Growing Without Schooling - Issue #36

The Jan./Feb. issue of Mother Earth News, which should be out about the time you receive this GWS, will carry an article by me about how to home-school. It will also recommend and quote from Nancy Wallace’s new book BETTER THAN SCHOOL (see GWS #35). I will also write an article for The Progressive about what I call the metaphors of education; not sure when this will appear. And I am talking to the editors of Phi Delta Kappan about doing another article for them, about some simple and inexpensive ways to make the schools a little bit better.

On Sat. Nov. 19 I spoke to a state-wide meeting of school boards in Nevada, saying why I thought it would be in their best interests to allow and support home schooling, without imposing too restrictive conditions. The audience was polite though not enthusiastic. Later the President of the state board of education said to them that there was no longer any question of the state forbidding home schooling, it was definitely legal, and the only question to discuss was under what conditions would it be allowed. For the time being the state seems ready to tell people that they can teach their kids at home as long as they do exactly what the schools do, a condition which most home schoolers (and I) would find too restrictive and not acceptable. But it is encouraging that they are at least no longer thinking about trying to forbid home schooling altogether.

On returning from my Nevada trip, I and our friends the Maher family taped a too-brief TV show with Steve Allen, musician, comedian, and one of the big stars of TV a decade or so ago. He did not learn until he reached the studio that he was going to be the interviewer for our show, so had no time to prepare; but even on this very short notice he asked good questions and was fun to work with.

While speaking in Philadelphia, I met my hosts seven-year-old daughter, Amanda Bergson-Shilcock, who entirely on her own started and runs “A’s Bakery.” It is all her show; she makes and puts up posters, collects orders, buys the raw materials, bakes blueberry muffins and three different kinds of (delicious) cookies, fills the orders, collects the money, everything. I hope in a coming issue of GWS to tell, or to have her tell, her story at greater length.

We are happy to say that in recent weeks we have had the largest volume of book orders in our short history. Thanks for using us. As we,ve said before, one small but really helpful thing you can do is show or send our book list to as many people as possible.

I am leaving immediately for a 10-day trip to the Midwest, which (thanks to some organizing by GWS readers) includes talks at Eastern Illinois U., DePauw (IN) U., Indianapolis, Chicago, Northbrook IL, Kalamazoo MI, Ann Arbor, and Oakland U. (Rochester MI). I will be back in time for the Dec. 8 Open House, and a Dec. 12 meeting with Providence, RI homeschoolers. Ñ John Holt

GRANT COLFAX DOING WELL

From the San Francisco Examiner, 11/6/83:

SCHOLAR WHO NEVER WENT TO SCHOOL LIKES HARVARD Ñ AND IS DOING WELL Ñ It,s a long way from the coastal mountains of Mendocino County to Harvard Yard, but except for a touch of homesickness and normal freshman jitters about grades, Grant Colfax is making the adjustment just fine.

“Things have calmed down pretty much,” said the 18-year-old who drew international media attention after he was admitted to Harvard even though he had never attended school.

Colfax and his three younger brothers received all of their education from their parents at their mountaintop home near Boonville (CA) . . .

Colfax said the media blitz surrounding his first two weeks at Harvard was “embarrassing.” He went from never having watched television to appearing on “The Johnny Carson Show” (”which convinced me I don,t want to be in show biz”), “Good Morning America” and more than a dozen other radio and TV shows.

When he arrived in Cambridge, he was besieged by reporters from as far away as Australia and Germany. CBS wanted a TV crew to follow him during his first day of classes. He refused, explaining, “I figured I had enough to worry about.”

. . .”The change (from studying at home) hasn,t been that bad,” Colfax said. “There is a lot of work. . . The quantity of it. It requires a lot of organization. I have to learn to calm down at times. I have to learn I can,t learn every detail like I could at home.”

That lesson came swiftly. “After my first chemistry test I came out almost in tears because I had done so poorly,” he said. “I felt so bad I called home and told them I might not make it.” His intuition was correct. He got only 54% of the answers right. But on the Harvard curve, that was good enough for an A; 39% was worth a B on the test.

His midterm grades in his pre-med course of studies were an A in math, an A in Spanish and an A-minus in chemistry.

Colfax was one of only nine students selected for a freshman honors seminar on psychological issues in medicine. “There were 90 applications,” said Dr. David Funder, a psychology professor who conducts the seminar. “I wanted to find people able to work independently, who didn,t need to be spoon-fed, who were well-prepared.”

Colfax more than met those qualifications, Funder said. “He,s very energized and well-organized,” the professor said, describing him as a “pretty remarkable young man.”

. . .His lack of formal schooling and the social interchange associated with it haven,t hampered him, Colfax said. “I,m pretty outgoing”. .

“The main thing I miss is the quiet,” Colfax said. “It,s never quiet here. It makes you very tense. I have to get away from it a lot.”. . .

NOTES FROM DONNA

Looking back on our sixth full year of publication, I must say it was an eventful one for the staff. Two left (Peggy and Tim), one got engaged, then married (Pat), one had a baby (Mary Van Doren). Mark Pierce got pneumonia in September and was out for a week; in his absence we hired Mary Gray, who had been volunteering for us, and now both she and Mark are working on the book orders and subscriptions. Mary often brings her lively 5-year-old son Christopher to the office.

Time for a big end-of-the-year “Thank you!” to everyone who has worked as a volunteer for us. Special credit goes to: Mary Maher, for proof-reading GWS and typing letters; Marilyn Pelrine, for mailing renewal postcards every two months; Kit Finn, for proofreading the big Directory in this issue. Other local volunteers who have helped this year in the office or at home include Mary Silva, Mary Steele, Mary Pelrine, Pam Mitchell, Terry Burch, Mario Pagnoni, Ann Gilbert, Danny Desai, Fran Castelluccio, Sue Mojica, Jan Wrotnowski, and their families. Typists outside the Boston area included June and Allen Conley, Bob Post, Nanda Hills, Zeke Cameron, Cheryl Richardson, Kate Gilday, Jeanne Finan, Mary Friedl, Gary Floam, Diane Kephart. Thanks also to the families such as the Prices (Susan, Matt, and Faith) of Florida who helped while they were visiting Boston.

I was surprised at how many entries there were for our “Free Logo Drawing” Ð 78, not counting duplicates (we only allowed one entry per family). The lucky winners were: Randy Pierce, Texas; Freda Davies, Ontario; Nancy Spector, Alaska; Y. Hanus, New York; and Rebekah Cohen, CA. - Donna Richoux

A WIN IN GEORGIA…

There have been two important rulings concerning home-schoolers in recent weeks, one win and one loss. First, the win. As reported in the Atlanta Constitution, 10/26/83:

. . .The Georgia Supreme Court overturned the state,s compulsory school attendance law Tuesday, calling it an “impermissibly vague” statute that fails to define a private school.

In a 4-3 decision, the court issued the ruling in response to an appeal by Terry and Vickie Roemhild of Stephens County, who were arrested two years ago when, for religious reasons, they insisted on teaching their children at home instead of enrolling them in school.

. . .Under the compulsory attendance law, students aged 7 to 16 must attend public or private school. Although the law is clear in its definition of public school, it only vaguely defines a private school. As a result, many home schoolers have complied with the law by registering their homes as private schools.

“Although we agree that the word school, clearly puts one on notice that an organized education must be provided to the child, there are many questions concerning the scope, nature, and place of the education which are left unanswered by the state. . .” said the ruling, written by Supreme Court Justice Richard Bell.

. . .Rusty Sewell, executive counsel for the governor, said Tuesday,s decision means that the law is now in limbo. “Probably what it means is that you couldn,t prosecute under that law if someone is teaching their children at home,” Sewell
said. . .

________

[DR:]  The Justices, legal reasoning concerning “vagueness” drew heavily on the Wisconsin Supreme Court case Wisconsin Vs. Popanz, from which we quoted at length in GWS #34.

Connie Shaw of GEORGIANS FOR FREEDOM IN EDUCATION writes, “The overturning of the compulsory attendance law has created a mixed chorus of government and non-government reaction. A new law will most likely be voted on in this next legislative session which begins Monday, January 9, 1984. Our time is
short. . . If we are to influence our Georgia legislators in forming that new law to include home education, then we must combine forces with all home educators.” The organization urges all Georgia readers to contact their legislators.

________

. . .A LOSS IN MINNESOTA

The second ruling comes from Minnesota. On Aug. 31, a District Court upheld the conviction of homeschooler Jeanne Newstrom of Bemidji. Some quotes from that ruling, written by Judge Saetre:

. . .The main thrust of Mrs. Newstrom,s defense relates to Subd. 2 of M.S. 120.10 and that her “qualifications are essentially equivalent to the minimum standards for public school teachers of the same grades or subjects. . .”

The qualifications for minimum standards for public teacher are. . . a bachelor,s degree which must include a completed course in elementary school teaching and licensed as an elementary teacher by the State Board of Teaching.

Mrs. Newstrom has the equivalent of one year of college in general courses, none of which include any courses in education. Mrs. Newstrom acknowledges her lack of formal training and qualifications but claims that nonetheless she is qualified to teach her own children and offered evidence to compare the results of her daughter,s education with the performance of children in public schools. The trial court sustained objections to this evidence on the ground that it was irrelevant to the issue of whether the defendant was qualified as a teacher. We agree with the trial court,s ruling. The comparison would best be mere conjecture in so far as Mrs. Newstrom,s qualifications to teach are concerned. The trial court construed the word “qualifications” to mean educational qualifications acquired by formal education as well as informal training and correctly ruled that (whether) Mrs. Newstrom was in fact a good teacher or not was irrelevant. . .

Appellant simply does not realize or appreciate that every parent does not have complete freedom in selecting and determining the manner in which her children are to be educated. . .
__________

[DR:]  However, the Minnesota State Supreme Court has agreed to review the Newstroms, case, and attorney John E. Mack is hopeful that the Popanz (WI) and Roemhild (GA) decisions will be influential. Mr. Mack asked John Holt (among others) to file an amicus curiae brief on behalf on the Newstroms, and John agreed. He plans to write more about the weaknesses in this ruling in GWS #37.

OTHER COURT NEWS

Ann Mordes (FL) wrote in the FLASH newsletter:

. . .We are happy to inform all of you that the case in Monticello (Jefferson County) against parents who were operating a “623″ incorporated school was dropped due to “lack of evidence.” The attorney was informed the day before the hearing was to have taken place. . . [DR: The families involved were Gilbert and Theresa Silveira, and Ross and Gloria Johnson.] I,d like to compliment them in their choice of an attorney, Joseph P. Dallanegra, Jr.  Mr. Dallanegra prepared a most thorough and truthful law brief. It was enough to educate not only the State Attorney, but also the Department of Education. . .

__________

A news story reprinted in the Iowa newsletter O! KIDS!:

PARENTS ACQUITTED ON TRUANCY LAW CHARGES -A Muscatine couple who withdrew their children from school to set up a home study program have been acquitted of charges that they violated Iowa,s truancy laws.

Ronnie and Nancy Shuler were accused by Muscatine school officials of failing to provide their three children with an educational program taught by a state-certified teacher and equivalent to public schooling.

But in a ruling filed Tuesday, Muscatine County District Associate Judge James A. Weaver said he was not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the Shulers, home study program fell short of meeting those legal requirements. . .

__________

[DR:]  In GWS #34 we mentioned briefly that the Kirschenman family of Moorhead, MN had won their court case, but that was all we knew. Since then, the Kirschenmans have subscribed to GWS, and Shirley Kirschenman (MN) writes:

. . .I am enclosing a newspaper account of the results of our evidentuary hearing last spring. We WON! Our handicapped child was neglected and worse Ð abused Ð in the local public school. It was just awful what was going on in that classroom. . . He has improved 100% since getting him out of there. I have enjoyed teaching him. . .

At the time we had charges brought against us we did not know of your group or of others, but some of the home-schoolers elsewhere in Minnesota saw the account in their papers and got in touch with us. I must say they were a big help in helping us win the case. Dr. Moore gave us a lot of help and I also had information from John Holt which I gave to the judge as an exhibit. . .

__________

From the local newspaper article Shirley sent:

. . . Becker County Judge Sigwel Wood has ruled that a Moorhead couple does not have to send their 11-year-old mentally and physically handicapped son to Moorhead public schools.

. . .The Kirschenmans have been teaching Stephan at home since they removed him from public school in May 1980.

The judge also held that the compulsory attendance law did not apply in this case. Wood said the laws concerning education of handicapped children provide that parents may send a handicapped child to a school of their choice.

“In this case, Stefan is attending a school. . . insofar as he is being educated at home in all  of the common branches as required for mentally handicapped child, and further. . . Mr. and Mrs. Kirschenman do have qualifications which are essentially equivalent to the minimum standards for public school teachers of the same grades or subjects,” Wood wrote.

Mrs. Kirschenman has a nursing degree, worked as an Army pediatric nurse and also taught nursing at a California college. Mr. Kirschenman is a North Dakota State University engineering professor.

. . .Assistant Clay County Attorney Cathy Mills said the county will probably not appeal the case. Mills said Wood,s finding that the Kirschenmans are qualified to teach Stefan precludes any appeal. . .

__________

Other news in brief:
Awaiting trial: Jimmy Wilson, Vanceboro TN; attorney, Hugh D. Cox —The Millers, Maryland Line MD
Awaiting ruling: The Wilkie family, Alpena MI
Case appealed by state: Sheridan Road Baptist School, near Saginaw MI (GWS #31 and #33).

GOOD NEWS: WA, KY, MS, FL

From the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 10/7/83:

. . .Some parents could legally teach their children at home for the first time in state history if an experimental home-study program is approved today. The state Board of Education is expected to act on the proposal. . . [DR: they did approve it.]

. . .Parents from the Stillaguamish Learning Exchange [see “Helpful Schools”], a two-year-old education cooperative headquartered near Arlington, said they would like to take part in the experiment. They said they would expect to be evaluated like any private school.

About 150 Stillaguamish students are taught at home by their parents who are assisted and supervised by certificated instructors. The program was approved by the state board in 1982, but when the board learned this summer the program was a home-study project, it withheld approval.

Under the state,s attendance law, children from the ages of 8 through 14 not enrolled in either a private or public state “approved” school are considered truants.

The home-study proposal from the state Superintendent of Public Instruction would establish two one-year experimental programs administered through a public school and a private school.

The parents would tutor their own children under the supervision of a certificated teacher, who would be hired by the school.

Teachers would train parents to be tutors and monitor no more than 20 children. Each parent and student would meet with the teacher for at least one hour per week and keep daily progress records. The state superintendent,s office would audit the program annually. . .

__________

From Barb Soper (KY):

. . .I had been told that the process of becoming a home school might take some time and trouble, so I immediately sent for your back issues (to glean all pertinent information) and called Mr. Pat West, Jr., the Superintendent of Non-Public Schools in Frankfort. Within a few days, I was shocked to receive all the necessary information and an application form!. . . I immediately called the local health department and the district fire marshal,s office to request that they inspect our designated school area. Although I had been told that the officials who would be certifying (or, Lord forbid, not certifying) our school were very hard to please and downright rude, I was thoroughly impressed with the courteous, helpful and supportive response from both offices. . . By the end of July, I had received a 100% rating from the health department and the approval and commendation for cooperation from the Fire Marshal!

By the second week in August, our school had become approved by the State Department of Education, and my only other obligation was to notify the County Superintendent of Schools of the children,s names and addresses by October 1, which I did.

Our school was sent data bank forms (which are sent out to all Kentucky schools) inquiring about our curriculum, schedule, philosophy, materials, etc., which I had been told by another home-school family to expect [see GWS #35]. They had told me that I only needed to write N/A across the forms and return them or even throw them away! As I read through the forms, however, I realized that it might be helpful to the State Board of Education if I took the time to reply and to write down the philosophy behind our family,s decision to learn at home. . . As I counted the number of books in our home and listed all of the wonderful things we have been learning together, I became more and more aware of just how committed we all are to our home school. I felt very proud of my children as I reviewed the many accomplishments they have made already. For example, the 7-year-old has taught himself to read with confidence; the children save their own money to help support their new Mexican foster brother, with whom they correspond and have decided to learn Spanish for; the children help teach art classes at a local nursing home and have “adopted a wonderful gentleman to be their “grandfather”; we have taught ourselves the rudiments of Cuisenaire rods, and are learning Latin; the children are carefully raising gerbils and keeping records of the successive generations, eating habits, and all pertinent information that they can gather to go into a book they hope to publish. . . and on and on!. . .

My proudest moment came when I received a phone call from Mr. West only a few days after I had returned the data forms. He was kind enough to call me personally to commend our family on the fine program we had developed and to offer encouragement, praise, and any help we might need in the future. I nearly wept with gratitude for his kindness and understanding, and I realized that the many negative responses to our decision to try home-schooling must have been hurting me more than I had realized. . .

__________

[DR:]  Becky Howard (AR) sent us a copy of the new 10-page Mississippi compulsory education law, and marked the sections related to home schooling. Looks like the Mississippi legislature went out of its way to protect the rights of home-schoolers. (Does anyone know why? Someone must have put a lot of effort into getting these favorable passages included in the bill.) The relevant parts:

. . .SECTION 21. . . (2) The following terms as used in this section are defined as follows:

. . .(e) “School” means any public school in this state or any nonpublic school in this state which is in session each school year for at least 155 school days, except that the “non-public” school term shall be the number of days that each school shall require for promotion from grade to grade. . .

(i) “Nonpublic school” for the purposes of this section shall mean an institution for the teaching of children, consisting of a physical plant, whether owned or leased, including a home, instructional staff members and students, and which is in session each school year. This definition shall include, but not be limited to, private, church, parochial and home instruction programs.

(3) A parent, guardian, or custodian of a compulsory-school-age child in this state shall cause such child to enroll in and attend a public school or legitimate nonpublic school for the period of time that such child is of compulsory school age, except under the following circumstances:

. . .(c) When a compulsory-school-age child is being educated in a legitimate home instruction program. . .The parent, guardian or custodian of a compulsory-school-age child attending any nonpublic school. . . shall complete a “certificate of enrollment” in order to facilitate the administration of this section.

The form of the certificate of enrollment shall be prepared by the State Board of Education and shall be designed to obtain the following information only:

(i)  The name, address, and date of birth of the compulsory-school age child;

(ii) The name and address of the parent, guardian, or custodian. . .

(iii) A simple description of the type of education the compulsory-school-age child is receiving and, if such child is enrolled in a nonpublic school, the name and address of such school; and

(iv) the signature of the parent. . .

For the purposes of this subsection, a legitimate nonpublic school or legitimate home instruction program shall be those not operated or instituted for the purpose of avoiding or circumventing the compulsory attendance law.

. . . (9) Notwithstanding any provision or implication herein to the contrary, it is not the intention of this Section to impair the primary right and the obligation of the parent. . . to choose the proper education and training for such child, and nothing in this section shall ever be construed to grant, by implication or otherwise, to the State of Mississippi, any of its officers, agencies or subdivisions any right or authority to control, manage, supervise or make any suggestion as to the control, management or supervision of any private or parochial school or institution for the education or training of  children, of any kind whatsoever that is not a public school according to the laws of this state; and this Section shall never be construed so as to grant, by implication or otherwise, any right or authority to any state agency or other entity to control, manage, supervise, provide for or affect the operation, management, program, curriculum, admissions policy or discipline of any such school or home instruction program. . .

