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Saturday, July 1st, 2006GROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING #28
I’ve been busy as a bird dog since my return from Europe - the busiest summer schedule I can remember for a long time. Besides the homeschooling meetings or lectures listed in #27, there was another meeting in Woods Hole, MA, and I’m leaving soon for more in Santa Fe and Albuquerque. I have also done radio interviews in Rochester NY, St. Louis, Providence RI, Saskatoon, and two in Boston.
Nancy P. (NJ) and I had a wonderful time at the Homesteaders’ Good Life Get-Together. Much interest in home-schooling.
Both Florida meetings drew more than twice as many people as expected. In Tallahassee we had to find a new room for the lecture, and that room was jammed. I met many homeschoolers there - as everywhere, they were determined, energetic, and resourceful. They said my visit was good for their morale; it was just as good for mine.
The Massachusetts Association of School Committees invited me to be on a panel at their Nov. 4 conference in Hyannis, but as it happened I was already scheduled for a teacher’s conference in New York. So Donna will be going to the Hyannis conference instead; she says it will be a nice excuse to get dressed up!
I’ve bought a new cello, the first decent one I have ever owned, and what a difference! Playing it is a joy - I wish I could do it more.
As you will see in this issue, we are adding some cassette tapes to the list of materials we sell here. Hope you like these.
Mary Van Doren has been a regular and very valuable volunteer in the office. With her comes her 13-month old Anna, and watching this enchanting little person exploring the office, learning to walk and talk and climb up and down the building stairs, is our joy and delight. I have been tape recording much of her talk and adventures, and plan to add these to our list of cassettes - a fascinating record of a little child’s growth.
–John Holt
VICTORY IN SOUTH CAROLINA
Delores W. (SC) has been keeping us posted on a long struggle with the local school district. Early in July she phoned us, jubilant over the fact that the State Board of Education had decided in her family’s favor. She soon sent us this note with a packet of material:
. . . What a joy to write good news, and send you the clippings from the local paper. There have been two other newspaper pieces, with simiilar stories as these, and another local weekly newspaper will come this afternoon . . .Two TV stations carried the story last night on the 11 PM news.
. . . I hope this information is all you will need for GWS. I am enclosing a copy of the brief that our lawyer sent to the State Board of Education and a copy of their reply after their final decision.
We are certainly thankful for this ruling. I must run, since TV and newspaper reporters have consumed a couple of days, and the garden is getting behind. One of the reporters invited the kids to the studio to see the entire process of what goes on behind the scenes. All the news media were very interested and sympathetic, and were fascinated with our large family and our decision to home-school.
We have been very surprised at the amount of publicity this has received, but since it has set a precedent for the state, we will help all we can . . .
From the Columbia State, 7/10/82: . . .The State Board of Education Friday reversed a decision by the Greenville County school board denying a Greenville couple’s request to teach their children at home for religious reasons.
In a unanimous vote, the board ruled the Greenville trustees erred when they denied the request of Mr. and Mrs. Charles W. White on the grounds that neither held a teaching certificate.
According to state education officials, Friday’s action was the first time the board of education has approved an appeal in a home-instruction case.
. . . Parents may seek to show that the instruction they provide their children is “substantially equivalent to instruction given to children of like ages in the public or private schools where such children reside.”
The law makes the State Board of Education the final arbiter on the question of whether an instruction program is “substantially equivalent.” However, the board, through its regulatory power, has directed local school boards to make the initial determination . . .
In the White case, a home visiting committee, appointed by the Greenville school system, reviewed the family’s home-instruction program and concluded that Mrs. White was adequately prepared to teach her children.
The committee recommended that the school system approve the home instruction request, provided the instructional program was reviewed on an annual basis and that the White children participated in state and district testing programs.
Despite the committee’s recommendation, Greenville school superintendent Floyd Hall denied the Whites’ request, stating that “nothing less than full teacher certification and training . competences by (their) children.”
The Whites, through their attorneys appealed to the Greenville school board, which upheld Hall’s decision.
In its decision to grant the White’s appeal, the State Board of Education said Hall and the Greenville trustees failed to adequately consider the Whites’ claim that their instruction was at least equivalent to the instruction offered in private schools in Greenville County.
The board noted that “although teacher certification may properly be required for a program alleged to be equivalent under state law to a public school program, the Appellants have alleged equivalence to public or private schools. Teacher certification is not necessarily a requirement in all private schools, and thus . . . cannot be required in a program alleged to be equivalent to a private school.” . . .
LOCAL NEWS
ARIZONA: Sherri P.writes, “I was actively involved in the amendments and passage of HB 2116 dealing with home schools in Arizona (GWS #27). Although we would have preferred no regulation of home schools, it was a fair compromise. The Senate Education Committee had emphatically stated they would not even hear the bill the way it was sent to them from the House. Therefore, I proposed amendments which allowed the State to be satisfied that the person teaching would at least have the basic math, reading, and grammar skills of a sixth grader, and also the children would take the same CAT test given all public school children. We also included a hearing process for the protection of the parents . . who wish to start home schools next school year. I have decided to compile a booklet which would detail all of the requirements.
