GROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING #26

John Holt is away on his European lecture trip (a schedule appears elsewhere in this issue).  Before he left, he delivered the final revisions for the new edition of HOW CHILDREN LEARN to his Delacorte editor.  Also (in addition to the events mentioned in GWS #25), he spoke on radio shows aired in Phoenix, Fall River, Mass., and Pittsburg; did a TV show in Pittsburgh with home-schooler Katy White, and another TV show, "Speaking Out," in Ontario; gave the keynote address at a conference on psychology and education in Newtonville, Mass.; and spoke at the University of Evansville on his Indiana trip.

At John’s request, I have started doing the radio and TV requests that have come in.  My first opportunity was an hour-long phone interview from a radio show in Pittsburg; a week later, home-schooler Barbara Rodriguez and I were on a late-night Boston TV talk show.  Since then I’ve been on radio in Providence, RI, New York City, and Framingham, MA (with Mary Maher.)  Several of these interviews were prompted by an excellent article by Elin McCoy in the April PARENTS MAGAZINE on home schooling and compulsory education.

No way of knowing when the PEOPLE MAGAZINE story featuring John and the Mahers will be printed - keep a lookout for it.

A friend’s family invited Tim Chapman to stay with them in Spain, so he left March 28 for a month of two.  He intends to learn Spanish while he’s there, and later travel around Germany and Italy.  Pat Farenga, who had done volunteer work for us, will handle the subscriptions and book orders while Tim is gone.

For the first time, we have over 4000 current subscribers to GWS!  In the first three months of 1982, we’ve received about 550 new subs and 400 renewals (which we especially appreciate).

Delacorte, the publishers of TEACH YOUR OWN, have just sent a flyer about the book to all the people who have written us since John’s first appearance on "Donahue" in 1978.  Too early to tell yet what kind of response we’ll get to the mailing.

The newly revised edition of HOW CHILDREN FAIL (the original text plus 20-25,000 words of new writing) will be available by the time you get this.  As usual, we’ll sell copies from this office: $5.35 + .75 postage.  The original edition is no longer available. — Donna Richoux

        FROM PEGGY

friends - a note to say many, many thanks to all of you who have sent me cards and letters of good wishes.  I especially like the home-made cards; I make them myself for special people and occasions.   for those of u wondering why . . .I was in a grisly and bizarre accident.  you may have read of or seen on ‘60 minutes,’ the case of the ‘faulty ford transmission recall’?  well, on feb. 20 my ‘73 thunderbird, which was included in that recall case, jumped out of ‘park’ and into ‘ reverse,’ and began rolling down my driveway.  as I stepped back to avoid the moving car I lost my footing and slipped to the ground, landing under the car.  the front wheel rolled over my left arm, jaw, and nose, and kerplunked onto the right arm.  the left arm sustained multiple bruises, my nose was gashed - I suspect from a piece of gravel - and my right arm was seriously fractured.

        I should be pretty well healed by the end of may, but until then my ability to help is strongly curtailed.  I have a homemaker at the house, and i’m ordering the books we sell from there.  I can put in a few hours a week at the office, but get very sore quickly.  my one-handed typing is easiest in lower case only, and even that pulls and yanks at my back and shoulders.

        luckily the plans for john’s europe tour needed only final touches.  a lot of other work will be delayed somewhat, but all considered i’m pretty up to date.  so, my thanks again for the generous and much appreciated concern.  now on to law suits and healing, backed by a healthy regard for nothing short of a miracle.

                                                - peggy durkee

LIVING LIFE FULLY

        George Levenson (CA) wrote:

. . .Without knowing exactly how or why, I seem to have reached a frame of mind wherein my children’s presence at home is not "instead of being in school."  they carry on their lives much the same way I/we adults conduct ours. playing with each other and by themselves; being happy , sad, grumpy according to the match of mood and situation; being bored, being intensely interested, fretting, carefree, depending, it seems, on such variables as the weather, their hunger or tiredness, and all the other factors that make humans such interesting and unfathomable creatures.

. . .Watching then play, sing, squabble, eat, dance, read, bathe, run, sleep, look out for each other, sort out disagreements, share so that inequalities get ironed out (or don’t) - watching all this and more has been a framework for experiencing life.  And at this point, it’s hard to imagine it being otherwise.  I’ve never lived in a house that is being so fully utilized as this one.  It feels good. . .

VICTORY IN IDAHO

        from Debbie Jones (ID):

. . .We have had an exciting time here the last month or so… The state superintendent of public instruction introduced a bill to make the local school boards have jurisdiction over unaccredited private schools in their district.  There stated intent was to get at these home schoolers who were calling  themselves private schools so that the local boards couldn’t get at them. . .The Idaho Federation on Independent Schools introduced an alternative bill which would have done the same thing except it limited the subjects they could require to language skills, American history and government, geography, and basic mathematical computation.  We were against it too.  There was another bill to have private schools register with the state each year and report the name of the director, the principal, the number of teachers and number of students.  At the present time even this is not required in Idaho; the Idaho Constitution is very limiting on public school authority, stating specifically that it has authority over PUBLIC instruction.  The legislature so far had been consistent in its support of this principle; they are not quick to give public school people any control of private education even so much as having the private schools register with them. . .

We did a lot of phoning and a lot of writing.  We even went over to Boise (five hour drive) and testified before the Senate HEW Committee when they had a hearing.  At first the Christian school people and large private schools were very leery of being seen with us.  They wanted us to keep quiet because we were the ones who were giving private schools a bad name or something. . . I used John’s "legislative strategy" from TEACH YOUR OWN almost verbatim.  Those that heard me speak thought it was great. . .  One after another, some great people gave some excellent testimony:  Linda Q. Jones, Ph.D.; Susan Bond, certified teacher; Ed Bond; Paula West; Leslie Bair; Sherrel Olsen - each in turn making important points. . .  Paula used what Donna gave her over the phone about the legislation going on in other states.  Paula make it sound as if everyone else in the country was going just the opposite way and trying to make it easier for parents to teach their own.

After the hearing, it was as though the ice had been broken.  Many Christian school people came up to shake my hand and congratulate me. . .  We had stood up and let them know we were responsible people, parents trying to do a good job, people with credentials and titles, people who know the law.  They were impressed and felt the legislators were too…

Well, we have finally defeated all the bills.  The two bills which would have given control to local school boards were killed in committee.  The registration bill was killed on the Senate floor, 19 to 9!  We felt especially good about this because it was pretty much out in the open that it was a home school issue and still they were all defeated.  I feel that we actually had an influence in defeating these bills.

…There are between 50 and 100 families teaching their children at home in Idaho now.  Sometimes I feel as if we’ve got a tiger by the tail, or as if we are riding on the crest of a huge wave that is rising and rising up and nothing anyone can do will stop it…

HAPPY IN ITHACA

        Nancy Wallace (NY) wrote in an article in INQUIRY magazine, 3/29/82:

…We had been teaching our ten-year-old son, Ishmael, at home for three years when we moved from rural New Hampshire to Ithaca in upstate New York.  As for Ishmael’s sister, Vita, who was six, she had been learning right along with the rest of us since the day she was born.

. . .The quality and variety of the resources here for children are incredible.  As soon as we moved I found myself racking my brains over which of four ballet schools to send the kids to.  We had a choice of two music schools and three or four different types of drama and art classes, plus a gymnastics center, a fine city library, and the university library where Ishmael wanders around in the stacks practically in ecstasy.  Then there are two state parks within bicycling distance, and a shopping district that the kids can walk to by themselves, complete with bookstores, record stores, a bagel shop, and a Greek pizza place.  And when Ishmael wants to earn money, he has three elderly neighbors to work for, shoveling their snow, raking leaves, and mowing lawns.  Vita, a competent business woman in her own right, has already made 75 cents by setting up a used-doll stand right across the street from the school-bus stop. . .

Here [in New York], families can opt for home-schooling on an elementary level with no formal "approval process" at all, if they notify their local public school superintendent and agree to teach a minimum of courses required by law.  In Ithaca, we found to our delight, the superintendent took a relaxed attitude toward our request to keep Ishmael and Vita out of his schools.  "Although I think we have a very gook school system here," he told us, "how parents decide to educate their children is their own business.  And if you have the guts to take on the responsibility of teaching your kids at home, then I think I can assume that you are doing a good job."  Right then we knew that this was going to be our town!. . .

        Nancy also wrote to us:

. . .These past few months are the first we’ve ever had that have been completely free.  Always before, I was somewhat concerned that the kids should do a smattering of all their school subjects each week - a little math, handwriting, science, etc.,  - since, as I told myself, the school people were looking over our shoulder.  But since moving to Ithaca, we now have no one in charge of us who cares what we do, as long as we do something for five hours a day.  At the same time, I find that music is taking up more and more of our time - 1 1/2 hours a day for each of the kids, and after working with them for three hours, I just don’t have much energy for anything.  So I’m not putting the effort into ""school" that I used to, although we still read to the kids at night.

What’s surprising is that even without my interference, they are just as academic as ever.  Sometimes, for example, I’ll start to feel guilty and be about to ask Vita if she’d like to do a little reading or writing, but when I find her, she’ll be lying on her bed with a book, or typing on Bob’s typewriter, or working in her math book.  And often, out of the corner of my ear, I’ll hear Ishmael say to himself resignedly, "Well, I guess I’d better do some math."  And yesterday he handed me a five-page letter he’d written to me (to further my education) on the life and times of Camillo Benso Cavour.

I still try as much as possible to keep a journal of the kinds of things the kids do each day, mostly for my own peace of mind.  If you are a teacher, you can just teach every day for six hours and feel fine, because you did your best, regardless of how much the kids actually learned.  But if you don’t teach, it is so easy to really worry about how much your kids are learning, and for me, the journal is a way to ease that worry, since the kids are so constantly busy doing neat things and the journal helps me focus on them. . .

NEWS FROM ALL OVER

        From Linda McFarlane, 301 Learn Lane, Kalispell MT  59901:

. . .Just a word to let you know what is happening in Montana.  The State Board of Public Instruction had a meeting in December to try to figure out a way to put restrictions on private schools and home-schoolers. . . The turnout from private schools and religious organizations was great.   The Board decided to make a ruling that appeared to say home schooling was OK…  However, in fact, what the ruling means is the Board doesn’t care where the instruction is taught.  They are only concerned with whether instruction is being taught or not, and if it is adequate.  They leave that judgment up to the county superintendent.  The State also has no authority to say whether the child is truant - that is up to the county attorney. . .

I still feel we’ve made progress. . .  There is record of a home schooler cooperating with a school in Missoula, participating in some school functions.

        From Sharon Hillestad, 9669 E 123 St, Hastings MN  55033

…I am going to enclose a copy of the amended bill that has gotten out of the education committee.  It is just about as fuzzy as the original law [GWS #24].  I don’t think it is too hard to live with, myself.  The kids and I attended the session where this was finally brought for a vote.  Holly and Matt video-taped the proceedings; I testified before the committee at the last minute.  It was well received.

        [A reader just told us that Bill 1459 "was pulled off the floor by Willis Ekens, the author, because he did not like the way the compromise bill turned out. . ."

        Andy Peterson (PA) wrote:

. . .Just heard from State Senator Hess that House Bill 1300 will be amended to remove "certified" and reinstate current "properly qualified" [GWS #25].  The amendment has been drafted and no opposition expected.  Good news…

[DR:]  And while we’re on the subject of Pennsylvania law:  In the "Regulations of the State Board of Education of Pennsylvania,"  Chapter 11, "Pupil Attendance," I found this interesting paragraph:

"Section 11.33.  Dual enrollment - nonpublic school pupils enrolled part-time in the public schools.  Membership and attendance of nonpublic school pupils lawfully enrolled part-time in the public schools shall be recorded and counted on an equivalent full-time basis for attendance purposes and reimbursement."

Has anyone taken advantage of this provision?  Sounds like a good thing for PA families to point out to their local school officials.  Does anyone know of similar regulations in other states?

John Ellis of the WISCONSIN ASSOCIATION OF PARENT TEACHERS (Rt. 3 Box 84, Shell Lake WI  54871;  and Peggy Lentz of FREEDOM IN CHOICE IN EDUCATION (1757-21st Av, Kenosha WI  53140;  sent us information on some current Wisconsin legislation they are concerned about.  One is Assembly Bill 1096, which makes contributing to truancy a criminal offense; another is House Bill 1093, which establishes a procedure for private schools that are denied approval by their local school boards to appeal to the State; and, third, new rules drafted by the Department of Public Instruction, submitted to the Assembly 2/15/82, which outline procedures for the State Superintendent’s review and approval of "instructional programs elsewhere that at school."

John Ellis also says, "Mildred Anderson, Ph.D, in charge of administering the ‘One-Family Non-Public School Regulations’ . . .in the fall of 1981, refused to allow a parent even to submit an application for the Home Tutorial program and that parent-teacher is now standing trial in court for refusing to put his child back in public school.  At the same time last fall, Ms. Anderson allowed a parent-teacher to start teaching her children at home even before the parent-teacher had submitted an application for the Home Tutorial program…  There is an unwritten law at the DPI that if the parent-teacher does not have two or more years of college or is poor, the parent-teacher is refused Home Tutorial Program approval…"

INDIANA CASE DISMISSED

        Theodore Amshoff, Jr., who is on our "friendly lawyers" list, wrote in January:

…We are presently involved in several cases,,, One of these (in Salem, Indiana) involves the prosecution of a father who was formerly Chairman of the Department of Psychology at Northeastern Illinois University, where he had previously received numerous awards for his teaching abilities.  Likewise, the mother had previously taught in the parochial schools of Chicago.  Their children are receiving an education far surpassing their public school peers in academic achievements.  Nonetheless, the State has commenced criminal prosecution against these caring parents.

Because of the factual strength of the case, and the principle of the parent’s the defense will be quite thorough. We are conducting the case at the trial level with an eye toward future litigation in the appellate courts.  I believe the case has the potential of establishing a precedent for parental rights in education.  It is factually strong, and legally buttressed by certain favorable aspects of Indian law, in addition to the persuasive federal constitutional arguments generally found in such cases…

        At the same time,  Mr. Amshoff sent us his lengthy and excellent "Memorandum in Support of Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss."  

        Then, on March 18, he wrote:

…I am quite pleased to inform you that the Judge has dismissed all charges against Victor and Mary Dufour in the criminal prosecution of them for the home education of their children.  We are quite pleased with the victory in this matter…

        MORE COURT NEWS

Besides the Dufour case, we also heard that charges against home-schoolers Fred and Anne Cato of Concord, North Carolina, were dropped, on the grounds that the compulsory attendance laws in that state were vague and contradictory.  The state is appealing the decision.

The Catos’ lawyer also told us that Larry Delconte, who, as we reported in GWS #25, had charges against him dismissed in January, was taken back to court, reindicted, convicted, given a suspended sentence, and is now appealing!  According to the lawyer, the different personalities of the judges were responsible for the different decisions.

A second court loss we have heard of - Deirdre Purdy reported in Alternatives to Education that the West Virginia Supreme Court ruled on 12/15/81 that the children of Bobby and Esther Riddell had a right to education that superseded the parents’ right to freedom of religion, which they had claimed in support of teaching their children at home.  Deirdre will send us a copy of the ruling as soon as she gets it.

NEWS FROM ARIZONA

[DR:]  In the beginning of February, lots of people sent us clippings from Arizona, where a bill attempting to make home schooling easier passed the State House of Representatives.  An unusual amount of the publicity was negative  ("Our public schools have been the foundation of this country," etc).  However, at least one newspaper, the Phoenix Gazette, did have a supportive editorial.

The present Arizona law says, "A person shall be excused by the board of trustees from the duty prescribed in subsection A [school attendance] when it is shown to the satisfaction of the board and the county school superintendent that :(1) the child is instructed at home by a competent teacher in the subjects given in the common schools of that state."

The proposed bill would change the law to read, "A person is excused from the duty prescribed by subsection A if : (1) The child is instructed at home in a sustained curriculum in the basic subjects given in the common schools of this state."

The bill was due to be voted on in the Senate in March, where the chances for passage were not considered to be good.  No word on this as we go to press.

One thing to note:  many of the headlines, editorials, articles, etc, implied that home-schooling would become "legal," "permissible," "allowed," or "sanctioned" under the new law.  They didn’t point out that home-schooling is already legal and the new bill would simply make it easier to do.  If GWS readers get involved with similar legislation in other states, we hope they stress that home-schooling is already permitted by law in their states, and that indeed families are already doing it, and that they are merely attempting to remove unnecessary restrictions.

One reason why this matters - besides that fact that it should help silence the debate over whether people should be allowed to home-school - is that if the attempted bill should fail, the impression in the general population will be "Home-schooling is now illegal," when actually, it will be just as legal as it ever was.  If you read the headline HOME SCHOOL BILL FAILS, and nothing else, what conclusion would you draw?  After a similar attempt in Colorado to ease restrictions failed a while ago, someone wrote us, "I’d like to teach my child at home but I heard it’s now against the law."  We want to lessen the chances of such misunderstanding.

        The latest clipping we have, from the Arizona Republic, 3/5/82, has some good news:

…A policy that would allow parents in the Tempe Elementary School District to teach their children at home if they assume full responsibility for the students’ education has been proposed by the district’s governing board.  

In addition, two families Wednesday were granted permission by the board to teach their children at home for religious reason.

…Last moth, the board debated whether parents who are allowed to teach their children should be required to be certified teachers. . .  School Superintendent Ralph Goitia told the board that the Arizona attorney general had indicated to him that parents did not have to be certified to be "competent."…

CATHOLIC HOME STUDY

        From William L. Bowman, Director of OUR LADY OF VICTORY SCHOOL, PO Box 5181, Mission Hills CA  91345:

…We now have about 80 students at our San Fernando Valley campus and close to 200 students in our Home Study Program. They live in 26 states, 3 Canadian provinces, and Spain.  We continue to grow each year.

We are now gathering information to produce a directory of traditional Catholic schools and Home Study families who wish to be listed.  We are also forming a teacher training course which will be offered on a home study basis…

FROM PRIVATE SCHOOLS

        Liz Prohaska, SUNSET HILL SCHOOL, 6250 W. Sunset Rd, Tucson AZ 85704, writes:

…I run a small free school here in Tucson where we have just started a home-schooling program.  We have one family enrolled now…

        From Kathleen Bottero, CORVALLIS OPEN SCHOOL, 960 SW Jefferson Av, Corvallis OR  97333:

 …We are a group of families in and around Corvallis who have formed a private school…  A lot of our members are homeschoolers who make use of our facilities and resources as they need them.  We have sports twice a week, math twice a week, science, French and Italic handwriting weekly, a lot of field trips of all sorts…  Every summer we have a summer camp in a local park…  For older children we have a junior apprenticeship program.