__________

A home-schooler in Florida wrote to Ann Mordes of FLASH:

. . .The day after I talked to you, Mr. Jones (Health and Rehabilitative Services intake counselor) called and said that I had to have a certified teacher in order to be operating legally. I, of course, told him that he was misinformed, which he very heatedly denied. I asked him where I could see that requirement in writing, and he said Chapter 39. I asked him what it said exactly and he replied that all children must attend school between  the ages of 6 and 16. I asked him where it said that any private school had to employ or have on its staff a state-certified teacher, to which he replied that he did not know right off but that he would find out. We ended our conversation with his assurance that he would let me know where to find a statute supporting his statements. I had also during the course of the conversation mentioned the H.R.S. manual,s definition of “truancy” which he said was not accurate. I asked him to please look it up to make sure. He said he would. He also said that we were definitely going to (you guessed it) COURT! I was chagrined. Immediately upon my hanging up the phone, I started to worry and wonder what I was going to do.

Not fifteen minutes later the phone rang. It was Mr. Jones who told me, very nicely, that I was right about everything that I had said! The definition of truancy, that there was no requirement for any private school to have on its staff a state-certified teacher, and very few other requirements. He went on to say that as far as he could ascertain I was operating within the law (I had mentioned that I was open to the public and that we are supported in part by tuition and/or gifts) and that as far as he was concerned the case was closed and his report to the State (?) would say just that. He asked for a copy of my attendance records and said that was all he needed. . .

A few minutes later I received another call, this time from the school social worker, who apologized for all the trouble and frustration I had been put through. She said that it had been equally frustrating for them as they have received no help or legally-supported information from either the school board or the Dept. of Education. She asked me to send her copies of the papers I have and said that she would be very grateful. She also said that she hoped the role of the school board would be a more supportive one in the future. She also assured me that if she learns of anything I need to be doing to be in compliance with the law she will let me know.

I am taking your advice to get everything in writing. . .Thank you also for putting me in touch with Mr. Dallanegra (attorney). We are arranging for him to conduct a seminar in this area soon. He gave me some advice also and even dictated the affidavit he advised me to send H.R.S. instead of the attendance records that they requested. . .

[DR:  See also “Success in Florida,” GWS #28, page 4.]

INFORMAL SCHOOL IN CALIF.

Karen Olin Johnston (CA) wrote:

The SAN FERNANDO VALLEY HOMESCHOOLERS, of which we are members, has really been growing! At recent meetings we,ve had as many as 13 mothers and 23 children. . . Over the summer we met a few times rather informally, at parks and at the beach. As the school year approached, some of the older children expressed the desire to go to school, to be with kids their age. We decided to organize something among our own children to fill that need. So at present we are having these things happening:

Once a month we meet at a park, all ages welcome; and also famlies just considering home-schooling are welcome. While the children play and get to know one another, us mothers give each other moral support, share resources and news info, discuss GWS, swap stories, etc.

Once a week, part of the group (mostly 7-12 years old) meet at alternate houses for a more formal “school day.” Everyone involved agreed that they were much more eager to sit down to do math or writing if there was someone to do it with. The first week, one mother led singing and beginning music notation lesson with the whole group; then one group worked with Cuisenaire rods while another group solved math problems with some Montessori materials. After lunch the whole group played a game to open them up to creative writing, and on the side there were one-on-one experiences going on with a home computer, the piano, and puzzles. Two babies and two four-year-olds just merged right in alongside the older children.

We,re also planning “field trips” once a week. . . Last week we visited a park which was the estate of a silent-movie star. It had farm animals, old western-style home, nature trail, etc. . .

One thing we,ve all noticed is how well these kids play together. There is virtually no whining, tattling, or fighting. . . One time you,ll see a 10-year-old playing with a 22-month-old, and the next time you see her she,ll be involved in a game with an 8- and a 12-year-old. . .

Our only level of organization is a telephone tree, which operates in a complete circle, so that anyone can instigate communication with the group. Also, as one family had already set up their home as a private school with an affidavit last year, many of the older children are “enrolled” in it this year, as some sort of protection. . .

OTHER LOCAL NEWS

Addresses for all home-schooling organizations are listed in the back of this issue.

ARIZONA: From an article headlined “Home-instruction program earns good marks in first year” in the Arizona Republic, 10/2/83:  “Richard L. Harris, school superintendent in Maricopa County, said he is pleased with the achievement test scores of the approximately 150 children in the county who were instructed at home last year. Of that number, 14 failed to show adequate progress on the California Achievement Test, Harris said. After testing by a psychologist, four of the 14 were denied home-schooling exemptions. I was surprised there were as few as 14 who seemed to be having problems,, Harris said. . . I think the parents who are teaching at home are courageous. They,re challenging us (the public schools) to do a better job. . .,”

The article also said the state had administered 314 proficiency tests to parents wishing to teach their own children, and 214 of those passed. It was unknown how many who failed retook the test later and passed.

FAMILIES FOR HOME EDUCATION published the longest directory we,ve seen yet in a local newsletter - 99 families in the greater Phoenix area.

CALIFORNIA:  A campaign to place the “school voucher” initiative on the 84 ballot has been started. For information, contact PARENTS CHOOSE QUALITY EDUCATION, 1537 Hood Rd, Suite D, Sacramento CA  95825; 916-921-0575 or 444-8725.

Evella Troutt of the L.A. COUNTY CHRISTIAN HOME EDUCATORS ASSOCIATION writes, “We are affiliated with a statewide network dalled CHRISTIAN HOME EDUCATORS ASSOCIATION which is directed by Karen Woodfin and Susan Beatty. We are not locked in with any particular Christian church - most of our members would fit into the historical evangelical framework. Our main efforts have been directed at establishing local support groups, and providing basic guidance and information to prospective home-schooling families. We would be happy to work with any families you wish to refer to us. We do have a county newsletter which is directed toward local news of support groups and field trips. . .”

Janet McCormick, the California State Department of Education Liaison to Non-Public Schools, expects over 5,000 private schools to register with the state in 1983-84, says Pam Pacula in Home Centered Learning, 10/83.

GEORGIA:  About 400 people attended a home-schooling conference featuring Dr. Raymond Moore on Oct. 24-25, according to Connie Shaw of GEORGIANS FOR FREEDOM IN EDUCATION.

HAWAII:  From Barbara Hussey (HI):  “We are a growing group of families here interested in home schooling. . . For now (and this is from a district superintendent of schools), there is no state policy on policing home-schoolers. It is allowed as long as basic requirements are followed: (1) Registration with the Department of Education; (2) 4-year college degree (which we don,t have, but which we feel we can overcome as we have many years in college); (3) Submission of a basic program outline to the district superintendent.”

IDAHO:  Elizabeth Good writes, “It appears that the State School Board here in Idaho is gearing up for a legislative offensive against home-schoolers in the next session of our legislature. The attorney general was asked by the State Board of Education to render an opinion on the state,s compulsory education law as it relates to private and home schools. . . One legislator is drafting a bill based in part on the Arizona law which includes the yearly testing of home-schooled children. Many of the home schoolers are in favor of his bill because it makes us legal., Others of us have a totally different philosophy of testing, and could not in good conscience support such a bill. . .”

INDIANA: The Summer Bulletin of the HOME EDUCATION RESOURCE CENTER listed what it called “an excellent booklet for IN home-schoolers,” entitled INDIANA LAW AND HOME EDUCATION, available from: EDUCATION DATA, 6401 Velmar, Ft. Wayne IN  46815, SASE suggested.

IOWA:  Barb Tetzlaff reports in the O!KIDS! newsletter that the state has appointed a committee to study home-schooling and non-approved Christian schools. A neighbor of the Tetzlaffs, Dr. Gordon Shipp, President of Faith Baptist Bible College, is on the committee, and they loaned him materials on home education, including GWS. Some quotes from the paper he submitted Sept. 16:  “I could not detect one single force that prompted home education. I did find a dedicated group of people that were making real sacrifices to educate their children. They were fine people within their communities. They were not hermits, nor were they withdrawn. Many of the parents were not highly educated themselves in formal processes. They were good communicators and expressive. . . Let us allow them their freedom. . .”

MARYLAND:  Manfred Smith sent back issues of the MARYLAND HOME EDUCATION ASSOCIATION newsletter and wrote, “I have just discovered that you are not on our current maling list! I,m very sorry! You probably have been wondering what is happening here in Maryland. . . When I read in GWS #35 that the Hjembo family was introducing legislation on home schooling, I became very concerned. Our law is fine the way it is (at this time). . . We have sympathetic people in the State Dept. of Ed. Introducing a law would set forces in motion (teachers are very strong in MD) that our few numbers would be hard pressed to stop.  I,ve talked with the Hjembos - their legislator was interested, but is not willing to do anything right now. . .”

MASSACHUSETTS:  Mario Pagnoni (MA) and Elaine Rapp (NH) have given two seminars on home-schooling in Haverhill, MA and Manchester, NH. Mario is giving a slide show and demonstration on “Home Computers and Home Schooling” Feb. 12, 9-noon, at Northern Essex Community College, Haverhill.
MICHIGAN: The MICHIGAN ASSOCIATION OF HOME EDUCATORS has started a newsletter, $10/4 issues. Some quotes from its first issue: “15 months after starting this organization, we have the names of over 800 homeschooling or interested families. . . [At] the Conference in Lansing May 21. . . the final headcount was 940 people. Of those that turned in the questionnaire, 50% were currently educating their children at home. The response given most often by families who weren,t educating their children at home was that their children were too young.”

Pat Montgomery of CLONLARA SCHOOL sent us a clipping from the Detroit Free Press about a State Representative, Timothy Walberg of Tipton, who is teaching his children at home. Walberg is on the state House Education Committee. Pat says, “An associate of Walberg met him in the House chambers when this news broke and told them that he was very upset because Walberg was doing home schooling when, in fact, this other fellow wanted to be the first Representative doing it!”

MISSOURI: Saralee Rhoads of FAMILIES FOR HOME EDUCATION wrote, “The MO/KANSAS HOME EDUCATORS group disbanded a couple years ago, and general consensus was that the state would leave us alone if we kept a low profile. Well, they didn,t. Last year a bill came up which would have made all home educators in our state guilty of a misdemeanor until proven innocent! As a result, our group was formed, and has been growing ever since. In July we had 200 members, and now there are 300+ on the mailing list. We have conducted a study on the nature of home schooling in our state, and are preparing for further legislative battles. . .”

NEBRASKA:   Gary and Marilyn Miller (NE) formed a support group of homeschoolers in August. Marilyn writes, “We have grown to 70 families on our mailing list, many of whom have withdrawn children from the school system and are facing litigation. . .”

NEW YORK:  Harold Ingraham of CALUMET SCHOOL writes, “A network of sorts among New York State unschoolers now exists. I say of sorts, because I abhor the idea of centralization. Therefore, I merely set out to instigate a contact system of like-minded persons. . . Anyone who writes or calls me asking for area contacts will be given the name of their area,s contact leader. A self-addressed stamped envelope will do the trick. I have also suggested that the area leader run a small notice in the local newspaper. . .”
O
HIO:  Ruth Kirchhausen (OH) wrote, “Lynne Leffel asked me to let you know that they did get permission to teach Matthew and Jessica at home. The Geauga County superintendent signed the agreement. . . Also another family in the county got a permit by claiming a religious exemption, neither of the parents having college degrees. So it seems the Leffels, court experience last year (although they were found guilty of truancy) has proven to the superintendent the seriousness of these home-schooling parents and he has grudgingly accepted their presence this year. . .”

ONTARIO:  Anna Myers is coordinator for a new organization, ONTARIO HOME SCHOOLERS; newsletter, $10/year.

QUEBEC:  Another Canadian group, the QUEBEC HOMESCHOOLING ADVISORY, has started a newsletter ($2/year). They sent us a copy of proposed education legislation in the Quebec National Assembly; we don,t know how different it is from the current law, but it does mention as an alternative to school attendance, “receiving instruction at home equivalent, in the opinion of the school board, to that provided at school.”

TEXAS:  The newsletter of the TEXAS COALITION FOR HOME EDUCATION reports, “Governor Mark White has appointed Ross Perot to head a special education commission to study the Texas educational system. . . His preliminary recommendations include the following:  (1) that children should start school at age 4, (2)  that school hours should be lengthened, and (3) that children should go to school year-round. . . Please write Ross Perot today and express your views (Address: EDS, 7171 Forest Lane, Dallas TX  75230).”

WASHINGTON: In GWS #32, we reported that Washington home-schoolers were fighting and supporting several education bills in the state legislature. The outcome, as reported in the Unschoolers, Project: “Truancy H.B. 282 died in the House Rules Committee. . . H.B. 492, a bill that would have extended the compulsory school age, died in the Education Committee. . . S.B. 4095, a parental rights, bill that Debra (Stewart) did not think had a chance to get out of committee, went farther than in the last two years. . . It was caught in a time crunch. .
Next year we have been promised an Interim Study Committee, to examine the present law for constitutionality. . .”

A new home-schooling group in the Spokane area, the FAMILY LEARNING EXCHANGE, has started a lengthy monthly newsletter ($18/year). - DR

THOUGHTS ON “DAY AFTER”

I watched “The Day After” with my friend, neighbor, and editor Merloyd Lawrence, and a small group of her friends. I found the film very well done and often very moving. Early in the film I noticed a surprising reaction in myself. The suspense, as we waited for what we knew would happen, that the bombs would go off, became so unbearable that I began thinking in the back of my mind, “Hurry up, set it off, I can,t stand the waiting.” Later it occurred to me with real fear that many people may have begun or may soon begin to feel that way in real life - since it,s coming sooner or later, let,s get it over with.

After the film was over we all agreed, as has been pointed out in many news stories, that the film enormously underestimated the damage that would have been done by a nuclear attack of that size. The bomb over Kansas City would probably have started a very large firestorm, and at that time of year there would have been enough vegetation in the fields so that the storm would probably have burned its way all the way to and through Lawrence. Most of the injured would have been in very much worse shape than the ones we saw, many of them with massive burns, and many of them blinded like the little boy, since the reflex which makes us look toward a bright light is a very hard one to repress. Radiation sickness in its more advanced stages causes acute diarrhea and vomiting, which was not shown and was only once even hinted at. The problems of raising food would have been far more severe than what was suggested; not only were those farmers, tractors electrically burned out, but they had no fuel, no seed, and none of the chemical fertilizers and pesticides without which our large scale agriculture cannot grow crops at all.

And as my brother-in-law put it, “Whose cellar was that horse in?” Where did that healthy horse come from?

A day or two later I talked on the phone with my sister in New Mexico. She told me that a number of young people in her town who saw the show had an interesting reaction, one I would not have expected. The special effects in the show, particularly the pictures of the injured and dying, were so much less bloody and horrible than the special effects these young people are used to seeing in the crime and horror films they regularly watch that they were bored and disappointed. “Is that all?” they asked. “Is that what all this fuss was about? Big deal!”

Many of you will have already learned from articles in the press about the danger that Carl Sagan in the panel spoke of after the film. There seems to be very strong evidence that even a small (small?) nuclear attack or exchange involving as little (little?) as 100 megatons, would throw so much fine dust and smoke into the upper atmosphere that for several years the temperatures at the earth,s surface would be greatly lowered, probably to well below freezing. Scientists from many countries, including Russia, who have seen the figures and the arguments seem to agree that this is so. I would add something that I have not yet seen in print, that even a much less drastic reduction in average year-round temperature, perhaps as little as twenty degrees, would be enough to reduce our agricultural output by eighty or ninety percent.

This very high probability of what Sagan called “the nuclear winter” seems to me to contain a very strong possibility of hope. For it is simply not true, as Schultz and Kissinger said after the panel, that preventing nuclear war has been the #1 aim of our government, or any government. The superpowers have from the beginning always thought of nuclear war as a possible option, an acceptable if costly and dangerous way to get something they could not get any other way. Both sides dream - fortunately, it has so far been only a dream - of a day when they could, if they chose, drop nuclear weapons on their enemy without having to worry about any being dropped on them in return. In the jargon of the times, this is called a “credible first-strike possibility.” This is what all this talk about so-called Star Wars weapons - anti-missile lasers, etc. - is about. If we could just find a way to destroy all enemy missiles in the air, dream the military leaders, then we could drop ours without any danger of retaliation.

The “nuclear winter,” if this is accepted as being true or highly probable, should put an end to such foolish dreams, and might well give us the reason and impetus the big powers need to do what so far they have never done, despite their talk, which is to get serious about winding down and rolling back the nuclear arms race. For if it is the case that your own nuclear weapons will kill you, no matter where they go off, then even the most hard-nosed general or fanatic hawk (on either side) will soon have to agree that talk about “superiority” or “first-strike capability” or even “equality” makes no sense. A weapon that will kill the person who shoots it, no matter where he aims it, is not a weapon. If 100 megatons, exploded anywhere, will be enough to wipe out most life in the Northern Hemisphere, then even the feeblest wits should be able to figure out that stockpiles of 10-20 thousand megatons make no sense.
So out of all this gloomy talk may come a message of real hope. Let us do what we can to make it so. - JH

FAMOUS UNSCHOOLER

Simone T., age 13, wrote in the 10/83 Hostex Exchange:

. . .Agatha Christie was eight years younger than her sister and brother, Marjorie and Louis. When it was time for them to go to school, their mother, Clarissa Margaret Beochmer Miller, firmly believed in education. Marjorie was sent to a boarding school, and Louis was sent to public school. When it was Agatha,s turn to go, her mother,s views had changed. She now believed that education destroyed a child,s brain and was ruinous to eyesight. Her mother tutored her at home, but she was sent out for certain special classes - art, singing, Swedish exercise, and cookery - just like I am.

Agatha Christie started writing very young. She used to tell stories to her mother every night. One night her mother told her to write the story down instead. Agatha next tried poems; then she wrote a long novel. She said some of the early writing wasn,t too bad, but the whole thing was pretty poor. She later had much encouragement from Eden Phillpotts, a near neighbor, who was also a writer. . .

Her first whodunit, THE MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR AT STYLES, was an attempt to outwit her sister. Marjorie had challenged Agatha to write a mystery that she couldn,t figure out after reading the first chapter. Agatha succeeded in stumping her sister. . .

TWO “SPECIAL ED” KIDS FREE

From Larraine Falk (IL):

. . .I have been educating my son, J.D. (9 1/2), at home for 1 1/2 years. Many times during those years I have wanted to write and thank you for your inspiration. . . If it wasn,t for you, GWS, and TEACH YOUR OWN, we would not have found out about home-schooling, or had the courage to do it.

J.D. always loved learning, he is very curious and creative, and was reading by age 4. By 2nd grade, he read on a 7th grade level. However, while he was in school, I saw his creativity drop. He no longer did art projects at home. He refused to do any work in school unless it interested him. If pressured to do the work, he erupted into tantrums which the teachers were not able to handle and he was sent home. I was truly perplexed by the whole thing as I knew him to love learning.

In the middle of the first grade, we put him in a private school, thinking that the public school was the problem. Things improved, but not greatly. We started meeting with the principal who was also a clinical psychologist. We followed eagerly all of the suggestions of the principal. Most of the time I intuitively felt they were bad suggestions. However, this person was an expert in child development and I was only a concerned first-time parent. Therefore, she must be right. At any rate, her suggestions did not help much.

