GROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING 63 In GWS #29, we publlshed excerpts from a paper that the theoretical physicist Davtd Deutsch had wrltten about how young people could learn physics by apprenticeship rather than by studylng lt in school. For thts lssue, we asked several GWS readers lnvolved ln other klnds of work to consider how the apprenticeship model might work ln thelr case, or how it had already worked tn thelr experlence. Our decislon to focus on those kinds of work - ln this case, mathematlcs, wrlting' medicine, archltecture, computer programming, and blologr - that seem less eastly adaptable to the apprenUceshtp model was a consclous one: we wanted to challenge ourselves and our readers to thtnk in new ways, to realtze Just how broad the appllcation of thls model can be.
A child dolr4 what mathematiclans do - no0ctng patterrls. Mathematlcs ls one klnd of work dlscusscd in this ls.sue's Focus on the apprenticeship model, L9-22,
INSIDE THIS ISSUE: OFFICENEWS p.2 NEWS &REPORTS p.3-a
NEW HOMESCHOOLERS p.5 CFIALLENGES & CONCERNS p.6-9 Feeling Isolated, Dllllcult Child, Don't Knock Teachers, Patronizlng Adults, Culture's Emphasis on Children's Frtends
DEALINGWITH OFFICIALS p. lo-12 RESOURCES & RECOMMENDA-
TIONS p. 12
David Deutsch descrtbed the apprenttceshlp sltuatlon as an opportuntty for a young peron to 'partictpate ln the physlcs culture'; ln other words, to do what phystclsts do, to ltsten to thetr talk, to begln to understand thelr way of thinktng. Stmtliarly, Flank Smlth, tn his book Insulttolntelligence [avail. here, 18.95 + post.], wrltes thatwhatyoung people need is a chance to belong to varlous clubs - the spoken language club, the ltterary club, the physlcs club, and so on. Smlth's clubs are not excluslve; they're slmply the group, or the culture, of people who do a parttcular thlng. Adults who talk to bables, who respond attentlvely to their flrst sounds, who demonstrate ln countless ways that speech ls meaningful, are gtvlng babtes a hearty welcome lnto the spoken language club. Ltkewlse, adults who gtve chlldren access to the 'communit5l of practttloners,' as Aaron Falbel calls it later tn thls lssue, of whatever lt ts they do - math, physlcs, carpentqr' anything - are saylng, 'This ls what we do, and tf you want to do lt too we wlll give you whatever help you ask for.' The fact that apprentlces have a chance to seewhat older people do is significant, even leaving aslde for a moment the question of thetr acUve partlctpatlon in that work. J.H. van den Berg, in The Changing Nqfitre of Man[also avatlable here, 5.5O + post.l, wrltes about "t]re xrvtstbtllty of adult life.'Young people ln our soclety often have very little sense of what there ls to do, what club they might want to belong
THOUGHTS ABOUT MATH p. 13-14
to.
FOCUS: THE APPRENTICESHIP MODEL p. 19-22 How apprenttceshtp can work ln math, medicine, wrtting, computer program-
slzes that ln any work, the young apprenttce "should be truly productlve from the beginning. He should be worlidng on real problems and not on invented exercises with no purpose other than 'education.''
ming, architecture and biologr
A
CRITICAL I,OOK
AT
LEARNING
DISABILITIES: INTERMEW WITH GERALD COLES p.23-25 THE USE OF RITALIN IN SCHOOI-S p.25-26
OLDER HOMESCHOOLERS p. 26-27
CHILDREN IN THE WORKPLACE p.27-24 WATCHING CHILDREN LEARN p.29-32 Stories Help Problems, The Need for Privary, Unafraid of Mistakes ADDffiONS TO DIRECTORY p.32-35
But of course, getting to help is also important. Deutsch empha-
Worktng on these real problems, and learning from the feedback that the work itself provides, is a kind of education for which there ls no
substltute. As Jonathan Rowe makes clear later tn this issue, one can also apprentlce onself to books, or to people who are unaware that they are being thought of as a mentor. Certain books, and certain lrtnds of sltuailons, can glve young people the feeltng of being part of a communlt5r of practitioners even if this ts not directly and immediately the case. Though weVe focused tn this issue on how apprentlceshlps can work in lields which we usually think of as suited only to the school model, this is not meant to tmply that lt ls never appropdate to go to school to learn more about these klnds of work. We're trylng to show that one doesn't have to go to school by default, out of the feeling that "math (or whatever) has to be learned that way." In fact, people who know that it's possible to learn math ln all sorts of ways will likely choose school only when there's somethin$ very specific that they want from that erperience, something that they think ls best gotten that way. Perhaps this knowledge on the part of young people, this feeling of the range of choices, will be, if nothlng else, what succeeds in changing the schools. - Susannah Sheffer
2
OFFICE NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS to Gl[ll *61€() is also available for $2 tncludlng postage, thanks to the volunteer efforts of Peggr Roberts. Pat, Day and Lauren Farenga went to the Nattonal Coalition of Altemadve Communit5r Schools conference at The Farm ln Tennessee, where Pat spoke about
Our subscrlption figures were up to 4780 when we malled GWS #62, the htghest that number's been ire a whlle. Welcome to our new subscrlbers, and thanks to all of you who showyour support by renewlng.
The l98a lrrge-Ty1rc Dlrcctory ls now avallable for $5, lncludtng postage. Thts Dlrectory contalns the same ltsttngs as GWS #6O, but the type is much larger so browslng through lt ls easler. The lnder
Homeschoollng as School Reform. I taped a radio show about youth sullrage with Ian Hunter, who produces the HeardButNot Seen show for the Canadlan Broadcasflng
Company. The show will have already afred by the ttrne you read thts, but I wanted to let our Canadian readers know tlrat Ian Hunter seems to be a real ally, someone whose work ls well worth suppordng. Also, at just about the tlme you'll be reading this issue, I'll be on a lOday trip speaktng to homeschoolers tn Seattle, Spokane, and Victorla, British
Columbla. I'm looking forward to meethg many ofour readers there, and expect to
write more about the trtp for the next issue ofGWS. - SS
Many people assume that Holt Associates is a non-proflt organlzatlon, but we're not. We've been for-prollt since John Holt incorporated Holt Assoclates as a private educational consulUng firm tn l97O ("for proftt' is the technical term - lt doesn't mean weVe all been gettlng richl) ln 1977, whenJohn founded GWS, we supported ourselves through hts lecture fees, book royaltles, our mall-order book business, generous voluntecr help, and GWS subscrlptions. As our overhead costs lncreased, however, John's lecture fees decreased (his btg paying audience, the college circult, wasn't tnterested in homeschoolln$, and we had to start loolidng for otherways to make ends meet. Now, in 1988, we also want to thlnk ln terms of our
long-term stabf[ty and growth. We want to be sure that we wlll be able to condnue our current work, as well as develop new proJects and reach out to new audiences. Several years ago we explored the
possibftty of creating a non-profft organlzation called Frlends of Homeschooltng as a way to accept tax-deductlble contribuflons and then use them to support our work. But we were later advised that tt would probably be illegal, in ltght of our tax laws, to transfer funds from a non-prollt organlzation to a for-profit group whose purposes were so simllar. We were also advtsed that it would be dlfflcult to t4l to change our edstlng org€rnizauon into one with non-profit status. We reallzed, too, that by not acceptlng government funding we could pursue
lndependent research and reach crltical concluslons free from any pressure to adhere to erdsttng go\rernment pollcles (or the bellefs of a slngle benefactor, should one come forth). So we dectded tt would be best to remain as we are, which allows us to preserve our autonomy but requires us to forego some of the advantages, like cheaperpostage rates, taxbreaks, and the abiltty to accept tax-deductible contribu-
tions, that non-proftt status would bring. Over the years we've let you know of ways that you can support our work (the most slmple of which are subscriblng to GWS and patronizing John Holt's Book and Muslc Store), and we have always been grateful to you. NowweVe come up with three ways (descrtbed tn the form below) for people who have the resources to do this to gtve our work substantial support. We plan to lnvest these contributlons (and we're in the process of investigating socially-responsible ways to do thls) to begtn to establish a basis for our longterm health and secud$r. We also want to emphasize that we always appr€ciate the smaller donations whlch several of you make from time to ttme, and which go lnto a fund that allows people who would not otherwlse be able to allord GWS t: becpme subscrlbers. It's OK to photocopy this form or wrlte the tnformatlon on a separate sheet - we don't want you to have to cut up your lssue ofGWS.
