We want our children to grow up to be adults that have a sound understanding of the world. They must learn how to sift information. As a whole, public education is not decided to teach children how to reason. It is designed to teach children what to think. Information is manipulated. Historical facts are distorted or left out altogether. Certain agendas are promoted while others are discouraged. In that type of environment, learning is passive. Teachers present information (whether true or untrue) and the students regurgitate it back.
In our home, we spend time talking about things. We talk about the news. We talk about sex. We talk about politics. We talk about God, the universe and our place in it. We talk about money. These conversations aren't scheduled. They happen spontaneously.
Yesterday, I and my oldest daughter talked about some of the recent tragedies which have been in the news, involving homeschoolers. We were sitting on the couch, tying the fringe of a quilt. We talked about motives and consequences. My daughter was especially interested in talking about what she thought the parents should have done differently.
It wasn’t part of a class on situational ethics. It wasn’t scheduled. It was what home education is all about.
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Selections for this weeks Carnival of Education
The Carnival of Education this week was hosted by The Science Goddess. It was presented in a delightful way, the setting was a faculty meeting with the teachers talking about various issues (links to various blogs) on their minds. The following are a couple of the links I found especially interesting:
Kim had a long discussion of the eternal Socialization question from a Christian perspective. She made several good points. I liked this: "Honestly, I wonder how many people who ask this question have ever met and interacted with an adult (or even a teen or child) who was homeschooled. They are rarely accused of being backward or socially dysfunctional. In fact, they generally interact well with a much wider variety of people than those who went to an age-segregated school."
Scott Elliott has a post on the divide between teachers and parents. Scott talks about a number of situations in which it was parents v. teachers, instead of them working together. I wonder if a fundamental part of the problem is both sides think they are in charge. Parents pay taxes and expect their children to be given an education; they are fustrated with the poor education their children are getting. Teachers feel they are they experts and don't like to be challenged, or told they are doing a poor job.
Kim had a long discussion of the eternal Socialization question from a Christian perspective. She made several good points. I liked this: "Honestly, I wonder how many people who ask this question have ever met and interacted with an adult (or even a teen or child) who was homeschooled. They are rarely accused of being backward or socially dysfunctional. In fact, they generally interact well with a much wider variety of people than those who went to an age-segregated school."
Scott Elliott has a post on the divide between teachers and parents. Scott talks about a number of situations in which it was parents v. teachers, instead of them working together. I wonder if a fundamental part of the problem is both sides think they are in charge. Parents pay taxes and expect their children to be given an education; they are fustrated with the poor education their children are getting. Teachers feel they are they experts and don't like to be challenged, or told they are doing a poor job.
Links to interesting postings - 7 Dec 05
Daryl Cobranchi has a sad post about a high school student, Rahgozar, who got rough up in April. Daryl links to an article with more details. The bully was suspended for a few days and then allowed back to the high school. This time the bully brought along some help and they broke the victim's jaw. Rahgozar is suing the school for not protecting him better. In general I think our society sues way too often, but I hope Rahgozar wins. The concluding line of the article was "Rahgozar is now being home-schooled, according to Berg." He should be safer at home.
As a side note, this press release the Department of Education had a press release last month saying that violent crime victims in school dropped from 48 incidents per 1000 in 1992, to about 28 per 1000. It still seems like we are playing Russian Roulette. A child has a 3% chance of being a victim of a violent crime for any given year.
Tricia Smith Vaughan has a column with a provocative title of "Not Homeschooling? What's Your Excuse?" She makes the point that so many parents believe that children have to be taught at public school because the parents were taught in public school that only public schools can correctly teach children. She challenges this assertion.
As a side note, this press release the Department of Education had a press release last month saying that violent crime victims in school dropped from 48 incidents per 1000 in 1992, to about 28 per 1000. It still seems like we are playing Russian Roulette. A child has a 3% chance of being a victim of a violent crime for any given year.
Tricia Smith Vaughan has a column with a provocative title of "Not Homeschooling? What's Your Excuse?" She makes the point that so many parents believe that children have to be taught at public school because the parents were taught in public school that only public schools can correctly teach children. She challenges this assertion.
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
In education, is bigger better? Part II
In looking through the North Carolina Education Alliance web site I came across a study by Jay P. Greene and Marcus A. Winters of the Manhattan Institute. They looked for a connection between the size of a school district and the high school graduation rates. They found a statistically significant relationship between decreasing the size of a school district and an increasing high school graduation rate.
The authors of the study believe that smaller school districts give parents more choice in selecting where to send their children. This pushes school districts to be more focused on improving the schools. In the report the authors explored some possible benefits to increasing the amount of choice parents have in general in picking a school.
There were a number of interesting points in the study. One that stood out to me was that their best estimate is "about 71% of the class of 2002 graduated high school with a regular diploma." This by itself is a pretty amazing and scary statistic. They then go on to point out this is an even bigger problem with many minorities.
Another interesting point was "Our analysis shows that simply spending more money is not an acceptable solution to the dropout problem. Our finding that spending more money per pupil has no distinguishable relationship with changes in graduation rates, which is consistent with a wide body of previous research (see Hanushek 1996), implies that getting more students into caps and gowns requires real reforms to the educational system."
The study provides support for those who want to break up the super-sized school districts. It is still a bit mind boggling to me that there are school districts with over a hundred thousand students. My city is only about a hundred thousand people.
The authors of the study believe that smaller school districts give parents more choice in selecting where to send their children. This pushes school districts to be more focused on improving the schools. In the report the authors explored some possible benefits to increasing the amount of choice parents have in general in picking a school.
There were a number of interesting points in the study. One that stood out to me was that their best estimate is "about 71% of the class of 2002 graduated high school with a regular diploma." This by itself is a pretty amazing and scary statistic. They then go on to point out this is an even bigger problem with many minorities.
Another interesting point was "Our analysis shows that simply spending more money is not an acceptable solution to the dropout problem. Our finding that spending more money per pupil has no distinguishable relationship with changes in graduation rates, which is consistent with a wide body of previous research (see Hanushek 1996), implies that getting more students into caps and gowns requires real reforms to the educational system."
The study provides support for those who want to break up the super-sized school districts. It is still a bit mind boggling to me that there are school districts with over a hundred thousand students. My city is only about a hundred thousand people.
We are on the TTLB ranking
We've have some excitment! We found out last night that our blog is number 29,880 in the ranking on The Truth Laid Bear.
Links to interesting postings - 6 Dec 05
Joanne Jacobs has a post building on an article discussing how boy's and girl's brains are different. The article says there are neurologial differences. It is a great article. One of the consequences of pushing for early instruction is that boys often are not ready to enjoy reading and thus get turned off to education. Some of the comments on Joanne's blog point out that there are broad ranges for males and females, and thus there are some overlaps. The general differences between boys and girls was brought home to me very clearly in an incident with my first child. Our daughter was barely talking. As an engineer I went to help her build houses with some legos at my parents. My daughter said something like "No, make a bed." Then she went off to get one of her dolls, brought it back and put it to bed.