In the beginning of second grade, the private school would not take him, so we put him back in public school, this time in the behavior disorder class, which was the only way they would take him. Things became much worse. He was being sent home from school several times a week for tantrums. All of the progress he had made in the private school disappeared. At this point we were desperate. We hated parenthood, our only child, ourselves. It was sheer hell. The “experts” even told us we were bad parents and J.D. would probably end up institutionalized.

. . .One day I was watching J.D. in swim class in the bleachers. The woman next to me started talking to me out of the blue, and told me about her son,s problems in school, and how she was planning to take him out of school and teach him at home. I had never heard of home-schooling. The idea hit me like a thunderbolt and I knew that it was the answer. I bought TEACH YOUR OWN on the woman,s suggestion and attended a home-schoolers, meeting in the area. Within a month we had taken J.D. out of school.

Two weeks after home-schooling began, many friends commented to me how relaxed J.D. seemed, how mature he had become, how loving and giving he was, how open and friendly he had become, etc., etc. This was after only two weeks! After a few months of home-schooling, our home life became very loving, warm, wonderful. My husband and I even started to talk about having another child. . . We had definitely not wanted any more children while J.D. was in school! Parenting was too awful. But it became rewarding, fulfilling, and enjoyable. So much so, that we now have an adorable baby girl, Alisa, 3 1/2 months old. . .

Alisa,s arrival has been perfect for J.D.,s emotional growth. He adores her and cares for her. J.D. can,t wait for her to wake up in the morning and be with her all day. Kids sure miss a lot of loving relationships with their siblings when they go to school all day long.

It took about a year for the school wounds to heal, for J.D. to become creative and fully interested in learning again. It has taken me about 1 1/2 years to be able to write about it or really talk about. . .

J.D. gets along with other kids so well now. Socialization in school was a very negative experience. School children seem to love being mean to the sensitive, intelligent ones. J.D. has no trouble making friends now. . .

__________

From Mary Ann Daniels, 7 Birchwood Trailer Pk, Fishkill NY 12524:

. . .You have ended three of the most horrible years of our lives. Our daughter is now a home-schooler.

Since she entered the door at kindergarten, she rebelled against paperwork. She went steadily downhill and me with her. She,s been in three different schools and hasn,t hit a teacher yet who could handle her. Last year we learned she was “hyperactive.” She was thrown on Ritalin by a neurologist. It didn,t help much, and when it was wearing off she had unexplained crying spells. I went to the library to learn more about “hyperactivity” and found Dr. Ben Feingold,s book, WHY YOUR CHILD IS HYPERACTIVE. I placed Judy on his all-natural diet, and we couldn,t believe the change that took place. Her behavior changed, her health changed -but her attitude about school didn,t.

I began reading your books and they helped me understand her better. In fact, your books made me reflect back on my own school years. I began to realize Judy was a lot like me -very selective in what she wanted to learn.

We had a lot of pressure put on us by her second-grade teacher to have her tested. . . Our guilt feelings made us go along with it. The psychologist told me she thought Judy had an auditory language processing problem. I had been told this when she was in kindergarten, but we felt all along her problem was motivation. . . I will never forget the day I had to be at the meeting to label her. I had all I could do not to cry, as I felt I was doing her an injustice. She is about as learning disabled as I am!

Around this time I was in a bookstore and TEACH YOUR OWN caught my eye. I bought it and can honestly say it was the best investment I ever made. I began building a case for Judy to be taught at home. I had kept everything on her (report cards, psychological reports, and my own log). At the close of school I sent an eight-page letter with fifteen enclosures to the State Department of Education requesting permission to home-school her. I had enrolled her with the Calvert School and listed all the texts to be used for her third-grade curriculum along with a week,s lesson plan. The State wrote and told me under the N.Y.S. Education Law I could teach her at home. I just had to present my program to the local superintendent for approval. I brought all the material I had prepared for the State to the superintendent. Two days later I received permission to teach Judy at home.

You can never know the relief I feel. I know my daughter can learn, and a lot better than she was learning in school. Three years of agony are over. Judy is no longer “learning disabled.” I started working with her four weeks ago and I have noticed a change already. She was convinced she was stupid, but now she sees she is learning. . .

RAY MOORE OFFERS CURRICULUM

Dr. Raymond Moore, author of BETTER LATE THAN EARLY, SCHOOL CAN WAIT, HOME-SPUN SCHOOLS, and HOME-GROWN KIDS, is now offering a correspondence course for grades 1-8 through the HEWITT-MOORE CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTER. According to the brochure, the intention is “to provide a program that (1) contains carefully selected Christ-centered materials from a variety of publishing houses; (2) is not too structured; (3) avoids myths and nonsense stories; (4) plans for no formal schooling before about 8 or 10; (5) lists costs clearly and specifies what services are offered (personal counsel, tests, legal advice, etc.). . .” Cost is $250 tuition plus $100-$200 in books. Address for more information: PO Box 9, Washougal WA  98671. - DR

TEEN WORKS AT SCIENCE MUSEUM

From New England:

. . . I was interested in what the mother of teenagers (”Asks About Teens,” GWS #33) had to say and ask. We have been having a similar situation with our “all but” 13-year-old daughter -a restlessness, a desire to have a friend her age. We, also, don,t get together with other homeschoolers (there are none that we know of in this area) and we just don,t know any families whom we see regularly with kids around that age. I know these things would help. We live in the country, fairly isolated and simply. . .

So far we have found one thing that has helped. Since spring, our daughter has been volunteering at a science museum two days a week. To say that she loves it is an understatement! She,s been doing a great deal of work in the museum,s “mount room,” cataloging their collections and learning names (in scientific as well as laymen,s terms) of many birds and mammals in the process. (She quizzes us on the scientific names and we have great times trying to guess what animal it is!) She,s become quite the birder. Occasionally she gets to go on a field trip with the museum,s naturalist. And we all got to go (at special staff rates) on a whale watch sponsored by the museum. (For anyone who hasn,t done that, please do, if at all possible -definitely an experience of a lifetime! Hopefully we can repeat it again and again. . .)

The naturalist, by the way, has been very impressed by both of our children,s obvious love of and knowledge of nature. He said that he,d be more than happy to take them out into the field any time. All the museum staff thinks that it,s wonderful that our daughter has the chance to be doing this and have been very supportive, giving her a range of things to do to broaden her experiences there. Occasionally she will take over for the receptionist, and the accountant wants to teach her some of that. She can use the cash register and she helps get out mailings at times. Everyone has found what a good worker she is and the demand has become high! Her major focus is and will be, at her request, the natural history work.

None of this has meant much interaction with people her age, though there was a teen-age girl there over the summer which was nice for both of them. This particular girl goes to school but has had a hard time making friends there because she is considered “different.” She plays the cello, for one thing, and was so glad to find another kid who thought that was great! She and our daughter went camping and hiking together and had a great summer. It,s been hard for them to get together since school started as they live far from each other.

High school is becoming the issue -to go or not to go next year. We have found a very small alternative high school within reach (though not an easy reach) which we are looking into. School isn,t wanted, but a chance to meet some kids is. Our daughter wants somewhere to go sometimes where there are kids but does not want to give up the museum. This alternative school will take kids part-time, offers internships, independent study, all sorts of things. They work around the student instead of the other way around and think that homeschooling is great. . . May be just the thing. . .

Our 9-year-old son seems to have no complaints and spends his time reading or playing with and observing nature. He says that he,s going to be a scholar, builder of ships -both the water and space type -a homesteader, and a naturalist. Sounds like a busy and interesting life ahead!

John, I wanted to comment on “Spaceship School,” GWS #34. You could have been writing about my niece. . . She will not do anything unless there is a chance of seeing or meeting “cute boys.” Hardly anything is done for itself -what can be enjoyed by simply doing it or what can be learned from it. How sad. When our daughter told her about the museum work, her question was, “Are there any cute boys?” Since the only males at the museum are men rather than boys, her response was, “Oh, I wouldn,t like it then.” I realize that it,s a natural time to begin taking an interest in the opposite sex, but it is not unnatural to have other interests also!

. . .I, too, would like to see more about teens in GWS. . . We know of only one other home-schooling family with a teenager and they live in a different part of the state. . .

HOW SHE MET DATES

Joyce Kinmont wrote in the October Tender Tutor:

. . . Andrea, our social butterfly, has thoroughly enjoyed her three hours a day at the high school, but I hope there will be a better place for the rest of my children to go. The question, of course, is: Can a girl have a social life without going to the high school? And what that really means is: How will she meet any boys?

When Andrea turned 17 this summer we made a list of all the boys she had gone out with in the year she had been dating. There were eleven. Six of them were already out of school. Of those six, two were in our church ward, two she met in plays they were in at the community theater, one she met at a clogging class, and one has been a good friend since she was twelve. Another boy was from a different high school, and she met him at the theater. She did meet four of the eleven boys at the high school, but she also met these same boys at church dances.

So, if she had never attended the high school, her dating life would have been basically the same!. . .

J.P. AND CALVERT

From Kathy Mingl (IL):

. . . J.P. has started 1st grade (Calvert). . . I didn,t send for the course just because it was “time for him to start school,” as nearly everyone said -though I didn,t argue. I asked him if he wanted me to get it for him, and he said he did. This boy has plans, you see -he intends to build helicopters and walkie-talkies from kits, design robots and spaceships, and find out where to prospect for gold, etc., etc. . . He has come to his own decision that he wants to learn how to read and solve number problems (actually, he does know the mechanics of reading, he just has gaps in his theory, and lacks zip). He,s willing to accept schoolwork as a help in practicing his skills, but only in the areas where he needs it -if the games and puzzles are too easy, he loses interest (he says, “The tricky ones are neater”).

For $225, Calvert sent him two boxes of books, instructions, and supplies
-paper, crayons, pencils, etc. J.P. freaked out over the riches -all his! He made me drag the desk we,d saved for him out of the garage and put it in his room right away, and he was stashing all his stuff in it even before he let me finish screwing the legs and handles on -he just climbed over me.

I was a bit intimidated by it all, myself, so at first I tried doing it “by the book,” until I could figure out what the heck I was doing. Well, that didn,t work -for some reason, I felt like a teacher. J.P. got antsy, and I got irritable. Doing a little bit of each subject just long enough for the kid to get interested, and then switching to something else, makes him feel like the whole business is your idea, not his. Asking “know-it-all” questions all the time gets sadly in the way of scientific rapport.

Most of all, I can,t imagine what kind of kid this course is addressed to. It,s true that they tell you to “accept the child as he is,” and modify the program “in the light of his interests and abilities.” The directions say to find out what areas the child has trouble with and make up more lessons for him to practice -but what they do not tell you is what to do with their dratted program when the kid swallows their little morsel of learning whole, not to mention the spoon and half your arm, and then brightly looks up for more. . . It seems to me that anyone who had reached the ripe old age of 5 1/2 would be beyond the speed of this first-grade stuff, and yet, I have it on the authority of J.P.,s godmother, an elementary schoolteacher, that these are the standard texts the public schools use, and the workbooks are much more colorful and interesting -she got quite excited about them, as a matter of fact. J.P. does need work in the areas they cover, not so much for information as to clarify what he knows in his own head, but he has a naturally wide range of interests, and a good ability to duplicate what he sees and hears, so he “curriculum” has to be considerably padded out.

For instance, the other day we were supposed to “review the sound for the letter b” by means of my printing the words bed and bat on a sheet of paper, telling the “pupil” what the words are, and asking him if they begin with the same letter, and also the same sound! Well, what we did do was skip that part entirely. I think I,m going to have J.P. just do the test pages until we get to something with a little meat on it. We zipped through the workbook exercise; I was supposed to tell him what the pictures were, and ask him if they started with the same sound as “bug,” but really, it,s not safe to insult J.P.,s intelligence like that -I told him what they wanted and let him figure it out for himself. Then we hit the next lesson, comparing rhyming words, but instead of the incredibly tedious process the directions called for, we made up stories, with J.P. writing down all the words he could think of that ended with the same sound, and both of us trying to fill in the action: “Dad was sad when his boy was bad. Mom was mad and said You cad! Is this a new fad?, So she spanked her lad with a paper pad, and when she stopped, he said, Gad, am I glad!,” Pat and his adventure with the ubiquitous rat was another classic.

The next day, J.P. did several lessons in his arithmetic workbook, which involved learning to draw the numbers 0-9. Of course, he knows those already, but he had never considered them in the light of legibility, which is rather a different problem from merely recognizing them. He was quite interested, but he naturally objected a bit to doing it exactly the way the book said to. I didn,t insist, but I told him just to try it the way they suggested and see what worked best, because the main thing was to be able to tell what they were supposed to be, and beyond that, you can get as fancy as you want. (I had showed him my ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PHOTOTYPE STYLES which has 5,000 letter and number designs.) He wrote 0-9 all the way through several times, galloped on through 19, noticed that 10 + 10 = 20, and then got all excited about a dot-to-dot puzzle in his workbook. He dragged all his dot-to-dot coloring books out and did puzzles for the rest of the day, some of them with numbers up to 60! (I think those are very good, by the way, especially the ones that include letter-dot puzzles as well, because he practices things like “What comes after K?”, not just saying all of them straight through, like the alphabet song. I get mixed up on those, too.)

With science, J.P. is so busy with his own lines of investigation that he goes for long stretches without any interest in the book. Then one day he did five plant experiments (sprouting seeds in dark and light, rooting cuttings, collecting different kinds of seeds, etc.) in one morning. Letting him figure the pictures out for himself and staying out of it as much as possible seems to work best. The next lesson mentioned “reptiles” on the first page, and we never got beyond that -we looked the word up in the dictionary, went through his REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS book, looked up where boa constrictors come from on the globe, got off into geography, magnetic poles, geo- vs. helio-centrism, Galileo, official persecution, and the theory of continental drift.

. . .By the way, another area where J.P. and Calvert part company is this “correct study posture” business. When J.P. works, he stands, kneels, or sprawls. When he is especially happy about what he,s doing, he bounces, hops, dances, or “flies” (flings himself at things). When he,s tired of doing something, he falls down in a heap. When he,s excited (because they thought they could fool him, but they sure couldn,t! He,s too smart for them!), he spins like a whirlwind. He does sit sometimes, but it,s mostly in my lap, and if he,s still, it,s because he,s parked somewhere, like on the floor when I,m trying to make supper. J.P. can,t be creative without getting his whole body into it -there,s so much energy it just has to spill over. (”Dear, dear -hyperactive,” right?)

All of this may sound like tepid approval of Calvert, but really, they have a very nice, consumer-oriented product. The fact that they,ve been in business for over 75 years lends a certain comforting respectability to the situation -something to fall back on when you have to defend yourself from people who can,t see the real issues. Of course, their “Advisory Teaching Service” is another $130, and they don,t give you any certificates or other impressive pieces of paper to flash at relatives or officials without that. I can,t imagine J.P. and any “advisory teacher” seeing eye-to-eye, any more than he and a public school teacher would, so we dispensed with that. . .

I know this is old stuff to you, but it,s become very real to Tony and me right now that slowing J.P. down into a narrow, public-school kindergarten pattern would be about as useful to him as chopping a baby bird,s wings off in order to teach him to walk. J.P. is still very little -his attention is flighty, and his self-discipline almost non-existent. His social development is healthy, but rudimentary; his grasp of ethical principles is remarkable, but elusive in application. If he does go to school eventually, I want him to have all those things down first, including being able to hold his own when he knows he,s right, even in a difference of opinion with an adult. . .

LIFE AT HOME

From Virginia Schewe (IL):

. . . Our home school (Hookdale Christian Academy, Inc.) is sailing along with ever-increasing success. After the initial rebellion against anything that even remotely resembled public school structure, the youngsters have made and settled nicely into their own tailor-made schedules. . .

Since we are a farm family, quite a number of our science projects are closely tied to agriculture. The latest project is a fish farm -complete with 10-gallon aquarium for the showy stuff and a five-gallon nursery tank. . . The long winter days don,t look so long any more with the fish to care for. . .

Both boys did a man,s work in the fields this past farming season, and they feel good about themselves! We put them on the payroll and they did a swell job. . .  Mark (14) learned how to operate the combine and he also drilled (planted) over 100 acres of wheat this fall. Bill (13) did most of the disking and field cultivating just ahead of the planter, plus hauling the harvested grain. Marsha (9) was the radio dispatcher -we use two-way radios to keep track of everyone, since most of us are strung out over a 5-mile-long area during farming season. She has “patch-through” mastered. And all this in addition to the regular reading, writing, and rithmetic.

Quite by accident this summer, I opened the doors to genealogy and suddenly history became very interesting to the youngsters. After we discovered that a great-grandpa had been in the Army during the Civil War, did a little research in the service records, traced his path, and read about the battles he had taken part in, the Civil War wasn,t just some old dumb scrap any more. . .

__________

From Robyn Midouhas (NJ):

. . .We are keeping our 6-year-old son Stephen home this year. Last year he attended a private Christian school which we felt was too structured. We are using an informal curriculum (Dr. Raymond Moore,s) with him and he is spending time in my husband,s architectural office each week.

. . . Our public school system has been very supportive -not that they totally agree, but they will leave it up to us. We didn,t even have to show a curriculum!

. . . Since we,ve started home schooling, we look at everything in life as a learning experience. . . We bought a set of World Book encyclopedias and are constantly using them as a reference. . .

__________

Billie Jean Bryant (GA) wrote:

. . .Channel 11 in Atlanta is doing a 30-minute feature on home schooling. We are to be filmed and I plan to have the children simply doing what they usually do: some studying and reading; constructing sound equipment; doing needlework; playing guitar and flute; cooking; caring for goats, snakes, and dogs; studying birds; assisting the handicapped to ride horses; learning gardening from neighbors; canning; dancing; skating; fishing. . . Do you think they,ll get it all in? But somehow we,ll try to give an overall picture. . .

MORE ON SAXOPHONE LESSONS

Pat Farenga,s continued adventures with the sax (GWS #34):

The store was neatly arrayed with displays of various musical instruments. . . Noticing the 8 x 10 glossy photos of famous contemporary horn players that hung below the shiny new saxophones, I felt a bit intimidated. They were all inscribed to this effect, “To Emilio, Thanks for your help. Best, Sonny Rollins.”

What am I doing here? I thought. . .

“Can I help you?” asked the man with curly white hair who stood behind the counter.

“John Payne sent me here. He told me to ask for Emilio.”

“I,m Emilio. What can I do for you?”

“I just had my first sax lesson yesterday and I,d like to rent a tenor sax.”

“I don,t think we have any in stock. Let me check.” Emilio returned empty-handed. “I don,t have any used tenors. I can let you have an alto; it,s cheaper.”

“I just started and I really want to play tenor.”

“Are you a full-time student in town?”

“No. I work as a dorm director at the Boston Conservatory.”

Emilio was very unimpressed. I quickly added, “And I work part-time at Holt Associates. It,s a small company on Boylston Street.”

Emilio looked at me cannily, then he said, “I trust you. I,ll tell you what. I have a new Yamaha tenor I can rent you.”

“That,s great! Just show me how to take care of it.”

“I,ll show you everything you need to get started,” Emilio said as he left me. The sax he gave me was still wrapped in its original packing. Emilio told me how to assemble and maintain it, then turned the sax over to my charge.

