The Plowboy Interview: John Holt

Article Tools

Image Gallery

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

out the correct forms . . . and then-as far as the school system was concerned -let your child just "disappear". That approach doesn't often work, though, because neighbors or relatives are likely to blow the whistle on you by calling up the school and saying, "Hey! I know a child who's playing hooky! " Still, if you're surrounded by more or less friendly people, the "sneaking out" strategy will work. PLOWBOY: What are some other possible approaches?

HOLT: In many states you may be able to register your own home as a private school . . . and in California you can legally educate your own child if you have a teacher's certificate. People can also sometimes enroll their children in a private school-the Santa Fe Community School in New Mexico is one examplewhich is willing to supervise a home study program. In such a case, the child is offi cially a student of the school but doesn't physically attend its classes.

On the other hand, some 32 states have laws which say that your children don't have to attend school if they receive what's called "equivalent instruction". Such states usually let the local school boards decide what programs qualify as r an equivalent of public school education.

There are even some states where you can legally teach your children at home, even if you live more than two miles away °from both the nearest school and from a road on which the school district furnishes transportation.

I think that learning is not the result of teaching, but of the curiosity and activity of the learner.

Finally, there's always the possibility a of simply arriving at an arrangement 7 with the school that will allow you to teach your child at home . . . using either materials provided by the teachers or recognized texts like those in the Calvert or the Home Study Institute's correspondence programs. Of course, each parent will have to figure out which of the various tactics for getting her or his children out of public school will work best.

PLOWBOY: How does somebody decide ' which tactic to try? It would, I can imagine, be important to pick the right one.

HOLT: That's a very difficult decision to make, because the best approach will vary from district to district, and it's often hard to know what a particular school

em is going to do until you actually test it out. I tell some people that-before they decide about whether to take an open, aboveboard route or a secret one - they should feel out the local school board and see how friendly, or distant, the women and men who run that particular education system seem to be. Of course, some folks are perfectly willing to confront the school system in court if that's the only choice left to them.

PLOWBOY: Do they often win?

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print