| The Homeschooling Alternative |
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By Elizabeth Germano-Daum In 1983, when my son was eight months old, I became interested in education. I started researching different philosophies and methods of teaching. In comparing them, I found that the cutting edge involved coordinating teaching methods with child development. Today that may seem obvious to most of us. (update - It still is not.) However, throughout the eighties, the trend in primary education was to start giving typical first grade course work (i.e., reading and writing) to three and four year-olds in nursery and pre-school. (We still see "nursery acadamies".) This developed to keep American education competing with the Japanese, who "started educating their children early." How to Teach Your Child to Read in the Womb is one title from this era. Although heraldists like David Elkind, John Holt and Cornell’s Uri Broffenbrenner opposed this trend, mainstream education went with it. Money was to be made on academies for tots and no one wanted America’s corporate strength to succumb to Japan. I wonder if this trend would have evolved the same way had Japan’s unusually high teen suicide rate been publicized? Raymond and Dorothy Moore are the founders of Hewitt Research Foundation and pioneers in educational child development theory. I investigated their findings and found that other scientific studies were also bearing them out. In deciding that I wanted a whole-language learning experience for my child, I learned to create lessons based on activities and projects. I trusted studies showing that young children whose primary education consisted of various life experiences along with demonstrations of cause and effect scientific reasoning opportunities outscored children drilled in the typical reading, writing, & ‘rithmetic curriculums by the time they were through third grade. I decided that to join the PTA and try to get these methodologies implemented in public school would take all the years of my son’s education. I wanted him to have these advantages. Seeing my son at age five, an avid learner (for which he was nicknamed PAC man,) I knew what sitting at a desk for up to six hours would do to this bundle of energy. I decided to homeschool him. I gathered valuable information at a meeting of L.I.F.E. (Long Island Family Educators) for homeschooling parents. The supplies available through catalogues were so innovative! Numerous trips and activities were also available. At that time, New York State paid approximately 11,000 tax dollars for each public-school educated child. However, they did not do things like using manipulatives– physical representations which help make math concepts more tangible. I am glad to report that today things are changing. Teachers now learn to utilize creative, project-oriented approaches for learning. This brings us to the topic of learning modalities. Children orient to experiences, including learning experiences, in individualized ways. William Barbe, the editor-in-chief of "Highlights" magazine for children, authored the book, Growing Up Learning. He explains how auditory, kinesthetic and visual learners process information differently and that since most teachers are visual learners, most lessons are presented in a visual model. This creates a handicap for a kinesthetic or auditory learner. (update - Today we have eight or more recognized vehicles used in adaptations to 'learning style'.) Barbe’s book contains questionnaires which uncover an individual’s learning modality. I used these with each of my three children. When teaching the symbols of the United States, my kinesthetic learner had trouble applying himself to memorizing the pictures out of his textbook. But when I asked him to create a mobile of the symbols, I had a motivated student. My visual learner preferred to study alone, absorbing everything as she observed it. I had an auditory learner with whom I used many tapes, songs and stories with! It worked wonderfully. Creativity blossomed in both teaching and learning through understanding the best modality for each child. This brings us to one of the fundamental aspects of my philosophy of teaching: To inspire a love of learning, and to impart to each student the ability to find the answers to their questions. Children, being full of observations and questions, give us plenty of searching adventures to go on. Being able to find information is a life-long value. I tried to make learning an enjoyable adventure. Vocabulary words were coins in a treasure box, geography was an imaginary flight to a location we "landed in." By exploring a particular region’s characteristics, including a bird out of Audoban’s masterpieces, we incorporated art and science into the same session– a small example of the unit method of teaching. The most controversial topic in homeschooling was the big S (Socialization.) Would homeschooled children learn to interact with others– especially their peers? The research showing that children became more peer dependent when socialized through preschool settings made sense to me. Children who develop within the sphere of influence of parents, siblings of various ages and supervised interactions with various other adults develop more leadership skills. When school is delayed until age eight, character is stronger and teens are less likely to succumb to negative peer influences. Homeschooling families can provide social interaction for students by organizing field trips, subject fairs and workshop activities with group participation. Time alone, breaks between sessions and physical activities can also be made part of the daily schedule. Another philosophy that can be incorporated into the homeschool setting states that character and self-esteem are developed by children contributing to the tasks required to run the family household. Children can learn fractions while they help make pizza or bake cookies and geometry while they help Dad woodwork. Often, these tasks which children love are shut out of their lives by the all-consuming schedule of school and "homework." One example of how children are hurried past developmental boundaries stands out for me. In the child development section in a World Book Encyclopedia’s Childcraft volume for parents is a photograph depicting the bone development of a child. It isn’t until age 6 that their hand bones become connected at the wrists and in the fingers. From infancy through childhood the cartilage-turning bones are connecting and calcifying. To give a child hours of writing assignments before he or she has bones to hold a pencil is ludicrous. In their book Better Late Than Early, the Moores offer this analogy: To require a task before developmental appropriateness is like handing a child a pancake turner made of tin foil. Eventually, with much frustration and mess, they will accomplish the task. But wouldn’t it be better to allow time for proper development so the task is easy? Success breeds confidence, which breeds more success. This method encourages healthy self-esteem. Ruth Beechick is another educator of educators to whom I am indebted. Her books discuss how to teach, what to teach, and when. Her sequences for learning to read allow time for fluency to develop before going on to a next level. Without this time to gain mastery, children can get 'lost' and frustrated. They have trouble comprehending the "next" lesson because as soon as the light goes on for them, they are pulled away to the following task! I watch for that light of comprehension to flash in a child’s eyes. A few months can mean a world of developmental difference for a young child! I have learned it’s okay to wait. To be patient and let a child’s thought process integrate what she/he is experiencing is crucial to the type of learning applicable to real life. Jane Hoffman, author of The Backyard Scientist series, told me that across the country, homeschooled children spend time at her workshop display of experiments, while, unfortunately, the children in scool groups often zoom through the displays destructivly, not taking time to assimilate the principles demonstrated by the exhibits. Testing is another component of education homeschoolers have adamant philosophies about. Because students are taught individually according to their ability, testing is not utilized the way it is when a teacher needs to evaluate up to 30 children at once. In this setting you can make positive corrections. I was taught to grade a math page by marking all the right answers. The student may retry any incorrect problems or receive further instruction. Individual narrative evaluations were utilized when required. The Hewitt Foundation in Washougal, WA offers the PASS test, acceptable as a state-required test. I present the methods described here as options in educating our children. My hope is that every child is nurtured in her or his educational experience, and finds joy in the world. Elizabeth is the mother of four. She offers energy healing and herbology classes and consultations. She also provides services for childbirth, including preparatory education and assistance during birth. She is homeschooling Ami, her youngest. She can be reached at and 516-676-7926. |
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