We’d really like to hear form other home-schoolers and small schoolers.  We have parents’ meetings once a month, and we’d be delighted to have guests…

        From Les Garber, HORIZONS SCHOOL, 229 Ponce de Leon Av, Atlanta, GA  30308:

…We are in the midst of setting up a curriculum library with the Georgia Coalition of Alternative Community Schools (PO Box 20, Rydal GA  30171).  The books, resource materials, and workbooks will be available to any home-schooling family.  We plan an Okeefenokee Swamp trip in March with members of the Georgia Coalition…  My colleague, Lorraine Wilson, and I are glad to assist with curriculum questions (her Ph.D. is in Curriculum Development).  Horizons is also set up to do placement and IQ standardized testing, and diagnostic work for parents who are concerned.  We are also considering some courses taught by home-schooling parents which will include Horizons students.

 …We also have two openings for teachers at Horizons next year which might be of interest to a home-schooling family.  We need one junior high and one senior high teacher…

        From Harold Ingraham, CALUMET SCHOOL, Smyrna NY  13464:

        …Calumet School is an enrolling system for families of home school students, with a home study selection of courses or advisement services for individualized studies.  We try to serve the specific educational needs of the student and not press a stereotyped curriculum upon him.  Our Independent Family Schools Resource Center is a part of Calumet and will continue as a problem-solving service to whoever seeks our aid…

        From Prof. Harold Baer, HALVI SCHOOL, 8 Hortencia, Brownsville TX  78521:  512-546-1449 (evenings):

…We’re getting about one inquiry a week, maybe more.  One student from Houston is now studying at home through us.

The legal situation in Texas is now better than ever.  Schools may now be exempt from supervision and requirements.  This, of course, makes home-schooling freer, too, by inference.

        From James Salisbury of the JOHN HOLD LEARNING CENTER,  8446 Harrison St, Midvale, UT  84047:

…We are pleased to announce - a no-nonsense High School Graduation program specifically designed for home schoolers and/or students who wish to enter college early.  This is a completely individualized, extremely flexible program based on actual achievement and competence rather than hours spent in class…  The JHLC, a non-profit organization, has been proud to provide an approved "correspondence school" free of charge and now an accredited diploma…  There is a small graduation fee.  This diploma program is available to students of other schools including private home schools.

… The JHLC now has two students, age 15, who graduated and are attending the University of Utah and University of Oklahoma.  We’re more and more convinced that home schoolers get in easier and do better in college than public schoolers…

[DR:]  And finally, Lawrence Williams of OAK MEADOW SCHOOL, PO Box 1051, Ojai CA  93023, has started publishing Living Education:  The Monthly Journal of Oak Meadow School.  It is handsomely printed, with photographs and drawings, and with contributions from some GWS families, as well as children’s writing, book reviews, and articles on education.  The Williams have decided to make this publication available to people other than just Oak Meadow home-schoolers, and we hope GWS readers will check it out.  Lawrence says they will give one free issue on request; subscriptions will be $25 for 12 issues.

DEGREE PROGRAM

        From Les Carr, Dean of Faculty, COLUMBIA PACIFIC UNIVERSITY, 150 Shoreline, Mill Valley CA  9494:

…Columbia Pacific University is authorized under the California Department of Education to provide Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctoral degree programs in a variety of fields.  We currently have approximately 2500 enrolled students and graduates; among them are quite a number of published authors, leaders in science and industry, and men and women with faculty positions at major academic institutions.

All work at the University is done on an individualized, nonresidential basis, with the student designing an independent study course with an assigned faculty mentor…  Students can be awarded academic credits for educational experiences accomplished previously, and also for relevant work experience…

Many students complete their degree programs in less than a year…  The total expenses are in the range of $2,000…

GOOD NEWS FROM N.J.

        Ann Bodine and Nancy Plent told us that this letter by the New Jersey Commissioner of Education, Fred Burke, is being widely circulated.  It was written Jan. 25, 1982, to a school superintendent.  Some excerpts:

 …I am writing in response to your letter of October 27, 1981 in which you raise a number of questions in regard to children receiving home instruction…  Allow me to begin my response by indicating to you that an Attorney General’s opinion rendered to this Department states:

"You are advised, therefore, that there does not exist an obligation on the part of a local board of education to ensure through a testing program that an equivalent education is being provided to children receiving instruction in a private school or at home

."The present statutory scheme compels parents or guardians to cause children between the ages of six and sixteen:

 "to attend the public schools of the district or a day school in which there is given instruction equivalent to that provided in the public schools for children of similar grades and attainments or to receive equivalent instruction elsewhere than at school."  NJSA 18A:38-25.

Pursuant to the above statute, parents of guardians have three options in regard to meeting their obligation.  They may send their children to the public schools of the district, they may send them to a day school or they may cause them to receive equivalent instruction elsewhere.  The obligation of the local district is limited to requiring that one of these three options is provided to a child.  If the parents opt to send their children to a "day school," equivalency of instruction is accepted since there presently does not exist any mechanism for the regulating of private day schools in the state of New Jersey.  If parents elect to educate their children at home, they bear the burden of introducing evidence that there has been compliance with [the statute]>  Once such evidence has been introduced, the ultimate burden of persuasion as to the lack of equivalency of instruction rests with the state, or in fact with the local district which is a creation of the state.  Further, equivalency has been interpreted to be limited to academic equivalency and not equivalency of social development (State vs. Massa, 95 NJ Super 382, 1967).  It must likewise flow from such decision that equivalency means equivalency of curricular content (e.g. math, science, history, etc.) not equivalency or quality of instruction or outcome.

Having dealt with the general question of the local district’s responsibility, let me proceed to answer your specific questions.

…"How does the local board determine student progress at home?"  The local board has no responsibility for determining progress.

"Must students take the M.B.S. tests or other relevant tests?"  Since there is no responsibility to evaluate progress, there is no authority to require testing.

"Are students who do not attend classes also precluded from extra-curricular activities such as dances and trips?"  Since students who are educated at home are not carried on your registers, they have no right to attendance at any school function limited to enrolled students or participation in any extra-curricular activities.

…"What happens if the board approves the program and the student is rejected from college entrance and decides to sue the board for approving the program?"  Since the board’s sole responsibility is to assure equivalency of program and not outcomes, it is not responsible for a student’s failure to obtain admittance to college,  Furthermore, no board is presently responsible for failure of a student to obtain admission to college even if they do attend the schools of the local district.

…Your final request relating to equivalency determinations being made at the state level is impractical since the responsibility for enforcing the compulsory education statute rests with the local district through the courts who must determine if the local district has met the burden of proof for demonstrating lack of equivalency…

INDEPENDENT STUDY

        From Pamela Wright, 32802 Valle Rd  #140, San Juan Capistrano CA  92675;  714-496-2446:

 …I represent the California State Department of Education as a consultant and member of the Task Force on Independent Study.  Independent Study legislation was passed in 1976, but because it is not a mandated program, many administrators are unaware of the legal guidelines.  Actually, home study or home teaching would fit nicely into the Independent Study design and does not need to present a problem to public school administrators.

I believe the major objection to home teaching would be the misconception that it is illegal and that school districts would lose money by not being able to generate ADA (state aid). Through Independent Study, home teaching can be legal and the school district can generate full ADA…

 [From a later letter:]  Yes, I do know of families teaching their own children on both a part-time and a full-time basis.  If you knew of someone having difficulty making arrangements for home teaching via Independent Study, it is because the district superintendent was not knowledgeable about the law…

FROM AUSTRALIA

        Dr. Christine Gazjago, 1/6 Ivy St, Prahan, Victoria  3181, Australia, wrote to John:

…It is a long time since you left us here in Melbourne, all on a high and very positive state of mind regarding children, education, and many other matters you touched on.  Part of the reason I have not written earlier is that the response to your visit was so strong and widespread, that it is only now that Lauris Jephcott and I are recovering our senses!

Thanks to your very timely visit, people who previously felt isolated are now emerging from all corners of Melbourne and Victoria, to express their views on education, seek help, and find out more information on alternatives.  Also, thanks to your kind permission to videotape your talk, the impact of your visit will continue to reverberate for some time yet.  We had a first small-scale viewing of the edited tape on Saturday, and the response of those who had not seen you personally was positive and thoughtful.

…My estimation is that out of the 200 or so people on our AERG (Alternative Education Resource Group)  mailing list, 50 or so are seriously contemplating or already involved in educating school-aged children out of school…  Now that AERG is receiving more publicity, this figure is sure to grow…  So many of the people I’ve spoken to would keep their children out of school if there were more people doing the same in their area…  In some ways, AERG is resolving the Catch-22 situation by getting two or more oscillating people together.

…It is sad that people wanting to do what they feel is so right for them feel hampered by restrictions such as their social and own inner resources.  Even people who obviously seriously question the value of institutionalized education are still bound by deeply ingrained myths about what "education" is or ought to be.  These same people (up until recently, including me) feel so unsure of their own ability to teach things… not only subject matter that is obscure to them, abut things they already know about.  Still, I am happy to say that many of these people I have spoken to are generally so open and enthusiastic that they quickly see their own teaching potential in a more positive light and realize just how much they are capable of.

In my own case, I’m seeing already how little direct teaching is necessary with Ami (5)…  Ami’s whole day is playtime from which she needs no bread.  Even meal times are a busy though slower time of activity…  I am also learning how just simple answers to very profound, complex (to me at least!) questions are enough…

…Ami visited a tiny alternative school with a lovely warn teacher where the children were asked to practice writing a certain letter of the alphabet which they were "doing" that day.  Ami simply balked.  Yet at home if she wants to write a letter or a person’s name or a (usually funny) phrase she wants to see written, she is brimming with enthusiasm.  Never have I commented on any errors in her writing, yet she has set herself  standards of excellence and is proud when she writes "nicely."  It is, I feel, a natural thing to gravitate towards order and neatness, if the environment and people around are sympathetic.

 …Her self-teaching of numbers, geometry, and measurement, has also meant that no "set" sessions are necessary.  Some time ago when we were watching some bricklayers building a fence next door and using measuring tapes, levels, and plumb bobs, she learned a lot about measurement, but never seemed to gravitate to our own measuring equipment at home.  We had all those gadgets readily accessible.  A little while later, when our landlord was doing some repairs, I checked some of our doorways for verticality because they were not shutting properly.. Ami seemed a little interested but lost interest quickly.  At some sate, we measured ourselves.  Then the whole business seemed to be forgotten for about six or nine months.  Out of the blue, Ami asked be for the tape and wanted to measure the height of one of her beloved toys, and so she had not forgotten after all!

Educators (even many alternative schools, keen to keep up with some of the basic "survival" skills like math and reading) all seem to ignore the natural rhythms and patterns (stops, starts, and consolidation periods) of children’s learning.  Even though unprogrammed learning looks unorderly and chaotic on the superficial level, I am now more convinced that ever, watching Ami and Pablo, about just how orderly and beautiful it is, provided the child is given the opportunity to observe and participate in life freely, and feels free to ask questions and try things out for herself.

 …One day recently Ami half-jokingly spoke about it being "midnight" during the day.  Midnight is seen by her as very, very late, a time by which people should be in bed.  It’s very special somehow - perhaps Cinderella’s fairy godmother made it so special.  Anyway, I then explained lightly and cautiously that the sum was up in the sky and it was midday or noon.  They I waited.  If I’d intruded on a special construction of her own, she would have let me know in some way.  On the other hand, she is a stickler for accurate, briefly-conveyed information, and this time this is what she wanted.  Her face lit up and then I explained briefly how the sun’s position is related to time.  But very briefly.  Then some other concern took her attention.  When she was dropping off to sleep that night she said, "Can you draw pictures of the sun at various points of time?"  And so, who needs schools as they are?…

One of our most staid and respected teacher’s colleges, Burwood, has made a community education section available to home-schoolers.  This consists of a theatrette, a curriculum library, and the advice of staff on any teaching matter.

…Marion Pears and I are writing down each day all the questions our children ask and what kinds of information these cover, to see how wide a range of subject matter can be covered through questions alone.  We feel that there is a natural propensity in children for what the Adelaide Education Dept. calls "balance and scope" in learning…  It might be noted their children’s questions and the range of subject matter the ensuing discussions covered…

GROWING IN ONTARIO

        Anna Myers (Ont.) writes:

…Drew’s still in hockey and doing very well.  He has a different attitude than many kids on the team.  He plays his hardest to win - with team spirit.  He is most often the kid who gets the puck, and instead of hogging it, he passes it to someone else to score the goal.  He doesn’t mind when they lose, it’s the playing that counts!  He gets up every morning and does exercises to "get in shape."  He watches NHL hockey on TV with intelligence, to get ideas; he quite often writes little drawings of plays he’s going to try.

Drew’s finally reading!  From that sentence you must realize that we’ve been very anxious about this particular area…  The first year that we homeschooled, Drew was six, and, true to our beliefs, we left him alone and he was coming along nicely.  He would ask for us to write letters for him, He’d copy notes, etc.  We read to him a lot!  Then, the trouble with the school board happened, they called him in for testing, and made him feel stupid when he couldn’t read the list of words.  They also made us very nervous about maybe having a court fight on our hands, with not a leg to stand on - since he really couldn’t read!

So, that summer poor Drew had reading pushed down his throat every day, until August when we had him tested by a private psychologist who put him at the "halfway through  grade 1" level.  We wanted this in case we had to go to court.  Drew realized the severity of our problem at the time and went along with it so he wouldn’t have to return to school, but as soon as we were "safe" in our own school, he forgot everything that he knew, and instead of looking forward to reading as an adventure, as he had done before, he began consciously to avoid it.  He wanted to read national Geographic so badly, but he figured reading was too hard and too much work.  No, not too much work - he’s not afraid of work - I think he thought it would take too long!

Anyway, we left him for a year, and a couple of months ago I suggested we slot some time in the morning for reading.  This is just "him and me" time and he can ask any questions he wants about the words he’s reading.  He seemed relieved that I brought up the topic again and this time has attacked the job with gusto - it shows, too!  He’s so pleased with himself and all I usually do is sit with him - not too many words are too hard for him to figure out.  He’s 8 1/2 now and I would say, at the beginning stages - maybe where a Grade One kid would be at the end of the first year, but his progress is in leaps and bounds.  We’ll let you know when he’s above grade level; we’re not too interested in keeping track (testing, etc.), but when he can finally read his favorite wildlife books, space books, etc. - we’ll know!

Yesterday, Drew asked, "Does the world move around in space?"  I answered, "Yes, 365 days to go around the sun."  Then immediately afterwards, he said, "How are hurricanes made:"  I wondered all yesterday about how he could have two such unrelated questions so close together on the tip of his tongue - he does this all the time.  Most of the time I can’t answer his questions so he has to wait until his next trip to the library, and then he has to make a mental note of remembering what he wants to know.  He does remember quite a few of the topics he’s asked questions about.

 …I’ve been thinking that an important part of his learning is just asking questions; whether he gets an answer of not doesn’t seem to matter.  Maybe just the sound of the question is enough for his brain to catalogue his queries for future reference - then slowly as they’re answered, his brain crosses them off!…

On work…Burt is editor of a magazine, "Ontario Out of Doors."  He is able to take us on many of his hunting and fishing trips and he works at home a fair bit.  I was a teacher but will never return!  Right now another homeschooling fiend and her kids, and me and my kids, are thinking of starting en egg-delivery business which we hope will grow into a traveling "Health Food Store."

…We have arranged to have swimming lessons at the local pool - all ages and all levels in one class.  We have two toddlers, four adults, and six kids who range in age from four to eleven.  One teacher teaches all of us and we have a ball.  We have the whole pool to ourselves since they don’t have many people who use it during the day!  The teacher has to be very flexible because of the wide range of ages and levels, so there’s lots of free swimming time and a nice mix of stroke correction.

We also take advantage of the pre-school staking at the arena once a week.  Recreation departments love to have people using their facilities during the day so they can justify spending the fortune they spent to build them.  They’ll usually work things out on our terms, if we want daytime hours.

…We’ve arranged for group music lessons now!  We can choose out instruments and borrow them, included in the low group price.  I guess we’ll be the first Homeschoolers’ Band!  The teacher’s pleased she can earn some money during the day…

A TEXAS FAMILY

        From Linda Mills (TX):

…Tammy is 14 and often helps her public school friends with their assignments and projects.  Last summer she said, "I’m bored."  I said, "I’m not a social director," so she took her tape recorder and guitar (and often a brother or sister) and visited the two nursing homes in town.  She interviewed a lady in her 90’s who had traveled all over the world, and many other folks who were happy to reminisce about "the olden days."

Mike is 12, an "L.D. kid who, a year ago, read low first-grade books, haltingly.  It made me nervous to listen to him!  So I quit, guiltily, meaning to start again soon.  About eight months later, driving home from the grocery store, I was amazed to hear, "Hey Mom, let’s make this…"  He was reading, smoothly, the recipe on a flour sack.

Who knows what his reading level is now?  He has pen pals from your directory (bless their hearts, they print, too!)  He’s in charge of our garden, and very graciously "needs" the younger children’s help.  He cooks, especially breakfast, as I’m a slow starter - helps his dad with auto repairs, those "two-man jobs" I HATED - keeps everyone’s bikes repaired - loves computer games - and has recently begun joining in "adult" conversations when we have friends over.  (And, being the rude person I am, when they tried to ignore him, I said, "Uh, Mike has something to say.")

Amy is 9 and was always something of a free spirit anyway.  She loved school and her teachers, and they loved her.  She was beginning to have some problems with her friends because of the teachers’ obvious preference for her…  Hearing "Let’s don’t play with her, she’s so smart" hurt her badly.  She is now able to play with those kids, as they apparently no longer feel threatened by her.

Amy likes to make things shine, crochet, mother her dolls and cats, read, skate.  But I’m afraid she’s still hooked on workbooks. She cried when I told her I wasn’t going to buy any more.  I’m not sure what to do - guess I’ll buy them and let her tire of them on her own.

David, now 7, was tested at the beginning of first grade, was determined to be very bright, then was continually harassed to achieve, threatened with a "lower group."  I couldn’t believe the nasty notes printed on his papers, ostensibly to him but obviously for my benefit.  His suffering lasted from September to January.  He spent a lot of time hiding behind the couch, crying…  I watched this child shrivel before my eyes.  Then I watched him heal.

I couldn’t make any sense out of your talk about "thinking math" (math is just something you follow the rules and do) until Dave informed me, "Hey, Mom, 3 won’t go two ways" (He’s not into fractions) "but 30 will - 15 and 15.  Nine won’t but 900 will!"  He and the Cuisenaire rods get along just fine.  He, like his dad, loves word games, puns and such.  The two of them sometimes make me want to hide behind the couch.