The ARIZONA HOME EDUCATION ASSOCIATION sent us copies of some of their handouts and bulletin board notices, including a one page summary of the new legal requirements, and small (2″ x 4″) slips with big black letters reading, “Interestedd in learning more about HOMESCHOOLING? (Educating your children at home). Phone ________.”
And Helen Kepler of Kingman tells us that, contrary to what she was first told, the proficiency tests that home-schooling parents will be required to take will be offered regularly èthroughout the year.
CALIFORNIA: Cyd R. writes, “Here is a copy of my Master’s Thesis on Home Schooling in California. This is the most comprehensive survey of the California home-schooling experience I could put together - most of the work is of course applicable to home-schoolers everywhere . . .I would like to offer reprints for sale to GWS readers for $12 . . .The home-schoolers around San Jose have given me wonderful feedback and have been requesting copies.
CONNECTICUT: Charges against Deborah and Donald C.that they were not educating their son were dismissed in Superior Court recently. They were taken to court by the local school officials, who had given them permission for one year of home-schooling, but not a second.
INDIANA: David L. sent a letter to other Indiana families, saying that the Governor’s Select Advisory Commission for Primary and Secondary Education would be holding monthly meetings from May to October, and it was possible they would redefine a “school” and make a new set of guidelines for home schools. David encouraged others to attend, to write their representatives, and possibly to arrange informational meetings.
KANSAS: Cathy B. of the HOME EDUCATOR’S NEWSLETTER told us, “‘In favor of the family’ was the ruling this June in the case of Keith and Paula White of Miltervale, Kansas . . .The State alleged that Zephyrus, the Whites’ 7-year-old son, was a ‘deprived child’ as his parents were purportedly ‘not educating’ him. The decision was made June 21 by Judge Marvin Stortz, District Magistrate Judge for Cloud County . . .”
LOUISIANA: Katherine R. of CITIZENS FOR HOME EDUCATION writes, “We have just finished a successful fight in the Louisiana legislature to retain home-study, prevent mandatory kindergarten, and make permanent a law which exempts private schools (those which receive no government aid) from any paperwork requirements. We are thrilled with our success but we know that we need to spread the word and attract new membership in preparation for next year’s fight . . .”
MASSACHUSETTS: Susan L. belongs to a Cape Cod home-schooling group that meets bi-monthly. She told us they met recently with the Assistant Superintendent of Schools, and were warmly receiived. He gave them advice on submitting a curriculum outline, suggested they work with the local principals to have a curriculum roughly comparable to that of the schools, gave them advice on texts, and said there would be no external testing unless a child enetered school. Susan also said the parents found Danielle F. (”Certified Teachers,” GWS #26) to be very helpful.
MINNESOTA: Sharon H. sent us a newsletter of the MINNESOTA HOME SCHOOL NETWORK, which included one paragraph each on six home-schooling families, and announced future workshops. Sharon says, “I sent off 125 of these letters and I hear from prospective home schoolers every day . . .Isn’t this fun? I really mean it.”
NEW YORK: from Harold I. “My first court case out of 140 families just received a flat dismissal on required standardized testing for home schoolers. The state challenged us in my back yard (Chenango County) so I testified on behalf of the family. The judge dismissed the case because of lack of statute requirement.”
OHIO: OCEAN is sponsoring an Alternative Education Roundup for home-schoolers and alternative schools, Saturday Oct. 3, 1982, from 9-3
PENNSYLVANIA: Susan R. has started the Western Pa. Homeschoolers Newsletter, with many good articles and ideas. In Issue #2 she tells about the “First Annual Homeschooler’s Weekend,” June 11-13, at the Richman farm: 34 families with 86 children!
TEXAS: We’ve been hearing about two court battles. A Dallas County Justice of the Peace dismissed the truancy charges against Steve and Barbara Short of Richardson, saying the law inadequately describes what constitutes a school.
In another much-publicized case, Ed and Barbara Gonzalez of San Antonio were taken to court several times. They were acquitted once in March, then charged again in May, lost, and were unable to appeal because of a technicality. The last we heard, the district attorney may not bother to file charges again. The Gonzalez’s lawyer, Egon Tausch, sent us a good letter about the legalities of home-schooling which we may reprint later.
WASHINGTON STATE: Debra S. reported in the Unschoolers Project that House Bill 996, which would have made it easier to start a private school, was finally defeated, 37-50.
Also interesting to note that the Stewarts financed the publication of their newletter by selling the MY YEARBOOK series, $15 books that contain all thereading, math, science, etc. that a child is usually expected to learn in any one grade.
