Laura’s questions re: testing and recordkeeping

Helen Hegener

20 May 2001, at 11:49pm

Hello Laura, welcome to the list!

We don't believe in testing our kids and we don't keep records for
anyone. We just live life with our kids. If you're interested in our
reasoning and a little light reading, here's a link to an essay I
wrote ten years ago, titled "On Jumping Through Hoops":
http://www.home-ed-magazine.com/lawregs/hoopjump.html

And for your information, we're in Washington state. The references
to a support group and a large state organization in my article were
both references to our personal experiences with WHO - the Washington
Homeschool Organization.

Helen

At 3:03 AM +0000 5/21/01, [email protected] wrote:

>Hi Helen! My name is Laura, I'm new and will introduce
>myelf in a seperate post:-) I have a question for you
>and the other experienced unschoolers here. If your
>boys didn't read until this late, how did you handle
>yearly testing and/or evaluations? In our
>state(Washington) children older than 8yo are required
>to take an annual standardized test or be evaluated by
>a licensed teacher. I'm starting to panic over how my
>9yo ds will do during his evaluation this summer, as
>it will be his first. He does read, but doesn't know
>how to write in cursive and isn't at "grade level" in
>math. My second question is how do unschoolers handle
>record keeping? TIA! and now I'd better go write my
>intro:-)

Jon and Rue Kream

21 May 2001, at 8:28am

Hi Helen - I don't believe in testing or keeping records. The problem is, I
live in a town where the superintendent knows we're here, and that town is
in Massachusetts, where the term "educational neglect" is very popular right
now. This week I'm filling out our "report" for Clonlara and each time I go
to work on it I find myself too angry to write. Do you have any advice? Do
I just stop sending anything in and see if the school notices? They seem to
have decided to really crack down on homeschoolers here lately, and do
sometimes involve DSS. If there is nothing I can do and I just have to keep
sending the reports, is there something I can do on a larger scale than my
own family to get these laws changed? Thanks for any advice ~Rue

-----Original Message-----
From: Helen Hegener [mailto:HEM-Editor@...]
Sent: Sunday, May 20, 2001 11:49 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [Unschooling-dotcom] Laura's questions re: testing and
recordkeeping

Hello Laura, welcome to the list!

We don't believe in testing our kids and we don't keep records for
anyone. We just live life with our kids. If you're interested in our
reasoning and a little light reading, here's a link to an essay I
wrote ten years ago, titled "On Jumping Through Hoops":
http://www.home-ed-magazine.com/lawregs/hoopjump.html

And for your information, we're in Washington state. The references
to a support group and a large state organization in my article were
both references to our personal experiences with WHO - the Washington
Homeschool Organization.

Helen

At 3:03 AM +0000 5/21/01, [email protected] wrote:

>Hi Helen! My name is Laura, I'm new and will introduce
>myelf in a seperate post:-) I have a question for you
>and the other experienced unschoolers here. If your
>boys didn't read until this late, how did you handle
>yearly testing and/or evaluations? In our
>state(Washington) children older than 8yo are required
>to take an annual standardized test or be evaluated by
>a licensed teacher. I'm starting to panic over how my
>9yo ds will do during his evaluation this summer, as
>it will be his first. He does read, but doesn't know
>how to write in cursive and isn't at "grade level" in
>math. My second question is how do unschoolers handle
>record keeping? TIA! and now I'd better go write my
>intro:-)

Jon and Rue Kream

21 May 2001, at 9:57am

My problem is, I don't want to deal with them at all. I don't feel we
should have to. I don't feel that they have any legitimate authority over
us. For me, using Clonlara is the lesser evil, but it is still an invasion
of my child's privacy. I have lived in Mass. all my life and never heard of
Northbridge! Off to get my map ~Rue

-----Original Message-----
From: debbie jones [mailto:dljones0@...]
Sent: Monday, May 21, 2001 10:04 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: [Unschooling-dotcom] Laura's questions re: testing and
recordkeeping

Rue,

What town are you in again? Here in Northbridge I understand they are pretty
easy to deal with (school district).

Debbie

Jon and Rue Kream <skreams@...> wrote:
Hi Helen - I don't believe in testing or keeping records. The problem is, I
live in a town where the superintendent knows we're here, and that town is
in Massachusetts, where the term "educational neglect" is very popular right
now. This week I'm filling out our "report" for Clonlara and each time I go
to work on it I find myself too angry to write. Do you have any advice? Do
I just stop sending anything in and see if the school notices? They seem to
have decided to really crack down on homeschoolers here lately, and do
sometimes involve DSS. If there is nothing I can do and I just have to keep
sending the reports, is there something I can do on a larger scale than my
own family to get these laws changed? Thanks for any advice ~Rue

-----Original Message-----
From: Helen Hegener [mailto:HEM-Editor@...]
Sent: Sunday, May 20, 2001 11:49 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [Unschooling-dotcom] Laura's questions re: testing and
recordkeeping

Hello Laura, welcome to the list!