At last, Jess.  (Did you think there was no end?)  Jess is 4.  Last year I was so busy with the other four, trying to shovel the knowledge of the world into their minds, that I had little time for him.  Guess who learned the most!  Jess was born at home, and his dad has often said, "At least we seem to be doing the right things with one kid."  Jess just minds his own business, reads - having taught himself, as I did - draws, copies book covers (and I’d never noticed they come in all styles of print.)  He writes beautiful messages:  DEAR GOD I HOP I SEE YOO SUM TIM.

I took piano lessons for two years - "no talent."  Tried again last year - gave up in defeat.  Finished reading HOW CHILDREN FAIL, put the book down, sat down and played.  That was two weeks ago, and not only am I still playing, but every child has started doing so.  Tammy, who is very good at it, quite her lessons and now plays every day without being told to.  She hated her classical pieces; when I told her, "So don’t play them," she decided they weren’t so bad after all.

We have a new rule:  NO CRITICISM.  Don’t laugh at Mom’s piano playing.  Don’t correct another person’s grammar, spelling, etc., unless he asks.  If someone asks how to spell a word, DON’T say "Look it up in the dictionary," tell him.  One surprise for me - Mike (12) feels no shame at asking David ( 7) how to spell a word.  And why should he?  Dave isn’t "ashamed" to ask Mike to put air in his bike tire!

Next I’m going to try drawing.  Every year, the teachers determined in the first week that I had no artistic ability - left me alone - and gave me a B because you can’t fail a "good kid" just because she isn’t talented.  I’m very excited about DRAWING ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE BRAIN.  We did have a bit of back-sliding yesterday when we were painting and Any said, "Mom, I don’t think flowers are supposed to float up into the air toward the clouds…  Oh, Mom!  I’m sorry"  Undaunted, I tacked my picture on display right alongside theirs!

Today Tammy made a lovely design with Cuisenaire rods and is copying it with oil paints.  The boys are making robot suits; Amy is studying American history, those fascinating colonial times.  This is the year Jess would be going to kindergarten and I’d be "free"…  My head has been full of long-forgotten scripture lately.  The one that has been pounding at me for days is, "Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free."…

APPRENTICESHIPS

        Lyn West of Tennessee ["Their One Budgets," GWS #23] sent us a Memphis newspaper clipping on her family’s home-schooling, which was approved by the school superintendent (unusual in that state).  According to the article:

…"Apprenticeships" are arranged for the youngsters each month.  They spend time and do actual work if possible with persons in various occupations.  The apprenticeships have included time with a librarian, a farmer, and others.  They have interviewed a stock car driver…

        Lyn also told us:

…The boys (11 and 9) had three days prior to Christmas on their own with an Indian family that lives totally off the land (no water, electricity, heat, etc; they eat only what they hunt, grow, or raise) in a mountainous, very remote wilderness area north of Nashville.  The boys milked goats, chipped firewood, drew water from a stream, played home-made hockey on a frozen pond, climbed mountains, learned about nature, the Indian’s strong beliefs about the value of non-waste, water, land, etc.  They ate unusual food, slept on the floor of the hand-made dwelling.  It was 3 degrees.  The boys loved it and came home full of things to tell us.  Next month, with an architect…

WORKING FOR COUSTEAU

        Theo Giesy (VA) writes:

…Darrin (14) and Susie (12) volunteer three days a week at the Cousteau Society.  They do all sorts of things, like work in membership.  Darrin works mostly in the warehouse, packing things members have ordered (books, T-shirts, etc.).  He also drives the fork-lift.

Since they work there so much they were invited to the $50-a-ticket reception the night before the Calypso sailed.  Darrin couldn’t go so I got to go in his place.  I met Jacques and Jean-Michele Cousteau.  Darrin has made friends with Jean-Michele’s son Fabien - they are about the same age and have many common interests.

I like the Cousteau’s attitude toward their employees and volunteers.   They appreciate Darrin and Susie very much.  They were worried about the lack of work permits and the number of hours spent, so I wrote a letter on Brook School letterhead saying that they were working there as part of the Brook School Curriculum and under the responsibility of Brook School. That satisfied everyone; it looks official.

        Darrin runs the spotlight for Tidewater Dinner Theater, $40 per week (6 shows).  That is why he couldn’t go to the Cousteau reception.  He hopes to be able to run the light board soon, $115/week.  He enjoys doing spotlight and is treated as an adult around the theater.  He generally passes for 17 (he’ll be 15 next month)…

LINCOLN’S EDUCATION

        From Manas magazine, 10/7/81:

  …Abraham Lincoln told his law partner, William Herndon:

I never read textbooks for I have no particular motive to drive and whip me to it.  As I am constituted I don’t love to read generally, and … I feel no interest in what is thus read.  I don’t, and can’t remember such reading.  When I have a particular case in hand I have that motive, and feel an interest in the case - feel an interest in ferreting out the questions to the bottom - love to dig up the question by the roots and hold it up and dry it before the fires of the mind.   I know that general reading broadens the mind - makes it universal, but it never makes a precise deep clear mind.  The study of particular cases does do that thing, as I understand it…

        …A clergyman asked Lincoln, "What has your education been?"   Lincoln replied:

Well, as to education, the newspapers are correct; I never went to school more than six months in my life…  I can say this, that among my earliest recollections I remember how, when a mere child, I used to get irritated when anybody talked to me in a way I could not understand.  I don’t think I ever got angry at anything else in my life.  But that always disturbed by temper, and has ever since.  I can remember going to my little bedroom, after hearing the neighbors talk of an evening with my father, and spending no small part of the night walking up and down, and trying to make out what was the exact meaning of some of their, to me, dark sayings.  I could not sleep, thought I often tried to, when I got on such a hunt after an idea, until I had caught it; and when I thought I had got it, I was not satisfied until I had repeated it over and over, until I had put it in language plain enough, as I thought, for any boy I knew to comprehend.  This was a kind of passion with me, and it has stuck by me; for I am never easy now, when I am handling a thought, till I have bounded it North, and bounded it South, and bounded it East, and bounded it West.

…Oh, yes!  I "read law" as the phrase is; that is, I became a lawyer’s clerk in Springfield, and copied tedious documents, and picked up what I could of law in the intervals of other work.  But your question reminds me of the bit of education I had, which I am bound in honesty to mention.  In the course of my law-reading, I constantly came upon the word "demonstrate>"  I thought at first that I understood its meaning, but soon became satisfied that I did not.  I said to myself, "What do I mean when I ‘demonstrate’ more than when I ‘reason’ or ‘prove’?"  I consulted Webster’s Dictionary.  That told me of "certain proof," "proof beyond the possibility of doubt"; but I could form no idea what sort of proof that was.  I thought a great many things were proved beyond a possibility of doubt, without recourse to any such extraordinary process of reasoning as I understood "demonstration" to be.  I consulted all the dictionaries and books of reference I could find, but with not better results.  You might as well have defined blue to a blind man.  At last I said, "Lincoln, you can never make a lawyer if you do not understand what demonstrate means"; and I left my situation in Springfield, when home to my father’s house, and stayed there till I could give any proposition in the six books of Euclid at sight.  I then found out what "demonstrate" means, and went back to my law-studies.

EDISON

Two readers sent us quotes about Thomas Alva Edison.  First, from Isaac Asimov’s QUASAR, QUASAR, BURNING BRIGHT:

…He was a puzzling boy from the start.  His curious way of asking questions was taken as an annoying peculiarity by the neighbors.  When he made little progress at school, his mother inquired and was told by the schoolteacher that the boy was "addled."  His mother, furious, took him out of school.

 …Before he died he had patented nearly 1300 inventions, a record no other inventor has ever matched…

        And from an unidentified book:

…Edison’s mother would not send him to school…  She kept him home to teach him herself.  Later he said she was the making of him.  This gave him much time for reading, creating, inventing that he wouldn’t have had otherwise…  Later, he went to a private school where they told him he read too much!  He felt that if he had stayed in school and gone on to college that he wouldn’t have learned as much as he could on his own, nor would he have had time to cultivate particulars…

SELF-MADE

        From the Personal Development Letter (see GWS #21, page 14):

…An interview with Mr. Russel (Bill) Gammel, a general contractor, photographer, husband, father, grandfather, and self-made man.  Bill Gammel has a lot to say about living life in a courageous way while doing what one enjoys, and about becoming self-reliant.  Born in Montana in 1911, Bill became a trapper at age 6 in order to help feed his family which was near starvation…  Bill ran away at 9 years old after a misunderstanding with his father.

Even though it was not until three years ago that he learned to read, he has much to teach us all…even those of us who work in affluent corporate environments, and hold graduate degrees of other commonly respected symbols of external success.

 …Q.  You’ve lived your life pretty much the way you’ve wanted.  You’ve always made a good living, yet I hear you’re pretty fussy about the jobs you’ll accept.  What makes you able to do that?  Aren’t you afraid of not working, or not having enough business?

A.  I never work on anything I don’t want to work at.  I listen carefully to everything my customer wants because he’s got be satisfied.  I recently looked at a job where is was obvious the man wouldn’t be happy with the job unless I cut a few corners and did things so that it wasn’t up to code.  That’s a job I’ll turn down quickly.

…Q.  What’s your feeling about people who complain about being "too old" to do what they really want, or who say they can’t find the right job or move into a better position because it’s too late, or because they have too many responsibilities, or because they didn’t get the right breaks in life?

A.  I want to answer that with a story.  A while back, my wife bought me $10.00 worth of tropical fish for a Christmas present.  A year later, in addition to my regular work, I was earning $700 a month off of that present - just doing it on the side.  Later, I sold that business to a man I know who had been an aircraft worker, but had had a heart attack and thought he couldn’t work any more.  I showed him exactly what to do, and today that man is the largest dealer in tropical fish in the area.

…I also think it was a terrific blessing that I had no schooling…  what happens to kids when they go to school?  All those years under that system, they lose their way once they go there.  One thing I kept hold of:  my individuality.  I’m an individual if there ever was one.  There are many people like me, but there is no other me…

SELF-TAUGHT HUSBAND

        From a New York reader:

…My husband is a fine example of a nearly home-schooled person - except he has shame and feelings of shortcomings attached to it…  His mother kept John home from school a great deal of the time.  Sometimes it was because she didn’t feel like driving him to school (which was a good distance away), sometimes because she wanted company during her errands and sometimes because she wanted him to do work around the house…  Little did she know that she was doing him a great favor!  Even though she was ashamed of her "lack of responsibility" in regard to her son’s education, and transferred these feelings to him, he is still glad to have had the freedom to learn on his own.

At very young ages John was charged with housekeeping responsibilities and even home repair and improvements.  He figured out how things worked any how to fix them when they didn’t - usually because he was searching for something to do after he completed the work his mother asked of him.  He painted fences and rooms at his mother’s request and learned to figure the amount of paint needed for a particular result.

…Now, after receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts from his university, my husband is a highly respected expert in his field, technical theater, and he is as imaginative at finding a solution to any technical problem now as he was as a child.  When others say, "That’s not the way things are done," he says "We’ll solve the problem in the best way possible," and damn the standard procedures if they won’t achieve the desired result.  John is also a wonderful boss; as production manager for theatrical events, he oversees and directs the work of many stage carpenters and electricians, etc., and everyone seems to enjoy working with him.  For that is how he works - with people, learning from them if he can, and enjoying it all.  Knowing he is this way, and knowing how he feels he learned all he knows on his own, I an fairly certain that I want our daughter (age 2) to be home-schooled…

HOME VS. WORK?

        The same reader continued:

…My feelings of uncertainty arise from my own confusion about myself and my role in the world.  For a long time I wasn’t certain that we would ever have children and I was very wrapped up in my life as an arts administrator.  Although I was happy to serve in this capacity and enjoyed working… I am still working, part-time most of the year, out of an office in my home.  John is the production manager for an arts festival, and I assist him doing the administrative work while he handles all the technical side.  This has been ideal for me as a mother, as I work when I can and have much time with my daughter…

I have always had it in my mind that when my work as a mother slacked off, i.e., when all my  children are in school, I would re-enter the work world with all of its excitement and independence.  I feel like my new convictions about home-schooling conflict with this "dream," or at least postpone it many years.  I will have to think very much about myself and my ideas of my life in the next years and find my new feelings…

COMPUTER JOB

        From Cathy Earle (S. Cal.)

…In response to your questions about work (GWS #22):  I am currently an editor and computer programmer at a company that develops educational materials.  This currently takes me far from home (33 miles one way) for 10 hours a day, 4 days a week, plus driving time!

 …I’m expecting my first child now, and I have done a lot of thinking about work/child-rearing/home-schooling.  What I hope to do is to work at home - doing exactly what I do now, for the same company.  After all, What I do after my 45-minute drive is receive and respond to letters, receive and make phone calls, manage people by long distance (the people who fork for me are mostly off-site free-lancers), and work on my computer terminal.  I do my editing, write my memos, and write at least the drafts of all letters on an Apple computer with word-processing software.  Of course, I also do my programming on the Apple computer.  All this happens at my office - but I’m sure I can easily do it at home too!  I have an Apple at home already, and I could send my results to the company computer instantly, via a modem.

I’ve spoken to my company about this, and they’ve said, "We’ll see."  I know my boss doesn’t want to lose me, but they’re not the most flexible people in the world either.

I very much enjoy what I do, which is basically write, edit,  work with artists, create and debug ideas - and I especially love computer programming.  I didn’t prepare for this kind of work in school or college (I would have shuddered at the thought of taking a course in programming, for example.)  I learned everything I know about computers from buying one, reading the manual and other books, fiddling around on my Apple, and talking with other computer-freaks.  After two years of playing with my own computer, my company asked be two write a program for them; the resulting program has been judged very good and highly professional by computer programmers.  So even though I keep wishing I had the time and energy to enroll in some computer classes, I know they’re not really necessary.

I got my job by ignoring the list of required experience in the advertisement and applying anyway.  In the interview I explained how I felt my areas of expertise and my past experiences could contribute to the company…  They didn’t seem to care much that I’d never worked as an editor before, not even on a school paper, and that I’d never taken a journalism class.

By the way, my college had a policy of allowing students the choice of getting grades or merely "credit" for each course.  I was absolutely the only person I knew who didn’t opt for grades!…  Everyone kept telling me that I should ask for grades so I could get a good job.  Naturally, once I hit the job market, I found that not one prospective employer asked about my college grades or asked to see my transcript.  Most didn’t care if I had a B.S.  They went on the basis of the interview and the resume - and most of the experiences and skills listed on my resume had nothing to do with school.

As to your last questions, the only thing I have to offer (which I’ve offered before and nobody has yet taken me up on it) is that if a GWS’er wants to learn what I know about computers, or wants to have access to my computer, I’d be happy to share my enthusiasm!…

BABIES AT JOBS

        From Dema Hinson (Cal.)

 …While by husband was in graduate school I became pregnant with our first child.  I was working at the YMCA as an art teacher (pre-school through adults).  I had made myself indispensable by careful planning and buying, so when the baby cane I was asked by my boss to please return to work.  I told her I was unwilling to leave the baby with a sitter.  My boss promptly told me to bring her with me.

Darcy was my constant companion even at work!  She really loved summer camp.  I used a baby carrier when she was an infant and brought a playpen when she was older.  I seldom used the playpen; she mostly rode on my hip.  Everyone loved having her in class!  When my husband finished school, I promptly quiet teaching and concentrated on my mothering.

We now have a 9-year-old and 6-year-old twins, and I’m working again.  I have a cottage industry as a seamstress.  I need help now and then, so I hire a friend on a piece-work basis.   She brings her baby with her and is able to meet the needs of the baby and work for me too.

My 9-year-old is now learning to sew and soon I hope to hire her on a piece-work basis as I do my friend.  Piece-work is perfect for children and mothers because they can work as fast or as slow as they want; the pace is totally up to them.

We are home-schooling all the girls and we love it.  My oldest went to school until this year; the twins have never been.  This is the way it was meant to be!  I only wish I had known before I put Darcy in school!…

        From an Ohio reader:

 …My daughter (now 8) was two weeks old when she began attending graduate classes with me, and never lacked for people to hold and talk to her.  Until age 6 she was with me in every school situation I taught in.  Your description of the 10-year-old boys loving to care for babies [GWS #24, "Oh, Boy!  Babies"]  did not surprise me.  I found an infant in the classroom to be a very positive experience for all involved.  My daughter loved to be around the children and in that exciting environment.  "Tough" 5 and 6-year-olds would melt around her, and for children who had no siblings, there was a tremendous amount of learning - and lots of questions about breastfeeding and diaper-changing.  Since that time many more teachers in the city have been bringing their infants to school; though the health codes did not deem this an acceptable practice, fortunately for all of us it was allowed…

COMPUTER AT TWO

        From Don Wismer (ME):

…A note on infants and the computer.  We’ve had a TRS-80 Model III microcomputer with two disk drives for about nine months, and our daughter Sarah is just short of 26 months old.

 From the beginning she was interested in the machine and wanted to type on it.  At first she would type a few letters with a finger, and then with her whole hand, and then would be pounding the keyboard with both hands, a practice that was gently rechanneled.

With great rapidity she learned to associate the sounds of the letters (from Daddy’s or Mommy’s mouth) with the appearance of the letters on the keyboard and on the screen.  By the time she was two she knew the entire alphabet, all the numbers their sounds, and was well on her way to recognizing lower case as well.  (The TRS-80 has a feature which doubles the size of the characters on the screen, and that helped a lot.)

She also knows that if she had used the BREAK key on a program, she can recapture the program by typing RUN and hitting the ENTER key.  So she knows her first command in the BASIC computer language.

We have a few game Programs that have graphics which interest her.  One has a waterfall scene with a grazing deer, and another shows a sort of snowfall.  She asks for them by name.  The shoot-’em-up galactic death-squad type of game bores her; however, I recently added a little speaker to pick up some of the sound effects on the programs, and she plays the programs for maximum variation, ignoring the games themselves.

There’s also a program I write that flashes SARAH WILL TYPE?  on the screen, and when she types a bunch of letters and characters and hits ENTER, it repeats her typing 50 times.  She calls it the "Sarah Program" and asks for it often.

 …There are of course hundreds of self-instructions programs for sale from math to Russian to history, and we’ll stockpile them as she reaches the relevant age, always staying a little in advance if possible…

ACCESS TO TOOLS

        From Colleen Redman, 633 Texas St, Tomball TX  77375:

…Josh has always had all the natural materials in our home available to him.  He’s used real hammers, saws, and screwdrivers since he was walking at nine months.  I know these kinds of stories aren’t new to you - but why does everyone seem to assume that a child with a screwdriver will poke his own eyes out, or smash a TV with his hammer?  Probably we expect it because by the time he or she gets to handle a real tool, they have no experience.  Josh has never used his tools in a destructive or stupid way…

        Norma Davis (NY) writes:

…We allow our children to get in on everything we do and they are learning at an alarming rate.  Each time I get frustrated, I call to mind what you said about them wanting to be adults, and I realize that their frustrations are much more extreme than mine.  I also call to mind how I would feel if someone talked to me like that.

