Two adults. One is researching on the internet. The other is hanging wallpaper.
Two young people. One is writing, replying to emails. The other is hanging wallpaper with the adult who is hanging wallpaper.
Holiday.
It's much nicer for us, as home educators, not to ask a school headteacher for permission to take our children out of school, subject to the headteacher's approval, of course. Nicer, and somehow fitting, because they are OUR children. They belong not to schools but to families.
Home educating families get the best deals on cheap holidays because they can go anytime.
Another one of the million reasons to home educate.
Sunday, 25 August 2013
Sunday, 11 August 2013
Discovery
We've done something different the last few weeks.
We've gone outside our boxes.
We've expanded our horizons. You might say we've landed on new planets to discover new things.
How have we done this?
As a family, we co-operated and hosted some students who were learning English as a foreign language.
They chose us as the family they wanted to spend some time with.
I hope that they learned some English from us. (I know that they did). No doubt they discovered also that our family values learning. That my young people are well-mannered and helpful, and that we all care about each other, and we all care about knowledge.
And we made friends with three people we probably would've never met if we hadn't opened those boxes and tried something new.
Not bad for a few weeks in summer, was it?
We've gone outside our boxes.
We've expanded our horizons. You might say we've landed on new planets to discover new things.
How have we done this?
As a family, we co-operated and hosted some students who were learning English as a foreign language.
They chose us as the family they wanted to spend some time with.
I hope that they learned some English from us. (I know that they did). No doubt they discovered also that our family values learning. That my young people are well-mannered and helpful, and that we all care about each other, and we all care about knowledge.
And we made friends with three people we probably would've never met if we hadn't opened those boxes and tried something new.
Not bad for a few weeks in summer, was it?
Monday, 15 July 2013
George Stephenson
"George Stephenson, known as ‘The Father of the Railways’, was born in Wylam, on the banks of the River Tyne, in 1761.
He had no formal education and only learnt to read at the age of nineteen. He was a gifted young man, and it was he who invented the first successful steam engine, ‘The Rocket.’
The highlight of his brilliant career was when the nearby Darlington to Stockton Railway was opened in 1825, a train of eleven wagons, Stephenson driving the locomotive himself.
In 1824, George and his son Robert formed a successful business in Newcastle constructing locomotives and other engineering works. Apart from working with his father on locomotives, Robert was renowned for his work in civil engineering and was responsible for the construction of many famous bridges. He died in 1859."
George Stephenson was a gifted young man who didn't learn to read until he was 19 years old.
Imagine that going unnoticed in a home educating family these days.
And yet the guy was brilliant. He invented the first successful steam engine. Then he and his son formed and ran a successful engineering business in Newcastle upon Tyne.
Good old George (and Robert, of course).
Wednesday, 19 June 2013
Mad keen
You hear the occasional comment.
"Those home educators are mad..."
Yes, I am, I admit it.
I'm mad keen.
I am mad keen on educational freedom, I'm mad keen on my young people learning in safe surroundings, I'm mad keen on my family learning whatever they wish to and whenever they want to.
I'm mad keen on home education.
Mad? No, just mad keen.
"Those home educators are mad..."
Yes, I am, I admit it.
I'm mad keen.
I am mad keen on educational freedom, I'm mad keen on my young people learning in safe surroundings, I'm mad keen on my family learning whatever they wish to and whenever they want to.
I'm mad keen on home education.
Mad? No, just mad keen.
Tuesday, 11 June 2013
Truanting and NUTS
I'd forgotten how much I enjoy other people's blogs. And here is one to enjoy with gusto.
The extremely lovely Grit and her three home educating smashers are here at grit's day:
http://gritsday.blogspot.co.uk/
One of Grit's sidebars features this quotation from the General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers (or, perhaps fittingly, NUT) saying: "If children are not in school they are obviously not being taught and this is of course a problem."
A lot of home educating families wouldn't see it as much of a problem, Christine Blower (nice name). They don't teach because teaching is less efficient than home education. In these days of incredible efficient technology, why do we need the fusty old knowledge of people who graduated - well - in the past. The now, the new and the knowledge (about almost anything) is ready and available at your fingertips.
"The effect of regular absenteeism from school on a pupil’s confidence and ability to understand what is being taught in the classroom is greatly affected."
Sorry, Christine, I don't happen to see your evidence-base for that assertion. In fact, I suspect that a child's confidence will rise when he or she isn't smacked repeatedly about the head with 'what will happen' if he or she does not perform like a trained (or untrained) monkey to produce results. Especially when the results tell you exactly nothing about the child. Ever.
“However, the hard truth is there is no one quick solution to solving this problem. Government needs to recognise that simply churning out yet more rhetoric about parents and schools needing to be more effective in tackling the problem will not work."
I am not particularly concerned about truanting. There are many reasons for it. Boredom on the child's behalf, the youngster being too advanced for the work, the child needing to do other things, the young person getting bullied... Lots of reasons. Has anyone ever asked those who truant why they do it?
Christine, I agree with you. Government tells teachers and parents to sort it out. That isn't going to happen so it's a waste of breath, but government representatives are good at wasting breath.
