GROWIN G WITHOUT
S CHOOLING
60
WeVe used a lot of GWS space to redeflne learnlng, to take back from the schools the deflnltlon of ttrls acttvity so that when we talk about learnlng now' we mean somethlng very dlfferent from what the professtonal educators mean. Through the storles weVe told each other ln these pages' weVe come to see leaming as acuve, ongoing, and fluid. WeVe come to see it as something that people are good at and don't need to be made to do. - -where does thts redellnltton of learni:r$ leave teachlngf Is there a place for
Pat Montgomery wrltes about ffnding tcachers fn
thls lssuc's Focus,
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
@p.2-3 In Memodam: George Dennison Sub Drlve Update
Recent Publicity NEWS & REPORTS
p.4-5
North Carolina Abandons Tests Germany Family's kgal APPeal Trying Swedlsh Schools DISCUSSION: Frustrattons in Learning p.6-7 CHALLENGES & CONCERNS P' 8-lo School Klds & Homeschoolers,
Isolatlon, Dtsabled Chlld, Sibling Confllcts, Speech Dilllcultles ARG UMENTS AGAINST TESTING p. I l-12
WAT CHING CHILDREN LEARN p. L2-L4 Recordlng an Album, Handwrltlng, How We lrarn to Talk, Dolng What They Love
FOCUS: FINDING OUR TEACHERS p. l5-18
Thoughts from Mel Allen, Merrltt Clifton, Pat Montgomery, Jud Jerome. Jonathan Rowe and Nancy Wallace BOOK REVIEWS
p.Ie-22
1988 DIRECTORY & RESOURCE LIST: Familtes, p. 23-30; Teachers, Lawyers, School Districts, P. 3l; Professors, Resources' P. 32;
Correspondence Schools, HelPful Rlvate Schools, Homeschooling Organlzaflons, P' 33-34
teachers tn the ltfe of the self-dlrected learnef John Holt's "Notes for a Talk to Students' (see page 15) suggests that there ls. He says, "One mlght say that one of our important life tasks was to flnd our true teachers, to make our own untverstt5r.' By describing hls search for people from whom he thlnks he can learn something, John remlnds us that teaching, ln thls sense, is as much a part of human life as learnlng. We..flnd our teachers, we make our own unlverslty - John's verbs here are active ones with good reason. Pat Montgomery, writing one of the responses to John's'Notes'tn thts issue, says, "[Professionau teachers don't expect that other people wtll be able to determine what they need from them.' Professional teachers, tndeed, expect that theg will have to be the ones who determine what ought to be learned, and whether or not lt has been learned successfully. The nature of thelrJob demands this. They have to sssend.guess their students imagine their needs, rush to meet those needs. In John's universit5r, on the other hand, lt's the learners who decide whether another person has something to teach them. For this lssue of GWS, we asked several of John's frlends and colleagues to respond to hts "Notes' by describtng the ways ln wtrlch they have found teachers ln thetr ltve$. It's not surprislng that these responses took a personal form. when we talk about real teachers, we often mean people who have been tmportant to us ln many ways. Often, we don't even thlnk of them as teachers until long after our lnvolvement with them has ended, or changed form. In these response!, the wrlters were forced to articulate and make consclous aspects of a relatlonship that they may not have been aware of at the time. In doing so, they have helped us to redeflne teaching, to make tt, ltke learning, into somethlng acuve and ongolng. Many of the teachers these writers describe are si$niflcantly older or younger than they are themselves. They write about learning from an important older frlend as children, and learning from young chtldren as adults' With these stories, they remind us how limiting the age-segre$ation of our societlr can be.
when Merrltt clifton writes, "I recogntze my teachers when I flnd myself takfng to them tn my imaginatlon as well as ln actuallty," he sug$ests that teachJrs do not have to be aware that someone thinks of them that way. When they are aware of lt, though, there can beJust as much tn lt for them as there is for ihe learner. I can't remember who said, "We teach what we want to learn,' but tt's a wonderful way to describe the mutuality of the relationshlp between
teacher and learner. Ftee of all those worrles about what should be leamed and whether or not lt's been learned, a teacher ln John's university can enJoy the mutual tnterest and oqploratlon. So, of course, can a parent ln a homeschooling family, which ls whyJohn's metaphor has so much to say about how adults and children can live and work together. If each of us ls worklng to make our own unlversity, then we're all leirnlng from and teaching each other, often ln ways v/e don't recognize. You can't prevent teaching - ln this sense of people learnln$ from each other - any *or. ih"tt you can prevent learntng itself. This lssue of GWS focuses on flnding *.y of bringing thts thinking to our consclous understanding, teachers "J "ways the writers are talking about somethlng that weVe been but ln many addressing ln these pages all along. - Susannah Sheffer
2
IN MEMORIAM: GEORGE DENNISON We were saddened to learn that our frlend and dly George Dennlson, author of Tie lh.tes oJ Chidre+ dled on October 8th after belng tll wtth lung canc.er stnce January. Wlth George gone, we are all more alone tn the struggle for a better world. We will have to work harder, speak louder. John Holt, reviewing Tte Lh:r.s oJ Chlldrcn Jwst after lts publlcatlon tn 1969, wrote, 'It ts by far the most percepdve, movlng, and lmpodant book on education that I have ever read, or lndeed ener expect to. For whlle I hope that ln yeal's to come we may learn much about human growth and development that we do not now know, I doubt that any one book will advanc.e our understandlng as much as thls one.'We are now llvlng ln those'years to mme,' and lt seems to me that rather than having outgrown our need for The Htr-s oJ Childreru we need tt all the more. At one point in the book, Dennlson writes of Jose, a 12 year old who had arrtved in the Unlted States a literate 7 year old and had spent the next llve years te American schools "literally growtng stupider by the year':
He could not belleve,., that anythtng contalned ln books, or mentloned ln classrooms, belonged by rights to hdmsell or wen belonged to the world at large, as trees and lamposts belong qutte simply to the world we all llve tn. He believed, on the contrar5r, that things dealt wlth tn school belonged somehow to school... There had been no indicatlon that he could share ln thern, but rather that he would be measured agelnst them and found wantlng.
Unttl we understand why Jose Glt that nothtng ln school
belonged to htm, and untll we understand what were the consequences of that feellng and what we mlght do to change it, lt ts mtsgutded and
wen dangerous to talk about 'cultural llteracy,' 'schooling the poor,' or the problem of why young people in America don't seem to know as much as they ought to. We still have a great, gr€at deal to learn from George Dennlson.
We have as much to learn from hls flctlon, wtth tts clear vlslon and suggestlon of how to better llve ln the world, as we do from ?he Lir;,es oJ Childreru In Lulsa Donlc, a novel about a tormented Chllean refugee whose grief tnvades the llves of a famtly ln Malne, Dennlson
wrltes: Ida and Patrtcia set the table. Jacob and Liza were playfuag on the grass near the open slde door, and the dogs
were playlng near them. Ttre sun was low but stlll warm, the blue of the skywas at lts deepest, and therewas such a richness of color everywhere that lt was as if the world were thrummtng wlth muslc, or vlbratlng wtth Just-ended singlng volces. It was not the season alone that dtd thts, but the death that had Just touched us closely yet not with paralyzing grtef. I remembered how on other occaslons of death - in boyhood, ln early rnanhood, and twlce slnce then - a gr€at current had seemed to pass through werything, as tf with a thrummlng of music, and I had turned back wlth a hea'ry heart to a world redtaltzed, made lumlnous, and beautiful beyond descrip-
tlon.