WEST VIRGINIA: Deirdre P. wrote in Alternatives in Education about the W.V. Supreme Court of Appeals case, State vs. Riddle: “. . .This case is a lesson in how not to do homeschooling. The Riddles never requested the county superintendent of schools to approve their home as a place for instruction under Exemption B in WV Code 18-8-1
. . .They withdrew their children from school and kept them home until they were reported as truant; then they claimed First Amendment freedom.
“The Court acknowledges that the Riddles did an excellent job of teaching their children (’possibly better than the public schools could do’), using materials from the Christian Liberty Academy. The court objects not to home-schooling, but to home-schooling without permission from and oversight by the county board of education - as mandated in the law.
TALK TO STUDENTS
From a reader in New Jersey:
. . .Another homeschooler and I went to Rutgers University to talk about homeschooling to a sociology class. . .There were about 40 students. . .
. . .One student brought up the point that in these times it didn’t seem realistic, as in most families both parents have to work. I liked my friend’s answer. She said it was true that home-schooling wasn’t for everyone, but that for her it was a matter of where people set their priorities. From what I see and hear, most home-schoolers don’t have a lot of money and do have to give up some materialistic things or incorporate some kind of job that allows them to home-school, or both.
The class was a little over two hours - it felt like ten minutes. It was a lot of fun and I wouldn’t mind doing it again. By the way, we didn’t tell the class what towns we lived in or our educational background. At the next class, the teacher (a friend - I babysit her 1 1/2-year-old) asked the class to guess our educational background. Most guessed that I had at least four years of college, probably more. They were surprised to hear that I had only two years of high school . . .
WINNING IN MISSISSIPPI
Sandi M. (MS) writes:
. . .Ours has been an interesting relationship with the school system. In March I contacted them to see if there were any rules I ought to know about concerning homeschooling. We live in military housing and a neighbor had turned us in to the Base Housing Office for having creatures (two ducks, a turtle we see occasionally, a dog, goldfish, and a gerbil) and for having the kids out of school. Come to find out, the law is even more Šsupportive than I had imagined.The school code actually states that children should go to school or be adequately trained at home!
When I contacted the local superintendent, the Assistant Superintendent was fascinated, even though he strongly disagreed with me, and we talked about an hour on the phone, him asking about various areas and how we handle them, and me answering them. He asked if my husband and I would consider coming to talk with him, the Superintendent, and the lady who takes care of curriculum forelementary grades. I said sure, and went in about a week later. My husband was unable to accompany me. The kids and all supportive neighbors were sure it was a “set-up”, and Scott even suggested that I take hunting knives hidden in my socks in case I had to cut my way out of there!
We talked about two hours. The Superintendent and the woman in charge of curriculum were far more positive than the Asst. Superintendent. But all were literally fascinated by the psychology and goals we set, agreeing with them completly. They listened to our methods and approaches and nodded as I talked.
I was completely honest. When they asked what a normal day was for us, I said that I didn’t think we had had one yet. They were amazed that the children weren’t bored a good deal of the time, and loved it when I told them of the older children’s anatomy session with THE ANATOMY COLORING BOOK and John Michael (3 1/2) stripped down to undies, drawing his parts all over him. The kids even included a legend beneath his lungs to show what was intended by a section with diagonal lines, and one with dots, and so on. I also said that I cut the session short when I insisted that they not do it with permanent marks again - water color markers, yes, but permanent ones, no! John wore his lungs for about three weeks!
I had an ulterior motive when I went to talk with them. I asked if they would consider loaning or selling me books from the school book depository, and give me a copy of the curriculum they set for each grade. At the end of our talk, they asked me to call the Asst. Superintendent in a few days to see about both.
When I called back, I was not too surprised by his comments, but they were funny. He said that I could probably tell that I had them eating out of my hand when I left. He also said that they had had to talk it over among themselves for several days before they got back to their original point of view that what I was doing was wrong. He could understand if it was from a religious point, but just because I thought the children were doing better at home was not justified. He felt particularly sorry for that little first grader of mine (Shelley, 7) who had never been to school at all. (At that point I asked why he didn’t meet that little first grader of mine to judge her personally. He didn’t answer). And since this went against his convictions so much, he just couldn’t give us books. He was particularly concerned about us not going by a schedule of any sort. He did say that the curriculum they are using now is absolutely useless and they expect to have a very good one this summer, and for me to call later on and they could get one to me. He was speaking very nicely to me, so the conversation was not unpleasant. I said that we probably would not use the school books as they would have us use them anyway since, dollar for dollar, they just don’t measure up to some very good information that is available, so that wasn’t a big loss, and invited him or others to meet and visit with the children to better understand the personal choices we had made. I also told him that we often go to the beach for a picnic lunch and a couple of hours before or afterwards, and invited him to come play hooky some day and join us to see the beauty of children learning and doing what is important to them. He said that he still feels we are making a mistake and I answered that I could not say that I am not making one, but I have had to rely on my knowledge of my children and my intuition in the past and seem to have made wise choices even though they were not always in directions that were in vogue at the time, and would trust that I would make the right choices now.