YES, I would IIke to contribute to the long-term growth of Holt Associates and its work. Please make me a: PHIIANTIIROPIST/LIFETIUE SITBSCRIBER. I enclose a pa)ment of $IOOO, and understand that I wtll recetue GWS for my lifctlmc (or as long as GWS ls published) and my chloce of any-foruof the publlcaflorrs listed below (circle cholces). BENEFA9IIOR. I cnclosc a pa3mcnt of $5OO, forwhlch I w|ll receive a S-year subscdption to GWS _ (addcd on to my current subscription) and my choice of any tlwee of the publlcatiore listcd below (circle choices). PATRON. I enclose a payment of $lOO, for whlch I wtll receive a one-yer subscription to GWS (or oneycar extenslon to extstlng subscrlption) and my cholce ofany two of the publicatlons listed below (clrcle choices), Name:
Complete Address:
I would/would not (circle one) likc my name to be listed once a year in GWS In acknowledgment of my
gift
Choose from thesc publications: Escape From Chlldhood. Instead of Educatlon, Never Too I2te, Frecdom md Beyond, Evcryone Is Ablc, Homeshooling in the Nws, Responding to Chlldren's Writing, Mathplots, Should I Teach My Kids at Homc?, Who Does What When (See our catalog for descrlptions of thesc
OUR BACK ISS UES In GWS #6O, we satd that the cost of reprintlng back issues of GWS had increased signiffcantly, and we appealed to readers for thoughts about whether you wanted the back lssues to remain available, and whether you would be wllllng to pay a htgher price for them. The response was overwhelrningly ln favor of finding some way to keep the back issues in print, and several ofyou sald that you would pay a htgher prlce and enc€urage others to do the same. One response, from Vicki Scott
(TE, sums up this vlew: 'I feel, as you do and John Holt did, that the back issues are essential to presenting a complete and yet growing anthologr of unschooling-related readlng and analysis. Therefore, I think you should deffnitely contlnue to oller them,
increasing the costs as needed. I myself own all the back issues. Originally, I ordered them with my support group, using its money. Once I began reading them, however, I realized I couldn't bear to part with them, so I bought them myself. I do encourage others I meet and introduce to GWS to buy the back lssues, but they need convincing, Often, frightened by the cost, they wlll be very hesltant, and prefer to borrow mine. Nevertheless, I think it wlse for you to malntain a stock of these back issues and to promote them within the curent lssue by htghlightlng specillc lssues. Even ifevery support group and library bought a set and the amount of lndividuals who got them lessened, there would still be a good market for them." We hope Vickl ls right, and that
groups will declde to keep back issues of GWS among the materlals they make available to new homeschoolers. We make a point of including the issue number in references to earlier letters or writers throughout each current issue so that new subscribers, in parbcular, can tum to these back issues to involve themselves in the ongoing discussion. We've decided to raise our prices to $2 per issue plus the usual $2 per order. We will also ofter a complete set of back issues - however many that is at the time - for only $lOO, instead of the $125 or so that it would be ifwe added up the issues at the individual rates. We hope this wlll encourage people to order the complete sets, and at the same time enable us to contlnue to offer them. These prices will take effect on September lst, so you have until then to order back issues at the old rates: $ I per issue plus $2 per order CROW1NG WITHOUT SCHOOLINC #63
NEWS & REPORTS helpful to write into the law requirements
TESTING IN WEST VIRGINIA In GWS #57, we prlntedpattoJtle
neu West Vwtda laus whir'h tcp'k etfect last Julg. The lN, requlres lamesclwlers to take an awuual statdardlzed test, afunlnlsterrd at tlv tnal pudlc schml or by a Ltcensed psgcholqlst or soreorle auttarlzzd bg tle test publtsher or ctnuttg srytetutendertLChlHren utth composlte
tle 4oth percentlle are rqulrd to take part h a remedtal prcgrat& and. { theg Joil to score abrp tle 4oth percenfrle qabv homeschcollrtg rru,st b dtsconltutd- Honleschooler Marg Elen Sullfuan rww rttrltes: scrnes belout
For those ofus who did not want to send our ctrildren to the school for an
an:dety-productng test that would determlne our future tn homeschooling, three optlons rematned. We tried the flrst one ofthese, but no one could flnd a s5rmpatheflc psychologisl One psychologlst who was contacted said he would admlnlster the tests at a charge of $75 per hour, and that hts secretary would actually do the testtng. I trled to work on the testing comPanles, the next optlon. It seems none of them really say who ts quallfied to admlnlster thelr tests. McCraw-Hlll, who publlshes the Comprehensive Test of Baslc Sliiills that the schools here use, flatly refused to state who they consldered qualilled. I wrote to the Oflce of Measurement at the Universit5r of Ftttsburgh, where I once worked admlnlsterlng tests. They agreed that the test publlshers don t speclry who may gtve the tests, although The Psychologlcal Corporadon {Stanford Achlerrement Test) does have nrles governlng the purchase oftests. The wonxrn who wrote to me noted that classroom teachers often administer these tests wtth no speclal tralning and that my experlence in proctortng and my Master's degree tn educatlonal research would certalnly qualS me. But thls was Just her
oplnlon.
So, we were left wtth the flnal optlon, "a person authorlzed by the county board
or supertntendent," After all thts work, we
were .g3ln left at the mercy of the often
antagonlsdc school authorltlesl In our count5r, we weFe able to deal agreeably wtth the superlntendent. TWo parents attended a one-day workshop on admtntstertng tests. The superlntendent acc.epted proof of their compledon of this class as guitable qualillcaflon for them, and my letter from the OffIe of Measure-
rnent senred to quall$ me. We tested each
other's chtldren and several others, The testssrere ordered and scorcd by theWest Vlrghfa A.ssoclatlon of Chrtstlan Schools, a reputable organlzaflon operated by a former state superintendent of schools. We haven't recelved the scores yet, but andety has dlsslpated some. It ls dtsheartentng that tlre new law we worked so hard to pass Last year ts still not the answer, as some homeschoolers wlll beJust as open to harrassment by local school authorltles as they were before. Ttrls probably means we go back to the capttol again next wlnter. It mfght be GROWING WTTHOUT SCHOOLING #53
for betng qualffied to adrninlster the test, tf thts would not be too restrictlve. It seerns a precrdent needs to be established, and the test publlshers (CTBS, at least) are unwilllng to do thls.
HOW TESTING WAS OPPOSBD IN NC In GWS #6O, we reprlnted an artble Jrom the FallTest Examiner (N Box 1272, Haruard $rnre Stafiorl Cambrldge MA 02238) abut the North Cataltna leglsla' th:e decislon to dtscontfuue Jundlng Jor the Califomto Achiersement Test Jor Jbst
and
second graders, and
lnfact to ban tle
prttcllrrrse of all rann rctererced nruultiple' chotce tests Jor tJwse grades. In tle latest lssue oJ tle FailTest Examtner, Page Mccullough oJ the Adanttc Center Jor Research In Ed:rrcatlor- tlv gtoup tltot organlzd, the oppostTlon to tlrds testblg In North Catdtno" lu.dtes abut ltow the grcup achletted thls utctory:
The North Carolha campaign to stop norm referenced standardized testhg in the first and second girades began five years ago when the state's General Assembly voted to start usfurg the Callfornia Achievement Test (CAI) in the early grades. ACRE opposed the use of the tests
for many reasons: normed group achievement tests have low rellability and cpntent validity for young chlldren; the scores provided little useful informadon to teachers; the currlculum was becomlng 'test-drlven'; and too much time was spent on tesung. Our work to repeal thls mandate has been as much a state of mtnd as any set of techntques. We knew we were ln for a long battle because many pollticlans and parents want accountabilfty and they see these tests as a good way to get lt. The new testlng program also enJoyed the fervent support of the Govemor and State Super-
lntendent of Public Instructlon. In such an unfrtendly atmosphere,
ACRE began the campatgn by researchtng
the lssue, monltorlng relevant boards,
educattngl parents and teachers, introduc-
lng ourselves and our posltlon to the legtslature, building a consdtuency, trafnhg cltlzens to lobby and "walting for
daylight."
