One of the best things about summer is that it reminds us that educating our children is not just up to us.
You’ll see this when you watch your child at the beach. I get to do this a lot because we’re blessed to have a beach a few blocks from our house. We can spend a lot of time there during the two warm months that comprise summer in northeast Wisconsin.
At the beach, my son takes his shovel and bucket and creates mountains, castles, roads, levees….he just lets his imagination loose and he has a ball. I don’t have to participate at all. In fact, now that he’s older, he prefers that I butt out! He has his own ideas.
When I watch him problem-solve after the tide takes down part of a wall of his castle, or when stray toddlers march through his masterpiece, leaving destruction in their wake, I’m reminded yet again that he’s capable of learning all on his own. He not only fixes the problem, but makes the project even better in the process.
Now, this particular son is 16 and developmentally delayed, but I saw the same thing in my older children when they were young, and I’m sure you see it in yours. God enables everyone to learn. While we homeschooling parents work hard to make a good learning environment for our children, it’s not up to us to make things happen. God has already taken care of that part.
This knowledge can be very freeing, if you’re a conscientious mom who wants to make sure her children learn what they need to know. This summer, give your children a bucket and a magnifying glass and take them to a pond so they can inspect the pond water for living creatures. Hand them a package of colored chalk and let them loose on the driveway or sidewalk. Don’t get involved in what they’re doing. Just watch, and you’ll see what I mean.
What interested me the most is that the rate of truancy increases as children get older, so that by the time they reach 12th grade, well over 40% of them miss at least ten days of school per 176-day school year, and a quarter of them miss 20 days or more per school year.
Some of this can be explained by the fact that 12th graders often have cars and can easily take the day off, drive around town, and no one will notice because they look like the young adults they are, not students. It’s a lot easier for them to play hooky than it is for your average first-grader.
But I wonder if there isn’t another reason so many teens skip school. My memory of the last two years of high school can be mostly summed up by the phrase “relentlessly boring.” Each semester, when I set up my schedule, I squeezed my class requirements into the tightest time period possible, skipping lunch and putting study hall at the end of the day, so I could be out of there as early as possible.
However, I didn’t spend that extra free time loafing. For most of my junior year, I had a job in a hardware store, working from 2:30 to 9 most days. So I needed to get out of school early. But I also had a life, one that extended beyond what was going on in my high school.
Most of my classes were dull, not very useful for the future, or both. There were some useful classes, like typing, home ec and industrial arts, but those of us who were college-bound knew better than to court the possibility of wrecking our GPAs by risking a B or C in those subjects. So I did my best to stay awake through classes that were not very interesting or not very useful: World History via lectures and textbooks, Literature via lectures and textbooks, Sociology via silly games and fake wedding ceremonies. Snore.
However, I took one class during my senior year that was excellent, and I loved it. It was designed and run by one of the school’s social studies teachers, and it was called Public Service Practicum.
The teacher, a highly regarded educator named Richard Chierico, designed the course to help students understand what goes on in local government. He worked out agreements with local government entities, including the village board, the public library board, public works, etc., to allow each of us to work within the system as volunteers, and to shadow various employees so that we would get a firsthand look at how local government operates.
I worked with the public library board, which meant I had the chance to work at all the stations in the library so that I understood just what went on. Then I attended library board meetings after being filled in on the issues by the head librarian. I even attended a gathering of head librarians from all over the region. Having long been a bookworm and regular visitor to the library, I found it all fascinating.
As much as I enjoyed the course, I think what made it extra special is that Mr. Chierico treated us as young adults. He trusted us to go out during the school day to our different posts in local government and to arrange future appointments with our supervisors. He didn’t treat us as other teachers did, as students in need of repetitive instructions and orders. He just expected that we would do what we needed to, and so we did.
I think that’s the problem with high schools, and why there’s such a high truancy rate among older students. What teens do in school is not relevant, it’s not interesting, and it’s too much of what they’ve been doing for all their lives: sit still, raise your hand, you need a pass to go to the bathroom, no you can’t leave campus for lunch. We all know the drill.
Teens are too old for that kind of school. They need to be challenged, trusted and freed. Will some of them bolt if given freedom? Sure, but you can’t imprison everyone because some will run.