We don't believe in testing our kids and we don't keep records for
anyone. We just live life with our kids. If you're interested in our
reasoning and a little light reading, here's a link to an essay I
wrote ten years ago, titled "On Jumping Through Hoops":
http://www.home-ed-magazine.com/lawregs/hoopjump.html

And for your information, we're in Washington state. The references
to a support group and a large state organization in my article were
both references to our personal experiences with WHO - the Washington
Homeschool Organization.

Helen

At 3:03 AM +0000 5/21/01, [email protected] wrote:

>Hi Helen! My name is Laura, I'm new and will introduce
>myelf in a seperate post:-) I have a question for you
>and the other experienced unschoolers here. If your
>boys didn't read until this late, how did you handle
>yearly testing and/or evaluations? In our
>state(Washington) children older than 8yo are required
>to take an annual standardized test or be evaluated by
>a licensed teacher. I'm starting to panic over how my
>9yo ds will do during his evaluation this summer, as
>it will be his first. He does read, but doesn't know
>how to write in cursive and isn't at "grade level" in
>math. My second question is how do unschoolers handle
>record keeping? TIA! and now I'd better go write my
>intro:-)

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debbie jones

21 May 2001, at 10:04am

Rue,

What town are you in again? Here in Northbridge I understand they are pretty easy to deal with (school district).

Debbie

Jon and Rue Kream <skreams@...> wrote:
Hi Helen - I don't believe in testing or keeping records. The problem is, I
live in a town where the superintendent knows we're here, and that town is
in Massachusetts, where the term "educational neglect" is very popular right
now. This week I'm filling out our "report" for Clonlara and each time I go
to work on it I find myself too angry to write. Do you have any advice? Do
I just stop sending anything in and see if the school notices? They seem to
have decided to really crack down on homeschoolers here lately, and do
sometimes involve DSS. If there is nothing I can do and I just have to keep
sending the reports, is there something I can do on a larger scale than my
own family to get these laws changed? Thanks for any advice ~Rue

-----Original Message-----
From: Helen Hegener [mailto:HEM-Editor@...]
Sent: Sunday, May 20, 2001 11:49 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [Unschooling-dotcom] Laura's questions re: testing and
recordkeeping

Hello Laura, welcome to the list!

We don't believe in testing our kids and we don't keep records for
anyone. We just live life with our kids. If you're interested in our
reasoning and a little light reading, here's a link to an essay I
wrote ten years ago, titled "On Jumping Through Hoops":
http://www.home-ed-magazine.com/lawregs/hoopjump.html

And for your information, we're in Washington state. The references
to a support group and a large state organization in my article were
both references to our personal experiences with WHO - the Washington
Homeschool Organization.

Helen

At 3:03 AM +0000 5/21/01, [email protected] wrote:

>Hi Helen! My name is Laura, I'm new and will introduce
>myelf in a seperate post:-) I have a question for you
>and the other experienced unschoolers here. If your
>boys didn't read until this late, how did you handle
>yearly testing and/or evaluations? In our
>state(Washington) children older than 8yo are required
>to take an annual standardized test or be evaluated by
>a licensed teacher. I'm starting to panic over how my
>9yo ds will do during his evaluation this summer, as
>it will be his first. He does read, but doesn't know
>how to write in cursive and isn't at "grade level" in
>math. My second question is how do unschoolers handle
>record keeping? TIA! and now I'd better go write my
>intro:-)

Jon and Rue Kream

22 May 2001, at 10:54am

I would be interested to know what other people are doing. Does your
magazine, or any other that you know of, address these issues regularly? I
suppose for now I'll continue with Clonlara, and when my kids are grown I'll
take on the world :). I keep hoping someone has figured out how to say, no
I won't report, without putting their children in any danger, but I guess
it's never that simple. We definitely don't want to have to leave our home
to move to another 'easier' town or state. I'm glad Clonlara's around.
They do make it as easy as it can be to comply. ~Rue

-----Original Message-----
From: Helen Hegener [mailto:HEM-Editor@...]
Sent: Tuesday, May 22, 2001 11:01 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [Unschooling-dotcom] Answering Rue's questions

At 8:28 AM -0400 5/21/01, Jon and Rue Kream wrote:

>Hi Helen - I don't believe in testing or keeping records. The problem is,

>live in a town where the superintendent knows we're here, and that town is
>in Massachusetts, where the term "educational neglect" is very popular

right

>now. This week I'm filling out our "report" for Clonlara and each time I

>to work on it I find myself too angry to write. Do you have any advice?