... When the legtsl,ature was ln sesslon, we monitored relevant commlttec meetings and made our position known.
Not more than a dozen leglslators supported us at first, but we learned how the General Assembly worked and we became
famtliar
faces. ACRE educated parents and teachers about the lssue whenerter we could. We held
workshops and publlshed ardcles about the issue ln our newsletter. We created our own "Parent and Citlzen Test Revlew Commlsslon,' wtrich publclzed our posidon. With these efforts, we bullt a small group of dedicated teachers who were wllllng to learn to lobby. In 1987, a member of the North Carollna Associatlon for the Education of Young Children persuaded a respected and popular leglslator, who had young chlldren, to turtroduce a btll to stop testlng
altoAether in flrst and sec.ond grades. By this-time we had a different govemor, who was not lnterested tn the lssue, and legislators were beginning to hear complaints about the time testing was taking and the stress lt was causing young
children.
ACRE and the NCAEYC's Years of organiz:rrg paid offas teachers testified before legislative cornrnittees and our phone trees went lnto high gear. ACRE presented our position paper, signed by many elementar5l teachers. Our most persuasive arguments were that young children:rre poor test takers, so the results are not reltable, and that the test ignored very important goals of our currlculum whlch cannot be tested with paper and pencil tests. The unanlmous vote for the bill in the Senate represented a major change in perspectlve by lawmakers. However, the bill stalled tn the House when opposition from the state suPerintendent and the former govemor surfaced. Our leglslative allles then attached a provision to the educadon approprlaflons bill ellmlnatlng the requir,ement for testing, and thls provision was enacted into law. ... Our campaign suffered from the usual lack of tlme and money. Slx years is a long tlme to sustain a volunteer group and we are no match for the personnel at the disposal of the bureaucracy and the test companles. Our work also suffers from a lack of parental supporL whlch ls a serlous flaw. Parents have every right to
know about their child's Progress ln
school, and we have not done a goodJob of
olfering alternadves to the lousy measures now being used. [SS: Perhaps some knowledge of the alternative methods of erraluatlon that homeschoolers use and have succeeded in making part of their legally available cholces would be helpful here. It would be hterestlng to see homeschoolers Joinlng with other groups on the testin! issue.l Our strengfhs in this campaign tecluded an astonlshlngly perststent gpoup of volunteers who became increas-
ingly skilled rn lobbytng
ire
a timely
manner. We did our homework and knew a varte$r of arguments to use and with whom to use them. We were pragmaUc and non-pardsan and tn the end had voters from the Black Caucus, [beral Democrats, and consenratlve Republicans. F'lnally, we owe a great deal to three experienced women lawmakers who were wtlling to work hard and trade chips for t}is lssue. Our concluslon ls that a successful campalgn must be prepared for a protracted battle, organlze a coalltion that
can derrelop stgnillcant publtc support from crlflcal sectors, dlltgently monltor relevant state bodles, ftnd the persuaslve arguments and evldence to lnfluenc.e decision-makers, and locate legislators dltfng to take the lssue as thelr own. GROWING WITHoUT SCHOOLING #63, Vol. I I No. 3. ISSN #0745-5305. Pr:blished bi-monthly
by Holt Associal@,729 Boylston St, Boston MA O2f f 6. $2olyr. Datc oflssuc, June l. 1988. Second-class postage pa.id at Boston M,{POSTMAS'TER: Send address changes to GWS, 729 Boylston St, Boston MA 02l f6.
4
CHARGES AGAINST TEST COM. PANIES Also.from tlre FatlTest Examiner: Charges ofconsumer fraud have been
filed ln all flfty states against four major K-12 test manufacturers by Dr. John Jacob Cannell of West Virginias Frlends for Education. Cannell charged ttrat tJle tests a.ne a fraud because thelr results show that all states, 9096 ofthe natlon's school dtstrlcts, and 7A96 of all elementary students score above average. The allegedly fraudulent tests are the Callfornta Achlevement Test" the Comprehenslve Test of Basic Skills, the Stanford and Metropolitan Achievement Tests, the Iowa Tests of Basic Sktlls, and Science Research Assoclates' SFIA e:<am. Cannell is demandlng that test publlshers ident$ school distrtcts that use their tests, update the norms without charge, and make clompensauon for misrepresentations.
WHY TEXTBOOKS ARE FLAWED The March 1988 Alaska Home Learners Gazette rcprlnted an orticle that had oppearedJlrst irr tle 7/ 1/86 HartJord (C?) Courant ard. then In tle Wo'sillo (AK) Valley Sun: Researchers say clumsy, unclear
$rridng ln schoolbooks is prerralent from all maJor schoolbook publtshers ln all
subJects for all grades, and the bottom line
is few chtldren are moflvated to read them, a publtshed report satd. Schoolbooks are cmclal to the educaflon of Anrerlcan chlldren [GWS note: Really?|, but there ls evidence that they are serlously flawed, The average chrld wtll read about one hundred schoolbooks, whtch cost a total ofabout $2,OOO, by the end of turclfth grade. P. Kenneth Komosld, execuflve dinector of the Educatlon Products Informatlon Exchange Insfitute, a schoolbook consultlng company, calls schoolbooks'medtocre products lncapable of contributlng very much to the achlevement of exc.ellence ln education." Arthur Woodward, a schoolbook expert at the Untrrcrsity of Rochester, says most schoolbooks are so flawed that'I don't see how children can learn anything from them." Some executlves ln the $1.4-blllton-ayear schoolbook publlshlng buslness do not vlgorously defend thelr books, and a few agree wlth some of the cdtlctsm. InteMews wlth researchers and publlshers tndlcate four maJor reasons why the schoolbook marketplace encourages poor v/rtdng and deters good wrtting. These are: - Publlshers and textbook wrlters prepare thelr books accordlng to 'readabillty formulas.' These formulas are mathematlcal equauons based on a vade$r of thlngs lncludtng vocabular5r and sentence length, and are supposed to make books easler for children to understand. But researchers say rellance on the
formulas makes schoolbook wriHng artless and more dtlftcult to read. - Schoolbooks are often quicklY wrltten or rervrltten to obtaln new copyright dates whtch school olllclals demand. Ttre schools look at new coPy-
rtght dates as proofthat books are up to date, but thls dmeltness puts publtshers
undera pressurâ‚Ź thatoften leads to sloppy
wrltlng.
- Mrny schoolbooks are assembled by editors from bits and pleces written by teams of 2O-2OO people, rather than written by authors. - Few schoolbooks are written by professional wrlters. Many of the writers are former teachers, moonlighflng teachers or publishtng house editorlal employees.
SCHOOL IN FRANCE Julie Stiller, urho is llDW irt
Flantr'e,
writes:
I amAmerlcan, my husband is French, and the chtldren (2 and 4) have Itved only in Amerlca until now Slnce we're livlng in the middle of the countryslde now, a bit out of theway, we declded to send Pascal to the closest village (pop. 4OO) preschool so hls French would lmprove at a faster pace, so he would meet some frlends, and to g[ve the chtldren a break from each other slnce they are always squabbling. Well, school ls school no matter where you are. I spent one mornlng there, and when I asked Pascal what he was doing, he explained and said, 'I do tt that way because that's what the teacher wants." In other words, there was no
lntrlnslc motivation comPelllng him
to
do thls work. Some of his other comments were, 'I hate rules,' "If I go to school long enough, perhaps I can become more vlolent, llke the others," and 'I satd yes to the teacher, but I really meant no." He made another lnteresdng comment one day. The teacher had told his father ttrat he was good tn math, and we told hlmwhat she had satd. He asked, "But how does she know I'm good in math? We nszer do any math at school." At school they had been worlidng on sets in an abstract and out of context (wlth daily Me, that ts) way, whlle at home Pascal has been adding and subtractlng coins, stones, etc. He also does a lot of measurtng' This
he conslders 'real' math. We will probably condnue with hts school Just unfll Easter vacaflon, sincre lt really ts helptng his French quite a lot and tJlen take him out. These days, Pascal is asking for arcrything - piano lessons, readlng lessons, wrestllng lessons, gardenlng lessons. I am often overwhelmed, not knowtng where to start. It ts doubly hard tn a forelgn countqr slnce I have to devlse all my own matertals in Engltsh.
