbat'e laelde: Support Groups:2: Hlgh Scores: 2 === GED: 2 === Good Answets: 3

termgrowth. -DR

Tutortng: 3 := Back to Homeschool: 3 === Local Cotut NeuB: 4 NeuB: 3-4 =: Raflrâ‚Ź States: 4 : : Calendar: 4 === Loss ofJH: 5: ftly3ay; $ === Self-Directed Learning: 5 === Caring for Others: 6 =: Frank Smith: 6 : Stsrcss ofEarly School: 6-7

OUR TWO NEW BOOKLETS

School ofFlard Knocks: 8

pleased to arutowte that tun netu Holt Assccirrtes publications will fu at ailaHe here bg tlw tine gott reeiln this issue oJGl,IilS. We're

Large-typc Dircctory. For all ofyou who have complatned about the mlcroscopic

print in the annual GWS Directory

Issue #54), Mary and Tom Maher have put together (see

a booklet c.ontaturing the complete 1987

Dir-

ectory in rqgular type. Nowyou can use that

JHlCompetition:

NO CONTEST: 8

Tcsh

School

Stories:8-9 === "Smart"hds:9 === Gutdcs:91O === ftishrnan/pqringJob at 6: lO: MVD/Allowsnsss; I Q === py6 Patdr : lO === Foqrdllng School: IO === LarrringDurlngTrip: I I === Rlchman/ Borcd: I I =: Social Ilfe: 12 =: Book Reviews: l316 === Computcrs: 17- l8 =: Storytelllr4;: l$21 === OlderReaders: 2l === Violin at 3l : 2 I :

:= l,angoaget22-= Ifuitdng:22 =Siagtng: 22 =:Math: 22'23 : Helping Arrimals: 23 === HostinglTfavclcrs: 23 =: Skcpttcs: 24 : Resources, Opuorrs: 2I!-24 : Whole Earth: 25 := Tests: 25 :Wrlung: 25 Suerles: 22 Tapes: 22

) announcing a home school convention in Los Angeles, and guess who was listed among the speakers?That's riglrt this same superintendentt His own grandchildren are now being taugftt at home, two of his sons and theirwlves are leaders in the movement, and supporter. Ofcourse I couldn't resistworking out a trtp to California. I did go without any malice toward tlre man; he hadn't really done me any great harm (actually I could hardly stop laughing) and he was very gracious toward he has become a

me, even told the audlence he had

first

leamed about homeschooling; from me. So when things seem dilflcult, persever€ and endure. TIme reallvls onoursidel

Katlilre;nMcCutdg Nor:emfur FLEx re w sb tten And.

(VVN torcte

tuttJv

We'd like to share the following ,nctdent, as told to us by Mary Gardner: At a r€cent support group meeflng; there were a large number of new people tn attendance and among them was a gentleman

who spokeup and said hewantedtoshare something. "Until reccntly I was aprosecufing attomey in Idaho," he satd. Suddenly there was total silence ln the room. Some people looked a little apprehensive. "In fact, not long ago I had to prosecute the case ofa homeschooling family," he added. There was a collectlve gasp. Sudden! a young mother sitflng behlnd him let go with a bookoverhis head, saying "Shame onyoul" This broke the tension somewhat and the man went onwith his story. Idaho, you may recall, has had anumberof homeschooltrials in the last couple ofyears, including some families who went toJail over the issue. He said the homeschooling motherwho was beingprosecuted had no supporters. Not evenarry reladveswould come to herdefense. She was alone with only her strong convlcfionto sustaln her in thebelief that homeschoolingwas stmply the best thing for her child. He related that after the court hearlng, the case stuck in his mind. He kept thinldng, "How can it be wrong for a mother to educate herchfld?" The thougfttwetghed heavlly upon hirnHe could think of nothing else and ffnally went to sce theJudge. They dlscussed the case for some tlme, and in the end they both came to the conclusion that the case should be dismissed, "Now my wife and I are homeschooling our chlldren," he concluded. Wlrat cheering news that wasl One can onlywonder if the homeschooling farni$ in Idaho everheard the restofthe storyl

GROUPS IMPRESS SUPT. Susan Ricfurran, usrlllng in the wtxer Pennsvlvarrla Homeschoolers ne w sletter abutT ne thg wilh her disffic t s ne w

superlnterdent, said: Aswe talked he flnally safd what I'd suspected must be festering there under the surface, '\ilell, I don't doubt that if parents have the dme to do this sort of ttring well (and I can't see how many could ffnd this sort of dme), then home educaflon programs could be aflne acod.emtc educadon, " I took his emphasis to mean hewasworried about the social aspect of this "aberrant" way ofraising children. He said, grateful thatq/e had brought ttup, thatyes, thatwas what he was

most concerned about - the soclal life. So we sharcd with him some of the manyways homeschooling hmilies I knewwere ffnding to mert their chtldren's social needs. I had a copy of PA Homesclwlers with me, and opened to last issue's "Calendat'' page listing tlre wlderrariety of falrs, seminars and gatherings all across the state that homeschoolers cpuld attend. He really looked it over carefu\r - and he was lmpressed, He then made a surprtsing cumment 'Well, tfyou all harrc formed this sortofstructuretl'at children can take part ln, thenyou have actually, ln a sense, created yourown prirrate school. " Now ttris is not how I look at these gatherings, but the tmportant thingto rnewas

that this man (whowascertainly notkeenon

the whole idea of homeschooling) was so impressed with thls amount of netunrking as to gfve itthe supreme compllmentofsa]dng we were our own larger school - and therefore OK So we are partty sharing this information [in the nervsletterl on support gpoups and activides for the outside world's edification, to showthem thatwe indeed are notlocking

ourkids inclosets, but ratherhave many

ways to go out into the world, often with our fellow homeschoolers.

HIGH SCORES IN TENN. Suza Dodd (ff'I) sent us thJs'4P story 1 1 / 26 / 86:

fiom Nasfwile, ddtEd

Tennessee students who are taught at home by thelr parents have scored higlrer achlevement tests than publtc school students, the state &lucadon D,epartment

reports. Home school students in grades 2, 3, 6 and 8 scored higher tn wery major area than the statewide average tests lastyear, results released by the Education Departrnent showed. On the Stanford ActrlevernentTests, 75 second grade home school students scored 43 points above tlre national average - Ar the top 796ofall students ln the nadon. Tennessee public school students' reading average on the Stanford testwas 12 polnts aborrc the nadonal averagp but 3 I points below the home shrdents'scotes. The home shrdents'average score on mathwas ln the top 396 nadonally, 15 points htgher that that for public school students. Home students averaged in the top 47o on spelling, had the trighest possible marks on listeningand werewithln the top 696 for environment. Thelr scores were I I points trigher than the Tennessee average on spelling, 38 points higher than the rest of the state on listening and 24 points above public school students on envlronment. Home school students also scored above the average in the state's basic skills test, but the dlllerences declined at the higher grade levels. In eighth grade math, home school students mastered 70.696of the math obJectives but that was barely above the average of69o,6 for public school sfudents.