Later that day I went back to my dormitory and unpacked the sax. I examined it closely, trying to see how its labyrinth of holes, connections, and levers work. I then strapped the sax around my neck and prepared to hit one of the three notes I learned the day before. It was astounding! I spent at least ten minutes blowing into the thing and all I got out of it was a blue face. I removed the mouthpiece from the sax and tried to make some of the obnoxious sounds we made during yesterday,s lesson. After some experimenting with different mouth positions I finally found the one that produced the proper noise. Then I tried to make the noise again. I was walking around my room, carefully squeaking and squawking when I heard a loud knock on my door, followed by a dorm resident,s concerned and baffled voice, “Are you all right, Pat?” I knew then it was going to be a weird experience learning something new.

One thing neither John Payne nor anyone else ever warned me about the saxophone is that it numbs your mouth into granite. When a player,s “chops” were described as good or bad, I thought they referred to their improvisational originality, not to their facial muscles. As I rubbed my numb jowls and massaged the back of my jaw bone below the ear, I realized what “chops” are: the limits of one,s blowing abilities.

I worked on the first four lessons in my Tune-A-Day book, and by the next week,s lesson I was able to play “The Little A and B March,” “Merrily We Roll Along,” and other timeless favorites of the sax repertoire.

My second lesson included information about slurring and tonguing notes, both aspects of playing that I,m still working on. John told me to read and do the material but to go on before mastering it. “Don,t get hung up on this stuff. If it doesn,t come, skip it for now. The important thing is to keep you getting a consistent sound from the instrument.” During that lesson John showed me how all the notes I learned in the previous lessons could be put together to form the scale of D major. “Once you learn a few more scales we,ll have you improvising, and even in the choir,” John would tell me. John always reminds me where my practice and lessons will lead me and what I can do with the knowledge I,m picking up every week. Everything -improvising, playing in the Choir, playing in a small ensemble, learning my favorite songs off records -all of these are made to be within my reach. That,s something that gets neglected a lot when you,re learning something new; seeing how you can benefit from it in the long run.

It is especially nice knowing that no one but me decides how fast I will be traveling towards these goals. If I stop for a breather while I do something else, my lessons slow down accordingly; if I whiz through my assignments, John will load me up with more than enough to keep me busy. My proficiency on the sax is still in the very green beginner,s stage, but that,s not important to me now. Now that I,ve started and gotten sounds out of it, I feel ready to dig in for the long haul. I haven,t any desire to become a card-carrying musician, but I do want to be able to get together with a group of like-minded folks and play “Satin Doll” with some skill and creativity.

. . . What was very helpful in getting me to enjoy practicing was learning a Blues Scale in my second lesson. John Payne told me to just “mess around with it” at the same time I was doing Lessons 4-10 in the Tune-A-Day book. The Blues scale sounds so good on the sax; and since the blues is the basis of Jazz and Rock and Roll, you realize you can do exciting things with this readily identifiable sound.

(To be continued.)

A SINGLE PARENT,S YEAR

From Lynne Norris (IN):

Jan. 11: This is a very hard letter to write. I feel very much a failure.

The reason being that I,ve had to put my son, Daniel, into school. It is every bit as awful as we expected. But finally life on working welfare in New York City became absolutely untenable. I moved back to my old home town in Indiana in hopes that financially things would improve. They haven,t. Being a single parent, the financial burden falls on me. I have very little earning power as it is, and none of my cottage industry skills can support us any more. I have no one who can watch Daniel while I work, he is too small to leave alone eight hours a day, and I cannot afford to pay anyone to look in on him. We live in a fairly isolated area. When I say he would be alone if left as a latchkey child, he would really be alone. The only babysitter I can afford is the school system. We feel awful. Especially since the first words out of the new principal,s mouth were that children who misbehaved would be paddled.

I wasn,t “done in” by the school system. I was done in by Reaganomics. I can,t even renew my subscription. I don,t have as much money off of welfare as I did when I was on. . . Out here I couldn,t even look for work with a small child in tow. I guess my advice to other single parents is to stay in the largest metropolitan area. Situations can be much more flexible that way. . .
__________

John wrote back:

. . . 1) Cheer up! The game isn,t over yet.
2) You,re not a failure.
3) We,ll keep sending you GWS, at least for this year. Maybe you can get us some other subscriptions, or perhaps an ad for the magazine.
4) Don,t worry quite so much about the school. The school game is not hard to play, once you know it,s a game. It,s a dumb, boring, stupid, often cruel place, and it,s a shame children should have to waste so much time there, but any smart kid, and I,m sure your Daniel is smart, can figure out how to do most of the things s/he has to do, and how to stay out of such kinds of trouble as s/he could get into. Think of school as a game which you and he have to play together for awhile, perhaps no more than a year or two. Perhaps much less.
5) I don,t know whether Daniel is too young to be a latchkey kid. Why not let him be the judge of that? Say to him, “Here are the choices: play the school game, or be at home alone during the school day. Which do you want to try?”
6) I looked on the map, and see you,re not far from Louisville, where we have some homeschoolers. I know some of them, and they are very nice folks. . . Why not make contact with them? It would probably encourage you to meet some of them and go to some of their meetings, etc. Get them to put you on whatever mailing list they have. If for any reason life at school gets very bad, you might be able to send Daniel to spend a few days, or a week, or more if you both like, as a kind of vacation from school. Someone over there might be able to find you a job, or help you find one, or take care of Daniel during the day, or whatever.

Don,t despair! There,s lots of time left to run, and plenty of friends out there, and some of them not too far away. Write again soon, tell us how things are going. Good luck to you both. . .

[Lynne wrote in May:] . . . I was able to locate only one family in Louisville. We did get together one evening socially, but the mother is somewhat ambiguous about what she wants for her son. Also her children are younger than Daniel. . . They are, however, knowledgeable and friendly people. . .

After I put my son into school in January, I met with the new Superintendent of the New Albany-Floyd County Schools, Dr. Tracy Dust. He willingly spent two hours with me, discussing my past experience in teaching, gifted education advocacy, curriculum ideas, homeschooling, and what mutual exchanges we might have. Dr. Dust said that if I decide to homeschool again that he would like to work with me rather than against me. He is familiar with the concept and practice of homeschooling from other school districts he has served. . .

Daniel has found that school is as boring as we thought it would be. . . I must admit there was some curiosity on both our parts as to whether he could “make it,” when many had accused us of living in a fantasy world. Daniel adapted to school within two weeks. The kids like him, despite his inability to understand the hostility between boys and girls. I have explained this to him, but he still doesn,t like it. Though his first reading test came out a year below grade level, I did not pay much attention to it. . . He had never had a standardized test before. The general attitude was “We told you so.” After two weeks the teacher was kvelling over how well he could read, how well-behaved, how intelligent, etc., Daniel was. . . He finished the year in the top quarter of the class. We refused to get caught up in the notion of rushing to beat schedules, feeling guilty or “bad” for talking in the lunchroom (they are not allowed to talk at lunch time), or just plain bad scholarship that came out of the school in the form of textbooks, announcements, and misinformation. . .

The children who attend the school are, for the most part, what might be termed “culturally disadvantaged.” . . . These children,s lives revolve around their family, the shopping mall, and television. . .

Since Daniel had to do 14 book reports in the half year, as opposed to the other children having all year to do the 14, he quit reading for recreation. He finished the reports about four weeks ago. Last night he picked up his first book for fun. He did win a two-county writing contest. He won for a prose piece on the baby bird we raised last summer. The piece was written in December, before he went to school. . .

We have been continuing an art class held at a local art supply store. The teacher is one the school system laid off. She is quite good and Daniel loves going. He also takes dancing lessons and is an excellent swimmer. This summer we will also do an art project and a natural history project for the county,s Mini-4H exhibit. Again, this is stuff the school does not do. . .

What this school experiment has demonstrated is that we were right, Daniel and I. We also learned that sometimes we have to compromise and adjust, but that we can survive once we know the game, as John said. . .

As to this fall, it seems unlikely that Daniel will go to school. I have been very lucky in picking up a class to teach at the local university in Freshmen Composition. . . Daniel can wait in the student lounge while I teach. . . Also, I may do some teaching for another university. . . If I have just two classes to teach we,ll do OK. . .

Nov. 11 . . . My negotiations with Dr. Dust continued throughout the summer. I brought him my homeschooling records, stressed my growing knowledge of community resources, and my interest in current trends regarding all types of schooling. I introduced him to Daniel. . . Though Dr. Dust and I have points of philosophical disagreement, he has been very generous with his time, and we have developed a mutual respect for one another,s position.

. . . The upshot is that we have permission to homeschool. I do send in informal end-of-month reports, though these are not requested. I want to demonstrate my cooperation so if anything unpleasant should occur, my cooperation, good planning, and record-keeping would be evident. . .

Daniel and I spent the summer gardening; working on the 4-H exhibits; visiting museums, an industrial site and a health care facility; attending on-going programs at the public library; and digging one day at an archeological site.

. . . I,ve had a little better luck at job hunting. . . The state vocational college hired me to teach English and a third college asked me to direct a play for them in the spring. In each instance Daniel can go with me, sit in the student study area, and do his work. Anybody who has tried “adjuncting” knows how little it pays. Teaching, preparation and grading time brings the wage to $4 an hour without any benefits. But it does allow us to homeschool, and that,s something no other jobs around here could do.

This fall Daniel is still taking art class, but has traded dancing for a children,s bowling league. He has fallen in love with anything that flies, prompting unsupervised building of plane models, massive library research (he found out who the Wright brothers were a week before I was going to have him look them up), and the keeping of a journal which includes names of planes, names of models he wants, sketches and ideas for things that fly. There is a lot of hot-air ballooning around here, so we try to see that as much as we can. Neither a school nor I could have gotten Daniel to do as much writing and record-keeping as his own interest in flying has done. (Incidentally, we have found that any kind of oil or acrylic paints do fine on plastic models, thereby saving buying expensive model paint.)

I have done two impromptu lectures on homeschooling in my classes, since my day students noticed that I had a 9-year-old in tow. Only a few thought it odd, but I suspect that is because what the locals call a “laid-back attitude” is actually mental inertia. . . About half had not been inside a public library for years, so I took them on a field trip. None knew how to use the card catalog. . . They had no idea that the library contained technical books, best-sellers, records, pictures, or children,s books (some are parents). Theses students must have a high school diploma or a G.E.D. to enroll in the school. This is beyond sad. This is tragic.
So, though our finances remain at rock bottom and we have huge waves of homesickness for New York City, the home of our hearts, we are able to get on with the important work at hand: learning, living, and caring in the way that is best for us. . . As soon as my November checks are in I will pay for this year,s renewal to GWS and I graciously thank you for the past year,s freebie. . .

RESPONSES TO “ON GUILT”

From Susan Jaffer (PA):

. . . I,d like to comment on John,s response to the mother who felt guilty (GWS #33); it was excellent. La Leche League receives many letters on the subject of guilt, and their replies usually center around the statement that they present ideals. I always suspected that many of the mothers weren,t guilty at all, but resentful. They were uncomfortable with the idea of natural childbirth, they didn,t bond with their newborns, and they didn,t want to breastfeed - at least not the League way. So there was LLL telling the world about all these things that are best for babies, and that naturally generates a lot of hostility and defensive behavior in those mothers who aren,t giving their babies the “best.”

. . . This is not to say I,ve always been the perfect breastfeeder or unschooler; in fact, I managed to totally foul up my first nursing experience. Sure, LLL,s newsletter occasionally reminds me of those mistakes, but that doesn,t dilute the fact that it helped me enormously when I successfully nursed my second and third babies.

As for GWS, some of its ideas have been entirely new to me; some I don,t even agree with (yet?). But many of these ideas have inspired me to make some changes. I have to confess that for years I inadvertently discouraged my children from exploring new areas of capability because of my aversion to mess-making (I have a terrible time with my own messes and can never keep up with them) and lack of patience. GWS is teaching (did I say “teaching”?) me to change my ways. I,ve also learned that while being a good talker has certain advantages, it is also a good idea to refrain from reacting verbally to one,s children once in awhile. (A nice way of saying I,m learning to keep my mouth shut.) And on the positive side, GWS has enabled me to see that in many ways I have provided a wonderful home school for my kids. We are all ravenous readers, enthusiastic artists, and ever-curious explorers of nature.

One of the things I like best about your newsletter is that it reflects your open attitude. That is, you share letters from people who are doing home schooling in a multitude of ways - or not doing it at all. All of their opinions count, they are all treated with respect - and no one is ever made to feel guilty. . .

_______

Toots Weier (WI) wrote:

. . . The article John wrote (”On Guilt,” GWS #33) about his friend criticizing GWS for writing so much about “Superkids” was very interesting. I had wondered myself why so much was written about the above-average home-schooled children, those who are not only very intelligent but also have a great variety of interests. I found John,s reply to be very important.

Forest (8) has never had a vast assortment of interests. Before he could read, he drew picture after picture, every day. I marveled at them all, each one unique and so very special. I believed he had a genuine talent in art, but knew of nobody who could encourage him to pursue it in a way that he would benefit and expand his talent.

Now that he can read, he reads a great part of the day away. It,s been months since he,s drawn a picture. I believe that through his reading he will also be exploring and may find new interests through that.

For a short while he was very interested in violin. I had taken him to a Suzuki class so that we could sit and watch. He thought it looked like fun, and was sure he wanted to start lessons. Well, as it was, we couldn,t start right then, and now that we can, he,s lost interest. I was really looking forward to hearing music in our home. . . I,m thinking that possibly sitting in on a class again will spark his interest.

I don,t think the lack of interest in our children points to them as being lazy or careless. It,s more a matter of what they are exposed to and what,s available. In town, 20 miles from here, the children,s theater was holding auditions for a Christmas play. I asked Forest if he was interested in trying out and he said NO. It would have meant a lot of chasing around, but I was willing to do it if he had been interested.

I did check out 4-H while they had a booth set up at the county fair. Since then I got a call from a very friendly woman who gave me all the information on 4-H. I passed it on to Forest and he is rather excited, especially since they encourage the participation of parents. The only drawback is that 8 years is the youngest age that can join which leaves Horizon Blue (5) out. He is very disappointed, but that will be a very special time for either Steve or myself to have with him while Forest is at the meeting with one of us. . .

DISAPPROVING RELATIVES

[DR:] A number of recent letters have mentioned the same issue. Some excerpts:

. . . Our only problem now is the fact that my folks are adamantly against this decision. My father was a school superintendent. . .

__________
. . . My husband,s mother is opposed to home-schooling. She doesn,t feel that an “untrained” person knows enough. But she taught all her five children music and most of them can play beautifully. . .

__________

. . . The most difficult thing is when people you love openly disapprove of what you,re doing. My parents were visiting for two weeks this summer and were constantly on my case about sending my son to school. They truly love him and are worried about him and no amount of talking convinces them that this is best for him. They are sure he,ll grow up to be a social misfit. The fact that he reads and writes far beyond his years is actually a point against him. “He,ll be too smart to have any friends.” I can,t win!
He does have lots of friends of all ages but they really believe he needs to be with a group of 30 kids his own age! When I recount some of the cruel treatment he suffered in school, they say he has to learn to “take it” or he won,t survive in the outside world.
. . . Nothing I say helps. They think this is just another of my rebellious streaks. . . I,d be interested to hear how other homeschoolers cope with beloved grandparents who greatly oppose homeschooling. . .

__________

. . . Most of our relatives will be totally against this (as if it is any of their business), as they are about our lifestyle and macrobiotic vegetarian diet. They,re already asking if our son can count numbers, blah, blah, blah.
When we make our decision about how we plan to handle the letter to the superintendent, I would like to give a copy to those asking. I would like to tell them not to discuss this subject in front of our children, as I don,t want them being hassled, like “Don,t you want to go to school?” and “You,ll have to learn to eat other foods,” etc. . .

__________

. . . A recent visit from my parents included a rather unsatisfactory discussion on homeschooling. They have been silently disapproving since I first hinted at the possibility we might keep our children home, about three years ago. We had all conveniently avoided any further discussion on the subject until their last visit. I was very patient, but became inwardly very frustrated with them. I tried giving them factual information, stating the legality of homeschooling in this state, why we wanted to, etc. My parents are difficult to begin with, but the whole conversation left me feeling like I,d wasted my breath. I offered them the opportunity to read material I have, and gave them two of John,s reprints. They think it is illegal, we,ll wind up in court, they could never have taught me, and what,s wrong with sending your child on the school bus with his lunch pail and having him come home again with all his papers to show you?

I finally decided they are defensive because they consider my doing things differently as an accusation that what they did with me was wrong. I guess they are that insecure about having raised four kids that they can,t look beyond that to see that they raised four very good human beings who are all doing well. I,ve made special attempts to praise them as parents and grandparents. . .

J.P. MEETS HOMESCHOOLERS

More from Kathy Mingl (IL):

. . . About the same time that J.P.,s schoolwork came, Tony turned the wood-working business over to me and took a job as an electronics employment counselor. . . J.P. is naturally saddened that his daddy has to be away from us all day, but in a way, his schoolwork helps with that, because now he has something just as important and impressive to do during the day that he can surprise Tony with when he gets home. (and of course, J.P. is entirely in favor of making money.)

Still, it,s a loss, and he feels a bit isolated with his friends off at school, so we called up a homeschooler in Arlington Heights, and got in touch with the HOUSE group in that area. We went to one of their open-house meetings at Susan Oldberg,s house in Northbrook, so that J.P. could see other kids who go to school at home. Boy, did he see other kids! They had a guy who,d raised a wolf give a talk and show movies, and the place was swarming. J.P. was a bit overwhelmed at first, and spent a lot of time in my lap, but then he found a cat, a friend, and a geodesic jungle-gym sort of thing, and when it was time to go home, I thought I was going to have to lasso him. They go on field trips, too - J.P. would like that, I,m sure.

I was feeling a bit flattened at the time, myself, because now that J.P. is actually “school-age,” some of the people who were supportive of our ideas are deserting the ranks. One of our favorite relatives has become unexpectedly critical of us (though she couldn,t come out in the open and tell us), and I was inclined to feel rather puzzled and hurt. I talked to some of the homeschoolers at that open-house about it, though, and one of them, Kathy Catino, who gave J.P. and me a ride there, nailed it down pretty good, I thought. She said that people who know they should be doing something like homeschooling but are terrified of going against the norm feel threatened when they hear about it, and that makes you almost an enemy. It,s not that they don,t agree with you, it,s that they do, and it scares them to death. Tony and I were very struck by the logic of that, and it made us feel a little better.

As it turns out, I,ve talked to this relative since, and though I can,t say the situation is resolved, she did tell me that her youngest boy had begged her to let him stay home from school this year, and she had refused because she didn,t feel she could handle it. So there you are.

. . . Just started reading GWS #35. . . I would like to comment on Sue of Seattle,s “Thoughts After Six Years”: obviously she and her family don,t like things like keeping journals and going on “field trips,” but speaking in mild defense of such things, if you enjoy something, it isn,t “fakey.” As she says, it,s thinking up activities you don,t care about, for someone else,s approval or admiration, that,s fake. . .

WHY DID THEY STOP?