During our talk at their office, he had asked me if there was a chance that my children weren’t getting a view of the “real” world with keeping them at home. I answered, possibly, but I thought they were getting a better view of the “real” world because the things they do are real . . . I asked if he had seen some people who get boxed in in “education” and never know the “real” world. He had to laugh and admit that he certainly had.
All in all, I feel the match went to me, and at least if a family comes in who does use schedules or does it for very religious reasons, then they may be more supportive of them for having known me!. . .
SUCCESS IN FLORIDA
Ann Mordes (FL) wrote:
. . . I wanted to let you know that my husband and I have been under fire here in Jackson County. H.R.S. (Health and Rehabilatative Services) called me on June 26. The social worker said they had been given a referral on my son, Daniel, from the school superintendent. He had told her that we had a truant child. I told her that was not true, that we operated a legally registered private school in our home and Daniel was enrolled. She asked that we come to her office and talk about it.
. . . The next morning, I wrote her a letter (on school letterhead stationery) inviting her to come out and visit me. I gave her explicit instructions on how to get to our school and home
. . . I informed her as to what the laws were regarding private schools in the state of Florida, and told her to check on these with Dr. James Kemp’s office at the Department of Education in Tallahassee.
The next day this woman called my lawyer and told her that she felt that H.R.S. had no jurisdiction over us, due to the fact we were a private school. The social worker told my lawyer that she felt they were being “used” by the superintendent
. . . “If I can get out of it, I am!” she said. My attorney said that she thought that was a good idea, as we were registered as a private school and in her opinion acting as one. (I had already educated my lawyer regarding private schools.) My husband and I also ran a small ad in the local newspaper, saying that our private school was now taking applications for the fall. We had one phone call.
The social worker never showed up nor called again. My husband and I went over to Tallahassee to visit Dr. Kemp last Friday. He knew what the problem was the minute I walked in the door. He was extremely cordial, as he always is . . .
When we returned home, we received a copy of the letter that H.R.S. sent to the superintendent, and I thought you might like a copy. I’m thinking about framing it! . . .
(From the H.R.S. letter to the school superintendent:) As part of our investigation of the truancy referral on Daniel Mordes, we talked with Dr. James Kemp, Department of Education, Tallahassee, Florida. According to Dr. Kemp, the Mordes Academy is listed with the Department of Education as a private school. He told us that on December 17, 1981, the Fourth District Court of Appeals ruled that a private school 1) must charge tuition which suports school activities and 2) cannot limit enrollment to a single family.
Dr. Kemp stated that the Department of Education has no policing powers regarding private schools, and your responsibility is limited to checking attendance records (FS, Section 232.01). We could not determine that the matter of certification of teachers in private schools has been addessed by Florida Statutes.
In view of the above information, we cannot determine that Daniel Mordes is a truant child: therefore Juvenile Court has no jurisdiction in this matter. We are closing our case as an unfounded report and notifying Mr. and Mrs. Mordes of our decision . . .
(Signed by the District Intake Supervisor and Direct Services Supervisor.)
MORE SUCCESS STORIES
Lois Porter (NY) wrote:
Apr. 30: . . .The “Committee on the Handicapped,” which includes the school superintendent, approved our curriculum for John. We patterned our homeschooling cover letter after several in GWS. The committee was very impressed with the thoroughness of the proposal, the legal precedents cited, etc. It was the first such request they had ever received. Actually, our letter informed them of what we were doing. We were very clear, without being belligerent, about our rights.
The board of education will approve or disapprove the program on May 25th. The superintendent assures us they will rubber-stamp it.
There is just one fly in the ointment. They are insisting on doing IQ testing on John this fall. They claim that NY State law mandates such testing every three years for “handicapped” children. I don’t want this done. . .
June 7: . . . Several pieces of good news. Our home schooling proposal was passed by our school board without incident. In addition, the superintendent informed me that he had looked up the “compulsory,” every-three-year IQ testing rule for so-called handicapped children . . . He told me that if for any reason the parents felt such testing would be detrimental, we simply had to write a letter stating that fact, and the testing would be waived! That’s quite a relief!
John and I are doing well, 2 1/2 months into our homeschooling venture. He is less anxious, and his frustration tolerance, while still low, has improved markedly . . .
From a California parent:
Nov ‘81: . . .The Phil Donahue show on which you and your colleagues appeared may have saved my life. Yes, I mean that literally. Both my son and I have contemplated suicide as a result of being declared insane simply because of his resistance to attending public school, and my efforts to obtain appropriate education for him.
. . . It has been nightmarish trying to find some legal recourse within my very limited means . . .
July ‘82: I am happy to say that the situation I wrote you about has been resolved.
An officer of the court, affiliated with the Welfare Dept. who was not so intent on seeing pathology in my concern for my son, after a visit to our home, determined that it was the best place for Ray, rather than public school, residential care, or any of the other drastic alternatives that had been proposed.
Since then, Ray’s depression has lifted, he is much more active and healthy physically and socially - and even bikes six miles into town to study at the library! All this on his own initiative . . .