PERMISSION FOR G.E.D. Ruth McCutclen {I{Y) wdle s :

D€borah, 17, recentlydecided to take the

GED. She took the pre-test and did well, but thenwe hita snag. In Kentuclry, if onewants to take the GED, one must obtain aletter from the last schoolone attended stathg that

lndeed one has been out of school for a full calendaryear. When the folks in the adult education departrnent discovered that Lteborah's school has been at home, they s€emed to lose theircomposuneand their ability to thlnk. In great consternation they sent us away, saying that theyumuld have to callFranldort to getamlhgon the matter. During the followtngweek, I checked in rvlth them acouple of ttmes, onlyto betold that they hadn't reached the desired person yet, After aweek, I got flrm, staflng that since our school has legpl status as a prhrate school there should beno problemwith a letter comlngfrom our school. The personln charge tmmedtately sald she would dreck arrd get back to mevery soon. She dtd ell back

quicklywtth the news thatthe officialln

Franldcrt stated that the letterwould have to lastpubllc school Deborah attended - the one she left tn the thnrd gradel That letter alongwith soctal securit5r number and birth c-erflficate would be all she needed to take the GED at ttrls time. This seemed to settle the matterin the mind of this localolllcialbut it c€rtainhv unsettled mg mind. Thee things dfstrirbed me: l) I didn't urant lt on any recurd, anywhere, that Deborah hadn't been in school sArce she was 9, especially since it isn't true; 2) I couldn t accept the tnGrencethat sucha letterwould allow - thatour schoolhas no legal standkrg in Ky - agaln, not tme; and 3) I was unhappy about the precedent that this acdon would create for other homeschoolers come from tJle

tnI(Y. Eventually, after running up no small

phonebill calling Frankfort, I gotto the bottom of the diltculty. I ffnally made

contact witl. the ollclal who was supposed to have handed down theedict on the letter. She was surprised to hear about the tnouble I was havingwith a rullng she'd nwer made; in fact, this was the ffrst she'd heard of the matter. She apologized and assur€d rne thatthere would be no difficulgr about the letter mming fromourschool since lt is as legalas any

other. When I called the GED people here, I was told that tt had been the secretary of thrs offlclal fromwhom they had re<eived tlrts furaccurate informadon. Therr didn't seem

partlcularly pleased that I hid gone to the "top" and quesdoned their authority. They did gractously admit that a letter from our school would be iust flne. This-experlence reinforced somethlng I already knew but needed to be reminded of: if one is unsatisfied wtth'a local mllng on a matter, even lf lt was sald to have come from

hlgherup, oneought to pursuettas faras posstble. It also demonstrated orrce agarn that the more authority an olhctal has, the less

intimtdated he or stre wlll be by one's quesflons and the more llkel5r to be tn possession ofaccurate facts. (Are there any

otherldnd?) Homeschoolers need to be aware of the nrles concerntng the CED. In KY, tf achlld wants to take the GED at 17, heorshemust not have been enrolled ln any school tlre previousyear, though I supposeone cuuld have enrolled, only to "drop ouf' a month later. The letter from the school can stateJust what theclrcumstanc€s are concernkrg the edt from the formal school experlence. In I(Y,

theoftctal in Frankfortwho has the final word on such matters ls Sharon Darling, who I believe ls the DlrectorofAdult Educadon in KY. Local olffctals who are freaked out should be dtrected to her, not her secretary, though she may have it sorted out by now. GROWING WTTI{OUT SCHOOLING #55

3 al,rcltlJ Ue dfrlcultie s otpther lane sr,hded t@nagq was eryederctry h her etforts to b adnlltd to a GD or.rse. As ffte pp;/,atlot o;f lonesclnlodets glls olda, un mag b Jactry nate oJ tle se d$bultle s, tle sane

her daughtervrasn't readlng on grade lwel, and she also knew that the glrl would never stt sdll for the requlred arnount oftlme ln a classroom. She uras sure thatwlttrtn a month herdaughterwould bebeggtngto get out again. By thattlme the schoolwould beconvlnced that they shouldn t let her go because she rvasn't up to grade lwel tn readtng.

ill4alTtv

The battle raged forweeks, undl the mother got the brtght tdea ofenrolllng her daughter tn a Sylvan Ttrtortng Center. (It

IDRJ In GIIXS

52, we prtuttd. a story

uag that tle$$t-fandltes to apprwch tlvlr suprhtetdents abi la nrrlscttorltg, years ago, unre tdd that ft uos lnrpos slile t

sane lessons qpplg - fu perslstent, atdfird otJt yowsQf tulut the laus really say.

GOOD ANSWERS Suq Md. (IN) utote In t]le lrcal newsletts Homesctrooltng Famllles,

86:

...1n response to the quesdon,'What grade areyou tn?" my ldds have been taught to aruwer, "I'm tr an ungraded prograrrl I'm_ years old." I thtnk that people ask that quesflon as away of determinlng age, but many people can no longer relate to age glven tn gpars, only tn grade level. I obJect to school betrg used to categorlze ldds thls way, so I tell my ctrlldren not to answer that quesflon no matter how they're pushed. The grade level for

seems to be a chatn) . Her maln rea.son was to try and bdng her dauglrter up to grade lwel beforc school started so she could rntnlmize at leastone ofthe problems she knewrvould be comlng. (By thfs dme, the gtrlwouldn'tdo any school workwlth her mother, elther). But a great thtnghappened unexpectedly. The two hours arpeek of tutorlng, was all the "school" the glrl needed. She had school clotlres and

books, real school notebooks and homework, school frlends (though tutorlng classes are very srnall) and a real school teacher. She was contenL thetenslons rnelted, and the demands to go to school stoppedl The mother reports that the Sllvancenters say they have a homeschooltng family enrolled ar almost

wery branch. If s worth a tqrl...

whtch they're registered wtth the superlntendent ts fior record keeptng purpos€s onlSrand tnnouray llrnttsudraturc do, sowe don t use these grade levels tn cuversadon,

BACK TO HOMESCHOOLING

elther.

Justwanted to letyou know - Gabriel (8) ls back to homeschooltng. After threcyears at home rrye had dectded to try him atwhat I

My nearly

-year-old daughter ts tlre

one most often aslred, "How do you make any

ffends?" Interesflngly enouglr, lt's most often asked by frtendsl Her response ls, 'Well, you're my friend, aren tyou?" Slnce thls has been asked tn the setdng of the ballet studlo where Ertn has marry hends, the quesdoner usua$r glves an embarrassed laugh and reallzes what she has done. The only really negatfrc sltuauonweVe encountered slnce the lawpassed has involved our 7-year-old. Whilewaittng forher dance class to begln, she has been regularly grllled by the other ltttle girls: 'What's I 2x I 2?" and the llke. (I should potnt out that these are 6- and 7-year-olds who are not likely to know the answ€rs themselves,) We started out counsellngAmy to try to change the subJect butwhen she was unable to do thaL I talked to her dance fnstructor... She asked each gtrl wbere she went to school and potnted out that there are many dllferent schools and honre lsJust one of them and that Amy shrdied Just as they dtd. As for deallngwtth famtly members and other peoplewho feel thcy have a right to crldcizeyou, I flnd tt helps to cultlvate a reputaflon ofbeing really dillerenL I once heard annrnan observe that lfyou're only a Itttle dlfferenL peoph wtll try to getyou back on the beaten path. But tfyou're reallg dtlferent, people wtll thfnkyou eccentrlc and therefore tnteresdng and will no longer try to reformyou. My favorlte aunt once said to me, 'Well, lt'sJustwhatl'd orpect ofyou, Suzyl"

