Monday, August 27, 2007
plans & goals
Here is a nice thing to read on NOT back to school day!!!
At a homeschool conference Mary Hood suggested writing out your goals for where you want you children to be when they are 18. If you look at the big picture, you won't worry so much if they aren't reading until they are 8 or if other kids can add and subtract and they can't or whatever. She also suggested "unschooling" (she didn't use this term though) until the kids are about 13. You don't have to worry about what they are learning until then. By that time they are old enough to make plans for their future and decide what they want to do. Then they have 5 years to "fill in any gaps"
At a homeschool conference Mary Hood suggested writing out your goals for where you want you children to be when they are 18. If you look at the big picture, you won't worry so much if they aren't reading until they are 8 or if other kids can add and subtract and they can't or whatever. She also suggested "unschooling" (she didn't use this term though) until the kids are about 13. You don't have to worry about what they are learning until then. By that time they are old enough to make plans for their future and decide what they want to do. Then they have 5 years to "fill in any gaps"
If they are "behind" in any subject that they want to learn they have 5 years to learn it before they are an adult. Hopefully by that time they still have an appreciation for learning and continue to grow and learn.
Mary Hoods books are really good. She is not an unschooler, she is a relaxed homeschooler. So some of her thoughts may be different, but her books are wonderful.
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Saturday at the soccer game I heard some lady talking to some girl about school, the girl said her school started Monday (which is today), and the lady said, oh, you're gonna have FUN! you're gonna have FUN! My first thought was, how the hell does she know that? I didn't think school was supposed to be *fun*. I never had *fun* in elementary school, (just the opposite--I remember sneaking into the class and changing a grade in the teacher's grade book, and spending the day hiding in a storm drain because I didn't want to go to the summer school class that day), middle school was a nightmare, high school I did have fun cutting class, skipping school, or getting high at lunch. Somehow I don't think that lady had that in mind. In retrospect maybe she was trying to convince the girl, brain wash her, to believe that being incarcerated in a government institution would be fun. What, I wonder, is her definition of fun? This morning I called my school-age boys over and said, today, you are NOT going to school, and you're gonna have fun!!! They grinned.
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Saturday at the soccer game I heard some lady talking to some girl about school, the girl said her school started Monday (which is today), and the lady said, oh, you're gonna have FUN! you're gonna have FUN! My first thought was, how the hell does she know that? I didn't think school was supposed to be *fun*. I never had *fun* in elementary school, (just the opposite--I remember sneaking into the class and changing a grade in the teacher's grade book, and spending the day hiding in a storm drain because I didn't want to go to the summer school class that day), middle school was a nightmare, high school I did have fun cutting class, skipping school, or getting high at lunch. Somehow I don't think that lady had that in mind. In retrospect maybe she was trying to convince the girl, brain wash her, to believe that being incarcerated in a government institution would be fun. What, I wonder, is her definition of fun? This morning I called my school-age boys over and said, today, you are NOT going to school, and you're gonna have fun!!! They grinned.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Leaping out of the Mainstream
Even the very best and brightest most compassionate teachers out there are
still saddled with a huge amount of responsibility as teachers in this country.
How can a teacher really engage 30 children on any appropriate level?
Kids need real connections. They need validation and they need the time
to foster their creativity and imaginations.
I just can't see how a school system is going to be able to compete with
a homeschooling situation unless the household is neglectful and abusive.
Schools today are far too similar to little mini prisons. What are the benefits
other than day care and increasing personal income at the expense of
a child's life?
It just isn't worth it.
Leaping out of the mainstream is the wise way to go. Developing discretion
and recognizing the lunacy of mainstream is the safest way to go.
Most people have fears and doubts but they need not stop us from doing the right thing.
Thursday, August 09, 2007
On Reading
From Always Unschooled:
Unschoolers do not depend on reading for their kids to learn. And
unschooled kids learn just fine. The learning that unschoolers do
looks different. It looks like play. But it is not only just as
effective, it's more because kids are absorbing what fascinates them
in ways that are natural to their personalities.
When kids are allowed to read when they want to, when they find it
meaningful for them, when their brains are developmentally ready, when
they have pleasant associations with reading then kids do learn to
read. It happens usually between 6 and 8 but can be earlier and can be
later. Thirteen is not an unusual age to learn to read. (Kids who
learn at 13 are not 7 years behind in skills. They quickly are reading
at age level.)
In the mean time they are learning just fine in other ways: listening
to people, talking, watching TV, listening to music, playing games,
doing things hands on, analyzing, making connections and so on.
You might consider reading Frank Smith's books, in particular,
Reading Without Nonsense, in which he outlines the reasons that he
feels confident that reading cannot be taught to children. He feels
that they learn themselves, when surrounded by adults who will tell
them what words are, and when they live in a print-rich environment
(which most of us live in regardless of whether we try or not, these
days.) It is extremely technical, although the exercises are simple
and powerful illustrations of how the brain/eyes work. He is an
official educational "expert." I believe he also has a book out
about math, which I'm interested in reading.
We have an 8.5yo that is not yet reading even more than a few words,
and so the situations in which we find ourselves where both close
relatives and casual acquaintances are surprised by this fact occur
more and more regularly. Fortunately most of our relatives are
somewhat okay with it for now, it is just the casual acquaintances
that we need to address these days, with a brief statement (that I'm
still refining).
Thursday, August 02, 2007
the librarian
this is good, as i just got 2 of holt's books to read...
me...all I wanted to was to provide a rich environment, to facilitate their learning. that tells me i wanted to be an unschooler before i even knew the term. unfortunately i allowed myself to be influenced by teacher mom.
and now, years later, when i finally have a pretty good understanding of unschooling, dh is not onboard with it....but i am working on him :) my mom is pretty much off my back these days, though she'll be here for a few days this month, so who knows!
I think it's Holt who has a developed metaphor about libraries and
unschooling . . . the librarian (unschooling parent) doesn't tell you
what to read, what order to read in, doesn't quiz you after you've
read . . . the librarian helps you find things that are of interest to
you, helps you lay your hands on things you want, gives
recommendations of things you might want in the future. The librarian
doesn't tell you the book is too easy or too hard for you, doesn't
make you read the whole book of gardening when all you're interested
in is the chapter on composting, and doesn't ask you to read aloud to
determine your level of comprehension. The librarian helps you find
other people if you want to start a book group, other works by an
author you like, and information on where to go once you've outreached
the capabilities of the library or the librarian.
me...all I wanted to was to provide a rich environment, to facilitate their learning. that tells me i wanted to be an unschooler before i even knew the term. unfortunately i allowed myself to be influenced by teacher mom.
and now, years later, when i finally have a pretty good understanding of unschooling, dh is not onboard with it....but i am working on him :) my mom is pretty much off my back these days, though she'll be here for a few days this month, so who knows!
