Educating for?
Many K through 12 schools in the United States or at least in the part of the United States in which I am living have resumed today. Teachers have been back for a week or longer. Many of the teachers have spent their summer teaching summer classes, attending workshops, working on advanced degrees or even doing volunteering tutoring. There are an increasing number of students and teachers who did not have the summer off because they are teaching in a school system which is on a 12-month schedule. Many children will not be attending classes in the traditional classroom.
In the United States the number of children being home schooled continues to grow. The United States Department of Education reported that approximately 3.4 % of children in the United States were home schooled in 2015. The reasons given for home schooling on the web site childrensmd.org in an article by Kathleen Berchemann were:
1. We spend less time homeschooling each day than we used to spend driving.
2. We can’t afford private education.
3. Our kids are excelling academically as homeschoolers.
4. Homeschooling is not hard, and it’s fun!
5. Use whatever public school services you like.
6. I like parenting more, by far.
7. Our family spends our best hours of each day together.
8. We yell at our kids less.
9. Our kids have time for creative play and unique interests.
10.We are able to work on the kids’ behavior and work ethic throughout the day.
11.Get rid of bad habits, fast.
12.Be the master of your own schedule.
13.Younger children learn from older siblings.
14.Save money.
15.Teach your kids practical life skills.
16.Better socialization, less unhealthy peer pressure and
bullying.
17. Sleep – Kids get more sleep.
18. Teach your kids your own values.
Obviously home schooling is not an option for everyone, but it is working for an increasing number of people from various backgrounds. Some adults that I know who are home schooling have a lot of formal education and some are more self-educated. All of the ones I know would give many of the same reasons given by the author of this list. What seems apparent in this list is that the list of reasons itself validates reason number 18 which is about teaching one’s own values. I am sure that there are exceptions, but all of the families I know who home school (biased because of who I am likely to meet – clients and friends) want to raise kind, responsible, emotionally healthy, passionate, hardworking kids who identify and work toward a life which make the most of their strengths and talents. The children I have met are not socially limited but seem to relate well to other children and to adults. I must admit that I have not met or worked with any home school families where there was only a single child.
Whether one is home schooling or has children in a school setting with other children (public or private) it is incumbent on the family to articulate the core values they want all the family members to learn and practice. These are core family values. In other words, no matter what the makeup of the family (same sex, opposite sex, single parent, auntie-parent, grandparent parent) there needs to be one set of evolving values which the entire family is striving to practice. When I am working with those who are parenting I suggest that family values be posted on the refrigerator and that they reflect the actual practice of all the family members (allowing for age appropriate differences). If a parent figure is behaving in a way which conflicts with a stated family value, I advise them to cross out that value and add the value represented by the behavior. The same rule applies to a child in the family. Most adults and children are much clearer about the values they expect of others in the family than they are for themselves. Often we parental figures practice “do as I say, not as I do.”
Sadly school systems are often guilty of behaving in a way which conflicts with the stated values they are committed to teaching the children. Just this morning, for example, I was reading the local newspaper that the commitment of the school system to lower the number of days that kids are being sent home on suspension is being achieved, in part, by sending kids home and not calling or recording it as at-home suspension. The core value in this case would seem to be “If one continues a behavior, but renames it, one is not violating the core value not to engage in that behavior.” In other words, in this case, one is not lying statistically if one is renaming a behavior. C behavior is now D behavior. Thus, one can say that one did not engage in C behavior and did not lie.
If our goal is to teach and not punish, then one is interested in determining whether or not the student is learning a new skill, study habits, or other behavior. Just suspending a student does not teach and often is not seen as punishment either by the student. Lying about suspension rates also does not teach the value most of us want taught.
It is not only important that the school system behave in a way which is consistent with the core values it is committed to teaching students, the larger society must also make the same commitment. If one reads the newspaper or otherwise accesses news reports, one finds that, as a community, we fall short of living by the principles we say we want to teach and require of our school age children.
For example, former governor Rob Blagojevich was just told by a parole board he would have to serve the full 14 years for attempting to sell a congressional seat when he was governor. What is the purpose of keeping him in prison for 14 years at a total, approximate cost to the taxpayer of $428,677.9? For all reports the man has made significant behavioral changes in his thinking and behavior. Is the goal punishment or behavioral change?
There are many other examples of behavior by we adults which seems to conflict with the values we say we want our school kids to learn. Although I am delighted the option of home schooling is workable for approximately 3 to 4 percent of families, I also think if we want to teach school age children the core values which determine how the skills they are learning are applied, we need to model that behavior in our school system as well as in the larger society. This is also the standard to which we need to hold the candidates for political office.