We need to hear, and are very eager to hear, from families whose children were for a while homeschooled but have for one reason or another now gone back to school. Some of the things we would like to know are:

1) Was it mostly the children or the parents who made this decision about going back to school?
2) If it was the children, was it mostly because they were tired of homeschooling and just wanted a change; or because there was some particular study or sport or activity that they wanted to do at school; or because they mostly wanted to check out the social scene and meet a larger number of other children; or if something else, what?
3) If it was mostly the parents, decision, what were their reasons? Lack of time, pressure of other commitments, resistance from the children, or what?
4) Did the children go back to school with the understanding that if they didn,t want to stay, they did not have to, and could always go back to homeschooling? Or did they go with the understanding that, like most children, they were going to have to stay in school whether they liked it or not? Or was there perhaps an understanding that they would have to stay, like it or not, through some definite time period, after which the question of going or not going could be opened again?
5) What have been some of the experiences and reactions of the children going back to school? If they had gone to school before they homeschooled, do they like school more, or less, this second time than they did the first time? Do they like being at school more, or less, than they expected to? If there are some good things about the experience and some bad, what are some of these? Do they feel they are treated in any special way, perhaps unkindly, perhaps kindly, by the school because of their previous homeschooling; in other words, is the school punishing them for having been homeschoolers, or does it seem to be going out of its way a little to make them feel at home and welcome, or are they just treated pretty much like the other kids?
6) Do they have any trouble with the schoolwork, and if so, with what aspects of it?

We tend to feel here that a family which has been teaching its children at home does not stop being a homeschooling family just because the children want to try school for awhile, as long as the parents continue to offer the children the choice of homeschooling if they want it. Only if that choice is withdrawn and the children are told that they have to go to school whether they like it or not, would we feel that the family had given up homeschooling. If some of you have truly given up homeschooling, we would like to know some of the reasons why, if you care to tell us. We will not (or will do our best not to) try to argue you out of your decision, but if we can learn something about why homeschooling did not seem to work for you, we may be able to solve some of these problems for families that are still doing it. For anything you may be able to tell us, we will be very grateful. - JH

FAN MAIL

. . .We enjoy your newsletter immensely. I always get two copies, make notations of interest in one and send to family and friends I know are skeptical or interested in homeschooling. On the other I make notations of legal matters or points of interest that I feel may help us if we ever need to go to court or to aid in enacting legislation for homeschoolers. This goes into my education file along with clippings of articles which support our feelings of what,s happening in the schools today (low literacy, violence, etc.) - BARBARA HUSSEY (HI)

. . . You know, many times I,ve felt like writing “letters to the editor” in newspapers or magazines, but I never went through with it. I suppose one reason was laziness. Another, fear of sounding uneducated and illogical. But most of all I didn,t believe it would accomplish anything. Since my ideas usually differ from society,s norms anyway I felt I would probably do my cause more harm than good (home-birth, homeschooling, nutrition, and an Edgar Cayce view of life and death) by appearing overly emotional on the issue with few facts, said in an incorrect letter form with possible grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors. With GWS, on the other hand, I feel the majority of readers are more accepting and willing to see beyond incorrect structure to hear my ideas, to listen to the “me” hiding behind the words. I,m willing to give part of myself to what feels like a supportive family.

. . . I had written a short letter when I subscribed to GWS, describing the basics of our unschooling situation. A couple of months ago, I received a postcard from Donna asking how things were going for our son. She made me feel that someone out there really does care. Also I was so grateful that she had carefully worded it, so if our postal clerk read it she wouldn,t know what Donna was really referring to! - MAGGIE MEYER, Ohio

. . . I love it when GWS gets here. First I have a quick look for letters from friends or peole I know through my work with Nurturing magazine, then I try to read it. That,s the hard part - I,ll be halfway down a letter and a title will catch my eye, so I start on another, then back to the first. I think I should take up speed reading, I cannot get enough in my head at once. I have to explore its every page, find the words that express exactly what I feel, suffer with the families who are having a hard time, be happy for those who have won the battle and can now teach and learn fully with nothing hanging over them. Like a lover returning after time apart, I must search each part to see that there are no changes, make sure the feelings come through the same, find out that we are still going along the same path. There comes a time, after I have checked each page, read parts of letters, seen who is new in the directory, that I do settle down to read. . .

When a friend wanted to borrow my back issues I was most reluctant to lend them even though I know she will treat them as I do. It was just the thought of them not being here in case I needed to turn to one of them. - KAREN DIXON (Ontario)

FAMILY IN THE COUNTRY

From Karen Schadel (NY):

Aug. 16: . . . We recently moved to a small (16 beautiful acres) home in the country. . . Our elevation is over 1400 feet so we have the valley and countryside just before our eyes. . . We hope to build a small addition this fall which will enable the children to observe, participate, and learn from the experience. . . We heat solely with wood. . . my kids have always loved to participate in stacking, storing, and bringing it in. . .

We have periodically suffered from either a water shortage or a total water loss. . . However, we,re learning so much about water - supply, purity, maintenance, conservation, pressure, flow rate, plumbing, and much more - all with the children silently watching what is taking place and later discussing it with us with wonderful comprehension.

. . . When we discovered there were bats on our property, probably residing in our barn or an old tree stump, I was a bit taken aback. We rushed to the library and scrounged for books and information on bats. . . My honest intention was to learn how to rid ourselves of them. How could I possibly live with bats??!! My 7-year-old was enthralled and retained nearly every bit of material we pored through, and my 5-year-old was equally enticed by them. Only Mom couldn,t handle the thought of a bat in my hair (a hard myth to shake) or a rabid bat who might bite an unsuspecting child (actually, not a likely event, I later learned). The more we read, the more we all (especially me) learned about bats. With the arrival of the black flies which were followed by a horde of mosquitoes, I came to welcome and truly appreciate the role of the little brown bats who were living with us and eating all those bugs. . . Now we will often, one or all of us, go to the window or venture outdoors to watch the bat,s appear as nightfall arrives. . .

Oct. 17: . . . Things are hectic now. The excavation is done for the addition and we watched the masons erect the foundation today. The children are observing so much and will start more active participation with the carpentry work, as their father will be involved with this, and all the finishing work, which will take us years to complete. But it gives us something to look forward to, to plan for and to work together on as family projects. Meaningful work, as John says, is really the best teacher, and helps to build a good self-image and feeling of worth. The children are at their best when doing adult jobs or projects that have a significance - I rarely see the same look on their faces when they are playing with toys or just spending idle time.

For example, recently we began digging potatoes from our garden - the same ones the children carefully helped us plant in the spring. They spent a lot of time digging each hole and marveling over the number of potatoes in each hill and the size of each potato. We carried them down from our garden located well behind the house. . . What they did was very important to them and they did a very good job. And the best part was when we cooked and ate their potatoes - did they ever taste good! . . .

The boys now have two miniature lops (rabbits) that were purchased for them by a friend. . . We visited two rabbitries in our area before they could decide. The first farm had 450 rabbits and they didn,t like any of them! So on to the next farm, where they bought an aguti doe and a broken (spotted) buck. We did the necessary reading to educate ourselves in the basic needs and care of rabbits before our trip to the rabbit farms, so we were prepared to purchase them and eager to have these pets: the children,s first responsibility to an animal totally dependent on them for its existence.

While at the second rabbit farm (something I recorded in my journal as a field trip), we were given a grand tour by the owner. She questioned why my oldest wasn,t in school. I felt the situation a safe one in which to say he was being taught at home. For some reason this had a very positive effect on her (she was the mother of five, her youngest just beginning kindergarten) and she proceeded to share an incredible amount of knowledge with us - especially Joshua. She directed much of what she said or showed to him and used his name when talking with him. She demonstrated how to hold a rabbit properly to prevent being clawed. She explained how to clip their nails if necessary. She showed us the way their teeth should be lined up, what a malocclusion was, and how to determine if a rabbit was ill by feeling its nose and observing its dietary intake and elimination patterns. . .

She explained how to prepare a nesting box and when to place the expectant mother in it. We were allowed to see and touch kits (baby rabbits) that were only one day old. She told us that a rabbit kindles (gives birth) in about 30 days following conception and that the newborn kits are hairless, blind, and deaf. We observed the tiny kits all pink and new as they jumped about in the nesting box, looking very much like popcorn in a kettle as they searched for their mother to nurse. We were told how important it is to wash your hands after handling the rabbits to decrease the possibility of spreading disease. She demonstrated how a wire cage is torched with a propane flame in order to sanitize it before allowing a new rabbit to reside there, and also to remove molting rabbit fur that adheres to the wire. . .

We left the rabbit farm with our two miniature lops in the back of the car and much new knowledge, facts, and information stored away in our heads. Joshua retained every bit of what he saw and was told that day. . . This was the best start they could have had. . .

Oct. 26: . . . Since we moved to the country, we can no longer enjoy the convenience of setting our garbage at the curb and watching it be hauled away to who-knows-where. Instead we must make weekly trips to our local dump about four miles away - but we enjoy these trips more than I ever imagined. The boys began going with their father and I quickly saw that they were hauling home nearly as much as they were hauling away.

. . . Seth (5) spotted a fishing pole exactly sized for him and after we brought it home, untangled the line, and purchased a hook and sinker, it was in perfect working condition. Joshua (7) discovered an old discarded record player way beyond repair, but still of interest to him, so it was also brought home along with a chair with only three legs. He has explored, dissected, and investigated the insides of the record player and further disassembled the chair. What he,s learned, I,m not sure, but he has occupied himself and enjoyed the time spent with his “treasures.”. . . Among my husband,s finds have been a wooden-style toilet tank with brass fixtures, a dresser (incredibly warped but still sporting some very nice antique hardware), screening, metal, wood scraps, and sheetrock.

Since I didn,t want to miss out on all the fun, I hopped into the truck one Saturday morning with the whole crew, which by this time included 2-year-old Sadrah, and ventured to the dump to see what treasures I would uncover. I was astonished to find a large wooden bowl (with a small crack), an orange straw hat (perfect for dress-up), two small metal enamel bowls, a paper party tablecloth (unopened), and a full-sized wool blanket (beige-and-lavender-striped with a few burdocks stuck to it). All of these items were clean and in good-to-excellent condition. . .

A big discussion followed involving waste, recycling, donations, charity, value, and more. Granted, we didn,t really need any of what we found, but we,re making use of almost all of it. The dresser was returned to the dump less its hardware and I expect the record player will find its way back sometime when Joshua has finished with it. But the blanket is on Seth,s bed, the hat is in the toy basket, the wooden bowl has become a decorative addition by our front steps next to my plants, the metal bowls were temporarily used as food dishes for our rabbits and are now part of our sandbox equipment, and so on. The dump is not a very lovely spot to visit, but I didn,t see any rats, either. . . We anticipate each trip in wonderment of what new treasures we,ll uncover. . .

THE CHANGING WORLD ECONOMY

The Boston Globe of 9/26/83 published a story about industrial workers around the world that, though few paid it much attention, seemed to me as important as any news story I have seen in years. They showed a table of “Total hourly compensation for production workers in manufacturing. These figures include fringe benefits, bonuses, medical coverage and employer social welfare contributions.”
The figures:

United States - $11.79
Canada - $10.77
Sweden - $10.33
France - $8.15
Italy - $7.39
United Kingdom - $6.67
Japan - $5.82
Israel - $4.67
Venezuela - $3.98
Brazil - $2.43
Mexico - $1.97
Singapore - $1.77
Taiwan - $1.57
Hong Kong - $1.55
South Korea $1.22
India (1979 - $ .37
Sri Lanka (1981) - $ .21

We can easily see why Atari recently moved most of its production facilities from California to Hong Kong, and why a factory worker in Hong Kong was quoted in this same Globe story as saying that she knew it was only a matter of time before her job disappeared into Sri Lanka.

One of the countries missing from these tables is the most significant of all - China. I would guess that China,s average hourly industrial wage was somewhat above India,s 37 cents, but probably well below South Korea,s $1.22 and probably well below $1.00. With India,s more than 600 million people and China,s more than a billion, there is in the world a virtually inexhaustible supply of industrial workers ready to work for less than, probably must less than $1 per hour.

The economic future of the rich industrial nations of the West, and probably even of Japan itself (which has already lost most of its ship-building industry to South Korea), is written in these figures. For about two decades these nations were able to employ, at high wages, just about everyone who wanted to do industrial work. For the first time in history, factory workers could think of owning cars, a home, sending children to college, joining the true middle class. That day is gone, probably forever. The industrial, money economies of these nations have already dropped out many of their workers, and in the next decade or two are sure to drop out a great many more.
“High tech” will not save us. Atari, like many companies, as we know, is already doing its manufacturing in Hong Kong. Anything a company can train a $10-an-hour worker to do today, it can train a $1-an-hour worker to do tomorrow - and will. Homesteader,s News, Mother Earth News, and others tell us about people who have chosen to learn how to live outside the money economy. Millions of others won,t get the choice; they are going to have to learn the same thing, whether they like it or not.

Those with a taste for irony may perhaps enjoy the thought that what a century or so of Socialism and Communism have not been able to do - reduce the gap between the poor and the rich peoples of the world - may be done in a decade or two, is in fact being done right now, by profit-seeking multinational corporations.

What is the point of all of this for homeschoolers? Just this, that this country as a whole is going to have to begin to give some serious thought to some things that already interest many homeschoolers but have so far not been of the slightest interest to schools - economy, efficiency, thrift. “Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without.” “A penny saved is a penny earned.” Things like that. No child can be said to go into the world and the future even moderately prepared who has not learned, perhaps among many other things, how to live healthily, productively, and happily on very little money, how to do for herself or himself a great many things that most of us now only think of paying others to do. (Incidentally, there was a plumbing disaster in my apartment not long ago, and out of necessity - to keep my apartment from being flooded out - I played some part in helping to get it fixed.) - JH

CHILDREN IN THE WORKPLACE

From Marta Clark in Kentucky:

. . . You asked about unschooling and working parents. Since Joy Thomas and I started a business two months ago, I can tell you how we have worked things out. I have two children (4 and 1) and she has two (4 and 2). Rather than split them up among the various preschools and daycare centers, we hired one babysitter to watch all of them in her home. The important features of this arrangement were (1) the brothers and sisters and friends were all kept together instead of being split up by age; (2) we could work with the babysitter about food (no sweets), TV watching, and discipline; (3) the care was consistent instead of being given by whoever was working that day; (4) the woman became emotionally involved with the children and they with her, which is impossible in the usual daycare school with its changing students and teachers.

The only drawback to this wonderful setup - it is too expensive to continue because our new business needs the money we have been paying the sitter. But, since things have settled down so that we both don,t need to work all the time, we are going to take turns working at the business (an exercise studio/health club) and being at our homes with all four children. We are also fixing up the office at work for the children so they can be with us there for a couple of hours every day. Our husbands will also be seeing more of their children than they were before we started the business!

The two four-year-olds love the exercise studio - they think it,s lots of fun to work out, meet new people, and go out to eat. The two-year-old is also fairly well-behaved there. The one-year-old prevents me from getting anything done at work so I have stopped trying - I get too frustrated and angry with him. The problems with keeping the children at work are that they quarrel with each other enough to distract us and our customers, and they can,t last the hours that we work - late lunch, etc. so the combination of paying a babysitter, their fathers keeping them at home, one of us taking all the children, and bringing them one at a time to work is working very well for us. . .

TREE PLANTER UPDATE

In “Tree Planters,” way back in GWS #7, we told about a 15-year-old in Los Angeles who started planting trees in Southern California and organized others to do so. The “Tree People” are going stronger than ever, and we think GWS families in the L.A. area might want to work with them. According to their newsletter, the Seedling News (12601 Mulholland Dr., Beverly Hills, CA 90210; 213-769-2663), the organization set a goal of planting 1,000,000 trees before the 1984 Olympics. They have gotten support from the government, nurseries, celebrities, and thousands of volunteer tree-planters. Sounds like a good way for young people, especially, to do some work they can see is worth doing. - DR

SUCCESS STORIES

Elaine Gale (MA) wrote:

. . . Two weeks ago I went before a public session of a school board meeting to request homeschooling for my daughter, Leah. I was not able to appear before this time because the superintendent checked my curriculum with the department heads, met with me twice, and tested my daughter with the Detroit Learning Abilities Test, the Spache Reading Test, and a math test devised and administered by a local principal. The superintendent made a recommendation for us to the school board. He said that my curriculum (WEIMAR COLLEGE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM, Box A, Weimar CA 95736) was better than the public school except our math book only went up to the 6,s in multiplication (I also got Elmer Brooks, MATH-IT KIT from Weimar - excellent!). He told them that Leah was tested and scored several grade levels above hers (3rd).

I had given her the Iowa Basic Skills Test before I received her materials from Weimar. She scored well above average in everything but spelling. You see, Leah turned 8 October 82 but I did not start any formal schooling until six months ago. . .

Oh, I also gave a hand-out to all the members of the school board with information about “socialization,” peer pressure, etc., and the concept of waiting until age 8-10 to start formal schooling. I answered several questions from the school committee, received a compliment, and got unanimous approval! . . .

__________

From Nan and David Erbaugh (OH):

. . . We have two sons, Zachary (6) and Noah (1 1/2). We held Zachary out of kindergarten last year with no hassles - our school system even recommends delaying the start of children with summer birthdays, especially boys. This summer we spoke to the superintendent about approving us for home-schooling. We pointed out that we knew we didn,t have to do anything to get approval until Zachary turned 7. He was quite nice and said he wanted us to do what was most comfortable for us. All he needed was a letter from us stating our objections to public schools, why we felt qualified to teach, and what our plan of education would be. He approved our plans within a week.

The reason we did all of this now is that we knew he was amenable to home-schooling, and our school district has a history of not keeping superintendents for more than 2 or 3 years. This superintendent is now in his third year.

A side note - the fact that I was a French and English teacher in junior high and high school and my husband has a psychology degree seemed to make the superintendent feel good about our teaching. . .

[DR: See also “Notifying Superintendent Early,” GWS #34.]

__________

From another Ohio parent:

. . . We were turned in to the school - we hadn,t registered our son at all. . . We were therefore forced to visit the superintendent sooner than we had planned on (in fact I was considering not going at all, hoping we were invisible to the so-called authorities, while my husband felt it would be better to go before they found out about us.)

We typed up a 4-page single-spaced paper on our views with an emphasis on the religious side. We have many other reasons, including almost all the ones mentioned in TEACH YOUR OWN. . . I basically wrote the paper myself with my husband adding cohesion, editing out irrelevant or possibly misleading sections, and putting it all together. . .

When we walked into the superintendent,s office we were pleasantly greeted by his secretary. Maybe it was our imagination, but it seemed to us like every office worker, the janitor, and even the principal popped out all over to get a look at us. The superintendent himself was polite yet distant. We handed him our paper and asked him to read it right then and there so he,d know how we felt. He was hesitant. . . Finally he read it and we watched him raise his eyebrows here and there.

. . . He told us he had never heard that he had this legal power to allow home-schooling and he,d have his lawyer check into it. He told us he,d get back with us soon and let us know what he intends to do. That was back in October 82 and still no word from him. Our lawyer said to leave well enough alone and not to call to ask what he intends to do. So we are assuming that the superintendent is letting us keep our son home. . .
_________
From Katharine Houk (NY):

July 20: I am enclosing a copy of the letter my husband and I sent to the superintendent and school board members of our local school. It has been almost a month since it was sent and we have heard nothing. My husband is an attorney at the N.Y. State Education Department and he thinks that to stress cooperation with the school district is vitally important - which is why our letter does so.

