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For those of you with questions/concerns about unschooling/child-led
learning, this may help.
Ginny


> Why, Dad?
> by Tammy Drennan (Tdrennan@...)
>
> Johnny has just come home from his friend Joey's house. His father is
> relaxing in the living room, reading the evening paper.
>
> Dad: Well, Johnny, did you have a good time?
> Johnny: Uh-huh. Dad, why do I have to go to school?
>
> Dad: Well, you want an education, don't you?
> Johnny: Yes. But I could learn by myself.
>
> Dad: How would you know what to study?
> Johnny: I would study everything I was interested in.
>
> Dad: Hmm. What if you forgot something important?
> Johnny: Like what?
>
> Dad: Well, like learning when World War II was.
> Johnny: Joey's grandpa fought in World War II. He knows almost
> everything about it, and he had to stop going to school in the fourth
> grade, because his parents needed him to help on the farm.
>
> Dad: World War II is something Joey's grandpa is very interested in, but
> you never fought in a war, so you might forget to learn things like that.
> Johnny: I could ask people I know what they think is really
> important, and they could tell me everything they know about it. Joey's
> grandpa
> knows more about World War II than Joey's dad. And Joey's dad went to
> college.
>
> Dad: Well, schools know what order you should learn things in. You
> might learn things at the wrong time and get mixed up.
> Johnny: You mean like learning to read in first grade and learning
> cursive in third grade?
>
> Dad: That's right.
> Johnny: But I knew how to read before I went to school, and Joey's
> grandpa still doesn't know any cursive, except how to sign his name. And
> he writes all the time.
>
> Dad: But wouldn't his life be easier if he knew cursive? And now he's so
> old, it would probably be very hard for him to learn it.
> Johnny: I guess. Would your life be easier if you knew how to fix cars?
>
> Dad: Heh, heh. Definitely.
> Johnny: What's the right age to learn that?
>
> Dad: Well, uh, there really isn't a right age, I suppose.
> Johnny: Do you think you're too old to learn?
>
> Dad: No. But I don't have the motivation to learn. Uncle Don can work on
> our car.
> Johnny: What's motivation?
>
> Dad: It's when you want to do something because you have a reason for
> it-- maybe you just love it or maybe you need to know how to do it.
> Johnny: Oh, 'cause one time Joey's grandpa said he didn't have any
> motivation to learn cursive.
>
> --- Later that night.
>
> Johnny: Dad, what does com-pul-sor-y mean?
> Dad: You did a good job on that big word. It means you have to do
> something.
>
> Johnny: My teacher says school is com-pul-sor-y.
> Dad: Yes, that's right.
>
> Johnny: Thomas Edison didn't go to school.
> Dad: Well, that was a long time ago.
>
> Johnny: Well why is school compulsory?
> Dad: Because it's important for children to get an education.
>
> Johnny: Who made it compulsory?
> Dad: Government.
>
> Johnny: But Thomas Edison didn't go to school, and he was the greatest
> inventor in the whole world. And Abraham Lincoln didn't go to school.
> They learned by themselves. Joey's grandpa said so.
> Dad: Things were different when they were growing up.
>
> Johnny: How?
> Dad: Uh, well, there wasn't as much to know then.
>
> Johnny: Do you know as much as Thomas Edison did?
> Dad: No, not nearly as much, I must admit.
>
> Johnny: But you went to college. And I heard on the news that a lot of
> people can't even read when they're finished with school. Four kids in my
> class can't read.
> Dad: Well, they're only in the fourth grade. They still have time
> --they're young.
>
> Johnny: But I thought you said it was important to learn things at the
> right time.
> Dad: Well, things don't always work out perfectly. Maybe those kids have
> learning problems.
>
> Johnny: I think they don't have motivation. When did you learn about
> World War II?
> Dad: Let's see... I think that was in high school -- tenth grade.
>
> Johnny: Why did people just follow Hitler when they knew all the bad
> things he was doing?
> Dad: I'm not sure I could say.
>
> Johnny: Joey's grandpa says there were lots of reasons for it. He says
> some people were just too scared to do anything. And he said some people
> were evil, like Hitler. And he said lots of people just didn't use their
> brains. He says they got all caught up in Hitler's speeches and they
> thought he was great. And he said there really were a lot of people who
> were fighting Hitler the whole time. Some of them hid people and
> helped them escape from Hitler. Did they teach you that in tenth grade?
> Dad: Well, some of it. There wasn't time to get into reasons for things.
> We mostly learned facts.
>
> Johnny: Joey's grandpa says that if you don't think about the reasons for
> things, there's no use knowing the facts.
> Dad: Well, he has a good point.
>
> Johnny: I'm really interested in airplanes. When do we get to that in
> school?
> Dad: Well, you'll probably cover a few principles of flight in science
> one year.
>
> Johnny: But I want to know everything about them.
> Dad: I think you'll have to do that on your own.
>
> Johnny: What do you think is the right age to do it at?
> Dad: (sigh) I suppose any age will do.
>
> Johnny: Good! I'm going to start right now! Joey's grandpa gave me a neat
> book about World War II airplanes. He knows all about airplanes. He can
> even fix them.
>
> ---Johnny starts to leave the room, then stops.
>
> Johnny: I forget, Dad -- why is school compulsory?
> Dad: I'll have to think on that, Johnny. How about sharing that airplane
> book with me?
>
> The End
>
> Please feel free to share this story in its entirety, with the author's
> name and e-mail address. Permission to reprint in newsletters granted.
>
> Tammy Drennan
> PO Box 523
> Rossville, GA 30741 U.S.A.



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