I just finished a powerful book by John Taylor Gatto. This book is against public schooling and for the old way of schooling before government intervention. When families taught their children and the communities were tight and supportive. Back when neighbors knew each other and had a true concern for their surroundings.
I related to much that Teacher for 30 years, Gatto said. I related to all he said was happening to the children in our public schools. I am a product of public schooling and my experience was less than desirable the whole way through!
There were many interesting points he made that help me to see why I am the way I am now as a result of my many schooling years. For instance the detachment effects of having the school bells ring all the time conditioning us to drop what we are doing because it is not as important as what we need to do now. No matter what we were engaged in we have to put it away even if it was a deep thought, poem, or song we were creating. We had to drop it and move on when the bell rang. I now recognise that same defect in myself with many things such as different responsibilities and time for myself. These things can easily be dropped without much thought. I have done this over the years and wondered why I was like that and now I believe that it is because i was conditioned to drop things that were important to me and move on.
This is just one of the many things I related to in the book. I am against public schooling. I know that many of my friends have had great experiences in their public schooling and many of them are great people to be around!
I wonder what I would be like If I was home schooled and given the time to really delve into what I am interested in. Have plenty of attention on my weaknesses to strengthen them and lots of time to play without persecution, or competition on the playground.
I am loving homeschooling my children and so excited to explore this life with them! It will be like I am home schooling myself too! In fact I am right now. I am taking Barbra Shelton's home study course for parents that want to home school. This is one of the books on the list.
3 comments:
sundy! how funny. this guy is the author of the book that i recommended to you. the book that i am reading. he's awesome! this book you just finished is next on my list!
I really appreciate how you shared how this book affected you personally. This was one of the most powerful books I read and am glad that you appreciate it to this degree.
good for you! i think homeschooling is great! but when i help out in emma's classroom, i notice just how good my daughter's teacher is. she explains things in ways i can't. i can't describe it but i was watching her this morning thinking that she is doing this so much better than i could. being a teacher really is the greatest profession. my favorite was watching her dance while they were doing their opening alphabet song. i'm all for smaller classes and no school bells but what about a degree in childhood education and twenty years of experience? there is a trade off...
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