Thoughts On Education

Sometimes I wonder if  I should post my thoughts here. My main purpose on my blog is more like a public scrapbook. I intend to start having the year printed in a book to keep forever. For other things,  I keep a journal on my desk and write things down as they come up in my mind throughout the day, but sometimes I wonder what others might think about it. I have thought about putting some things up on Facebook, but not all (I'd say most) of my friends are really interested in thinking about things more deeply. They are really just there to hear what other people are up to and to exchange funnies. That's fine. Besides, what I'm thinking about isn't always easy to express in a couple lines. So here I am, writing on my blog and wondering what people are thinking or if anyone is out there.

I read an article in a magazine for homeschoolers about getting services and such from the public schools. This magazine is geared specifically to un-schoolers, so I was a little surprised to see the topic at all. I read it thinking I would get more insight into the reasons why someone would want that but didn't really. I guess I have a different perspective.

From my experience, when one of my kids wants to learn something or is interested in a field of some kind, they really are not looking for a group of kids the same age with a teacher showing a simplified version of it. What they really want is an adult with that passion to show them what they do in the real world.

We've come across this specifically with computer programming for my younger son. He actually is interested in learning real programming, not how to use a program that simplifies programming for people. But the college won't let him take a class because he is twelve. I don't think he'd like that type of thing anyway. What he wants is an adult that understands programming and is willing to answer questions.

Instead of finding ways to let homeschooled kids into the public schools for specific classes, I think it would be better for the world if we got rid of some of the laws and the public perception that keeps children out of the adult world. Children (especially our teens) would learn a lot more from responsible adults in a working situation than in a classroom.

If a young person is interested in journalism, I'd have him apply to several local publishers as an apprentice, or at least find someone in the business that would let them work along side them for awhile. Just the interview process alone would be a better learning experience than taking a high school writing course at the public school. Right now, the only way to do something like that would be to have a close friend that would be willing to let that young person work for them "under the table". You may not have a friend like that and then you would be out of luck.

The bottom line, in my opinion, is that we need to end this separation of generations. Instead of keeping kids separate from the adult world and grouped together in classrooms by age, why not look at each individual person? If an eight year old comes to your machine shop with his mother, stop and ask him a few questions, show him around, and use your judgement as to whether or not he would safe and alert enough to hang out in the shop and help for an hour a week, or whatever. If a fourteen year old young lady comes into your hair salon looking for experience, why not have her work for you a couple hours a week? Treat them as you would any adult but with a little more guidance. If it's not working for one of you, explain that to them and re-evaluate the situation as need be.

This idea that all people under the age of eighteen are not capable of learning anything except in a classroom with a textbook is just ridiculous.

GREEK!

We were talking about what things we might want to learn more about this coming year and Jake said he wanted to learn Greek. Ok...I did a quick search for "greek language learn", of course Rosetta Stone comes up, but then there is a youtube video series. Cool! That was at 2:30. It's 4. He's still working on it, writing down all the letters and making sentences that are strange like "if cat step boom". I'm worried. When he was about 5 he said he wanted to learn to write. I picked up a writing workbook at Walmart the next time I was there. He sat down with it and filled out every page in a few hours, came back with a completed workbook and told us he now knew how to write. I wonder if will happen the same with Greek! Oh I hope so!

Tom is still working through his Latin lessons. He does a few pages every day no matter what and has a large vocabulary already. He likes to use the words he knows all the time and wants to learn more words, faster. I'm going to get him some story books in Latin that will help him gain vocabulary just like he did learning English.

So now what? I'm doing the Mom thing. They want to learn! Push them into more! I know it won't work. They have to want it and search it out. I should leave them be and let them drop it when they don't find it interesting and move on. That is what I will do, but I do dream of classically trained children! :)) They have inspired me though. I really want to know more about the New Testament and early Christianity and I would love to learn Hebrew or Greek as well. Maybe I'll join them in discovery!

Posing a Question

I've got this idea in my head rolling around and I'd like to expound on it. I'm writing it down here to start. More to come. But here it is.

Is public education a form of forced welfare?

Ok, here I am. I've come back to this question and I've got several ideas working. I've been reading a lot. Reminds me of Beauty and the Beast, "Lafou, I'm afraid I've been thinking. A dangerous pastime, I know." I've been reading a lot of older homeschool/education movement articles and books and I'm afraid things have changed and we haven't noticed it. Home schooling, or not sending your children to school was a rebellion against a system that was failing our children. Gosh, there's so much and I can't put it down in words.