In Dennlson's work, celebration and grief, hope and frustration exlst togetbrr. Perhaps lf we read hls words often enough we can learn to see wlth the same rlchness and clarity. - Susannah Sheffer
I flrst met George Dennlson through hts bools. Peggr Durkee, John Holfs buslness managpr, told me to read George's Oilers atd Sureepers when I flr:st came to nrork at Holt Associates and I enJoyed it a lot. Then I read ?h€ Lhns oJ Chfldren and reallzed why John Holt sald George was the linest wrlter altrrc. I met George ln person brielly at John's surprlse slxtreth birthday party; two years later I met hlm aSoln when Day and I drorrc John to the Dennlsons'home from Bangor, Matne, where John had been hospltaltoed for complicatlons artsing from hls cancer. He wanted to spend aweek wlth George and Mabel before returnlng to Boston. The Dennlsons llve about nlnety mlnutes south of Bangor. Their house ls a huge cabin built at the end of a long dlrt road thatwtnds up a large hill. Upon getdng out of the car, John tnslsted on lying underneath a huge tree ln front of thetr home. We spread ourselves out under the tree, looktng up through lts many branches at the sky. Mabel made us sandwlches and gave us fresh whole mtlk. "It's so fresh,' said John, 'You can sflll taste the cow.' Perchlng on the htllslde, looki:rg out at dlstant mountalns deep in the lumberlng reglon of Malne, was quite stunnlng to a ctty boy like me. For John, tt was thoroughly invigorattnt after so much flme spent tn sterlle hospitals. George arrived home whlle we u/ene still sitting under the tree. Needless to say, John and George talked a great deal and enJoyed one another lmmensely. That ntght George cooked us dinner, a marvelous garllc chtcken dish, and broke out his stash of In Bell.e Strassbourgousle beer for us all to enjoy. We had a wonderful tlme. John even played a few volleys of ptng-pong wtth George, wtih me spottlng behlnd hlm ln case he should collapse. John ttred lnjust a couple o[ rnlnutes slnce he was in such very poor condidon, but it was obvious that thts boosted hls spirtts. George struck me as a very lidnd, keenly obsenrant man who, like John, was not afratd to show hls enthuslasms. Plng-pong and Boggle (aword game) were his favorite games and he played themwell. Day, George and I stayed up untll 2 AM playlng Boggle, and our scores comblned couldn't beat George's. Hls rocabulary was broad, as was his knowledge. He talked about books, New York City, children, politics, blues muslc, keeptng a garden. wrtttng, poetry, and nral life with gusto and authort$r. The next mornlng I uras playing the piano, and George Jotrned me. He knew a bunch of blues rilTs and asked tf I would show hlm some new ones. We messed around at the piano and talked about the blues until it was tlme for breaKasL As evldent ln his books as ln hls home, George Dennison was a great frtend of chlldren. I don't mean this tn a sentlmental, pat-thekld-on-the-head way, so perhaps I should clart& that George Dennison was a great frtend to humanity. Navy man, engineer, New York street-school Gacher, therapist, writer about education, novellst and parent, George shared his experlence and knowledge openly in hts books and throughout hls lrft. I am fortunate to have met him. I only reallzed after we left the Dennlsons that both John and George spent very little ttme talking about educatlon. But why should they? They had sald tt all tn thetr books whtch, fortunately, are still wtth us. Pat Farenga
Shortly fuJore George Dennison died, u.te leanedJrom tle publlsler that The Ltves of Children u.puld b goW out oJ prinL We lwe node affdngements ushh Dertttlson's estate to seLI the renloin@ aptes tluough JoLn Holt's B@k and. Music Store, so you uIIL sfill be able to order tle fuk Jrom us euen { ot}er booksellers tell gou tl'at X ts unovallable, Luisa Domtc crul A Tale of Pierrot and Other Storles
o,rc also auollable lvre.
OFFICE NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS SUB DRIVE UPDATE Good newsl We had 4696 subscribers to lssue 59, up from4343 forlssue 58. We suspect that we can attrlbute much of this increase to
your creaflve suggesdons and concrete help, and we thank all ofyou. Sincewe announced the subscrtptton drlrrc ln lssue 55, many of you have glven gtft subscriptlons to frtends, lnserted GWS flyers tnto your local newsletters, taken out ads for us ln other publtcations, and genera$r helped to publicize GWS. We have been dotng our part at this end (see story below), butyour help conUnues to be
essentlal. our pleasure ln the subscrlptlon lncrease, please also share our understandlng ofthe need for contlnued work. Subscrlpdon tncreases ln the past have often been qulckly eroded by explred subscribers who do not renew, and we don't want that to happen thls tlme. Accordtng to our rec.ords, 344 subscrtpdons explne wtth thts As you share
lssue, #60, so you can see how many renewals we need Just to hold onto the galn weve rnade. Ifyour subscrlptlon ls about to explre, please take a moment to matl in your renewal and, at the same time, glrrc a gtft subscrtPtlon to a
frlend, or enoounage them to subscrtbe on
thelr own. Our recent advertlslng campaigns
have shown us that GWS's appeal ts not lfdted to homeschoolers, so we would like to lnclude as rnany new and varied readers to our audience asi we can. Agaln, thank you for
all your help.