2 HOURS OF TI,NORING N anry Plent

(Nl urcte

In Unschoolet's

Netqork#22:

VoIerIe V aughon (MA) wrcte :

consldered thebest school system (Waldor$. Hewent for two months. It may be the best school system, but if s sdll schooll At school Gabewas told about the "rightway" to draw pictules; compeddon started to setln; hewas comlng home having leamed numerous "dirty words" at recess, etc. But our main reason for havlng him homeschool agatnwas thatwe missed him. Hewas gone from 7:3O a-m. to 3:3O p.m., and lt seemed every other moment ofthe daywas centered around gettlngr€ady for school, gotng to bed early so he could get up for school, paclidng lunch forschool, etc. We nwer had any tlme to do anythlng else like go shopplng together or the usual family actMdes. Gabe's l8-month-old brotherhad the vrcrst reacdon. When Gabe started school, he suddenly got very upset when Gabe was around, and thetwoof themhadbeen so companlonable before school started. Thankgoodnessl had thecourage to take himoutofschool and ltsten to all the reladves' obJecdons agaln, Thlngs are back to normal. We can have our freedom agatn - the whole day to plan as we wtsh. Baby brother plays agatn normally wlth older brother. It's Jun again. Everyone asks me, "But didn't Gabe wantto stay at schoolwtth lrts friends?" No, he chose thts declslon, too. He llkes havlng all my attention when he's flgurlng out math, lnstead ofwaitlng forthe school teacherto

dealwith everyone else.

LOCAL NEWS Fbr addresses of state and lrcal ory antzatlots, se GWS * 54 or our Home schmlltg sur,e l;lst awlLoHeJor

$1. ...We menfloned last issue that seveml famllles were faced wlth the problem of havtngachlld who reallywanted to go to

schol.

...One rnotherhad extna reasonfor dragglng herfeet about saytng' yes." She knew GROW]NG WTII{OUT SCHOOLING #55

Alabama: The November newsletter of

AIABAMA HOME EDUCATORS reports that legtslators may lntrroduce ablll to clart$ homeschoolteg procedures durlng the comlng sesslon, and that "several boards ofeducailon

have informally agyeed not to pursue prosecuflons of homeschoolers in the state if proposed legtsladon could be introduced and some mtddle ground reached."

Callfomb: Horneschooler Elizabeth Hamill (see GWS #53) sent us a copy of the Alameda County Counsel's proposed revision of the state EducaUon Code, The rcvision would make lt impossible for any home schoolwlth fewer than tert students to qualify as a private school, and it prohtbits "home instrucdon of a minor pupil" enttrely, saying, "Because of thevalue of soclal lnteraction, clmpetidon, and exchange of ideas gained by students in assocl,adonwith theirpeers... homelnstrucflon in g5ades I through 12 ofa mtnor puptl by hls parent orguardianis unlawful." Eltzabeth says that homeschoolers plan to tr5r to stop thts proposal from being tntroduced as a blll, and to flght it ifit is tntroduced. Kenres : The Dec.ember KansansJor Altematfi.te Edlrcatlcrt newsletter reports that representadrrcs from prlnate and home schools met lnTopeka on December 4th to discuss the possible introducHon of legtslatton. They agreed to propose a bill in the next legfslative session that specifically defines home schools, states that homeschooling parents shall maintain records (daily log, portfolio, record of waluailons, or materlals equivalent to these three), and prohtbits state agencl,es from dtctadng a statewide curriculum for private

orhomeschools.

Megrchurcttr: Homeschoolers have begun meedngto discuss the formadonofa statewide task force tn case leglslaflvework becomes necessaqr. TVrc people who would Itke to hear fromhomeschoolers about their experiences under the curent law, and thoughts about a statewide group, are Susan Ostberg of APPLE COLJN1RY HOMESCHOOLERS (Box 246, Haryard Ol45l; 456-3688) and Loutse Taylor (467 Summer St, Rockland o237o; 87 l-42LAj. Minncgota: In the Decembernewsletter Of thc MINNES,OTA HOMESC HOOL

NETWORK Sbaron Hillestad reported that pub[c school adminlstrator Dr. Lewis Finch proposed the followlng regulaflon at a task force meeilng ln Nowmben "All students of compulsory attendance age who are educated outside the publlc school system must partictpate tn any dlstrichvide assessment pmgrams conducted in the public school dtstrictwtthin wtrich the nonpublic school (tncluding the home educadon) is located." Sharon asks homeschoolers with ideas for alternatives to standardized tesdng thatwill safls$ the state educators' need for "accountability" to send them to Bob and Bethany Newhouse, 435O Lake I and Ave N, Robbinsdale 55422.

Miesourl: Implementaflon

the

state's new law (see GWS #5O) is golng smoothly, with only occasional conllicts between homeschoolers and local school officlals, according to Stephen J. Fortney, lobbvist for FAMIUES FOR HOME EDUCAflON. Stephen suggests that parents GROWING WTIHOUTSCHOOLING #55, Vol. lO No. l. ISSN #0745-5305. Publrshcd bi-rnonthlybyHolt Assoctatcs, 729 Boylston St, Boston MA 02l 16. $2olyr. Date oflssuc, Feb. l,1987. Sccond-clas. postage pard at Baston MA" FOSTMASTER: Scnd address changes to GWS, 729 Boylston St. Boston

MA02ll6.

ADVERISERS: Deadltnes arc the lSth of oddnumbercd months. Contact Patrlck Farenga for newfurer'lscd rates.

4 rernovlng &tldren frrom federal\r funded "speclal" publlc school programs are most llkely to encounter reslstancr, but he says, "In every case reported to date, the parent has been famtllarwlth the law, or has been advlsed by FHE to stand on the law, and the tves-flgatlons, by allagencles, have been

&opped." Ncw Jcrrc5n Nancy Plent of the UNSCHOOLERS NETWORK (2 Smnh St, Farrnfngdale O772fl ls conductfng a survey ln preparadon fora summaqr document about NI horneschoolers. Sheasks that homeschoolers wtro harrc not recchrcd the surrreysend forone. Ncstcrlco: One of the requtrements of the Law passed h f 985 ls that homesehooling parents must have at least a bachelot's degree, or getawErlverofthe requlrement frrom tlee state. An arflcle ln the Albuqrnqrc lO / 26 / 86, repr;rts that according to the Deparhnent of Educaflon's coordlnator of home schools, "ar5r parent who has flled a wairrer for not harrlng a bachelof s degree can

Jqnu\

assumelthas beenapproved," desplte tlre fact that short staf[ng may have delayed an olficial response.

Pcnnrylventt ln the winter fuilasybranlo

issue of

llqesdwlers, Hovrald

Rtchrnan reported tlratthe Chrtstlan School Btll, whfch r€deflnes non-public schools ln thecompulsoryeducaflon law, passed at the end of the last legtsLaUve sesslon as a rlder on a teache/s unlon blll. Homeschoolers hope that thrs wlll help pass a slmllarbill whlch urculd grant tlre samefreedomto homeschoobrs, slnc€ the twobills share marryofthe same slnnsors, Howard says honreschoohrs plan to askthe sponsors to relntroduc= a horne educaflon btll durlng the

1987sesslon.