 …Art, my husband is a builder and carpenter and Eric (3 1/2) has had access to real tools since day one.  He could drive a nail better than I by 2 1/2 and also use a handsaw quite successfully.  My parents live next door and my mother is an avid gardener, so he helps in the garden.  My dad is an excavator, so he’s quite popular with Eric, who knows all the machines, their functions and names of parts.  We have horses, goats, and chickens; Eric helps muck out, feed the animals, and collect the eggs.

If he has  a dollar in his pocket, he’s not afraid to go into a store and spend it.  He speaks very openly to adults and answers the phone.  This is a big feat for him, considering that a year ago he wouldn’t let go of my leg.  We have never pushed him, only loved and supported him, and he made the transition all on his own.

        From Gail Powell, 54 MacKenzie Rd, Waterford CT  06385

 …Since September of last year, we have worked at building our own Geodesic Dome.  We’ve done the entire project by hand, and the children were with us, every step of the way, including clearing and leveling the land, cutting the lumber ourselves, and erecting the dome.  Tracey (3) even helped me to dig the septic system with a pick and shovel.  We’re just regular pioneers!  We’ve lived in a camper just outside the dome.  Last winter, with its zero degree temperatures, didn’t slow us up in the least.  Tracey is a storehouse of knowledge on all phases of construction.  She’s helped us get tools and when people came to see the come, she was able to tell them it’s a geodesic 4-frequency dome, address and all…  Trever was only 2 months old when we came here, but he’s made up for lost time.  This past summer he’d play in his playpen, shouting out orders to make sure the work force wasn’t goofing off behind some partition or something…  The children go to sleep easily and we can work on the dome after dark because of that…  Anybody can build their own home and I think everybody should…

LEARNING EVERYWHERE

        From Jacque Williamson in West Virginia:

..At first I thought I’d take GWS for a year, find out how to home-school our boys, and not need to read further.  Ha!  It has knocked me to my senses that learning is everywhere and all-the-time, no matter how old you are or what you are doing.  I’d been so wrapped up in part-time teaching (2-5 year olds, open situation) and keeping family things going, that I’d felt frustrated I couldn’t learn anything myself.  It made me look twice and realize all the new things I am learning and how much more I cam do, even in the hectic pace of a young family.

…I really appreciated Karen Cox’s letter in GWS #23 ("Keeping Learning Records").  Her record-keeping is so simple and straight-forward it seemed silly to me at first.  I thought, "Why, you could go on and on and fill it up with a day’s activities and sound like you are really covering a lot in home-schooling."  Then I realized that is precisely the point.  Even though I have a four-year-old and a two-year-old, the teacher in me often makes me feel I should be doing more with them.  Now I stop and watch what they are doing and think of Karen’s categories and smile.

An example this week: "Logical Thinking/Math."  Our 4-year-old, Nathan, made me a wooden bowl on his daddy’s lathe.  I sold it at a craft fair his daddy was selling his own bowls in.  Nathan wasn’t there at the time of sale so his dad paid him that night.  Nathan noticed Fred had been paid by checks as well as cash, so asked for part of this payment in check.  The teacher in me figured this was a great way to prod him into writing his name - so he could cash his check.  No, he couldn’t care less about writing his name, as he is proud to have a real check of his own to cart around!  He has asked enough questions to know about banking now.  When he decides he needs cash, he’ll know what to do and I’m sure will suddenly take care of the name-signing for endorsement…

…The other day I noticed Nathan carefully drawing plans and then trying to make something in the shop using a saw, hammer, and chisel (the real carving kind).  Later he made a salad and a cake from picture recipe cards, "read" his brother a story, and helped make a scrapbook about a recent trip.  Suddenly, enlightenment struck!  All the years I taught in the lower grades, we did all kinds of workbook pages on eye-hand coordination, sequence, language experience, exercises, and on and on.  It hit me that what Nathan was doing is the real thing and what schools are doing is the substitute.  Just for fun, I got out some of the old workbooks and tried the "substitutes" for what he’d done that day.  Whereas he had spent hours on the real activities, he did the "substitutes" only under coercion and then for only about five minutes.  They were too easy.  Yet we had done them for months on end with six-year-olds in school…

A MOTHER’S ANSWERS

        From Mary Jordan (OH):

…One idea I deep running into, when I tell people I plan to keep my two children at home to learn, is that you have to be perfect to do that.  People say, "Oh, I know I wouldn’t have the energy," or "I admire you for wanting to, but I know I couldn’t"  Even my husband has doubts about our ability to home school because neither of us is very patient with a 5-year-old and a 3-year-old helping us when we’re hurrying to get a project done.

Of course, I’ve not yet had experience with actually hone-schooling school-age children, but my expectation is completely different.  My experience so far has been that the older my children get, the better they can communicate, and the more they can do for themselves, the easier it all becomes for me.  I don’t know why having a 4-year-old and a 6-year-old will take more energy than having a "3" and a "5", just because one is officially school age.

As far as not being able to "teach," that doesn’t scare me either.  I’m sure there are helpful ways of presenting information, but most of what I learn comes from what I read and what I do, not from what I’m taught by someone else.  I assume the same can be true for children.  And so far they have learned to walk, talk, dress themselves, etc, with only example, conversation, and excitement over their progress to aid them.  I do provide materials, experiences, and activities for them, but of course theses only work if they enjoy them and can use them for their own learning.

In fact, my biggest joy is in seeing what they put together for themselves.  Claire proudly announced one day that she knew the letter B and the number 4, before it ever occurred to me to teach her letters or numbers.  Christopher reads a few words and adds fairly well, but more importantly, he asks me all throughout the day questions like, "What’s 4+6?"  "How much is one million plus one hundred?"  "What’s 3+3+3+3+3?"  and "What does ‘b-e’ spell?"  He’s working stuff out in his own mind and I could ruin it by trying to teach him what he needs to figure out for himself.  I simply tell him the answers he asks for, assuming he knows what to do with them.

The patience question is a little trickier and almost caused me to give up and enroll Christopher in kindergarten.  Sure, I yell a lot and I also spend a lot of time saying, "No, I want to cook supper by myself," or "Go away, I’m busy writing."  But on the other hand, our children are almost always with one or the other or both of us.  They’re always around so they get in the way a lot, but they also get talked to and hugged and sung and danced with and loved a lot.  So I figure if we’re not good at one aspect, we’ll be good at something else.

This brings me to another objection people have - that we’re isolating them from the "real world" and denying them the socialization process.  Well, if family isn’t real and social, I’d like to know what is.  While I think it’s good for people of any age to experiment with various environments and develop a sense of self-confidence, to walk trustingly in the world, sure that they can handle life or get help if they need it, I am in no way convinced that school is the only way or the best way to do that.  I hope to provide many challenging opportunities for my children, but I expect letting them learn at home will give them a feeling of control over their own time and their own lives, and I think that is vital to self-confidence.

So far I’ve still found no one in Cincinnati doing home schooling, so I have no idea how the authorities will act…  Christopher will be six in the spring of 1983.  By fall I hope to have a philosophy and curriculum written, some correspondence and/or cover schools picked out, maybe some certified teachers who will agree to "supervise" us…  I still long for someone "in the flesh" who shares these ideas, but I can wait…

LIVING WITH TWO KIDS

        Susan Bobowski (NY) writes:

…I keep finding myself in the midst of movements.  I didn’t know there was a home-birth movement until I was pregnant with my second child (I had the first at home anyway).  I found out about the home-schooling movement sooner than that, but I had already decided not to send any of my (at that time hypothetical) kids to school.

Becky will be old enough for kindergarten next year and she has announced that she wants to go.  She also said that she wants to ride the bus.  She was not pleased when I said she could go to school but she couldn’t ride the bus.  We live 10 minutes from the school but the bus route is such that she would be on the bus an hour in the morning and another hour in the afternoon…  I have a feeling her interest in school will wear off rather quickly after she has been exposed, but I told her she could go if she wants to and I have tried not to influence her in any way.  I know it’s impossible not to let your own feelings through at least a little, but I do want her to make up her own mind.

…My husband and I both have master’s degrees in biochemical genetics and, while I don’t have a teaching certificate, the school board felt that I was competent enough to he hired as a substitute teacher a couple of years ago.  That might be an idea for other home schoolers to help them in their discussions with schools.  If they have been hired for even one day as substitute teachers, that would help to weaken any arguments against their competency that the schools might try to bring.   I am sure that one day in a classroom would also strengthen their resolve to get their own children out of such a place.

Becky is a very bright, very verbal four-year-old.  At the moment she is engaged in teaching herself how to read.  For a while we had to read her stories to her over and over and I realized that she was trying to make sense of the printed words.  Then she stopped asked to be read to all the time and started trying to write.  I have to admit that until I got GWS #24 ["GNYS AT WRK’] I thought she was doing it backwards, but I didn’t say anything.  I try very hard not to interfere in the things she wants to do…   I would rather be guilty of not telling her enough at this stage than pushing her so hard that she feels she has to do these things to please me.  I would rather she learn to please herself.

In any case, over the Christmas holidays she taught herself to print all the capital letters.  I showed her how to make  K and an R because those seemed to give her a great deal of trouble and she asked me, but otherwise she figured out how to make them all by herself.  When she writes her name she is as apt to go from left to right as right to left, but the letters are always internally consistent.  In other words, if you held the backwards name up to the mirror it would be perfect.  Now that she can write, she has gone back to being read to all the time.  I guess she felt that she needed a more internal sense of the letters before she could make sense of the words of the page.

…It is an experience living with a four-year-old.  Once we had a particularly bad day - fought all day long about mostly unimportant things.  At the end of the day, when it was  almost bedtime anyway, Becky got sent to bed for throwing a ball at my new lamp - for the second time!  …She was very insulted at the whole thing.  She sat just inside her doorway and carried on a monologue at the top of her lungs about all the real and imagined slights and insults to which we had subjected her over the course of her life (her usual reaction to being punished - thank goodness her room is at the other end of the house).  Well, in the middle of this monologue she suddenly yelled, "You know what I’ve always wanted:  Foster parents!"  Of course my husband and I couldn’t help but laugh, but at least we had the decency to go into the kitchen so she couldn’t see us.  What are you supposed to respond to a statement like that?

Living with Jessie is also an experience.  I had forgotten how absorbing a ten-month-old finds the world.  I get nothing done all day long because I spend most of my time hiding around corners and watching her investigate everything…  One of her favorite games at the moment is to climb up on things and then fall off.  The game is actually the climbing up and standing and crowing so that everyone will know how accomplished she is.  The falling off is not part of the game, but she hasn’t figured out yet how to get back down so that she can climb up again.

Another favorite game is to pretend to feed herself.  She will walk around for an hour at a time with a toy bowl and spoon, scraping the spoon into the bowl until she has a good imaginary spoonful, then sticking it in her mouth and smacking her lips.  She will also feed anyone else who looks interested, but if you don’t smack your lips properly she won’t play with you for long.  I don’t remember from Becky that imaginative play like this began so young, but I suppose it did…

Jessie has two words which are recognizable at the moment…  She says "hot," which means anything which is not body temperature, whether hot of cold, and also means firewood (we heat with wood.)  She also says "da" which means daddy, dog, cat, and sheep (we raise sheep, too).

A friend’s baby at 10 months would walk around their apartment pointing at things and saying "cat."  If it was a cat (and they had two adults and 10 kittens, so it was logical), she would clap her hands and laugh, and if it wasn’t, she would shake her head no and go on to the next thing.  We decided she had sorted the world into two groups, cat and not-cat…

TREATED LIKE A KID

        Mary Friedl (IL) writes:

..Nathan (5) and I were in a restaurant yesterday.  He accidentally spilled his drink.  He said he was going to ask someone to clean it up, excused himself, and told the cashier he had a little accident, that he had spilled his pop and could she please have someone clean it up.  I was very proud of the way he handled it!  But - the cashier and another woman standing with her just laughed.  Nathan was so very embarrassed!  He came back to our table quickly, trying to hide his head in his armpit.  What a terrible experience for him!

I explained to him that some people are not used to youngsters speaking in an adult manner, that they laughed because they were surprised and embarrassed and they didn’t know how to respond to him.  It was their problem, not his - he could not have done a better job.  He sat up proudly and didn’t even flinch when the same woman came over and made a comment about how "cute" he was.  Later he said how silly the woman had been.  I think he has taken another big step…  It gets harder  and harder as time goes on to imagine sending him to school…

SCHOOL STORIES

 …One of our friends just had a son start kindergarten here…  The school gave the children a test to see if they knew how to skip.  When her son "failed" the test, a note was sent home saying he had a gross motor development problem…

…I have been told by teachers and the principal that there is something wrong with our child because she is "too quiet," "too gentle," and refuses to drink Kool-aid and Coke, the rewards for good performance…

        And from Jean Toews, Rt. 12 Box 759, Spokane WA  99203:

…Josh’s teacher indicated that his major difficulty with school is that he proceeds with school work before she has given the instructions to do so.  We asked if he was doing the assignments incorrectly and she said no, he just needed to wait for the go-ahead before he proceeded.

 …He had been reprimanded for failing to use the number line when doing his addition problems, although he does the work accurately without it…  When I asked the teacher why he needed to use the number line for addition if he’s able to add in his head, she replied that all first graders need to use the number lines…

ALLERGIC TO SCHOOL

        The Chicago Sun-Times, 4/8/81:

"SCHOOL ALLERGY" MAY BE NO JOKE …  Dr. Leonard Caputo, an allergist from Mobile, Ala., says "Schooling provides so many exposures to allergenic and irritating materials that ‘allergy to school’ could easily be classified as an occupational hazard."

 …In a paper prepared for the annual congress of the American College of Allergists, Caputo said:

…"Accumulations of dust are readily visible in most schools.  Kindergarten youngsters may be especially at risk… because they are frequently required to sleep on mats upon the floor.

"Chalk dust in a decided troublesome exposure…   A considerable amount of mold is present in some classrooms, particularly in older schools.  Libraries may contain as much mold as they do knowledge.

"A wide variety of chemical odors permeates the corridors and classrooms of most schools.  Strong industrial cleaners, waxes, and polishes are used on school floors.

:one Child reported an episode of wheezing following particularly heavy use of Pine Sol used in trying to stem a viral epidemic in the school. Strong-smelling felt-tipped markers and carpets are being used with greater frequency."

…One result of allergic reactions, he said, is that children do poorly in class.  Those taking antihistamines may be drowsy and inattentive.  Fatigue can lead to daydreaming and failure to plug into what’s going on…

PLAYING THE SCHOOL GAME

        From Carol Ortiz, D-17 Grant St, Parkville, Guaynabo PR  00657:

…Had I known about home-schooling nine or ten years ago, I believe our family could have avoided much misery by opting out of the school scene.  Now my children, teenagers, have adapted to their oppression, but it has been marvelous to feel the change in the tension level since I accepted the nonsense of the educational system as nonsense, and simply leveled with my kids.  "Look, the schools play a game and the rules are in their favor and they can change them at will to keep you always at a disadvantage.  So you can play the game and even beat them at it if you try, but don’t take their judgments too personally."  The arguments over homework, grades, behavior, etc.  are OVER (and have been for a year - every issue of GWS renews my convictions) and the grades, behavior, and homework are TERRIFIC!!  Undoubtedly because THEY are the players now, not me.  I’ve told them they can chuck it all anytime they want, but the social scene is important now, and laboratory science and computers have an appeal we couldn’t provide very easily, so…

TEENAGERS AT HOME

        From a parent in Colorado:

 …Our 15-year-old daughter has joined us this year at home.  I an thrilled that she has chosen to come home to study and be with the rest of us all day, especially at this time in her life. when teens are supposedly more interested in their peer groups.   She always did well in school, was very popular and liked by all of her teachers.  But last year (freshman in high school) she hated school, even though she had lots of friends and a part in both school plays.   I think that she, on her own entirely, had the sense to want to escape from the social environment of high school, with its pressures of drugs, smoking, etc.  She is using the American School program - racing through it, plus teaching herself Spanish and doing a Programmed vocabulary course.

When I kept the 11-year-old and 7-year-old out of school last year, I did not seek approval from the schools.  We used correspondence  materials, but were somewhat easy-going about moving through the courses.  So this year we could be seen as being behind, according to grade levels.

…With all of the heat and anger of the authorities having been fueled by their recent loss[GWS #23] in the attempt to control private schools (first of many such attempts, I’m sure), I am very worried about our being either turned in or discovered.  My worry has changed the emotional environment at our "home school."  I am more concerned about doing the lessons, etc. and it doesn’t seem as though we will be able to have as much fun this year…

[From a later letter:]  Since I wrote that letter, we have gotten better.  We feel more relaxed and our home school is once again the productive fun we love…

        From a New Jersey reader:

 …Have other parents noticed a very easy adolescence with unschooled kids?  I think that my fifteen-year-old son’s early acquaintance with responsibility for his own actions has made it unnecessary for him to rebel and  fight for independence.  He is willing to accept my judgment at times because it is offered as one adult to another and not as a restriction on a kid who doesn’t know anything…

        Penelope Critchlow-Goldman (CA):

 …I’m so excited about my 12-year-old daughter’s decision to stay home next school year (8th grade)!  After 1 1/2 years of formal schooling (6th grade, now 7th) on a continuous basis, she’s had it.  Our rural situation kept her home from 2nd through 5th grade…  She has come to realize that out of 350 kids there’s only one girl she really wants for a friend.

Our mountain community sports all the typical  American Values including designer jeans and feathered hair-dos for the junior set.  But our place is 10 miles up out of town beyond the telephone and electricity lines and our lifestyle is extremely sane…  At school she gets strokes for superficial values, like looking pretty and stylish or paraphrasing information from the encyclopedia (so what’s changed in 30 years?); at home, we demand more…  The contrast in so great…

Her choice is to spend her hours productively on crafts projects along with either a self-styled hone-study course from Calvert School… (I am a credentialed teacher, K-12, in California, so legally we’re clear)…

IN THE MOUNTAINS

        From Laurie Fishel-Lingemann in Calif.:

 …The children (13, 5, and 14 months) have never been to any school.  After experimenting over the years, we find that a minimum of structure is best.

Deva, 5, works best with no structure.   She’s the headstrong type who doesn’t take kindly to anyone telling her what to do - I’ve never been exceedingly tactful but she is teaching me the difference between helpful suggestions and orders.

Star, 13, enjoys some structuring;  she is so amenable that I have often become manipulative…  What strikes me most about her is her intention to really know herself and try to be an honest person…  Once she observed, "If I feel depressed or bored and read a story book to try to change my mood, I usually feel worse afterward, but it I just sit quietly for a while and not do anything I find myself feeling better."  …Once she was shy about meeting an old friend of mine, a woman in her 40’s.  Afterwards she remarked, "It’s hard to be shy when you’re taller than someone."

