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Marcie, After reading your post, I want to share that I ,too, was a teacher.
I know exactly what you are saying about being able to change. I want to be
able to trust the kids,too, but it is very difficult. It is as if we, the
ex-teachers , need the de-schooling. All the yrs as children in schools,
then college, then teaching in the schools adds up to alot to shut out of a
person's mind, no matter how much other philophies make sense. I have read
Holt, and agree with most everything I have read. He,too, was a teacher;
however, I don't think he was a parent. My point is that living with
children 24hrs a day, 7 days a week, is different than being with them for
prescribed hours each day. When I taught, I was not a parent. When I became
a parent, my ideas about educ. did change radically. I cannot fathom putting
my kids in school, and I know homeschooling is definitely the best for
children, but I, too, find what works for me- at least for now- is a blending
of sorts. I encourage and offer ideas, and at times I fight the frustration
of having ideas rejected, and the "teacher" in me wants to rear up and "take
charge". This is why I am researching other ideas like C Mason , and Samuel
Blumenfeld. I don't know how much of it I may use, but I am open to learning
as much as I can about it all. What each family ultimately feels most
comfortable with in the long run, is what will matter most, and that's what
I'm trying to keep in mind.
Karen--still learning all the time,too