What Home Schooling Could Teach Parents
A lot of people, both left and right, like to condemn our educational system. Teachers don’t do a good job. Teachers don’t have sufficient resources. Class sizes are too large. School buildings are too old and unmaintained. They’re not teaching what students need to learn. They don’t teach about anything but what white corporation owners want their drones to learn.
Now, with schools closed, a lot of parents are learning more about what teachers actually do. And they are getting the opportunity to put into effect all those backyard barbecue and Christmas break party pontifications about, “What I would do, if I were teaching those kids.”
Sitting in my own quarantine enclave, with no children around making noise, interrupting at-home work schedules, and no pets needing to be walked, I can’t really imagine how much satisfaction there must be in these recent weeks of putting into practice all that decisive wisdom which seemed so obvious when spoken over a cold Corona or a hot eggnog toddy.
There may be parents who, now having a duty to try to contribute to their children’s schooling, beyond merely helping crib their math worksheets, might be interested in considering the educational possibilities of relating today’s Covid-19 pandemic with history
There may be parents who, now having a duty to try to contribute to their children’s schooling, beyond merely helping crib their math worksheets, might be interested in considering the educational possibilities of relating today’s Covid-19 pandemic with history
I can imagine, however that there may be parents who, now having a duty to try to contribute to their children’s schooling, beyond merely helping crib their math worksheets, might be interested in considering the educational possibilities of relating today’s Covid-19 pandemic with history, the development of science, and how different cultures handle similar issues.
Schools, with their standardized testing, formal curriculae, and tight scheduling may not be able to integrate cross-subject topics. And may not have time to allow individual students to develop their own thinking about issues. But parents with children at home have the flexibility to allow, and guide their students. And the opportunity to make learning less of rote memorization and more of an adventure.
As an initial, easy step in this process, I suggest two books which parents might find useful in home teaching efforts. One is a young adult novel, and one a history book. The young adult novel is one which can be read to younger children, or by middle school children. The history book can give parents insights with which to teach their children. Both books deal with CONTINUE READING: What Home Schooling Could Teach Parents - LA Progressive