Tahra (13) is tremendously excited about learning at home (is this the “honeymoon period” I,ve heard tell of?) and she has already plunged into reading and writing projects on her own this summer. I am nagged by the feeling that we are waiting for something because we haven,t yet heard from the school.

Our letter is not revolutionary in any sense and borrows from other GWS letters. . .

Sept. 30  . . . Shortly after I wrote you, we heard from the superintendent. He called my husband at work (at the State Ed. Dept.) and we set up a time to meet with him and the high school principal. They gave us the enclosed information sheet (#1). My husband said, “If we,re going to do all this then we might as well send Tahra to school.” We talked for a couple of hours with them; it was a friendly meeting. They commended us for what we wanted to attempt and recognized our sincerity. By the end of the meeting they had relaxed on all the requirements but the monthly reports and the attendance record.

Tahra is very happy at home and I love having her around. Our work pace is leisurely. I worried about the monthly report, though. Then two days ago I got a call from the high school principal. He said he wanted to meet to tell us what the school district expects for the monthly reports.

I went into his office this morning fearing the worst - testing, timesheets, multi-page reports, etc. Instead he handed us Sheet #2 [DR: a yes/no checklist as to whether objectives are being met and records are being kept] and said that is all we have to submit each month!

We still can,t believe how easy they are making it for us. . . We are first in our district to home-school at the high school level. . . The local newspaper has already called me for an interview on home-schooling; I told them to call back at the end of the year when I,ve had more experience (and the relationship with the school has stabilized). . .

__________

[DR:] A number of readers have told us of sending a letter to their superintendent and waiting in uneasy suspense for weeks, months, or occasionally even years for an answer. It is a good idea to put at the end of such a letter (and in fact, any official business-type letter) a short statement of exactly what action you would like the other party to take, and by what date you expect it. Precisely what this will be will depend on the laws in your state, the circumstances in your district, etc. For example, it might be sending written approval, phoning to schedule a meeting, or arranging for you to appear before the school board.

Or, you can use the good “negative” option mentioned in the early issues of GWS: “If we do not hear from you by — we will assume we have your full approval.” In either case, you are spurring the official to make some sort of decision instead of allowing your letter to become buried in an in-basket.

RESEARCH ON LATE STARTERS

From Raymond and Dorothy Moore,s (WA) newsletter Family Report:

. . . In the August 30 issue of USA Today was a bit of interesting news citing a seven-year study of 70 children in Cincinnati showing that 81% of boys who waited a year to start school had above-average grades compared to only 47% of those who started early. 100% of the girls who waited had above-average grades while only 60% of the younger girls did. . .

CALIF. RULING: SCHOOL NEGLIGENCE

In a long and very thoroughly researched legal brief prepared by Nick Davenny of Kalamazoo, Mich. for the defense of his own home schooling program [GWS#30], I found something I have been wanting to find for some time - the citations (legal references) for a quotation from a very important California ruling that I described in GWS #1. In this case a San Francisco family, whose son (though never designated as needing any special help and in any event never having received any) was graduated from high school with no better than fifth grade reading skills, sued the schools for negligence. They charged the schools had failed to take the necessary steps to insure that the boy received an adequate education. The San Francisco Unified School District, in defending themselves, offered a very interesting argument. They said, in effect, that they could not be declared negligent for having failed to do the right thing by this child, because no one knew what the right thing was. The Superior Court dismissed the parents, suit and the Appeals Court upheld the dismissal, saying:

. . .Unlike the activity of the highway or the marketplace, classroom methodology affords no readily acceptable standards or care, or cause, or injury. The science of pedagogy itself is fraught with different and conflicting theories of how or what a child should be taught, and any layman might - and commonly does - have his own emphatic views on the subject. . .

Peter W. v. San Francisco Unified School District, 60 Cal. App. 3d 826, 131 Cal. Rptr. 854, at 860-861 (1976).

In two or three similar cases in other parts of the country, the courts have in like manner refused to award damages against the schools, almost certainly for these two practical policy reasons: first, if the schools have to pay damages for every child they fail to educate, they will soon be broke, and secondly, because if the courts awarded such damages to one family their courtrooms would soon be full of hundreds of other families seeking similar damages. But even though, for reasons of public policy, the courts have denied these families the redress to which justice surely entitled them, they have in doing so given home schoolers the legal argument quoted above, which we may in many cases be able to put to very good use. For it should be obvious to all but the most hopelessly biased judges that the schools cannot defend themselves against charges of negligence by saying that no one really knows how children should be educated, and then in the next breath turn around and say that they are the only people who know and that everyone must do it exactly their way.

I think it might be very useful for some of our California friends with a taste for legal research to look into this case further, and find out if possible in greater detail what the schools said in their own defense and what the courts said in supporting them. For any more such information, we will be very grateful. - JH

HER FIRST SCHOOL

By Annie Horrocks in Home Centered Learning, 8/83 (34 Katrina Ln, San Anselmo CA  94960; $5/yr):

. . . A long time ago - 20 years, in fact - our oldest daughter in first grade mentioned that she hadn,t learned anything before she started school. I asked her where she,d learned to dress and feed herself. Where did she learn her numbers, colors, and letters? Who had read many books to her before she began school about insects, weather, animals, families and more? Where had she come to know about our God and His works? How was it that she knew that baby people and baby animals must be treated gently and with love?

A startled look came across our child,s face and she realized that her first school had been home. Being a home schooler is not new, it,s just that some of us are choosing to carry it beyond society,s norm of 5 to 6 years. In all truth, we are home schoolers all our lives. . .

BOY WITH RINGS

One Sunday morning a month or two ago, as I was walking up Boylston Street to the office, a little boy gave me still another glimpse of the workings of the mind of a very young child. He was out with his mother who told me that he was about fourteen months old. He was walking around the metal tables and chairs of the outdoor section of a restaurant, which for him were something like a maze. Every now and then he would try to climb one of the chairs. His nice mother kept close enough to be able to ward off danger, but far enough away so that he felt, not watched or hovered over, but free to roam and explore.

As I watched him with pleasure, I noted that he carried, usually in his left hand, a couple of brightly colored plastic rings, big enough for  him to use as bracelets. Every so often he would stick his right hand through the rings, so that for a while he was wearing both of them on his right arm. So he continued to explore and I to watch. Then I began to see a curious thing. Now and then it would happen that the two rings were lying, loose and separate, on the ground or on a chair. The little boy would pick up one of them, stick his right arm through it, and push it up his arm about to the elbow. Then he would spy the other ring, and the thought would clearly come into his mind that he wanted it on his arm beside the one already there. But at this point, to my great astonishment, he showed that he could not remember how that ring on his arm had got there, for instead of putting his right hand through the second ring, he would instead put the second ring right beside the one he already had on his arm, and pat it, as if to make it stick and stay there, and he was always surprised and mildly vexed that it would not stick, but kept falling off.

After trying a few times he would give up, and continue walking around, between, and under the chairs and tables. Then the rings would again summon his attention. If he happened to have them both in his left hand, he could get them both on his right arm, as before. But if he had only one ring in his left hand and the other somewhere else, he would go through that same procedure, first putting one ring on his right arm, then finding the second ring and trying to stick it on next to the first.

During the twenty minutes or so I watched him, he tried to solve that problem three or four times, without success. I am sure that sometime during the next few months he did solve the problem, and wish I could have been around to see him do it. As it was, it was fascinating to watch this tiny baffled scientist at work on the problem, and useful to be reminded what an enormous number of similar problems (which to us have long since ceased to look like problems) little children have to grapple with, puzzle over, and finally solve. - JH

TESTING YOUNG CHILDREN

From Nancy Dumke (CO):

. . . You might find this interesting. Claire was exposed to her first formal testing situation at the tender age of 3! It happened at her medical check-up and it,s apparently routine for doctors to administer this developmental test. . . The doctor,s questions and Claire,s responses instantly reinforced all my objections to schools and tests. For example: Dr. Ned (whom she knows and likes and feels fairly comfortable with) handed Claire a bottle with a raisin inside and said, “Can you take this raisin out of the bottle?” “Yes,” said Claire, and she proceeded to stick her finger through the narrow opening to take the raisin out. It was extremely frustrating. “She,s so literal,” I said to the doctor. Well, she finally got the raisin out, and ate it, but she hadn,t done it the correct way, so Dr. Ned tried again. “This time,” he said, “can you take the raisin out without using your finger?” Well, of course she tried using her thumb! “Can you take the raisin out without using your finger or your thumb?” he asked. “Sure,” said Claire, and turned the bottle upside down, dropped the raisin into her other hand, and popped it into her mouth.

Then came question and answer time. “What do you do when you,re cold, Claire?” asked Dr. Ned. I could just feel her mind racing from situation to situation, trying to fit the question into some frame of reference. She said nothing. He repeated the question, but she just looked at him, so he went on to the next. “What do you do when you,re tired?” “I go to sleep.” “What do you do when you,re hungry?” “I eat some food.” “What do you do when you,re cold?” This time, she was ready: “If I,m at the pool,” she said, “I wrap up in a towel.” (Later at home she kept answering the question: “If I,m cold in bed, I pull up the covers.” “If I,m cold in winter, I put on my ski jacket.”)

I can remember so clearly taking tests in school and wracking my brain trying to decide which of several possible answers was the “right” one. Or thinking that the answer was so obvious and easy that it couldn,t be right, it must be a trick question. Later, Claire and I talked about what a hard time the doctor had asking the question. . . I wanted to be sure she understood that the problem was his, not hers. Claire thought the whole thing was very interesting and fun, but it,s easy to see how a child with less self-confidence could be upset by such a test. . .

From Lynne Thunderstorm (BC):

. . . When I read Ann Miles, letter in GWS #34 concerning the “Which does not belong?” game she played with her 4-year-old, we decided to try it with 3 1/2-year-old Raven. The results we got were hilarious and only confirmed my belief that looking for “correct” answers is completely irrelevant!

“Which does not belong: a guitar, a horse, a harmonica, an autoharp?”

“The guitar.”

“Oh, but that,s something to make music with and a horse isn,t.”

“No, silly, I like horses.” So, she eliminated the one she didn,t like.

“Which does not belong: onions, apples, rocking chairs, garlic?”

She laughed. “Onions and garlic do NOT!”

Certainly, when I named the categories, she answered “correctly.” But when I merely listed items, she easily made choices that were right for her, and was able to tell us why she eliminated the thing. . .

IN THE MAIL

. . . Thanks for “Liking School Is Not Enough” and “Spaceship School,” GWS #34. Those articles, and our growing convictions, helped us to decide we would NOT put Maia in kindergarten next year even though she wants to go. Since we,ve made that decision and let her know firmly that we are a “home-schooling family,” she seems to have accepted it. We,ll see how it goes when her friends leave for kindergarten next year, though. - DENISE HODGES (WI).

. . . In response to “Blaming The Unconventional,” GWS #33: Yes, homeschooling can be blamed for everything, but we must be careful not to present the opinion that home-schooling is the answer to everything. I had a friend who didn,t want to share her problem concerning her daughter because she thought I would think that she wouldn,t have that problem if she would just home-school! - TERRI WALKER (MN).

. . . I first found that my desire to teach could not be satisfied in traditional schools. My experience in public schools was a nightmare, even though I was considered a “good” teacher by students and professionals. . . My second grand realization was that my desire to teach was no more than a desire to have children. I have never felt the need to work outside the home, to teach or to work with kids (my previous goals) since the day Becca was born. . . Believe me, as the daughter of a very feminist liberal-thinking mother, it was quite a shock to realize that I don,t have to “work” to be a worthwhile contributing member of society. - PATTI PITCHER (MI).

. . . There are five families in the area with a total of 10 children who are home-schooling. This winter we were able to obtain the old armory gymnasium every Monday afternoon free of charge. The kids would roller skate, play basketball, volleyball, badminton, kickball, etc. Even the pre-schoolers were included. - Gary & Diann Foster (KY)

. . . We always seem to have a yard full of kids. I suppose they feel free to come around. We have teenagers to toddlers open the gate and join the activity or create their own. Perhaps they are intrigued by the noise, laughter, and fun. I,ve no argument for who comes in, and have never had to ask anyone to leave, even though there are arguments and occasional fights. What can you expect when there are two or twenty kids together? - AN IOWA READER

. . . I have a day care business at home, and recently put an ad in the paper, to be different, which started out, “Home-schooling family will care for your baby/child. . .” I,d never seen one like it, and I got a very nice 8-year-old boy who,s never been to public schools. Both his parents are now working days and needed care where they hadn,t before. They are still teaching him and he plays here with my 5-year-old girl, Forest, and reads to her. - LINDA RIEKEN (AZ)

YOUNG WRITERS STILL NEEDED

Pat Stone of Mother Earth News tells us that he needs more articles by young people for the “Mother,s Children” feature. He writes:

. . . It,s incorrect to say I,m running out of material. . . but I do occasionally go through too-lean times. That,s not good, cause I,d like to keep this feature alive. There,s not that many paying markets I know about for young writers.

The basic purpose of “Mother,s Children” is to share how-to projects initiated and carried out by younger children and teenagers. The author should be both the person who did the project and the one who writes the article. I,m open to a wide range of possibilities. . . We,ve run everything from “How I Changed the New York State Income Tax Laws for Minors” to “How to Make Food Jewelry Out of Bread Dough”. . . from “I Ran our Farm,s Giant Combine Just like the Men Do” to “Make a Ball out of a Pig Bladder”. . . and including more ordinary topics like making herb vinegars or beef jerky. I also like to see money-making ideas: it,s nice when we can give other young people ways for earning their own money.

I respond to all queries and do everything I can to help the author work the article up (including sending a page of writing guidelines).

Our payment for the column runs from $100 to $200 (that includes paying for photos), which is the same we would pay an adult writer for the same work. The better the writing and pictures - a frequent problem is bad pix - and the more exciting the topic, the higher the payment.

Home schoolers tend to be a pretty self-directed group, so I,ve gotten a lot of good articles from your readers. Hope to get more!. . .

[DR: Pat recommends that all young authors send in a query - that is, a letter telling about the story they,d like to do - before writing a full article. Address, 105 Stoney Mountain Rd, Hendersonville NC  28791.]

ON READING

Joyce Kinmont (UT) wrote in the Tender Tutor:

. . . I made a little book for Becky (3) that she dearly loves. I went through some old pictures, then bought a little photo album to put them in. Under each picture I wrote a short sentence. The first page has the title, “When Becky Was a Baby.” The pages are:

Picture of Becky at the stove - “Becky liked to cook.”
Picture of her in a wig - “Becky had too much hair.”
Holding stuffed animals - “Becky had three dogs.”
With a ski cap pulled down over her face - “Where did Becky go?”
And so on. We are now taking pictures of Milli to make her a book. . . Since she is older there will be more writing with
them. . .

__________

From Lyn Cargill in Australia:

. . . Skye (2 1/2) is learning to read. I tried the Glenn Doman approach when she was about 20 months but although she loved the cards, she preferred to “write” on them and cut them up. I wasn,t keen enough to bother teaching her, so I let her destroy them all. Recently I made some new cards (names of friends) and put them aside, ready for when she showed an interest. She,s been asking what words say and demanding to know the exact name of everything.

While looking for something, she found the cards and asked me to read them. She loves them and asks me to read them several times a day. Sometimes she reads them correctly, sometimes she makes mistakes which I ignore - but she makes me find the card and tells me what it really is. Her favorite game is for Mum to look perplexed and say, “Um, um, um” and she then “helps” me.

As long as she,s interested I,ll make her cards. Then we,ll move on to home-made books. She already has a few. I always take heaps of photos on holidays or special occasions and make a book out of them. It helps her remember the occasion.

[A later note:] After a month or so break, Skye found her cards again. Remembered them all. Still prefers people,s names to anything else. .

SCIENCE WITH J.P.

From Kathy Mingl (IL):

. . .We,ve been launching butterflies from our bedroom window this summer - we,ve always let the milkweed plants grow for the monarchs, and raised the caterpillars in wide-mouth gallon jars, on top of the refrigerator. As they turned to chrysalises (lovely things - they look like gold and jade ornaments), we transferred them to a bouquet of sticks in a glass vase above the radio, where we can watch them ripen. As soon as they begin to get dark and the wing-patterns show through, we put them in the bedroom window to “hatch.”

We missed the first one - I woke up to find a note from my dad: “Pupa monarched - rescued him from the cat and released outside - healthy little tyke.” The next three that were ready, Tony, J.P. and I stayed up all night to watch, and though J.P. only managed to keep himself awake until 1:00, he held the first one to emerge (a female) on his finger while she dried her wings, and fed her sugar-water from a toothpick. When we let them go the next morning, the two males were just anxious to take off, but J.P.,s little female seemed to remember him and stayed behind, tasting his finger with her tongue when he took her up on it. He fed her again, and then held her out the window until she finally decided to leave. It,s quite a feeling to see them go sailing off over the house - you almost feel as if you had something to do with it. Something awfully allegorical there, don,t you think?

We had another blessed event right on the kitchen table, while J.P. was eating lunch. This time the whole family got to watch - my mother was home, so we ran to get her as soon as J.P. yelled that things were happening. J.P. explained the entire process to her, and showed her how to tell that this one was a boy butterfly. Do you know she,s never seen a butterfly hatch before?. . . My father maintained that his butterfly (the one he,d rescued and taken outside), had been the biggest.

Altogether, I think we,ve raised 20 monarchs, and though one time we had five fluttering on the screen at the same time, for the most part the hatchings have been staggered enough that we weren,t overwhelmed. I think it was a good number, because the little things have a sly genius for waiting till your back is turned before they do something interesting (we still don,t know where the “zipper” is!).

. . . Some of the interests J.P. has been pursuing on his own lately are experiments with fire and chemistry, under my supervision (I tell him to say he,s lighting candles, not lighting matches - gives a much less alarming picture), soldering, electronics and computers with Tony, geology (he,s fascinated by volcanoes, and has started a rock collection; his eternal passion is prospecting for gold all over the back yard), and cooking. He,s been learning to tell time and spell his name and address, and he has a long-standing interest in the working of bodies, and in hand-taming wild birds. J.P. is a very busy boy.

. . . Something really fascinating has come up with J.P.,s fire experiments lately. He,s been going through boxes of kitchen matches, mostly just lighting them and blowing them out, and using up all the candles in the house, but he,s begun to venture into new scientific territory. I restrict his investigations to the kitchen table, with an adult in the vicinity, but other than that, I don,t bother him too much. When he first wanted to try it, he was a little scared, so I showed him all the ways I could think of to put fires out - water, baking soda, pot-lids, fire extinguishers, etc. - and I even showed him how to call the fire department. Little by little he started trying different things on his own, and his interest led us down some remarkable byways of discussion - chemistry, history, mythology, fire-fighting and prevention, survival skills, and Murphy,s Law (it,s easy to start a fire when you don,t need one). The other day, J.P. showed me something I didn,t know - you can ignite a match by holding it above a flame, without even touching it. Really, if you,re willing to learn yourself, raising a child can be a fascinating scientific exchange. . .

LEARNING RUSSIAN AT HOME

Barb Tetzlaff (IA) wrote in the O!KIDS! newsletter #2:

. . . Our 8-year-old recently demonstrated an interest in learning the Russian language. He is very concerned with the Russian threat, nuclear freeze, etc. He decided that if he could find out how the Russians speak, live, and think he might better understand the dilemma.

