Please Don’t Call It ‘HOMESCHOOLING’
Now that nearly all public schools have closed their doors because of Covid-19, about 50 million school-age children are being ‘Homeschooled,’ and parents are being told that they should be dividing their children’s days into time periods for academic subjects and following lesson plans. That’s how The Today Show approached the subject recently, giving parents a step-by-step map, the first step being “Set Up School.” That’s exactly the wrong advice, in my view, a recipe for failure on every level.
Unfortunately, it’s not just The Today Show, because a lot of school systems seem to be reflexively behaving as if they could simply transplant school’s routines to the home. Some are emailing or posting lesson plans that they expect students (and parents) to follow. Distance Learning and on-line instruction are all the rage, but most of this seems to be “same old, same old”–the straightforward presentation of information. While these may be understandable responses to the crisis, they’re not particularly helpful in my view.
While anxiety is understandable, it’s healthier to look for the opportunities that Covid-19 is creating. Let’s begin by abandoning the term ‘Homeschooling,’ because no one should be trying to turn homes into schools. Schools are organized for crowd control and group instruction, which is why they have established periods of time for individual subjects, bells, and lesson plans in order to run smoothly. Homes don’t need bells, et cetera.
But don’t take my word for it, because there’s plenty of sensible advice out there, including this: “Learning doesn’t have to take the form of worksheets and spelling tests. Young children have such a strong desire for knowledge. If you can trust them to lead the way, you may be surprised by how they choose to spend their time and where their curiosity takes CONTINUE READING: Please Don’t Call It ‘HOMESCHOOLING’ | The Merrow Report