I just finished reading Instead of Education - a book by author John Holt. He is a person who many have called the "Father of the homeschool / unschool movement." Mind blown cannot even begin to describe what I am experiencing right now. You see for a while I have been toying with the idea of offering our kids a home-based education. Well actually since before we had kids I remember saying loudly once to a friend, "I think I want to homeschool when I get children." Over the years of course, life has a way of talking you out of your dreams but through the last year or so this desire begun knocking and it is now pounding down my door. I told hubby - let us give public school one year and see how things go. Our son joined first grade and our daughter kindergarten. So we said sure lets see what a year feels like and we can re-visit in a year. Well the verdict is in. Within weeks of school starting this past Fall I already begun to feel pressured every morning. On multiple occasions I remember telling my husband, "I cannot do this." The unfinished breakfast, the rush rush out the door in the dark and cold of a Canadian Winter wearing oversized snow suits that caused tears to be put on etc. More clarity came this past Christmas holiday season - the past two weeks we had with the kids at home - just taking naps, relaxing slowing things down - meeting them where they are. We have seen the spark return to their eyes again. They are excited about life, there has been less tears in the morning to wolf down breakfast, less sibling squabbles, less bed wetting, less tears at bedtime. It has just been a time when our children have returned back to us.
The model of the school system is antiquated. To say that schools are preparing our kids for a world that no longer exists is barely even scratching the surface. As parents, teachers and educators, unless we can take a long hard look in the mirror and answer the question, "What is school for?" we will continue to send our children to "learning institutions" that are producing more compliant-easy to regurgitate back information-factory workers to be employed in factories that have long since shut down. Teachers are leaving the profession in droves, school refusals are sky-rocketing; when will someone shout "Mayday May-day we hit an ice-berg a few hours ago - we are going down!" The most popular question in college I remember was, "will this be in the exam?" (in short if it is not, I am not going to waste my time looking at it.) Is this really producing a love for learning?
Enter home-based education. In his seminal work, Instead of Education, John Holt says " what most children need is an escape." He likened it to the Underground railroad that ensured the escape of slaves from their captors. The school system is not going to change in probably the next even 20 - 30 years. Where we can at least start, is a generation of parents calling out the public school school system for what it really is - The Emperor who had no clothes - Nothing to see. Offering alternatives to regular school will have to be the way forward. There are many ills that the pandemic brought but one thing it opened our eyes was parents were able to shine a light on schoolwork and really wonder - what is going on here? Is this how you learn to read? Is this how you do your math? are you even understanding this or just regurgitating information?
I can go on and on but I would urge you to pick up the book by John Holt - Instead of education. I am yet to get his previous book - How children Fail. I am still collecting my data points and I am guaranteed by the end of this "school year" I will have extrapolated something. But so far the image does not look pretty.
Until next time.
xoxox
Penny
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