RECENT PUBLICITY We sent a press release ln early September to radio stauons around the country, which resulted ln several telephone lntervtews, In October, Pat Farenga led a workGROMNG WTIHOUT SCHOOLING #60
^J shop on homeschoollng at the Northeast Regional Conference of the Natlonal Coalltion for Altemattve Cornrnuntty Schools, and I spoke about "Shadng Adult Work Wtth Chitdren' at thc Open Connectlons Famtly Resource Center whtle vlstttng the BergsonShilcock farnlly ln Pennsylvania. I was able to me€t se'rer:al GWS readers there. later ln October Pat and I attended the Cambridge Center for Adult Educadon's 'Educadon for the 21st Century' cpnference, and spoke about homeschooltng to people from all over the country. As weVe satd tn the past' arrangtng speaktng engagements for us ls_ one tmportant way that you can help our work. By the ttme you receive thls lssue, our Holt Assoclates brochure wtll be avatlable. The brochure ls not a substltute for our catalog or GWS flyer, but it's a good quickway to tell people what we do. It briefly surrunarlzes GWS, John Holt's Book and Muslc Store' and our actlvltles as publlshers' speakers, and as an lnformatlon clearlnghouse. Ask us for copies to dlstrlbute at fairs, conferences, and other gathertngs. We now hane a GWS llyer speclflcally geared to encouragtng llbrarles to subscrlbe' I-f people at your library have expressed inlerelt tn GWS (or lf you'd like t]rem tol), you mi{ht stve them one of these flyers which orrt-lt.t"i GWS's usefulness to librarians' - SS
WE APOLOGIZE In the past, we have been able to 0ll,your book orders withtn a week of receiving them, but since June we have had some dilficulty betng thls prompt, as some of you may have bv now realized, We have also had more eirors in our subscrlptlon records than ls usual, and thus more delay in getttng the correct lssues to some subscribers. We attribute a lot of the recent dilIiculty to the
fact that both the Book,/Subscrlption nranager and Shipper/Receiver Jobs changed handJover the summer. We've also be,en busy computerizlng our subscription records, which makes'theJob much smoother and less laborious, but has, durlng this perlod of lmplementatlon, lnvolrrcd a signillcant investment of tlme. We've had to substlh.rte some efforts toward long-term organization for shortterm promP-tness, ln other words, and we are grateful for your Patlence during this time. Since September, we have been able to correct
nearly all of the errors and customer complalnts that we received over the summer, and our new shtpping and subscriptlon systems are now tn placc and worhdng' f:irant you for bearing with us, and for,betng so polite and understanding when you brlng problems to our attentlon. For vour lnformatlon, a few unforeseen factors fdr whtch we have not been responsible have contributed to the delays: o Our suppller sentus l5O sets of GWS binders that only hold 12 lssues, although we advertlse and ordlnartly sell blnders that hold several mone. We dtdn't catch the eiror until after we had sent out about a dozen binders, but the supp[er ls now rePlacing the l2-issue blnders wtth the ones we usually sell. kt us know fyou need yours replaced. " TeachYour Oun ls out ofstock at the publishers, and at press time we are stlll waiting to hear about a Print date. We expect to know the schedule by the time you receive this issue, so check wlth us. We will lssue refunds to those of you who are tired of GROWING WTNJOUT SCHOOLINC #60
watttng. " brttr- It TilI It Drops went out of prtnt too late for us to delete lt from our fall catalog.
One more note: scveral of you use out-ofdate catalogs to place your orders' whlch causes dtlflculty for all of us (sorrrctlmes nrc no longer carr5r-the books you want' and rrc-ry often the prtccs have changed). Please ask for a current-catalog (or borrow one from a frlend) before orderlng. Ttre catalog that we bound tnto GWS #59 wiu be our current one undl next spring.
KEEPING BACK ISS[JES IN PRINT John Holt strongly believed that GWS should keep its back lssues tn Print' and we share that beltef. Very llttle of what we publlsh in GWS loseJ lts value over time, and iven those items that are timely - such as local news - are tmportant and useful as records of denelopments wlthin the homeschoollng movernent. People often ask us quesuorrl which we have alr,eady addressed eixtensive$ in GWS, and lnstead of repeatlng ourselves we can dlrect people to the approprlate back tssues, We are able to move on to new thoughts and questtons, knowirr$ that when we pr€sent a point of view or discuss an lmportant lssue, lt will always be there ln GWS for readers to come back to. All this would change if the back issues went out of prtnt. Recently our Prlnter started charEinA us about $l per lssue we reprlnt' wtrtch iJexactlv what-we ask subscribers to Dav us for an isiue. Common business sense ielis us that keeptng back lssues in print is not a wise use of our money or energ/, but we are reluctant to discontlnue what we feel is such an important pa.rt of our work. We appeal to you, consequently, for yorrr thoughts on thls. Would you be willing to pay more for back lssues than we now ask you to paf Would you enooura€ie people to order our back lssues ln the same ways that you are now enoouraglng them to become subscrlbers? What might make thls easler? One thing thatwe have begun to do ls to advertise particular back lssues in GWS sPwu trre spectftc ordered the have orfiereq oI you nave Several ofyou ttself. IteverEu ltseu. issues weVe htghllghted, whlch ls encouragwritins tno. tng. Much of John Holt's later writing plan to remlnd remlr we-plan ap-pears appears only tn GWS, and we readers - partrcularly those ofyou who are new to our work - about these articles. We also want to encourage libraries to make the complete set of back lssues avallable, and we havi deslgned a specl0c flyer ficr ttrts purpose. (See 'subscrlptlon Drlve Update'' above.l
We've taken the space to tell you about th,is concern so that you can begin to irrvolve
yourselves ln our thtnldng, and perhaps tome up wtth spectllc suggestions about how we can-keep the back lssues available' We welcome your thoughts.
SELLING OUR MAILING LIST We hane comPtled Holt Assoclates mailing llsts and are selllng them dtrectly from this oflice. We arc trying to sell only the lrames of people who have told us that ifs OK to do so. but some nannes that dont belong may have lnadvertently gotten onto the list. If ybu are getttng unwanted mail that you suspect ts i result ofbetng on our list, ask us to delete your narne.
We sold our 1987 Dtrectory names for thts fb:st ttme thls year, and we thank our frlends Ann and Judith at Leorntg atHone ln Hawatt for managing these sales and AlvlnE us the lnccnuve to develop new ltsts. 6ottti. Nesbaqr, an actlve homeschooler and local rrclunteer, ls now managing the rnalntenance and sales of all of our ltsts. We are selllng the following narnes on Pressuresensltve labels:
t People who have made a book or music Durchase from us stnce January 1987. I People who are llsted in our 1988 Dlrectory.
Marry of you may know of peo-ple-who
run businesses which would benefit from
these mailtng ltsts. We would be grateful you would direct them to us.
if
WE NEED AN INDEXER The volunteer who offered to compile the lndex for GWS #51'60 is now unable to com' olete the prolect, so we need someone else to step rn. Itis dbiglob, butwe have lots of sugEes-Uons based on how we know the indexes ire used, so you won't be startlng completely from scratch. Access to a word-processor is essentlal. Please let us know soon if you are
lnterested in this.
USING TRAVEL DIRECTORY Suz.arue WilltsJord (IX writes: We had an opportunity to take advantage of the GWS Travel Directory [now the Homeschoolers Travel Network; see Resource
Llstl this sununer and thoroughly enjoyed our experlenc€. We contacted three familics in the Mtchigan-Wisconsin area, and each welcomed u$lnto thelr homes as if we'd been friends for years' We were free to be ourselves as we met and spent flme wlth people whose
llves were very different from ours. In spite of thes,e dilferences, we knew we had the @nunon goal of provtdtng the best educatlonal environment for our ldds. What a great expertenc€ for our suburban kids to see how vahea Uving situations can be, but how universal family respect and love really are' We're looklng forward to making contact with more families through the Directory and would encourage others to do likewise. We're not all the same, even if we are all homeschoolers, and those differences make the world all the more fascinating. We have much to learn from each other'
aooaoaaaoaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Associates Holiday Potluck Suppefll lHolt --rr--a o o
r
ThursdayDecember 17, 6 Pm.
RSVP: DaYFarenga,
a
atouromce,
6L7-437-1550. We hope to see you herel
o o o
. I a
I I a
oaaooaooaoooooooaaaaoaoa GROWING WTTHOLJT SCHOOLING #6O. Vol. I O No' 6. ISSN #0745-5305. hrbllshcd bl-monthly by Holt
Associates. 729 Boylston St, Boston MAO2l16. $2O/yr. Datc of Issuc, December l. 1987. Secondclass postage paid at Boston MA. POSTMA.STER: Scnd addre*s charges to GWS, 729 Boylston St' Boston MA O2l 16. ADVERTISERS: Dcadllnes are the lSth of oddnumbcred months. Contact Patrlck Farenga for
ratcs.
