Issuu

Growing Without Schooling 87

Anita Giesy is among those who write for this issue's Focus' "lnlaglning rlhe lutul9." P. rg 22

Inside this Issue News & RePorts p.2-4 Reaching Kids in School' What Parents Learn from Homeschooling, Flawed Test Questions

Latino Homeschoolers

P. 5

Setting Up APPrenticeshiPs P.6-7 How Parents Can HelP

. Kids'Work ExPeriences Challenges & Concerns

P. 8-9 P

Boredom, Time Alone, Trying School

Watching Children Learn P. l3-14 Learning Russian Together, Setting Goals in Math, Learning Through PIaY

Book Reviews p. 15-18 FOCUS:

Imagining the Future p. 19-22

Helping Young Activists: Interview with Barbara A. Lewis p.23-24 Resources

Recommendations P. 24

Discussion: The Video Game Dilemma o.25-28

When homeschooling parents talk to each other in support group meetings or through publications like GWS' they oft.., di"".t"s the challenge of raising children differently from the way they themselves were raised. They have to unlearn what school taught them and trust that their children can learn in ways that they have never experienced themselves' A teenaged homeschooler once said to me, "Won't it be interesting to see what happens when kids who are homeschooling now grow up and have kids of their own?" It sure will be, I told her, and I can just imagine all the writing and talking that will come of it. In the meantime, her comment inspired me to invite several young GWS readers to imagine the future' "Do you imagine that you will homeschool your own children, if and when you have them?" our letter asked. "Do you think the fact that y-ou were homeschooled as a child will make any difference in the way you homeschool your own children? "' The goal isn't to come up with lots of'criticisms of the way your parents do things, but rather to think about what difference it makes' and whit difference it might make later on, that you don't go to school and your Parents did go." Several of the young people who responded said that they expected to have a different kind of experience as parents simply because their own parents blazed the trail for them' The pioneering homeschooling parents worked to make homeschooling acceptable legally and socially. and the next generation of homeschoolers will feel this legacy. Anita Giesy, whose family began homeschooling in the l97Os, said, "When my larnily wai deciding whether to homeschool. part of the choice had to do with whether we would be willing to go to court over it. For my children, it will just be a choice between two options and a matter of deciding which will be best for them"' Jessica Spicer, another long-time homeschooler, likened her parents to people traveling unknown territory. For 'Jessica' the terrain

will be more I'amiliar. and she will be able to ask her parents for ad'i'ice when necessary. something that her parents couldn't do. The next generation of homeschoolers will be able to say' "l know this works" where their parents could only say, "I believe this will work"' Both Olivia Baseman and Mylie Alrich described how their own experiences with learning to read at age 9 will prevent them from worrying, as their parents did' "I about a child who is an older reader. Said Mylie, think that it it's not somebut was perfectly natural for my mother to worry. exfrom firsthand I know because thing I would worryr about at.'' things you learn age what matter doesn't it that perience And Olivia says of today's homeschooling parents, "Because they learned to read in a certain way they feel that that is the Olivia learned to read by a different method used, and because her good friend mother her than the one learned to read at 2 while Olivia learned at 9, she knows that there is no one waY 1o learn' Listening to homeschoolers speculate about the future just an exercise in imagination. Their speculations and isn't avowals help us to understand what they have learned from homeschooling and remind us that theg are the ones who have Susannah Sheffer direct experience with self-education.

-.y." ert because

News & Reports Reaching Kids

School

Grace Lleuellgn, author oJThe Teenage Liberation Handbook lsee interuteu, GWS #84), writes:

Shelving books

Office News & Announcements [SS:] It's conference season! Since our last issue went to press, we held our second

annual HoIt Associates/GWS homeschooling information fair outside of Boston, with John Taylor Gatto giving a speech and Pat Farenga, Gene Burkart, and me conducting workshops. The following week I went to the Northern California Homeschoolers Association conference in Sacramento, where I gave a talk and two workshops and met many GWS friends, including the Gingolds of Homeschoolers Jor Peace, Grace Llewellyn of The Teenage Ltberation Handbook. David and Micki Colfax, and lots of other children and parents. NCFIA offered both a children's and a teens' conference alongside their regular conference, and it was nice to see so many young homeschoolers meeeting, talking, and playing together. (They didn't look unsocialized...) In early May, Pat and Dqy Farenga and others on our staff went to the Homeschool Associates of New England conference in Framingham, Mass., where Pat and Day gave a workshop and had a chance to meet many homeschoolers (among them Jo-Anne Beime all the way

from Australia). On June 5-7 Pat will go to Toledo for the Libertarian Party of Ohio conference, where he will speak about homeschooling as social change. On August 5th Pat will speak about homeschooling at the Bronson Alcott House in Concord. Mass. (that's I-ouisa May Alcott's father), and on August l4-16th I will give workshops at the Alliance for Parental Involvement in Education conference in Hamilton, NY. Our complete 1993 Directory of Families and Organizations will be published in GWS #90. Everyone who was listed in the 1992 Directory in GWS #84 and in the subsequent updates will be included, unless

you tell us otherwise. Ifyou want to correct the wording ofan address, add a new baby, add or delete a host listing, or take yourself out of the Directory entirely, now is the time to tell us. (And as always, you can send us a neu entry at any time.) The deadline for changes is October l5th. (lf you've sent us a slight change or addition in recent months, such as the addition of a new baby, we are holding on to it and will include it in the complete 1993 Directory, so don't worr5r that we haven't received it.)