Tcnncrcc:

Iloncsctwltng

In the Decmber lssue

Fbrn4{es, Suzy Dodd reported

thatV. L. Stoneclpher, the tesflngcoordlnator and directorofpuptl spectal servtces for

Anderson County Scboob, spoke to a gSoup of homeschoollng parents tn November, and suggested the need for clarlflcaflon of the present law. Confusion eldsts, he satd, because the state requlres homeschoolers to take a nadonally-normed test ln grades 3, 6 and 8 but does not extend the sarre rcqulrcments to chlldren ln school. In

addiflon, testswtrlch are required ofboth schooland homeschool students are rrot gfven a'grade lorel" score, though tlreTennessee Lnr requtres that horrrcschml students stay wtthtn acertaln number ofmonths of grade

collabo rafl ng on a book

seeldngapubltsher.

Itrarhlngton: In GWS #54, we reported a possible ellcrt to "flglrten up" the homeschool law. Homeschooler Jon Wartes recentlv told us,'The effort was that of one assistani superlntendent in one school distrlct. Carolyn Kunard, a homeschool leader from Everett, talked to the asslstant superlntendent and seemed to answer his concerns,"Jon says thatat the startofthis session, no btll addresslng homeschooling appears on the leglslaWe agenda, The PortTownsend School District sent us a descrlpflon of the unusually cooperadve arrangementlt offers to homeschoolers: "...It ts the phtlosop$ ofthe FortTownsend School Dtstrtct to malntaln posiflve rapport wtth homeschoollng famllies and to provlde support and asslstance whererzer possible. A cerHflcated teacheris avatlable to help famllles plan student obJecdves, dwelop curriculum, select elfecdve teachtng methods and matertals, evaluate and record student progress, and admtntsterand score standardtzed tests. The school distrtct dso provides educational materials (texts, rporkbooks, etc.) where approprlate and avatlable. . . Plans are also 'in the works' for a homeschoolers' newsletter, and for periodic gatherings or rrretlngs of homeschooling famllies.,. Future plans also include the dorelopment of an on-campus resource center."

Wlrconrln: The Decemberlssue of the Wlsonsirr Farents Association newsletter reports: "On December 5-6, 1986, the Polcy

and Resoludons Commlttee of tlreWsconsin Associaflon ofSchool Boards passed a resoluffon that" tfadopted by delegates to the WASB convenflon [tn late Januaryl, would coll for leglslailon gMng the flepartrnent of Public Instructton authortt5r to reviewarrd approve home-based trstmction.. A similar

resoluflonwas rotpas*d by theJanuar5l, I986WASB convendon.., WPAmay have

helped prevent the passage ofthe 1986 resolu$on, slnceWPAwas able to dlstrtbute a fact sheet to mostW,{,SB delegates prlor to their vote and some WPA members rpere able to contact local school board members and discuss the resolutlonwith them prlor to the convenflon. So let us build on a recprd of success." -SS

RATING THE STATES

level. Suzv added that Charlene Becker of the state eddcadon ofrc.e lnformed her that the onlyagendes tlrat are authorized to test homesclrool shrdents are those ttrathave business llc€nses ard recelrrc most of thelr

tncpme ftrom tesdng. Homeschoolers are constderlng formlng such an agency. Vcrnont: Members of the vERMoI.fT HOMESCHOOLERS ASSOCIATION voted unantmously ln December to support a homeschoolng btll for the 1987 legislattve sesslor1 accordhg to VHSA member June Schulte. The blll rcqulres homeschoolers to flle notlflcation and an outlined planwlth the departnrcnt ofeducadon at tlre start of each schoolyear, and a sumnraq/ of subJects corrcred at the end ofeachyear. Under thls blll, famllleswould also keep re<ords of each chlld's progressby one ofserrcml metlrodsof assessrrEnl Thebtllalso spectfles thatlf the state objects to a family's pla+ lt must do so wtthtn 45 days after the orlgtnal nodffcaflon

Junealso says thatWlSAmembers are

about

homeschoohng, forwhlch they are current\r

tlv

We Jotatd this bt the 7 / 87 rewsletter oJ F'I-ARIDA PARET'IT WUC.ilID.R'S

ASSOCIA:rIOM

Inarecent publicatton of the flome aI DeJense Assci,ation (DC), Chris

*t'apl Ia

Kltcka, Execudve Dir,ector, evaluated each of the fifty states for thetr home school laws. Each statewas ranked and erraluated based on three factors: 0) The ma:dmum amount of freedom glven to homeschoolers vs. the amount of state tnvolvement; (2) the vag;ueness of the compulsory attendance

statute; and (3) thenumberof legalconllicts oeurrtng betwe€n homeschoolers and the stateat presenL The followlng chart designates the most favorable states toward homeschoollng, starsngwith I to the least favorable states

endingwtth25. AL 15. AK 15. AZ 8. AR lO. CA 13. CO 20.

I8. DE 17,FL7.GA7. HI I5.ID 18.IL I.IN l.1A25. KS 18. I(Y t. lA8. ME 19. MD 21. MA

C'T

18. MI 24. MN2. MS2. MO2.MT2.NE4. l.IV4. NH 17. Nt 16. NM lO. t{Y 17. NC l. ND24. OH 25. OK l. OR2. PA23. RI 17. SC 14. SD 7. TN 9.

TX25. UI5.VA l7.WA6.WI 3.VT

wY2.

ll.WV

12.

[DR] Note tlnt tirs is not anorderlng oJ each stateJrrcrn tle br,st one, Nwrtlrr 1, to tle u.rorst Number 50. RatJrrr, Clvis Kickagaw each state a sore uslng a scole o-f 1 to 25. Ldchg at this, I tend. to agre in general with the rankirgs, tlottgh Im swprised Alnska got a 1 5 - I unuld" tw:e tlaught tt btter. krhaps tfu LegalfuJerceJdks hann teadof co$Ibts there tluttrse tw-te rwL And. altlough lowa dres tend. to b ad{Jtcult stote, tlerc ore spts (srrch as Des Mohes) tlvt are

jlendlier.

It s wry ffidcy

gereraltzc abut states,

atd I lwn lorg resistd. iL Peopb oJten ask us whal orc tlv

"gd or'bad states, and.

altlanqh I canthtout out sme rnnes lf pressrd" I olloags watntlnttlw sihtotbncort vary uitldn a sittgle state. Alsrl., circurnstances canchange quicWy, so these llsts will fu outdaled bJore gou lolrlw IL For row (eadg 1 987), I undd. saq Aou cald. fu s t moke us e oJ tle se ratirg s fo

mtsiderfng twn as Jalling irtto tlvee cat4obs: l -9 means baslcdlg'gd (tllough rqulrenerts btcreax wtth higher rathgs). 1O- 19 means'OK' - nostpople wlllb oHe to lvnesclwllegallg ultlout ta mrch nvtde,

b ewptlotts. 2O- 25 nlr'ans "fu prqaredJor boub/.e." D.r;n tlangh *me fanllies nug b peaeJully lame slr,trrnling in tlrese states, otlers are ln@,rdlbto.Idthis mag led to lnportartcourt decisions, tla ugh tlere nug

Iq islathn c anp.ig ns, e tc.

