tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303307482158922565.post4887137522237740796..comments2024-03-22T13:39:55.941-07:00Comments on Math Mama Writes...: Today Is the Day for "REBEL Education Blogs"Sue VanHattumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10237941346154683902noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303307482158922565.post-88689720998010070252010-11-01T08:59:21.776-07:002010-11-01T08:59:21.776-07:00As was mentioned earlier in this thread, that can ...<i>As was mentioned earlier in this thread, that can be expensive.</i><br /><br />Kids can be viewed either as expense (an economic liability) or as a boon and a source of help. Sometime between babyhood and adulthood, there is a turning point at which the person stops being a liability to her family and community. Currently, the point hovers around the late teens or even early twenties, not only globally across the child's life, but even for most individual events.<br /><br />If kids contribute to communities (rather than only taking), they are the opposite of expensive. They add value.<br /><br />Katherine's presentation on children working: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5flTTLr8M0MariaDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00769513929584082597noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303307482158922565.post-64108425359134135082010-11-01T08:10:24.921-07:002010-11-01T08:10:24.921-07:00I love your thoughts, Maria! There may have been a...I love your thoughts, Maria! There may have been a 'pack behavior' issue at my son's previous school, with 20-30 kids, and only a few adults. If one adult was inside teaching 6 kids, there might be over 20 kids outside, and only one adult. I thought we needed better focus on communication and conflict resolution, but maybe that ratio would have been the deciding factor.<br /><br />>I have a very strong preference for communities where children are outnumbered by adults, overall.<br /><br />As was mentioned earlier in this thread, that can be expensive.<br /><br />At my son's school, there are usually 5 kids and two adults. That's enough to keep the adult presence visible, I think.Sue VanHattumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10237941346154683902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303307482158922565.post-7930495309922557602010-11-01T06:54:37.017-07:002010-11-01T06:54:37.017-07:00Sue:
I don't think good learning always requir...Sue:<br /><i>I don't think good learning always requires a super-high adult to kid ratio. If the kids have lots of freedom, the adult is mentoring and modeling, and doesn't need to 'teach' so much.</i><br /><br />The ratio of adults to kids in communities strongly determines community dynamics. There are "pack behavior" laws to mind, as well as "community of practice" expert-novice laws. There are plenty of activities that are very educational solo, in pairs, or within purely child groups. However, at least for my child, I have a very strong preference for communities where children are outnumbered by adults, overall.MariaDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00769513929584082597noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303307482158922565.post-3245652574488977812010-10-26T07:00:04.280-07:002010-10-26T07:00:04.280-07:00I think April was calling herself selfish. ;^)
A...I think April was calling herself selfish. ;^)<br /><br />April, have you read Deborah Meier's book? Her school was no more expensive (to the government) than the other public schools in NYC. She would agree with you that the best classes are much smaller than in most public schools. She suggested no more than 15 kids per class in elementary school, and no more than 15 classes per school.<br /><br />I don't think good learning always requires a super-high adult to kid ratio. If the kids have lots of freedom, the adult is mentoring and modeling, and doesn't need to 'teach' so much.<br /><br />>What's needed is a paradigm shift. Can your vision of "children freely following their own interests" really happen in an institutional setting?<br /><br />I totally agree that we need a paradigm shift. I see us needing to honor kids' desire to learn. That would be huge. In some sense, 'family' is an institution, though much more organic than 'school'. My question is how we can recreate the notion of school so it becomes more organic, fluid, able to take on diverse forms, like families do.<br /><br />My son is in a mini-school that currently (first year in existence) has 5 kids. It's fabulous. It's more like homeschooling than like any other school I've seen.<br /><br />If homeschoolers who need a bit more money coming in wanted to get together with people who need to work and need their kids in some sort of 'school', maybe this model could spread. It takes lots of rethinking, and lots of trust.Sue VanHattumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10237941346154683902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303307482158922565.post-1006967051457096262010-10-26T05:57:31.681-07:002010-10-26T05:57:31.681-07:00April, why should any particular education method ...April, why should any particular education method be available to many?<br /><br />Imagine there are, say, 300 methods. Each works well for 3-5% of the general population and is available to anywhere from .1 to100%. As long as the availability isn't clumped across the population, everybody will have many choices of different methods!<br /><br />For example, unschooling is available to families with a particular philosophy and lifestyle, Birgham Young model is available to mormons, virtual schools are available for people who have the fast internet, the boarding School of Science and Math is available to math geeks, a private school costing $20k a year is available to people with incomes over $20k a year and so on. <br /><br />As long as these are very diverse criteria, every child will belong to multiple populations and thus will have multiple education choices. There is no reason whatsoever to call creators of an education method selfish just because they don't serve 100% of the population.Maria Droujkovahttp://www.naturalmath.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303307482158922565.post-11120681408418401212010-10-25T20:20:51.151-07:002010-10-25T20:20:51.151-07:00Hmmm... I'm not sure the current model is one...Hmmm... I'm not sure the current model is one that can be fixed. You're still working in the same paradigm. What's needed is a paradigm shift. Can your vision of "children freely following their own interests" really happen in an institutional setting? <br /><br />Your math salon is one of the best ideas I've seen. The trouble is that the best teaching/learning is in very small groups and is so time and energy intense that it is expensive at many levels. <br /><br />It's selfish, and not available to many, but homeschooling is one way to give kids the freedom to learn in the ways that best suit them. <br /><br />traditional schools = inside-the-box<br /><br />experimental/charter/open schools = outside-the-box <br /><br />homeschool = "Box? What box?" ;-)Aprilhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04183821631585672805noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303307482158922565.post-38701790073059032782010-10-21T14:05:18.560-07:002010-10-21T14:05:18.560-07:00By thinking of our creations as alternatives to X,...By thinking of our creations as alternatives to X, we focus on X.Maria Droujkovahttp://www.naturalmath.comnoreply@blogger.com