Last Wednesday I got a letter that carried me through the next two days of radio shows and talks in Portland. The writer. Kyla Wetherell, had read my book on a Monday, quit school that Friday, and by the time she wrote the letter had been out for a month. Before leaving she was the editor ofher high school newspaper, and she wrote a terrific opinion piece for it on her way out. She's now teaching herself to play guitar, learning to take photographs, reading a lot, and mountain biking. She plans to fly to South America and bike back up here. She wants to write about her experiences.

In Portland I spoke on two radio shows, got lots of calls from listeners teenaged and adult, had fun. None of the calls were hostile, most positive, some thoughtfully questioning. Then, lo and behold, I got to speak in an ordinary urban public high school for two hours to a group of about fifty kids! The teacher who brought me in had been to one of John Gatto's seminars and heard about my book there. He went on to have the students in his English class read a chapter from it, and then got permission from the administration to have me visit by arguing that if the kids' educations had served them at all then they should have the critical faculties with which to evaluate my argument. [l love that - how could they possibly disagree with that?) I didn't censor myself at all. I talked briefly about the book's main points and how I came to write it. the kids started asking questions, and their questions and comments structured the discussion. Even before I came in several of the kids had read the whole book and one was firmly committed to unschooling herself (but she was still working on her stubborn father). Several were very interested but not yet committed. Several were antagonistic and skeptical but I enjoyed dealing with their questions - nothing I hadn't already thought carefully about. By the end of the two hours there were probably about five kids who said they really wanted to give the whole thing a try, and who stayed after class a while to talk about some of their choices. A lot of the kids sent their parents to a talk I gave later that night at a bookstore/cafe (and some showed up themselves).

I don't know how many people were at the cafe in all - probably a hundred or so. Some were homeschoolers. but most were interested teeangers and parents, plus a lot of college students and some apparently

open-minded teachers. Afterwards I met three more kids who had read my book and quit school, and about ten kids who said they were going to quit at the end of

the semester or year. I was beside myself. I kept writing down my phone number and sayrng, "Please tell me what happens." Ftom Kykt Wetherell's newspaper plece:

For a good part of this year I have been mumbling to myself, "Gee, wouldn't it be nice if I could drop out of school?" Most fellow [students] who overheard me agreed,

but it was always spoken of as some far-off fantasy. As we all knew, to leave school without a diploma would be "throwing our

lives away." Well, I did it anyway. The moment I realized that the life I had been waiting for for so long could start as soon as I had the courage to determine my own success and refuse to accept school's letter A's and slips of paper as my artificial accomplishment, I threw my life right out the nearest classroom window! This year (my junior year) I went along, unhappily submitting to school's busywork, too aware ofits redundancy and encouragement of mediocrity. Signing up for classes, I remember being really interested, anticipating all that I would learn. I should have guessed that school could make any subject into just another class to contemplate skipping every day. English has always been my greatest interest so it was the subject I hated most in school. I didn't understand why teachers used multiple choice questions to gauge a student's understanding of a poem, why most insisted that every student in the class come to the same conclusion regarding the theme of a play, or how writing could be graded on a number scale. I found that even in advanced classes in subjects I was interested in, teachers spent a lot of time babysitting students and regurgitating text book drivel. .. . I quit school because I would rather learn. Grace Llewellyrr's book is based on the premise that life is wonderful and school is stifling. My experiences thus far have convinced me that this is true. I left the draining, alienating atmosphere at [my high school] and found myself in a world ofopportunity, beauty, and education. I do plan to get a GED, continue "academic" studies, and do the SAT mostly just to keep my options open. What's really exciting, though, about being out ofschool, is that life can be educational. There are libraries, musems, and forests to explore, life-changing books to read... Without school a person is free to discover his own interests and to learn about all facets of life through them. This is not to say that all schools are inherently bad for all people. There are wonderful resources in schools: some really good teachers and an occasional worthwhile class, ceramics rooms, guitars. science labs. etc. I also think there are some people who learn well in its environment and would choose to come were

Growing Without Schooling #87

it optional. For this reason I am advocat-

ing the elimination of compulsory education, replaced by a situation in which school is accepted asjust one ofmany resources. ...