She enjoys reading all kinds of books and seems to be noticing the different effects various books have on her feelings and thoughts.   We have started Spanish studies and she is learning it very quickly.  We  just started a class in conversational Spanish at our local community college outreach program (we’re supposed to get permission for anyone under 16) and had our 1st class the other night.  She was a bit shy but had a lot of fun and I hope she will be allowed to continue participating.

I read aloud a lot; in the middle of the day I nurse the baby, and while he sleeps on my lap I read to both girls.  What’s interesting is that Deva (5) will sit for a long time and listen to the teenage or adult books that I read to Star and Kurt (my husband). Sometimes she prefers these to her own sooty books, although not always.  Often the children draw or Star will knit while I read. We have no TV and live in an isolated rural area.  I read almost every evening as well as in the late morning.

Every day is different - today we climbed up  to 3000′ and sat on warm pine needles under the sugar pines and enjoyed the sunshine while we ate a picnic lunch.  There is still much snow here and there and we enjoyed finding animal tracks.  The girls turned a big manzanita into a playhouse.   They put the baby in the "bedroom: and turned pine cones into pineapples, pinenuts into almonds on snow "cookies," leaves and twigs into salad all on a rock "dining table."  Deva calls Star on the leaf phone, "Dingaling! Come to my apartment at sunset for breakfast.  Goodbye.  Adios."  It is a pleasure to watch a 13-year-old relaxed enough to be silly with others.  Mostly they are so gentle with Jesse, the baby, although Deva will get very angry when he messes her special projects.

 …Once I suggested to Deva that we were poor (we had just bought our land and were living in a tent - minimum personal possessions and cash income).  She looked at me in shock - "We have a stove, we have clothes, we have a tent and a car - some  people don’t have anything!"

Why am I writing all this?  Just to reaffirm that it is a great joy and a privilege to have the open minds and hearts of our children in our lives - that my children are constant reminders to me of what life is really about when I allow myself to slow down and feel that world.  They destroy my self-importance everyday and our worst conflicts arise from my desires to maintain my self-importance.  I’m learning to  develop a sense of humor that I didn’t have 10 years ago.  No, my children are not always observant, thoughtful or meditative, but neither are anyone else’s…

…Don’t get discouraged by a few fights or bad days; learn to play with the energy, laugh at yourself and turn it around.  One emotional day after the girls and I snarled and swatted at each other for a while we turned our tearjerker into a soap opera - literally - we put baby in his bath, Deva in the tub, and Star and I washed our hair in the sink.  By the time our "soap opera" was over our moods were well changed.

About learning to write.  I noticed with both girls that in the early stages they didn’t seem to car much about upside-down letters, backward words (Deva is left-handed and seems to often write backwards), words all over the page, etc.  I began to view these "messy" pages as woks of art rather than "incorrect" examples of handwriting.  Often pictures and letters and word would become interspersed to make a complete picture.  Only later on when writing began to serve its real purpose, communication, did the children make an effort to improve the readability of the handwriting.  I never  asked them to practice.  When they wanted to write clearly it didn’t take much for them to learn how to do it.  I think that muscular coordination has something to do with this as well as the child’s own sense of what is pleasing.   I an always available to draw or write the correct version of the letter and offer help when asked.

…My mother, a firm believer in public education, has always been resistant to home-schooling - so I am always sending her articles…  We don’t see her often although the girls write to her frequently.  We finally got together about six months ago for two weeks, and she really enjoyed the energy of the children.  After all her doubts about home education I was quite surprised to receive this letter from her - and I quote in part:

 "I really don’t need to read any article to be on you side.  When I see the results of Star’s and Deva’s growth and development, not only on the learning skills level, but the character and emotional development, I am in awe of your ability and success as to what you have achieved with your children.  Besides the many faults of the present day schools and teachers (there are always exceptions of course) the presence of drugs and violence are enough to turn anyone away from the public school.

 I Plan to write to her and share with her that my ability has little to do with the "achievements" of the children.  I haven’t so much "done" as "not done."  I really think all of us need lots of space and time to just be silent, or dreamy, or meditative, or silly.

Some of the "projects" we get into are gardening, drawing, reading, writing.  Star is teaching herself to knit from a book and is learning calligraphy from a book also.  I have never learned either one, and when the baby is a bit older, I hope Star will teach me!  Deva at 5 is a pretty good cook; Star can put together a whole meal on our wood cookstove.  We’ve all learned a lot about babies since Jesse’s arrival last year.  I am an herbalist and both children can identify many domestic plants and know some of their uses.  Future projects include learning to type, becoming more proficient in Spanish, flower gardening, and on and on…  

A 13-YEAR-OLD WRITES

        Laurie’s daughter, Star, wrote

 …I just want to add a little to my mom’s letter.  When she reads at night, often the books are biographies of famous people or about nature - now she is reading a story about a man raising three bear cubs.  I have found that learning history is much more fun and in more depth when it is from novels or biographies.  For example, we read a biography of Roger Williams and it gave so much more of a feeling of his life and those times than the few paragraphs about him in a history textbook did.  Two more books that gave a real feeling of the times are RASCAL by Sterling North, set in 1918, and A SPIRIT TO RIDE THE WHIRLWIND by Athena V. Lord…

I really agree with the "learn what you want to learn when you want to learn it" idea.  I didn’t learn cursive handwriting until I was11.  Before then, whenever I had tried, I just struggled and got nowhere because I wasn’t really interested.  When I finally did learn, it only took a few weeks because I really wanted to learn and I practiced.

My mom and I are taking a class in conversational Spanish and it is my first real classroom experience.  I like it because I want to learn to speak Spanish.  If I was in this situation (having to speak and keep up with the others ) every day, I think I would start getting filled with a lot of anxiety.  One way Deva and I are learning the names of common items around the house is by putting labels on everything in Spanish and English.  "Door - Puerta."  Besides learning the Spanish name for everything, Deva gets to write words on little cards and tack them in the right places.

When we first moved here I thought about going to school more than I ever did before, because it would be a chance to meet new friends, but I don’t think I would ever really want to go.  I read the letter from "A you reader" in GWS #14 and it made me realize how lucky I really an to have parents who believe in home-schooling.  When I read books about kids who go to school and don’t like it - just accepting it and being crushed down by it - it fills me with sadness at what schools are doing to these kids.

 Sometimes I have a hard time with being different from other kids. I think, though, that I am probably different for the better, and I don’t really want to be like them anyway.  I like to read GWS because then I know there are other kids out there who are different too…

TEACHER AIDES

        From Portland, Oregon:

 …Our daughter, 14 remained at home for her last half of eighth grade last spring, studying her algebra by herself and volunteering two and a half hours every afternoon in a primary grade school close to our house.  Without any difficulty (not having "graduated" from eighth grade) she entered high school this past September, but is miserable and depressed because she is being required to learn a lot of stuff that she doesn’t want to know…

I would like to see her bright and alive again and absorbed in various learning activities.  Last year during the months at home, she tailored a jacket and slacks on our treadle sewing machine,  made professional-looking quilts and blouses and stuffed toys, doing all of this on her own without a bit of help..

[DR:]  The 1/18/81 home-schooling article in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer said that Rayna Peterson, a 13-year-old home-schooler, worked as a teacher aide at a nearby elementary school for an hour each Thursday, correcting papers and reading to the younger children.  We’d be very interested to hear about any other unschoolers who volunteer in classrooms.

OUT FOR 3 YEARS

        From a parent in Washington State:

 …We took our children out of school halfway through the school year:  D out of 5th, B out of 4th and W out of 1st grade.

W, now 9 1/2, decided to read when he was almost 8.  That’s when he was ready for it, even  though he was capable of doing it at 6 when he was in first grade.   He still does not devour books, but he’ll read a chapter or so a day - that’s what he thinks he should do - and is very proud of his own assignment.

W is also taking his own sweet time with writing.  He has been forming his letters beautifully from the start, but not shown much interest in writing.  I may have found the answer to what is happening.  He believed he was supposed to spell correctly but he knew he could not do that.  So he did not write at all.  Off and on we tried spelling (very simple basic words) or copying a paragraph from an interesting story, but soon dropped that again.

After what you, John, said about a nephew who had his own way of talking, until he finally talked like everybody around him, and after reading the wonderful review of GNYS AT WRK in GWS #24 in which a mother describes her small child who gave her the note with RUDF ("are you deaf"), and who slowly developed writing and correct spelling, I asked W if he would like to write without everyone expecting him to spell every word correctly.  He likes this idea so much that he writes about half a page almost each day, mostly phonetically.  With his inborn desire for perfection (and which child does not have that?) I am completely confident that someday his spelling will be excellent.

W has not memorized the multiplication tables but has a very good concept of numbers, and figures about on his own how to multiply any tow numbers in h his head up to about 12 by 12.  He takes his time, splits them up many different ways, and comes up with the correct answer.  (It was reassuring to see you describe just that approach in GWS #24).  I am particularly pleased to see him having gained such good number concepts, because B, who is going onto 13 and had memorized the entire multiplication tables by third grade and was fastest in her fourth grade class on that, acquired no such concept, and unless we keep reviewing, she appears to be quite lost.

Picking up on some other suggestions from GWS, the children now each have their own checking accounts with regular monthly allowances to take care of all their needs except for food and shelter.  It costs no more whether we as parents buy that pair of pants or that coat, or whether the children do it.  But if they need to manage or budget their money, we hope it will be gook for them later on.   They enjoy budgeting and planning, and writing their own checks.  Probably not all stores will take their checks, since some require both an ID and a credit card.  The children each have their own ID, issued at the driver’s license office for non-drivers for $3.  They have received some very astonished looks when they paid for their own purchase with their own checks.

To our pleasant surprise, D, who seemed to be always spending every last penny of this very small allowance, plus birthday and Christmas money, now will not spend a penny more on those little purchases that children like to make than his budget allows.  So far, they have been spending their money very wisely.

Recently, the children’s grandparents visited us for two weeks.  B wanted to learn how to fix the rear tire of her bike.  Grandpa showed her.  That led to a week of overhauling four ten-speed bikes (all having been bought at garage sales).  They took everything apart and after cleaning and replacing worn parts, put them back together.  D (14) very ably took complete charge of his own bike.  I guess he acquired that knowledge last summer when her and a couple of friends kept tinkering with their bikes.  W and B learned a great deal while working with Grandpa.

When it was time for the children’s grandparents to leave, they expressed how pleased they were with the children’s actions and their behavior.  They do have other grandchildren to compare with, some taught at public school some taught at private school.  Even though they love all their grandchildren equally, they noticed less fighting and arguing among ours, who, by the way, had not been putting on their best behavior but just been their normal, relaxed selves.  After having the children home all this time we are taking this for granted, but we do remember when it was not so during their public school days.  This all looks so positive, but actually, I do have my worries, for example when D at 14 still does not spell correctly or care to, and does not think he wants to study much.  However, he did hook up our entire stereo system, with speakers upstairs and downstairs, all without our help.  He straightens out any mixed-up Rubik cube in about 1 1/2 minutes.  He is always helpful when there is a real need for his help, no matter what the work is or what time of day or night.   And B, who is slowly making sense of math, is a fast reader (she reads 2 pages to my 1 1/2 pages) and excellent at spelling…

REFUSED THE LABELS

        Evangeline Godron (Sask.) wrote:

…In the 60’s I taught my eldest daughter Fidelia, now 19, Grade One after she’d been expelled.  The school insisted she take another smallpox shot, saying that two scars from that shot were not proof enough…  All I had to do was to hear her read the rest of the Grade One books, all the ABC’s, and understanding of math concepts to 10.  We finished Grade One between October and the end of November.

I didn’t try home-schooling again (because I was under the impression I could lose my child) until last Valentine’s Day.  By now I had three more children, ages 7, 8, and 10 when I removed them.  They were in Grades 2, (in danger of failing), 3, and 4.  Huey, then in Grade 2, was able since the summer before to read the newspaper and adult magazines which he often did, choosing articles re recommended I read on matters of excess weight and cardiovascular disease or child-raising practices…  His teacher said that he only deserved to be in the beginning reader for Grade 2…  Huey was not allowed to take spelling, even though it is a Grade 2 subject, on grounds that bad  boys don’t deserve spelling.

…When Paul was in Grade 2, he too was denied spelling on grounds that his writing and printing were slow and sloppy, and left-handed children, especially boys, were behind girls when it came to writing.  To keep from failing, he had to do 36 spelling lessons during summer.  Paul also read 54 books hoping not to be in special-reading class the coming fall…  It was not two weeks into summer vacation when Paul got so he could read a whole book in a few hours.  I compared him with me and he had become a faster reader.  Both boys were trying to get our of the special class by taking proper channels.  That was the summer Huey started reading adult material.

Both failed to be put in normal reading class.  Both became violent with the special reading teacher who was only 4′6".  Both turned to vandalism and Huey frequently ditched school  When he was at school he was more often than not in the principal’s hall, office, classroom hall, or being minded by the janitor as he did his cleaning.  Rarely was Huey allowed out at recess.  He joined a gang of 2nd and 3rd grade girls and boys who specialized as window breakers.  An they say school is wholesome!  Huey clowned in  class and led the others to jeer his regular teacher.  When Huey was allowed to do his schoolwork (other than reading which he refused to do at their level) he would finish in a few minutes and act out rather than do the busy make-work time-killers teachers give out.

At home I had long ago taught the kids finger-math.  They became super-fast at it.

When I first took the kids out of school, the authorities from the school called asking me if I was not making a mistake.  Had I given sufficient thought to their education, and so on.  Oh, it was Mothering Magazine that finally gave me the impetus to take them out.  The school department threatened court action but never did it.  They don’t know how lucky they were that my kids are being taught at home.  I think Huey, even at 7, contemplated in his greatest hours of stress and plight never suicide but murder in the school system of his tormentors.

…How have the children done since leaving school?  Erika had made up her lost grade by August 1, 1981, and now she is doing grade 8 work.  Paul is reading at 450 words a minute.  We’ve tried your "private papers" method [see "Writing for Ourselves," WHAT DO I DO MONDAY?] and Paul ins now a fast thinking/writing person.  His grade level of performance is 6-7.  Huey is reading at 200 words a minute.  I haven’t checked Ericka since last summer and then she was about 200.  Last summer using the Frye method from Volunteers of America tutor service for adults, all three were reading at grade level 7 by early August, up from grade levels 4.0, 4.5, and 5.0

Between semesters, I took the kids to visit the different high schools.  The kids had read many of the materials required for grades 9 and 10 in English, and the same subject areas for social science and the sciences, even though maybe not the same books.

I guess you already know that once the kids were our of school, negative behavior problems disappeared in the neighborhood and the stores can relax when they see the boys coming.

…We are non-white of Indian and Negro ancestry.  I too was in a special class, not only for slow readers but totally slow…  Who taught us?  "Normal" kids in the playground, and we also pooled our knowledge to teach each other.  I have three years of university in a great number of things, nursing and journalism being among them.  We live below the poverty line.  Our hobbies  are reading 200 to 400 pages a week, the library, the museum, the neighbors, pen pals, the "Y", and that’s about it…  We are also into home birth and breast feeding.  I’ve written one not-yet-published book, started several others, one with my adult home-schooling daughter down the street, who also teachers her own three at home.  My three at home and I sometimes think of putting some of the endless records of their word and pictures into a book…

SOME FRUSTRATIONS

        Bonnie Miesel (MI) writes:

…Jennifer is now in "first grade" at home and, like others, I could go on and on about the things she decides to do that turn out to be broad experiences covering math, science, social studies, economics, and creativity all in one.  Although she sometimes accepts an idea that I offer, those projects seldom have the enthusiasm or the stay-with-it that her own ideas have.

One day she spent over three hours making fancy cookies (read all instructions, doubled the recipe, etc.) and then making colored frosting - which led to experimentation with many little bowls of frosting and different food coloring combinations.  We had orange, imitation chocolate, lime green, etc.  I really chuckled after supper when she felt that she had "taken the day off" and so spend an hour doing school-type workbooks.

On the other side, we do have some problems…  Mornings before 10 AM are really bad due to bothering, bossing, and yelling between the 6-year-old and the 3-year-old, plus a  10-month-old baby’s "requests" for service.  There are times when I sit down to read a story or sing with them but can not do a thing because of disagreement on who sits where, who holds the book ("Then I can’t see!"), whose book gets read first… or then the baby starts fussing.

It is difficult to visit or tour places of business during the day.  The younger ones don’t enjoy it for very long, or are unwelcome, and it’s had to find a babysitter for during the day.

Keeping my "School Journal" up to date is like writing down the plays of a ball game as fast as they happen.  Ha!  (But reviewing it is invaluable encouragement.)

The rewards of homeschooling are large enough to compensate for these few but almost daily frustrations.  Time will change these problems more than any plans I can come up with (and I do keep trying different solutions).  Could this be part of that vague "adjustment period" some GWS letters mention?  GWS paints a picture of families going from stress and tension to peace and harmony when they become homeschoolers.  Does anyone else have my problems?

Last summer we saw a full-size billboard along the highway in Michigan saying, "EDUCATION -  the experience that lasts!"  And I thought it was more true to say, "EXPERIENCE - the education that lasts!"…

ON TESTING

John Jones (ID) writes in the IDAHO FAMILY EDUCATION ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER (edited by Linda Q. Jones, PO Box 251, St Anthony ID  83445)

…Some important points concerning testing as some school districts are applying it to home-schoolers are made by Joyce Kinmont (UT) in her testimony before a subcommittee hearing in Utah.  In response to the question of whether she would let her boy be tested along with his age group at the local school, she replied,

"Suppose that I did allow you to test one of my boys and his score was the same as the lowest boy in the same grade in the Perry School?  What are you then going to do?  Will you take my boy away from me?  Will you take the other boy away from his mother?  Or from his teacher?  Will you close down my school?  Will you close down the Perry School?  Will you insist that my boy go to the Perry School?  Where, then, would you sent the other boy?

In reality there is nothing you could do.  Remedial programs have proven ineffective.  Furthermore, the testing itself is devastating to slow learners.  (It is interesting that when a child in the public school system fails to learn it is assumed that the cause is the child’s lack of ability, problems in the home, television, or the lack of money.  If a child fails to learn in a private school, the school is at fault.)"

[John Jones continues:]  Another real problem with standardized testing is what it does to the home school itself.  In our second year of home schooling we had moved back to Idaho and were going the sorry route of seeking school board approval [GWS #19].  After much grief and heartburn they reluctantly approved us for one year, provided our children be tested before and after the school year.  That required testing hung over us like a gallows.  We felt the weight of oppression every day as we thought we had to follow the same general curriculum in the same general order as the public schools so that we would "look good" on the tests.  When the tests came it was like being on trial and waiting for the verdict.  We were putting such pressure on the children that it was a real trauma for them.  I hated it, I hated the idea that someone could make us go through that.