. . .I have considered suing the local school district for the nightmare they put us through so unnecessarily - but just being out of it and having had my attorney let them know there was a possibility seems sufficient, at least for now.
I do wish that our experience could some how benefit others in their struggle against the (beign) tyranny of the system . . .
From Barb P. (NH):
. . .I am just so excited to tell you that I am now officially allowed to home-school my boys. The books John wrote, especially TEACH YOUR OWN, were a great help. GWS gave me many ideas on how to write my application also.
When I went to the superintendent, I received all sorts of negative answers. He tried to act open-minded, yet quietly intimidated me by reminding me that children are subjects of the state, that they would have to come into my home and evaluate my teaching, and yes, they do have trouble once in a while with parents who want to do this and have to try and take the children away. I was glad I was so well informed.
He did change his attitude greatly as we worked together. When we eventually went to the school board, he actually backed us and recommended we be approved, even to the point of interceding on our behalf when a board member became agressive .
If I can be of help to anyone else I would like that opportunity, so you may add my name to the directory . . .
(DR: We don’t have the room to print the many other “success stories” we have received lately. Many of them are similar - people took our advice and were delighted that it worked! For more such stories, see GWS #27.)
IN THE MAIL
. . .Sometimes I get to feel that I must be really strange or something, because I’ve always wanted my kids around - I’ve never desired to “send-them-off” somewhere. Seems most parents we know are into babysitters, day-care, school (as babysitter), whatever - just to get their kids out of the way. Then there’s the between-parents shift: “I had to have them all day yesterday, so you better take them today.” You might think it was some object being discussed. People regularly ask me, “But how do you stand it all day?” What I want to know is how can they stand it? How can they bear to miss all the new discoveries the joys? It all goes so quickly . . .–Kathie DeWees (VT).
. . .I’ve read a few letters in GWS where someone comments on the fact that most letters are full of glowing accounts of home-schooling, wonderfully intelligent children, etc, etc, etc. And my letters are usually like that, also - whether to GWS or otherwise; who want to hear what a drag some days can be? Well, just for the record - it has taken me an inordinate amount of time to finish this letter because of the squabbles, aches and pains, accidents and misbehavior of my children today. One of those days, you know? So I think I’ll stop here and go take a nap after banishing the wild ones to the far reaches of their own rooms where they can do whatever they want (and I don’t have to know about it!).–Becky Howard (AR).
. . .Just got #27 and I’m enjoying every article. I was most surprised to see the Arizona law article. Is it really happening that fast? I never expected it to happen in my lifetime even, and it’s starting already . . .–Mary Jane Berntsen (TX)
A HOME SCHEDULE Karen Elder (”A New Jersey Family,” GWS #27, page 3) wrote:
. . .This is our first attempt at a letterhead for our home school, made on a hectograph. I’d never heard of hectographs until reading GWS #19 just a few weeks ago. We are still learning the ins and outs of it, but we really enjoy all our experiments.
We are slowly coming to grips with various “problems” of Šhome-schooling, particularly the difficult one of scheduling/non-scheduling. We have several different schedules now. One is the social calendar: usually, Brownies every Tuesday afternoon; home-schoolers meeting every other Wednesday (ends up being an all-day thing for Krista and a half-day thing for Robin and Dawn); Dungeons and Dragons two out of three Friday evenings; visit to grandparents almost every weekend. Other events, special (weddings, picnics, overnights) and everyday (playing outside with friends) fill out this schedule.
The project schedule has finally been firmed up. We’ve been home-schooling for about six months; sometimes we would be very busy and other times we would just get caught up in a mother-housecleaning/kids-playing situation. What bothered me most about that was the kids would start to complain that there was nothing to do. “No schedule” just didn’t work. Now what I do is pick out three or four projects on the weekend to do during the next week. Projects are supposed to start at 10 AM and go until just before lunch, but sometimes everyone is finished in 45 minutes and sometimes we go on all afternoon. The trick here (aha!) is that only those people who have eaten breakfast, gotten dressed, and combed their hair can participate in the project. (Talking sense, making contracts, screaming and yelling, etc. all failed to get Krista to dress herself before 2 PM. No problem now.) Today we made the hectograph. We’ve also done potato printing, gone to a local historical museum, and made tri hexaflexagons and tetrahexaflexagons (from the book HOW TO ENJOY MATHEMATICS WITH YOUR CHILD, by Nancy Rosenberg).
The academic schedule is still in a state of flux. I have been reading aloud to Krista (we’ve finished a Dr. Doolittle book, and are now reading UNDERSTOOD BETSY) about every other night. Sometimes we work on a topic in math, like fractions or multiplication. Sometimes we use Cuisenaire rods, or just paper and pencil, or workbook pages. We’ve just been given a couple of Miquon Math Lab books (GWS #14, 19) and Krista has independently done a few pages in it. We’ve fallen off with the journal writing, which I had originally required daily. I am waiting for our mutual needs to bring about a jelling of our academic time, but one thing six months of home-schooling has taught me is that there is no need to be frantic about it. Something will happen when it is ready.