What Parents Learn

from Homeschooling Jon Wartes of the Washington Homeschool Research Project sent us a copy ofa report called "Effects of Homeschooling Upon the Education of the Parents: Comments from the Field"'The report is a collection of 123 parents'responses to a questionnaire that asked what they feel they have learned as a result of homeschooling. The full report is available for $8 from the Washington Homeschool Research Project, 16109 NE 169 Pl, Woodinville WA 98072' Some excerpts: Parents were asked to list some of the things they feel they have leamed that (l) they consider important, and (2) that they

would probably not have leamed if they had not been homeschooling: o I always compared what I was doing with others and most of the time I didn't come out the winner. As I met more and more homeschooling families and saw that one differed from the next in many ways, I realized that our family and approach and emphasis were different.

Just as the other families had strong and

weak points, so did ours and that was OK. . I have my master's degree, so I am well schooled, but I didn't have the zest or eners/ to iearn new things. Homeschooling has awakened in me a desire to discover and leam that I had never had (though I had always been a good student)' o I have rediscovered a great love for science. I get very excited as we discuss

different scientific facts or principles. This excitement is transferred to my children who also love and enjoy studying science. We studied in-depth marine science this year, doing much reading' book work with a follow-up on-beach field trip which was fabulous. I found myself excited. enthusiastic, child-like in my wonder [at] what we were learning. . It's hard to pin down just one thing. I

think I learned thal leaming is an ongoing process that continues for the rest of your iife. Al"o that leaming is enjoyable and not something you do just to pass a test or complete an assignment. . [My son and I] have laughed, worked, played, and gotten upsetwith each other' Unlike the years when he went to school' we have been forced to work through problems, apologize, and find new ways to

work out Problems.

. I have

discovered many ofthe beforeunknown effects of my own public school education - especially about peer depen-

dency. My children have friends of all ages, from our 85-year-old next door neighbor to our five-month-old nephew (cousin). I see the delight they take in the variety of our friends and I remember the disdain I had for "boring" adults and "boring" babies (anyone two or more years

Growing Without Schooling #87

younger than mel. o We as a family have become more involved in our government and in voicing our thoughts. We are learning to become

participants in the making of history rather than despairing bystanders. Homeschooling is the catalyst for this in my

life.

. I had been told that children who had never been to school learned all that they need to know at their own speed with no structured teaching. At first I didn't really believe this but after my children had been out of school for 3-4 years they began asking me things like, "Where could I go to learn more about the Civil War?" When we would go to the library theY would have a list of books that theY wanted to check for or order' They also had a list of questions they wanted to look up. I was amazed. . I never had any interest in what happened before. Now I t-eel like it is all so fascinating as I see lhe puzzle pieces fit together. In school, history was taught by reading a chapter in a book' then answering questions at the end and taking a test. Now we read interesting books and talk about it - it has come alive and it is exciting.

. To begin with my lmath] skills lor lack of skills) were an embarrassment to me. When I would shop for groceries I would pray the checker wouldn't cheat me because I wasn't sure if I would know. Playing card games was a challenge of how to act blase as I let someone else add my score. I worried about my ability to teach my children and how to go about getting help when I couldn't keep up. But now for the story of triumph. My girls are fourth and fifth grade and I have done well. My own skills have grown in leaPs and bounds. Having started at the beginning' I have an understanding of how and why that I missed as a child. I love math! I can figure out my change to be returned before the cashier rings it up. And can even, on

occasion, show them their mistake. So homeschooling has been a blessing to me.

Using GWS DirectorY Judith Allee (OH) usrites: I want You to know how much the GWS Directory has meant to us. We have a photography business and we take out-oftown jobs whenever we can (even marginally profitable ones) so that we can afford to travel now and then. We plan our route based on the host families we locate in the Directory, and camp or stay in motels in

between.

The families we visit are the highlight our trips. We've been able 1o see some of the families several times. making it even

would have liked, but the bonus is our house was cleaner when they arrived than it had been in a while! (l use the "company's coming" method of housecleaning') When we travel, we try to write a week or two ahead, telling the families a little about each ofour interests. I also offer to bring a covered dish or at least pitch in for groceries. I enclose a SASE or offer to pay for a phone call. Not everyone responds, and we've gotten some "not available"

answers, but every "yes" has been a good experience. (Our only bad experience was a

family not listed as a host family.) I'm hoping to find a waY to close our business here after Christmas since the winter is a slow time for us, and find a way to make money while we travel for several months every year. I'd love to hear from anyone who is successfullY "snow-

birding."

By the way. we are starting a host network for adoptive and foster families

and student-exchange host families as a sideline cottage industry, based on our good experiences with the GWS Directory. We also sponsor a fall campout for homeschoolers, which gives our daughter some alternative to the back-to-school fever in the neighborhood. We had l0-12 families from all over Ohio at each of our previous campouts, about half of which were GWS

families.