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NEWS & REPORTS NORTH CAROLINA DROPS TESTS Flrolm tle Fall rcA7 Issw oJ tle Fal/Test
Examlner:
For the llrst tfrne slnce the tesflng cmze swept Amerlcas schools a decade ago, a state-
mandated testing prognam has becn termtnated. Pressured by a coalltlon ofparent teacher and research groups, the North Carolina leglslahrre has voted not to con-
thrue fundlng CTB/McGraw Hill's Calfomta
Achlevement Tests (CAI) for flrst and gecond graders. -Thls ls a tremendous vtctory, especlally for chlldren,' satd Page Mc€ullough, Executlne Dlrector for the Atlanttc Center for Research ln Educatlon (ACRE), whlch has been flghttng to reform North Carollna's K12 testtnt poltcy for ten years. 'But lt ls also a vlctory for errcryone who cares about
teaching chlldnen well.' Irgislators deleted the testtng program over tJre strong obJecdons of the State Department of Educaflon, State Departrrrcnt of Public Instrucflon, and former Governor James Hunt. 'The quesflons and concerns ratsed by leglslators durtng the debate on ttrls tssue revealed a level of sophlsticatlon about testlng that I ha\rc never lieen before,' commented Mc€ullough. 'leg;lslators are no longer wllltng to slmply accept the prornotlonal words of test publlshere or the state's testlng bureaucrats. Iawmakers harrc heard too much about the down side from parents and teachers.' ...Among the aqguments ratsed by parents and teachers that helped wln the debate tn the leglslatune wene the following: The CAT tests had low rellabtllt5r for young chlldren - etudents' scores could fluctuate stgntllcantly from one test adrnint-
stration to another.
These tests had low content valfdity - the
test did not overlap closely wlth the etate's
curriculum r€qulrements,
Scores from a standardlzed test provide educators wtth lfttle useful lnformadon because young chlldren dwelop at very
dilferent rates. Currtculum nras betng "test-drlven.' Teachers were under a great deal ofpressure
to ensure that thelr gtudents performed urcll on these tests. Agalnst thetr betterJudgment and the recommended currlculurn" teachers were alterlng what they taught to {It the test. The state budget now contalns a provlsion bannlng the purchase of norm-referenced tests tn grades one and turo and r€qulrlng the state to 'provtde derrclopmen-
tgly apprcprlate hdfddualtzed assessrrrent tlstruments onslstent wtth the Baslc
Education Plan for llrst and second graders.' ACRE's McCullough erplains: 'These are fancy words for lndlvlduallzed non-mulflplecholce means of aesessing chlldren,'
LEGAL APPEAL IN GERMANY Fwm Clantdta Barbr (Cemnry) wta obut her Janfly's legal boubles tn
usrote
GWS*57:
We had a heartng tn early May ln our appeal of the flne that uras lmposed by the School Oftcc. TheJudge was qutte surprlsed to learn that the flne was DM4OO (about $24O
rtght novd; tn all the pr€vlous tnrancy cases he had handled, lt had been DMSO or DMIOO. So he was a btt rnore sympathetlc to us than he mlght otherwlse harrc been. He was lmpressed by Garry's descrtpdon
of the books, encyclopedtas, computer programs, etc., that we provlde for the clrildren, and by Garqr's Ph.D, (Gerrrrans are even more lmpressed than Amerlcans by fancy pleces of paper.) And because urc are U.S. cltlzens, he was lncllned to llnd a way to avotd further problems for us. flhls ls an unfortunate result of the Untted States' beireg 'Germany's colontal orrcrlord,' as ou! lauiyer put tt. I resent betng g1trrcn preferrcd treatment, but to be reallstlc, ft probably made a blg dtlference.) Garr5r also potnted out that we rpould be tn Germany only another few months, so tt made more scnse to contlnue to educate David ln Engltsh than to expect hlm to study ln German, whlch ls dllltcult for hlm. Davld's teacher from last year testllled that he was an extrerrrly dlfllcult child, frequently dlsmptlrrc, and unwtlltng to do as he was told. Our lawyer asked her why, lf that was the case, theywere so eagerto have htm backl Unfortunately, he ns/er got an anurwer. The whole tldng dragged on for three hours, and the upshot was: l) The flne was dropped; 2) The proc.eedlngs were dlscontlnued, l.e. we were rptfound not gutlty, but no rnore llnes urculd be lssued, nor other acdon taken; 3) Davtd uras rqulrdto go to school, but could not be.forced to go. If the dlsdncton escapes you, as tt dld us, what lt means ls, Davtd ts supposcd to attend school, butwe, his parents, do not have to force hlm to. So, essentlally, we won - but not really. The declslon was at least parHally based on our lntenflon to leave Gerrnany before the begtnnfng of the new school year, so what wlll happen when the school people ftred out 1r's'6 sr{ll here ls anybody's guess. Worse, we've had no elfect whatsoerrer on ttre compulsory attendance liaw nor on lts enforcement agalnst those who don't happen to be U.S. cttizens, here for a fatrly short tlme, and able to alIord a Laory.r. Somedmes I wonder why I feel so good about the hearlng. An aslde about school phobta, Our Lavyer's urlfe told me that one-third of the
rnonth of 'schooltng.' I put schoolng i:r quotee because thelr experlence ls rather unlque. They are taktng only the courses that they want to take. John at flrst only had one art course, but he dtd not think that was sulncient, and he wanted a class that guided rather than dictated. He dlscussed thts with his prlrrre teacher and the next day he had four art classes, some of which he can do what he urants ln and recelve the guidance he wants. Soctally they are dolng very well. They seem to be very much in demand. The Swedlsh culture stresses the democratic ideal so the gtrls do not stand on ceremony. Mtchael and John have received invitaflons fiom the girls as well as the boys. The schools here do not hanre the problems wlth alcohol and drugs that the U.S. schools do, the streets are much safer and the buses are safe and reltable. Thts has gtven them and me a much
greater degree of freedom. Thelr performance in school has been outstandlng. They started three weeks behind the others and have alreadv exceeded the classroom expectatlons. The teacher said, 'They are wonderful boys. I look forward to seelng therrl They come errery day and they are always smtling, eager to learn, attentive, and they have such remarkable memories. They leam so fast. They are very polite and not at all troublesome." She was surprised to learn that I do not get them up and drive them out to school every day, nor do I demand that they do thelr homework, though I am available to asslst them. She said, 'It is hard to belierre that they have never been schooled before ln thelr llves,"
HOW MANY HOMESCHOOLERS? Flom a recert shtdy by Peter Kllgore, "A Wla Homescttrr[ In
Profrle oJ Fandlles
Maine':
Number of Home Study Programs in Malne:
8l-82:4 82-83: lO 83-84: l5 84-85: 12l
E5-6:217
schoolchildren ln Germany sulfer from school phobtal
86-87:2lO
TRYING SWEDISH SCHOOLS
(figures as of October 27, 1986)
JosephClano oJtle HOME WUCATOR SINCI"E PARENT NETWORK (MO), tullp has
ben trawlbtg u;tth hls sons,
rur{tesJrom
Sueden: After we arrt'.red here, the boys dectded to
trlr Surcdtsh schools, so we went to the school authorldes and Mchael (15) and John (f 3) tntervteurcd them. They asked a lot of quesdons about courses, schedules, school locatlons, etc. In turn the school authorldes asked them why they wanted to go to school, what they wanted to galn from the experlence and what they were lnterested tn. Michael and John told them that they wanted to learn Swedlsh, and to shrdy muslc and art and sports. They also sald that German and math mlght be worked tn. To my great surprlse, and to Mtchaels and .John's dellght, the school people ltstened,
At thts wrltlng they harc had a full
Peter Kilgorc comments: The extent to which these figures accurately rellect the actual number of homeschoo[ng progr:ams ls subJect to debate. One must remember that these llgures only reflect those programs "officially approved" by the state and filed with the State Department of Educatlon... In a recent telephone conversatlon, Wallace LaFountain, consultant, State Department of Education, Curriculum Divislon, suggested that the number of 'underground' programs ts probably equal to the number of approved programs. ...A second llmltaflon to the credibtlity ofthe flgures concerns the extent to which the state'uras able to malntaln tts records ln the face of such unexpected growth in the homeschooltrg movement. An ardcle tn the turtla nd. hess Herald, 2 / I / 85, begins by stattng that 'the state doesn't have the exact GROWING WTTHOUT SCHOOLING #60
5
Ilgure, but Wallace LaFountaln estlrnatcs about 4O famllles wlth 60 chlldren arc conductlng sctrools ln homes ln Matne.'TWo months later, I:Fountaln ts quoted tn the LewIstonDaf,V $l.n, a/22/85: 'We thought the number had leyeled olf last year (1984) at 60, and thafs how rnany we thought there urcr€ thts year untllqrc declded to count them.... and to our amazerrent there were l3O chlldren now lAprtl f9851 betng educated at
home.'
