Re: 2236 - Compulsory Unschool :)
Luz Shosie and Ned Vare
on 8/13/02 1:01 AM, [email protected] at
[email protected] wrote:
There's a big difference. The attitude of public schools (and their rules)
says that children of a certain age belong in certain classes, regardless of
what they know and/or can do. Thus, as we've read on this list, and often
hear from callers, children who are ahead of their age-mates are punished by
being made to sit through classes that bore them, and kids who are behind
are treated badly for that. In fact, hardly anbody fits the mould well.
Children who will be going to school at age five are guided into that
experience by NOT being allowed to learn too much OR too little, but just
the right amount so that they'll fit into the school mould. Good readers are
not wanted in kindergarten classes, or even in first or second grade. The
schools normally have no way to deal with child who is advanced beyond the
class. Who suffers? The child. If a kid wants to do something that's not on
the school menu, forget it.
And pre-school is designed to prepare kids for kindergarten, not to allow,
or even less encourage, them to investigate their real intelligence.
OTOH, Children whose parents plan to unschool grow up differently. The
parents turn the child loose to advance at his/her own pace in any area that
interests the kid. There's no reason to hold them back, and homeschoolers
know that schools do not often offer opportunities to express their true
intelligence, because the goal is not high achievement, but mediocrity -- a
large mass of middle-achievers. There are exceptions, but they're rare, and
they exist usually because a teacher is breaking the rules, and the schools
don't look kindly on such "creative" people.
Ned Vare
[email protected] wrote:
>>Ned says:
>>
>>... until a child is the
>> age of compulsory education in his state of residence, what would be the
>> difference between unschooling and just not being in school yet?
There's a big difference. The attitude of public schools (and their rules)
says that children of a certain age belong in certain classes, regardless of
what they know and/or can do. Thus, as we've read on this list, and often
hear from callers, children who are ahead of their age-mates are punished by
being made to sit through classes that bore them, and kids who are behind
are treated badly for that. In fact, hardly anbody fits the mould well.
Children who will be going to school at age five are guided into that
experience by NOT being allowed to learn too much OR too little, but just
the right amount so that they'll fit into the school mould. Good readers are
not wanted in kindergarten classes, or even in first or second grade. The
schools normally have no way to deal with child who is advanced beyond the
class. Who suffers? The child. If a kid wants to do something that's not on
the school menu, forget it.
And pre-school is designed to prepare kids for kindergarten, not to allow,
or even less encourage, them to investigate their real intelligence.
OTOH, Children whose parents plan to unschool grow up differently. The
parents turn the child loose to advance at his/her own pace in any area that
interests the kid. There's no reason to hold them back, and homeschoolers
know that schools do not often offer opportunities to express their true
intelligence, because the goal is not high achievement, but mediocrity -- a
large mass of middle-achievers. There are exceptions, but they're rare, and
they exist usually because a teacher is breaking the rules, and the schools
don't look kindly on such "creative" people.
Ned Vare