GROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING 58 In 1 976 John Holt wrote in Iraitead of Eltrcation, "There may be no one publishing Grcwing Wbfwd &hrcling to prove himself wrong. He found, to what must
else who feels this way except me." Ayear later he started
t o
o
John Holt in 1983 with the Baternm faml\r. whosc rellectiors are part of thls issue's l0th Amiversary celebration.
INSIDE THIS ISSUE: OFFICEANNOUCEMENTS P. 2 RecentPublicitv "One Homeschobler's Answers"
1988Directory Donating Holt Books NEWS &REPORTS
p.3-4
Principals Oppose Homeschoollng Jointurg School Activities
Forming Admissions Policy
CHALLENGES & CONCERNS p. 5-7 Dilliculties with Groups Considering School Meeting Other Children Cure for School Phobia
DISCUSSION: JOHN HOLTAND TEACHING. JOHN HOLTAND CFIANGE p.7-9 Thoughts from Herbert Kohl,
JudsonJerome, &Mabel Dennison
CELEBRATING TEN YEARS OF GWS EarlyDays ln the Ofiice p. 16 Reflections from State Leaders &
Editors p.17-21
Evolving ldeas, Evolving Lives
p.22-25
The Experience of Homeschooling
p.26-34
have been his great relief and happiness, that many, manypeople - more he did, or were eager to hear why they ought to. Growirg Wfifwn Scttcr:rlirg grew from a 4-Wge newsletter to a 32-or-more-page magazine (still as chock-full of prlnt - there was so much to say) and its scope and implication far exceeded John's expectations. Or perhaps not so far, because Johnwas skilled at imaglning the future. Many of his early choices about GWSwere deliberate and conscious efforts to enable the publlcation to dowhat hewanted lt to do.
with each year of publication - already felt as
From the beginnlng, GWSwas an lnteractive publicatlon. It depended on readers for its material, which meant that the readers were encouraged to be active - to question, to argue, to help each otherwith suggesfions. It meant that people who had never thought of themselves as having anything to say or as able to put their thoughts on paperwerewriting long letters about their experiences and reflections. Seeing these letters in print took the mystery out of publication and invited other people to write as well. Being an interactive publication also means that readers have always told us what they thought of us, what we ought to do more or less of. Sometimes this makes us feel like the man inAesop's fable'The Mlller, His Son and The Donkey'' who concludes, "Ifyou try to please all, you will please none." But we are grateful that our readership is not a silent audlence whose interests and concerns we cannot lmagtne. As I work on GWS, I feel as if I am talking to people I know. Schoolteachers often say that they never talk about what really goes on tn their classrmms when they gather fior coffee in the teachers' lounge. If they have any secrets about what works, they keep them to themselves. If they have any problems, fears, worries, they are careful not to orpose them. GWS readers, on the other hand, spread informatlon rather than hoardturg it. "I have to write and tell you about what we Just tried," you often say. When one ofyouwrites, "l don't knowwhat to do about thls," reader send more suggesflons than we have room to print. Reporters often ask us what research has been conducted about homeschooling. We can point them to studies, surveys, charts of figures, but in manyways the real research is going on right here in these pages. When people ask, "But how do you know how children learn, or whether homeschoolingworks?" I give them an issue of GWS and say, "Listen to these people talking. Look at what theyVe seen." You cannot arglre wltlt another peron's experience, and after a while that experience, and the eloquent descriptions of it which bring it so vividty to life in these pages, stands as evidence. When we asked you to write us your thoughts and reflections for thls tenth anniversary issue, you responded as enthusiasflcally as you have been responding for ten years. What ts interestlng about the letters in thls issue is that they are as similar as they are specific. So many of them say, "We were so relieved to discover..." 'We thoughtwe were the only ones..." '\)Ve have done things we never believed possible... ". In the section of this issue devoted to thoughts from leaders of homeschooling organizations, Sharon Hillestad wrttes that when she was sent a copy of a magazine which listed state homeschooling leaders, she "looked eagerly for the Minnesota contact. It was me." Many of us have lmked eager$ for leadership or expertise and have found it, through reading, writing for and working on GWS, in ourselves and tn the people who areworkingwith us. Happy tenth anniversary, then, to all of us.
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Susannah Shelfer
SPECIAL TENTH ANNIVERSARY ISSUE