As I’ve thought about it since, I think that the threat of standardized tests is the single biggest burr-under-the-saddle to afflict any home school (though an opposing in-law is pretty bad).  With this threat we find ourselves seemingly forced to do things, not as we with but as we think will show best to "them,"  Now, we felt good about home schooling even with this pressure, as I’m sure you do even if you are feeling this pressure, but we felt it could be so much better if we could do it our way.

Well, we finally are doing it our way and we feel a peace of mind, and it is better.  The other day Debbie said that this peace of mind came after deciding that our children would never be tested in that way again..

[DR:]  John Hold says that when he spoke to a teacher’s conference recently in Rockland, Mass., one of the teachers stood up and asked, "What if a home-schooled student comes back into the school system below grade level?"  Bob Dolan, the Director of Special Services of the Rockland School District, answered that right now, 8th graders in the school system ranged from 5th to 11th grade level in performance, so as long as the home-schoolers fall into this range, he wasn’t going to worry about it.

Other GWS readers have told us about the burden placed on them by standardized testing.  We hope families that see this as a problem will suggest alternatives to their schools, such as the "Testing Compromise" in GWS #18, "Progress Reports" of GWS #23, or "Portfolios," GWS #19.

IMPROVED SCORES

        From Marti Mikl (AZ; GWS 20, 23):

…Recent comparisons of Darris’ scores from the beginning of 4th grade, when he was still in public school, and the beginning of 6th grade (after learning at home since Christmas of 5th grade) were starling, enlightening, and very encouraging…  I used the national percentile rank for this comparison, in which the average score nationally for all students in the same grade, is 50:

                        4th gr. 6th gr. Improvement

Reading                   50              78                      56%

Language                50              61                      22%

Math                       25              58                      96%

Total                       38              58                      53%

…Even though math is still his weakest subject, there has been a 96% improvement in tow years’ time…  and I have had him home only five months of conventional school time.

I don’t intend, at all, to sound like I’m patting myself on the back.  I’m just so astounded at the improvement in such a short time. Especially considering that his conventional grades during the first half of 5th grade had dropped dramatically from his previous four years’ record.

…I have felt sad, many times, that we were not aware of the home schooling option much, much sooner so we could have spared Darris and ourselves several years of anguish caused by his overwhelming dislike for public school.  I console myself with this thought:  :Thank goodness we got him out when we did!"

SUCCESS STORIES

        From Darlene Graham (TX):

…We’re in our second successful year of running our home school…  We call ourselves Pine Ridge Academy, which we felt had a beautiful ring to reflect the tranquillity of our little East Texas homestead, plus had an official, impressive tone in case anyone should ever ask questions!  But no one does, even though we regularly appear at the library and the stores during school hours. The fact that there are several alternative schools in the area helps…

We used Christian Liberty Academy last year.  Like Calvert, it was too much like running a public school from my kitchen table. The paperwork for both students and teachers was staggering, but I understand they are trying to remedy that somewhat.

This year we are thoroughly  enjoying using Alpha-Omega materials [Box 3153, Tempe AZ  85218].  They are well-presented and the kids need very little help.  Furthermore, they seldom devote more than two hours per day to their schoolwork, and material already understood can be passed over.  We feel they are getting a strong academic foundation with little or no frustration.

…Sometimes we reflect back on all the tears and despair we went through when our children were in public school, and we realize that if it hadn’t been for that, we would still be caught in the spell of believing that the schools were doing a good job.  We would never have looked for a better way, and we surely would never have stepped out on faith to provide our children with the kind of education we wanted them to have…

        From Linda Haman (FL):

…I have been teaching Chelsi, my daughter, for three years: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade.  I now an beginning to teach my other daughter, age three.

The courses I have used are from the Calvert School in Baltimore…  I feel the course is well-rounded.  The problem is their Advisory Teaching Service costing $110 a year…  I have not subscribed to the service this year because of cost.

…With Calvert’s Advisory Teaching service, I mail Chelsi’s tests to the school to be graded by a teacher…  I feel I can grade her myself and save $110…

        Diane Baker Cornwell (FL) wrote:

 …Since my children have been out of school for two months now we have had some inexpressible feelings of joy and satisfaction at the closeness and unity of family life that we feel that God has wanted us to feel for a long, long time.  Glory!

The children are registered with the Christian Liberty Academy in Prospect Heights, Illinois.  We take field trips, as a family, about 2-3 times a month, and we are looking forward to moving to the country in 6-8 months.  Learning, NOT education, has become a giant boost to our mental and spiritual morale…

        From Stephanie Scheck (S. Cal.):

…This is our second year of home schooling and all is going very well.  Diana, 10, and Stephen, 7, are joyful, healthy, and confident.  Compared to last year when I had many doubts about being able to "teach" my kids, I find that there is a natural flow to our lives.   There is no need for me to play teacher; we all learn together.  

We have added a new dimension to our home schooling this year by getting together with other home schoolers in San Diego county.  Our group consist of nine families (19 kids, ages 2-10).  We meet very informally so that the kids can enjoy group contact and we parents can share ideas, concerns, etc…

        Sandy Housley (S. Cal.) wrot

 … We have been "teaching" our children at home for two years now, and I really can’t imagine it otherwise for us.   We went the route of registering as a private school.  The first year we started off very structured with Shawn and Chris and me sitting at the table at 9:00 each morning.  At that point the kids insisted on a formal recess and P.E.  (Shawn had attended a private school for two years, so was very familiar with routine).  I don’t remember how long this lasted, but I know it slowly deteriorated and evolved into living our lives at home:  doing our own separate activities and then interacting when we were interested.

Our children have the option of going to school;  we discuss this possibility, and so far they have voted to stay at home, much to my delight.   Our days flow together as we learn to get along more and more, and Shawn and Chris are equally at home with people of all ages.   We are all avid readers - I consider this the mainstay of our education.

…I have recently found some work I enjoy.  I volunteer time at our small local library.  The kids come when it’s day work and this has even involved Shawn in a two-hour stint of her own once a week, which she thoroughly  enjoys.  She’s a very dependable and useful part of the volunteer staff…

        From Dureen Vance (WA):

…I’ve now taken my eight-year-old son Mike out of the Wintrhrop Schools with their blessings.  It was so easy that I’m still not sure it has happened.

We have returned to our home 33 miles from the nearest school.  There are no other children up here, so the schools don’t like sending the bus this far and they don’t have the extra money to pay us to drive him 18 miles to the end of the bus line.  Also my husband works for the local high school.  I’m not sure which of these things had to do with their going along with me. …I was told that we must use the Calvert mail lessons.  So we shall use them as a basis, but not the whole…

        And from a family in Minnesota:

 …There are quite a few people in this area who are thinking of home-schooling.  We are the first in our school district to have a school-at-home situation, and the superintendent is very uneasy about it.  But, so far, we’ve been able to convince him that we are doing a good job.  He just seems to think he should do something about us, although he doesn’t know what.   He is having a teacher from the local school check with us every two months to see if we’re having any problems or need any materials, etc.  She is not pushy at all.

So, we’re optimistic.  A lot is going to depend on the end of the school year evaluation.  They want to test.  We don’t see how we can go along with that.  We are keeping a detailed journal of all we do in our "school," we have all the projects, papers, etc, to show; and they can talk to our kids to find out anything else they want to know…

HOME SCHOLARS

        The Anchorage Daily News, 12/21/81:

… A student who began his academic career taking correspondence courses in Colville Village, a tiny North Slope [Alaska] community where his father homesteaded, capped it Saturday night by winning a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University in England.

Mark Helmericks, a geology major at Harvard University… took grades 1 through 8 by correspondence courses…  He then moved to Fairbanks to attend high school.  There, he earned a 4.0 grade-point average in his freshman and senior years, several science awards and won the junior sectional rifle meet three consecutive years…

        The Boston Globe, 12/7/81:

…Ruth Lawrence of Huddersfield, England, won a mathematics scholarship to Oxford University.  She topped 530 entrants and beat the best brains in Britain’s high schools.  She has never been to school, but was coached at home by her father who gave up his job as a computer consultant to teach his daughter.  She will go to Oxford in 1983 when she is 12 to become the university’s youngest scholar.  Her parents will move house from Yorkshire to be with her.   Ruth has not mixed a great deal with other children because she has been taught at home "but she plays the piano and has quite a wide range of interests," her father, Harry, said…

AMERICAN SCHOOL RESULTS

        From the bulletin of the AMERICAN SCHOOL, 850 E. 58th St, Chicago IL  60637:

… Since the American School was founded in 1897, some eighty years ago, more than 2,000,000 men and women have enrolled for the full variety of courses that were available.  Since 1946, more than 150,000 men and women have graduated from our high school completion program alone.  98% of our graduates would recommend American School to their own friends and relatives.

Over 800 colleges and universities have accepted our graduates.  The Army, Navy, and Air Force accept our diploma for enlistment…

Nine out of ten American School graduates who go to college make good grades.  The achievement of graduates of the American School [was] rated by their college registrars, compared with that of college students generally…  57% of the graduates were rated excellent or above average compared with 30% among students generally…

BANDING TOGETHER

        The reader who wrote "Fire Inspection," GWS #24, also told us:

…I got some friends together who felt the same way I did about the public school system.  We formed a School Committee and developed a charter and some rules that we intended to operate by.  Our charter outlines that our purpose is to provide instruction on a one-to-one basis in the home environment.  The committee then drew up a letter to the Office of Non-public Schools in Raleigh to provide notification of our intent to operate a private school…

Last week, when we were enrolling another family in our faculty/student body, we encountered a test of our school.  The new family went to the public school with their child to withdraw and to turn in the child’s borrowed books.  They were being interrogated as to why the withdrawal.  Even though I had explained to them to please refer all questions from the school officials to me, perhaps I did not make myself completely clear.  Not knowing better, they spilled the beans, that we were home-schoolers operating under an organized front school.

This principal called me to ask some questions.  He started out a little hostile, asking if we were a home-bound school.  I avoided the question by stating, "We are fully approved by the state."  I then asked if he had checked with the Office of Non-public Schools in Raleigh to see if we were a state-approved school.  He answered no.  So as to avoid further confrontation, I suggested that he do so if he had further questions.

He said, "Well, if you’re on the up and up, then why did Mrs. X say that you were ordering correspondence courses for her child?"  I answered that our school was very small and that we did not have the resources to develop our own courses yet, and that we used the course materials from regionally accredited correspondence schools.  He asked if we sent the materials to the correspondence school for grading.  I said the courses were supervised locally, and then the work was sent to the correspondence school the be registered.

He apologized and said that he had misunderstood and become alarmed because he thought we might be home-schoolers from what Mrs. X had said.  Later he called the new family and told them that everything checked out OK and that he was satisfied our school was legal.

…I have noted that when home schoolers band together, the number of students involved seems to make the school more credible.  The records that the state requires us to keep, though a little extra work, are worth the trouble to be recognized as a legal school…  Plus, the children have enjoyed getting together.

We have access to films, projectors, and other materials that are available to schools in our country.  Some of these materials are of questionable value, but we have used the equipment and such films as "Jungle Book."  The county has quite a large selection of films available at no cost.

…Perhaps in order to be legal home-schoolers, we simply need to learn to use the buzz words that the school systems use, so that they will understand what we are saying…  Nothing needed to be misrepresented to get approval.  The faculty member in each "satellite Classroom: also happens to be the mother of the students under her supervision.  The "central school record file" is a file cabinet in my house - oops, my "satellite classroom."…  A little tact and diplomacy appears to be the oil that lubricates the friction with school officials to smooth things out…

[From a later letter:]  Someone from the office of non-public schools called at our home today.  He intended to inspect our school, to determine its legality.  Fortunately, we were ready.  He asked if we had obtained the required permits and inspections.  We had.  He asked to see the fire inspection certificate.  He was allowed to see it.  He asked if we were keeping up with student immunization records.    He was told, "We are."…  He was very courteous and nice…  He recommended that we deep all the required records on file, ready to be shown on demand.  And that we be discreet, because some people "may not like the idea of having a school in one’s home."  I feel he knew full well what was going on here…

[JH:]  I have felt for some time that it might be useful in many to do what these families have done.  A number of home schooling families, even living in different towns, might go through the paper formalities of organizing a private school.  Officials are often impressed by numbers, and many would assume that a school with a large Board of Directors or Parent Council must be OK.  The Directors or Trustees might even say to the state, "We haven’t yet decided what kind of building we want or where it will be," and get themselves on the official lists without a building.

Also, this might protect the families in states with laws saying that schools must have a minimum number of pupils.

LETTER FROM WYOMING

        From Kasey Michaels, PIONEER ACADEMY, 917 N. Lincoln, Casper WY  82601:

…The home-school situation in Wyoming is very shaky and I think it will take some years yet to determine if we will be able to make it go.  Most of the people conducting home-school in Wyoming are doing it behind "closed doors."

Wyoming state law allows for only two possibilities - every child between the ages of 7 and 16 must attend a (1) public or (2) private school.  Anyone can start a private school, but if the school is not classified as parochial, it must be licensed…  The catch is that in order to obtain a license, you must post a $10,000 bond.

At the beginning of this school year, I wrote to my local school district and school informing them I had established Pioneer Academy, a private school, and that my daughter was enrolled.  They acknowledged my letter an said if I needed help with curriculum to contact any of their principals…  Also, that they were referring my letter to the State Board of Education.

…The end of October…the secretary from the local school called and said that a man from the district and the local principal wanted to come talk to me.  I told her that I had been advised by a lawyer not to let school officials into my home, but that I would be glad to meet with them elsewhere.  I met with them later that day and managed to convince them that although my  methods were unconventional, my daughter was learning and the school was legal.

The next day I received another call from the school secretary who asked me to come over to school for another short meeting. When I got there the man from the district said that as we had had such a friendly talk the day before he felt he should inform me in person of the newest development - a letter from the State Board of Education.  The letter said that if the school was not parochial or had not been licensed they would have to take legal action.  I said I considered the school to be parochial as I teach religion.  They said they could not determine what was or was not a parochial school and that they would have to turn it over to their lawyer…

I enrolled my daughter back in public school and explained to the principal and secretary that it was a temporary arrangement and that when I had resolved my dilemma I would be withdrawing her.

I then called the school district and asked for a copy of the letter they had received from the State Board of Education.  When I received the letter I noticed that it said, "If in you (the District’s) view, the school is not parochial…"  I did research at the county law library.  Nothing I found said what a parochial school is or is not.  I called Legal Aid and  was informed that the district, after receiving this letter from the State Board of Education, must (1) make a decision, (2) back it up with a statement from the Attorney General, and (3) give me a reasonable amount of time in which to comply with the law.

I called the Attorney General’s office and asked for a statement as to what constitutes a parochial school.  The man in charge of Education Law called back and said there were no laws regarding what is or is not a parochial school in Wyoming.

…The first week of December I took a letter to the man in the district.  The purpose of the letter was to request a decision on whether or not Pioneer Academy is a parochial school.  At this time I also informed them that I was withdrawing my daughter from public school again enrolling her in Pioneer Academy.

About a week later I received a letter from the district stating that they had been informed by their lawyer that it was not their responsibility to make a decision in this matter and that they were referring it back to the State Board of Education.  I have not heard anything more.

…There is a bill in the legislature which will amend the law…  First, all private and parochial schools would have to register with the local district.  Second, all parents with children in private or parochial schools will have to inform their local district of their children’s names, ages, grades and the names and address of the school.  Third, all elementary and secondary private and parochial schools will be exempt from the $10,000 bond.  If this bill passes as it presently stands we will be in good shape…

This letter has been sent to the many people who have been asking me about home schools in Wyoming as a result of an article I wrote…  I hope we can get organized for a newsletter and some sort of support group soon…

SENSIBLE EDITORIAL

        An editorial in the Baltimore Sun, 1/4/82:

The Andriolos of Bel Air have been told formally by the Hartford Country school board that they can’t legally educate their daughter, Zoe, at home.  But don’t count the Andriolos out.  They have open to them an appeal to the State Board of Education and to the courts.  They have lost the battle, but they may well win the war.

 They may win it on legal grounds.  Maryland’s compulsory attendance law has been interpreted narrowly by the attorney general’s office, but a reading of the exceptions allowed would seem to allow for parental teaching.  There is no requirement that home teachers be certified, for example.  All that is needed is "regular, thorough instruction…  in studies usually taught in the public schools to children of the same age."  That leaves plenty of room.

Moreover, despite efforts by Hartford Country school board members not to set a "precedent," home teaching has been allowed in other Maryland subdivisions for years, a fact that will interest a judge if the Andriolos case gets that far.  Indeed, two of the correspondence courses often used in home schools, including the one proposed by the Andriolos for Zoe, are approved by the state Education Department.

And perhaps this particular family, in these particular circumstances, is entitled to win.  We are not among those who panic ant the thought of parents educating their children at home, who fear for the demise of public schools if the practice is allowed.

 It is ancient and honorable - and not meant for most families or for most children.    It requires the patience of Job and the didactic skills of Socrates.  So long as home teaching is not a subterfuge for truancy - and public officials can determine this much easier than they thing - what is the harm?

If the public establishment weren’t so busy being defensive, it might think about how its product stands up to the home teaching product.  It might even learn something form the folks who honestly believe they know their children best and can bring out the best in them at home.

        Manfred Smith (Md.) tells us:

 …The Andriolos sent Zoe to a local private school (on their lawyers advice) until they could straighten out their home-school program.  Zoe likes this school, so for the time being, she is there.  The case, of course, had been dropped by the superintendent since Zoe is in a school…

FUN MAKING THINGS

        From Dawn Whitehead (IL) - see "Giving Them Chances," GWS #22:

… The teachers went on strike, so Michael (7) didn’t go to school for the first couple of weeks.  I was trying to get him interested in reading and writing but was unsuccessful until I remembered how much he liked comics, so I said, "Hey, why don’t you make your won comic book!"  Michael obviously liked the idea and was soon busy stapling a hunk of papers together.  Then he decided to call his book "The adventures of Super Squirrel."  Super Squirrel poses as Mr. Chippy when he’s not busy saving baby birds that fall from their nests or octopuses that are lost.  Michael draws boxes on each page, then draws and colors in the characters.  He writes the story and what’s said in the margins, and numbers his pages.  I help with the spelling, but the rest is all his own.  He’s read them to his brother Andy (3) and friend J.P. who also likes his stories.  He brought them to school and his teacher read them to the class for show-and-tell day.  Michael said the kids liked them a lot and wanted to hear more.

