In recent decades, homeschooling has become an increasingly popular alternative to traditional schools (or maybe it's becoming less popular. I don't know, I'm making this part up).
There are several variations of homeschooling:
-the fundamentalist Christian kind where you insulate your children from the sinful outside world (to be fair, as a graduate of the public school system I have to say that demonic involvement in its oversight would explain a lot)
- the kind where you spend two hours a day making your kid read a book, do absolutely nothing else, and laugh as they continue to score above the public school average on standardized tests
- unschooling, which is where a child learns through their natural life experiences. In other words, where you don't make them read a book for even two hours a day
- more stuff I'm probably forgetting, because I have no idea what I'm talking about.
So as you can see, there's considerable variety there already. But still, I think there's room for something new. Some brilliant new method of reaching children's hearts and sparking their love for learning.
And who better to come up with it than me, a random college drop-out whose lack of desire to homeschool her children is outdone only by their lack of desire to be homeschooled?
I present to you:
There are several variations of homeschooling:
-the fundamentalist Christian kind where you insulate your children from the sinful outside world (to be fair, as a graduate of the public school system I have to say that demonic involvement in its oversight would explain a lot)
- the kind where you spend two hours a day making your kid read a book, do absolutely nothing else, and laugh as they continue to score above the public school average on standardized tests
- unschooling, which is where a child learns through their natural life experiences. In other words, where you don't make them read a book for even two hours a day
- more stuff I'm probably forgetting, because I have no idea what I'm talking about.
So as you can see, there's considerable variety there already. But still, I think there's room for something new. Some brilliant new method of reaching children's hearts and sparking their love for learning.
And who better to come up with it than me, a random college drop-out whose lack of desire to homeschool her children is outdone only by their lack of desire to be homeschooled?
I present to you:
1. The Child-Led Path method
Both homeschooling and schooling (school-schooling?) come with benefits and challenges. The Child-Led Path allows parents and children alike to enjoy the best of both worlds.
How it works: the "path" in this case is an actual, literally path. Specifically, the one leading from your house to your child's school.
The parent brings his or her children to school - but at the child's pace. The decision to approach the school quickly or to, instead, engage in creative free play is in the child's hands.
This method is really about trust. Trust that our children know, in their hearts, what is right for them. Just as our bodies tell us what they need if we only listen*, so do our minds. All we need to do is to open ourselves to their message, to let them tell us whether it's time for formal education, or for checking out that weird-looking snail.
Today's schools so often destroy the mind-mind connection, leaving our children unable to tune in to their own intellectual needs. With the Child-Led Path, we regain that lost link. As our children tap into their mind's needs, they will lead us to the right balance of school, play, and family - naturally.
Practical tips:
-Expect the Child-Led Path to take approximately two hours for each half-kilometer between your house and the school.
-The time during your walk is valuable educational time! You, the parent, can make sure that playtime is also learning time by encouraging your children to learn more about the various things they see along the way.
* if your body is like mine, what it truly needs is coffee, pizza, and Ben and Jerry's. Which I can only assume is the ideal diet for my body type.
2. The Freedom to Wonder Method
One of the chief aims of homeschooling is to encourage children's natural curiosity. Children of all ages love learning, naturally, just like they naturally love other tasks that require effort. We can teach them so much without forcing knowledge on them, simply by listening and responding to their questions.
But do we really listen to our children's questions? For many of us, the answer, unfortunately, is "sometimes." Sure, we happily answer our 6-year-old when she asks "what is a bank?" But so often, we brush our 2-year-old aside when she asks "why is a bank?"
Parents who follow the Freedom to Wonder method believe there is no such thing as a stupid question. Or an absurd question, rhetorical question, or misworded question. If a child asks, that means they want to know the answer - and our job as parents is to help them find that answer. Not to brush them aside with phrases like, "Don't be silly," "I already answered that," or, "Are you sure you meant 'plopar' bear, and not polar bear?"
Freedom to Wonder means treating every question not as a nuisance, but as an opportunity to explore together. Parents who follow this method generally find that there is no longer a need - nor, indeed, time in the day - for formal study.
Practical tip:
-Sometimes children, especially younger children, repeat questions. Too many of us then shut down their inquiries, insisting that the answer we gave should suffice. Freedom to Wonder means encouraging questions no matter how often they are raised. When a child asks again, it means they are still curious. Perhaps our initial answer was unclear - or perhaps they simply want to delve deeper into the subject at hand.
3. The Apprenticeship Method
Both homeschoolers and school-schoolers sometimes appeal to centuries of tradition to support their preferred method of education. Which is pretty ridiculous. The argument over whether
1. kids spending most of 8 hours a day sitting in a classroom or
2. kids spending most of the day in a suburban home using K-8 software
is more like the traditional way of doing things is, frankly, an argument that neither side is going to win.
Some people might say, "OK, so let's just ignore tradition. Weren't most kids illiterate 200 years ago, anyway?" Ignore those people. For we must look to the past to lead our children to a better future.
So what were kids really doing 200 years ago? They were out there working alongside the adults, learning valuable life skills and being socialized into the adult world naturally (also, pulling their own weight).*
The Apprenticeship Method returns to the educational method our forefathers really used: throw kids into the deep end of the working world. What better way for a child to learn the skills that he or she will need in the working world than actually being part of the working world? What better motivation than knowing that hard work and know-how will be rewarded not with a meaningless letter on a piece of paper, but by cold hard cash? What better way for parents and children to bond than to share their days side-by-side, not as teacher and student, but as a team?
*(source: this book we read in school that one time about some kid who was like an apprentice or something? And he burned his hand with silver, I think. Also there was an American Revolution in there somewhere. Snan, do you know what I'm talking about?)
*****
Thus concludes my presentation of genius breakthroughs in the field of education. Please feel free to contact me with any lucrative book deals.