News Briefs For addresses oJ state and local orgaruzations, see GWS #84 or our Homeschooling Resource List' auailable Jor $2.5O. Be sure to check updates in issues q/ter #84, too.

New Law Limits School Boards' AuthoritY

Idaho: Homeschooler Liz CannonHubbell sent us a copy ofHouse Bill #502' which recentlY became law' The law makes it clear that local public school boards do not have authority over home schools or private schools. The bill is described as "An act relating to compulsory school attendance; amending section 33-202, Idaho Code. to clari$r that a board of school trustees does not have the responsibility for determining if a resident child of school age who is not in attendance at a public' private' or parochial school is receiving comparable instruction."

Liz Cannon-Hubbell comments, 'The House overwhelmingly voted in favor of this bill, and there were only ten Senators opposing. They say there was never so much public input on one bill before. And SCrloor-lNc *1t. u.t. tu-

GROWTNG WTHOUT

more exciting when we're able to visit. We're usually able to contact a family with a child close to our daughter's age, and the kids so far have all been great. We've visited ten families so far, and have received two visits ourselves fron'l travelers. My only complaint about our guests is that they were both on tight schedules and couldn't stay as long as we

by Holt Associates,2269 Massachusetts Ave.

No. 3. ISSN #0475-5305. Published bi-monthly Cambridge MA 02 I 40. $25lyr. Date of lssue: June 1. 1992. Second-class postage paid at

Boston. MA. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to GWS' 2269 Massachusetts Ave. Cambridge MA 02140' ADVEFrnSERS: Deadlines are the lSth ofoddnumbered months. Ask us for rates.

4 because of the letters they received, many of those in power now say they realize that homeschoolers are 'not a bunch of ignorant people, and should be left alone."'

Concern Over Language in Department of Education's Rules Maine: The April 1992 issue of the ReMAINEing at Home newsletter reports that on March 28. 1992. the Maine Homeschool Association board of directors met with Gary Barrett of the

Maine Department of Education to discuss concerns about the language in Chapter 130, the Department's mles for home education in Maine. Chapter l3O has recently been revised to conform with changes in the state law that were made in 1989 and

l99l

The state law says that

homeschoolers must submit an application to the local board and to the commissioner, but "Notice provided to local

boards... is only for informational purposes. Local boards are not required to play any role in the application, review and approval, or oversight of home instruction programs." The part of Chapter 130 that was revised to conform to the new law says that school boards will adopt policies governing their role "in the review and oversight of application for equivalent instruction programs," and 'The policy may require an annual review of each

equivalent instruction program, including the annual assessment..." According to the MFIA, some homeschoolers are concerned that although the law says school boards are not required to be involved in the homeschooling approval process, the revised Chapter l3O implies that they may be involved if they choose to. One homeschooler has suggested that Chapter 130 should be changed to read, "[,ocal schools boards are not required to play any role in the application or review, and mqA not assert a role in the approval..." At the meeting on March 28. Gary Barrett of the Department of Education

aflirmed that only the Department of Education has the power to approve or disapprove of homeschooling programs. Homeschoolers offered suggestions about how to clari$r the language of Chapter I3O and are now waiting to see how school boards actually respond to the language as it now stands.

Homeschoolers Oppose Bills MarSrland: TWo homeschooling bills were introduced into the state legislature this session, according to issue #56 of the Maryland Home Education Association newsletter. House Bill 992 would create a committee to study home education and make specific recommendations for new regulations. House Bill 1345 would turn the current by-law regulation into law. Manfred Smith of the MHEA writes that the rationale of Delegate Hutchinson, who introduced this bill, is that if the regulation were law, schools would feel greater pressure to monitor homeschoolers in

their districts. On February 2O, Gary Cox ofthe

Maryland Association of Christian Home Schools, Mike Smith of the Home School Legal Defense Assocation, Barbara Klein of the I-earning Community, and Manfred Smith testified against both bills, saying that the current regulation was sufficient and that while homeschoolers did not object to HB I 345 because it duplicates the current regulation, they would object to changes that made the regulation more

restrictive.

Settlement Upholds Right to Begin Homeschooling Mid-Year Pennsylvanla: "The right of parents to begin homeschooling during the school year was upheld in an out-of-court settlement of Deely v. Wallace, a civil rights suit filed by homeschoolers Dan and Kathleen Deely against Superintendent Wallace of the Pittsburgh Public Schools." writes Howard Fichman in the Spring 1992 issue ofthe Pennsylvania Homeschoolers newsletter. Last spring, Superintendent Wallace filed tn-rancy charges against the Deelys after they filed an affidavit to begin homeschooling in the middle of the school year. He claimed that families could only begin homeschooling if they filed their affidavits by August lst. The out-of-court settlement resulted in a federal court consent decree which states in part, "All parties agree that 24 PA Statute 13-1327.1 allows families to begin homeschooling at any time if they give notice to the school district prior to the commencement of their homeschool program and annually thereafter on August 1."