Written August 10, 2016
Many K through 12 schools in the United States or at least in the part of the United States in which I am living have resumed today. Teachers have been back for a week or longer. Many of the teachers have spent their summer teaching summer classes, attending workshops, working on advanced degrees or even doing volunteering tutoring. There are an increasing number of students and teachers who did not have the summer off because they are teaching in a school system which is on a 12-month schedule. Many children will not be attending classes in the traditional classroom.
In the United States the number of children being home schooled continues to grow. The United States Department of Education reported that approximately 3.4 % of children in the United States were home schooled in 2015. The reasons given for home schooling on the web site childrensmd.org in an article by Kathleen Berchemann were:
1. We spend less time homeschooling each day than we used to spend driving.
2. We can’t afford private education.
3. Our kids are excelling academically as homeschoolers.
4. Homeschooling is not hard, and it’s fun!
5. Use whatever public school services you like.
6. I like parenting more, by far.
7. Our family spends our best hours of each day together.
8. We yell at our kids less.
9. Our kids have time for creative play and unique interests.
10.We are able to work on the kids’ behavior and work ethic throughout the day.
11.Get rid of bad habits, fast.
12.Be the master of your own schedule.
13.Younger children learn from older siblings.
14.Save money.
15.Teach your kids practical life skills.
16.Better socialization, less unhealthy peer pressure and
bullying.
17. Sleep – Kids get more sleep.
18. Teach your kids your own values.
Obviously home schooling is not an option for everyone, but it is working for an increasing number of people from various backgrounds. Some adults that I know who are home schooling have a lot of formal education and some are more self-educated. All of the ones I know would give many of the same reasons given by the author of this list. What seems apparent in this list is that the list of reasons itself validates reason number 18 which is about teaching one’s own values. I am sure that there are exceptions, but all of the families I know who home school (biased because of who I am likely to meet – clients and friends) want to raise kind, responsible, emotionally healthy, passionate, hardworking kids who identify and work toward a life which make the most of their strengths and talents. The children I have met are not socially limited but seem to relate well to other children and to adults. I must admit that I have not met or worked with any home school families where there was only a single child.
Whether one is home schooling or has children in a school setting with other children (public or private) it is incumbent on the family to articulate the core values they want all the family members to learn and practice. These are core family values. In other words, no matter what the makeup of the family (same sex, opposite sex, single parent, auntie-parent, grandparent parent) there needs to be one set of evolving values which the entire family is striving to practice. When I am working with those who are parenting I suggest that family values be posted on the refrigerator and that they reflect the actual practice of all the family members (allowing for age appropriate differences). If a parent figure is behaving in a way which conflicts with a stated family value, I advise them to cross out that value and add the value represented by the behavior. The same rule applies to a child in the family. Most adults and children are much clearer about the values they expect of others in the family than they are for themselves. Often we parental figures practice “do as I say, not as I do.”
Sadly school systems are often guilty of behaving in a way which conflicts with the stated values they are committed to teaching the children. Just this morning, for example, I was reading the local newspaper that the commitment of the school system to lower the number of days that kids are being sent home on suspension is being achieved, in part, by sending kids home and not calling or recording it as at-home suspension. The core value in this case would seem to be “If one continues a behavior, but renames it, one is not violating the core value not to engage in that behavior.” In other words, in this case, one is not lying statistically if one is renaming a behavior. C behavior is now D behavior. Thus, one can say that one did not engage in C behavior and did not lie.
If our goal is to teach and not punish, then one is interested in determining whether or not the student is learning a new skill, study habits, or other behavior. Just suspending a student does not teach and often is not seen as punishment either by the student. Lying about suspension rates also does not teach the value most of us want taught.
It is not only important that the school system behave in a way which is consistent with the core values it is committed to teaching students, the larger society must also make the same commitment. If one reads the newspaper or otherwise accesses news reports, one finds that, as a community, we fall short of living by the principles we say we want to teach and require of our school age children.
For example, former governor Rob Blagojevich was just told by a parole board he would have to serve the full 14 years for attempting to sell a congressional seat when he was governor. What is the purpose of keeping him in prison for 14 years at a total, approximate cost to the taxpayer of $428,677.9? For all reports the man has made significant behavioral changes in his thinking and behavior. Is the goal punishment or behavioral change?
There are many other examples of behavior by we adults which seems to conflict with the values we say we want our school kids to learn. Although I am delighted the option of home schooling is workable for approximately 3 to 4 percent of families, I also think if we want to teach school age children the core values which determine how the skills they are learning are applied, we need to model that behavior in our school system as well as in the larger society. This is also the standard to which we need to hold the candidates for political office.
Written August 10, 2016
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