President Obama has a difficult task ahead of him, at best. Though, I do question anyone who runs for office for that very reason, but then they may question why anyone would want to be a teacher, a parent, or a proctologist. Each of these "jobs" come with their challenges but I do know first hand that for two out of the three jobs listed above, that despite their difficulties, they can be extremely rewarding. So, for President Obama, I want to say that I appreciate his willingness to serve as our president. Not having voted for President Obama, I have agreed with him on very few issues, but find myself fully on his side in this instance. He was recently quoted as saying, "In the end, no program can substitute for a parent." In the following link you will find 10 tips for parents, suggesting ways in which they can be more involved with their child's education and well-being. I would venture to guess that most of you are one of those super duper parents, with the tights and capes to boot, but just in case you need a refresher, check it out, it's good to know that you are doing a great job!
Recently, at a public library where I work, we had an author visit us. Her name is Liz Scott and she wrote a book called, Alex and the Amazing Lemonade Stand. It’s the story of her daughter’s brave fight with cancer from the age of one and how Alex decided at the age of four to help raise money for her doctors. She decided she will do this by having a lemonade stand. Her mother said that she raised a few thousand dollars the first year, over twelve thousand the second year, and then began raising millions in the following years. Of course, this was through the support of children and adults everywhere wanting to help Alex and make a difference for others. Great story, great mom, and a great program at our library.
So, I was asked to help in coordinating this program and encouraging local students to attend. The person I was helping made calls to the local public elementary schools and I made calls to a local private school. With over 70 2nd – 5th grade kids planning on attending, I was asked to create a craft to tie into the presentation. Going with the idea that Alex had worn a yellow bandana, I decided that we would provide plain yellow bandanas, fabric pens, and ask the kids to decorate and wear them to the author’s visit.
My director was concerned that the yellow bandanas may be forbidden by the schools in respect to any anti-gang clothing policy that they may have. So, I made the call and spoke with the secretary in the office (they’re really the ones who run the place!). She told me that there was no policy against the color yellow and that yellow bandanas would be fine.
The bandanas, fabric pens, and lesson plans (for a writing and science component, of course!) had all been distributed to the participating classrooms. Alright, we’re good to go, or so I thought. The day before the program, I got a call from one of the teachers from the public school and was told that they were not going to use the bandanas because it was “a gang thing” and that since it had snowed and it was too cold, they would not be attending the program.
Hmmmm…my mommy mind was racing…a child can’t wear a yellow bandana decorated with dinosaurs, princesses, or the obligatory, “Girls Rock!” and you’re also saying that KIDS can not be allowed to walk in the cold?!? My mind reeled in recollection of a recent article I saw on the art of hiking nude, in the Alps, no less!
Well, there goes over half the attendees for our program and I couldn’t do a darn thing about it other than hope that the private school pulled through for me. They did and it was darling. The kids and author had a great time. She told the kids how much it meant to her that they had worn the yellow bandanas because she knew how much Alex loved the color yellow. And you know what else happened? Liz noticed the little girl with the “Girls Rock!” bandana and loved it!
For a good resource that is open to exploring options outside of the classroom, traditional homeschool, or anything else you may have heard of, check out this book by Grace Llewellyn.
If you've ever sat in class daydreaming of being anywhere else, then you may be able to relate to Fried's book. If you have ever done an assignment just to get the grade, or if you, as a teacher, have ever taught a lesson only because the material needed to be covered for a test, then you have played “the Game of School”.
This book could leave you wondering just how authentic your own education really was. He contends that students from kindergarten through graduate school are often playing “the Game” of getting by and complying with the system and not really engaged in learning. The problem with this type of system is that it stifles creativity and the opportunity for impromptu discussion. However, this book does not point fingers but rather calls attention to the situation encouraging those who recognize the problems with the current system and inspires them to make changes that allow for more authentic learning and teaching.
The news came in the mail stating that even in an on-line home schooling situation our son was a pleasure to have in class but that did not change the fact that he had failed his math class. Really? How does that work?
As his "learning coach" I periodically check on his progress by asking the typical questions; are you getting it, how's it going, what's your grade, etc. He would answer with typical responses; fine, okay, can you help me on this section, etc.
So, then when the mid-terms arrived and he was getting a C- his dad was all over him. There were tears, promises to do better, and then the final report card arrived in the mail.
Ripping it open with certainty of an improved grade shining in his eyes, that light was soon dampened as he looked up at us in disbelief. We looked at the grade slip asking the same question, how, why, what? His progress report a week before his finals showed a C- and he completed his final test feeling quite certain that it would bump his grade up to a solid C if not possibly a B-...we just all stared in disbelief and looked at the comment, "student is a pleasure to have in class".