Flawed Test Questions FailTest sent us this press release: Responding to critics' claims that multiple-choice tests cannot measure "higher-order thinking skills," manufacturers of commercial K-12 exams have launched a public relations campaign to defend their tests' format. However. a review of sample items offered by test publishers to support their claims shows that their questions fall far short of their promotional promise. The analysis by the National Center for Fair & Open Testing (FailTest) concluded, "Multiple-choice items fail to assess higher order thinking because they are constructed so that there is only one answer. They only cover memorization, one-step application of rules or simple

inferences." For example, FaitTest examined a test

item promoted by CTB MacMillan/ McGraw-Hill, manufacturer of the widelyadministered California Achievement Test, which asked how many vans carrying 8 people each are needed to transport 36 employees to a company picnic. Answer choices are 3, 4, 5 and 6. A test company

spokesman claimed, 'The item requires students to analyze information and

interpret a numerical response as it relates to a practical situation." But FairTest's Associate Directer Dr. Monty Neill explained, 'This is merely a

variation on a common trick question. All it requires is the student to do basic division (36/8 = 4 with a remander of 4) and recognize that one more van will be needed to transport the remaining employees. That's hardly'higher-order thinking.' " Neill added that a student who cleverly suggested that the extra employees squeeze into the four vans to save money would be marked wrong. Another sample item asks students to select one offour choices explaining whether an infantry invasion of Japan was a viable alternative to the use of the atomic bomb to end World War II. Neill notes, "Claiming there is one answer to this complex historical issue demonstrates how this sort of question shortcircuits the thinking process it claims to measure. Rarely in history is there one sole cause ofan event or only one answer to a historical problem. In fact, the wanted answer (that casualties from an invasion would have been higher) is the standard explanation in most high school text books for using the bomb. Thus, the question measures simple recall or

recognition, not thinking." Fait'Test's Neill continued, "lnstead of supporting the publishers' claims, these items prove that multiple-choice tests do not assess the ability of students to solve real-world problems or engage in tasks they will ever have to perform in life beyond the tests."

"Building a national assessment system on such items or allowing commercial test manufacturers to pretend that their products promote school reform can only further damage the quality of U.S. education," Neill concluded. "Genuine reform requires the careful development of performance-based assessments, not more multiple-choice testing - no matter how shrewdly it is promoted."

Calendar June 28-3O. 1992: Family karning Organization's Homeschooling and Family Learning Fair at Whitworth College, Spokane, WA. For info: 5O9-468-25O5 or 509-467-2552. Aug. 14-16: Alliance for Parental Involvement in Education's Options in karning family conference at Colgate

University, Hamilton, NY. Ke1'note speaker: John Taylor Gatto, workshops by Susannah Sheffer and others. Children's program too. For info: ALLPIE, PO Box 59, E Chatham NY r2060: 5 I 8-392-6900. Sept. 4-6: Third Annual Virginia Homeschool Educational Camping Weekend near Richmond. Activities and workshops for all ages. For info: Jacque Williamson, BO4-823- I 882. Sept. 22 -25: Oregon Homeschool Chautauqua. For info: send SASE to Oregon Chautauqua, 5360 SW 192Av, Aloha OR97OO7. We are happy to print announcements of major homeschooling events, but we need plenty of notice. Deadline for GWS #BB (events in September or later) is 7 / LO. Deadline for GWS #89 {events in November or later) is 9/ 10.

Growing Without Schooling #87

Latino Homeschoolers A Powerful Act of Lucg Salcido Carter oJ Crtldornia rDntes.'

I am responding to your question about African-American and Latino homeschoolers. We are new to homeschooling. My husband, son, and I decided over the winter holidays that Danny would only go back to his class in January to say goodbye and would then stop attending the public elementary school in the area. It has been wonderful for him to be free to follow his own interests and to believe in himself again - no more negative messages because he wasn't doing certain things quickly enough or willingly enough.

