下川　誉志彦

Is there anyone who DID have a positive experience in public school? My
kindergarten report card says something like, "Very intelligent and
enthusiastic. A pleasure to have in class." My first grade report card
says, "Needs to learn to deal with frustration without tears." As time
went on, it got worse. My fourth grade teacher wrote something like,
"underachiever. Needs to put in more effort." I was begging to be
homeschooled from the second I heard of it (in 6th grade), but my mother
and father both (mostly my father - he has all these degrees, and thinks
learning can only take place in front of a textbook when taught by a
"qualified" specialist, ie teacher) are more anti-homeschooling than any
other "anti" group I've ever known. That's why it completely surprised
me when my mother said she MIGHT homeschool my sisters, maybe, if the
schools in the area they're moving to are REALLY bad. And then, only IF
she can find a suitable, complete yet inexpensive curriculum, and a
large homeschool group with children my sisters' exact same ages. In
any case, when I left home for college, I was so afraid of everybody,
because I'd been bullied from first grade to twelfth. I also thought I
wasn't smart enough and that I'd get kicked out. All throughout my
school years, we would go over the wrong answers on our tests as a class
(not a single person in my classes would make it through that without
some teasing), and work through those problems in class. I would
usually get 100% on the tests (I almost flunked out of school though,
just because I wouldn't do my homework), so I'd pull out a book or
something, and every time, I got detention for not paying attention. (I
would also get detention for not doing my homework.)

DH claims he had a wonderful time in public schools (well, he grew up in
an extremely dysfunctional family, so I guess it was just nice for him
to get away), and he's REALLY smart and a hard worker - always does what
he's told, and somehow knows how to lead, too, so I guess that helped
him. But when I press him, it wasn't school he enjoyed - it was the
after-school activities. Still, he doesn't want to deprive our
children, so... But I have a couple more years to convince him. It's
happening little by little. I squeeze every bit of education out of an
activity, and translate it for him - ds has almost learned his fractions
just by helping me measure when I cook (though I never measured before I
started unschooling him), he knows that orange juice is better for you
than orange soda and why (health and nutrition), he also knows the names
of every train and bulldozer/powershovel/crane/type machine in Japan
(including major serial numbers and what they mean), and the mechanics
and electronics of how they operate. Though if I showed him a textbook
workbook with all the math he knows (yes, my two year old knows some
basic algebra), he wouldn't know what to do with it. He knows that two
fourths of a cup are the same as one half. He knows that if he has six
cookies, then Daddy gets two, he gets two, and Mama gets two - without
even having to count it out. Before I started unschooling him - before
I even thought about homeschooling (sorry to say, I grew up with my
parents attitudes about homeschooling) - I taught him all his numbers
and letters - uppercase and lowercase and what they sound like, so he
knows that. The next step was to teach him to read, but fortunately I
learned about unschooling first, so I won't "teach" him to read until
he's ready, and he's not. My mother is really impressed with him so
far. I couldn't recognise my letters or numbers until I was four, and
she really had to work with me. When I told her that he also knew his
fractions (though he can't recognise them on paper) and some basic
algebra, she told me I was pushing him too hard and he would be burnt
out before he was even old enough to go to pre-school, but I only help
him where he asks for it, and then translate what he knows into
eduspeak. DH says I shouldn't lie like that - that if he can't do it on
paper and from textbook examples, then he really can't do it at all. So
I'm working on other ways of convincing DH. Like, "Here - you want to
improve your English, right? Read this..." hehe

Love, MElanie in Japan

[email protected]

<<Is there anyone who DID have a positive experience in public school? >>

I did.
It was better than home. There were books at school, and adults who had been
places and done things. There were other kids I couldn't have met in my
neighborhood.

But in retrospect, because I was successful in school, and somewhat
competitive, I was having some of my positive experiences at the expense of
others. I did well, which caused others not to be able to be top or best.

Most of my friends could have been having better times at home. (They had
books and educated parents and art supplies and music at their houses which I
didn't have in such abundance.)

<<DH claims he had a wonderful time in public schools (well, he grew up in
an extremely dysfunctional family, so I guess it was just nice for him
to get away), and he's REALLY smart and a hard worker - always does what
he's told, and somehow knows how to lead, too, so I guess that helped
him. But when I press him, it wasn't school he enjoyed - it was the
after-school activities. >>

I'm with him. School had marching band, and clubs, and my bus came 40
minutes after school was out so I got to hang out with the kids, and the
teachers, and in the library, and the public library was only three blocks
away and I had time to go there. In school they had choirs (so did they at
church, but wimpy expectations at church), and an ART ROOM!!!


Sandra