Ok, try again. It seems to me that home schooling has been hi-jacked by the public school system through these new charter schools. It's as if the people rebelled against a government program and they couldn't prove it wrong or failing so they incorporated the idea into theirs and now have made home schooling mainstream and normal under the government umbrella of charters. I don't like it. It feels wrong. The chat groups and websites don't feel like a movement to take something back. It's just a lengthy conversation about how to use the public school framework at home.

As for forced welfare, like I mentioned before, I was talking to someone on Monday and the idea came to me because she said she is friends with so many school teachers that see her children and know their family and they still insist that homeschooling is not right for our country. It hit me that they have a different mindset, something I've heard from many many people. "Homeschooling is ok for you because you're smart and attentive to your children, but not everyone can do that." It assumes that most people are dysfunctional somehow and shouldn't be allowed to raise their own children. It bugs me.

Then I came home and opened a book called "The Homeschooling Almanac 2000-2001" that a guy gave me on Monday at the homeschool fair and there it was again. Why did home schooling start? Why did we move to this public school thing? When did it become ok to send your children off to be raised by someone else?

It's all so much to think about and I can't get it straight.

Home Education

Last Saturday I attended FATJEF and was lucky enough to get to hear Oliver DeMille speak again. I owe a lot to this man and his books, let me tell you. He's an amazing speaker and, as usual, I was impressed with his thoughts that day.

He first began to talk to us about really listening at workshops and conventions. Listening for what the speaker is actually saying, not just what you want to hear. Really hearing people is a skill many do not have. From waitresses to government workers, problem solving begins with actually hearing the words someone is saying and using that information to find solutions. He didn't mean listen to him today (and other speakers) and do all that he said to do. He meant for us to really listen, to understand the points people were trying to make, and the apply the information to our situations. You can throw away that which you cannot use, but if you were only listening to hear what you wanted to hear or already knew to be true, you can't hear what might be new and very helpful. I hope that I do that every day and I believe I did that day thanks to the reminder.

The first big "ah-ha" was the Latin word educere.

From WikiAnswers
'Education' is known to have several root words. It is popularly known to be derived from the Latin root 'educo' meaning to 'educe'- to draw out. It also has root words, 'educare' and 'educere'. "educare' means to 'rear or to bring up' and it refers to child rearing, whereas, 'educere' which is derived from two roots 'e' and 'ducere' means to 'draw out from within' or to 'lead forth'.

That's what we want to do, "draw out from within" the particular genius that is in all of us, like a sculptor that pulls the form from the stone or clay. Pretty powerful.

Dr. DeMille also talked about his mission to "liberate the captive". I LOVE that line. It's so true. We are all captive to these ideas that we have grown up with. "I can't change anything, I'm insignificant, My vote doesn't matter, I'm not smart like that guy, I couldn't homeschool, I'm not a "reader", etc." I hear people talk like this and more every day, especially through Facebook. If I could just turn around and tell them, "Don't you realize you are being held captive by your own thoughts?!" and they could understand me. But I know that being "liberated" is a long process of personal growth and revelation. Dr. DeMille started that growth in me with a speech seven years ago and I'm thrilled with where that path has lead me. I so desperately want others to find their path as well, instead of wandering aimlessly in the woods.

And the last thing (for this post anyway) that really hit home was something Shannon Brooks said. In TJEd, there are phases of learning, much like many other education philosophies. The first two are Core and Love of Learning. In the past, these phases lasted (typically but give or take 80 years) from 0-8 years and then 8-12 years. But recently, the trend in our society showed that most people go through both these phases from 0-16 years old. Many people in the room were dismayed and confused, but for some reason a light turned on for me. We, in our home, may treat our children as autonomous humans with intellect, but they get that treatment from very few outside our home. This slows down their maturing and there is nothing we can do about it. Children are not expected to do, or understand things, they were 100 years ago. They are treated as second class and inferior in every aspect. When the boys buy something at the grocery store, the cashier looks to me for the money instead of the boy in front of her with the wallet. The karate instructor or baseball coach go directly to the parent to tell them game times or schedules. So, naturally, kids pick up on that or don't get the practice of being an adult half as much as they used to in the past. It makes sense to me, but to many in the room I could sense the aura of dismay. They were trying to fit what they already knew and understood into what Dr. Brooks was saying instead of really listening and seeing if that information was usable in their situation.