I think for people of color, choosing to take our children out ofschool is a powerful act of resistance. This fall I became very involved in the school Danny was attending after having finished my own studies - formal studies, any"rvay; I'm still "learning all the time." I had always been pleased that he attended a school in which there were children from all over the world (because it is on a university campus) and a number of children native to the U.S. from all different ethnic backgrounds. I am mixed-race Chicana - my mother is from Mexico and my father is U.S.-born of Irish and Pennsylvania Dutch descent. What I observed in the classrooms, though, was extremely disappointing' though not surprising. Though there was a lot of rhetoric by administrators about how this school was for "children around the world." I saw children who were quietly speaking their native languages among themselves told to stop. I saw their native cultures trivialized to worksheets and cute projects. I saw sharp differences in how the children of white upPermiddle-class families who lived in the expensive neighborhood next to campus and the children from other countries' particularly those of color. were treated. I heard children with accents getting teased by other children. I watched as some of these children whose parents wanted them in English as a Second Language classes were denied access to those classes because

the school administrators wanted them "mainstreamed." These same administrators then turned around and took these children out of their "mainstream" classes at different times of the day so they could get help with their "learning disorders." I saw children from a neighboring poorer area be written offby teachers and only given attention (negative attention) when they were being disruptive. (ln many ways these children may fare best in the short run, because they were left to use the classroom as they chose. But sooner or

Growing Without Schooling #87

Resistance

later they themselves will see what is happening to them in the classroom and they will either rage and rebel or give up on themselves, too. And people wonder about young people of color rioting and looting?) Much of this was done in subtle, what I call "middle-class" ways, so it was very difficult to get the people doing it to see it or acknowledge it. Though my husband is white and my son is blond and blue-eyed, because I was very vocal in support of other Spanish-speaking families and my own son's needs, made a point to bring Mexican culture into the school, and spoke Spanish or Portuguese to the Spanish- or Portuguese-speaking children whenever and wherever I was with them, we too were treated as outsiders. At the same time I was automatically "volunteered" when somebody needed assistance with certain parents or children. Though I was happy to do it for the families themselves, I got tired of hearing comments from school administrators like, "So-and-so young l,atina is spoiled by her parents" or "So-and-so welfare mother is manipulative" or "We've tried to get them involved. but..." In the end a few things broke the camel's back. One, the teacher wanted to put Danny in one of the "special groups" because though he read at a "fourth grade reading level" (whatever that means), his writing was "way behind." Danny felt so bad about his writing that he said alternately that he didn't write well or that he didn't like writing. I thought it appalling that in second grade he already felt so bad about himself as a writer. Second, as I got more directly involved with the children in the classroom' I noticed I was welcomed by the teacher less and less. She became increasingly critical of my ideas and interactions with the children. After a very successful Dia de los Muertos project in which I had gotten the children talking about death and different cultures' mourning customs, I suggested coming in close to winter holiday time to do another Mexican traditional project making bread dough decorations. The teacher responded by saying that she had worked on a Navajo Indian reservation and had learned that the Navajo consider food too sacred to make into art. I reminded her that there were no Navajo children in her classroom now, but there were Mexican-American children and in our households we used what was available to make art. She would not budge. That was when I realized that the work to be done in this area was so large and that keeping mY son in the school so that maybe we could change things in some small way was going to be at his expense, and perhaps at the expense

of my own sanity. I feel a sense of loss, too, now that we have taken Danny out of school. I miss the children with whom I have gotten close. I felt that my being there made a difference to them. It is a privilege in this part of the country to be able to have a parent at home to be able to homeschool the younger

children. Many families either do not have that privilege, cannot figure out how to make it work, or cannot imagine doing it. And, though we have met many lovely homeschooling families, I can count on only half a hand the number of those families who are African-American or Latino. The oppression works to make us feel incapable. It happened to us as children and it continues to happen in situations between parents ofcolor and white school administrators who insist on knowing better than we do what is best for our children. That is why I believe that it is a particularly important act against oppression for us to follow what is true: we do know what is best for our children and they deserve nothing but the best. They are extremely capable, already know how to learn, and can figure out, with our help if needed, what they need to do to learn what they want to leam. As part of our learning at home, I am speaking more and more Spanish. Danny told me he wants to leam it, so he can "understand" me. My husband is learning

with me. (Because I was humiliated as a child for having an accent and because my mother was told by school administrators

to stop speaking Spanish to us, it is only recently that I have been able to take enough pride in my native language to start speaking it with my son - and he is already 7!) I have met other homeschoolers who, though not of these cultures themselves, are also interested in exposing their children to other cultures through art, language, music, song, dance' and stories. We exchange resources. I have kept and cultivated my friendships with nonhomeschooling parents of color and Danny has their children as close friends. I recently found in the book 5OO Anos del Pueblo Chtcano/5OO Years oJ Chicano History in Pictures reference to the fact that during the late'60s and early'70s Chicano parents in Texas and New Mexico took their children out of the public school system and set up alternative learning centers for them. I gather strength knowing that by homeschooling my son, I am part of this proud tradition and I am hopeful that more of us will do the same. My son is happy and blossoming at home.