ISSJ We
te
ohrnys |rrterested
tt
h a partbulan state,
and. u;e hop rcaders uIII us such reprts. We pdrtt thls b{omufloru lourlrn4 not onlg to ghn so,ne sense oJ lout nantg lwntesclwlers there ate but also b remlnd ewryone oJJust ttow dffiult ft ts to deteftnne tr/s pratselg.
to
send.
SCHOOLS DISCOURAGE SELF.ESTEEM Feqrlor Parn Steams sent us thls ere:erpt Jrom tle For Instructore Only newsletter, as quoted {rr Esteem, a pubUcatlon oJ t}te
Cal[fornlo ?bsk Foroe to honute *V' Esteem otd Persq'nl and Srrl0ol Responst-
btlttg:
Etghty pcrc=nt of students enterlng schml feel good about themselves and who they are. By the Ilfth grade, only twenty percent have hlgh self-esteem, accordtng to research reported ln Mucator's Newsletter, By the ttme students become senlors Ar hlgh school, the p€rcentage who harrc managed to keep a posltlne lerrel of self-esteem has dropped to ffve percenL Students encounter the equlvalent of slxty days each year of reprlmandlng, nagglnt and punlshmenl Durlng twelve years ofschoollng a student ls subJect to I5,OOO negadve statements, That's thr€e tlmes the amount of poslttve statenrentg recelved.
LIBERTARIAN CONFERENCE M&udg oJ FLEI( NVN todtes Nafronr.l Ltfuttadorl Co4fererw bt
Kathlren abrolut
*attle
tle
utSclpternbr, homeschooltng:
problem tivlce as earlly when they were allowed to Just play wlth the matertals as dld the chlldren who were taught the theory or drilled tn the sldUs nec€ssary to solve the
problem. Llbertartans are deflrdtely people who u/ant to bc tnforrrred about homeschooltng. A few of the extrtbttors had books on homeschoollng tn thelr dtsplays.
rcports
or estlmotrs oJ tlre runbr oJ ltoneschmlers c.rornttute
currlculum won't they Just want to play all da/?' I told them about.Jerome Bruner's experlmcnt wtth chlldren who sohrcd a
ulere sle s@ee abud
I harrc nerrer been at a large non-homeschool gatherlng tlEt uras more enthuslastlc about the concept ofhomeschooltng. Because of our last mlnute arrangements, my talk was not publtshcd Ar the olllctal program. Unless people read the dally agenda shcet there was no publlclty. So Joe (f 2) and I declded to walk around and pass out our lterature. We'd say, "Would you ltke some furformatlon on homeschoollng?' They would usually answer, 'Oh yes, I thfnk lt's a gr€at ldea,' etc. We would hand them a GWS flyer and our brochure. Sorne ofthemwould ask quesUons (we espectally accosted those who were
pushtng strollers or had ernall chlldr€n tn tow) and Orenwe'd tell them about tlre lecture that was scheduled for later ln the day. The audlence at the lecture was \rery enthuslasdc, asked rnany questlons, and expressed the usual surprlsed acceptance for the loglcal sense of Natural Leamtng. I dlscussed why parents choose to homeschool and about how natural learntng works. When I descrlbed honr chtldren learn by dorng, by apprcndctng to thetr parents for the bastc sktlls of lfe, they asked, 'But wlthout GROMNG WTil{OUT SCHOOLING #60
WAYS TO HELP RESEARCH Jon Warte s
oJ
tle
TEACHING PAREN':IS
ASSoCIA1ION (WN urltes:
Durtng the last several years I have been looklng for ways to help homeschoolers achlerrc acceptance by others. I have been tncreaslngly drawn toward a researchorlented strates/. Most people who oppose homeschoollng do tt out of lgnorance. One of the most convlnclng ways to change thls, espectally with legtslators and professlonal educators, ts to pmvlde sound research lnformaflon about the results of homeschooltng. By focuslng on the results of homeschooling, you b)pass all of the
arguments about why lt shouldn't work. Also, rrnst professtonal educators and many legislators hanrc a tratntng ln research. It ls
an approach thry respect. In a recent rerrlew of the research llterature, Brtan Ray of the Flomeschool Researcher lsee our Resource Ltst in thls lssue, p. 331 found only elerten studles dealing with homeschool outcomes and noted that many of these studles had moderate to serious defects. Part of the problem is that there have been other research ellorts but they have not been properly written up and
are not flndlng thelr way lnto the literature. What can homeschoolers do to change
thts? We can actlvely enoourage people to become trlrolved ln conductlng research regardlng homeschool outcomes. Thls can tnclude people (homeschoolers or no$ who are looldng for a PhD or Master's thesls toptc, but should also lnclude those who rntght want to earn credtt for a 4OO or 5OO lerrel unlrmslty proJect course or thos€ who have a research background and simply llke to do research. We need to get theword out that research ls needed, lmportant and
apprec'tated. There are four thlngs that homeschoolers can do to help a potendal homeschool rese€rrcher. Flrst, encourage the researcher to ptck a toplc dealtng wlth the results of
homeschoo[ng. Thls may relate to elther
academlc or soclal outcomes. Even proJects
as slmple as a tabulatlon of homeschoolers' test scores arevery useful. Have the person call me or other rescarchers for speclfic ldeas on toplcs. Second, have the rcsearcher contact Brtan Ray for back tssues of the Hone *hool Researcher. Thls wtll enable the potenflal researcher to catch up on what others have done ln only a few e\r€ntngs of readlng. Thtrd, provtde support, A homeschoolers'support group could 'adopt a researcher' and provtde lnformaflon about homeschooLng, help ln nndhg homeschoolers to tnclude tn the suruey, and perhaps some Ilnanctal support (even volunteer researchers need to pay for prtnung, matltng and phone costs).