COTJRT NEWS Ohlo: Attornev Mtchael Farris of the *lrrll lzgal lkJense Assoc-iatfon

Home

argued the case of Schmldt us. the Statc oJ Ohio before the State Suoreme Court on January 7th. The Schrriat family had becn found in violaflon of the state Compulsory Attendance Statute, and Farris argued that thls statutewas unconstitudonal and ought to be found roid forvagueness. No decision has

yetbeenreached. Rhodc lgland: A Famtly CourtJudge delayed undl March the trlalofPeterVan Daam, who has been charged with failing to send his turc oldest clrtldren to school, accordingto an ardcle ln the Providence Journol-Bulletirr TheJudge named a courtappointed counsel to representVan Daarrl but Peter has chosen to represent himself and wrote aletterofpmtest to the appointed attorney, a copy ofwhich he enclosed in his December neursletter, Rhode Islanders Jor

C-anstthttiunlFl€€donL - SS

CALENDAR Thurs. March 19. 1987: HoltAssociates Open House. Discussion: "The Mass. Homeschool law: Will it Change? Should it?" Special guest attorney Susan Ostberg. 6-8 pm, at our olllcc. Phone 437- 155O. Thurs. April 16: HoltAssociates Open House. Dlscussion: "Home Schools and Alternaflve Schools: Butldturg a Reladonship. " Special guests from the Sudbury Valley School, Framingharn 6-8 pm, at our o{flce. Phone 437- 1550. April 22-26: Annual conference of the GROWING WTIHOUT SCHOOUNG #55

5 littleTV, teaches dancc

National Coalttion of Altemative Community Schools in Escondido, CA For info contactJohn Boston. School of Home t-earning, PO Box 92, Escondido, 92025 or the NCACSoflicc, RD I Box378, GlenmoorePA 19343; 2 I 5-458-5 l3a. May: HoltAssociates annual picnic: workshops and events all day long. Exact date has notyet been set. kt us know ifyou think you will attend, and help us pay the cost of renting the site ifyou are able to (suggested donation: $ lO per family, $5 per tndMdual). Ifyou would like to help organize this event, callWendy Baruch at 437- 155O. Sat. June 20: Mid-Atlanuc Homeschooling Conference, organizd by ManH Smith of the Maryland Home Education Association (3O I -73O-OO73). Workshops and display tables all day. Susannah Shefferwill lead a workshop on "ContinuingJohn Holt's Work." We are happy to run notices of major homeschooling events, but we need plenty of notice. Deadline for GWS #5,6 (events in May or later) is March 15. Deadline for GWS #57 (wents inJulyorlater) is May 15.

FEELING LOSS OF JOHN HOLT Frcm Claudia I had

card

arfu r (Ge rrnand

thought to send you all a sympathy

whenJohn died, but mv sense of

personal loss was so great I 6ouldn'tdo lt; I felt thatl should be getting sympathy. I heard John speak hvice, and talked wlth him briefly once - there are many, many people whose loss is much greater than mine. But, along wlth everyone else, I always knewJohn cared about me, and I ahvays thought that we could have been friends. His death left an empgr

placeinmylife. Mv heartfelt thanks to all of vou for continiingGWs and doing such agreatjob of it. lrsing it on top oflosingJohn would have

beenawful.

RESPECTING PRIVACY Tun gears ago, Mirio.rn Mangiorte (NV) wrcte to us alplut ler conrern that her daughler, t]-en 13, unuld getotnr adozen torrrrnce nouels Jrom the Library and do

rwthttg else untilsle readmostoJ tlernWlenue askedreentlg lf the sihntton had clung

M iria.tn re s ponded.:

I showed your letter to my daughter to ask heraboutwhat happened to her readingof ronurnce novels. Her response startled me. She was very upset that I had written about her to strangers and that we were intruding upon her private life. Although I'm sure I shared with her my letters to GWS concerning her, at this poirat (age l5) she made it clear she was entitled to a private liG. I amwondering if otherparents who are unloading theirexperiences in GWS have mentioned this. I am nowaware of my insensitivity - perhaps others also should spend more time talking about this with those they are writing about. Children do have this way of growing up on you when you least As

forwhat she reads now - atalmost

16 -

she reads the same as any adult. Until she

Iinished herAmerican School high school course (Oct.'86) she really didn't have time to do much extra reading except the Bible. So,

from 13 to 15, thatcomprised herreading. Now, she reads forinformationshe inspiradonal novels and the Bible, watches a needs,

GROWING WTIIOUT SCHOOLING #55

children, ls

and approved - orrather, agreedwtthwhats been written, and so you not onl5l have my permission to print this, but more lmportant, you have Shandra's permission too.

bruuwrotebaclc I thinkyou're quite right, there are times when people should talk over problems with the people involved rather thanwrite to us about them. Ofcourse, somedmes the process

ofwridng helps people to clari$ their thoughs and perceptions - if they didn'twrite about it first, they might not be able to talk about it. And it is also true that lt ls valuable fior others to hear about these experiences, even if they are negadve

orquite personal.

Butyes, your daughter certainly is endtled to privacy. We have always had the option in CWS of printing letters without identilication, and I hope that one of the things letter-writers take lnto account when they tell us whetherornot to use their names is how the otherpeople theywrite about might feel when they read about themselves in print even if it's manyyears later. Ifyou write something thatyou rvould be embarrassed to hand to the person right then and there to let themread (orread to them), thenyoushould thinktwice aboutallowlng us to identi$ the

letterin print.

TRUSTING HIS WAY TtaGrove(BC) wriles: It's interesflng towatch myselfgo through the progression from structure to trusting my child to leam what he needs to know. Whenwe llrst started, I was quite intirrddated by the prospectoftesttng. I was making Noah do about an hour or two of "schoohvork" each day. I would get frustrated and angrywhen he used school kid tactlcs to avoid the things he didn't like.. . I {inally let him alone when I reatzed that he trad a pretty good command of the math hewas expected to know for Crade TWo. The other daywewere working on simple division. We had the counters out for makCng sets with. But every dme Noah tried a problem, he started with the answerand then worked out with the counters whether hewas right. He always was. Neither of us could figure out how he was getdng the answer. I was afraid he dtdn't really understand what he was doingandwanted himto do tt "by the book." I finally let go and trusted his way. If his way doesn't work when he gets into harder problems, tJlen he'lljust have to do them anotherway.