In spite of all these so-called schedules, we are really very flexible and the kids have a lot of free time to themselves. One of the reasons for the schedules, in fact, is to avoid the arbitrary filling-up of the kids’ time . . .
FROM WESTERNS TO HISTORY
Arlean Haight (MI) wrote:
. . .Just thought I would give you a report on Becky (now 14) and Matt (now 11) . . . The local superintendent did approve our school program. We had incurred a $75 legal fee before the tables were turned for us, but it was worth it. It wasn’t the attorney that accomplished the victory, but he HAD done some Šresearch, for which we were charged, of course. . . .When we took the children out of school nearly two years ago, we had advice from several people, among them Dr. Pat Montgomery of Ann Arbor, Michigan. She told us if we would let the children follow their own interests, and just help them when they needed help, they would learn more than if we put them on a pre-planned curriculum. I respected Dr. Montgomery, and was grateful for her help. But I just couldn’t see any glimmer of hope in Becky. It seemed that 7 years of public school had successfully stamped out any inclination she might have had to learn. By her own admission, she had learned to cram for tests, make A’s and B’s on her report cards, and promptly forget almost everything she had “learned.” Whenever I allowed her free rein on “school,” her one interest was mindless fiction - nothing of any value that I could see. Pat tried to encourage me, but I had the misgivings and insecurities that I see in so many other parents new to home-schooling. I was alfraid Becky would learn nothing at all. So -we embarked on a “curriculum.” It turned out to be just a duplication of the old public school pattern. so I went pretty easy with it, still allowing her freedom, and limiting her fiction reading to what I felt was least objectionable. But Pat was right. It finally happened. This year Becky progressed from Louis Lamour Western fiction to an interest in Western history, then to the history of the United States, and is now in the process of memorizing the Constitution word for word. I am wondering - what public school teacher could ever coerce a 14-year-old into MEMORIZING the Constitution? In addition, Becky has learned to type and is working for her dad, typing letters, doing payroll and other office work. We put her on our business checking account, so she can even sign the checks, though we do check them over before they go to the men. They do NOT have mistakes. . . I never have been able to accept the idea of total freedom in education for children. Maybe I’ve been too affected, myself, by our modern concept of education. The children are required, among other things, to do some math every day, or almost everyday. They also must write something of their choice every week, so we can work on composition, grammar, etc. Both children take to this writing assignment, and Becky, who is required to write three pages each week, will easily write TEN. They can choose their own subject. It can be a report on something they are studying, something philosophical, or fiction. Matt loves Mother Earth News in particular, and much of his reading and many of his projects come from “her” pages. His hope is someday to write an article that will appear in Mother Earth News. He is forever looking for ideas for his article . . .
ELAINE MAHONEY REPORT
From Elaine M. (MA):
. . .Kendra and Kimberlee are fine and continue to appreciate learning at home. We recently met with the curriculum committee, consisting of an elementary curriculum director, high Šschool curriculum director, assistant superintendent, etc. both Kendra and Kimberlee were present and did a fine job of sharing past and future learning experiences and opportunities. The meeting seems to have gone very well . . . I was concerned at first, this being Kendra’s first yar at high school level, but from what I hear, we are going in the right direction for continued good will and support. Kendra has been using the Massachusetts Department of Education Correspondence English course, and has been doing very well. What she especially likes about the course is that she can work at her own pace and receives assistance when requested. What I like about the course is that she does get some feedback in a subject that I do not feel particularly comfortable with, the materials are very reasonably priced, and if the school district expressed a desire for a more precise and objective form of evaluation, then we have available assessment from the Massachusetts Dept. of Education . . . Kendra is a 4-H teen this year. It always seemed a simple matter to meet the home-study needs of general socialization; the girls simply went out into the community and utilized any available resources, library, museums, science education center, YWCA courses, ballet lessons, Park and Recreation sports, etc. But, as Kendra grew older, I was concerned about the availability of opportunities for boy-girl interactions, companionship, and opportunities for learning with, from, and about one another. I am happy to say that 4-H teens have filled this void. The 4-H teen boys and girls work on community projects, organize dances, go on trips together, and study animal care, health, nutrition, gardening, and energy. 4-H provides wonderful opportunities for teens (actually all ages) and encourages self-awareness and development. Kendra went to the State House last week with 4-H and is going to Washington D.C. with them in July. She also has a proposal aplication to request funding of a community awareness project that she has in mind, sponsored by Reader’s Digegst, through 4-H. She is in Tennessee at present, attending the World’s Fair. a family friend extended the invition . . .I could not afford to cover her expenses, so if she wanted to go, she needed to earn the money. Within two weeks’ time she had raised $150. She, along with friends and family, went to flea markets, sold cookies, did face painting, and sold balloons. She also got a job preparing garden soil and got a job cleaning and repairing a sewing machine . . .One of the exciting parts about the trip is that they also plan to go to Kentucky to go to a sewing machine convention, which ties in nicely with her apprenticeship (GWS #23). In the fall, Kendra plans to take a correspondence course in sewing machine repair to acquire a certificate. She has been given “seed money” from her instructor to purchase machines; she is to repair, clean, and then re-sell them to the instructor for a profit, who then sells them for an even greater profit in her shop. Kimberlee is also doing well. She has grown so in independence, finally discovered that reading can be interesting and useful, and is also doing a little typing. She comments that Šshe does not wish to learn to type because it is boring. So I say, fine. But, almost daily, she goes over to the typewriter and will type a word, a comment, or her own name. When I notice the typed comment, I’ll add on it; she, in turn, the next day or next week, will type a response, etc. She may not be learning according to the book, but who cares, she is learning to type. someday I think she’ll realize it. She is also learning to ride a mo-ped and is participating in a National Wildlife Certificate program (you show that your land supports wildlife). As you can see, we have been busy, but loving every minute of it . . .
