Think

Howard Zinn 1922-2010:

“I'm worried that students will take their obedient place in society and look to become successful cogs in the wheel - let the wheel spin them around as it wants without taking a look at what they're doing. I'm concerned that students not become passive acceptors of the official doctrine that's handed down to them from the White House, the media, textbooks, teachers and preachers.”

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/01/29/2010-01-29_howard_zinn_influential_20th_century_historian_and_activist_dies_at_87.html

I'll take the little things...

Parker is loving his days at the blended program. Since returning from Christmas vacation he seems to have settled into a comfortable rhythm and his teachers say he is a joy to have in the classroom.

Yesterday when I picked him up after school the teacher took me aside to tell me a story.

Just before Christmas, Miss Mary was showing the children a Pysanka and left it on her desk when they moved on to their next class. The pysanka was broken and Miss Mary asked whoever was responsible to come forward. Nobody did.

Yesterday she found a small ceramic bird broken and told the class how dissappointed she was (she knew who'd broken it) and would appreciate if someone let her know. Nobody owned up to the bird, but she said on the way to gym class, Parker took her aside and told her that he was looking at her "amazing" pysanka before Christmas and he accidently dropped it. He told her how bad he felt and said he was so sorry.

She told me that it meant so much to her that Parker felt comfortable enough to come forward and tell her the truth.

We are looking online to find a new pysanka to replace her broken one. Parker told me that he would like to earn some extra money to buy it for her.

I am just so pleased that P came forward and fessed up. I had no idea about the egg and knowing that he made this decision on his own and followed through in an appropriate way tells me that he is growing up, that he feels comfortable and happy at his school and reminds me how much I like the person Parker is becoming!

Homeschooling ramblings...

So, I have had quite a few people ask me how homeschooling is going.

Parker opted for the local homeschooling "Blended Program". This means that every Thursday and every second Tuesday and half Friday he attends a school with other homeschoolers. The days are shorter - 10 amd-3pm and it is based on Thematic teaching, but it is fun for him and he likes it so far... his favourite subject is "Recess" or "Dodgeball", but what first-grader's isn't?

At home we do some reading and some basic math, use the abacus, watch an educational video or two, model with clay, paint, bake, dance and play. We meet up with other homeschooling friends, go to the zoo, science center, pool.

One thing about homeschooling that I love is that we get up about 8am. There is no hurrying. There is no rushing through breakfast. There is very little stress. If we need a nap in the afternoon, we put on a quiet video and cuddle on my bed.

Liam is as happy as a clam having time alone with Mama. We have been swimming, shopping, lunching and playing... it is good times and he seems to be out-growing the "f'ing fours"... thank goodness.

So, so far, homeschooling is good... very good!

Unschooling, schedules...rAmBlinGs.

So, if you think homeschooling/unschooling is stupid, prepare yourself.

This post isn't up for criticisim. It is here because we have gone through some changes over the past few months and I want to blog about it....

In May we made the big decision to homeschool. This idea has been in my heart for a long time. I knew it was right for Parker, but I had no idea how to go about it.

My logical self went out and bought curriculum and workbooks, schedulling 15-20 minutes of "school" time after meals each day. Parker balked.

After a month of misery and me seriously questioning my homeschooling chops I posted on a homeschooling group I belong to, for ideas and inspiration.

The replies I got were frank; WHY was I forcing him to learn these things? Was I really so worried about him learning to write at 6? Who cares about counting by twos and fives?

I decided that a period of "de-schooling" was in order... honestly, more for me than for Parker. It was me that needed to let go of my conventional ideas about schooling.

So I stopped. We played, slept in, played some more.

One day P came into the diningroom and asked for a paper and pencil. He sat down and wrote a story about a little girl with sausages for fingers. Some of the words were spelled phonetically, but I understood every word and it was the loveliest of stories... brought tears to my eyes.

I had been pushing something so mundane on him. He was bored.

The more I thought about the schedule of school and the conventionality of it, the more I realised that it is just another way to train a child to conform to a traditional 9-5 work week, often in a job that isn't interesting, or challenging.

While I feel that there is nothing wrong with a 9-5 work week, the boy's Dad works in a conventional (albeit family-friendly) job, I don't want the boys pre-conditioned to that life.

I want them to choose what they want to do, be, the hours they want to work. I know people who are so ingrained with the idea that they have to work long hours to be respected that they cannot take time off at Christmas to spend time with their family.

While it is important for kids to understand convention and conformity, I rather think that 6 is far too young to live these things. How can he become who he IS when there are so many things he wants to understand and I am teaching him that counting by twos is more important?

Since then we've dropped the homeschooling idea. We are unschoolers. It works for us.

We sleep us much as we want, not feeling the need to get up early and rushing around to conform to someone's school schedule.

We eat popcorn and a tiny bit of chocolate in the mornings.

We swing in the hammock and read a book.

We fill our pockets with rocks and feathers.

We squish coins on train tracks and guess which will be flattest.

We water plants and pull weeds.

We wash the floor, pick up toys, bake bread and tidy the livingroom together.

We count all the money in our piggybanks.

We visit the Science Center, Zoo, Museum, grocery store, world - together.

We are happy.


Here is my promise as the loving Mama of my two little people...I will let them BE.

So, this morning, like many days in the past 6 months, Parker decided he wanted to stay home.

In the past I have fought him on this...after all, he is only 6.

This week I decided to start to seriously consider homeschooling...seriously.

We picked the best, most holistic, laid back school we could find (the kindergarteners drink herbal tea and have hand and foot rubs before naptime everyday...Seriously!)...we were looking for the next best thing to homeschooling and we actually found it in the Calgary Waldorf School...but it just isn't right for Parker.

I know. Everyone keeps telling me that it is a rite of passge, school, and that he needs to go so he can learn social skills and how to function in the world. But...The thing is, he functions great in the world. He makes friends really easily - just not at school.

What takes him forever to do at school (and becomes a long drawn out, negative process) takes 15 minutes at home...no fuss, no muss. When we play with friends he is calm, happy, well-behaved...from what one of his teachers was saying, he is socially "awkward" and doesn't understand social cues.

How can a kid be happy, funtional and well-liked at home and in his own social circle, but struggle so much in Kindergarten?

It all seems seriously strange to me...and SO not worth what we have been paying to send him there.

We applied to a local Charter school and will hear next week if he has been accepted...but, to be honest, I think we have made up our minds.

I think we're homeschooling...seriously.

Heaven help me.