Lately, we have become very interested in birds.  This is due to my friend Kathy Mingl and a book called HAND TAMING AND FEEDING WILD BIRDS, by Al Martin.  I read the book to Michael and Andy and they were quite impressed with all the adventures the author had had with his bird friends.  Now we’re anxious to do the same.  Michael’s drawn several bird house plans from a couple of books and we’ve been busy making our first bird house.  We also started feeding the birds in our backyard and are really delighted at the different birds that come to feed:  sparrow, chickadees, and cardinals, so far.

Michael and Andy saw a landscape board at a toy store and wanted it so I said, "Why not make your own?"  They did.  They had an old box and I showed them how to make paper mache.  Using old cans and the paper mache, they made their own landscape with a volcano, tunnel/cave, river, mountains, and grassland on the box top.  When it dried, they painted it and played with their animals on it.  I’m becoming quite convinced that no matter what they do with it or anything else they make, the most fun for them is in the making of it…

On time we were sitting at the kitchen table with a pile of little round pebbles I’d found at a garage sale, demonstrating what :one, tens, hundreds place" meant, to help Michael with his adding and subtracting of numbers larger than 10.  He’d been having trouble once he ran our of fingers.  We made groups of ten for "tens place" and counted out appropriate numbers of pebbles for "ones place" in 11, 12, 13…  20, 21, 22…  30, 31, 32…  etc.  All of a sudden we both brightened up and got excited about numbers.  When we were finished Michael knew how to add and subtract large numbers without having to grow any more fingers.  I realized that I’d never really understood one, tens, and hundreds place either until now…

ON MATH

        From Ann Bodine (NJ):

 …Math is finally moving forward in our house…  The materials which we are using are the Miquon program [GWS #14, 19]; a little book of number puzzles using Cuisenaire rods called HIDDEN RODS, HIDDEN NUMBERS, available from Cuisenaire Co. {GWS #23}; the little workbooks, WORD PROBLEMS and MONEY, $1.25 each plus $.50 per order (available from Highlights for Children, 2300 W 5th Av, Columbus OH  43216);  pattern blocks and the book LET’S PATTERN BLOCK IT (from Activity Resources Co, Box 4875, Hayward CA  94545); flash cards; and an electronic Speak-and-Math.

Does everyone know that if you learn to count by 2, 3, 4, 5, and 10, and also understand, for example, that 5 x 8 = 8 x 5, there are only ten multiplication facts left to learn?  ((6 x 6, 6 x 7, etc, up to 9 x 9).  Most kids learn to count by 2’s very early, and they learn to count by 5 and 10 when they learn to tell time and count money, so the only part they need to learn specifically for multiplication is counting by 3 and 4.  My children also enjoyed learning to count by 9’s because they liked the pattern of "one less than adding 10," so they only had six multiplication facts to learn.  True, when you multiply by "counting by something" it takes a bit longer: "4 x 6 is 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24."  But they eventually begin to remember many of the combinations, and I really feel that "counting by something" is a good reminder to a child just what multiplication means.

One more bit of math material my children have profited from is the Math Comics from King Features, 235 E 45th St, New York, NY  10017.  There are four books:  WHOLE NUMBERS AND NUMBERS BETWEEN, MEASUREMENT AND GEOMETRY, LANGUAGE OF MATHEMATICS,  and  TABLES, GRAPHS, AND PROBLEM-SOLVING.  They cost $1.50 each and $2.25 postage per order (obviously much cheaper if a group gets together an order).  I think these comics are will done.

What I’ve learned from our experience with math is that if you allow your children to learn organically you may be quite unprepared and inexperienced if you should ever decide that your children must learn something they have chosen not to learn.  In my case, I overreacted.  It has taken us some time to find a path so that the math is learned regularly but without unpleasantness and bad feelings, and my children will occasionally say spontaneously "I really like finding the prime numbers" or whatever.  Even now I will occasionally slip and become unnecessarily rigid for a few days until I catch myself.  One thing that has helped a lot is that, within the materials I’ve provided for them, I let my kids pick what they are going to do each day….I’ve noticed other people saying things about children being briefly interested in something their parents try to teach them, then getting bored, frustrated, or resistant and dropping it, then coming back to it weeks or months later and easily doing the thing they have never touched or practiced in those weeks or months ["Pressured To Teach," GWS #25].  I have had this sort of experience with my children many times.  I don’t think this means that the children didn’t profit from those few minutes or days that the children accepted their parents’ taking the lead in introducing (i.e., "teaching") something…  Sometimes children don’t investigate an area because they don’t know it’s out there.  It helps me to think of myself as just planting the seed and letting my children grow it.  Then I don’t feel as if it didn’t work if they lose interest in something I thought it would be good for them to learn…

        Nancy Wallace (NY) wrote:

…Math is really interesting theses days.  Vita (6) just loves numbers and has always hung over Ishmael’s shoulder while he worked on his math.  She wanted a workbook of her own, and so I got one which seemed pretty nice, with word problems in the form of nursery rhymes and  Mother Goose tales on one side of the page, and "math facts" rather nicely laid out on the other.   For a while Vita was happy working in this book and I encouraged it.  But recently she has been answering a startling number of her problems wrong.  This is because the more she does, the more they lose their sense of reality - they become so abstract as to become meaningless - and she begins answering with real abandon.  I can see that if she was in school, she’d be getting bad marks on her math papers, and pretty soon she’d be convinced that she was stupid in math.

My solution is to keep the workbook on the shelf as much as possible and involve Vita more in my monetary dealings.  Today, for example, I handed two twenty dollar bills to a cashier and asked Vita how much that was.  She divided (out loud) one of the 20’s into two tens and then counted "20 (the first 20), thirty, forty.  20 plus 20 is 40!"  Since I had used the two 20’s to pay for a $25 purchase I then asked her how much change she thought I ought to get back.  First she divided 25 into 20 plus 5, and figured out that the $5 would have to come from one of my 20’s, which would mean that I would get back the remainder from that 20, and if the store deeper had a right to one of them, I ought to get 3 back.  By counting "5, 10, 15," she was able to figure out my change.

She still does some work in her workbook though, since sometimes she does like it.  What she doesn’t seem to like is subtraction, which ordinarily she avoids.  But the other day I found her confronting a page of problems like, "5-2=___, 6-1=___, and 8-5=___."  She was singing away happily, "What plus two is five?  Three plus two is five.   What plus one is six?  Five plus one is six."…

READING AT HOME

        From Marcia Carson (WA

…This is our first year to have everyone at home and we really love it!  We formed a non-profit corporation and have our private school under the National Parents League.  We took Rachel (17) and Doug (12) out of school because of peer pressure and Jesse (8) because he was having reading problems.

…This year we have some structured school time (one hour) every day.  I went to the Curriculum Lab at Central Washington University, bought a library card ($5), and dug around in their textbooks until I found some old Dick and Jane readers.  I told Jesse they were books I had as a child and we looked at the pictures while I reminisced out loud…  Then I gently encouraged him to read to me.  I tried not to correct every mistake (hard!) and kept my arm around him.  That was two months ago.  Now he is reading a 150-page reader  from that same library every week!  I have seen six months’ progress in three weeks!  

 I’m so thankful that I had the courage to leave him alone for a while and then not to teach him to read but let him do it himself.  Now I know he’ll be OK.  

…Marnie (3) began the school year by acting jealous and interrupting me as I tried to help the older ones with lessons.  I was getting very frustrated and my attempts to distract her with clay and crayons failed completely.  Finally, in anger I said, "Marnie, what do you want?"  She looked so pleased at that direct question and without hesitation she said, "Teach me to read, too!"

On the advice of another home-schooler, LeAnn Ellis, I tried making some word cards for Marnie, and she learned them quickly…  I put the cards away after a while because she always ran to sit by Jesse and me when he was reading and before long was pointing out words in the text that she knew.  I found her a book at the library too and she can read a lot of words.

CHILDREN’S NEWSLETTER

In GWS #10, we announced the formation of Hostex News, a newsletter by and for children learning at home.  Barbara Rich now writes:

        …Hostex News is alive and well!  I took the advisorship position with the children who publish Hostex News last November, to help relieve Ed Nagel of his (tremendous) workload and I’m enjoying it so much - the material that the children create for Hostex News is funny, touching, and gut-level honest in such a creative way…  .

MUSIC & SUZUKI

        From Darlene Graham (TX):

…We do a lot with music.  Grant, 15, has taken piano lessons for a little over a year from an excellent teacher.  She marveled that he wanted to begin at an age when most boys are desperate to quit, but we had let him work on his own until he was playing quite advanced pieces and felt a need for help.  For the last half-year or so he has been the accompanist for our church choir.

Graham, 12, works with Suzuki violin.  He, too, started on his own, then took several lessons from a wonderful teacher who said she had never had such a promising beginner.  Since he was also working on piano and guitar, he wasn’t justifying the price of the lessons.  For several months he worked on his own with the Suzuki cassette tapes (beautiful, just for listening!) and now we’ve found a college student who is enjoying helping him, gratis, just to keep her own skills sharp.

Crystal, 9, has been playing piano from John Thompson, Mrs. Stewart, and now Suzuki, also with cassettes.  We could hardly be more pleased with the Suzuki materials.  The music is so beautiful, and even a novice musician like myself can see how the skills developed in one piece flow right into the next ones.

 Even Ginger, 4, is able to learn so much from it, we’re just amazed!  She would also love to play violin and I can see where home schoolers could benefit by forming lending libraries for the tiny instruments that are outgrown periodically.

We learn new piano pieces by playing "two-hand duets."  One person plays the right hand part while another plays the left, then they switch.  That way each hand learns its part while the student hears the total effect of the piece.  We’ve found it to be a really delightful way to get the feel of a new piece…

        More from Nancy Wallace (NY):

…For the past week or so, Vita and I have been improvising harmonies.  I’ll play "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star," say, on my viola, and Vita will make up a harmony on her violin - it’s improvising, obviously, and yet enough within the Suzuki structure so that, in a way, she is learning more than ever about hose pieces.  Without the boredom, she still focuses on bowing, rhythm and intonation, and in fact, by listening closely to my playing, in order to follow along with her harmonies, she is feeling more musical on the violin and is  even thinking about dynamics.  She enjoys the sounds that emerge when she plays a third or a fifth down from what I’m playing, and if I play down the scale at the end of Twinkle, she likes to play up.  We take turns making up  harmonies, and I’m learning a whole lot, although I can’t intellectualize it yet.  But I’m getting a feel for what works and what doesn’t.  The most exciting thing for me to see is Vita’s bow arm, which has that combination of flexibility and control when she’s happy, and which falls apart when she’s unhappy…

        From Kansas:

 …I love music but have had childhood experiences that made it a constricted, angering, and frustrating thing to try play an instrument.  I enrolled my 3 1/2 -year-old in Suzuki violin lessons because I had been told the approach was all positive and "as natural as learning one’s mother tongue."  I’m sure this could be true, but it turned out to be false for us.  The teacher, trained as an elementary school teacher, couldn’t stop correcting or arguing with my daughter long enough to hear the music.  Whatever my daughter was proud of learning was ignored for what she hadn’t learned.

 I was very frustrated with her lack of progress, so I got myself a violin and an learning from scratch.  I have a good teacher who takes "nervous wrecks" from other teachers.  I play for my daughter, inviting her to join me any time, but with no pressure.  It’s hard, since we rent her violin and it gets very little use - but sometimes she’s beginning now to pick it up on her own and explore.  So, we "jam."  She whistles, stomps her fee, or invents instruments from whatever’s handy, and, sometimes, plays violin.  My 22-month-old is learning to play violin, too…

        More from Carol Ortiz:

… As a Suzuki piano teacher beginning my fourth year (after three years’ frustration with "traditional" efforts), I have become deeply absorbed and enthralled by the learning processes of young children (I teach 3-year-olds and up).  Some of my families are home-schoolers, and I find these children as easy to teach as pre-schoolers - no fear of mistakes, but-the-teacher tricks, resistance, etc.

…All Suzuki teachers use other materials, i.e. non-Suzuki repertory, to deal with reading, composition, theory, etc.  There is no Suzuki method for that - a teacher’s imagination and openness to good ideas are the only limitations.   So, to speak of a "combination" of methods [see "Suzuki and Stewart,"  GWS#22] is a bit of a misnomer.  "Suzuki" is basically a relationship and an approach to music through the ear and the person as an individual.  Any method which can help nurture his learning of music is considered to be PART of Suzuki teaching, not an addition to it or contrast to it.  Most of us welcome good ideas on improvisation and such.  Perhaps the greatest  thing we Suzuki families have in common with home-schoolers is overwhelming compulsion to SHARE ideas, successes, problems, thrills, you name it.  No idea of getting one-up on the next fellow - our strength is really in giving everyone a leg up toward success.

 …Suzuki is what has made it possible for me to BE a teacher, dealing with kids as people to be respected rather than conditioned.  Through GWS I see that lots of people are finding other avenues to the same thing…

        From Susan Bobowski (NY):

…Becky (4) is taking Suzuki piano.  We started when she was 3 with the violin, but that is really an abstract sort of instrument for a child whose parents do not play, and at that time neither George nor myself were playing any instruments.  We had quite a bit of trouble with her about it, so at 4 we switched to the piano.

She is doing better, but she is very resistant to being taught (her teacher is much gentler with her feelings than any elementary school teacher will be, which is why I don’t think she’ll last long in kindergarten).  Even in the face of all her arguments, I intend to continue with lessons - to force her, if you will.  For one thing she does enjoy being able to play; it seems to be the thought that she has to be taught that bothers her.  I think she regards it as an insult to her intelligence and her competence, and it diminishes her in her own eyes, but she gets a great feeling of accomplishment when she masters a new song.

Her teacher is very good about listening to her own compositions.  Becky has the most interesting titles for them.  She played one yesterday entitled "Little Bug Looking For a Piece of Cheese to Take a Nap On."  Not something you would play at Carnegie Hall, but an interesting tune nonetheless…

[From a later letter]:  Becky has quit her music lessons for the time being.  She says she’s going to teach herself at home.  I think a large part of the problem was that she was not going quickly enough to keep up her interest.  We will probably start her again in a year or two.  It took me quite a while to realize that she’s only four and that if we stop lessons now it doesn’t necessarily mean that we have stopped them forever…

        From Marilyn Grush, 24285 Abbey Dr, Ft Wayne IN  46815:

…Both of my girls flay the violin - Suzuki violin.  They have been to the American Suzuki Institute in Stevens Point, Wisconsin for the past seven summers, and for the last 3 1/2 years they have chosen to be without a teacher - simply playing violin, listening to the Suzuki recordings, with only instruction being at these summer institutes - two weeks each summer.

In October the two girls were soloists with the Fort Wayne Philharmonic at a children’s concert playing the Bach Double Violin Concerto, 1st and 2nd movements.  They were asked to play again with the Philharmonic at a concert a few miles from Fort Wayne, missing a morning of classes.    

But I never learn!  I called their high school thinking this was pleasant news and asked for them to be excused from classes.  I was reminded by the cold voice of the principal that the only excused absence was illness or a death in the immediate family.  I ranted and raged the rest of the day only to hear my daughter suggest that next time I just call in sick for them!

PS - These two girls saw your renewal postcard and heard me say I didn’t feel I had the money to continue the subscription right now.  They remembered for Christmas…

QUESTIONS ON CHILD-RAISING

        From Merry-Lynn Malbrough, 5121 Tehama Av, Richmond CA  94804:

 …I just finished skimming the first 15 issues of GWS and have so many comments and questions.  Even though my son Zay (now 7) is going to a school, the magazine is helping me to change our roles when he is at home and with Gwendy, who is one.  I an giving them more credit for being able to do things at the same time not expecting so much perfection.  I can see how Zay lacks confidence because I haven’t wanted him to make messes (I have trouble cleaning up my own).  So he has been really surprised lately at me telling him to fix his own food.  The Malt-o-meal wasn’t too difficult but he insisted on help with the muffins.  By the way, cooking has been a great use of math.  He’s been doing some math with Sterling who is setting up a model railroad.

…One problem I have is organization.  We don’t seem to have access to things when we need them (where is the 3-hole punch?) and Zay seems to use things as they are available.  My mother has given us some wonderful science projects but they are often buried and forgotten - or worse, key parts missing!  Does anyone have a solution to this?

…Not too much has been said about television.  Zay would watch constantly if I let him.  At present it is limited to one hour a day of his choosing (usually Wonder Woman).  If it was up to me we’d have no TV, but my husband enjoys it…  If I really, totally let Zay choose what he does and he chooses to watch TV, where does the introspection time go?  He seems to need about 1 1/2 hours of nothing before he gets himself started on a project.  During that 1 1/2 hours her frequently is a pain in the neck, complaining of nothing to do, or asking to TV but if I stick It out he usually ends up doing something like painting or creating a mask or inventing a new game.  If my husband is lying on the bed reading then Zay will get a book and join him.

I try to remain accessible but I’ve found that he often figures things out on his own when I’m inaccessible.  ("No, I can’t come now, I’m changing the baby" - "Never mind, Mom, I did it.")  On the other hand sometimes he just gives us ("Oh, I’m so stupid, I can’t do anything!")

…Do unschooled children go through periods of testing their parents with language?  Zay has found that the kids at school get really tickled over certain phrases and he tried them out on me.  When it is something that bothers me I let him know.  Sometimes I handle the situation well, other times I don’t.  ("I don’t send you to school to learn to talk like that.")  

Does it seem like unschooled children go through periods of being silly about the opposite sex - or their bodies in general?…  My concern is that Zay have respect for people in general and not feel that there is anything wrong with his body or anyone else’s.  But I still have reserve when it comes to "X-rated" subjects for fear that openness will lead to Say’s assuming I approve of today’s moral standards (which I don’t).  I guess I’m looking for support and suggestions.

Basically I believe that all subjects should be left open for discussion and Zay will draw his conclusions from his experience.  Kids today have access to a lot more knowledge but they still pass on falsehoods to each other: "Boys don’t play with dolls" and other worse ones.  As far as body education goes, we have a 4-book set called "The Life Cycle Books."  I noticed Zay had it out the other day but what he was reading was a small pamphlet that came with it entitled "Parent’s Answer Book"..

[From a later note:]  Zay really needs communication with kids not going to school.  He’s staying home in September and doesn’t mind, but he is objecting to being different from everyone else…

SATURDAY TV

Coming to the office one Saturday morning, I saw that one of the TV sets in the drugstore near our office was showing cartoons, so, as part of my on-going study of modern life, I stopped to watch a few of them.  They made much stronger my already strong prejudice against TV.  They also made me suspect that the many adults who complain of the violence of TV may be missing a much more important point.