“There needs to be cross local authority service response and support in place for any real progress to be made in tackling the issue of truancy. At a time when local authority budgets are being cut the assistance that they could previously offer schools is being greatly scaled back. This is yet another example of the short-sightedness of the Government’s cuts agenda."
I am not sure what Christine expects here? What does local authority service response and support mean? More breath-wasting exercises, I fear.
Unbelievably, Christine, I agree with you on another point: Government cuts are not just short-sighted, but downright inhumane and destructive. However, I don't think that lack of money to 'tackle' truancy, like its some sort of player in a football game, is the problem, if problem there is. Kids - lots of kids - don't like school. They find school an uncomfortable fit. Or they can't hack it at all. It doesn't do it for them. It doesn't work. Or it's downright dangerous to their learning capacities or, in some cases, their very lives.
“A relevant and flexible curriculum, free from repetitive tests and targets, would go a long way to ensuring all our pupils remain engaged in the education process and that schools are places of creative, vibrant learning.”
Ah, now, you're speaking my language. Flexible - or no curriculum - relevant learning. Get rid of the boring tests and targets. Encourage creative and vibrant learning.
By George, Christine Blower, congratulations! you are almost describing home education!
From http://www.teachers.org.uk/node/14128
Dated 19 October 2011 but I doubt there has been much change since that date....
The extremely lovely Grit and her three home educating smashers are here at grit's day:
http://gritsday.blogspot.co.uk/
One of Grit's sidebars features this quotation from the General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers (or, perhaps fittingly, NUT) saying: "If children are not in school they are obviously not being taught and this is of course a problem."
A lot of home educating families wouldn't see it as much of a problem, Christine Blower (nice name). They don't teach because teaching is less efficient than home education. In these days of incredible efficient technology, why do we need the fusty old knowledge of people who graduated - well - in the past. The now, the new and the knowledge (about almost anything) is ready and available at your fingertips.
"The effect of regular absenteeism from school on a pupil’s confidence and ability to understand what is being taught in the classroom is greatly affected."
Sorry, Christine, I don't happen to see your evidence-base for that assertion. In fact, I suspect that a child's confidence will rise when he or she isn't smacked repeatedly about the head with 'what will happen' if he or she does not perform like a trained (or untrained) monkey to produce results. Especially when the results tell you exactly nothing about the child. Ever.
“However, the hard truth is there is no one quick solution to solving this problem. Government needs to recognise that simply churning out yet more rhetoric about parents and schools needing to be more effective in tackling the problem will not work."
I am not particularly concerned about truanting. There are many reasons for it. Boredom on the child's behalf, the youngster being too advanced for the work, the child needing to do other things, the young person getting bullied... Lots of reasons. Has anyone ever asked those who truant why they do it?
Christine, I agree with you. Government tells teachers and parents to sort it out. That isn't going to happen so it's a waste of breath, but government representatives are good at wasting breath.
“There needs to be cross local authority service response and support in place for any real progress to be made in tackling the issue of truancy. At a time when local authority budgets are being cut the assistance that they could previously offer schools is being greatly scaled back. This is yet another example of the short-sightedness of the Government’s cuts agenda."
I am not sure what Christine expects here? What does local authority service response and support mean? More breath-wasting exercises, I fear.
Unbelievably, Christine, I agree with you on another point: Government cuts are not just short-sighted, but downright inhumane and destructive. However, I don't think that lack of money to 'tackle' truancy, like its some sort of player in a football game, is the problem, if problem there is. Kids - lots of kids - don't like school. They find school an uncomfortable fit. Or they can't hack it at all. It doesn't do it for them. It doesn't work. Or it's downright dangerous to their learning capacities or, in some cases, their very lives.
“A relevant and flexible curriculum, free from repetitive tests and targets, would go a long way to ensuring all our pupils remain engaged in the education process and that schools are places of creative, vibrant learning.”
Ah, now, you're speaking my language. Flexible - or no curriculum - relevant learning. Get rid of the boring tests and targets. Encourage creative and vibrant learning.
By George, Christine Blower, congratulations! you are almost describing home education!
From http://www.teachers.org.uk/node/14128
Dated 19 October 2011 but I doubt there has been much change since that date....
Friday, 7 June 2013
Belief in yourself
I'm calling this post 'Belief in yourself' or why you can do what you want without a college degree or university degree or whatever hoops and hogties that the system demands you progress through these days.
You know, I know, we all know that we have days when we can 'knock doors out of windows' (that's a favourite phrase of my mother's which I've never examined for logic, but have just accept much the way you accept the ancient flowered wall-paper in your first bedroom). Today though...
What I think it means is that you can change your circumstances. You can change one thing into another that isn't particularly like the first thing. You can transform a door - an exit or an entrance - into something you can see through, or open for a breath of air. You can do something that is generally seen as impossible.
Did you know that 20% of American millionaires never darkened the door of a college?
I didn't know it either.
In How to Get From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be,
Jack Canfield tells us:
"Here's another statistic showing that belief in yourself is more important than knowledge, training or schooling: 20% of America's millionaires never set foot in college, and 21 of the 222 Americans never got their college diplomas; 2 never even finished high school! So although education and commitment to lifelong learning are essential to success, a formal degree isn't a requirement."
