Read On

If only a copy of this article could be placed in the inbox of every teacher, administrator, school board member, and person I meet who’s main concern is whether our homeschool is identical to the typical public school classroom.  Note to self and others: we’re not trying mirror the schools, if we were, we wouldn’t be homeschooling.  But if educators could see through the lenses of this article maybe we would be trying to emulate the school system.

A few favorite quotes:

“Imagine, for instance, a third-grade classroom that was free of the laundry list of goals currently harnessing our teachers and students, and that was devoted instead to just a few narrowly defined and deeply focused goals.”

“In this classroom, children would spend two hours each day hearing stories read aloud, reading aloud themselves, telling stories to one another and reading on their own. After all, the first step to literacy is simply being immersed, through conversation and storytelling, in a reading environment; the second is to read a lot and often.”

“What they shouldn’t do is spend tedious hours learning isolated mathematical formulas or memorizing sheets of science facts that are unlikely to matter much in the long run. Scientists know that children learn best by putting experiences together in new ways. They construct knowledge; they don’t swallow it.”

“During the school day, there should be extended time for play. Research has shown unequivocally that children learn best when they are interested in the material or activity they are learning.”

Read the article in it’s entirety here.