Old Fashioned Lifestyle

 I have been reading John Holt’s “Instead of Education.”  After reading a particularly powerful chapter about the damage our school system does to our children, I got to thinking about the No Child Left Behind Act.  The no child left behind act has a 4 point action plan:

•   accountability of schools (meaning, test the kids, test the kids, test the kids)
•  more choices for parents
• greater local control
•  do what “works” based on scientific research

I can understand where law makers were trying to go with this plan.  It all sounds well and good on the surface….   give schools more control, but make them accountable – they better perform.  If those schools don’t perform, give parents the option of sending kids elsewhere.  And – do what scientific research says “works.”

What this act fails to address, however, is the very basic fact that our formal educational system (both public and private) is based on a system that MUST PRODUCE FAILURES!!!

In the book, Holt poses the question – What would happen if a school district had an amazing teacher that was able to reach every student – and they each got an A for the year.  It would be nice to say, “Oh, that teacher would be given an award.  What a wonderful accomplishment.”  But, answer the question honestly.  What would actually happen?

Holt answers – and I agree that people would be unhappy – and call for change.  Parents of the “bright” kids would cry out.  Why are you giving EVERYONE an A?  That makes my child’s “A” worthless!

The principal, school boards or administrators would also cry out, saying “you are clearly not pushing your students hard enough” or even “why are you faking these grades?”

What would college entrance counselors say?  What if a child came to them with transcripts showing “A’s” but from a school that gave “A’s” to everyone?  Do you think that college would take the transcript seriously?

The fact is our compulsory school paradigm is based on the idea that students fall into groups from the brilliant to the doorknobs.  From a very early age, we begin to sort kids into groups.  We test.  We grade based on a bell curve.  We even give percentages on our test results “This student is in the top 87% of the class.”  Well, for every student that is in the top 50% there must also be a student in the bottom 50%.  Our educational system is so deeply entrenched in the competitive win-lose system, that it does not even recognize that there is such a thing as win-win.

If we truly want to leave no child behind – then we must abolish grades, tests, and the need to set up the educational situation as a competitive atmosphere.  We must pay attention to how children ACTUALLY LEARN – and provide the atmosphere to support that value.  Until this happens, some children will ALWAYS be left behind.

Technorati Tags: Education

Feel like a trip down memory lane?

Head on over and check it out!  When I first started thinking about writing of a memory, my mind first wandered to memories of my children.  I could write of a birth, a first step, a first word or first swim.  I could write about the first time my babies ate lemons and puckered up or all that sand they shoveled into their mouths at the beach.  I could write about the amazing way my capacity to love expanded with each child that came into my life.  I could write of the funny, crazy, wacky things that have come out of their mouths.  But how could I possibly choose just one memory of all that swims in my head?  Then I thought of Christmas memories…  but there were too many to choose from.  No.  I better go with something else.

With no clear answer, I put this writing project onto the back burner of my mind and left it to simmer.  I went about my day – when it hit me.  A memory from nearly 15 years ago.

This memory appeals to me because it was a day that ignited a passion that deeply rooted itself in my soul.  Sometimes with the business of life I become disconnected with and even (shudder) forget the passions I feel.  This is a timely memory for me.  It is nice to reconnect with how I felt on that day.

It was January 13, 1994.   I was a freshman in college and had heard of someone coming to the school to speak about “unschooling.”  At the time, I was considering a career in education, so I decided to attend the Saturday afternoon talk.

I walked into the lecture hall and found a seat – amongst the 50 other students.  I spent the next 2 hours listening to a young woman talk about the experience of life without school.  She pointed out some of the un-intended effects of a school day that can have lasting negative implications on children.  As she spoke, my heart began to beat faster…  she was speaking to a “truth” in me that I had not yet been able to put into words.  She opened a door of possibilities for life that I had never seen before.

When the lecture finished, I was so excited about what I heard I rushed back to the dorm and sat down at my computer to write to my parents.  Several hours and 7 pages later I emerged from my room with a new passion for life, learning, and education. 

I mailed that letter to my parents – and they kept it for me.   It is long – but it was the beginning of a major part of my life – so it is an important keepsake for me.  I think I will type it up one of these days and post it here… just so that I know I have another ’safe’ record of that letter somewhere.

Technorati Tags: Education, Homeschool, Learning Styles

In response to a request from Life Without School, I decided to write about the lessons I learned as my children learned to read.

My oldest, Wanderlust and my youngest, Giggle Goose learned to read in a similar manner….  sitting on my lap with Pathways to Phonics.  At the age of 5, they were content to sit with me for 10 to 30 minutes a day and flip through the book page by page.  I was content with this as well.  It was comfortable and cozy.  It was the ‘dream’ of a homeschooling mother.  

My lessons came from my son, Jumpin’ Bean.  

When JB was 5, I had him climb onto my lap.  It was time to open up Pathways to Phonics and “teach” him to read.  I flipped to page 1.  The vowels.  The letter “A”.  ”Ah”  I said, pointing – just as I had done before.

He looked at me, squirmed and flipped to page 35.  He tried to read it, but then said it was too hard.  I ‘oh, so patiently’ flipped back to page 1.  Then, he wiggled.  squirmed.  and got down to play.