Fourth, encourage the researcher to wrlte a report tn generally accepted research format and submlt tt to the Home *ltrpl Researcler for publtcatlon. In thls manner, the results wlll become avatlable to other homeschoolers and other researchers, Also,
the research stands a chance of maktng it tnto a m4or educatlonal Journal tf Brtan Ray can keep abreast oftt and prepare tt for such
publlcatlon.
I hope that ln a few years, when homeschoolers approach thelr legfslature, talk wlth the local superlntendent, or explain what they are dotng to skeptlcal relatlves, they can produce 15-25 quallty research reports suppordng the clatm that homeschoollng can be good for chlldren. Most of those who oppose homeschoollng out of ignorance will turn positlve - good lnformadon wlll replace
the lgnoranct.
LOCAL NEWS For acl4resses o;f state atd.Icr,ol organtzntlorts, see our Resource List in this Issue, Nes YorL: The state regUlations requlrtng homeschoolers to take standardlzed tests (see GWS #59) have been tabled unttl January, accordlng to the NEWYORK STATE HOMESCHOOLERS A,SSOCTATION October newsletter. Carl Frtedman of t]le Dlvtsion of Pupll Services of the State Department of Educatlon told I.IYSIIA that letters from homeschoolers led the Department to declde that more information was needed. Friedman has arranged regfonal conferences throughout the state at whlch Department members will meet with homeschoolers. Meanwhile, representatives from homeschool groups have been meetlng to dwelop a unlfled posldon regarding the proposed regulaflons. Katharine Houk wrote in the October Homeschmlers' Erchange t}:rat at a recent meetlng, homeschoolers agreed to tnsist that waluatlon of a home school be determhed by a rrartety of methods.
North Dalots: The Attorney
General
has formed a commlttee to study how the pr€s€nt compulsory schooling law allects non-approved private education, according to a malltng from the NORTH DAKOTA HOME SCHOOL ASSOCIATION. At present, North Dakota ls one of the two states (the other ls Iowa) that requlres homeschooling parents to be c.ertifted teachers. Ohio: Representatlve l-a.rry Manahan plans to lntroduce homeschoollng legislation to the House at GWS's press time. The proposed legtslatlon requines homeschoohng parenb to r€glster with their local superintendent (rather than seeking approval, as is currently required), and to submit records of the child's progress to the superintendent oncre ayear. The rec.ords, selected by the parent, may be a portfollo of work, a standardtzed test, or an evaluation by a certified teacher. If superlntendents find the chlld's work
unsatlsfactory after the thfrrd annual erraluatlon, they may withdraw the family's eKcuse from school attendance, but only after they have stated their reasons ln writing and glven the famlly an oPPortunity to discuss these reasons wlth them in person. The famrly may appeal the local superlntendenfs declslon to the Superintendent of Public
Instructlon. Lynne Lelfel of OCEAN, an Ohio homeschooltng group, says that although home-
6 schoolers dtd not inlflate thls legtslatlon, she thtnks they rptll feel comfortable supportlng
DISCUSSION: FRUSTRATIONS IN LEARNING
Pcnnry'vrnle: On December 3, the House Educatlon Commtttee wlll hold heartngs on HB 1381, the horrr educaflon blll
WHEN KIDS STRUGGLE
tt.
whlch uras tntroduced last May. Commlttee members wtll hear testlmony from both supporters and opponents of the btll. Hourard Rlchman of PENNSYLVANIA HOMESCHOOLERS says that the Commlttee may vrte after the hearlngs, so check wlth us, or wlth Hovrard, whenyou recelve thls lssue of GWS.
Warhlngton: Homeschoolers nodced
that the Flenton School Distrlct's annual Declaratlon of Intent form (which homeschoolers are requlred to IIle) contatned an addendum wlth lterns not rcqutred by law. The addendum asked homeschoollng parents to provtde a transcrlpt of thetr college credtts, a ccrtifi-
ln home educatlon, ora personal tntervieq/ to determlne qualilicatlons. Janlce Hedtn of the HOMESCHOOLERS' SUPPORT ASSOCIIffION and Jon Wartes of the WASHINGTON HOMESCHOOL ORGANIZATION met wtth Gary Kohlves, the Renton superlntendent, to explaln that under the law, only a complatnt agatnst a homeschooltng farnlly and Just cause to tnvesttgate allows the superintendenfs olBce to ask about a parent's qualiftcatlons. Kohlves agrecd to remove the addendum. cate of cnmpletlon of a oours€
COURT NEWS In GWS #58, we wrote that several families were belng tried ln North Dakota for vlolatlon of the state's compulsory education Law, whlch currently requlres home schoollng parents to be certtfled teachers, The NORTH DAI(OTA HOME SCHOOL A,SSOCIATION newsletter now reports tllat Judge Gary Neuharth dlsmissed the charges that had been pending agatnst the Meltn famtly, saying, 'I flnd teacher certrflcaflon not to be the least restrlctlve means tn achlevtng the state's educatlonal goals when applied to the
Melins' consfltuUonal rtghts. It remalns the leglslattve task and prerogauve to fashlon a remedy that does not unreasonably interfere with the liberty of parents ln the educaflon of their chlldren ln the enpression of constlttrttonal rights. Therefore'the complaint must be dismissed.' The NDHSA newsletter adds: 'Several new homeschoollng families have been threatened with prosecuflon and three new farnilies have actually been serned pap€rs.,, Already two prosecutors have agreed not to proceed wtth thet pros€cutions undl all the appeals have been exhausted regardtng the present serles ofcourt cases.'
PUBLICITY IDEA Beclry Olson of the TUCSON HOME EDUCATION NETWORK wrltes, 'Thls past weekend the Unlversal Day of the Chtld was celebrated at one of the local malls. We had a booth there, where we handed out close to 4OO Newcomers' Packets and added ssveral names to our mailing llst, It was a wonderful experiencc.' THEN's Newcomers Packet describes the group's monthly gatherings, newsletter, goals and phtlosophy. They llst a
bibliography and excerpt relevant portlons of the Arlzona law. Under 'General Informatton' they gtve a detatled descriptton of GWS, and also lnclude a GWS flyer tn the packet'
Florn an artbl,e Susan Stolltrgs utote bt
Fdl
7987 Issw oJPennsytvanla Horneschoolers:
the
The other rnornlng we were tn the mtdst of our dally lesson tlrne, a pertod of a couple of hours. lo-year-old Wlll was wrlttng a letter. Wrttlng ls somethlng Wlll doesn't ltke dotng, and hLfs abilfty reflects that dlsllke, or ls lt vlc€ versa? WeVe trted many approaches, and he had seemed to be lmprovlng. But today all the old blocks were back. Hls body tensed, he started to crumple hts paper with those fenr preclous sentences on lt, and the shoutlng and crylng began. The gtst of the nressage wEurr 'I can't do thls, I'm stuptd, I'll nerrer get any better, and you're stupld and mean to thfnk I
canl-
I mustered enough composure out of my rtsing anger and fear that maybe he was rtght, maybe he nerrer wlll learn to wrtte, to say, 'OK, let's put lt away for now,'and to leave the table, telltng myself, 'Just don't say anythfng 'flI weVe both calmed down.' Wlll sat ln sllence and mlsery, and then went outdoors. By the time he returned he felt better, and urc cpuld talk. Iater he llnished the letter calmly. What I found most lnteresting, though, was the comment l3-year-old Ben made after Wtll lefL He shook hls head and grlnned and satd, 'Mom, how come he acts Just like I used to, but I don't do that
anymore?"
