Studies have shown how forced learning and trying to teach too much info at once does not work. When a child is interested in something, he will learn it. The info will sink in and he will actually retain it for long term because its something he has a interest for or a passion for. Likewise, if you try to teach a child too much in a short amount of time, none of it really sinks in good and they end up forgetting it shortly after testing on it. Children are born learners, they are born seekers, if we allow them to be. Instead we are sticking them in schools earlier and earlier in a race to try and make them smarter and the earlier they start and the more info we try to shove down their throat, the less success we are seeing.
School has also become a place these days where they learn not how to think, but what to think. Social Issues, History, Science & Literature are all taught in a form of..."Is this right or wrong and why?" Instead of just learning the facts and leaving the childs own interpretation to themselves to figure out. And lets face it, political agendas & religious spins have crept into alot of the subjects, some very sly and subliminal and some very bold and outright. When we send our children to school, they are pretty much told to sit down, shut up and listen to me because they know best. Originality is frowned upon, Out of the box thinkers are frowned upon. I think this poem I found the other day sums it up nicely. It was written by Rupal Ganatra.
HOW SHEEPLES ARE CREATED:
We'll tell you what to do
We'll tell you what to say
We'll tell you what to think
Each and every day
We'll tell you how to feel
We'll tell you what to believe
We'll tell you right from wrong
In each and every way
We'll tell you when up stand
We'll tell you when to sit
We'll tell you how to play
Each and every day
Now that you're all grown up...
Why can't you think?
Why don't you link?
Why has your common sense gone down the sink?
Why don't you fight?
Where is your might?
Why is your intellect dull as night?
Why? Why? Why?
We did everything we could
We did everything we should
So why did you not turn out like we hoped & prayed you would????
By: Rupal Ganatra
This topic is near and dear to my heart because I homeschool my youngest, and I have personally witnessed alot of this. I watched one day my child come home in tears because his teacher had told him his picture he had drawn wasnt good enough and she laughed at it in front of him. This hurt him not only because it was painful to be made fun of, but because he liked her and wanted her to like him. I watched him come home another day upset because his teacher had told him that she hoped his friend never tried to jump off a bridge because he would be stupid enough to jump along with him. My childs bus driver once told him when he was 8 that he was a nobody and wouldnt amount to anything. Then, the last straw was when I got a call from his teacher stating that she had secluded him into the back of the room, away from everyone else, without a desk because he refused to quit playing with his pencil inside his desk while she was teaching, despite the fact that he wasnt even talking or moving around (I asked). The other kids in the room were snickering at him and laughing because he had been secluded. I can only imagine how that felt:( Thats when I said enough was enough and pulled him out and started homeschooling him myself.
Little did I know at all the benefits I would see from homeschooling him. He changed in ways, I never would of imagined. His attitude got 100% better, he started treating his siblings with more love, care and understanding. He has started helping out around the house with household chores, not because he has been told, but because he says "He knew it needed to be done". He is more thoughtful and instead of looking at school as a chore, he actually enjoys it now because theres none of that added stress of "You have to learn this and this and this, now. Here take this test, this test...oh and heres another test." Yes I allow him to listen to music when doing math if he chooses and yes he fidgets alot when doing his work, but hes not bothering anyone and sometimes I swear it helps him think lol. Plus once schoolwork is all done, he has SO much more time to dedicate to learning about things he currently is passionate about or has interest in:) Here in a couple of weeks, he is wanting to build a chair out of wood all by himself and if he does a good job on it, says he'd like to try and make more and sell them on the internet;) I have showed him how to go and look up patterns of chairs on the internet and how to choose what type of wood he wants to use, the required tools, etc:) Right now, its woodworking, in 6 mnths time it may be developing music or engineering!:) When in public school, you have very little free time to test out any passions like that because your day is filled with school itself, then homework!
BTW...I am not against public schools all together. I have two children in public myself. I think they do the best with what they have and are given, I just feel they are making the wrong choices and major improvements could be made. I am all about letting the child decide. Some kids love public school and thrive in it very well, others, not so much. I do feel for those who have children in public school, it makes it that much harder on the parents, because they are constantly having to watch everything going on and it takes an extra effort to un-do all the negative effects that the children are exposed to in a public school.
Here is an article I found interesting that talks about the statistics on the above picture. I think you will find it interesting as well.... As Childrens Freedom Has Declined, So Has Their Creativity
Let me know what you think!:)