Often I feel tnadequate. Yet he learns, and Just as often I am surprtsed by how much he knows or has llgured out from my meager efforts.
STATE NEWS For addresses oJ lrcal organ%atlons, see GIVS #ffi or our homeschrcAng resource llst, at:allablc Jor $2, Colorado: Senate Bill 56, whlch we wrote about ln OWS #62, passed out of both houses of the legtslature and became law on lVlay loth, accordlng to Tlghe Yovanoff of the COI.ORADO HOME EDUCATORS'
ASSOCIATION. The law will take effect ln July of thls year.
We don't have the full text of the law at press ttme, but CHEA tells us tl at tt requlres parents to not$ school dlstdcts of thetr lntent to homeschool, rather than to seek permlssion. The House added several amendments, tJre most stgnificant ofwhich are: (l) a relatlve designated by the parent or guardian is an acreptable lnstructor for the home-based educadon program; (2) standardized testlng, ushg the same test as the local publtc school, is requtred for grades 3, 5, 7, 9 and I l; (3) parents must glve these test results to the local school or a prlvate or pa.rochial school, and students' composlte scores must be above the l3th percendle to be able to continue homeschoollng, but students whose s@res are lower than this may retake the test or choose another from a llst ofapproved tests. The law doesn't give any restriction about who may admlnister the tests. North Dalota: In GWS #60, we said that the Attornâ‚Źy General had formed a task force to study how the present compulsory schoollng law affects nonapproved private educatlon, lncludtng homeschooltng, Many recent court cases challenging the state's requirement that homeschoollng parents hold teachlng
certficates led to the formaflon of this
task force, which c.onslsted only of professlonals chosen by the Department of Edu-
cation. Acc.ording to the January-March lssue of The Home *hml Court Repoft the task force came up wtth several alter-
natlve quallffcations for homeschool
teachers, one of whlch was a Bachelor's degree. The task force presented these
proposals to the legislature ln the form of House Btll 1523, which was then defeated by one vote, The task forc.e's flndtegs may sttll allect the state Supreme Court's decisions ln several of the pending court cases, hovrever.
Pcnneylvrnle: PAFIENT EDUCATORS OF PENNSYLVANTA" the state's lobbylng group, wtll hold (will have held, by the tlme you get thts lssue) lts fourth
annual leg;lsladve breakfast tn Harrlsburg on May l8th. Parents and chtldren will speak on behalf of House Btll 1364' whtch is current$ ln the process of being amended and renamed as part of an "omrdbus' blll (a combtnation of several bills). kaders of PEP are watting to see whether the amendments wtll make the new bill more or less favorable for homeschoollng.
CALENDAR Auorst 12-14. 1988: Fourth Annual Clonlara Home-Based Educaflon Program
conference in Ann Arbor, Mchigan. For lnformadon: Call the Clonlara olfice,
313-769-4515. Auorst 17-19: Nattonal Conference to
Aboltsh Corporal Puntshment tn Schools, at the Hyatt Regency ln Chlcago. For_ lnformadon: January H. Scott, Conference Coordlnator, Naflonal Commlttee for Preventlon of Chtld Abuse, 332 S. Mtclrtgan, Sutte95O, Chlcago IL6O6O4; 312-663-
3520. We are happy to
run announc'ements
of maJor homeschoollng and related
errents, but we need plenty of noUce. Deadltne for GWS #64 (events in September or later) ls 7 / lO. Deadltne for GWS #65 (events te November or later) ts 9/lO.
GROWING WTIHOUT SCHOOLING #63
THOUGHTS FOR NEW HOMESCHOOLERS TRUST YOURSELVES Rosemary Hoh (Isolated in Po,rtu'
gal,'
GWS #57) wrttes:
It,is nearly the end of our first year of homeschooling our six-year-old daughter. Although we faced two matn problems at the outset - our lsolatlon in Portugal, with no contact with other homeschoolers, and a great deal ofantagonism from the Americans that we had found here - these problems worked themselves out. It has been an excttlngyearl Our two supporter have been GWS and my sister, who is also a homeschooler, ln Arizona. 'Are we cmzJl enough to do it next year?" we are often asked, You betl In fact, we'd be craz5r not to, We have learned alongside Dorothea, ocploring areas we had a spark of lnterest tn way back when but somehow nwer really had a chance to get lnto when we wer€ in school. Rlght now we are all leamlng to do calligraphy and hoping our garden will produce huge watermelons. Some advice for homeschoolers just starting out: 1. Draw upon other people and thelr variety of interests. They can teach more than books can. 2. Ifyou feel you need a prepared currlculum, buy one, but don't feel bound by tt; instead, expand on it. We used Calvert although we reallze now it was unneoessary. We wanted to prove to others (rnayte to ourselves as well) that our daughterwas bekrg educated. We didn't use the curriculum that much, and a lot of the workbooks are unopened. Instead we read extensively (I read aloud since Dorothea doesn't read herself yet), cooked, worked outside and played. Dorothea's father is determined to lntroduce her to computers (l am illtterate ln thts area) and they do thfuegs on the computer together. 3. From time to tlme you may hear'I am bored" or "There's nothing to do.' At these dmes I recommend one thlng: keep the televlsion off. The tlme will quickly
pass and your child will ffnd somethlng
interestlng to do. 4. Realize there will always be people who will hold dfflering views on what educaUon ls; it is not up to you to change
their minds.
5. Above all, trust your child and trust yourself. Life ts the very best teacher.
SINGLE PARENT flom Verortque Ldhfurte oJ MaryIand:
After two years of homeschooling, my daughter (9) has recovered from heryear and a half in public school. She reads, writes and draws voluminously (and above'grade lwel"). My son (6) ls learning according to his own time-table. He does complicated math problems mentally because he is s'tll perplexed by the arbitrariness of 6, 9, p, b, d, etc. Whlle I am well aware of his brightness and skills, I am sure the schools would not be. As a single parent, I looked forward to the time when mv children would reach school age so I could get aiob and become financially secure. When that time came I GROWING WTTHOUT SCHOOLING #63
lsallzsd I could not commit my children to the publlc schools'attitudes and envlronment. Instead, we began talidng care of a six-month-old baby girl. In the year and a half she was with us, we learned more than any number of years in school could teach. She became a slster to my children. They took such good care ofher, physi-
cally and emotionally, that they still
suffer over her having moved slx months ago. I know she and her family wtll always be in our llves. I feel grateful to live in an area where
many homeschooling families are avallable for support. Fortunately, nlnety perc€nt of my conccrns are "old tapes" playing from my school experience. The remalning ten percent I chalk up to ltfe, which is never perfect. But wtth our family, friends, and your line magazine, we've definitely taken a step ln the right direction.
FROM SCHOOL TO HOME. SCHOOLING Janice hindle wrote in tle April {ssue oJ Vemant's karning at Home newsletter: On homeschooling a child who's already been to school - we antlcipated problems, but they never materialized. In retrospect, here's what I think helped: We let our daughter (then 7 and lrr her second year at a prlvate school) know that we wer€ explorlng many optlons for the coming year. Of course, this didn't c.ome out of the blue, because we'd all had problems wlth school from the start, and even though she ltked, or thought she ltked, her school she was often unhappy there. We let her participate in our erplonatlons, whlch included a vlsit to another school. butwe made lt clear that while her thoughts and feelings were important to us, it was our decislon, since as her parents lt was our Job to look after her best
interests. I don't belleve ln burdenlng young chlldren with the responslbility of maldng tmportant declslons (and they know this is lmportant, however reversible the declslon may be). I felt a lot of relief on her part, after months of tension, once we stopped asking, 'What do you want? What do you think is your problem with _ school?' and instead began
saylng, "We knowyou're unhappy and we're going to help you." In short, let t}le
young child know that you're taklng charge to protect him or her (not officlously, of coursel) Before we made the decision. we
vistted another homeschoollng farnily
with a girl the same a€ie as ours. They were wonderful, lnteresdng, and supportive. Just meeting nice'normal- people dotng this 'strange' thing was all it took to convince m5r daughter (and husbandl) that homeschoo[ng was a reasonable option. I suspect that the longer a socially-oriented chtld (like my daughter) spends ln school, the longer the perhaps subconscious
impression that school - no matter how unpleasant - is normal, lasts. The only way you can challenge that tdea without arousing antagonism and insecurlty is by making hends who don't fit the conventional school pattern. Most children, ltke most grownups, want to feel that they fit into some lidnd of community, I believe. So it's worth seeking out other homeschoolers fuJorehard. ln a social context, to give the child a posidve idea of homeschoolers before he or she has to start thinldng, "Hey, I'm a homeschoooler whatever that is. Sounds weird." If your child is a good reader, I would encourage hlm or her to read GWS, Nanry Wallace's BetterThan School etc. We all tend to accept, as part of life, what we see in prlnt. I personally would not announce, "We're going to homeschool this year," without havtng thought through Just how we would do that. The younger the child, I thlnk, the more concrete an lmage ls needed of what homeschoollng will be Itke. I'm convlnced we had an easler flme because, even before we said we would homeschool, we were (unintentionally) painting a rosy picture with conversation about things wewould do if we homeschooled - speciffcally, sports and social actlvities that were previously out of the question when we were on a school schedule. We also talked about what our daily routlne mtght be like, In other words, we weren't comparing a known, school, with a total unknown, homeschool. Also, knowing that we had approval from the state rnay have helped lnvest us
with the authority our daughter associated with "real" teachers.