Setting Up Apprenticeships How Parents Can Help Judy Garueg (ME) usrltes: Matthew has had a great response to

his "Wants Outdoor Apprenticeship" letter in GWS #84. I wanted to let people know about the worlds that have opened up for him as a result. He received many generous offers for apprenticeships or visits, and also some letters that were simply encour-

lines of work. Besides the letter which was printed in GWS, Matt prepared a resume in which

he listed all of his experience, skills, and interests, his size (which was important to his work), date of birth, parents' names, and a couple of references. He has had to write many letters to his prospective mentors to make arranAements. The

agements.

The first trip he took this past fall, before his letter was printed in GWS, was to visit his GWS pen-pal, Jacob Lange, on his farm in Nebraska. Although Matthew was primarily a guest there, he did get to help out with the work of the farm and learned a great deal while also having a wonderful time. Pen-pals who closely share the same interests can become good friends over time and also offer each other an opportunity for

desert area for two months. This first apprenticeship actually came about from contacting Donn Reed, author of The Home ScLtooL Source Book, who happened to know the homeschooling family who owns the ranch. Matthew will be using many of the skills he has learned already, plus he will be working as a cowboy and general ranch hand. He is very happy there, making friends with the Mexican people he works with and in awe of the beautiful country around him. In July, he will be leaving for at least a three-month stay in Alaska. He will work with a homeschooling family who has a hunting guide business both on the peninsula and north on the Yukon border. This family apprentices a young person every couple of years who could eventually be trained as an Alaskan guide. Since that is Matthew's goal at this point in his life, this opportunity is a great one for him. When his time with them comes to an end, he may go to stay with another family closer to Anchorage but also quite remote. They raise huskies and, in fact, their 16 year old just won the Junior lditarod. That's as far as Matthew has Planned things at this point. But more chances for apprenticeships or travel exist in the future. This whole experience has opened our eyes to the possibilities that exist for young people who are seeking independence. It has also shown us how manY really generous and self-sufficient families there are in the homeschooling network' Almost everyone who responded to Matt has an outdoor business or homestead of some sort, but that is because Matt was asking for that kind ofwork. If a teenager had other interests, he or she might get similar responses from adults in those

simply immeasurable. We are all very grateful to everyone who has helped him during the past few months. [SS:] Judy is right about space limitations. but we don't want to discourage anyone from wdting to us. Often we are

able to help even if we can't print the

letter.

This whole erperience has opened our eyes to the possibilities that exist for young People who are seeking independence.

travel.

Matt just left for Medco, where he will be working on a ranch in the Sonora high

too!). It's been very hard to let go ofhim to this extent. but the benefits to him are

result of all this is first-hand experience in how to go about finding work in his chosen field. We collected some very helpful ideas from Grace Llewellyn's The Teenage Liberation Handbook. We also wrote many letters to people we knew or didn't yet know, and searched out addresses for people we had read or heard about who we thought might help Matthew. Because of space limitations, not every teenager can write a letter to be printed in GWS. If anyone wants to write to me, I would be very happy to respond to questions about how to get started with finding apprenticeships away from home (or near home, too). We've compiled quite a lot of information and would like to share it with other families. I would also like to encourage more families to consider taking on an apprentice. The arrangements can be very flexible, and the length of stay could be anyluhere from a few days to as long as the family and teenager wish it to continue. Of course, the host family should expect real help in exchange for whatever they are offering to provide. Teens seeking apprenticeships should understand that they will be employees of a sort. There has to be a mutual benelit. Perhaps families willing to host an apprentice could put a small ad in GWS such as the one in GWS #85 from the Ainslie-Hamblin family. I would also be glad to hear from anyone offering an apprenticeship of any type. Then, if I receive letters from teens looking for situations, perhaps I could put people in touch with each other. This has all been a real maturing process for Matthew (and for his parents,

I spoke to Judy on the phone several Umes while she and Matthew were

working on finding apprenticeships, and I asked her if I could describe some of what we talked about so that readers could get an idea of the process behind Matthew's ultimate success. At first, Judy had been unsure about how much help to give to Matthew. She knew that he very much wanted an apprenticeship - in fact, he had tried school for a while and had said that he wasn't sure if he would homeschool again unless he knew he had an apprenticeship waiting for him. But Judy didn't know if Matthew would be willing or able to do all the work of researching opportunities and writing letters. Should she do

that work for him, Judy wondered? Should she set up an apprenticeship for him and then announce it to him when it was all arranged? We spoke for a while about how Matthew could be involved in the process of researching and making connections with people. Later, Judy told me that it had helped to hear me say that if Matthew really wanted to do this fairly grown-up thing, he ought to participate in the work necessary to set it up. On the other hand, Judy said, it also helped to hear that she didn't have to leave Matthew to this daunting task all by himself - that she could help. In the end, Judy sat down with Matthew and he listed all his skills and talked about what kind of apprenticeship he was looking for. Judy then drafted a letter based on this information, and Matthew went over the letter and changed some parts of it to make it sound more like him or to clariSr the meaning. When the responses to his letter began coming in, Matthew was able to write back himsell although Judy helped him with spelling and sometimes reminded him to write back to people whose offers didn't interest him at the time. Judy helped Matthew to achieve his own goal, which is different from chiding or forcing him to achieve one ofher goals and different from leaving him to work toward his own goal without any help at all. She told me that she wants people to understand that the wonderful and varied