I laughed, rememberlng the day before when we had been maktng a tlme line, somethlng Ben was tnterested tn doing, and he had been trytng to placc dates on the line. He'd come up agatnst some prett5r welrd fractlon problems, and when he stumbled, he went lnto hls verslon of, 'Mom, I can't do thls, I'll nerrer learnl' In splte of that, I had to agree wlth Ben
*rat he handles the frugtra$on of learnlng
somethlng whlch lsn't cornlng easlly with more confldence than he used to. What part have I played tn this growth? Or did itjust come wtth age? Our 7 year old was reading the story from Frqg dndTudTqetlerwhere Toad trtes to get his seeds to growby shoutlng at them,
then readtng and playtng the vloltn to them. There's a message here for us parents - how often do we think we must shout our children into growing? But wtth chlldren lt lsn't qulte so stmple, ls tt? Chtldren do need belng read to and hearing music. I-arnlng occurs because the chtld ts ready ondbecause the parent surrounds hfm wlth opportuntgr. Durlng the fouryears that our chtldren have been learntng at home, one of the most bewilderlng questlons for me has been thls one of the chtld's readtness. How much do I walt for him to be ready, how much do I lead hlm to be ready? It seems that structure and frustradon are related tn a paradoxical way. In her book A Ctrcle oJ Qutet, Madeleine L Engle recalls a \vriting workshop she led. The participants dtdn't want to recognlze a need for structure undl she forced them to admtt that we all have to have lt ln our very bodtes. Without a skeleton wed be ltke helpless amoeba. What I want for my children ls for them to develop thelr own structure' Relytng on
somoone elsc's, as chlldren do ln school, does not allow you to dtscover your own. But nerrer betng gufded, lf that ts neaessary, to dwelop your owrL leaves you fmstrated wlth the task of lt[e, rather ltke an amoeba requtred to run. Our daughtcrJenny, almost 12, has been a self-dtsctpllned, self-moflvated, organlzd and creatlrrc penpn slnce she could wallc She bastcally leams on her own wlth little tnput from me. She wrltes and reads voraciously, draws, sern, runs r€gularly, plays the violin -
whaterrcr she decldes to do, she decides to master, I belleve more involvement on my part would dlsturb her inner dtrection. I see her learnlng thlngs that tn the past she has steered away from (and which I had secretly wished she'd express lnterest tn) when they now flt ln wtth what she's dolng. She says she hates soctal studles, but ls now readlng books about Spaln so she can write a story set there. If she were my only child, I'd say lf allowed to stmcture thelr own lives, chlldren learn all thcy ever necd to know, and experlence a mlnlmum of frustratlon ln the process. But we have four other children. Our 7-year-old La.ura. ln the same envlronment, is c.onstantly sayhg, 'I'm bored, What can I do?' 4-year-old John, however, always has a proJect going. Wtll wants to do thlngs perfectly; he often gets extremely frustrated. Ben, the l3 yearold, has, ever slncc I can remember, had trouble focuslng himself. He would get interested ln things until he reached a hard spot, and then become frustrated to the point of quittlng. Ben's three years ln school undoubtedly dld not help. But looking around the world, I see people who went through school who do have lnner structure, as well as a lot (like mel) who have trouble with it. Any progress I've made wlth these fatltngs came from suffering awful consequences in college [the first time I was in a sltuatlon that requtred that I organlze mysel$ and with motherhood. I care so much about doing well by my famtly that I\rc cultlvated dtscipllne and organization In my Me - well, most of the dme. Do some people nwer dwelop these strengghs because as chtldren they were g;iven so much outslde
structure that they could
nener develop their own? Do they continue to
fatl as adults because they never find work
that they love? In my life I have leamed to control what I must do, as well as what I choose to do, rather than being controlled by it. I try not to put things off. Knowing I haven't done something when I should have makes me an:dous and less able to tackle tt, just as tt does Ben. I try taktng small steps in the beginnfng, setdng small goals, like 'I'll write a Gw pa.ragraphs.' If I get started, that small sucoegs glves me momentum to do more, and more, and more. IVe come by this painfully. Can I pass it on to Ben? I harrc, as I said before, seen blm make progress. I'll never know lf this would have come about no matter what I did, for, like Toad, IVe done a lot of thlngs, lncludturg a bit of shouttng. I now suspect that occasional frustraUon ls an lnevitable part of learning. Think back to the last time you leamed something. It ls
thrtlling, but that's after the hard spots, which are hard. The examples of frustratlon I descrtbed at the beginning of this wer€ cases where the children wanted to do what they GROWING WTTHOUT SCHOOLING #60
7
wer€ dotng. I erren aceJenny eJcperlenc'lng fmstratlon ln her many endeanors. Usually she solves tlrc problem on her onm, and I don't hear about tt untll lt's an anecdote. If she can't sohrc tt, hortever, she brtngs tt to nrc, and behavesJuat ao she does wlth frustraUon about tasks IVc askcd hcr to do, She transfers her frustradon from the task onto me, and ls angry and resentful, I remember dotng that to my parents, but never to a teacher. I wasn't that relaxed wlth them, In school, oer€sstng frustnflon ls absolutely out. Chlldren ln school barrc many more threatenfng learntng tlrrrs, but they have to pretend they feel conlldent or they'll be put down. Thry harc to deal not only wlth the fear that they'll never learn, but also wtth the fear that they are the only ones who feel thls way, At home our chlldren can have a
healthter way of handltng frustration. We can reassune them ttrat tfs OK Thry can scrleam and cry and go away unfll they feel stronger, It's not always pleasant to glve them that Honr. But that ts c.ertalnly thc freedom that I expect when fm struggltng to learn somethlng that's dlIBcult.