clor;,Lo.rzCI Home Based Education Program Create yortr ()wn lrortre sclrool currictrlrrnr witl tlre lrelp of Clorrlara Scltool I lorrre IJased [-ducation Prograrn, tlre well-balarrced home school l)rogranr oflerilrg flexible or standard approach.
Our graduates receive our private school diploma and full transcripts. l2E9 Jcurclt Ann Arbor, Mlchlgan rlSl(X
(313) 769-rsr5
Prl Montgomcry, Ph.D. Dlrcctor
6
CHALLENGES & CONCERNS HUSBAND DISAGREES An
OhIo reader wrftes:
I am much more comfortable rvlth a relaxed approach to homeschoollng than my husband is. He ls constantly threatentng to put the kids ln school, especlally our I l-year-old son. He believes our kids should always be at least at their grade level ln every subJect. He fears they won't be able to flnd decentJobs or get into college if they don't graduate from a 'real' school. This makes for dlsagreements and someflmes full-blown arguments.
It
seems so ironic to me that mY
husband and I have these battles. He ls the one who gave me the strength and encouragement slx years ago to start homeschooltng our son. He even gave me my first John Holt book. He is the one who had horrible school experlences, and who belleved in homeschooling for all the other reasons - schools tumlng ldds tnto
nonthinking shecp, the poltttcal tndoctrtnatlon, tJre cultural biases and preJudices and the 'wonderful' sociallzatlon that
goes on. With our klds, though, he ts worrled that when (I say f0 they enter malnstream schools they will be put back a grade level or two, either as a punishment or because they will get tested and found laclCng in some so-called important subJect area. He thfnks they need to have practice tn taldng tests and havlng to follow rules even when the rules are
senseless, because he feels they need to be
prepared for all the horrors of school so that they won't be so lost when they do go. He says there is one thing worse than having to go to school, and that's havtng to go longer because ofbeing put back a grade.
Our son is very shy and unsure ofhow to act around people. At home he will sometimes come up wtth really deeP thoughts, and he has taught himself a lot of electronics, but I have to admit he is behtnd lidds tn school in things like handwriting, spelling, geography. I know he would hate school - whenever he hears us discussing it he'll ask me lf we're going to 'get rid of him.' If he were ln school he'd have a whole new set of problems, and I don't think they would be minor. But in some ways he desperately needs contact with other people. It seems like one easy thing to do would be to find some other homeschoolers and get together with them, but thls would be easier if we were a mtddle class family. It's very hard for me to be able to get out and drive anywhere. We can't afford to go to museums or concerts or classes, except Scouts. I've wrltten to some CWS readers in Ohio but they never wrote back. I am going to try wrtting to a few others to see if I can find urnyone
in a similar situation.
FEELING IS OLATED F\om Lgrne Knowles (CN: I would llke to read more about those isolated homeschoolers who have suffered
from burnout, and what they have done about it. I am a longfime, c-orrunttted homeschooler. Our chlldren are lO, 8, 4 and 2, and there is one more on the way. I krou my older children would not be better off in a publlc (or conventlonal private) classroom, nor do they want that. However, it ts becomlng tncreaslngly difftcult to malntain my sanfty. Academlcs are not the problem, though I do get concerned at tlmes because we follow no curriculum and our oldest (a boy) refuses to do math or any writing, though he loves to read a lot. The problem ls more a lack of support. Though we have wonderful homeschoollng pen-pals, we have never found any local homeschooltng fi:lends. Playlng with the
schoolchildren of friends in our small rural community has not worked out,
because erter since those 'friends' reallzed that I am truly not gotng to enroll my children tn the local school, we are perceived as a threat and not tnvtted to their houses anFnore. It is just too weird for them. The only friend I have left is a very supportlve woman who has no
children and lives far away. In the last two and a half Years we have moved away from our farmstead twice, hoping to find a good homeschool community or more educational choices' Neither move worked out for varlous reasons. We have thus far avoided big clties because we love the country life, but we have nearly reached the conclusion that a big city is the only place we will be able to find a large support group, as weII as classes and cultural opportuniUes. We are hoping to make that move, but right nowwe are exhausted from so much moving around. Many of our famlly members sflll don't know we homeschool. We haven't told them because we know they would nerrer understand. That means we do not assoclate wlth family anymore. MY mother died two years ago. She did know we were homeschoollng, and consequently made sure that I would never be trustee for my own children's c.ollege money (that she set aslde for them). I know she believed I would spend it elsewhere because she thought I would not l€t my children go to college. Thls has hurt me tremendously, but when I fecl I would hke to see a counselor about my mother s mlstrust or losing my friends, who can I go to? There are probably very few counselors out there who are going to understand whY we homeschool. [See "Additlons to Resources,'GWS #621 My older two, a girl and a boy, fight constantly. They really need at least one good buddy each, but this is so hard to find. In my experience, you may meet a homeschooling famfly and get along well with the parents, but this doesn't mean the children necessarily click, and vicc versa. It can be frustratlng. I don't want to sound overlY complaining, but I feel the need to point out my emotional difficulfles with homeschooling. For us, it means we cannot
particlpate ln our cornmunity h€re. Movtng is expenslve, and if we do lt again
we will have to make sure lt ls the last tlme. I devote a great deal ofenergy to
loolidng for friends for the children, searchlng out support and classes, wrltlng to pen-pals. I have no time left for me. Because I have two very young bys as
well, I can't help the older children wtth proJects very often. I feel they would have some lnterest irr urriflng or math tf I had tlrne to present lt creattrrcly. I have not found a tutor with alternaUve educadonal values, either. We have twic.e Joined homestudy programs through the publtc schools, and each tlrne lt was dlsastrous. They pushed their currlculums and seemed to spend their money on thlngs other than what I needed - I was lucky to get crayons. In each case, the last straw was thelr lnsistence that I have my
children tested, which I do not belleve ln and which ls not mandatory tn Calfor-
nla.
I would love to read ln GWS about others who have had problems slmilar to mlne.
[SS:]
I responded:
It seems such a shame that thlngs lrt your area are as they are, that the other parents won't even glve your lidds a chance. I don't thlnk we often hear of an entire community being qulte so resistant. I wonder whether there's any way to salvage any of those relationships. Do you thlnk the parents think you're gotng to try to tell them what to do, or that your ldds will make thetr ldds feel bad for gotng to school? Some people seem threatened by homeschoolers when they (mistakenly) think that homeschoolers are going to criticize tftefr choice or make them feel that they aren't good parents. How could you communicate to these parents that this isn't your lntent? I'm not sure, Maybe It doesn't seem worth tt at this polnt to
you. The next thing I wonder is whether tl:re whole communit5r is unwelcomlng, or whether you rnight be able to flnd adults
uttthout chlldren who would be recepflve yours. I suggest this because I'rrc often heard of sltuaflons tn whtch a netghborhood adult who has never thought about homeschoollng per se is receptive to the idea of having an apprentlc.e, or of slmply lettlng a couple of ldds vislt or watch them at work. People are so often ea€ler to talk about what they do, to share what they love. Could this be a way of opentng up the communlt5r somewhat for your chtldren, and broadening their base of things to do? If the older ones, particularly, had some to
kind of connection like thts, it would glve you a break, and gfve them a fecling 9f belongrng and ofoutside contact and stimulation.