apprenticeship opportunities that

Growing Without Schooling #87

Matthew has gotten didn't come about because he is exceptionally good at researching opportunities or writing letters on his own behalf. In other words, if you're thinking to yourself, "But my child wouldn't be able to do all the work necessary to set up opportunities like Matthew's," realize that you can help your child just as Judy helped Matthew, and it won't make the resulting opportunities any less wonderful or the process of obtaining them any less authentic. These issues came up at the workshop on older homeschoolers that I led at our Holt Associates fair, and again in a talk I gave at the Northern California Homeschoolers Association conference about horr'r adu\ts can be helpful to selfdirected leamers, so they are very much on my mind. I wonder if our school experiences make us confuse legitimate uses of help with cheatinS - if we ask for help. did we not reelly do the job ourselves? But in the world of lprk there are so manv legitimate way! to ask for help and to make use of it. I know from my own experience, for example, that all those acknowledgments writers list at the front of their books are real - it really does take lots of help to write a book. I'm glad that Judy gave permission to include her whole story here - not just the story of the great opportunities Matthew now has, but the story ofhow he worked to get them - so that other parents may realize that it's OK to offer their children the kind of help that Judy offered Matthew. When I talked to Judy I was able to tell her several stories about how I had helped kids in similar situations. I'll tell just one of them here (with the subject's permission!). Last fall, my friend Kim Kopel, who is 17, was beginning to think seriously about what she would do when she left her home in Missouri. She was feeling ready to leave in the near future, but she wasn't sure what exactly she wanted to do. Even though she knew intellectually that this wasn't necessary, she often found herself getting stuck on the notion that she would have to choose the one perfect thing to do, and this made it hard for her to think clearly about her options. Knowing Kim as well as I did, and knowing that this was her point of vulnerability, so to speak, I suggested that she make a list of euerything she could imagine herself doing. 'Try to list as many things as possible, instead of trying to narrow it down to one thing," I wrote to Kim. "lt might help to divide it up into things you're doing now that you want to do more of, or pursue in greater depth, and things you want to try that you've never tried. The list can include things you can imagine doing soon, right where you are, and things that seem farther down the road, for when you may be living elsewhere. Throw them all in, although you can note for yourselfwhich category they

fall under, if that seems helpful." I told Kim that she didn't have to show me the list, but if it generated any ideas that she then wanted to follow up on, I'd be happy to help.

After a couple of months Kim wrote and said that she'd followed my assignment (which, of course, we both knew hadn't been an assignment at all, but simply a suggestion that arose out of our mutual trust and understandin$ and that, lo and behold, making the long list had in fact helped her to focus in on the specific opportunity that she wanted to pursue right away. She had decided that she wanted to try working at a living history

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strate her knowledge ofweaving and at the same time leam new crafts and skills and meet new people. She was willing to work as a volunteer if she could find some way to live at the village or live with a family nearby. By the time Kim wrote to me she had already begun to research some ofthe villages that she knew about. She was learning what distinguished one from the other and beginning to evaluate her own preferences. I told her about Strawberry Banke. one such village in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and when Kim received information about this place, it seemed to be just what she was looking for. It was big enough to have a range ofactivities to try and other intems to meet, but small enough that she would likely be able to make a real contribution. It had a choir, one of Kim's strong interests, and was close enough to Boston for Kim to be able to visit her friends here occasionally. Once Kim settled on Strawberyr Banke as her first choice, both her mother and I talked with her about what she might say in her letter to the director and helped her think through various logistical details. Kim wasn't sure what sort of living arrangements would be available to her, and she was afraid that she couldn't let the director know that she was interested in working at Strawberryr Banke until she knew for sure that it would be possible for her to live there. Her mother and I suggested that she could write to the director explaining that she would need a place to live; she didn't have to have all the details figured out before she presented herself. in other words. When Kim had drafted a letter she sent it to me, asking if I thought she needed to add or change any'thing. If she gets a positive response, she will want to visit once to be absolutely sure that this is where she wants to spend the next several months, and I will likely go wilh her just so she has a companion and someone with whom to check out impressions and any possible concerns. These days I often think about what a good thing it is that Kim and I have maintained our long distance friendship for so many years. Now that her interests are taking her to another part of the country, it's nice that she has an adult friend in that part of the country who can smoothe the way for her a bit. So, again: Kim asked for and made use of my and her mother's help throughout this process, but that doesn't mean she wasn't in charge of the process or that either of us created the opportunity;[or her.

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Growing Without Schooling #87