He was very upset and couldn't explain the situation. By this point we were done with even trying to figure it out. So, it was at this point that I told my husband that we're going to go the more pure home school route of choosing the curriculum, seeing it done daily, overseen directly by his parents, and not necessarily on the computer. We have come to discover that home schooling your children is not a one size fits all proposition, does not come without challenges, and is not just about getting your school work done in under two hours. It is about learning to deal with challenges, figuring out a better way of doing things, and working together to find a solution. We'll find a way to make it work because we're a family.
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts." - Winston Churchill
This famous line was uttered in shock and betrayal and now I utter them as I skimmed through a recent Costco magazine. On page 16 of the September 2008 edition they have done a two page spread on the topic debating: Should parents be certified to home-school their children?
At first glance my initial response is the thought that this would be great. How can you go wrong in ensuring that these "weirdy" parents are on track in instructing their children. Considering that we have teachers go through an arduous training process to ensure excellence...right?
Sadly, I don't think that's completely true. While it is true that it can be a long (5 years in college) and a somewhat arduous process with the student teaching, it's going to come down to who is sitting in that chair, in that class, "learning" to become a teacher. Either they're doing it for the right reasons or the wrong ones. Either they're going to put their heart and soul into it or they're not. Either they're going to be a good teacher or an ineffective teacher. While we can only hope that that the children will survive and learn in spite of the person at the front of the classroom.
It's actually my sincere belief that either you are meant to be a teacher or not long before you step foot into your first college class but that's for another post.
So, while at first glance I thought I would lean on the pro side. I then reread the article and spent some time thinking about what was actually being said. You had the president of the teacher federation acknowledge that not every certified teacher is an effective educator while stating that "...a homeschool teacher may be a natural teacher but lack training and necessary supervision" My question is, supervision by whom and why is it necessary? The last time I checked with the county you are not required to obtain a license to become a parent. It is assumed that we will be a parent to our child, good or bad, but that appears to be a God given right and only in the cases of neglect and/or abuse is it necessary for the government to step in.
The other side of this question is responded to by a gentleman who is the president of the Home School Legal Defense Association. He counters that states have moved toward more home schooling freedom because research has shown that home schooled students on average score 20-30 percentile points above the national average on SAT's.
How can you argue with that. What is it that parents do that is difficult for all teachers to do?
Let's consider for a moment the benefits a "teacher" has when homeschooling; small class size (1-4 students), flexibility, not tied into a schedule (ie. computers, PE, art, library, assembly, etc. is at a certain time and my possibly interrupt other learning), opportunities to DISCUSS (more on the value of this later) at length, not governed by a bureaucratic school board/principal in what they can or can't teach, autonomy, ability to collaborate with lots of different resources/people, you know who your students are and don't spend the first couple of weeks/months just getting to know them and helping the class bond, and I could probably think of a few more but I'm worried about my run-on sentenece. Hey, Mrs. Johnson, I just think I broke my old record for number of words in a sentence ;-)
Now let's consider the benefits a "teacher" has when working in a traditional school; large class size (18-24 students or more - hang in there Aunt Karen!), inflexibility with the schedules of other classrooms and in coordinating everyone for pull-out classes, addressing a variety of learning styles and abilities, lack of opportunities to discuss topics at length because of the schedule, time constraint, and curriculum goverened and controlled to some extent in what they can or can't teach by a bureaucratic school board/principal, ability to collaborate with the teacher next door to you because you can or can't stand her/him, getting to spend the first couple of weeks/months of school getting to know your students and their parents, and then helping the class to come together and bond - can you say Kum Ba Yah?
So, in the end it comes down to making the decision to teach your child at home being a very personal one. Where we get a lot of debate is from folks who are not able/willing to acknowledge the good and bad of homeschooling and the good and bad of public education. Neither one is perfect but they both can work. Doesn't being able to make your own choice sound great?
On a cold blustery day in January Nathan was laying around the house and there didn't seem much to do. So, we gathered the camera,tripod, pitch counter, notebook, and pencil and headed out with the hope of counting and documenting the number of Trumpeter Swans within a one mile radius of our house.
Out we went and right off the bat Nathan had to start clicking away on the pitch counter (device used to count the number of pitches during a game to ensure that your pitcher, or their's, does not go over the maximum number of pitches during a game). There were birds far out in the field and he was counting and I was counting to compare numbers and ensure some accuracy.
Overall it took about an hour to drive that square mile, count, and stop to take photos but it was a lot of fun. I should mention that the photos were taken with a small pocket camera so quality suffers but it was a lot of fun and you're able to see some of the beauty we saw. Final results were:
