Thank you for bringing up Sudbury and unschooling! I have posted on the forum about our difficulties with school and our daughters (ages 10 and 12 now) over the last few years. Though they are still in traditional school, I did tons and tons of research over the last few years on alternatives. I am fascinated by unschooling and democratic schools and see such benefits in those approaches. We were not prepared to make a drastic change to unschooling (for various reasons.) So, for now, our girls are still in more traditional settings (our younger is in a very traditional Catholic school where she is doing well and enjoying herself, but we switched the older one this year to a local school with a different approach where she is doing much better. Small class sizes, mixed age classes, emphasis on social/emotional well-being of students, no letter grades, no extensive testing, less homework, etc.)
More and more people are moving towards relaxed homeschooling, unschooling, etc. and I do think the future of education is going in that direction. Especially with the rise of/recognition of neurodiversity and other issues. Your comments about your experience at age 18 and college really resonated with me (re: your health issues and priorities, etc.) You are right - kids in elementary through highschool have no choice in what they are learning. Both of our daughters have anxiety that manifests differently in each, but our older daughter really struggles with traditional homework and executive function issues. It was so frustrating to see her interested in things that she was learning, but having that not reflected in grades and tests because she just wasn't meeting the paperwork in the proper way. I also really dislike feeling as though she always had something "wrong" with her because she didn't fit into the system as well as others (even with an accommodations plan.) I completely understand that teachers/schools need some way to evaluate students, but there are better ways. We are fortunate to have non-traditional alternatives in our area (though no Sudbury model schools.) Have you seen Pam Laricchia's work ( https://livingjoyfully.ca/ )? I find her information about unschooling very approachable and understandable. It is a tough concept for many people to get their heads around, especially since most all of us have had a traditional schooling and see that as "normal."
Anyway, like you said, you could post pages on the topic. I have always wanted to bring it up, but didn't know how to summarize or articulate it as you did. Thank you! And I truly do not want to offend the many teachers/former teachers who are on this forum -- you all do amazing work and I know you all care about your students. But I do feel the system itself is outdated and so many people (students and teachers alike) struggle with it.
Oh, Coyote!
I loved this to the ends of traditional education and back.
It's how we'll finally foster joy and creativity and the natural love of learning that a lot of us learned after we realized the system was failing us or loved ones or far too many we cared about in this world.
@michele-b-here-in-the-forum
A few links to things I follow for anyone interested in learning more:
Brighter Schooling -- Facebook page. They often link to interesting and informative articles/blog posts, etc. on unschooling and Sudbury: @brighterschooling
Here is a link to a blog post about Sudbury that they linked to recently:
And another blog post about the perspective of students in school and the inability to say no in the current structure:
Thanks so much!
Looking forward to reading them after dentist and grandkid learn while playing time at our house ??
Balancing self-care with fun and joy time by loving and spending time with our little ones! My idea of balance ?
I just can't even believe what Brigham Young university just did to their students who received medicaid! This is another republican push to remove folks who need healthcare. On top of this, I wonder if anyone saw 60 minutes this past Sunday? I'll post that link in another place.
I'm a long way off from becoming a parent (if ever), nor do I work in education. But I still feel very invested in non-traditional learning methodologies. So my soul sings whenever I meet someone who is knowledgable about and supportive of the Sudbury model/unschooling. I'd never heard of Pam Laricchia, so thanks for linking her work. I did read the blog post you linked about Sudbury schools and very much enjoyed it. I can also relate to that blog about just saying no. I started doing that in the latter half of my university years, even with professors who I really respected and enjoyed. My GPA suffered somewhat, but I felt better about myself.
I also strongly believe that the rise in neurodiversity and even straight-up misbehavior is the younger generation's way of saying "enough is enough!" They're pushing us to shake off old, outdated systems. You should feel proud that your daughters are part of that vanguard.
Wow and how incredibly sad and so damaging to so many in the long run.
Medicaid is there for not just those who need it but physically require it as well as qualify.
I guess it goes along with also hoping to reduce so many of our senior citizens Medicare funding in his budget plans that Trump is proposing. He is supposedly asking for a decrease of $800 million in his 2020 budget. Ha!
By nature of being self-employed for decades, we had to pay for our health insurance out of pocket and it took up 1/3 of our already minimal take home small business income.
That they would expect a young mother to be with Medicaid trying to better her and her child's future through a college education to pay for private health insurance and refusing her already secured Medicaid funding boggles the mind.
Oops Trump wants to cut Medicare by $800 Billion not million.
@michele-b-here-in-the-forum
Medicaid is there for not just those who need it but physically require it as well as qualify.
I guess it goes along with also hoping to reduce so many of our senior citizens Medicare funding in his budget plans that Trump is proposing. He is supposedly asking for a decrease of $800 million in his 2020 budget. Ha!
Just a small clerical error (ha) but needing correcting none the less.
And according to many it doesn't stand a chance of passing but then nothing he/Repubs have done should have ever passed/happened and did.
But it certainly shows mission and intent on cutting off the hands of the poor seen as getting handouts and filling the hands of others beyond what their coffers already hold now. Sigh.