Okay, I think.  I can wait… because I am oh, so patient.

One week later.  Same scene.  One month later.  Same scene.  One year later.  Same scene. 

“I am a failure as a homeschooler and I need to forget the whole thing and put them into school where a real teacher can teach him to read – because I obviously don’t know what I am doing” I screamed at myself.

But, I had read things about the benefits of delayed reading and I comforted myself with stories from other homeschool mom’s that didn’t worry about reading at a young age.   I revisited journals I had written in years past that reminded me about why I homeschool.  The feelings of self-doubt faded.  Then my father would call and say, “Is JB reading yet?  Isn’t it about time he start?”  The anxiousness crept back into my fragile homeschool mom psyche.  I redoubled my efforts.

“Come, JB.”  I said.  “We are going to read.  We are going to start at page 1.”

He still squirmed.  He wriggled.  He whined.  He cried.  He flipped to page 72 and said things like, “I can’t do it”. 

So, I tuned out the nagging voice of my father and the nagging voice in my own head and put my faith in my belief that kids know how to learn – and they don’t need my help.  I backed off my son and I worked on myself.  What is this nagging need I feel as a  mother to have my child reading by a certain age?  What have I learned in all this?

• I can’t “force” kids to learn
• I need to trust my instincts – and not give in to society’s idea about how it should be done
• I need to trust my kid’s instinct – they know how they learn best
• I am not as patient as I think I am – and need to work on it

So I waited.  Another year went by.  And another.  My own feelings of anxiety came in waves, but I did my best to remember that these were MY issues I was dealing with – not his. 

Meanwhile I was reading aloud book after book; A Story of the World, Little House on the Prarie books, Harry Potter books, Eragon, and on and on.  He loved to hear these stories.  He begged for more.

Then, one day JB picked up a book -  Harry Potter – a big fat chapter book with long sentences – and he read it…. cover to cover.  It was the first book he had ever read. 

“Horray” I said to myself.  “He is finally reading!!!”  We went to the library to find him more books.  He didn’t want any other books, only Harry Potter would do. 

I forgot all the lessons I thought I had learned before.  I talked to the librarian about stories that might interest him.  I piled up books in front of him and asked him to pick one.  I promised to read with him – alternating every other sentence or paragraph.  None of it worked.  All he would do is read Harry Potter, again and again.  Here I was, mettling again.  Here I was getting in his way – again. 

“Back off” I told myself.  “Give him the space you know he needs.”

Some time went by.  I continued to work on my own fragile psyche.  And one day – he picked up a new book.  He has been devouring books ever since.   His latest project is writing a story, The Hammer

My lesson was learned – again.  I hope it sticks this time… (what can I say?  I’m a slow learner)

Technorati Tags: Education, Homeschool

This morning, my oldest two kids came up with a plan.  By the time I had the coffee in the cup, they were getting settled into the living room for an hour of knitting and reading.  This was the plan…. Beth reads a chapter aloud as Jake works on knitting a Christmas gift he is making.  When the chapter ends, they switch – Beth knits and Jake reads aloud.  They were so content that they went on like this for over an hour before they realized they had not yet had breakfast. It was so fun to see them inspired by an idea and self-initiate the plan.  I think, in part, the inspiration for this morning’s plan had something to do with the “learning style quizzes” we did yesterday.   Some of the kids are having a hard time with memorization – and I felt I needed to re-tune in with the learning styles of each of the kids.  We found a few different quizzes online – and the kids had fun figuring out the results.  Of course, they also quizzed mom and dad!   Beth returned a result very heavily favoring Auditory learning.  I think she was then inspired to do some read alouds…. which may have lead to the activities they busied themselves with this morning. 

I’ve always known about the different learning styles – and the different types of intelligence – but sometimes we get so busy with life that we forget.  It is nice to get back to the basics occasionally.  

Three Learning Styles: 

• Visual
• Auditory
• Kinesthetic

And the types of intelligence are:

• Visual/Spatial Intelligence
• Verbal/Linguistic Intelligence
• Logical/Mathematical Intelligence
• Bodily/Kinesthetic Intelligence
• Musical/Rhythmic Intelligence
• Interpersonal Intelligence
• Intrapersonal Intelligence
• Emotional Intelligence

The ability to remember – and teach to the special characteristics in our kids is one of the many perks of homeschooling!! 

Technorati Tags: Education, Learning Styles

I was at a meeting today in which someone from the local stood up to promote an after school program for middle school kids.  She stated that a recent study indicated that middle school children are most likely to get into trouble between the hours of 3:30 and 6:00.   These hours, of course are the hours between when the government is “in charge” of the kids and when the parents are able to get off work, make it to the grocery store, and get home.  I applaud this woman for recognizing a need and working to fill that need.  However, I couldn’t get past the fact that our society has set it up this way to begin with….  

While I applaud this woman for caring enough about our youth to do something about it, I couldn’t help but feel that the end result is actually worse.  It is one more step in the direction of completely turning our kids over to the machine, to overscheduling their time, and to keeping each member of the family scattered to the wind.  After school problems are only a bandaid.  They don’t fix the problem….. latch-key kids created by a consumer-driven society. 

Technorati Tags: Education

Technorati Tags: Education

Technorati Tags: Education