NOT INTERFERING FtomMariankuerAN): I had made someattempts to interest (8) in piano and recorder ln the past few years, but each timewe began some lessons, the interestwould die away afteronly afew days. This past fall, he said to me one day, "Mom, could you get tlrc recorderbook down for me?" I did and he proceeded to use the fingering chart in the front of the book. py ftpping back and forth to the songs, he rnanagd to teachhimself to playseveralof

Mark

erpect itl

to younger

as capableas mostadults, and is quitelovely coming into her "prime," as she calls it. Shandra, our subject, has read thls letter

them. The flrst day, he spent about an hour. The next day he spentaboutan hourand a haif by himself, learntng to play more songs. Now during the Christmas season, he has learned to play several Chrlstmas songs and generally does sorrrc playingwery day, though usually 15 or 20 minutes now. One day I heard him at tlle piano, picking out the same tunes he had learned on the recorder. He was also saying the names of the notes out loud. flheyare prlnted on the fingerlngchart.) Then later sflll, I heard him playing the tunes on the piano on a dfferâ‚Źnt key, picldng them out by ear. I don't know how this wlll continue to dwelop, but I think he has a good beginntng and an interest, which I hope not to lidll by too much interference. If he asks rrle a question, I answer it and by not to make too many suggesuons. He has learned a little bit about

the sharps and flats by asklng. I learned a slmilar lesson about waiflng arrd not interfering when my younger son, Davld (5), began wridng his name some time ago without rrry help, just by seeing the letters other places, or by seeArg his narne printed on things. In the beginning, he ahvays wrote the "A' upside-down, and made a lo\ver cnse "i." Because of the readingl had done tnGWSand elsewhere, I did not say anything. This Thanksgivlng he was writlng hls name on something he had made with his grandmother (she did not say anythtrâ‚Ź, havingbeenwell-tralned by me ln thts respect) and he sald somethlng ltke, "Oh, theA is upside-down." Grarrdma helped htm erase it and he wrote tt rtght-stde-up and has done so ever since. Today I noflced thatwhenhe signed a Chrtstmas card to send to hls grandparents, he wrote his whole name ln upper-case letters. I don't know how he might have come to noilce thattnconslstencyin his writing but he seems to have corrected that, too,

allby himself.

SELF.INITIATED PROJECTS G

ha Prctnst

(MAl un'Ile s :

Myoldestson, Joshua, used Oak Meadou/s fourth grade currlculum lastyear. (Excellent c.oursel) He was supposed to do homemade books for English. Maybe the thought of a whole book was overwhelrning he refused to do lt. I finally gave up trying to force him. Then one day wtrile playtng with legos he decided to create an adventure. I can't rememberwhose tdea ltwas butwe decided to photograph it at each stagp. He took all the photos himselfafter setting up each adventure carefi rlly, complete with background props. When the pdnts came back from the lab, he was so excited about putttng the words down in wrlting. He made a lovely book all wtthout my prompting. Wealso studted the colordal pertod tn history. I found abook at the library called Cdonial Cr$ts Fq YouTo Mo.l<e by Janet and Alex D'Amato which gave lnstrucdons for a eolonlal home. Itwas verv detatled and

rutalud

ugpr[ooliDiplonrno ilanA

brcra

'%#^r,#W

&dbrySi8t

furumpla

?ur\t)nnemachu,Catg$vr ?g ofulsso, Conre,Tqs nns

6 boxwith balsarvood furniture. You paint the top ofegg cartons red, thencutand glue themas individualbricks to the flreplace, Italso gave patterns and dir,ectons for authentic cradles, hutch, windsor chalr, etc. It used TV dinner travs cut and bent for andirons and pewter dishei. Then Joshua ffnlshed tt all by painflng the floor to look like awood lloorand he stenciled the walls. The supertntendentwas verylmpressed, Joshuaalso scored tn the 99th percenflle in the SRAtesting that Naflck, MArequtres. made from acardboarrd

ENCOIJRAGES INDEPENDENCE Judy C-ornellwrltes: .Because I was lary, my son Davtd (then interest in rrnking peanut butter and Jelly sandwiches one day, became our lunch cheffrom then on. As our ctrlldren reached an agewhere sometllng looked like fun and expressed an interest, the task'uras Orelrs, One less chore for mother. As soon as I could managp to teach them, my chlldren were on their own - bathing, dresslng, and choosfurg thelr own uncoordinated outffts (although I trted putflng things that matched together), maldng their own brealdast and lunch, watching the clock for times to leave, even washing tlretr own clothes. That happened one summerwhen I was tlred of nagglng about chores. Imarched allfourchildren - nonevet teenagers - into the laundry room arrd shoirrcd themhowto use thewasher: cold water, add towels to make fi-rll load when necessary, dark together, llght together, then dryer. I remember an lncident when a tearffnate's mother asked how I got Daryl's baseball uniform so clean. I laughed, "I don't know, ..

4), who expressed an

you'll have to ask him." This letterwas prompted by thevlsltof my 6-year-old nlec, who upon my request and supeMslon, helped mebycutflngup raw carrots. I thought nothing ofit until I noUced her parents watching us wlth looks of horror...

CARING FOR OTHERS Perng Barker (OLn usrcte: . ..I was extremely moved by "Carlng for Mother" (GWS #41). Howvery, verywonderfUl to have ralsed caring childrenwho at I I and 14 are able to show concern and care for this person so preclous to them. I say to that mother, don t worry about the tlmeyou gve them to do other things - you'r€ g$ng them a mostvaluable gtft tnenabltng them to do all those thingsyouVe always done. When Iwas I 1, ltwas necessaql forboth my mother and father and my older slster to workawayfrom the farmand Iwas lefttra charge ofthe housekeeplng, all meal planning, shopping lists, and preparatton of meals. I still remember golng up on the rooftopofthe farmhouse to peerat the road that ranalongthe ridge tnorderto viewmy mothet's old carmming home fromwork. Then I would race down from the roofand preparc my mother's cup of teaJust theway she liked it and have it waitlng for her ln the ldrchen I had made tidy and welcoming. She ls gone now but one of my very happy memories is the lookon her face as she sat and drank that cup of teawith me. My cldldren and Fdchard often commenton my ability to put awonderfirl meal togetherwhen

there really seems to be nothing avatlable - I cando *ris because of thatgiftof experimentatlon in the kitchenwtrich my mothergave to me 28yearsago andwhichl've been improvlng on wer slnce.. .

FRANK SMITH ON SCHOOL (DF;I Tlere ts avry tnpftott neut fuk

tlnt ure plrrn to seL b'r. our catalq tlnsJall (un eryat to add. all our rera tltles at once rather tlrrc.n

indtbs atd.dabs). It s called Insult to

Intelligence and ifs by Flanksnth u:lo lins wriTten several otler tpg/cs that un sell ReadingWithout Nonsense, and Essays tnto Literacy. Mang oJ ftankSnith'spofnts about tle nature oJbarrnng ard tlE problems oJ schols sound s nurchtllce JohnHdt, f/s amadq - get deaig. te has anil:ed at lns optrdotts hdependentlV, Ad. like Jolvt trr lds eadier gears, lE ts btng listened to W

schdpapb.