HomeSchoolBuzz mentions an article about a 16 year-old home schooler who developed a new approach in math and won a science compentition. The young man, Michael Viscardi, solved a 19th century math problem known as the Dirichlet problem and won a $100,000 scholarship! Congradulations to Michael!
For us part of homeschooling is trying to nuture a love for learning for the whole family. It is important that children see their parents also continue to learn. With that in mind you might want to check out Thomas Sowell's list of book suggestions for your Christmas shopping.
My family and I were out of town for over a week doing the Thanksgiving thing with family back East. We have been slowly catching up. I dropped the ball in not mentioning earlier that Spunky is asking for submissions for Homeschooling Blogger Awards. It will be great fun to learn of other homeschooling blogs.
HomeSchoolBuzz mentions an article about a 16 year-old home schooler who developed a new approach in math and won a science compentition. The young man, Michael Viscardi, solved a 19th century math problem known as the Dirichlet problem and won a $100,000 scholarship! Congradulations to Michael!
For us part of homeschooling is trying to nuture a love for learning for the whole family. It is important that children see their parents also continue to learn. With that in mind you might want to check out Thomas Sowell's list of book suggestions for your Christmas shopping.
My family and I were out of town for over a week doing the Thanksgiving thing with family back East. We have been slowly catching up. I dropped the ball in not mentioning earlier that Spunky is asking for submissions for Homeschooling Blogger Awards. It will be great fun to learn of other homeschooling blogs.
Monday, December 05, 2005
How to leave comments
Since my wife and I started this blog we have invited several friends and family members to read the blog. Some of them are new to blogging and told us they struggled when they tried to leave a comment. This is a brief summary of comments and how to leave them.
Blogging has many forms. With one form, the blogger writes posts that can only be read. Many of the top bloggers (also can get a list here) use this approach, often to protect the blog from being overwhelmed. Another type of blog allows comments. This way the blogger can post a thought or start a discussion, and the readers can add to the post, or ask questions, or provide some kind of feedback. This second form allows more interaction.
Most blogs which allow comments have hurdles a user must jump before being allowed to post a comment. The main reason for the hurdles are to prevent spam. Most hurdles try to make it relatively easy for a user to jump, but hard for an automated program to get pass.
Our very first comment came within hours of this blog's creation. It was a pleasant comment, complimenting us on the wonderful blog, and asking if we were interested in getting a loan. We quickly deleted the comment and used Blogger to provide some protection from any other spam.
The basic hurdle we use from Blogger asks the person who wants to leave a comment to look at an image and enter the text they see. The automate software that tries to spam comments on blogs currently can't process the images.
A person trying to leave a comment can enter text in the comment box, and then do one of three things on our blog:
1) Post an anonymous posting
From "Choose an identity" the person selects "Anonymous" and enters the letters they see in the image in the "word verification" box.
2) Post with an identify from outside blogger
In the "Choose an identity" options you select "Other" and enters the letters they see in the image in the "word verification" box.
3) Post as from a Blogger account
In the "Choose an identity" select "Blogger" and again type the letters displayed in the image into the "word verification" box. If you don't have a blogger count, you'll need to create one. Click on "Sign up here." One warning, it seems like when you try to create an account Blogger often will say it had trouble creating the account, but the account seems to exist just fine.
After entering your comment, and choosing one of the options above, the final step is to then click on the blue button at the bottom of the window. The text in the window changes depending on which of the above options you have selected.
We'd love to hear from more people. Hopefully this will help.
Blogging has many forms. With one form, the blogger writes posts that can only be read. Many of the top bloggers (also can get a list here) use this approach, often to protect the blog from being overwhelmed. Another type of blog allows comments. This way the blogger can post a thought or start a discussion, and the readers can add to the post, or ask questions, or provide some kind of feedback. This second form allows more interaction.
Most blogs which allow comments have hurdles a user must jump before being allowed to post a comment. The main reason for the hurdles are to prevent spam. Most hurdles try to make it relatively easy for a user to jump, but hard for an automated program to get pass.
Our very first comment came within hours of this blog's creation. It was a pleasant comment, complimenting us on the wonderful blog, and asking if we were interested in getting a loan. We quickly deleted the comment and used Blogger to provide some protection from any other spam.
The basic hurdle we use from Blogger asks the person who wants to leave a comment to look at an image and enter the text they see. The automate software that tries to spam comments on blogs currently can't process the images.
A person trying to leave a comment can enter text in the comment box, and then do one of three things on our blog:
1) Post an anonymous posting
From "Choose an identity" the person selects "Anonymous" and enters the letters they see in the image in the "word verification" box.
2) Post with an identify from outside blogger
In the "Choose an identity" options you select "Other" and enters the letters they see in the image in the "word verification" box.
3) Post as from a Blogger account
In the "Choose an identity" select "Blogger" and again type the letters displayed in the image into the "word verification" box. If you don't have a blogger count, you'll need to create one. Click on "Sign up here." One warning, it seems like when you try to create an account Blogger often will say it had trouble creating the account, but the account seems to exist just fine.
After entering your comment, and choosing one of the options above, the final step is to then click on the blue button at the bottom of the window. The text in the window changes depending on which of the above options you have selected.
We'd love to hear from more people. Hopefully this will help.
The conflict between a "right" to education versus an acceptable level of behavior
Joanne Jacobs has a post about a 12 year-old boy who got up in the middle of a class lesson to go get a drink of water. In an article about this the boy, Charles, claimed he was suffering from acid reflux. The teacher told him to wait until after the lesson was over. (It isn't clear if this was two more minutes, or just how long.) The boy went anyway, and the teacher “tried unsuccessfully to steer him back.” At the start of the article, I wondered if the teacher was a bit out of line. The rest of the article has several instances of the boy being a jerk and disrespectful. His mother is suing the school over this. Four years ago his mother also sued a school.
At the foundation of this conflict is how society sees education as a right, not a privilege. Because education is a "right," children are not being held to some acceptable level of behavior. The children are asked to behave, they are asked to be polite, but often teachers or the school have little ability to give serious consequences. Teachers have to spend a large amount of their time handling a disruptive child. If one child consistently makes it hard for the rest of the students to learn, then the school should be able to quickly remove that child from class.
Until this problem gets resolved, it is one more reason for parents to pull their children from the public school system and teach them at home. Their children won’t have to waste time because of disruptive children. Their children won’t be taught that you can get away with bad behavior.