A NEW ZEALAND FAMILY
Jackie H. (see Dir.) wrote:
. . .You must have been wondering how we have been faring since your visit to New Zealand. Home-schooling as a whole does seem to still be in a very precarious position . . . Even in Auckland, I feel from reading between the lines that the situation with regard to home-schoolers vs. the “authorities” is very uncertain. But our almost eighteen months of home-learning has been really tremendous. The boys are beginning to blossom, in self-confidence and reliance. I thought that you might be interested in one of their escpades. They have been trying to save up some money for a trip to Auckland and Waiheke Island (in the Hauraki Gulf). We have two and half walnut trees on our property. The boys gathered up the walnuts and dried them and took them round to the local fruit shops and orchardists who, in the main, bought them. They then discovered two more walnut trees at the back of a garage in town. The boys have cleaned up these trees too and made about $50 NZ. One day I was short of house-keeping money and didn’t have enough to buy a sack of potatoes, so I told the boys that we’d have rice instead. Everybody said that they didn’t mind and I forgot the incident, until Russell burst into the kitchen later in the day with a smile a mile wide on his face. He had gone round to a local market gardener and traded $3.50 worth of walnuts for a sack of potatoes! (Russell is 11). But that wasn’t the end - oh, dear me no! When the boys ran out of walnuts to sell, Russell went back to the bloke he had traded with and bought the same walnuts back for the price he had been given, took them to anothermarket gardener and sold them for 50% more. So there’s 11-year-old enterprise for you! I think that there goes one home-schooler who will never be a charge on the state. . . Autumn is a good time of year for raking lelaves and Roy and Russell have made themselves useful around town where there are sections with lots of trees. We think that they are creating quite a nice philosophy for themselves regarding money. If they need some for a project, then they set about earning some. If they don’t need any, then they are not bothered. . . .John, when you came to New Zealand and we had that chat, I remember only too clearly what you said to me when I asked you how you saw the boys’ education going in the future. ŠYou looked a bit strangely at me and said, “What do they like doing?” and I said, “They like to read,” to which you replied, “Then let them read.” I must admit that I went away grumbling to myself and thinking, “How on earth does he think we can do that and not have the education board on our backs?” Almost a year later we have found the answer. I don’t know if it is the one everyone would be brave enough to carry out, but we have. We have done, in fact, what you suggested - let them read, along with anything else they wish to do, and my goodness, what a wonderful result. When the children want to read, they read; when they want to do math, they do math, etc, etc, and it is quite amazing what a balanced program they have built up not only for themselves, but BY THEMSELVES. I have had many times when I have woken up in the middle of the night, or in fact not even gone to sleep, and been seized by a very real and sheer panic about what we are doing. After two or three months of this, I pulled myself together and gave myself a talking to, and if it occurs now, as it does, very occasionally, then I get up instead of lying in bed, make a hot drink of Complan, read for a bit (preferably a GWS to give me courage and support), then back to bed . . . We have come across MATHEMATICS: A HUMAN ENDEAVOR (see GWS #7). . .Roy is using it and enjoying every minute of it. Have you ever heard a student unable to stop talking about his math book? That’s Roy. . . There have been some days when Roy has done math all day simply because he has found it absorbing. . . Roy, our eldest son, is a very shy but hard-thinking, hard-working boy. He took off from school at 15 because he couldn’t stand it any more (and my goodness, we only wish he’d never gone at all). He is doing part-time correspondence - math and science - and the rest of the time he spends in reading and writing to his very long pen-friend list. He has friends right around the world, from a boy in the boonies in Saudi Arabia, to friends in Western countries, to a boy in Zambia whose father was formerly Zambia’s representative to the United Nations. We have been lucky enough to come across a potter who is willing to show the boys “the ropes” as far as pottery goes and without cost . . . Roy wrote to the Sea World Park at San Diego for some thoughts and information on the marine life they have there, and he received a great swag of stuff back. He and his brothers are very thrilled and spend many happy hours playing “Islands to Icebergs,” a game which also teaches them about mammals, invertebrates, etc. . .In fact, wherever the boys have written, the doors have opened wide. I don’t think that they have ever been turned down over anything . . .If only everyone realized that most things are there for the asking. . . . . .Roy was invited to audition for a school children’s TV quiz show. He got through the audition and his round of the quiz has now been recorded. It was a singularly hard round and he didn’t get through, BUT the fact that Roy was a home-schooler utterly fascinated the quiz-master. . .Every time there was a break in the questions he was after Roy asking him about home-schooling, so goodness know what will end up on TV!. . .