FINDING WAYS TO HELP Susan Rbhman rcspondd,: My klds frcquently experlence frustratlons wtth learnlng also, especlally my boys, Jesse (now lO), and Jacob (now 4. Molly (4) usually meets challengee wlth more ease and equanimtgt, but she too has her tlmes of personal outrage when thlngs don't corne easlly. One thlng I have dellnttely nottced about both boys ts that they seem to thrtve on some struchrre to thelr days, some 'lnner gkeleton' to our datly llnes and Jolnt expectattons. If I Just let thfngs sltde and don't ask them to take part ln certaln thlngs regularly wtth me, then I mcet all sorts offrustraflons and anger and groans and arguments whenl wenhrally suggest thc acuvtty agatn. Take recorder playtng wtth Jacob. When u/e play regularly, we denelop a rhyrthm of howwe should go about the muslc ttme. Jacob gets better and better (very gradually, mlnd you), less frustrated wtth hfmself. But when we sltde, and let days, errcn rveeks, go by wlthout our spedal muslc tlrne together, then It ts ltke golng back to square one, or pcrhaps mlnus three. Jacob can clearly and palnfully realtze that he no longer ls as good as he nrae Just a short whlle back, hls flngers are clumsy, he slouches and groans, furrows hls forehead, audtbly rx)ans and complalns. It ts alvrays very temptlng when thls happens Just to lay olf the whole ldea of plaSrlng mustc wtth Jacob, Juet say to myself that he ls not ready and try to agaln ln a year (or three, or nerrer). But somehow the menrory of the good tlmes we\rc had uron't let me do that, and so I perseveFe. I try agatn the next day, and often It ts more of the same. But then the next day, It's somehour not so bad. Thtngs start movtng along somewhat postHrrcly once a€ialn. Soon ctacob ls taklng rrnre control of the gltuatlon,
dectdlng how we'll structure the day's ttme, lt and look forward to playlng recorder together as a regular exp€ctatton tn our day. We get back tr our rhythm, and can nprrc forward. I'rrc seen thls eo clearly wlth Jeese, too. Jesse has wrtttcn a lot over the past sorcral We both begtn havtng a good tlrne of
GROWING WTNIOUT SCHOOLING #60
years, but hc has tlmea when he's ofrwnflng. Sumrner usually dcs lt, because thereJust lsn't tlrne to do a sltdown acttvtty when there are the nrcods lnvttlng play and treehousc butldtng or haymaktng to help wlth, or the pond to swlrn ln. Summer ls a dlllerent ttrrp,
and I usua$r reEp€ct that wrlthg can't take place much tlren. But soon fallwlll be here, and urc'll start In agaln. I expect he'll feel rust5r. He'll probably harrc trouble zerolng ln on a toplc, probably harc troublc wrftfng thoughts wlth any fluency or spced, probably leanrc out all punctuadon and capltal letters and s€em to hane regressed terrtbly ln spelltng. He'll probably groan about tt all, and I'll probably be demandlng and crtflcal
and lmpaUent.
But I feel certaln urc'll make tt. I feel
conlldent that *e'll Ept over that tdtfal hurdle. We'll probably spend some tlme rereadtng hts old wrtUng from last year and the year before, Just to get a feel for where he was when he left olf. We'll make a new u/rtflng folder, dectde what types of paper or notebooks he wants to use for trts rough drafts, or lf he's gotng to focus on tlptng on our word-proc.essor. We'll probably try to set goals together for wrttlng ldeas, bratnstormlng together about toplcs, styles of wrtttng that he mtght want to try, new places to
submlt flnfshed pleces. I thfnk that one thlng dealtng wtth my
litds' fnrstrattons has taught me ls that we can't gtrrc up. We can't say, 'Oh, theyJust won't do lt. I gfue up on them.'We become lnstead what John Holt always descrtbed as serlous teachers - urc look for other ways to go
about tt, vrc try to obserrrc the sltuatlon more clearly, read what others have done to get a fresh perspectlrrc, step back a blt to get our bearlngs and then try agaln. We make changes, urc negotlate. We accrpt the frustratlon and t*ren move on from there. We tr5l not to blame the lntds for all the trouble. I'w found ln urorklng wlth our ldds that tt alurays helps for rne to be acdvef worklng on learnlng sorretlrlng nanr also, so that I can share wtth the lilds my own d(IlculUes and frustratlons and maybe how I'm worldng them out For a rnonth or more I haven't tried learnfng a new plece on the piano; lnstead I uras nrcrklng at polbhrng up some oldles. But I was asklngJess€ to conslder a new plect, and qulte a hard one for hlrn Sometlrrrs I would push htm beyond hls endurance or capabllltles, wantlng to work on errerythtng tn the ptec= at once, or wanting htm to keep at tt for far longer than he could bear. Now that I'm worldng on a new ptec€ agaln too, I know agafn the frustratton of getUng one hand golng the rlght way, but havtng tt all fall apart when I add the other hand. It takes slowing down, brealdng the ptece down into smaller blts, lgnortng the sccond half of the plece unul I get the flrst part more ln control. Now I'm more empathetlc and responslve wlth Jesse and hls llmtts and needs, because I'm feeltng all of thts tn rnyself agarn. I was amuscd by an lncldent the other day when I was vlstttng homeschooler Carol Wtlson in Ptttsburgh. Durtng an extra moment I trted playtng my Clementl Sonatlna on thelr ptano (one of my 'poltshrng up' pleces that sflll needs some poltshln$. Carol's son Luke (almost 9) heard the muslc, and Carol orrcrheard htm say to Jesse, 'Wowl What ts she playtngl Thafs not e\ren on my Suzultl tapel That sounds really hardl' Carol has olten sald that Luke feels terrlbly frustrated wtth anythlng lf he can't get tt
perbctly the very flrst ttme he trles tt, and
she thlnks rnaybe Jesse was tryfnt to help Luke Gel less overwhekned by my seening mastery by replying, "Oh yes, but she's been worklng on that plece for over a year now.' And tfs true. I have been. And I'm sure I'll sttll be worktng on lt next year, and Jesse knows thls. He overhears my pnactlce tlmes, hears me trlldng about my pleces, hears me stumble over partlcularly hard parts, knows how I backsltde tf I don't practlce regularly, and he hears me gradually get better over tlme. He knows I don't glve it all up Just because tfs hard. He also knows lfs not magtc that I can do what I can now do. He knows IV€ worked at lt a long whlle, for hours and hours and hours over several yeara. [SS:l I remember feeling frustrated at not belng able to understand a partlcular homeipork asslgnment, and reslstlng my parents'gentle attempts to explatn it to me. I knew that they were trying to help me really understand, but I dldn't feel as tf I had that ktnd of ttme. What was irnportant was getttng the asslgnment 0nlshed. I'm krterested tn the way that, rathering than ollerlng her chlldren spectfic advlce, Susan Rtchman lnstead lets them see how she herself works, thereby givlng them a model that they can use for whatever they choose to do. Recently Pat Gould, in our office, asked me how I happened to learn that writturg and edtttng lrrvolve a serles of ellorts and revlslons. I had to think about lt for a while before reallzlng that much of tt has to do with how fully my parents let me see them at ther adult worli Watchtng my father get a theatrlcal productlon ready for opening nlght, for example, I saw actors and director work for hours on a parttcular scene, or even on one lfure of dlalogue. Even after the public performances began, the group still worked to rellne and shape thelr elforts. I learned, wlthout reallzlng lt, that nothtng ever stops wtth the flrst attempt, and I was able to transfer thts to my own work. Susan
Rlchman's example, therefore, doesn't limit her chlldren to lmltaflon of the speclflc work she ls demonstradng - they wlll be able to take what theyVe seen and apply tt any-
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