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Home Education Magazine
July-August 2002 - Articles and Columns
Learning to Write Without School - Aj DeBee
Until a few weeks ago, I had never attended school. My entire education, and my entire development as a reader, writer and thinker, was solely dependent on the teachings of my ex-English teacher mother, my eccentric father, and myself.
In my household, there was no baby talk. From the time of my birth, everything my parents said to me was grammatically correct, and not dumbed down to suit my age. If my father wanted to spend quality time with me, he would read me his Wall Street Journal. This turned out to be ideal for my future as a writer, and has helped me monumentally in everyday communications. At the time, though, it caused a few raised eyebrows. When I was about five, another girl about my age approached me in a playground and queried gently as to whether or not she could be my friend.
’Not yet,? I replied. ’We would have to remain acquaintances for quite awhile before we could truly become friends.?
Reading came naturally to me. Every evening my parents would be regaled with chants of ’Read me a book! Read me a book!? I soon had them well trained, and Them would lie beside me, reading aloud and letting me look at the pictures and words the precious book contained. I started recognizing small words, like ’and? and ’if,? and I began trying to keep up with them while they read aloud. By five and a half I was an avid reader.
Once those basics were covered for me, writing was just a natural step. I still remember writing my first report, a hand-written three-page paper on ancient humans. After reading an article about them in the encyclopedia, I was inspired. Wishing to further my understanding, Mom suggested I write an essay. My first report! Wow! That was something grade-school kids did! I was just six and a half, so this seemed like a huge step for me. Two weeks later, after lots of studying and work, IÍd successfully compiled my first report. I was so proud!
My homeschooled education progressed. I found that writing wasnÍt difficult for me, though I had no real drive to do it all that often. I kept a journal, but always felt that the writings in there were shallow, since nothing interesting really happened in my young life. In fact, everything I wrote seemed shallow and pointless in comparison to the vivid, intense books I would read. All day, while other kids were at school, I would devour book after book of incredible worlds and topics. Would my writing ever sound like this? Eventually my father suggested I do some story writing. This sounded like fun, so I gave it a shot.
After a few failed attempts, I wrote an intense, vivid story I continue to be proud of, called ’Cat Craft.? It had to do with a small black cat killing an evil witch and taking her powers, and though I no longer have the story, I remember actually shaking as I wrote it, so involved was I in the tale. Stories became my favorite form of writing.
Soon, my parents tried to make my education more formal. Previously my writing had been primarily independent, with pretty much only story work, but they now began assigning some reports. I have a tendency to say that assignments are wrong, that they suck all the joy out of writing because one is being forced to complete the assignment. Unfortunately, in my case I donÍt know that I would have written otherwise, except for the occasional story. I would have read, no problem there, but I began to truly dislike putting my thoughts on paper. Mom and Dad would assign enveloping, interesting reports on topics I enjoyed, like chimpanzees or dinosaurs, but I just didnÍt like writing them. They seemed dry and structured in comparison to my stories, and I didnÍt see why they were so necessary. After all, if someone really wanted the information, they could just read a book!
It was when I was about thirteen that my father sat me down and explained to me that I didnÍt need to just write down the dry facts. I could give my opinions on things! I could create my own debate on paper! Since I was so good at using words to express myself, it was easy for me to tell someone why chimpanzees should be conserved.
This opened an entirely new door to me. I found myself writing down my theories for fun, not as an academic requirement. At my disposal were hundreds of ways for me to express myself. I was, and still am, infinitely glad for that.
Homeschooling unleashed a passion to understand my world, and writing helped me harness that passion. The opportunity to grow without the confines of school has given me the freedom I needed to develop into a successful reader, writer, and thinker.
© 2002 Aj DeBee
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July-August 2002 - Articles and Columns
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