Just Ask

My upbringing led me to believe life was about struggle, the world is full of mindless droids that follow the status quo, there will be resistance waiting at every turn and I will have to fight to achieve any sort of positive change or success, even personal success.

Naturally, when I realized our assignment sheets from the charter school were having too negative of an effect on our love of learning and life, I was ready to go in with my tail bristled, to fight. I wrote our overseeing teacher an email about how the coerced reading, repetition, static assignments and worksheets have negative effects.  She wrote back asking what did I think would work. I wrote her about child-led learning, free-ranging, spontaneity, teachable moments, and integrated lives. Learning happens in every moment, at every turn. I wrote about how difficult it is to fit Ramona's mind into the public school package, how her backing off from subjects is often a preliminary to a breakthrough in that subject...

Later that day I head into the meeting triweekly meeting, I have that tinge of pre confrontation anxiety. After we go over her work from the last few weeks, the teacher tells us that, instead of writing our assignment sheet for the upcoming 3 weeks, she would like to write it at the end of the three weeks.  Basically, she is going to write the assignment sheets retroactively from now on.  My job is merely to jot down what learning activities we do and then she will filter that into a form that will please the powers that be. Wow. Sometimes I forget that I might be able to have my cake and eat it too (I don't like that saying, but I used it anyway), at least a little...

It's true: when you step out of line the are cards stacked against you. It takes a lot of finagling to homeschool children.  And it is MUCH harder than it was before compulsory schooling came along.  Children's culture has moved into the classroom, and it's extra work to find child spaces during daytime hours.  But things are changing a little, especially here in Sonoma County.  Montessori and Waldorf Public Schools, Independent study schools with non-compulasary classes...exploding numbers of homeschool families, along with groups meetings, activities, and support is growing.  Things are changing.

A society where the average parent feels that not sending their child to school is a viable option is a society I would love to live in. I homeschool because it is part of my utopia. I envision the future I would like to see, and then I live it right now. Living our future now is the only way I know to get there. The more of us that do this, the easier it is to move on to that future.

So, no more reading drills - we get to do reading on the fly. We changed our maps workbook into a study of culture and environment.  We're still going to do math by the book, its easier that way...I cross of pages whenever she does math activities on the computer or otherwise. We are free...freeish anyway.  The more the better.

So, I guess the lesson here is...ASK. You never know. The system may be against what you are doing, but the people in it are...people.  Not droids. At least not all of them. Some folks are in education cause they actually value education and they might envision a future not so different from you and I.



PS: In other news, I want to change the name of this blog. Let me know if you have any ideas.