At the foundation of this conflict is how society sees education as a right, not a privilege. Because education is a "right," children are not being held to some acceptable level of behavior. The children are asked to behave, they are asked to be polite, but often teachers or the school have little ability to give serious consequences. Teachers have to spend a large amount of their time handling a disruptive child. If one child consistently makes it hard for the rest of the students to learn, then the school should be able to quickly remove that child from class.
Until this problem gets resolved, it is one more reason for parents to pull their children from the public school system and teach them at home. Their children won’t have to waste time because of disruptive children. Their children won’t be taught that you can get away with bad behavior.
Friday, December 02, 2005
In education, is bigger better?
Jay Mathews, a Washington Post Education Reporter, recently had an article about issues of very large high schools. These are high schools with more than four thousand students. The article covers some of the pluses and minuses of having such large groups of children.
I don't have a strong opinion about what is the ideal size for a high school. I do think when there are enough students, it should be bigger than 50, and 5,000 is too many. I went to a high school of about 2,200 students. I knew a number of students who felt overwhelmed or a bit lost. It is clearly useful to have some scale, but at some point really large groups become very hard to manage and deal with. I don't remember ever talking with the principal, and only talking with a guidance councilor once or twice.
Malcolm Gladwell in "The Tipping Point" (page 179) talks about how biologically there seems to be a nature size of people for an individual to know:
If it is important for the principal to know all the students at his school, then maybe schools should only have about 200. It seem like a high school with 4000 or more students is too big.
All of this is for setting the groundwork for an article about the size of school districts, the next level up. CampusReportOnline has a column by Lindalyn Kakadelis about the problems with mammoth school districts. A school district in Miami-Dade County has more than 360,000 students!!!
Here are some of the points made in the column:
1) "larger systems disenfranchise parents and students by weakening local control over schools"
2) "An accumulating pile of data indicates that these enormous districts actually cost more than they save, both financially and academically"
3) "Mike Antonucci, in an Alexis de Tocqueville Institution study, found that as district size increases, the percentage spent on teachers, books, and teaching materials actually goes down."
The column goes on to say that many parents are starting to push to for smaller school districts. This does seem like a very good idea. A school district with hundreds of thousands of students is way too big to manage.
Update I (5 Dec 05)
EdWonk has a post and a link to an article about some school district consolidation in Maine. Currently the average school district is 734 students versus a national average of 3,177. Interesting contrast to school districts of hundreds of thousands of students.
I don't have a strong opinion about what is the ideal size for a high school. I do think when there are enough students, it should be bigger than 50, and 5,000 is too many. I went to a high school of about 2,200 students. I knew a number of students who felt overwhelmed or a bit lost. It is clearly useful to have some scale, but at some point really large groups become very hard to manage and deal with. I don't remember ever talking with the principal, and only talking with a guidance councilor once or twice.
Malcolm Gladwell in "The Tipping Point" (page 179) talks about how biologically there seems to be a nature size of people for an individual to know:
"The figure of 150 seems to represent the maximum number of individuals with
whom we can have a genuinely social relationship, the kind of relationship that
goes with knowing who they are and how they relate to us."
If it is important for the principal to know all the students at his school, then maybe schools should only have about 200. It seem like a high school with 4000 or more students is too big.
All of this is for setting the groundwork for an article about the size of school districts, the next level up. CampusReportOnline has a column by Lindalyn Kakadelis about the problems with mammoth school districts. A school district in Miami-Dade County has more than 360,000 students!!!
Here are some of the points made in the column:
1) "larger systems disenfranchise parents and students by weakening local control over schools"
2) "An accumulating pile of data indicates that these enormous districts actually cost more than they save, both financially and academically"
3) "Mike Antonucci, in an Alexis de Tocqueville Institution study, found that as district size increases, the percentage spent on teachers, books, and teaching materials actually goes down."
The column goes on to say that many parents are starting to push to for smaller school districts. This does seem like a very good idea. A school district with hundreds of thousands of students is way too big to manage.
Update I (5 Dec 05)
EdWonk has a post and a link to an article about some school district consolidation in Maine. Currently the average school district is 734 students versus a national average of 3,177. Interesting contrast to school districts of hundreds of thousands of students.
Thursday, December 01, 2005
There is never enough money
The Heritage Foundation has a link to a column by Laurence D. Cohen, a columnist. Laurence tries to shine some light on money, politics, and education in Conecticut. I love this line:
Thomas Sowell explored this idea in great depth in "Inside American Education" (on page 8) that:
The tax payer is made to feel guilty; if he doesn't give what the school system wants, then he isn't "committed." Thomas Sowell's book was a turning point for us. The first hundred pages document and cover dozens of problems with public schools.
Laurence Cohen goes on to say that research has shown that in the past more money hasn't fixed the problems with public education, so we should ignore the school system demand for more money.
It is a good column.
"The publicity machine is working overtime, offering up the message that
the amount of money needed to provide an 'equitable' or 'equal' or sort-of-OK
share of educational funding to all the cities and towns is infinite and, of
course, does not require accountability for how the money is used."
Thomas Sowell explored this idea in great depth in "Inside American Education" (on page 8) that:
"the responses of the education establishment to the academic deficiences
of their students today include (1) secrecy, (2) camouflage, (3) denial, (4)
shifting the blame elsewhere, and (5) demanding more money."
The tax payer is made to feel guilty; if he doesn't give what the school system wants, then he isn't "committed." Thomas Sowell's book was a turning point for us. The first hundred pages document and cover dozens of problems with public schools.
Laurence Cohen goes on to say that research has shown that in the past more money hasn't fixed the problems with public education, so we should ignore the school system demand for more money.
It is a good column.
Any right to privacy in a public school?
This is pretty mind boggling:
A news station in Georgia reports that an 8th grade boy saw a camera hiding in the ceiling of a bathroom at school. He takes it down, takes it home, and tells his mother about it. This seems like a perfectly reasonable response for the boy. She contacts the school principal.
Then it starts to get weird. The school principal said he put it there to catch students vandalizing the bathroom. And then the 8th grade boy gets suspended for taking school property!
The news station talked with the county District Attorney who said that schools can legally put cameras in public schools. This is hard to believe. How do we really know that the school principal put the camera in the bathroom to catch vandals? For all we know, he might be a pedophile. Would he have been able to get away with this if he had put a camera in the girls' bathroom?
It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
The recent 9th circuit court ruling said that parents of children in public students have no "fundamental right" to control what sexual information their children are exposed to. The county DA says public school students have no fundamental right to privacy. Do children have any rights in a public school? Public schools sound more and more like prisons every day.
A news station in Georgia reports that an 8th grade boy saw a camera hiding in the ceiling of a bathroom at school. He takes it down, takes it home, and tells his mother about it. This seems like a perfectly reasonable response for the boy. She contacts the school principal.
Then it starts to get weird. The school principal said he put it there to catch students vandalizing the bathroom. And then the 8th grade boy gets suspended for taking school property!
The news station talked with the county District Attorney who said that schools can legally put cameras in public schools. This is hard to believe. How do we really know that the school principal put the camera in the bathroom to catch vandals? For all we know, he might be a pedophile. Would he have been able to get away with this if he had put a camera in the girls' bathroom?
It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
The recent 9th circuit court ruling said that parents of children in public students have no "fundamental right" to control what sexual information their children are exposed to. The county DA says public school students have no fundamental right to privacy. Do children have any rights in a public school? Public schools sound more and more like prisons every day.
Means to an end, where will it end?
It used to be that school was a means to an end. That end was the ability to read, write, do arithmetic, and then various arts and sciences. The pursuit of an education was adapted to conform to the demands of life. School attendance varied depending on finances, weather, planting season, and family situations. Many of our founding fathers were home and then self educated men with little formal schooling. An education was a personal responsibility, not a function of a government program.
Now schools have a whole boat load of "ends." The biggest reason isn't the well being of children but the employment of adults. This is followed closely by political power grabs through the indoctrination of future voters.
In some states, they have actually legislated the number of "minutes of instruction." Currently, children in the state of California must serve a sentence of 180 days of public school incarceration each calendar year. This penalty is required regardless of their level of “education” or their conduct. It doesn't matter if the child can read on a 12th grade level and do calculus equations; he still must spend 180 days incarcerated with some unknown juvenile delinquents.
In the old days, if a child was born with some defect, the parents were encouraged to institutionalize the child and go on with their life. Now we do it to "normal" and "gifted" children instead. Kindergarten used to be optional and half day. Now it is mandatory and full day. They are talking about "universal preschool" for all 3 and 4 year old. At some point, parents will just drop their kids off on their way home from the hospital and visit them when it's not too inconvenient.
Now schools have a whole boat load of "ends." The biggest reason isn't the well being of children but the employment of adults. This is followed closely by political power grabs through the indoctrination of future voters.
In some states, they have actually legislated the number of "minutes of instruction." Currently, children in the state of California must serve a sentence of 180 days of public school incarceration each calendar year. This penalty is required regardless of their level of “education” or their conduct. It doesn't matter if the child can read on a 12th grade level and do calculus equations; he still must spend 180 days incarcerated with some unknown juvenile delinquents.
In the old days, if a child was born with some defect, the parents were encouraged to institutionalize the child and go on with their life. Now we do it to "normal" and "gifted" children instead. Kindergarten used to be optional and half day. Now it is mandatory and full day. They are talking about "universal preschool" for all 3 and 4 year old. At some point, parents will just drop their kids off on their way home from the hospital and visit them when it's not too inconvenient.
Links to interesting postings - 1 Dec 05
Years ago a friend pointed me to an article about how some American lawyers were moving to Japan. He said that if enough lawyers moved to Japan it would destroy their economy. Joanne Jacobs and Chris Correa have the updated version. Chris found an article discussing how China has adopted some of our education practices and is suffering the consequences.
Daryl Cobranchi discusses and links to a post by Tenn. Tenn has a good analogy on the different between homeschooling and doing public school at home. It is the difference between having a home business and working at home for someone else.
Kimberly Swygert has a post about a principal who suspends both the bully and the victim where there is a fight. There is an interesting unintended consequence. Kimberly also links to how public school officials like standarized tests and regulations, for homeschoolers.
I always enjoy the HomeSchoolBuzz summary of homeschooling in the news. Today there is a link to an article about a nine year old girl who is making money as a comic book artist. And a link to a column by a woman who use to feel sorry for homeschoolers, until she meet some, and then realized they are often more socially mature than public schooled children.
Daryl Cobranchi discusses and links to a post by Tenn. Tenn has a good analogy on the different between homeschooling and doing public school at home. It is the difference between having a home business and working at home for someone else.
Kimberly Swygert has a post about a principal who suspends both the bully and the victim where there is a fight. There is an interesting unintended consequence. Kimberly also links to how public school officials like standarized tests and regulations, for homeschoolers.
I always enjoy the HomeSchoolBuzz summary of homeschooling in the news. Today there is a link to an article about a nine year old girl who is making money as a comic book artist. And a link to a column by a woman who use to feel sorry for homeschoolers, until she meet some, and then realized they are often more socially mature than public schooled children.
Monday, November 28, 2005
Better the devil you know than the devil you don't know?
I’m very grateful to my friends and family with children in public school for their willingness to let their struggles show. I’ve got friends who serve on the PTA and volunteer at school. They put in long hours trying to make things better. They help their children with homework late at night. Their struggles are many.
For example, my nephew must do the practice exercise for his spelling words even though he gets them all correct on the pretest. It is a waste of his time and effort. He’s not learning anything from the exercise. If he doesn’t do the homework, then he can’t go out for recess. My niece in high school tells of teachers who don’t teach. Sometimes during class time they show R rated movies. (Her teacher actually showed “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” during class time.) I’m glad my niece got up and walked out. In a local school, the principal called the police when a 3rd grade student crawled in an open classroom window to get his lunch that he forgot. They lock the classrooms at lunch time and the kid would have gotten in trouble if he went to the office to ask the teacher to unlock it.
I am perplexed at why parents don’t say “enough is enough.” In the end, I think it comes down to this: They are afraid.
I have to ask myself, "Why does homeschooling look so scary to them?" Usually, the first comment I get after telling someone that I homeschool is “That’s great, but I could never do that.”
There may be some truth to that. I’ve heard it said that about 50% of homeschoolers washout in the first year.
Again, I have to ask myself why? Better the devil you know than the devil you don't know? I think we need to do a better job of getting the message out that most parents find homeschooling pleasant. I think parents already know how bad things are at school. Pointing it out doesn't make parents less afraid of their alternatives.
Any ideas how to do that?
For example, my nephew must do the practice exercise for his spelling words even though he gets them all correct on the pretest. It is a waste of his time and effort. He’s not learning anything from the exercise. If he doesn’t do the homework, then he can’t go out for recess. My niece in high school tells of teachers who don’t teach. Sometimes during class time they show R rated movies. (Her teacher actually showed “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” during class time.) I’m glad my niece got up and walked out. In a local school, the principal called the police when a 3rd grade student crawled in an open classroom window to get his lunch that he forgot. They lock the classrooms at lunch time and the kid would have gotten in trouble if he went to the office to ask the teacher to unlock it.
I am perplexed at why parents don’t say “enough is enough.” In the end, I think it comes down to this: They are afraid.
I have to ask myself, "Why does homeschooling look so scary to them?" Usually, the first comment I get after telling someone that I homeschool is “That’s great, but I could never do that.”
There may be some truth to that. I’ve heard it said that about 50% of homeschoolers washout in the first year.
Again, I have to ask myself why? Better the devil you know than the devil you don't know? I think we need to do a better job of getting the message out that most parents find homeschooling pleasant. I think parents already know how bad things are at school. Pointing it out doesn't make parents less afraid of their alternatives.
Any ideas how to do that?
Thursday, November 24, 2005
We hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving
Our best wishes to you and your family, may you have joy with your family and friends.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Is homeschooling right for you?
Should every family homeschool? The answer is no. There are some people who shouldn’t homeschool.
So here’s my little check list:
1. Are you mentally healthy? Would the stress of homeschooling exacerbate an existing mental instability? Do you have healthy boundaries? Parents, who are living vicariously through their children, produce neurotic children. Of course, parents with kids in school can make them just as crazy, but the child at least has less exposure.
2. Do you have a stable, safe home environment? If there is abuse or addiction in the home, children may be better served some place else. Prolonged exposure to bickering parents does not increase a child’s feeling of well being.
Note: It is important to have a clear picture of how a good parent behaves. Our society has a much distorted view on parenting. Many adults don’t have the basic skills for good parenting. If you were raised in a way you would not like to repeat, have you taken the time to educate yourself on parenting? Under stress, we usually revert back to what we saw as a child. Homeschooling is a great practice ground for becoming a better parent. You can’t do that unless you have a vision of where you want to go.
3. Do you, as a parent, love to learn? Or are you willing to learn? Are you excited by documentaries and museums?
4. Are you flexible? Parents who are able to “roll with the punches” do a great job educating their children. They are able to adapt to the changing needs of there children. (Note: when trying new curriculum, buy it on ebay.com or one of those types of websites. If it doesn’t it work for your kid, sell it and move on. Or check with other homeschoolers to see if they have the curriculum and are willing to let you check it out.)
5. Are you willing to work hard? This doesn’t mean homeschooling is a joyless drudgery. It means that you must put in consistent effort. This is not for the lazy.
6. Can you color outside the lines? If you are a conformist, then homeschooling would be very stressful. Homeschooling isn’t about keeping up with the crowd or pleasing others. It’s about meeting the needs of your child and family.
7. Can you handle rejection? Homeschooling is a process of trial and error. Some times your best efforts will not be well received. Kids don’t always like what they need. It's ok if your in-laws don't like it.
8. Do you love your children?
If you answered yes to these questions, then homeschooling is right for you.
So here’s my little check list:
1. Are you mentally healthy? Would the stress of homeschooling exacerbate an existing mental instability? Do you have healthy boundaries? Parents, who are living vicariously through their children, produce neurotic children. Of course, parents with kids in school can make them just as crazy, but the child at least has less exposure.
2. Do you have a stable, safe home environment? If there is abuse or addiction in the home, children may be better served some place else. Prolonged exposure to bickering parents does not increase a child’s feeling of well being.
Note: It is important to have a clear picture of how a good parent behaves. Our society has a much distorted view on parenting. Many adults don’t have the basic skills for good parenting. If you were raised in a way you would not like to repeat, have you taken the time to educate yourself on parenting? Under stress, we usually revert back to what we saw as a child. Homeschooling is a great practice ground for becoming a better parent. You can’t do that unless you have a vision of where you want to go.
3. Do you, as a parent, love to learn? Or are you willing to learn? Are you excited by documentaries and museums?
4. Are you flexible? Parents who are able to “roll with the punches” do a great job educating their children. They are able to adapt to the changing needs of there children. (Note: when trying new curriculum, buy it on ebay.com or one of those types of websites. If it doesn’t it work for your kid, sell it and move on. Or check with other homeschoolers to see if they have the curriculum and are willing to let you check it out.)
5. Are you willing to work hard? This doesn’t mean homeschooling is a joyless drudgery. It means that you must put in consistent effort. This is not for the lazy.
6. Can you color outside the lines? If you are a conformist, then homeschooling would be very stressful. Homeschooling isn’t about keeping up with the crowd or pleasing others. It’s about meeting the needs of your child and family.
7. Can you handle rejection? Homeschooling is a process of trial and error. Some times your best efforts will not be well received. Kids don’t always like what they need. It's ok if your in-laws don't like it.
8. Do you love your children?
If you answered yes to these questions, then homeschooling is right for you.
Saturday, November 19, 2005
Discussion about ADHD and the need for fathers
Dr. Helen Smith has a review of "Destructive Trends in Mental Health: The Well-Intentioned Path to Harm" which has an interesting hypothesis: “ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) might be related to a lack of a positive father figure.” The books reports on a study that found children with ADHD seemed to respond well to good father figures. Many of the comments on her blog challenge the validity of the claim. Some who don’t believe the hypothesis point to children who grew up with great fathers and still have ADHD, and thus there can’t be any causition.
In general it seems many hard problems have more than one cause. I am not an expert on ADHD. My guess is there may be many different things that lead to a child developing ADHD, and that there are many different symthoms which people lump together as ADHD. There may be some chemical issues, certain chemicals in our environment may contribute or cause ADHD. There may be some genetic issues. There may be environmental issues. It seems reasonable that if there is more than one cause to ADHD, that helping men to be better fathers might help some children, but not all children.
In general it seems many hard problems have more than one cause. I am not an expert on ADHD. My guess is there may be many different things that lead to a child developing ADHD, and that there are many different symthoms which people lump together as ADHD. There may be some chemical issues, certain chemicals in our environment may contribute or cause ADHD. There may be some genetic issues. There may be environmental issues. It seems reasonable that if there is more than one cause to ADHD, that helping men to be better fathers might help some children, but not all children.
Thursday, November 17, 2005
unschool day
Today was one of those "unschool" days. Things just didn't go as planned. My oldest started with her piano practicing. Usually, we are pretty structured. However, my middle daughter got up complaining of a headache and a stuffy nose and spent the day as the "sick" kid. We had family scripture study and my husband went off to work.
My middle daughter wrote in her journal but said she was too sick to practice the piano. She ended up lying on the couch watching her older sister's (the "well" kid's) history and science class. (My 6th grader takes classes from a private religious school which she watches on DVD.)
My five year old kept changing clothes. First she was a princess. Then she was something else. I lost track. I need to send her into her room to clean up the mess she left.
For most of the morning, there was a throw blanket on the front room floor (on a sheet to keep it clean) that I was working on as a Christmas gift. The girls took turns helping, even the "sick kid." I had learned how to do this particular project two days ago while helping some friends make blankets and quilts for Project Linus. I don't sew or do crafty things much, so with some trepidation I took my self off to the fabric store yesterday and bought the material. It turned out quite nicely, so everyone I know is getting a new throw blanket this year. The girls are excited about making blankets for their cousins. We planned our next outing to the fabric store.
My oldest daughter has a paper due tomorrow on the archetypes and symbols in her favorite book. So, we spent most of the afternoon working on that. The neighbor boy came over to play after he got home from kindergarten. He stayed until dinner time.
Around 3 O'clock, a pump trainer showed up at my house to show me how to use my new insulin pump. I recently dropped my old one and broke it. Of course, they don't sell that model anymore, so I had to upgrade to the new model which doesn't use any of the supplies I have on hand. It also comes with a new blood tester which is different from my current blood tester. I spent some time trying to figure out how it works. I didn't really pay much attention to the kids for the next hour or so.
My youngest daughter took the white "popcorn" packing stuff from the box the pump supplies came in to use as snow on the art project she was working on. The "sick" kid wandered off to read a book. The "well" kid wandered off to read a book too, even though she should have been working on her math.
Eventually, the "well" kid unloaded the dishwasher. The now "sort of sick kid" had a tea party with her younger sister before deciding she might be sick again.
I just realized that I gave myself a blister on the side of one finger. It must have been from the scissors I used to cut out the blanket pieces. My 5 year old came in and asked if she could "play on the computer or have a piece of candy." I said no to the candy and yes to the computer. The 5 year old calls me in to the other room to help her read the words on the computer screen.
I realize that I still have not done piano with the 5 year old. I sit by the piano while she practices her “twinkle songs.” Boy, I hate this stage.
My husband is working late tonight, so I'm not making dinner. I told the big kids to fend for themselves. They finish off the rolls I made two days ago, so I make macaroni and cheese. Only the 5 year old eats it.
The big girls take themselves off to shower and get ready for bed.
All the kids end up in the back porch playing paper dolls. They draw pictures of horses and cut them out. They even set up breeding programs for their various mares and stallions. They often make charts of the breed and the names they want to use for the new colts.
I call the "sick" kid to load the dishwasher, the 5 year old to pick up the packing popcorn scattered around the house, and the oldest to tidy up the family room. At this point, they all say they are hungry and decide to eat the macaroni and cheese.
My new insulin pump beeps. It takes a few minutes to figure out what the beep means and what I'm supposed to do. I go have some mac and cheese too. The "not so sick anymore" kid is in the kitchen singing while she loads the dishwasher. My oldest daughter went off to tidy up the family room like I asked. The five year old goes to get her pajamas on.
After the kids go to bed, my husband gets home. He is disappointed to find there are no left overs.
My middle daughter wrote in her journal but said she was too sick to practice the piano. She ended up lying on the couch watching her older sister's (the "well" kid's) history and science class. (My 6th grader takes classes from a private religious school which she watches on DVD.)
My five year old kept changing clothes. First she was a princess. Then she was something else. I lost track. I need to send her into her room to clean up the mess she left.
For most of the morning, there was a throw blanket on the front room floor (on a sheet to keep it clean) that I was working on as a Christmas gift. The girls took turns helping, even the "sick kid." I had learned how to do this particular project two days ago while helping some friends make blankets and quilts for Project Linus. I don't sew or do crafty things much, so with some trepidation I took my self off to the fabric store yesterday and bought the material. It turned out quite nicely, so everyone I know is getting a new throw blanket this year. The girls are excited about making blankets for their cousins. We planned our next outing to the fabric store.
My oldest daughter has a paper due tomorrow on the archetypes and symbols in her favorite book. So, we spent most of the afternoon working on that. The neighbor boy came over to play after he got home from kindergarten. He stayed until dinner time.
Around 3 O'clock, a pump trainer showed up at my house to show me how to use my new insulin pump. I recently dropped my old one and broke it. Of course, they don't sell that model anymore, so I had to upgrade to the new model which doesn't use any of the supplies I have on hand. It also comes with a new blood tester which is different from my current blood tester. I spent some time trying to figure out how it works. I didn't really pay much attention to the kids for the next hour or so.
My youngest daughter took the white "popcorn" packing stuff from the box the pump supplies came in to use as snow on the art project she was working on. The "sick" kid wandered off to read a book. The "well" kid wandered off to read a book too, even though she should have been working on her math.
Eventually, the "well" kid unloaded the dishwasher. The now "sort of sick kid" had a tea party with her younger sister before deciding she might be sick again.
I just realized that I gave myself a blister on the side of one finger. It must have been from the scissors I used to cut out the blanket pieces. My 5 year old came in and asked if she could "play on the computer or have a piece of candy." I said no to the candy and yes to the computer. The 5 year old calls me in to the other room to help her read the words on the computer screen.
I realize that I still have not done piano with the 5 year old. I sit by the piano while she practices her “twinkle songs.” Boy, I hate this stage.
My husband is working late tonight, so I'm not making dinner. I told the big kids to fend for themselves. They finish off the rolls I made two days ago, so I make macaroni and cheese. Only the 5 year old eats it.
The big girls take themselves off to shower and get ready for bed.
All the kids end up in the back porch playing paper dolls. They draw pictures of horses and cut them out. They even set up breeding programs for their various mares and stallions. They often make charts of the breed and the names they want to use for the new colts.
I call the "sick" kid to load the dishwasher, the 5 year old to pick up the packing popcorn scattered around the house, and the oldest to tidy up the family room. At this point, they all say they are hungry and decide to eat the macaroni and cheese.
My new insulin pump beeps. It takes a few minutes to figure out what the beep means and what I'm supposed to do. I go have some mac and cheese too. The "not so sick anymore" kid is in the kitchen singing while she loads the dishwasher. My oldest daughter went off to tidy up the family room like I asked. The five year old goes to get her pajamas on.
After the kids go to bed, my husband gets home. He is disappointed to find there are no left overs.
Links to interesting postings - 17 Nov 05
Will Franklin has some good news. He has some graphs showing that violence and fear of violence at school has gone down from 1995 to 2003. The data is from a government 189 page report. I didn't see any analysis on why there has been a drop, but I only spent five minutes skimming the report.
SpunkyHomeSchooler has a link to a promise in Kalamazoo to give public school children a 100% tuition scholarship if they are accepted to state universities. She asks homeschoolers if the promise would be enough to send their children back to school. Of the 14 comments so far, no one has said yes.
Like Daryl Cobranchi, I greatly enjoy NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day. Today's picture of some young stars is pretty breath taking.
Joanne Jacobs comments on an article about how most high school graduates go off to college, but half never get a college degree. Joanne points out that at least part of the problem is many students are going off unprepared.
HomeSchoolBuzz has a link to a nice article about a family that decided to homeschool. A year ago the mother thought there was something wrong with homeschoolers. After a summer of study the parents decided to homeschool their three children, for three different reasons.
SpunkyHomeSchooler has a link to a promise in Kalamazoo to give public school children a 100% tuition scholarship if they are accepted to state universities. She asks homeschoolers if the promise would be enough to send their children back to school. Of the 14 comments so far, no one has said yes.
Like Daryl Cobranchi, I greatly enjoy NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day. Today's picture of some young stars is pretty breath taking.
Joanne Jacobs comments on an article about how most high school graduates go off to college, but half never get a college degree. Joanne points out that at least part of the problem is many students are going off unprepared.
HomeSchoolBuzz has a link to a nice article about a family that decided to homeschool. A year ago the mother thought there was something wrong with homeschoolers. After a summer of study the parents decided to homeschool their three children, for three different reasons.
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Stacking the deck
Parents have very limited time to influence the character development of their children. Studies have shown that most parents only have a few minutes a day of meaningful interaction with their children. These same children spend hours each day hearing messages contrary to the morals and standards of their families. Billboards, television, radio, advertising, internet, and other children, all compete with parents for the hearts and minds of their children. Schools more than ever distribute propaganda almost unchecked.
It has been said that prior to the age of about 8 years old, children swallow information whole. They don't sift it for accuracy. If an authority figure says the world is flat, for that child the world is flat. If a young child is taught a lie, it may take him until he is an adult to unlearn it. Even if what they learn is essentially true, but misunderstood or misrepresented, it can cause problems.
We had a funny thing happen like this. When my daughters were 4 and 6 years old, they attended a safety lesson at a friend's house. The lesson taught how to dial 911 in case of an emergency. The example used was someone choking on a chicken bone. For the next 4 years, my daughter would not eat chicken off the bone. No matter what I said, they didn't believe that eating a drumstick was safe.
So if you think about it, our window of opportunity as parents is extraordinarily small.
Homeschooling is stacking the deck in our favor.
Our children are protected when they are too young to distinguish between truth and error. When they are older, we get at least as much time as our opponents in the war of ideas.
It has been said that prior to the age of about 8 years old, children swallow information whole. They don't sift it for accuracy. If an authority figure says the world is flat, for that child the world is flat. If a young child is taught a lie, it may take him until he is an adult to unlearn it. Even if what they learn is essentially true, but misunderstood or misrepresented, it can cause problems.
We had a funny thing happen like this. When my daughters were 4 and 6 years old, they attended a safety lesson at a friend's house. The lesson taught how to dial 911 in case of an emergency. The example used was someone choking on a chicken bone. For the next 4 years, my daughter would not eat chicken off the bone. No matter what I said, they didn't believe that eating a drumstick was safe.
So if you think about it, our window of opportunity as parents is extraordinarily small.
Homeschooling is stacking the deck in our favor.
Our children are protected when they are too young to distinguish between truth and error. When they are older, we get at least as much time as our opponents in the war of ideas.
Selections from "The Education Wonks"
One of the best blogs I've found for education issues is The Education Wonks. The blog is run by a teacher in California, who goes by EdWonk. He does a great job of keeping on top of many of the latest issues and thoughts about education.
Forty weeks ago the first Carnival of Education appeared on The Education Wonks. Since then the carnival has been hosted a few times by other bloggers, but it is mainly organized by EdWonk. There have been dozens and dozens of links to interesting postings.
The following are selections from this week's Carnival of Education:
Rhymes With Right points out the double standard of pushing for special privileges for blacks and women in colleges.
Vernice Jones at Jones Blog has a powerful story about a woman who persevered.
Tim Fredrick has some interesting ideas about using Wiki to help with education.
Education Matters US has a posting about a School Superintendent who decided to go into deficit spending after the community decided three times not to raise taxes.
The Education Wonks have a lot more links to check out.
Forty weeks ago the first Carnival of Education appeared on The Education Wonks. Since then the carnival has been hosted a few times by other bloggers, but it is mainly organized by EdWonk. There have been dozens and dozens of links to interesting postings.
The following are selections from this week's Carnival of Education:
Rhymes With Right points out the double standard of pushing for special privileges for blacks and women in colleges.
Vernice Jones at Jones Blog has a powerful story about a woman who persevered.
Tim Fredrick has some interesting ideas about using Wiki to help with education.
Education Matters US has a posting about a School Superintendent who decided to go into deficit spending after the community decided three times not to raise taxes.
The Education Wonks have a lot more links to check out.
Monday, November 14, 2005
Seasonal issues for homeschoolers
One-Sixteenth has some funny and insightful thoughts about problems homeschoolers have with this time of the year.
Coming of Age at my local high school
There are so many influences out there which can harm our families. Schools now go out of their way to expose children to what a few years ago adults found distrubing. For example, my local high school's Freshmen Honors English has an interesting agenda. The theme is called "coming of age." Every book contains a plot line that includes one or more of the following: attempted child rape, child rape, rape, incest, homosexuality and prostitution. The stories are downers: life is ugly, sex is sordid, family doesn't love you, dog-eat-dog.
I want to know what ever happened to the old classics. While these themes are in some of the old classics, they are not explained in graphic detail. For example, Les Miserables deals with suffering and prostitution but with a redeeming message. [In fairness, they did have one classic on the list: Romeo and Juliet. Of all the Shakespeare out there to choose from, they had to pick the one with stupid teenagers who fall in lust and kill themselves in less than 72 hours.]
The main book used in the class is, I know Why the Caged Bird Sings, in which Maya Angelou writes in detail about an abusive childhood, being raped as a child, as well as other ugly and depressing stuff. While Maya Angelou may be a talented author and the book may have some redeeming message, this is not an age appropriate book for most students.
What's worse, children are forced to read the book, participate in class discussions and do a class project on the it. I know of one parent who complained and was given an alternative book, A Member of the Wedding. While not graphic in nature, it is still one of those downer books with an attempted rape. Because of doing the alternate book, the student is required to do the group project alone. The student still has to participate/be present for the group discussion of the objectionable book.
[Note: if you use the book links, look at the differences in the reviews. Teens saw the book differently than adults. I was struck by how differently I viewed books that I had read as a teen when I reread them as an adult. I'm not against books that deal with difficult topics. I'm against children being forced to immerse themselves in ugly or disturbing adult topics at vulnerable developmental stages. I'm against the the school playing head games with teenagers. ]
I was most upset by the "classical conditioning" ramifications. The students in the class are mostly 14 year olds. At that age and stage of development, boys and even girls can be very easily aroused by sexual descriptions. This arousal is now being associated with violence and rape. So instead of sexual arousal being elements of love and marriage, it is part of rape and incest. Yea, right. That is just what I want the boys who may someday date my daughters to learn in school.
I want to know what ever happened to the old classics. While these themes are in some of the old classics, they are not explained in graphic detail. For example, Les Miserables deals with suffering and prostitution but with a redeeming message. [In fairness, they did have one classic on the list: Romeo and Juliet. Of all the Shakespeare out there to choose from, they had to pick the one with stupid teenagers who fall in lust and kill themselves in less than 72 hours.]
The main book used in the class is, I know Why the Caged Bird Sings, in which Maya Angelou writes in detail about an abusive childhood, being raped as a child, as well as other ugly and depressing stuff. While Maya Angelou may be a talented author and the book may have some redeeming message, this is not an age appropriate book for most students.
What's worse, children are forced to read the book, participate in class discussions and do a class project on the it. I know of one parent who complained and was given an alternative book, A Member of the Wedding. While not graphic in nature, it is still one of those downer books with an attempted rape. Because of doing the alternate book, the student is required to do the group project alone. The student still has to participate/be present for the group discussion of the objectionable book.
[Note: if you use the book links, look at the differences in the reviews. Teens saw the book differently than adults. I was struck by how differently I viewed books that I had read as a teen when I reread them as an adult. I'm not against books that deal with difficult topics. I'm against children being forced to immerse themselves in ugly or disturbing adult topics at vulnerable developmental stages. I'm against the the school playing head games with teenagers. ]
I was most upset by the "classical conditioning" ramifications. The students in the class are mostly 14 year olds. At that age and stage of development, boys and even girls can be very easily aroused by sexual descriptions. This arousal is now being associated with violence and rape. So instead of sexual arousal being elements of love and marriage, it is part of rape and incest. Yea, right. That is just what I want the boys who may someday date my daughters to learn in school.
What nurtures curiosity? What destroys it?
Craig Newmark has a link to a column by J. Peder Zane about children lacking curiosity. I agree with Craig that one of the more interesting quotes is:
"It's not that they don't know, it's that they don't care about what they don't know."
Most complex problems in life have more than one cause. A good friend once claimed the hard problems could have as many as fifty causes. One of the reasons hard problems are so hard to solve is because a single solution will only affect part of the problem. Remember when trying to solve a complex problem that we may never be able to solve it completely. But if we can address some of the major causes, a big problem may become much smaller, to the point we don't have to worry about the problem nearly as much.
A lack of curiosity in this generation of children has many contributing causes. For example large amounts of time in front of a TV tends to encourage children to be less curious. They passively wait for an answer.
I believe one of the major causes of a lack of curiosity in our children today is the fundamental structure of the public school system. It is not designed to nurture children's curiosity. The public school system is designed to teach children according to a schedule, to move all of them along at the same pace, and in general turn children into passive receptacles, ready to receive the knowledge the teacher will impart to them.
What nurtures curiosity? Most little children have an endless supply of curiosity. A two year old can ask fifty to a hundred questions in a ten minute period. They want to know more about the world, they find it fascinating. When they ask a question, and it is answered, they are much more likely to ask another question. When they get a chance to explore the world, to investigate subjects they find interesting, they will continue being curious.
Fast forward to the same child ten years down the road. In a typical day at school the teacher might start teaching something interesting, like some of the causes of a war, or a new principle in math, or how to draw three dimensional figures. The child starts to get excited and wants to understand the new idea, but if he asks questions outside of what the teacher wants to focus on, the child will be told to stay on topic. If the child quietly tries to explore on his own at some point the teacher will end the class, or move the class on to another topic. This event occurs again and again in a public school. Some times their curiosity is nurtured and encouraged, but more often the public school slowly smoothers and destroys curiosity.
Getting children out of public schools and turning off the television would be some good first steps to solving this problem.
"It's not that they don't know, it's that they don't care about what they don't know."
Most complex problems in life have more than one cause. A good friend once claimed the hard problems could have as many as fifty causes. One of the reasons hard problems are so hard to solve is because a single solution will only affect part of the problem. Remember when trying to solve a complex problem that we may never be able to solve it completely. But if we can address some of the major causes, a big problem may become much smaller, to the point we don't have to worry about the problem nearly as much.
A lack of curiosity in this generation of children has many contributing causes. For example large amounts of time in front of a TV tends to encourage children to be less curious. They passively wait for an answer.
I believe one of the major causes of a lack of curiosity in our children today is the fundamental structure of the public school system. It is not designed to nurture children's curiosity. The public school system is designed to teach children according to a schedule, to move all of them along at the same pace, and in general turn children into passive receptacles, ready to receive the knowledge the teacher will impart to them.
What nurtures curiosity? Most little children have an endless supply of curiosity. A two year old can ask fifty to a hundred questions in a ten minute period. They want to know more about the world, they find it fascinating. When they ask a question, and it is answered, they are much more likely to ask another question. When they get a chance to explore the world, to investigate subjects they find interesting, they will continue being curious.
Fast forward to the same child ten years down the road. In a typical day at school the teacher might start teaching something interesting, like some of the causes of a war, or a new principle in math, or how to draw three dimensional figures. The child starts to get excited and wants to understand the new idea, but if he asks questions outside of what the teacher wants to focus on, the child will be told to stay on topic. If the child quietly tries to explore on his own at some point the teacher will end the class, or move the class on to another topic. This event occurs again and again in a public school. Some times their curiosity is nurtured and encouraged, but more often the public school slowly smoothers and destroys curiosity.
Getting children out of public schools and turning off the television would be some good first steps to solving this problem.
Links to interesting postings - 14 Nov 05
Joanne Jacobs links to an article by a father who learned that a high school in Berkeley is offering to give children 12 condoms a week if they come to the Condom Club at lunch time. Even with the recent 9th circuit court ruling that parents of children in public students have no "fundamental right" to control what sexual information their children are exposed to, this seems over the top. Schools should not be encouraging thirteen year old children to have sex.
SpunkyHomeSchool talks about teaching children manners so they are ready for polite society. One of the benefits of homeschooling is parents can focus on the areas their children need help in.
The Education Wonks has a picture and a link to a sad story in the UK about a girl who got beaten up because she was doing well is school. Be warned, the picture of the girls face is painful. I've read in a number of places that one of the biggest problems in the UK schools is bullying. Both teachers and parents agree that there is too much physical violence and other types of bullying.
HomeSchoolBuzz mentions a Vox Day column with some pretty strong arguments for homeschooling. Vox quotes Lenin who said: "Give me four years to teach the children and the seed I have sown will never be uprooted."
SpunkyHomeSchool talks about teaching children manners so they are ready for polite society. One of the benefits of homeschooling is parents can focus on the areas their children need help in.
The Education Wonks has a picture and a link to a sad story in the UK about a girl who got beaten up because she was doing well is school. Be warned, the picture of the girls face is painful. I've read in a number of places that one of the biggest problems in the UK schools is bullying. Both teachers and parents agree that there is too much physical violence and other types of bullying.
HomeSchoolBuzz mentions a Vox Day column with some pretty strong arguments for homeschooling. Vox quotes Lenin who said: "Give me four years to teach the children and the seed I have sown will never be uprooted."
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