MostoJ Insult to Intelllgence is adeuostaAry l@k at tle un'lrtbciks, tctds, acftfiy

sleets, amputer prqrans, and n ontlntJflI the sc}ro/s - tuhg tleg dsr'tunfu anduhy they ore prcllferolttg aternr greaterratcs. Near tlv etd. oJ the d< lv desafu s tle Jeu ellutfin teaclvrs atd prqrans le loa u: s oJ IJ ang oJ gou are ln a psltiol. to rcvtew broks Jor otler publlcatlons, I hrye gou get a copy oJ Insult to Intelligence.from the publisler, fusar rcs lf de*nz s mtrch ofrentbn Also, many oJ gou might ask Aow lrr;al

llbmrians to oder XJor tlelr cdlectlons. Publtsler Is Arbr House and prie is $ t8.95. l(s pre*rtlg auailaHe onlg inhatdow1 but let s lap soles ore sbrolrg erough to put In in

papaasuelL Herc'sagd.ercerpt

...When I was aprofessor of educatlon I used to tell my gpa.duate students - all far rnore experlenctd teachers ttran lwas - tlrat I

ogected to leamfrom themand that they would leam fromeach otlrerln thecourseof our studles. Many students dtdn't llke the nodon of learnlng from each other. Wasn't the lnstructor supposed to be the expert? Mminlstrators among my students especlallywanted to get down to bustness. I should tell them what they were expected to learn, theywould then leam lt, arrd no one's tlme would be wasted, they told me. ...I umuld tell them that the{r next asslgnmentwas to read abook. Whtchbook, they would ask. I replted: any book that lnterested tlrem, that they thought worthwtrlle. Mostof the studentswould look puzzled, even anidous. Howwould I test them if they all read dtfferentbooks? I told them there vnuld be no tesq I would ask no

questtons. They responded: IJthere utflIfu ro qrestiotls, uthg slanid u:e reod the bk? I asked them to write a paper. What abouf? They could choose. How long should tt be? As long as thcy thought approprlate. I knew that lf I said seventeen and a half double-spaced pages I unuld get serrenteen and a halfdoublespaced pages, whatever the toplc. And then the key questlon: Howrvould I grade them? I satd thereumuld be no grades. And the response was: I;f gouarerttgotttg tograde us, LDW s lauld. up usrlle ang thtry ? These were not "disadvantaged" or leaming disabled students - not tn any formal sense at least. These were teachers, the cream of the crop, experiencrd, dedicated, and worldng for thelr masters or doctoral degr€es. Where c.ould they have leamed that there ls no potnttn r€adhgabook unless someone ls

gohg to ask them quesdons; no polnt ln writtng something unless someone is going to give them a grade for lt? The answer, of course, ls fur school. It ls on} in school that people read tnorder to answerquestions or write to getagrade. These teacherswere demonstratingwhat they had learned and what they were teactrtng thelr own students. My studentswere disturbed to thtnkthat they mjght lndeed be teaching ctrlldren not to read and to write, so theywent back to thetr 6q11slass1p611s to ftred out. Thcy gave children asyoungas second g;m.ders the sameirrvltation - read abook, write somethlng. And second graders produccd the same oblections as graduate students: If tlrerewtll be no quesflons and no tests, why shouldwedo it?...

STRESS OF EARLY SCHOOL Iieaders sent us fun reprts oJ a r'or{ercrce oJ t}E NATId{AI-.ASSOCIA?ION F€R THE EUICATION OF YOUNG CHILDREI,I,

hdd I{ov. 1 4, l9e6 InWastnrgton D.C. The

fust Is a l^A. TLrcs-Washlrgton ftstSerube story tJtatwas rqrlntd. rcrcss tlc counby: Pr,eschools are pushing chtldren too hard and too early to actrlwe academtcalty, L"dingto childhood stress, depresslon, burn-out and learning problems, tulo maJor educadon organlzatlons wamed Friday. The problem of scholastic "force-feeding" of preschoolers has become pardcular$ acute over the past decades, olficials from the organlzatlons sald. "Education is belng concelved of as a race, and tfyou start ear! you'll wln that rac€. . . It ls stlessfrrl for children, " said David Elldnd, president of the National A.ssociation for the Educadon ofYoung Ctrildren. Elldnd's organlzaflon has adopted a strong posldon urglng that preschools reduce their emphasis on teacher-oriented, academic

lessonsand allowchildren to leamln aless stressfuI environrnent by lnidatlng theirown actMdes, talldng to people and soMng problems, such as balanctng blocks or puttlng

togetherpuzlgs. The group's statementwas prompted by a growlngbody ofresearctr on the subJect and a doubllng of the numberof 3- and 4-year-olds ln school since 197O. Itwas released Frtdav in cor{uncdon wlth the Nadonal AssociaUon-of Elementar5r School Prlnctpals as part ofa conference here on early chlldhood educadon, attended by 60,000 educators. The warning comes at a ttne when the naflon's publlc schools face lncr€aslngpr€ssure to provlde all-day ldndergarten and preschool programs and when ttre number of worhdng mothers and slngle-parent families ls creaflng an addtdonal need for the programs. There also are other forces atvmrk: a growlng number of dlsadvantaged chlldren forwtrom earl5l educadon is consldered essentlal to later succ'ess, and awav€ of '!uppte" parents looking for early academlc prowess

in theirchildren. Elldnd sald these pr€ssures and research from the l960s stesstng the academlc potentlal of young chtldren has led preschools to commonV teach awaterd downverslon of ffrst-, second- and thtdgrade currtculum. 'Wtth tncreaslng numbers ofyoung children belng ocposed to these lnapproprlate teachtng methods, there ls real danger tlnn large numbrs ofyoung children will experlenc.e learningproblems at anage when, ln the past, most children were not eventn school," satd Elldnd. GROWING WTTHOUT SCHOOLING #55

7 ISSJ Abont Elklnd's plvase

pm,ilems'' let s b

"Iarntug

rcmentfur wlo or what ca usd thern atd b cateJul rot to drctde tlwt a Sgardd wlo rcacts urdat;clrahlg to tle demotlds oJ eorly sclwlltg Is "leonbtg dlsatld ard ttus n ned. o1 twe oJ the st$f that dlsoHed. tffir tnthe first place. TItr other artlcle, anAssalatedPrress story, saldln sruue to

patt: EDUCAf, ORS, E)(PERTS CAUTION AGAINSTTEACHINC CHILDREN TO READ TOO EARLY. The forcc feeding of readtng wrlttng and artthmeflc on preschoolers often

underirtnes actrild's self-con8dence and can lead to learrrlng problems tn later grades, two educatlon experts satd yesterrday. Nearly hblf of readtng pmblems found tn students result "not from starflng ctrlldren too latebut frrom startlngthemtoo early,' said child psychologtst Davtd Elldnd. "\[/henctrildrenare forc.e fed early on,

theybecome hrrned offwtth respect to educatlon," satd Samual Sava, executfue dtrector of the Nadonal Assoctatlon of Elementa5r School Pr:tndpals.'We flnd tt very dtfilcult to hrm these youngsters back

on"toleamlng.

..."Iherc are preschools that adrrerflse that tflour youngster wlll attend thelr preschool, he or she wtll become a llttle Etnsteln," Elklnd satd. 'There ls no evldence that thts early pressure works, pardcularly wtthg!fted ctrlldren. We have to re-educate parents to the fact that educadon is not a race' There ls no ffnlsh ltne. Educatlon ls a Melong proccss."

