I dare you: try to find a better homeschool article

[Alicia64]

I'm kidding, of course, but check out this article on hs. It's excellent.

 

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/freedom-learn/200909/why-don-t-students-school-well-duhhhh

 

Please send it to friends/family: the word needs to get out.

 

Alley

[justamouse]

That was an awesome article.

[MIch elle]

We took a tour of the place and it was a sad, lonely place imho!

 

Three little girls sitting on a sofa watching one girl play her hand held game in a big open room. No legos, games, cards, not much of anything - must bring your own! Teenagers sleeping all over the place. Tween boys watching 2 boys fighting each other on a video boxing game. One teenager sitting by himself listening to a stereo system. No classes to pick & choose from - you have to create everything yourself. Large piano that you must have permission to play. Adult staff all in one room doing their own thing not interacting with dc. Large dancing room with no one in it - you must organize your own dance class.

[Alicia64]

I don't know anything about that particular school or advocating for it, I just thought overall "prison" message was a good one.

 

Alley

[MIch elle]

I don't know anything about that particular school or advocating for it, I just thought overall "prison" message was a good one.

 

Alley

 

Ds homeschooled K-8 and wanted to attend high school. He enjoys his Catholic all boys school. His first day back to school (10th gr.) was today!

 

I don't think school is a prison, but it CAN be for some dc.

[Pamela H in Texas]

The article is good in that I believe school is prison (always have). However, I seriously don't think unschooling is the right answer for every person or what we should adopt as a community (and *I* am not anti-unschooling). I will stick with our partial-prison of a method.

[LizzyBee]

I don't agree with the broad strokes he paints. I loved school. It felt like freedom to me; home was my prison. My oldest dd loves school. She was withering on the vine when she was homeschooled, but she's thriving in a small public charter school. (Bonus: Her civics class started out by studying Plato, Aristotle, Lycurgas, etc.)

 

My younger kids have auditory processing disorder and dyslexia, so they need to work at their own pace. School would not be a happy place for them.

Edited September 4, 2009 by LizzyBee

[Perry]

Huh. My kids don't think school is a prison. They love it, and are having a great time. They are a little disappointed they aren't learning much, but they sure as heck don't hate school.

 

OTOH, I am a huge fan of Daniel Willingham, and can't wait to read his new book.

[CLHCO]

I don't agree with the broad strokes he paints with. I loved school. It felt like freedom to me. My oldest dd loves school. She was withering on the vine when she was homeschooled, but she's thriving in a small public charter school. (Bonus: Her civics class started out by studying Plato, Aristotle, Lycurgas, etc.)

 

My younger kids have auditory processing disorder and dyslexia, so they need to work at their own pace. School would not be a happy place for them.

 

It is absolutely a broad stroke he paints with, however, a point can still be made here. That is exactly what everyone always does. If you just adopt this method, if the teachers just teach that way, etc., kids will love learning and excel. That's why all the money spent on new curriculum, new methods, new this or that to muck with the system even more.

 

It is impossible that any one thing will do all they ask for all kids, even a majority of them. That is the problem with the overly large beasts schools have become. How can one system be everything for all kids, all communities, all families?

 

I think this charge, when taken in light of countering this thinking from the book he mentions, is more the point he was making, though his mistake was to overgeneralize the opposite direction.

[Harriet Vane]

While I could persuasively argue that schools can be quite prison-like, I actually did not find this article very well written. It seemed to rely on sheer repetition to get the point across: "schools are prison" and that children like freedom like everyone else. It would have been a much stronger article had it included specific examples or school practices.

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

While I agree that the way schools are set up these days can be very limiting, I think I'd rather go to school than to prison. I think that we wouldn't need to homeschool or afterschool if school was approached in an entirely different manner. JMHO.

[Nicole M]

Wow. We drove past a brand new school building today and one son said, "That place looks like a prison." The other boy said, "That's because it IS a prison!"

[LizzyBee]

It is impossible that any one thing will do all they ask for all kids, even a majority of them. That is the problem with the overly large beasts schools have become. How can one system be everything for all kids, all communities, all families?

 

 

 

Exactly. Classrooms are designed for a certain kind of learner. Other kids are labeled LD, lazy, slow learner, dumb, whatever. Yet in a different environment, those kids can thrive.

 

For kids who thrive in a classroom, I don't see any reason to take traditional schools away. I just wish more parents would think outside the box when it comes to kids who shouldn't be in a classroom.

[LizzyBee]

Well, some people like prison too.