>I just stop sending anything in and see if the school notices?

Boy, it's really easy to tell people what we've chosen to do over the
years with respect to our own situation, but almost impossible to
advise anyone else on what they should do, especially when it
involves potential clashes with an unfriendly school official or DSS
bureaucracy. My only advice would be to carefully weigh the options
and make a decision accordingly.

One critical factor that helped in our case was having a dual
residency in this state (Washington) and Alaska - we've always
travelled between the two quite easily and our ace in the hole was
that if Washington really started hassling us we'd just go to Alaska.
So while it might have appeared to be a bold brave stance on one
level, we were definitely playing it safe on another. We don't play
games or take risks where our kids are concerned, because the powers
that be don't always play fair.

> They seem to
>have decided to really crack down on homeschoolers here lately, and do
>sometimes involve DSS. If there is nothing I can do and I just have to

keep

>sending the reports, is there something I can do on a larger scale than my
>own family to get these laws changed? Thanks for any advice ~Rue

One can always rally others who feel the same way you do and work
toward changing the legal situation. Homeschoolers do that all the
time, and I can put you in touch with good people in other states who
are doing it right now if you're interested.

Helen

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Helen Hegener

22 May 2001, at 11:01am

At 8:28 AM -0400 5/21/01, Jon and Rue Kream wrote:

>Hi Helen - I don't believe in testing or keeping records. The problem is, I
>live in a town where the superintendent knows we're here, and that town is
>in Massachusetts, where the term "educational neglect" is very popular right
>now. This week I'm filling out our "report" for Clonlara and each time I go
>to work on it I find myself too angry to write. Do you have any advice? Do
>I just stop sending anything in and see if the school notices?

> They seem to
>have decided to really crack down on homeschoolers here lately, and do
>sometimes involve DSS. If there is nothing I can do and I just have to keep
>sending the reports, is there something I can do on a larger scale than my
>own family to get these laws changed? Thanks for any advice ~Rue

Helen Hegener

22 May 2001, at 12:36pm

At 10:54 AM -0400 5/22/01, Jon and Rue Kream wrote:

>I would be interested to know what other people are doing. Does your
>magazine, or any other that you know of, address these issues regularly?

Tammy Graves

22 May 2001, at 1:51pm

Helen, How can I get a copy to review?

At 10:54 AM -0400 5/22/01, Jon and Rue Kream wrote:

>I would be interested to know what other people are doing. Does your
>magazine, or any other that you know of, address these issues regularly?

We sure do. We have a hard-won reputation as the most contentious and
politically active homeschooling magazine, always pushing the limits,
always advising people to follow their hearts and trust their own
instincts. And we send free no-strings-attached sample issues to
anyone interested in seeing a copy.

Helen

Message boards, timely articles, a free newsletter and more!
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Helen Hegener

22 May 2001, at 2:50pm

At 12:51 PM -0500 5/22/01, Tammy Graves wrote:

>Helen, How can I get a copy to review?

We make it super simple:

Call tollfree: 1-800-236-3278

email HEM-Info@...

or go to this page of our website:
http://www.home-ed-magazine.com/wlcm_HEM.html
and click on "Never seen a copy?" which will take you to a secure
online form to fill out.

Helen

Johanna

23 May 2001, at 12:44am

Can I see a copy? And what did you say the subscription rate was?
Johanna
Life is the ultimate learning experience!

----- Original Message -----
From: Helen Hegener
To: [email protected]
Sent: Tuesday, May 22, 2001 11:36 AM
Subject: RE: [Unschooling-dotcom] Answering Rue's questions

At 10:54 AM -0400 5/22/01, Jon and Rue Kream wrote:
>I would be interested to know what other people are doing. Does your
>magazine, or any other that you know of, address these issues regularly?

We sure do. We have a hard-won reputation as the most contentious and
politically active homeschooling magazine, always pushing the limits,
always advising people to follow their hearts and trust their own
instincts. And we send free no-strings-attached sample issues to
anyone interested in seeing a copy.

Helen

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Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.

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Helen Hegener

23 May 2001, at 3:12pm

At 11:44 PM -0500 5/22/01, Johanna wrote:

>Can I see a copy? And what did you say the subscription rate was?

Anyone who's interested can request a copy - just send a message to
HEM-Info@... or visit our website at
http://www.home-ed-magazine.com and follow the obvious links to the
HEM order form for our super-special online subscription rates.

Helen