Differences

Apr. 13, 2006 - Differences ...
In the smallworld blog a few days ago, Sarah talked about calling a truce with public school teachers. I am one of the many former public school teachers she talked about and unapologetically have chosen to homeschool my child. But, like Sarah, I have great respect for those of my friends and collegues who are still in the trenches. The problem is ...public school is just that "the trenches"! In 10 years I've seen a decline in parent involvement and student interest with a side order of XL teacher burnout. I can't imagine what teachers who have been in the business for 25 plus years feel! There's an absolute epidemic of teaching to the middle ... consequently, if you are on either end of the spectrum, your needs are not being met. Why would I send my son, the only child God entrusted to me, off for 8 or more hours a day ... for someone else to influence, for someone else to train. Best teaching practices encourage educators to utilize teachable moments to impact kids in meaningful ways ... how many teachable moments do you suspect occur in a public school classroom every day?? I bet not one a day. Stand outside your local elementary school, watch the teachers come out at the end of the day ... look at their faces ... you might see one teacher who looks like they had an exceptional day ... the rest ... they look battle-scarred and weary(I recognize it because I wore it and watched it walk out the door beside me for 10 years!). They battle parents and kids all ... day ... long! And I do mean battle. And so, why did I choose to homeschool?? Because I don't believe that the current system is set up so that teachers are allowed to teach. They manage a group of children's behavior. If some learning goes on inbetween great, but the focus is much of the time on behavior management. There are valid reasons why that is true, but when one child's behavior impacts the ability of another child to learn, something has to give. And thus, I took my son out of public school and brought him home. I had to help him find his love of learning again(frankly, I had to find my love of learning/teaching again) ... we had to remember what learning really is ... or rather what it is not. It isn't just drill and no retention. It isn't completing a checklist of meaningless 'stuff', it isn't a textbook or a set of state guided benchmarks. It's a boy, a magnifying glass, an investigator's notebook, a pencil, an engaged brain, eyes observing, heart beating, lungs breathing deeply ... synthesis of information. The want to continue tomorrow. And the day after that ... and the day after that. In his time. As his heart leads. As his interests grow. As opportunities open new doors. Unfortunately, public school rarely offers that environment. Do I fault public school teachers for that? No ... it's the system they find themselves in. I don't have to choose to participate in it though. I will exercise my freedom to make a choice for my family that works for us. So, did I choose homeschool over public school? Yes. Was it because of public school? Yes. Was it because of the teachers? No. It's because of a system that no longer works.

So, in May, I will travel back to my alma mater and I hope will not receive the unwelcome reception that Sarah received. But, possibly that will be the case. I did have one of my old professors ask, "So, when are you going to do something with that degree you invested so much of your time to getting?" to which I replied, "I can't think of anything better to invest in than my son's future!" I'll keep you posted!