As someone who has felt more or less at home in an academic environment, I don't advocate it for everyone. We are all different. Some like the freedom of developing their own talents, maybe with a little aid along the way. Others like the step-by-step pathway that gives a definite reward.
But we swallow whole tons of guff about learning. No one really knows what motivates one person to put up with the disagreeable difficulties that they face down to achieve something that they find worth the effort.
"20% of America's millionaires never set foot in college, and 21 of the 222 Americans never got their college diplomas; 2 never even finished high school!"
Jack Canfield might have added that you can have a degree or a college diploma in one subject and make your mark in another area. Learning is flexible and individual. Learning is mysterious and necessary. It has a secretive heart and an infinite mind. Never let it reduce you to the minimum, but allow learning to stretch you and change your narrow world into something large and bountiful.
You know, I know, we all know that we have days when we can 'knock doors out of windows' (that's a favourite phrase of my mother's which I've never examined for logic, but have just accept much the way you accept the ancient flowered wall-paper in your first bedroom). Today though...
What I think it means is that you can change your circumstances. You can change one thing into another that isn't particularly like the first thing. You can transform a door - an exit or an entrance - into something you can see through, or open for a breath of air. You can do something that is generally seen as impossible.
Did you know that 20% of American millionaires never darkened the door of a college?
I didn't know it either.
In How to Get From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be,
Jack Canfield tells us:
"Here's another statistic showing that belief in yourself is more important than knowledge, training or schooling: 20% of America's millionaires never set foot in college, and 21 of the 222 Americans never got their college diplomas; 2 never even finished high school! So although education and commitment to lifelong learning are essential to success, a formal degree isn't a requirement."
As someone who has felt more or less at home in an academic environment, I don't advocate it for everyone. We are all different. Some like the freedom of developing their own talents, maybe with a little aid along the way. Others like the step-by-step pathway that gives a definite reward.
But we swallow whole tons of guff about learning. No one really knows what motivates one person to put up with the disagreeable difficulties that they face down to achieve something that they find worth the effort.
"20% of America's millionaires never set foot in college, and 21 of the 222 Americans never got their college diplomas; 2 never even finished high school!"
Jack Canfield might have added that you can have a degree or a college diploma in one subject and make your mark in another area. Learning is flexible and individual. Learning is mysterious and necessary. It has a secretive heart and an infinite mind. Never let it reduce you to the minimum, but allow learning to stretch you and change your narrow world into something large and bountiful.
Friday, 10 May 2013
Richard Feynman
Although I'd heard various bits and pieces about this scientist for years I really fell in love with him during the examination of The Challenger disaster. The Challenger was a space shuttle which blew up in 1986. I recall watching the news and seeing the actual event. Those poor people.
Richard Feynman, a theoretical physicist, uncovered the source of trouble aboard the space craft. If you haven't seen a dramatisation or anything about the shocking tragedy, then I won't spoil the fascinating unravelling of the mystery for you. I was riveted.
That began my love affair with Richard. He never knew me. I never wrote, emailed or facebooked. I never exchanged badinage. I never asked him any questions of a quantum nature, but wish I had because I bet he would've answered and made his answer make sense to me.
Here, now, are a few quotes from this man.
“Study hard what interests you the most in the most undisciplined, irreverent and original manner possible.”
“You have no responsibility to live up to what other people think you ought to accomplish. I have no responsibility to be like they expect me to be. It's their mistake, not my failing.”
“Fall in love with some activity, and do it! Nobody ever figures out what life is all about, and it doesn't matter. Explore the world. Nearly everything is really interesting if you go into it deeply enough. Work as hard and as much as you want to on the things you like to do the best. Don't think about what you want to be, but what you want to do. Keep up some kind of a minimum with other things so that society doesn't stop you from doing anything at all.”
Quotations taken from
http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/1429989.Richard_P_Feynman
More about Richard: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Feynman
Richard Feynman, a theoretical physicist, uncovered the source of trouble aboard the space craft. If you haven't seen a dramatisation or anything about the shocking tragedy, then I won't spoil the fascinating unravelling of the mystery for you. I was riveted.
That began my love affair with Richard. He never knew me. I never wrote, emailed or facebooked. I never exchanged badinage. I never asked him any questions of a quantum nature, but wish I had because I bet he would've answered and made his answer make sense to me.
Here, now, are a few quotes from this man.
“Study hard what interests you the most in the most undisciplined, irreverent and original manner possible.”
“You have no responsibility to live up to what other people think you ought to accomplish. I have no responsibility to be like they expect me to be. It's their mistake, not my failing.”
“Fall in love with some activity, and do it! Nobody ever figures out what life is all about, and it doesn't matter. Explore the world. Nearly everything is really interesting if you go into it deeply enough. Work as hard and as much as you want to on the things you like to do the best. Don't think about what you want to be, but what you want to do. Keep up some kind of a minimum with other things so that society doesn't stop you from doing anything at all.”
Quotations taken from
http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/1429989.Richard_P_Feynman
More about Richard: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Feynman
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