WHAT PARENTS WANT CaIA EarlE (CA) usrltes: I feelrrcry concerned by the

push-push,

busy-busyatflhrdeour soclety seems to be

pushlngdown toddlers' and pre-schoolers' ituoats. In ourcommunlty, as ln rrnny places nattorrrdde, the ldndergarten program l3 fiankly acknowledged as the old flrst grade prograrrt wtth fornral lessons, readtng and math lnstnrcflon. and lots ofdlttos to booL Whatts tnrly crary aboutall thts ls that nobody seerns tothink tlrts tsgood forlidds - lfsJust that there seems to be avlclous cycle named'Thaf s what theywant." A Hndeqgarten teacher spoke to me and a group ofparents aboutwhatwe should make sure our chlldren know how to do beforâ‚Ź enterlng ldndergarten Thts lrst hcluded how to say good-bp to rromwtthout tear."s, how to Ue shoes (thatwag partofthe "lrdndergarten currtculum" when I was 5), honr to slt sflll and llsten and follow dtrecdons for long Pertods of ttme. The ldndergarten teacher told us our

chfldrenwould be readlngby November. I heard marry parents murnblecrtdcal remarks about ttre schools hurrylngour chlldren and pushlngthemtoo fast. When I spoke up and asked the teacherwhy we now had ffrst grade ln hndergarten, slnc.e lt seerns to gg agatnst everythfng urc know about howyoung ctrtldren learn and whatyoung chlldren need, she sad anastonlshlngtldng: "I agrâ‚Źe that thls ls Just not good for chlldnen. But tf s what the parents wanL"There was an lnstant protest from at least half the parents there: "No,

ltlsn'tl"

couldn tqulte belterye that the educattonal lnsUtution, wlrtch supposedly prldes ltself on lts professionallsmand tratnlng [.\ile can teachyourctrtld becausewe harrc sttrdted chlld development and I

GROWING WTII{OUT SCHOOLING #55

so bl,atantly admft to gohgagatnst good educaflonal pracdces on the \rery dubtous basls that nonexperts (the rest of the communtty)'\uant tt

lnstmcflonal technlques') would

thatway."

e xannple s oJ tle fSS:J Ttds is one o;f tla schools' corglus lan arr uhich canefvst Tte

Jact that ntang pater*Jel ttat tlvlr hands

arc tfdfo the preJerences oJtle sclwl sy stem dns rrot nean tllo;t marry oJ thern unuld na chc,sr sr;rn:eltlldng rEry d!fferentior tleir chrltuen { theg Jelt sde doW s. A b get hto allege gou red to lntre done well in tlv most selec&:e tack at high school, rlhbh

Wu trtust hotse suaeded bt elemantary vhool" which lrt ht'r" requlre s the me ans

vM hckg tdu14 tulro cant blane parcntsJo u:anfltg to rnoke sue that thelr chM Is rotbJt ont oJ tle ntrudng?

p rcpr pre-

ned

Intact un ateJtdlng ant that gott don't to halr gotten on eanlg stott h. tle rae

toJoin hlater on One rensonure print storTes oJ ltone xded cfildren scottg htg h on standarttzcd tesb or gotning admissionto select{r.e schols ard. alleges Is to denlrinst ate that a chM ned rto.t erXe r tle oruanllonal scllrol sg stem at age 3 to b sr.rccessJul rr.rilhirt

ltlater,

{le

or she chooses.

JH ON COMPETITION I}om sore unltuillshed wdfrtg fo John

HdLdatdl9S:

...A number of quesflons that I nrn lnto ln spealrdng irrvolve the matter of

clmpeddon. I am qulte often asked, slrrce adults are c.ompedng aeFln5l sash other all the ttrne, lf lt ls not a senstble and rlght thfng thatctrlldren should be made to compete agatnsteach otherall the time ln school. To thls there are a numberofanswers. In the flrst placr, though compeutton is perhaps as close as arrythtngwe have to a ktnd ofAmerican rellglon, there ls ln fact much less direct personal c.ompedflon ln adult Me than we ltke to thlnk. There are reallyvery fewsltuatlons ln adult life and workwhere one ls datly and hourly betng dt:ectly compared against a group of others wtth the results belng made known publicly, as is thecasewithcldldren ln school. Agreat many of us do our datly work either ln lsoladon fromother people or ln coopenaflon

wttl-them,

There are relatlvely fewplaces in

tndust4r, forexample, whereworkers are set ln contlrrual compedflon agalnst each other, Indeed, I thlnktt ls safe to say thatone of the tlrtngs labor unlons have unrked hardest to ellminate from lndustrlal work ts this lidnd of relentless personal compeUUon. Oplnlons may dlfrer as to whether thls ls a good tbtng or not, but tlre fact ls that tt is true. Inotherwalksoflife, it maybe tme that, say, doctors, lawyers or archltects would dest'e competlflonwlth others, but only in ttris sense: thattf theydo thetrworkpoorly, fall to cure the padents, win the case or whatever, the cltents wlll eventually take thelruprkelsewhere. But doctors, lawyers, or otherproGsslonalswould not for an lnstant tolerate a sltuaflonwhere somebody publicly rated them ln comparison with other doctors. Indeed, one ofthe chlefpracHces ofany orofession ls to keep such irrvldlous iomparlsons within the farni}. It mayvery well be trr.e that the doctors wlthin a

communltSr know that Doctor A is better than Doctor B, but they wtll nelther make such a

publtc statement themselves norgive their support to anyone elsewho makes it. The only plac.e I can thinkofwhere

personalcompetltlon is wldely fostered and heard ofls in certaln kinds ofsales lndustries. A number ofbusinesses, such as lnsurance and retailtng, organtze their sales force into teams which c.ompete againsteach other, and whose sales ftgures are periodicalV made known throughout the b-p"try... Mostpeople find thG kind of

sltuadon highly distasteful. Even the

companies who use this way of $ngering up their sales force rarely apply it throughout their operadon... To put itvery bluntly, a business that treated its executtve force the way rrnstchJldren are treated tn schoolwould soon flnd it had no capable people worldng for

it.

In addition, even where people are in

ofcompetidonwith each other, their maln conc.ern is wlth thework they're doing. That is to say, the doctor considering how to win a case, or the archltect considering how to desigyr a building are not Primarily or erren lncidentally thinlidng aout some other some klnd

doctor, lawyer, or arctritect. They are thtnking about howbest to do thejob that needs to be done. Grown-up people at their work areonlyvery rarelyengaged to the degrec that children are in school in the bustness of pleasing other people. Entertalners may be somethingofan exception, though even there, they are professionals tqring to do a particular thing dance, sing, make jokes - as well as they can. We feel, and quite rightly, that any grown personwho spends mostof thetime tryingto please someoneelse ordowhat he thlnks someone else wants is somethlng of a sycophant. Yet this is indeed the nature of muchofwhat goes on in school. The business of the student ts, as er/ery good student knows, to glresswhat hls teacherwants and give it to hlm. Thls ts howyou getgood rnarks, and the rewards that gowith them. . . .Astde fnom all thls , the fact ls that even

wlthout our rnanufacturlng artificial competidon between children, there is an enorrnous arnount ofcompefldon in snrall ctrildren's ltues.., They desperately want and need to make some kind of sense of theworld around them, to llnd out how lt works, to acquire freedom and c.ompetence in it. Not only are they in a sense oompeflngagainst natur,e, t4ring to learn things that are p'zllng, and to do things that are difficult, but they are also compettngagFlnst all the larger, moreexperienced, more sldllful people around themwho knowand candoall ldnds of things thattheydo not knowand cannot do. Ifthey have brothers and slsters, they are probably ln lntense compedflonwith thern" as they may very well be wtth some of their frlends. ln short, ttrcre ls more than enoug;h competldon in the ltues ofchlldren. There are in fact manv klnds ofdlrcct competldon agalnst other chlldren that children like. Spend some flme tnaplayyard, and you'll see children compedng agajnst others - running !:ac.es, playlng tag, scullling, wrestltng - they enjoy thts, and lt is lmportant to them. What ls very dllferent about nature, ecology, adventure, language, history, math, space, world problems & more.

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