. . .AND ANOTHER
From David Cambell-Calder, Moehau Community, Sandy Bay, R.D., Coromandel, New Zealand:
. . .I am 36 and so far I have been learner, teacher, “headmaster,” educational broadcaster, guitar teacher, step-parent and now parent of Oliver, 2, the unschoolilng of whose life occupies the forefront of my attention much of the day. My M.A. in French literature and my Diploma of Teaching avail me nothing in the stormy learning process that is parenting! . . .We live on a community farm by the sea in Aotearoa, about ten families, nine resident kids, others who regularly visit. The farm is sufficiently far from the nearest school for children to be enrolled in the State Correspondence School. preschoolers get darn good bundles of stuff in the mail for parents to try and satiate their learning wanderlust. At first grade, the materials subtly alter; the hidden curriculum and must-do start to bind the parent. Parents of school-age kids currently “pool” at a neighboring farmhouse, alternating the supervisor role. This seems to be working rather well, and keeps our community in daily touch with the Port Charles area . . .The Port Charles community unanimously rejected proposed busing principally on the grounds of the condition of the road on the spine of the Meohau range, prone to flood damage at any time. . .Parents are used to and like the (compulsory and free) subsidized correspondence learning, which is a kind of legal teach-your-own scheme of many years standing . Our farm has houses, a pottery and craft area, a recording studio, and envisions further buildings that have the potential to provide for a child a rich learning environment that has absolutely nothing to do with schooling, just learning . . .We really have the opportunity to invent a non-school for them here and keep it free of all but the useful resources of state education (we’ll keep the picture books, thanks). Then what we’ll need is a Holt Associates publication which brings together all the math, reading, etc. “teaching hints” from GWS and elsewhere in one handy paperback
. . .The first room of the complex to go up will be a romping room/gym.
THE IMPORTANCE OF FAMILY
By Wendell Berry, New Age, 3/82:
. . .It was only after family life and family work became (allegedly) unnecessary that we began to think of them as “ideal.” . . .I do think that the ideal is more difficult now than it was. . .Most people now do seem to think that family life and family work are unnecessary, and this thought has been institutionalized in our economy and in our public values. . .How can we preserve family life - if by that we mean, as I think we must, home life - when our attention is so forcibly drawn away from home?. . . . . .I am not nearly so much concerned about (public education’s) quality as I am about its length. My impression is that the chief, if unadmitted, purpose of the school system is to keep children away from home as much as possible. Parents want their children kept out of their hair; education is merely a by-product, not overly prized. In many places, thanks to school consolidation, two hours or more of travel time have been added to the school day. For my own children the regular school day from the first grade - counting from the time they went to catch the bus until they came home - was nine hours. An extra-curricular activity would lengthen the day to eleven hours or more. This is not education, but a form of incarceration. Why should anyone be surprised if, under these circumstances, children should become “disruptive” or even “ineducable”? If public education is to have any meaning or value at all, then public education must be supplemented by home education. I know this from my own experience as a college teacher. What can you teach a student whose entire education has been public, whose daily family life for twenty years has consisted of four or five hours of TV, who has never read a book for pleasure or even seen a book so read; whose only work has been school-work, who has never learned to perform any essential task? Not much, so far as I could tell. We can see clearly enough at least a couple of solutions. We can get rid of the television set. As soon as we see that the TV cord is a vacuum line, pumping life and meaning out of the household, we can unplug it. . .And we can try to make our homes centers of attention and interest. Getting rid of the TV, we understand, is not just a practical act, but also a symbolic one; we thus turn our backs on the invitation to consume; we shut out the racket of consumption. The ensuing silence is an invitation to our homes, to our own places and lives, to come into being. And we begin to recognize a truth disguised or denied by TV and all that it speaks and stand for; no life and no place is destitute; all have possibilities of productivity and pleasure, rest and work, solitude and conviviality that belong particularly to themselves. These possibilities exist everywhere, in the country or in the city, it makes no difference. All that is necessary is the time and the inner quietness to look for them, the sense to recognize them, and the grace to welcome them. They are now most often lived out in the home gardens and kitchens, libraries, and workrooms. But they are beginning to be worked out, too, in little parks, in vacant lots, in neighborhood streets. Where we live is also a place where our interest and our effort can be . . .