We were happy that he was showing an interest in any language at school, he vehemently protested being force-fed Spanish (and consequently retained nothing!). We were not totally optimistic, however, thinking about how difficult (and potentially disappointing) it might prove to be for Josh. I had only a high school Spanish background and my husband had studied Latin in ninth grade. But we have always believed that when an interest is indicated it should be nurtured.

We checked out a Russian language record from the library and forged ahead. Repeating phrases from the book that went along with the record turned out to be rather dull. So I decided to try and make picture cards so that Josh could associate what he was saying with a picture. I plunged through stacks of old magazines searching for pictures that were interesting or humorous. Josh was curious as I worked along but he did not want to help create the cards (which I think would have been the ideal way to go about it).

When I,d finished, I had 38 colorful pictures glued to sturdy paper (8 1/2 x 11). I went through the cards with Josh using the pronunciations we had learned from our record. Josh was even able to guess at the meanings by using the pictures. He then went over to his father and excitedly showed him the cards. He said he would now teach his father the phrases and sentences, and proceeded to do so while using my EXACT inflections, mannerisms, jokes, etc.!

It has been months since we began and we still can remember almost all of the 38 phrases. All we need to do to jog our memory is to bring the picture to mind and the phrase comes forth as well. . .

[Barb later wrote us:] . . . One hot Saturday in July. . . I casually mentioned that I felt I needed to sit down and rest. . . Jason replied in Russian, “Ya hachi s,iest” (I want to sit down). We had not even looked at our Russian language picture cards for several months and yet he knew just which phrase would be appropriate. . . He remembers almost all of the phrases because it was his interest we nurtured. We didn,t have to push and prod. We had fun learning together. . .

IN DEFENSE OF T.V.

Wendy Wartes (WA) wrote to John:

. . . In the past there has been mention by readers, as well as yourself, of the lack of merit in television viewing. I would like to describe my use of TV and why I disagree.

First of all, my husband and I control the use of TV, not the children. Though my children are still young, I don,t anticipate a problem later as this has been firmly established. The TV is only turned on for a specific program and is turned off immediately afterwards.

We rarely watch any commercial TV. Occasionally a special or a movie such as “Stanley and Livingston” or “Tom Sawyer” is seen by the whole family. I speak out critically of commercials, asking the children what it is the ads want us to do or buy. I have had my five-year-old try to sell me make-believe products and pointed out how he used nice words to make it sell. He has been told that advertisers are people who write words for actors to speak to do the same thing. He can readily see that the product would not sell if they said it tasted terrible or cost too much.

On Sunday, I sit down with my TV schedule and the monthly public TV magazine Dial (I subscribe to this) and mark those programs of merit. Then we don,t turn TV on except for those shows. Last month we watched public TV shows on Arctic wolves and Australian animals. How else could we have seen the actual birth of an embryonic kangaroo and its journey up the mother,s stomach and final attachment to a nipple in her pouch to continue development?

Because I know what topics are coming up, through the Dial magazine, I check out books on the same topic at the library. Then if an interest is sparked, we don,t have to wait to learn more. Just as a field trip can lead to other topics, so can TV if used wisely. . . Many quality programs such as National Geographic and Nova are repeated once during the day and twice during the evening. Thus, we have the chance for reviewing it if our reading fanned an interest, with several days in between.

. . . I,ve never been fortunate enough to travel and though I hope my children will have the first-hand opportunity to view other countries, I truly feel TV can fill a gap. In many cases the photographer can take the viewer to places no tourist can go. The show “Four Castles” is a good case in point. On a real trip to Wales, few of us would ever view these castles in such detail. . . Coming soon is a 3-part series on the geology of the American West, a special on trains, a National Geographic update on Hillary and Everest, Tanzanian wildlife, and the whooping crane.

. . . I liken TV to a guest in my house. If I had company and the person spoke vulgarities, threw garbage around, and undermined my children,s morals, I certainly would never invite them back. If, though, the company showed us spectacular photos of a recent trip and then helped explain the history of that country, they,d be invited back many times. . .
COMPUTER NEWS

In GWS #35 I wrote about Coleco,s coming small computer, the “Adam.” It was first announced for summer, then promised for October, then for Christmas. As of Nov. 15, it is still not in the local stores, though very much in the ads. Dealers, afraid of losing their Christmas business, are saying that Adam will appear any day, that supplies will be limited at first, and that sales will be made on a first-come first-served basis. In other words, if you hope to give someone an Adam for Christmas you must pay for it now; if it doesn,t arrive in time for Christmas that is your tough luck and (your money now safely in the store,s bank) you,ll just have to wait patiently until it does.

By now IBM has shown its small computer, called “PCjr” (Personal Computer junior). About it Peter Mitchell, electronics engineer and chief computer expert of the Boston Phoenix, writes:

. . . Now that it has been unveiled, the machine itself comes as an anticlimax. If it were not graced by those three magic initials (IBM), its prospects for success would be rather dim. Objectively, it is an overpriced, disappointing assemblage of rather ordinary hardware. . .

In both word processing and video games, the two most popular uses for home computers, the IBM is notably weak. . . The $760 that buys only the IBM keyboard would get you a complete Atari Writer system or the entire Coleco Adam system. . .

E.F. Schumacher, author of SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL (see our list) would get some ironic amusement from this. Only a company as big as IBM would dare offer a product this bad, and with every reason to believe that it will be a commercial success.

The Phoenix also predicts that in 1984 we will see a number of truly portable computers, that is, capable of battery operation and weighing ten pounds or less (as opposed to the 25-lb. “transportables”), with a full Liquid Crystal Display screen, substantial memory, word processing capability, etc. If the price is low enough, such a machine might be useful to us in this office.

Meanwhile the Osborne Corporation, who made the first of the transportable computers, and in spite of having last year over $100 million in sales, has just gone bankrupt. Accountants who had been called in to review the company,s books gave Adam Osborne, the founder and president, the unwelcome news that during a time when he had thought the company was earning money it had in fact lost $8 million, and barring a miracle would soon have to close.

This confirms vividly what I said in an earlier GWS about information not being a substitute for intelligence and judgment. Certainly, if access to computer experts and computer information could save a business, it should have saved this one. But information based on mistaken views of reality is worse than none, and as Osborne found out, the more of it you have, the worse off you are.

The press accounts of the end of this company said that when Osborne first learned of his unexpected losses and hence the imminent probable failure of his company, before he told anyone else this news, he sold $1.5 million of his personal stock to another one of the company,s directors. Later, when the company decided to close, it told a large number of its employees that it was sending them on indefinite furlough (since if it fired them outright it would have to give them the severance pay to which they were entitled) and gave them two hours to clear their things out of the office. I wondered, “Why two hours? What was the big rush?” These two reports may throw some useful light on the notion that the people who make computers are primarily moved by some deep concern for the well-being of the human race.

Texas Instruments, one of the giants of the field, has decided after huge losses to drop out of the home computer market altogether. Apple,s profits were down 78% from the previous year, and it may soon be in worse trouble. It made a huge engineering and capital investment in a fairly expensive home computer called the Lisa, in which you give the machine instructions by using a little table-top gadget called a “mouse” to move a cursor on the screen, thus making it unnecessary to memorize or carry out complicated instructions. An ingenious idea, which Apple hoped would keep them at the head of the pack for some time. But it has already been technologically outdated by a new machine from Hewlett-Packard in which you give the machine the same kind of instructions just by touching the screen with your finger. What this will do to the huge sales Apple anticipated for Lisa remains to be seen.

So the dance goes on. The Phoenix reports that for a given capability, the price of a new computer is halved every two years. Also, second-hand machines generally sell for about half their original price. The Commodore VIC can now be had, new, for $50, and a second-hand VIC is considered to be without commercial value; if you have one and don,t want it, give it away, it,s not worth the trouble it would take you to sell it. As always, the moral is, unless you have a real business need for a computer, don,t be in a hurry to buy, and if you buy, buy cheap. - JH

COMPUTERS: FOR. . .

From Mario Pagnoni (MA):

. . . A year ago we decided to test the home-schooling waters. Here in Massachusetts the legal waterway had already been bridged and my 13 years of teaching also worked in our favor. We expected, and got, no trouble from school authorities.

. . . We were fascinated by the potential of the home computer and intrigued with the prospects of utilizing it as an educational tool. And for me, home-schooling was an opportunity to combine three loves: my children, education, and writing (I,d attempt a book on home education - possibly with a slant toward computers).

At the outset we knew nothing about computers. And personally, I am a basket case around machines. I can,t even figure out how to run the digital watch my kids gave me last Father,s Day. Our 10-year-old son James is the only one who can program it. When I try to set it, the bloody thing ends up playing Yankee Doodle during meetings. “I, ah, don,t know how to work it,” I try to explain. “You see my, ah, son. . .”

Nevertheless, we researched personal computers as best we could and finally opted for Apple. There was more software for the Apple than any other computer. We found programs for word-processing, data-base management, and an incredible array of games and educational packages. Most importantly, there were two Apple users, clubs within a 30-minute drive of our home. While support is sometimes rare from computer dealers, it is readily available at a friendly users, club. Before I knew it I was not only a club member, but co-editor of its newsletter, and author of a regular column called “Computers for Absolute Beginners.” The column was my way of insuring that there would be at least one piece in the publication that I could understand.

But was all this computer stuff the antithesis of home schooling? Were we to turn our children over to the computer? I mean, home schooling is people-oriented. It can be tremendously rewarding and bring a family closer together. Everything we heard about computers indicated that they would come between people. But the more we worked with the machine the more we realized that it neither brought us together nor tore us apart. It was just a tool - a powerful tool. It was part of our educational program, but it could never be the educational program. . .

Our biggest computer problem was software. There was so much available and so little that was good. By sharing ideas at the computer club we learned how to sift through the trash and select worthwhile programs. Much of the available software only provides drill and practice. At first I thought, “Who needs a $2000 micro computer to teach multiplication tables - flash cards do the job nicely for 79 cents.” But drill is only one use for a micro. And that mechanized drill instructor frees teacher time for more creative endeavors. All those years of teaching made me progressive enough to know that drill is not the ultimate in education. But, on the other hand, I,m still conservative enough to know that there,s a place for it. The better drill programs feature sound effects and graphics and can be entertaining enough to take the drudgery out of practice. Kids also appreciate the fact that feedback is immediate - no need to wait for teacher to correct and return papers. Being non-judgmental is another plus for the micro - you can,t disappoint the computer.

One evening a friend of mine interrupted his son who was pounding feverishly at the computer keyboard. The youngster was working late into the night on an entertaining program called “Musical Math Teacher.” Drilling the user on basic math facts, the program rewards correct answers with a brief musical interlude, and keeps a running percentage score. “What are you doing working so late?” asked the parent. “Well, I got one problem wrong earlier,” answered the fifth-grader, “and since then I,ve worked my score up to 99% correct and I,m not going to bed until I get all the way back to 100%.”

We favor programs that have an editor mode. They,re the kind that allow you to enter your own data into the program. One such program, a vocabulary builder called “Word Attack,” let us enter our own word lists into its video game mode. With nifty sound effects and graphics (two sure hits with kids), our boys enjoyed learning their lessons. Still, I can,t help but remember that computer instructor who warned that, “Learning is best done not at a video game pace.”

We find simulation-type programs like “Lemonade Stand” and “The Oregon Trail” particularly valuable. They simulate real-life situations. “The Oregon Trail,” a pioneer adventure, requires that you manage your food, avoid hostile Indians and natural disasters, and make it across country. “Lemonade Stand” challenges your business skills. You check the daily weather report, input the number of advertising signs you,ll purchase, and indicate how much lemonade you,ll produce and its price per glass. I,ve given up playing this one with my kids. Have you any idea how embarrassing it is to file bankruptcy for a lemonade stand?

Another favorite program called “Snooper Troops” transforms students into detectives. Their case is a mystery that requires map-making and note-taking to unravel. Our boys work together on the program, sometimes brain-storming clues, sometimes arguing over which suspect to interrogate next. There,s always lots of interaction going on - between the boys, and between the boys and the machine. It,s a far cry from people,s image of isolated, sullen children silently droning away at the keyboard.

Perhaps the most valuable educational use for a microcomputer is word processing. . . When children become familiar with “electronic cut and paste” (moving passages around the body of their text) they begin to analyze the very fabric of writing. They marvel at the effects of rearranging the words in a sentence. Moreover, they become acutely aware of the logical progression of thoughts expressed in writing. Their writing gradually becomes clear and uncluttered.

Computerists are often surprised to hear that our children work with the “Apple Writer II” (a sophisticated word processing package). They expect that they would utilize a simpler WP program  like “Bank Street Writer” [GWS #35], designed to be simple enough for children. After several brief sessions of watching me “manipulate text” with Apple Writer, they had it mastered. Of course, it took me six weeks to figure out the manual, but that,s another story.

One of the most rewarding activities for our children has been pen pal letters. [DR: See James Pagnoni,s letter in GWS #33]. . . Right in the middle of his love affair with the WP, I was surprised to find James handwriting a letter. “Why aren,t you using the computer?” I asked. “Oh, no special reason,” he fibbed. “James,” I persisted, “you,ve used word processing for all your writing the last few weeks - you even tried to stuff your Jedi Fan Club membership card into the printer.”

“Well. . . you know my new friend - the one who,s kind of poor? Well. . . I just figured that he might feel bad. I mean, seeing that computer printout might remind him. . . of all the stuff other people have that he doesn,t.”
. . . Our home school has been a tremendous success. We are convinced that no school in the country, public or private, could have done for us what we did for ourselves this past year. . . And all of this from people who a year ago didn,t know software from Tupperware. . .

. . . AND AGAINST

Lynne Thunderstorm (BC) wrote:

. . . We live in an isolated valley with wild mountains on all sides. We live with a sense of the seasons and the earth in all that we do, and try to let this awareness grow in our children. We don,t keep up with all the latest happenings, so that when we went out last winter to visit our family in New York State, we were surprised by the computer phenomenon. It seemed that everybody had or was saving up for computers, everybody was buying the latest games, and everyone knew how to play.

Since then, the so-called need for computer literacy has been jumping out at me from everything I read, from MS. to GWS - or so I thought. Thank goodness John wrote what he did in GWS #33. I think we need something large scale, though, more along the lines of Jerry Mander,s ARGUMENTS FOR THE ELIMINATION OF TELEVISION.

The whole thing seems spooky to me, and I was only exposed to computer buffs
for five weeks. I saw my father and his friends sitting in front of a noisy box for hours and hours each day. In fact, from the time he came home from work until bedtime, his sounds of frustration or success could be heard mingled with the bashes and buzzes of the machine. He wanted to share his new interest with me - for hours and hours. I couldn,t even pretend enthusiasm after the first hilarious encounter with Pac Man, but these games were enough to hold him enthralled for hours every day, for months on end. The image of my dad, whom I will not be able to visit very many times, sitting alone in the family room playing his games, saddens me.

A cousin I hadn,t seen for 15 years visited while I was there. He and his daughters, on vacation from school (he “teaches”), didn,t feel like taking a walk, talking, bike riding, doing yoga with me, or anything. It was either lie in front of the TV, or sit in front of the screen with levers in their hands. Or, lie on the couch with stereo earphones on. Just like my father.

Younger kids had pocket games that went everywhere with them. People praised the new inventions for increasing eye-hand coordination, as if ancient basket weavers hadn,t done that. They called it creative, marvelous, entertaining.

All I saw was how the latest toy or learning device, call it what you will, tended to remove people one step more from their connection with each other and with the earth. People spoke of developing a relationship with their machines, of spending time with their computers to get to know them better. That sounds scary. It is one more step away from developing relationships with living, breathing organisms. And when you think that the content of many of these manufactured games - all that I saw - was shooting, bopping, killing, and that the dialogue was often, “There, I got you, you little —–,” or “Oh, no, I,m gonna crash,” the absurdity of talking about relating looms larger.

Vicarious living. I understand that computers are useful. Like their technological counterparts, snowmobiles and penicillin, they have a place in the world, and certainly in the economy. But when masses of people fall for the latest gadgets and clothing styles, there is always a trade-off, and someone always gets rich.

I picture some little child sitting in a soundproof booth punching buttons all alone, maybe with earphones, and the child is “learning” something. Something that maybe other children used to learn with someone,s knee pressed against hers, and a warm human voice exchanging information. Blip blip blip.

Nava had an uneasy feeling when he read the National Geographic article on computers. He told me that it seemed as if people felt the computer were going to solve a lot of problems in the world, to make the world a better place to live in, to help kids learn more, give people more jobs, on and on. That,s a lot of faith to have in something, and that something seems to take the control of people,s lives one step farther away from them.

Nava tried to write what made him uneasy. “Having repaired and worked with heavy machinery in factories and mills, having developed a homestead, built a few houses, learned to grow nearly all our own food, I can see that the computer is one more step removed from basic production, from the human interrelating and work that makes the world go around. The computer is a manipulating tool, useful, but not the thing that makes the food or the goods we need. It can juggle information, but it can,t replace real human skills, real work of people making things happen. What,s scary is when people think it can.”
Such a hard one to talk about! The nightmarish image of a man alone in a room with a machine for company, when the rest of the family, the far distant family, would have loved his company; or two kids hunched over a machine, madly pushing buttons, like their lives depended on it - these are the things I think of when I think of computers. My mother writes that the computer is revolutionizing her office, scaring her, increasing her workload, and my cousins write that computers are teaching them better than teachers can.

You are right to ask what we will have gained in twenty years. . .

COMPUTER VANDALISM - 2

In GWS #35, I quoted from articles in Time and Newsweek on “computer vandalism,” the invasion and sometimes destruction of computer data banks simply for the sake of excitement, and I began to discuss the implications of this. Here is more from the Newsweek story:

. . . the [”414 Gang” in Milwaukee] stumbled across an electronic bulletin board in New York called OSUNY. The board was a treasure trove: messages posted by other users gave codes and phone numbers to get free access to MCI and Sprint long-distance telephone services, ways to escape having unauthorized phone calls traced [emphasis added] and a panoply of network telephone numbers and directions for accessing major computer systems around the country.

. . . Hackers like the 414s were essentially exploiting weaknesses in systems that were designed to be easy to use and relatively open. . .Telenet, Tymnet and other networks are designed so that thousands of legitimate users can gain access to the computers quickly. . .

. . . Only half of the states now have laws against computer crime, and legal experts argue that cases like the Milwaukee 414s break-ins are going to have to be covered by new legislation. “We can,t have horse-and-buggy laws in a Buck Rogers era,” said Arthur R. Miller, Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. . . Moreover, there is no federal law specifically prohibiting unauthorized access to computers.

. . . The vast majority [emphasis added] of white-collar crime cases in one way or another involve computers. . .

The Computer Security Act of 1983. . . would mandate a fine of up to $50,000 or a five-year jail sentence for robbing or abusing federal or private computers used in interstate commerce. . .

From a front page story in the Sept. 5, 1983 New York Times, we get this additional information:

. . . The number of young people roaming without authorization through some of the nation,s most sophisticated computer systems runs into the hundreds and possibly thousands, according to computer crime experts. Further, they say, the number is growing hand-in-hand with the boom in personal computers. . .