 

Liking school doesn't mean I'd like prison. :lol:

[Sahamamama]

While I could persuasively argue that schools can be quite prison-like, I actually did not find this article very well written. It seemed to rely on sheer repetition to get the point across: "schools are prison" and that children like freedom like everyone else. It would have been a much stronger article had it included specific examples or school practices.

 

:iagree:

[Rosy]

Prison? No. I have issues with institutionalized schooling, but I wouldn't call it prison. Prisons exist for the purpose of punishment, schools exist for the purpose of education. I would say that neither carry out their purpose terribly well, but it does affect one's perception.

 

I understand that the point Peter Gray is making is that schools restrict freedom and exploration...but I do that at home. The unfettered, follow-every-whim approach to education Gray seems to be advocating is idealistic at best, in my opinion. I do believe that spending 8 hours a day at school and another 2 doing homework leaves precious little time for following one's passions, but no one gets to live a life of ONLY pursuing their interests either.

[ChrisB]

Prison? No. I have issues with institutionalized schooling, but I wouldn't call it prison. Prisons exist for the purpose of punishment, schools exist for the purpose of education. I would say that neither carry out their purpose terribly well, but it does affect one's perception.

 

I understand that the point Peter Gray is making is that schools restrict freedom and exploration...but I do that at home. The unfettered, follow-every-whim approach to education Gray seems to be advocating is idealistic at best, in my opinion. I do believe that spending 8 hours a day at school and another 2 doing homework leaves precious little time for following one's passions, but no one gets to live a life of ONLY pursuing their interests either.

:iagree:

 

I think Gray's conception of freedom -- while common -- is rather attenuated. I want my kids to excel at being human, to become virtuous, but in order for that to happen, they can't follow whatever whim they'd like... they need *some* direction, i.e. *some* limitations, *some* lack of freedom (in the sense Gray uses it).

 

But I do agree that the traditional approach to education is too often less than desirable because of conformity, etc.

[chiguirre]

Wow. We drove past a brand new school building today and one son said, "That place looks like a prison." The other boy said, "That's because it IS a prison!"

 

Since I'm more of a partial prison hser (great quote Pam!) I didn't really resonate with the article. However, it's true that modern schools look like prisons. In our district, they're built as hurricane shelters and have very few, very narrow windows. All of the rooms are dark and cheerless as a result. When ds was in the ps's PK for special needs, I always felt that the classrooms were very depressing because of the lack of sunlight. I fondly remember how cheery my elementary school was because of the huge windows and abundance of sunshine. It's probably a minor point but it does make a huge difference in the school's atmosphere.

[Perry]

However, it's true that modern schools look like prisons. In our district, they're built as hurricane shelters and have very few, very narrow windows. All of the rooms are dark and cheerless as a result. When ds was in the ps's PK for special needs, I always felt that the classrooms were very depressing because of the lack of sunlight. I fondly remember how cheery my elementary school was because of the huge windows and abundance of sunshine. It's probably a minor point but it does make a huge difference in the school's atmosphere.

 

Must be regional.

 

 

The junior high school that I attended was built in the early 1970s and it was built completely without windows. It was not a pleasant experience, and I remember feeling very claustrophobic. The district we now live in is growing rapidly and they have built several new schools in the last few years. The buildings and grounds are beautiful, with lots of windows and open space. I'm not so impressed with the academics.

[Macrina]

The ps when I was a teen was DESIGNED AS A PRISON. Plans changed after building and they turned it into the new hs.

[Peela]

School was prison to me. I did well but I absolutely hated the structure of it and the way we were all treated.

Ds would feel the same (this kid is so anti authority its not funny). Dd loved school.

I dont think the article was meant to be a scholarly essay and it always surprises me that people criticise that kind of article as if they are. It was just a light hearted article making a point that many of us could easily agree with, generally speaking. I like his point and I agree with it- they are always trying to improve the education system but it is fundamentally flawed in the first place and everyone ignores that. If you want to analyse the article to death, of course its not 100% accurate for all people at all times.

 

A friend had a son at Sudbury and he raves about it- he sent me the link years ago. Perhaps the person who visited there turned up on a bad day, but I sure have heard a lot of great things about the place. I asked my friend if he felt his son turned out well (he only saw his son every year or two for a few weeks as they live in different countries) and he was raving about his son, who is now an adult. He felt it gave him a great start in life.

[Scuff]

There is something to be said of structure and limits in life. Of course I value freedom, but that doesn't mean anarchy should be a way of life. Eventually children, like all people, are going to have to work within some kind of boundries. At a job, or whatever, even self employed. And some things need to be learned systematically.