The other thing is to think of creative ways to usethe good pen-pals thatyou say you have. Some people ln lsolated situations find that long-dtstance contacts are, at least for a while, their main or even sole source of support. The quesflon ls' how can you get the most out of this? Are you famillar with the Gingolds ln northern California? I imagine you might be. GROWINC WTIHOUT SCHOOLING #63
7
Their florneschders Jor Perce newsletter is an lnterestlng way that one famlly has solved or at least addressed the problem of beire! very geographically tsolated. Through the network the kids have found so many other kids around the c.ountr5r who share their lnterests that I know thry feel a sense of comrnunit5r even f the ldds aren't all rlght there. I'm also thinking that tJle rnail might be a way for your kids to connect with other adults. The writing work that I do with a couple of klds ls done almost entirely through the matl, wlth an occasional phone call or in-person meeting. I bet you could find, through GWS or other meErns, adults who share some of your kids' lnterests (or potential lnterests - things they would lilce to know more
about) who rnlght be interested in some ktnd of apprendceshlp-by-matl arrangement (I don't mean that this has to be formal), The kids don't have to actually write letters, although this of course might make themwant to. But they could make tapes, too.
I know this is very, very hard, but I do encourage you to do some ofthe thlngs you want to do right now. By pursuing some of your own interests, you will be modeling for your children a Me of self-education and resourcefulness, and they'll see that thelr mother ls an lnteretfur6l and tnterested person. It's OK to have your work while they have theirs. They might develop an lnterest tn what you're lnterested tn, or they mtght not, but you can respect each other's work and sometimes do lt side by stde, even if you're not doing the same th-lng. You could also try to host something that other people would consider worth traveling for, which would of oourse lnvolve some work, but mtght be easier for you than travellng yourselves. If there's some lnterest or sldll you and the children have to share, or some went you'd llke to organize, maybe you could adverUse this through the local homeschoollng newsletters there. There are some letters about lsolation ln cWS #6O, and a good letter about burnout tr: #57. Check the lndexes for others. Good luck, and let us know if any of these suggesflons work.
I4me wrote back: Ttranks for the concerned letter. As far as the general community here goes - lt is not a town ln the usual sense. It ls avery spread out rrral communtty; ereryone is far from everyone else. Most people keep to themselves anyway and lve been left alone, certalnly not harrassed ln any way. The dilference ls thelr soclal llves, tf they bave ldds, center around church and/or school, so the children have thelr soctal needs taken care of. School ldds are often rather blase about seeing my lidds. They're around other chlldren constantly, too much ln my oplnion, so my ldds feel
expendable. No one calls therq because they don't need my ldds ltke my klds need them. Also, that negatlve soclallzatlon sets ln early, and the school ldds are very
competltive. Yes, I harrc a couple of older filends
nearby, wtth grovm children and grandchildren. They're ntce, to be sure, but that CROWING WTTHOUT SCHOOLING #63
doesn't help my liids because they really need frtends fairly near thelr own ages at
this polnt (I'm referring to Anthony, lO, and Jenny, 8.) Their stbltng rlvalry ls very intense and they're around each otherJust too much, ln my opinion. WeVe traveled to homeschoolers' meefings in Sacramento, nearly two hours away. It's too far to go very often. The chlldren want friends nearby. I have some wonderful pen-pals, tncludtng my dear friend Pam Gingold, whom you mentioned, Our situatlons are slmilar, except that my children are Just not writers. They like to get letter but not to wrlte them. They want to really play
with other klds. and I understand this.
We travel to other states once or tudce ayear and that helps me and everyone else, as well as belng a very educaUonal change of pace. We often meet other homeschoolers along the way. Soon we're gotng to Arlzona and New Mexlco for a month - very excltlng, our second trlp there. Though I don't llke the home-
schooltng laws of etther state, we are considerlng moving there lf we can sell
our place here.
''DIFFICULT'' CHILD TrudI Hoplctts (AZ) wrcte Last gean Philip (8) has been a handful since he was a toddler. He's always been demandtng and, I hate to say tt, dlfficult for me to get along wlth. As the oldest of four children, he seems to be parttcularly Jealous of his 6-year-old slster, He's Just plaln nasty to her at tlmes, although they can play together creatively at other tlmes.
I belleve in the phllosophy that is
espoused tn GWS, but ltJust doesn't seem to be worlidng in our fam$. Phlltp seems to be bored. For e:<ample, rtght now he wants me to take dlctaEon for a story, but
I told hlm to write tt lrtmself, wrttlng the
sounds as best he can. He trted lt for about four words, asking me for the spelling at wery letter. I finally lnslsted that he Just do it hlmself. He threw down hls pencll and satd, 'l don't want to do lt tf I can't spell it right.'Thls from a boy who has never been to school and whom I have not pushed. He ts, ltke hls father, what ts known as a perfecdonlst. I don't want to forc.e him to do math or pracdce reading, and he doesn't do these things. He's not able to read, but thafs oK. I understand that when he's ready, he wtll. However, he seems to have nothlng to occupy hts tlme,
except to bully his slster and brothers. ffhat is an exaggeradon, but so lt seems to me at tlmes.) It's not that we don't provide the opportunifles. We have a plano, some goats and chickens, art supplles, lots of books. My husband and I try to plck up on Philip's'interests. Ftlght now lt's rock huntlng, so weVe gone on ouflngs ln the desert and to rock shows, and ofcourse there ls the library wlth tts books on rock
identification.
One thing Phlltp mtsses is a friend to play with; there are no nelghborhood boys, although he perlodically spends an overnight wlth some friends from the neighborhood we lived ln last year. At our church there are no boys his age. Anyqray,
our day-to-day ltvlng ts not very pleasant overall. I ffnd myself yelltng at him qulte
often, whlch I hate, He gets sent to hls room qulte often. I pr:zzle over why he ls so
unhappy.