Many computer enthusiasts scoff at the Milwaukee group. “They are the least of what,s going on in this world,” said a 19-year-old university student in Chicago who calls himself Mr. Xerox. “They are the ones who get caught, which means they really don,t know what they,re doing.”.

Those who are most knowledgeable in the computer world say the preponderance of unauthorized penetrations into commercial, academic, and government computers are never discovered. “Most computers don,t have the mechanisms in place to know that they,ve had an intruder,” said Robert P. Campbell, president of Advance Information Management Inc. in Woodbridge, Va., “and most don,t have the ability to go back and reconstruct what happened.”. . .

The manipulation of telephone systems to communicate endlessly over long-distance lines for free is fairly common, the crime experts say. . . The “pirates” regularly use long-distance lines for transmitting stolen computer programs to electronic acquaintances across the country, and such a transmission often takes more than half an hour. They either bypass telephone billing mechanisms or use a code that results in the bill,s being sent to a subscriber to one of the long-distance telephone systems. There is a bimonthly newsletter published in New York that contains detailed information on how to break into computers and manipulate telephones. . .

Once again, what does this have to do with all of us who only want to own computers for innocent reasons, like playing games, or doing some word processing, or reading a few books from a distant library? It may have a great deal to do with us, and with such foundations of our legal system as the assumption of innocence and the burden of proof. Consider: suppose the government accuses us of having, say, robbed a bank. We could of course defend ourselves against the charge by proving that we were somewhere else. But we do not have to do even that much. The burden of proof is not on us to show that we were not at the bank, but on the government to show beyond reasonable doubt that we were, and this means among other requirements that it must produce witnesses who will swear they saw us there. Now suppose instead that some years in the future the government accuses us of having tampered with someone,s computer. What must it show, in order to convict us? What can it show, what is there for it to show, other than that certain illegal calls were traced to our telephone number? How could we possibly defend ourselves against such a charge? Suppose some malicious hackers had figured out what it will probably be very easy for them to figure out, as indeed they may well have already - a way to make a call from one number while making it look as if it came from another? How then could we show our innocence? “But Your Honor, it,s all a mistake!”

History has shown very plainly that when the government, and other holders of wealth and power, feel themselves in danger, they will take steps to reduce this danger, and if these happen to do away with certain constitutional rights of citizens, so much the worse for them. We may be absolutely certain that Congress and the Legislatures, and above all the present Supreme Court, will give the government whatever legislations and powers it thinks it may need to prosecute computer vandals, and before we jump up and down and sing happy songs about the wonderful computer revolution, we might think a little about what some of these laws and these powers might turn out to be. - JH

SUPERLEARNING

I,d like to ask if any of our readers have had any first-hand experience with an instructional method called SUPERLEARNING (450 7th Av. Suite 500, New York NY 10123), which involves the use of tapes, and if so, what their experience has been. Some of what I have read about the results of the method sounds promising; on the other hand, there is a high-pressure quality to their catalog that I don,t much like. But there might be a valuable resource for home-schoolers there, and if so, I,d like to take advantage of it. - JH

EDUCATION “STORES”

. . . I recently visited SENTINEL TEACHER SUPPLY and found it to be a home-schoolers, paradise! Games, stickers, workbooks, etc. Also a Christian Education room. The salespeople were welcoming. . . Great source of materials! Catalog available: 2200 W. Alameda Av, Denver CO 80223. - JANIS MARTINEZ, Colorado Home Schooling Network Newsletter.

. . . The TENNESSEE BOOK COMPANY, 410 Harding Industrial Drive, PO Box 110110, Nashville TN 37211, sells textbooks to the schools. Prices are wholesale whether you buy one or 100. There,s a reading room where you can compare the books of 65 different publishers. Fill out your order, call yourself a school, pay, and you have your books, no questions asked. Prices are cheaper than buying direct from the publisher, and no shipping charge. - A TENNESSEE READER

[DR:] If you would like to find such a place in your area where you can examine textbooks and other educational materials first-hand, check the Yellow Pages under “School Supplies” and “Book Dealers.”

STENCILS FROM X-RAYS

From Leslie Westrum (IN):

. . . If anyone is interested in stenciling, I,ve found a financial shortcut. Cardboard stencils don,t hold up well, and the mylar store-bought kind cost a fortune. But you can make your own designs with an exacto knife or razor blade and old X-rays. Just go to your local hospital and ask for used X-rays - they usually just throw them away. This plastic is sturdier than the commercial stencil stuff. I used it to stencil hearts on my kitchen wall and it worked great!. . . The standard size is 10″ x 12″ - a good size to work with. It cuts easily if your blade is sharp. Aside from stenciling - the X-rays themselves are great for teaching your kids about anatomy. . . You sure can,t beat the price!. . .

PIANO AND RECORDER

Susan Richman (PA) wrote:

. . . Little Molly (3 months old) has been a real spur to Jesse,s piano playing - she calms down almost instantly when he plays for her, a wonderfully appreciative audience! He plays on and off throughout the day now. He discovered on his own that he could use all his fingers, not just his index finger, and even both hands - he said that doing Chisanbop gave him the idea! He really notices how his little songs sound smoother when he uses all fingers. He,s still enjoying experiments with chords. He once corrected me when I was telling a friend about how he was LEARNING to play piano. “I,m not LEARNING to play the piano, I,m PLAYING the piano,” he said adamantly. He loves playing his little repertoire of memorized songs to anyone who will listen.

Jacob also takes his time at the piano, pretending to play Jesse,s songs from MRS. STEWART, often turning to the proper page and singing the numbers or words.

. . . Glad to see you,re offering the Aulos recorder now (GWS #33). I,ve found that as a mother with young ones, the recorder can,t be beat - can,t be broken by two-year-olds, either. I usually try to bring mine along on hikes in the woods. I find I,m much more patient in letting Jesse and Jacob play as long as they like, building “rock islands” in our creek or digging in sand, if I have my recorder with me so I can be playing, too. Easy to carry with a baby - I don,t know too many mothers who could easily manage, say, a cello and a babe on hip. We all had a wonderful walk out in the woods the other day - boys playing in the stream, Molly looking up at the waving-to-her tree branches, kicking and smiling, and me having a long time for recorder playing. Very nice to be able to take a musical instrument outside. I always feel in tune with all the shepherds of the world!

I have discovered a nice recorder book, THE RECORDER GUIDE by Johanna Klubach and Arthur Nikta. It,s a teaching guide, and mostly is full of very simple but delightful duets from the folk heritage of the world. Easy sight-reading, and the book is also full of charming old etchings and drawings of people playing recorder. . .

A MYSTERIOUS GIFT

One of our readers, learning that I had taken up the violin, called me one day from New Jersey to say that she had an old violin in the house that she wanted to give me. (Down, boy! This is not a Strad-in-the-attic story.) I suggested that she try to sell it, but she said she would rather have me have it. I said that was very nice of her, and we arranged to meet when I was in N.J. giving a lecture. Came the evening, and just as I was about to begin, a lady came in with a violin, thrust it into my hands and walked right out again. I had expected and hoped to have time to thank her, and learn a bit about the instrument and its history in her family, but there was no time. I don,t even know her name.

Later, in my motel, I opened the case and looked at, and tried, the violin. It looked very nice, with a beautifully grained back and sides (ribs), and though the strings were old and the bow poor, it made a mellow sound. It is at my friend Horst Kloss,s shop right now, getting the back glued up, a new bridge cut, new strings put in, and so on. I am eager to start playing it. Meanwhile, it is important that my unknown benefactor get in touch with me, so that I can tell her something about the instrument. - JH

NEW TAPE AVAILABLE HERE

WALLACE FAMILY CONCERT #2 (1983) ($8 for 90 min. cassette). Our first Wallace Family Concert tape was made in June 1982, when Vita was just 7 and Ishmael not quite 11. They planned and gave the concert mostly in order to make a recording to send to relatives and friends, and I added it to our list so that others could hear a family learning and making classical music together. Also, I thought there would probably be more concerts and recordings in the future, and that some might later find it interesting to have a record of where, musically speaking, the family had come from.

There have been other concerts since. In one, in November 1982, I was a guest artist; in one part of the concert, Ishmael and I played a sonata for cello and piano. At that concert we had a very small audience - one other home schooling family. This year the Wallaces decided to put on a somewhat larger and more formal concert, with invitations (prepared by Vita) sent out to a number of guests, and program notes for all the music, written by Ishmael. On the big day - I had just driven up after some lectures in the Philadelphia area - every chair in the house was pressed into service for the 20 or so adults and children who arrived. This is a tape of the entire occasion, complete with applause and shouts of “Encore!” If you listen to this tape over headphones, which I like to do when listening alone, you will feel you are there.

The first music you will hear is the first movement of a piano quartet which Ishmael has written for the family. (By now he has mostly completed the other movements, but only the first movement had been rehearsed for this concert.) In this we hear the first recorded appearance on cello of Bob Wallace, who has been playing for only about a year and a half. In following selections we hear Vita on the piano, then Ishmael on the piano playing the Children,s Suite by Debussy, and also two fascinating compositions of his own, then Vita on violin accompanied by Ishmael, then Ishmael on piano again. As in a professional concert, the performers do not announce their pieces, so we will provide a copy of the program, along with the program notes.

This is for me not only a souvenir in sound of a very happy gathering of family and friends of all ages, but also a record of the continuing musical growth of this music-loving family. If you already know their earlier tape, you will find it very hard to believe how much both the children have improved. Ishmael no longer sounds like a “child” pianist, but like a mature artist that I would be glad to hear on any occasion, and Vita in her turn has progressed amazingly on both piano and violin.

All in all, a wonderful proof, in music, that it is not true that children will never do anything difficult or worthwhile unless they are made to. For this is music played only for love. - JH

NEW BOOKS AVAILABLE HERE

BLACK FOREMOTHERS, by Dorothy Sterling ($6.25 + post). This is the story of a too-little known part of our history, the lives of three black women who were among the pioneers in the long and hard effort, not ended yet, to free black people, first from slavery, then from legal and political discrimination. It is hard to believe, and indeed many young people may still not know, that more than eighty years after our country was founded, not only was it legal in many parts of the country to own slaves, but in all parts of the country it was a crime to help slaves escape from slavery.

All of these stories remind us what long, hard, patient, often discouraging effort it takes to do away with long-established customs and wrongs. The most exciting of these stories is the first, the life of Ellen Craft. Born in 1826, she was the only one of these women to grow up a slave. When she was 22, she and her new husband, William, afraid they might be separated from each other, or from their children if they should have any, decided to try to escape to the North and freedom. Their plan was a daring one. Since she was light-skinned, she planned to disguise herself as an invalid Southern gentleman, and her husband as her servant.

. . . Most of the details that made her disguise plausible were devised by Ellen. Realizing with a sudden pang that she would be asked to sign hotel registers, she made up a bandage and sling for her right arm to explain her inability to write. A poultice - a bulky, wet bandage, tied from chin to head, toothache-style, would conceal her beardlessness. Then, looking in a mirror, she saw that her eyes might register fear, anger, dismay, and she sent William downtown for a final purchase - a pair of green spectacles. . .

The story of their escape is almost unbearably exciting - it might someday make a wonderful film, though it may be some time before such a film is made.

If the other two women in this book did not face quite the same degree of danger as Ellen Craft, they still had to overcome every kind of difficulty. Ida Wells at age 16 lost both parents to yellow fever, and had to come home to take care of five young children. To keep the family from being broken up, she went to work as a schoolteacher so that she could support them. Later she became the first black woman journalist, and for most of her life remained one of the most tireless, eloquent, and effective speakers against racial injustice.

This book is a useful supplement and corrective to the very incomplete American history that has always been and is now taught in our schools, even the “best” schools. It is also an exciting and well told story, from which, in these difficult times, we may all gain much needed strength and courage.

MRS. FRISBY AND THE RATS OF NIMH, by Robert O,Brien ($1.75 + post). This is one of my very favorite animal adventure stories. Mrs. Frisby is a widowed field mouse, facing a terrible dilemma. Spring is coming, and she and her children must move from their winter home in the field of a farmer, whose spring plowing will destroy their dwelling, to their summer home in nearby woods. But her youngest child is very ill, and to make such a long journey this early in the year will certainly kill him. She seeks advice and help, and is told to try to make contact with some mysterious rats in her neighborhood. These, we learn, are the rats of NIMH. What does NIMH stand for? National Institute of Mental Health. What did that have to do with these rats? The scientists of NIMH did an experiment on the rats to see if they could increase their intelligence. Did they succeed? They did, beyond their wildest dreams. And from this beginning follows this exciting story.

Once begun, it is very hard to put down. It is a wonderful bedtime read-aloud story, since the author, like all great story tellers, ends almost every chapter with a new piece of important information, a new danger, or a new way of overcoming danger, so that readers can hardly wait to see what happens next. Also, the book raises a question for its child-philosopher readers, that has always been and is now a matter of passionate concern to many adults: What is intelligence? How can we recognize it, or test it, or measure it? How would really intelligent creatures, under the control of more powerful creatures, behave? (This story, like any schoolroom, provides one good answer - they would conceal most of their intelligence.) What would truly intelligent creatures have as their aim in life? To this question the book gives a very good and I think true answer - for these super-intelligent rats do indeed have an ambition, a goal, for which they are ready to risk their lives. What it is, I will let readers find out.

I have read that a full-length film, an animated cartoon, was made from this book, and that it is one of the best of such films ever made. If it turns up near you, it might be worth seeing - and if you see it, please give us a report. Meanwhile, don,t miss this wonderful book.

THE CHINESE WORD FOR HORSE, AND OTHER STORIES, by John Lewis & Peter Rigby ($5.35 + post). This unique, surprising, and beautiful book is both about the three stories it tells and about the Chinese written language it uses to tell them. The illustrations which help tell the stories are themselves made up of Chinese written characters (each of which stands for a whole word), or slightly modified versions of these. Thus the true Chinese word for horse, with only a few changes, becomes an easily recognized but still very Chinese-looking picture of a horse; the Chinese word for tree, in the same way, becomes a very beautiful picture of a forest. The true Chinese characters are always painted with a brush in a very vivid Chinese red; all the other illustrations, also painted with a brush, are in black. The boldness of these shapes and colors make this a strikingly beautiful book. Some children may be inspired by it to want to make Chinese or pseudo-Chinese characters of their own.

One of the fascinating and beautiful things we learn from this book is the way Chinese combines words for things to make words for other things, or even abstract ideas. Thus the Chinese word for “shed” is the word for “cart” with a little roof drawn over it. To the word for “tree” Chinese adds three shapes representing the open mouths of birds, to get the word for “birdsong.” The Chinese word for “thrift” is a picture of a storehouse, with two sheaves of grain hanging under the roof. And the Chinese word for “thief” is the picture for “man,” with a sheaf of grain on each side, as if under each arm. This is a very powerful reminder that a thief not only steals another,s work but his food, in short, that he does him a serious injury.

It may well be true that the Chinese are constantly reminded by their written language what it is they are really talking about; the shapes of the symbols remind them of the realness of the thing. To be sure, such pictographic languages have serious disadvantages. It takes a very long time for the Chinese to learn enough symbols to use their written language well - time that a simpler system (which the Chinese are right now trying to develop) might have freed to use in other ways. But the concrete nature of this written language may to some extent protect them from the over-abstraction of thought which is one of the great curses and dangers of our Western life.

In any case, this is a fascinating book to look at and read, as well as an interesting glimpse into a very different way of thinking and writing.

A HIGH WIND IN JAMAICA, by Richard Hughes ($2.25 + post). This book, set in the 19th century, about a group of children who, while on their way to England from their island home in the Caribbean, are captured by pirates, is not only an exciting adventure story but also one of the first, and one of the greatest, fictional psychological portraits of children, above all of its ten-year-old heroine Emily. Few books I have read have captured or intuited so vividly and convincingly what it might feel like to be a child, above all in these special circumstances. Hughes, understanding of children seems to me amazingly accurate, with perhaps one exception, the question of their ability to become attached to people, places, things - he says they don,t, I say they often do.

The book, like another favorite of mine, JEREMY, which I will add to our list if it ever comes back into print, was not written for children but for adults - it is an adult novel, about children. But the story is so exciting, the children so real, and the descriptions of life in the tropics and at sea so lifelike, that I think any children of ten or over, and perhaps even some younger, would love the book, which I myself have read many times, always with the greatest pleasure. - JH

RUBBER STAMP KIT AVAILABLE HERE

STA-TITE PRINTING KIT ($11, no extra postage charge). What we have here is in effect the world,s smallest and least expensive printing press. It was designed to be used, not by children, but by adults in offices. But I think it may be something that many children will much enjoy using, and that may make easier and more exciting their first exploration of the world of reading and writing.

As Glenda Bissex, in her wonderful book GNYS AT WRK (GWS #24, 25) has pointed out (along with many others), many and perhaps even most children, if they had a chance, would rather approach the world of reading through the world of writing rather than the other way round. What makes this very natural approach hard and unpleasant for most children is the sheer physical difficulty of making letters at all, let alone letters they would feel proud to look at and to show others.

I have felt for some time that if children had an easy way to make letters, they might, like Paul Bissex, be much more interested in writing as a way of expressing their thoughts. Hence my long-standing interest in typewriters for children - I still feel strongly that anyone who can afford the needed $100 or so would be very wise to buy some kind of electric typewriter for their children. (Manual typewriters are too hard for small fingers.) And I also agree strongly with what Seymour Papert said in MINDSTORMS (GWS #24) and Mario Pagnoni has said in a more recent letter to us, that many or most children would find word processors a great incentive to writing.

At the same time I have been looking for something much cheaper and simpler, a set of letter stamps that even young children could use. Until recently, those I had seen seemed much too expensive for most parents, on the order of $1 per letter. Then one day, looking through one of the many office supply catalogs that come in our mail, I saw an ad for these rubber stamps, which looked as though they might be just what we were looking for.

This is a kit, designed to enable offices to make their own custom designed rubber stamps. In the kit are a number of rubber letters and numerals, plus the basic stamp into which you can insert whatever letters and numbers you need to make your own personal message. This particular set has four or five each of the letters, both capitals (about 1/4″ high) and lower case, and two or three of each of the numerals, which should be enough to write most of the messages that could fit on the stamp - 4-5 lines of print with about 20 characters per line. I should think children might have quite a bit of fun with this. I can imagine using the stamp to send some short message to a child, who would then use it to send a message in return. Or children might use it to send the same message or letter to a number of people - perhaps a Christmas card or other greeting. Readers will no doubt invent their own ways of using these pads - please let us know what you and your children do with them.

A word of advice and one of caution. The kit supplies tweezers for inserting and removing letters, but I find them a little awkward to use and think most children would find them impossible. Fingers can do the job better. As for caution, the stamp pad provided is a regular office stamp pad using non-washable ink, so take needed precautions. I have not yet found a stamp pad with washable ink; if you know of any, please let us know. We tried using water colors with one of these, but the letters were much too faint to be interesting. Perhaps washable colors for felt-tipped pens would work better. So far we have not had time to try such an experiment. If any of you try it, or find some other good colors to use in un-inked pads, please let us know. For the time being, I would probably not trust a two-year-old with these pads, but think that four-year-olds could be trusted to use them properly - on paper only. With these minimal controls, I think many of you and your children may find this a very interesting helpful tool. - JH