Family of 6 in PA

Is the classroom artificial? Let's see -

you get to color, circle, count pictures of coins instead of using real currency to purchase real items of value. you get to count pictures of apples or maybe small plastic apple "manipulatives" instead of going to the grocery store or orchard and getting real apples. you have someone else decide when you can and cannot eat or use the restroom. you have someone else determine who you can and cannot associate with (older kids are segregated from younger kids, "talking corners" are separated, etc). someone else determines what is important and necessary to your life,

lifestyle, life choices

A good test of whether it is artificial or real life is to put yourself

as an adult (or picture any other adult you know) in that situation -

would you tolerate the same types of controls in a family or job

situation that children are forced into in schools? Would you tolerate

your partner saying "well, you're x yrs old now so you should be able to

cook a pork roast. After all, Mrs. M and Mrs. W are your age and they

can cook a pork roast. So, first we'll spend a week studying pigs and

the various parts of pigs. Then we'll spend a week on how to properly

use the oven - but you won't get to actually USE the oven until you pass

the Oven Use Test. After that, you'll spend a week washing dishes and

putting them away since pots and pans and utensils are related to

cooking. Then we'll go to the market and purchase a pork roast - after

you are carefully quizzed on weights, measurements, currency and other

related 'subjects'. We'll bring it home and you'll have another quiz

that covers all we've discussed to this point. We'll spend a week on

vegetables to make sure you know which ones are good with pork roast and

how to prepare them. Finally, you can watch while I prepare the pork

roast, quizzing you on it the whole time to make sure you are

understanding what I'm doing and following the steps in the cookbook

(following directions is SO important). In about a month or so, if you

do well, you can cook a pork roast on your own. Isn't that wonderful?"

Of course, this doesn't take into account (a) you don't LIKE pork roast

and actually prefer eating vegetarian meals most of the time (b) even if

you did like pork roast, you really wanted to serve it for guests

tomorrow, not a month from now. Very likely you'd tell this person (in

polite or not so polite terms) Get Lost and let me cook what I want when I want how I want.

How do you, as an adult, learn something new? Do you learn it because

"all the x yr olds know this" or is it because you are interested in it

or need it to accomplish a goal you have set? Do you *always* spend 3

months with a teacher explaining it? Sometimes yes, sure, having someone

else to guide us is great for learning some things, particularly if we

learn best that way. Other times, we just 'wing it' and learn as we go.

Other times, we get a video or buy a book and get some supplies or

materials and off we go. We may get to the end of chapter 1 and think

"wow this is great, I want to keep going!" or we may think "gee this

isn't what I thought it would be. think I'll put this aside." Kids *in

school* cannot make those choices - they have to stop when the rest of

the class stops and continue when the rest of the class continues,

regardless of their own inclinations, abilities, interests.

School is a construct designed to make it look like we're being

'productive' while keeping us out of engagement in real life until we

are "adults". At that point, we are turned loose to "get a life" when

we've never had a chance to decide what that is for ourselves.

Amazing....the kind of thing I'd love to share with my mother, but I don't think she'd see how it applies to my kids' lives.