A few steps we're taldng: l) L^ast Wednesday nlght he went to a boys'church club, at a larger church than our own where there were lots of boys hds age. He loved lt, came home kind of wild, but exclted, 2) IVe ordered some vttamlns for
our chlldren thlnldng perhaps there's somethtng rnisstng from our food, although we do have nutrltlous meals and
snacks, 3) IVe made an appotntment to talk to a nurse whose oplnlons I respect. I must say I feel gutlty about all of this. IVe wanted to homeschool stnce I was prâ‚Źgnant wtth Philtp. After readlng Hous Children Fa4 my whole unpleasant school experienoe carne back to me. I didn't want my ktds to go through the typtcal school experlencc. Howwer, my husband and I have asked ourselves lf Phtlip needs the tradtdonal school set-up. Phtltp and I toured the local publlc school last week. I wanted Phlltp to conslder thls optlon and told hfm if he wanted to try school next year he could do so wtth the understanding that he could quit tf he wanted to. He was \rague about tlre tour. I
don't thlnk he wants to go, I Gel frustrated as I read ln GWS about all the happy and sucrc.essful famtltes, and wlth my corffnttrnent to the conc.epts of homeschooling, because there have been no tang;tble, visible results for us. Recentg, ux eeJc<d.Ttudtlf tlE sihtodonhadclwqd at aIL Slte wrcte:
I'm grateful that Phi[p has been home brstead of at school, so that I could spend more ttme wtth htm. I felt last year that I verv much wanted to form a better relattonsf,ip wlth him and that teachtng htm at home would beneflt us both. Besldes, I couldn't lmagine sendteg such an unhappyyoungboy to school; hewas bound to get more frustrated. There have been dmes, as I satd, when I have been so tempted to call the school down the street and get him enrolled, but we stuck lt out and I would say thatwe had a pretty good school year, but wtth enough frustratlng days to keep me hopping. I suppose a few thlngs that I dtd helped Phtllp, ln addttlon to not sending hlm to school. We delayed any formal currlculum undl thls year. I use tlee Hewttt-Moore currlculum preclsely because they adhere to thls philosophy of wattln! unttl the chlld ls ready. I am trylng to get to lolow Phtltp better and help hlm dlscover hls lnterests so that as he enters trls teen years he wtll have somethlng to draw hls energr. Thls past year has been our best year yet, and I'm looktng forward to the future. I have always been divtded about whether to g[ve our learnlng envlronment some structure or let it be open. IVe trted both. What sults us best ls one-and-a-half or two hours of sit-down, 'do school' time, four tlmes aweek. He lsJust now, at 9, dolng some readlng on hls own. Itwas somethtng that I llarned to wait for, as I read in GWS and was relnforced by Hewttt's philosophy. But undl a few weeks ago he
insisted (and we tncorporated thls tnto our school) that I stt wtth hrm, and lf there
to
DEALING WITH OFFICIALS MEETING WITH LEGISLATORS In the latest issue oJ Pennsylvania Homeschoolers, Houdrd Rlcfunant urote
abtX fun groups oJ lomeschmlers meettg tulth tlelr Wtstators to encour' age tlem to support the state's lameschrcItng bIIL Others unrktng to pass leglslatlon mag JUd. tlese exanples useJul:
Homeschoolers fur Reading held a successful meeflng with Representatlve Davles, one ofthe strongest opponents of home education on the House Educadon Commlttee. Although Davles ls stlll not suppordve ofhome educadon, he ls much less strongly opposed than he used to be. The meettng came about on almost a
momenfs notlce. Btll and Shari Girten,
homescheolers in Davies's dlstrict, had been trying to arrange a meeting wlth him for months. They kept calllng the office, only to get the runaround. F-tnally, Bill sald to the secretar5r, "My wife and I are counting on Ftepresentative Davies to repesent us, hls constltuents. Why won't he even meet wtth us?' Flnally, Davles got back to them and said, "I'11 only be able to meet with you next Friday.- They had only four days to get the meedng organlzed. Bill qutckly called Betty McElroy, the leader of the Berks county homeschoollng support group. It turned out that the group already had two ffeld trlps scheduled for that week, and Betty didn't thlnk that many homeschoolers would be able to make it to three events irr the same week. Blll was desperate and called Susan and me for advlce. I suggested that he organbe the meetlng like a mtni legtslative breakfast and ask the news media to attend. I thought homeschoolers would certainly show up tf they knew that the medta would be ttrere. Bill and Shart called the newspapers and televislon and explained what a good news story this would be. 'It's a controversial lssue, and Davies is not in favor of homeschooling. There wtll probably be an
lnteresting confrontation,' Btll said. The Readtng newspaper balked. 'We won't have a reporter available,' they said. "It doesn't rnatter," Bill replted. -There will be several other members of the press there anyway.' "Well, we might get a reporter there,' they sald. "We got another call about thls, too." Bill didn't menflon that that call was from hls wifel About twent5r famtltes attended the two hour meeting. The format was baslcally show-and-tell. One family produced a musical in whtch they lntegrated an array of subJects thetr chlldren had learned. For the last half hour the group held a quesdon and answer session. When the homeschoolers asked Davies about his posiflon, he carefully rode the fence. Another group met recently with Senator Kelly in Greensburg. Not all were homeschoolers - the group included an art teacher who works wlth homeschoolers at the Greensburg Art Center. Before the meeting, the group planned their agenda: ftrst they would talk about the bill, then about socialization, and flnallv about the
advantages of homeschoollng. Senator Kelly was surprised at how many people showed up for tlle meetlng eleven adults and twelve children. He was also surprlsed that they were from all parts of hts distrtct, not Just from one little area. The meetlng went ahead as the homeschoolers had planned. One parent showed some samples of her children's work. Another showed her currlculum and plctures of homeschooltng get-togethers. She also told hlm about some rough encounters that she had had with her school dlstrict just because she did not
have a college education. At the end of the meeting, the homeschoolers asked Senator Kelly if he would support House Bill 1364. He satd, "l am strongly ln favor of thls issue. I wlll vote
for thls btll, I wholeheartedly support this concept." He said that he would talk to other senators about tt.
ADMISSION TO MUSIC CON. SERVATORTES Nancg Wallace (NV wrltcs:
Like a child experlmenting with the shock value of say'ng a "bad" word out loud, I often find myself telling people, 'I know lt's hard to belleve, but Ishmael has decided to go to school next year." Is the school that Ishmael has chosen reallv so dilferent from tradittonal school, I wonder"? In chooslng to go to school, Ishmael never had any intentlon ofworrytng about grades or agonizing over algebra. But there came a flme when, much as he loved his family, he reallzed that neither we, nor the people and resources in lthaca, were enough to feed his muslcal ambitions.
Although he dtdn't lmmediately narrow hls optlons down to school, he soon realized that going to a music conservatory would make the most sense, espâ‚Źctally gtven hts age (16). Where else would he have such easy access to other muslclans and teachers, or have such convenient opportunittes to play chamber music and hear his own music actually performed? I remember asking, 'But Ishmael, aren't you gotng to miss us?" 'Yes, terribly,' he sald, 'and especially Vita. But it's the only way I can do what I want to do.'After that I knew that even though I'd miss him, it would be OK. When Ishmael was 15, he took the SAT. Ibowing that most colleges don't require a high school diploma for admisslon, we figured that those scores, plus our own records of his work and a letter from the school district explainlng that he had achieved the equivalent of a high school diploma, would be all he would need to sads$ the admissions people at any university he might choose to attend. It never occurned to us that there might be a problem, so on his l6th birthday he 'quit school" and began dwoting himself full tlme to music (he was writing an opera) and to finding future teachers to study with. He never thought about applying to lnstitutions, as such, but rather of llnding the ideal community of musicians. Over the next few months he played
for some of the pianists he admlred most in the world and showed his scores to "real' composers, seeklng advlce about where and with whom to study. He fkrally decided on two schools: the Curtls Instltute of Muslc ln Philadelphla and the Mannes College of Muslc in New York Ctty - both wtth musiclans that he was eager to study with. Curtis was a long shot, since lt accepts so Gw students ayear, and so he was really banlidng on Mannes. How shall I describe our surprise and disappotntment, then, when the admisslons dilector at Mannes wrote to say that Ishmael couldn't even be considered for acceptance at the school until he had received a high school diploma or passed the GED ftrlgh school equlvalency exam)? The Ithaca School District, I knew, wasn't about to glve Ishmael a diploma, and although taking one more silly test wasn't such a btg deal, in thls state you aren't even allowed to take the GED until vouVe turned l9 or have been out of schoo-l for two years. I called several people in the school district to see lf some excepdon could be made tn Ishmael's case, potnting out that tehnically, he had been "out of school" for a lot longer than two years, but nobody seemed lncltned to be helpful. I also wrote a long letter to Mannes, invoking the name of the Colfaxes, homeschoolers who had been adrnitted to Haward, and using a violintst frtend of Ishmael's as an example of someone who really had quit school ln tenth grade and yet was accepted at every major conservatory ln the country (Mannes ls not considered maJor). For weeks we heard nothlng. Then, thanks to the intervendon of one of the composltion teachers, the Dean called to say that Mannes would, after all, consider Ishmael's application, but only on the condldon that he pass the GED wlthin the year. That would still have been lmpossible, except that the next day we found our miracle: Pregnant glrls in the Ithaca School District are allowed to take the GED at any time, as long as they llrst complete a preparatory course. Ishmael couldloin the course, the district agreed, as long as we paid a tulflon Ge. ('And this ls a public school?" I thought.) I arranged for him to Join the class in April, after his auditions (part of the standard admlssion
requirements at all muslc conservatories)
were over wlth. Meanwhlle, Curfls showed no apparent lnterest ln Ishmael's academic background at all. Maybe that's because at least half of Curtis's students are foreign, so their backgrounds are
varied.