Teens are smart enough to know when something’s useful or of value. They’re also smart enough to know when they’re being warehoused. Instead of trying to figure out how to reduce the truancy rate by imprisoning teens further, parents and teachers need to consider other alternatives.
I think this is why so many teens have done well in homeschooling. It gives them the time and the freedom to explore their interests and to consider what they need for their futures. Not to mention, they never need a pass to go to the bathroom.
(For ideas on what useful things teens can do, check out the video below.)
Yesterday was the annual event that always threatens to give the mailman a hernia: the arrival of the latest Rainbow Resourcecatalog 🙂
That’s right, over 1300 pages of homeschool books, curriculum and assorted goodies. I’ve been receiving Rainbow’s catalog for many years, but this one must be the biggest yet.
If you’re going to take the time to read a book about homeschooling, don’t you want it to be the wholesome, practical advice of a mom who has “been there and done that?” Author Barbara Frank’s warm conversational tone leaves the reader of this book with the feeling that you’ve just finished a coffee chat where you’ve been able to ask all your questions and each was met with a knowing smile that implied she knew exactly what you were asking. And each was met with a no-frills answer that empowers the hearer rather than overwhelms. She covers all the basic topics – getting started, teaching techniques and specific subjects, covering the bases, and home organization. Two chapters were particularly helpful – overcoming obstacles and coping with challenges. In these she not only looks at personal habits that can get in the way but also personality-driven roadblocks. Don’t be fooled by the “plain Jane” cover or the lack of detailed information about homeschool philosophies or educational approaches readily available elsewhere; this is a must-have book that will help you start out or “regroup” your homeschool into a livable lifestyle. 192 pgs, pb. ~ Janice
Got your Rainbow Resource catalog yet? If you’ve never seen one, you can sign up here for a free copy. I’ve been buying from Rainbow for 20 years, and you can’t beat their prices or their service.
Do you homeschool during the summer? Some years we do, others we don’t. It depends on what’s going on with our family each year.
I enjoy both schedules, but I have to admit that summer is a great time to not think about homeschooling. Letting the whole family enjoy downtime gives everyone a break from the homeschool routine and gives me some breathing space. Besides, after being cooped up a lot during a very long winter, we’re really enjoying the beautiful weather.
This summer we won’t be doing school other than a weekly review for my son, who has developmental disabilities; there are just too many other things going on in our lives. But one thing I’ve learned in the past is that no matter how much I don’t want to think about homeschooling by the time June rolls around, come August I’ll be drooling over homeschool catalogs, hanging out at the teacher store and plotting my purchases.
So if you need the summer off, go ahead and take it. Let yourself be refreshed. You’ll have plenty of time to think about homeschooling later this summer.
So it’s been a busy few weeks, as you may have guessed, since most of my recent posts were about one subject (college), which is often a sign that I’ve been pre-posting 😉
I think May is quite busy for most people, but this year our May is special because we have another homeschool graduate who also has a May birthday. Last week Mary, our dd17, turned 18, so that naturally involved some celebrating. She was born on Mother’s Day 1991, a very welcome gift who has continued to be a great pleasure in our lives.
Last week she also played her violin in her final concert with the Door County String Academy in beautiful new Juniper Hall at Birch Creek Music Center, where she received a plaque for being a graduating senior. Then on Sunday she played at a fundraising concert for the Academy at gorgeous Bjorklunden on the shores of Lake Michigan. (Sorry about all the adjectives, but Door County really is an incredibly scenic place!)
She still has a few projects left before she officially finishes homeschool high school. This year she also earned some credits at the technical college an hour south of here, so I’ve included those on her lovely homemade high school transcript, the last one I’ll ever make. (Sniff!) She has plans for the fall, but is keeping that news on the QT until it becomes official. We’re having a graduation party for her next month in the Chicago area, where most of our family and friends live. Congratulations, Mary!
This year is shaping up to be another big year of change in our lives. Not only are we graduating another “home grown kid,” but it looks like we’ll be moving again when our lease is up in August. My husband’s career status is probably going to change again, and mine might too, we just don’t know yet. We know God has a plan; I just have to remind myself to stay calm as I wait for it to unfold 🙂