 The first show I saw was the one about the roadrunner and the coyote.  All that happens is that the roadrunner runs at top speed along desert roads while the coyote tries in various ingenious ways to kill him.  But the bird, being smarter, always manages to turn these devices against the coyote so that they fall on him, blow up in his face, etc.  A defender of this thoroughly boring cartoon might say that the violence it shows is not "real," since a second after we see the coyote blown up by his own bomb, or flattened by his huge rock, he is up again, not a bit the worse for wear, planning some other dirty trick.  Since nobody is ever hurt, and the bad buy always loses, what’s the worry?

This seriously misses the point.  Sure, the violence is not real, and hence (supposedly) not frightening, though some little children may fear, with each new device the coyote invents, that this time it may work.  But what is real, and permanent, and central, and truly damaging about this show, and all others like it, is the malice, the endless, purposeless wish to do harm.  This is what children get from the program, the idea that it is perfectly natural and reasonable for one living creature, for no reason at all, for we are never shown any, to want to bring about the destruction of another.  How easy it is, after a steady diet of these cartoons, to accept the wide-spread belief that in the "real world" every human being is the natural enemy and rightful prey of every other.

After a few of these delights came some commercials, which were even more shocking.  The first showed two girls, perhaps nine or ten, carefully putting on elaborate makeup - cheeks, eyebrows, lips, the words.  They were stunningly pretty miniatures of adult women models, imitating to perfection all their seductive expressions and gestures - children used explicitly as sex objects.  The makeup kits, it turned out, are made by the makers of Barbie dolls.  The children who watch this commercial get the message.  If you are pretty, and use the right nationally advertised makeup, boys will like you, and will want to have sex with you.  If you are not pretty, not with it, you are nobody, nothing.

 I thought I had seen the worst, but not so.  In the next station break was another makeup commercial.  Again, two extremely pretty little girls were putting on lipstick, all the while smiling flirtatiously at each other and the camera.  But these children were five years old!  The people whose lipstick (in the shape of crayons) they were using were your friendly crayon makers, Crayola.

I can think of no better reason for not wanting to send children to school than that 99% of the children there watch this kind of awful junk, with its disgusting hidden messages about human nature and human life, every Saturday morning  and much of the rest of the week.  The schools are full of this moral and spiritual poison, and though it is true that they did not invent it and might be very glad to get rid of it, the fact is that they don’t know how.  More than anyone or anything else, the mass media control the values of schools, and as long as this remains so, parents who do not approve of these values have every right to protect their children against them as far as they possibly can.  This point may be well worth making in many home schooling proposals. - John Holt

ADOPTION RESOURCES

[DR:]  In GWS #24, we suggested starting "Resource Lists" of people with certain experiences who would be willing to correspond with other people interested in or curious about that topic.  In particular, we asked for an Adoption Resource List, because people ask us how to adopt, whether home-schoolers have adopted children, and so on.  Our request brought the following names:

        Anne BODINE , 83 Knollwood, New Providence NJ  07974 — Jan EVERGREEN, Rt 1 Box 352, Alderson WV 24910 — Paula KING, 26100 Moody Rd, Los Altos Hills CA  94022 — Walter & Mary MARSCHNER, 628 Oaklawn Av, Lafayette LA  70506 — Dan SHULTIS, Peloncillo Primary, Box 91, Rodeo NM  88056.

 We quote from some of the good letters these people sent.  First, Jan Evergreen:…Shawn (5) and Andy (4) came to us an incredibly brief year and a half ago.  We adopted then through the W.V. Department of Welfare and they are now legally ours…  We plan to adopt as many children as we have energy for and work in as many ways possible to make this world better for those already here…

Adoption was difficult but certainly not impossible.  It took us two years to obtain a home-study - a dictum from the welfare department approving us.  The home-study is the key to state, national, and international children.  We believe there is no incentive towards adoption by the federal agencies, because the money rests in foster and institutionalized care.  Private agencies are much more encouraging, but then their fees are involved.  Once our W.V. home-study was completed, we were matched to our two boys within a month.  We knew great changes were ahead and found ourselves wishing things had not gone just so fast…  However, we received back from our kids every bit we gave out and then some.  And that exchange began from day one.

…Change in diet has been incredibly important to the boys - Shawn responding best to the Geingold diet for hyperactivity.  Chiropractic care has opened them up and released much built-up tension, I believe.

We have been able to barter for much of this and feel this as wonderful community support.  We even bartered with the lawyer - his fee being much reduced and included several gallons of our home-canned apple cider…

        From Paula King:

…We adopted Lindy two years ago though a private adoption…  We liked private adoption partly because we got to meet Lindy’s birth-parents and grandparents.  Lindy’s mom was seven months pregnant and 14 years old when we met.  We got a good feeling about them and they felt comfortable with us.  We’re now looking for a second baby.  We’ll be glad to talk to anyone else who’s looking too..

        From Walter and Mary Marschner:

… We are now in the process of adopting two boys, ages 13 and 11, from an orphanage in Costa Rica.  The subject of "home schooling" came up when the social worker who was doing an adoption home-study on us realized that our daughter, Jemmy Pangborn, 16, was being taught at home.  It took him aback…  He was mainly concerned that we not be in violation of Louisiana’s compulsory attendance laws

…We knew very well we were not in violation of those laws…  We petitioned the state’s Attorney General (through Louisiana legislator Woody Jenkins [GWS #24], since a private citizen cannot directly do so), who after two or three weeks replied that he concurred with the opinion of the local District Attorney, whom we had also contacted, and whose opinion was that we "satisfactorily meet the requirements of mandatory school attendance."  The attorney General then said that he considered the matter to be closed as far as any further questions to our "legitimacy."  So, we’re OK.

The only further questions that arose came in the form of some fears on the part of the orphanage in Costa Rica that we were "intellectuals," and that we and Jemmy were doing so much that they wanted to warn us that the youngsters we were adopting were just "normal"…  It’s true we had bent over backwards in describing our "schooling" because most people, when they first hear of "home-schooling," feel that it can’t be enough;  but to those good folks it must have seemed like overkill, which is certainly not the case, though Jemmy has accomplished so much!  The thing is - most of what she has done has been, though hard work, also real fun, like her summer appearance with a local theater as Puck in "Midsummer Night’s Dream," her first speaking role.

Well, anyway, then we had to bend over backwards the other way, and assure the folks who have the care of the boys that we were by no means expecting the boys to be "intellectuals," "little Einsteins," or whatever.

 …We are now very close to getting everything completed and are processing final papers for the Costa Rican government…

        And From Dan Shultis:

…We were turned down for adoption here in New Mexico because our life style and went on record as "unfit to raise children.",,,  We went underground and now have three kids.  Everything is lovely now;  if we could and can live with the idea that "educated" and authoritative people say we cannot raise children, so can others.

Please refer to us those "hard" cases where there is no other standard approach to the problem of getting a kid.  Our way may not be their way, but at least it is another alternative to check out…

 Finally, an Illinois reader sent us names of adoption agencies and information sources:  AID TO ADOPTION OF SPECIAL KIDS, 3530 Grand Av, Oakland CA  94610;  FAMILY BUILDERS BY ADOPTION,  PO Box 360, Midtown Sta, NY NY  10018;  NATIONAL ADOPTION INFO EXCHANGE SYSTEM,  67 Irving Pl, NY NY 10003;

COMMITTEE FOR SINGLE ADOPTIVE PARENTS, PO Box 4074, Chevy Chase MD  20815; NORTH AMERICAN COUNCIL ON ADOPTABLE CHILDREN, 250 E Blaine, Riverside CA  92507.

TRAVEL RESOURCE LIST

The other Resource List we suggested was on "Travel."  We asked for people who have traveled extensively with children, such as in a van, to list themselves so that others who are considering doing this could contact them.   So far, we’ve gotten these names:

D.R. and Georgette SCHULTE (George 7, Thomas 1).  "We’ve been traveling in our van for the last eight months…  Our present temporary address is:  General Delivery, Lakeside, CA  92040… Our subscription is in Georgette’s mother’s name, Mrs. Florence Stockman, 1301 A Rio Rancho Dr, Rio Ranch NM  87124…  The biggest drawback for us as far as this nomadic lifestyle goes is trying to get some mail."

Beth & Art SHAW, Box 245, Gibsons BC Canada, VON 1VO,  "Last winter we spent four months living in and out of our van in Ariz. & Mexico."       

Karen HOLGUIN, PO Box 2010, Sparks NV   89431.

Karen also recommended Escapees:  Club Newsletter for Full-Time Rovers, PO Box 2870 MCCA, Estes Park CO  80517.

There was at least one other family whose letter has unfortunately vanished into the depths of disorganization.  We hope they will write us again, along with other traveling families.

Because there has been some confusion over this already, let me state that we will not print names of people who want to learn about these topics.  If you’re interested, please write to the people whose names we do print - they’re the ones who can tell you about their experiences.

Some other possible Resource Lists for which we invite names:  Home Computers; Single Parents; "Special Needs" children (Down’s Syndrome, blind, etc.); Calvert users (and possibly other correspondence schools.)  If you have experience with any of these subjects, would like to correspond with interested or concerned people, and are willing to have your name published in GWS, please tell us, And if you’d like to be a resource but don’t want to write letters, we could print your phone number instead of an address (please choose one or the other). - DR

BRITISH EXCHANGE

        From Helen Holland, Horsegate Farm, Cuckfield, Sussex, England RH17 5AZ:

…I’ve taken upon myself the job of co-ordinating British-American exchanges.  Inspired by the account in a recent GWS about families visiting each other, and having much enjoyed meeting other deschooled families here, I thought how good it would be if EDUCATION OTHERWISE and GWS families crossing the Atlantic could get in touch with each other.  So…  if anyone visiting Britain would like to meet or stay with home-schoolers here, then please get in touch with me.  Likewise if anyone would be happy to welcome British visitors in the States.  Terms to be arranged between individuals…  Do give details of children’s ages, interests, lifestyle, etc…

NEW BOOKS AVAILABLE HERE

SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS YOU CAN EAT, by Vicki Cobb ($4.50 + post).  Several GWS readers told us about this book.  For example, Nancy Wallace (NY) wrote, "By doing these experiments, you can begin to understand the chemical components of the food, and if you can produce a change, you can learn something about the starting material from the way it changes.  Vita and Ishmael enjoy doing these experiments because they have such immediate relevance and also because they can eat their experiment when they are done."

We haven’t tried any of the experiments ourselves, but they look very promising.  One good thing, for example, is that the necessary ingredients are items you would be really likely to have on hand, or could easily find at the grocery store.  I can remember some craft book we had around the house when I was young that required things like round-headed clothespins and coal and blueing (whatever that is), and that kept saying thins like, "Find a tip hat in you attic…"  How many people even have an attic these days?

But as I say, the experiments in this book look quite practical and possible.  Directions are simple and clear, and there are lots of drawings.  Moreover, the scientific part is impressive.  Chapter 3, for example, is called "Suspensions, Colloids, and Emulsions" - you learn what those are from borscht, salad dressing, mayonnaise, and strawberry bombe.  Other experiments look at crystallization (rock candy), coagulating protein (custard), cellulose (boiled squash), and microbes (yeast).

We look forward to hearing more reader reactions to this book - let us know what you like and don’t like about it.  (Same goes for PHYSICS EXPERIMENTS FOR CHILDREN, a book many GWS readers have gotten from us.) - DR

TREASURE OF GREEN KNOWE, by L.M. Boston ($1.75 + post).  In the second book of this wonderful series, Tolly goes back to his great-grandmother’s old house during a school vacation.  There he learns more about the history of his family, meets some other children from the past, and with their help discovers a great treasure.  An exciting and unusual story.  As I said in GWS #19, I love the sense of tradition in the "Green Knowe" books - the importance to Tolly, and to all children, of feeling part of a long chain of past and present events. - JH

LADDER OF ANGELS, by  Madeleine L’Engle ($8.95 + post).  This is a set of Old Testament stories told in prose and poetry by Madeline L’Engle and illustrated by sixty-five paintings done by children between the ages of eight and fourteen.  The paintings were chosen from twelve thousand entered in the international contest, "Children of the World Illustrate the Old Testament," a celebration of the International Year of the Child.  They are astonishingly varied, imaginative, colorful, and expressive, and Madeline L’Engle’s simple but eloquent text is a perfect match for them.  A beautiful book to look at or to read aloud and talk about. - JH

 THE SECOND TREE FROM THE CORNER, by E.B. White ($1.75 + post).  For the many of you who enjoyed ONE MAN’S MEAT, here are more treats from E.B. White, including a number of delightful poems and three of his rare short stories (perhaps the only three), enough to make us wish he had written many more.  One of these, "The Morning Of The Day They Did It," is about the destruction of the earth by a pair of Americans who have been stationed in space with a super weapon.  White’s guess, that astronauts floating in no-gravity space would lose all sense of connection with the earth seems not to have been true; so far, the men who have seen earth from space have gained a much stronger feeling for what it is, our beautiful little home and the only one we’ve got.  But it is a powerful story anyway.

Mark Twain once said that the difference between the right word and the almost-right word is the difference between the lightning and the lightning bug.  No mean hand at choosing the right word himself, Twain would have recognized and relished the rich supply of right words in this lovely book.  May it be the same with you. - JH

WORKING, by Studs Terkel ($3.15 + post).  This is a very important and eloquent book about what in school terms might be called History or Social Studies.  But it is a kind of history (or a Social Studies) that is very rarely written - not the usual story of kings, presidents, generals, etc., but the story of how "ordinary" people experience and feel about their lives, and in particular, their work.

Many of our readers will know about Studs Turkel, who for more than twenty years has been interviewing people for his radio program and his books.  There is almost certainly no one in this country and perhaps the world who has talked to more different kinds of people, and who (because of his own small size, gentle manner, and deep trust and concern for others) has been more able to get these other people to talk fully and honestly about themselves.  In this book they talk about one of the most critical problems of modern times, not just in the U.S. but everywhere - the problem of work.

        In his introduction Studs sums up what the book is about:

This book, being about work, is, by its very nature, about violence - to the spirit as well as the body…  It is, above all (or beneath all), about daily humiliations.  To survive the day is triumph enough for the walking wounded among the great many of us…

It is about a search, too, for daily meaning as well as daily bread, for recognition as well as cash…  in short, for a sort of life rather than a Monday through Friday sort of dying.

        A heavy equipment (crane) operator sums up what people need to feel about their work:

There’s a certain amount of pride - I don’t care how little you did.  You drive down the road and you say, "I worked on this road."  If there’s a bridge, you say, "I worked on this bridge."  Maybe it don’t mean anything to anybody else, but there’s a certain pride knowing you did you bit…  It’s food for your soul that you know you did it good.

 Like all of Studs Terkel’s books, this is a vivid cross section of America,  We will know our country and our fellow citizens much better for having read it.  And it is a good example of a kind of history that some children, at least, might someday want to do in their own towns and communities, as students in rural Georgia do in their Foxfire Books.  Finally, it draws from the real lives of many people to underline what I wrote about in GWS #6 and in TEACH YOUR OWN - the importance of finding work worth doing. - JH

FOOD FIRST, by Frances Lappe and Joseph Collins ($3.65 + post).  In this book the authors very convincingly show us a number of surprising facts:

        1.  Enough food is being produced right now to provide an adequate diet for every single person in the world.

        2.  In almost all countries, there is enough arable land to feed everyone who lives there.

        3.  In terms of food produced per input of land, capital, water, and energy, many so-called "primitive" methods of farming              are far more productive that our industrial agriculture, which is in fact, in terms of those inputs, one of the most inefficient              as sell as destructive systems of agriculture ever invented.

        4.  The reason so many people in so many parts of the world can’t feed themselves is that they are denied access to the land              and materials they need to do it.

        5.  What happens instead is that the land, from which poor peasants have often been driven by force, is used by richer              farmers of even multinational food corporations to raise luxury foods for rich countries and wealthy people in the poor             countries.

        6.  Most of whatever foreign exchange these poor countries earn from these exports is not used to by food for their poor,              but to buy luxury goods for their own rich.

        7.  Practically everything that is sent to poor countries in the name of "foreign aid" serves, if it is not actually intended, to              speed up the above processes.

        8.  Even during the worst of the droughts and famines that plagued Central and West African countries during the 1970’s,              those very countries were exporting food to the rich nations.

        And so on.  It is a too-little-known, astonishing, and horrifying story, carefully and thoroughly documented.

        What to do?

One thing we can all do is to lower the demand that we, personally, make on the world supplies of food, by eating, as the saying goes, lower down the food chain.  Frances Lappe, in her earlier book DIET FOR A SMALL PLANET, shows us how we may do this.  Thus, since it takes over ten pounds of grain or vegetable to produce one pound of beef, but only three pounds to produce a pound of chicken or rabbit, from the point of view of efficient use of land, we do better to eat chicken or rabbit rather than beef, and the best of all to eat vegetables and grains directly.

Of course, this does not apply in places in which, because of conditions of land and climate, we can’t raise foods that we can eat, but in which we can raise animals to turn plants we can’t eat into foods that we can.  It makes ecological sense for Eskimos to eat caribou, or for Icelanders or Scottish highlanders or any other mountain dwellers to raise sheep, but no sense whatever to use rich farmland, as we do, to raise corn to fee to beef cattle and pigs.

Another thing we can do is grow more, and as much as possible, of our own food.  About this very important remedy for the problem of world hunger, the authors say exactly six words.  It is not enough.  This is for me the only disappointing part of this otherwise essential book, that it concentrates almost exclusively on political remedies, i.e., supporting programs of land reform and the like.  Thus, in seventeen pages of references to organizations, publications, and books, there is not one mention of how to use land more conservingly and efficiently - no mention of New Alchemists, Homesteader’s News, Rodale Publications, Farralones Institute, etc.  One might say that the book suffers a little from the Write Your Congressman syndrome.  Not that writing your Congressman isn’t useful; I do it often.  But it seems to me even more important that we take part as much as we can in the rapidly growing and very important movement to find out and make known as widely as possible how we can best live in greater harmony with the land.

Why is this book important to home schoolers?  For all the reasons given in the book and many more, people of any age who learn how to raise food more efficiently and conservingly will gain a piece of knowledge that is and will be very valuable to them personally, to their community, their country, and the world.  The schools talk about essential knowledge; even from the narrow point of vies of getting a job and making a career, no knowledge could be more essential or useful that skill at raising food.  Home schooling parents should argue very strongly, as some already have, that the presence of such knowledge in their own "curriculum," and the absence of it in the schools’, is a very strong reason why their home curriculum is better.  We can argue very forcefully that the schools, in preparing children only for industrial work and dependence on industrial products rather than self-reliance, are failing to prepare them for a world food crisis that already exists and a national food crisis that already exists  and is likely to become serious very soon. - JH

This archive is presented as a service to the homeschooling community by the editors of  Home Education Magazine © 2006 and is reprinted with permission of Holt Associates, Inc., © 2006. (All rights reserved)