In early March Ishmael went down to New York City to take the three days of
exarns, interviews and auditions that Mannes required. Oddly enough, he loved every minute. He found the exams interesting, and the faculty actually discussed the results with him. Slnce Ishmael had studied music theory wlth his compositlon teacher from the time he was 12, and long before that on his own, he learned from the tests ratleer than feeltng lntirnidated by them, and his piano audition went better than he could have hoped. A week later, he heard from Mannes: he had been accepted with no stlpulations, CROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING #63
u and they had even offered him a hefty scholarshlp. Not one menflon of the GEDI I called the school district and told them
that Ishmael wouldn't be Jotntnt their class of pregnant gtrls. Ishmael was accepted at Curtis, too, and for several neasons he decided to go there instead of Mannes. He went back to his usual musical routlnes, and yet I ffnd that I am left feeling more dlsturbed than otherwise. I mean, what if Ishmael hadn't
studied music theory and compostflon for all those years and so hadn't done so well on the Mannes exams? Almost surely he d now be sitting tn some boring classroom reviewing long divlsion ln preparafion for the GED instead of playln! Brahms and rehearsing strgers for hls opera. Mannes's silly stipulation would have kept htm from music - the very thing they value iust the wav full time attendance ln school i*itft Ue. resulung dtploma) would have kept hlm from studylng muslc as ln-
tensely as he was able to ln order to do as well as he dtd on the exams. How llke the experience of a black person applytng for a Job ln whlte America, I kept thtnktng. To really make lt, so to speak, you have to be betterthanyour whlte counterparts. The only reason that Ishmael "made lt" at Mannes ls because he was "better" ttran thetr other appllcants. Is thts the way it has to be for homeschoolers? Will it always be that wa5/7 I wonder. I wonder what will happen the next time a homeschooler appltes to Mannes. Maybe Ishmael wlll have broken down the barriers. I hope so.
PART.TIME SCHOOL MAY WORK FOR SOME In GWS #61, Katlileen McCurdg u;rote
obut dv
FAIilILY LEIIRMNC ORGANITATION OF WASHINCTI)Ms otfer to Mp
superhtendents d,eal wtth issues tftat inr;olue honeschrclers, Slte descrlM a superhterdent wta dldtt't lotolw wluet}er to allow a nather to setd. her chlW to
schd. htso or tluee dnes a unektor pafttlme trsbltctlort KatJieen adulsed hltn "that thts unuld b dlsrupttr- to the
classroom and tFat lt hafiIy seemed to
fu
the child, uas fit school so mrrch oJ the ttne... Tle btent oJ the part-ttme stndenl prcvlslon was,.. rtot to serue as an optlonal babgstttbtg seruIre." honeschaling
{
Jon Hurtt (BC) anrments on thls:
I c,ouldn't agree more that school shouldn't be used as a babystttlng servlce, but tn vtew of the fact that that ls exactly the purpose lt serves for most schooltng familles, lsn't lt better that school be used for part-tlme nather than full-ttme babysttttng? That ts, I wonder tf there might be certaln circumstances ln which (or certaln childr,en for whom) Part-flme school babysftdng rnight serve a useful purpose, other than simply taktng a speclflc counre or two, For tnstance, it might help a chlld who wantg to homeschool but feels reluctant to make a sudden, total change. Part-tlme school could olfer such a chlld a current basis of comparison (rather than havlng to compare present experlences of
homeschooling to past memorles of school), and tt rnfght help the rest of the famtly to make the change more gradually GROWING WTTHOUT SCHOOLING #63
with regard to their schedules, thelr work arrangements, thelr lnformation and
a trtclry dlscussion. Although we have found the consultants, durlng the three
shouldn't that be rewarded by allowtng part-tl.me homeschooling, rather than insisdng that the child remain ln school full-ttme untll the mother ls ready to homeschool full-ttme? One last thought: wtq are part-tlme students seen as disruptive? In the real world, new people are always enterlng one's Me. Shouldn't chlldren be glven an opportunlty to leam to meet and get to lmow new people tn a welcomlng wa5/? lf handled ln the proper spirtt, couldn't tt be seen as a way around cllques and fear of stranfers? Victoria has had a Part-tlme program, and it offered an tdeal solution for many famtltes. The chlldren were glven a schedule of toplcs and fteld trlps available, and were free to particlpate ln whdchever program was of lnterest. Why should we thlnk of school as an
years weVe been dealtng with them, to be i'ery lrberal tn thetr educatlonal phllosophles (for example, Kate didn't read unttl she was 9, but there was never anY pressure about thts), they evtdently felt the need to glve some stmcture to theA assessment, and they seemed to be perplexed about why we would obJect to as benlgn a structure as they had been proposlng. When we sat down and talked, lt went more easlly than I had expected. We talked back and forth a bit about Ptaget and environment and the dangers of protectlveness and not cuttlng Kate off from a prorntsing futur,e as a blochemist. But when all was satd, it appeared that they were agreeable to a new format, tnvoMng perhaps Just one vlslt a year, wlth our famlly doing readtngs of our cholce, showand-tell of our own devlsing, and no pressure to cover all the subJect areas. IfI feel strongly (and I do) that we wtll do no written math exercises thls year, then we don't need to demonstrate math to sult the school board.
school could be one way a family could move toward homeschooling.
ANGRY ABOUT PROCEDURE
attitudes lfnecessary, and so on.
Suppose a slngle mother has shtfted
from full-time to part-time work to do
part-time homeschooltng. Wouldn't that be a change in the right direcdon, and
all-or-nothing lnsfltuflon? Part-tlme
VISITS FROM OFFICIALS
Julta Mason wrote In the February
Clubhouse News, a neusletter Jor TororXe
area famesctwlers:
Last September we had a vlslt from our area school superintendent, He stayed only a short tlme, and matnly asked if we thought ever5rthlng was gotng well. We menHoned that we were unhappy wlth the structure of the vtsits from the educatlonal consultants who comE to our house hvicre a year. Thelr assessment of our chlldren seemed to us to be taklng on a strong resemblance to testlng. The consultants would brtng little boxes of plastic shapes and plastic money and Jars of beans and toothpicks, and then set ltttle problems for Kate and Luke, evldently to see the process of thelr problem-solvlng.
Luke enJoyed these encounters because he loves games and trlckery of all ktnds, but Kate felt put on the spot and somewhat mysflfted. When we told the suPerlntendent ofour deslre to stop these tests, he was lmmedlately agreeable and satd he had asked the consultants to do them, part$ because he assumed we would want to hanrc a rough tdea of how our chlldren were dotng ln reladon to thelr peers, We explatned tlut we dtdn't feel the need for this lnformation, and the matter was left there. In JanuarSr, I sent ln one of my hvtce-yearly reports, whlch gave a rambltng account of our adventures and my most recent rellectlons on educaflon in our fam$. Sevenl weeks later the educational consultants telephoned and set up an appolntment to come and assess the children. There had been a communicadon gap between the superlntendent and the consultants, and they evldently planned to come wtth thelr usual armamentarium. When I reallzed this, my husband and I went to see them at thelr olllce lnstead, so that we could try to work out an altemaflve. I must say lt seemed to me befcne the meettng that we mlght have
Susan Ratner oJ Oltto usrltes: We are happlly homeschoollng our chlldren, ages I l, 8, 6, 4 and l. Usually I am very positive and happy about tt. But this week, I had to deal wtth our local school system agatn, and I am very ar45y' I want to have legal approval and so have gone through the necessary stePs. We have had legal approval foreach ofthe ffve
three years we have been homeschooltng so far, The problem is that we homeschoolers a.re forccd to go to the rrcry system we are rebelltng agatnst (or dtsagree wtth), and ask for Permtsslon to go agafnst lt. We don't want to have to ask them. and therr don't want to have to deal wtth us. Wheri lssues of tesung, methodologr, expectaflons and ptrilosophy start to come up, underlytng hosultty can begfn to surface. We're deallng wtth two clashlng phlosophles of how chtldren learn. The school system aPPltes tts methods of evaluatlng success to our system and ends up concludtng thatwe arc unsucressful. Butwe are the ones who can best ludEe our success. When I shared our succcsrls with our school dtstrtct, they used my wrltten rePorts agalnst me. They used them to prove mY fatlure. TheY looked at everythfng from a completely dlfferent polnt of vlew. What had proven to be asucctssil method of assessmentln our prevlous dtstrtct has prorrcn to be a disastrous method here. The superlntendent implted that urc are not suctessful unless we are dolng what they are dolng, ln tlre way that they are doing tt. If I wanted my chlldren to be dotng ercactly what the chlldren tn school are dotng, tt would hane been a lot easler to send them there. For e:rample, the Curriculum Dlrector admonished me because my thtrd grader ts not wrtttng ln cursfirc, and ln thetr schools they do curslve ln sec-ond grade. In fact, she ts learnlng curslve, has been tnterested tn lt foryears, wrltes gorgeous letters, but hasn't yet stnrng all the letters together. She's focus[rg on perfecttng each rndvtdud