Deschooling for Kids and Parents
So what is this thing called deschooling? If you've been traversing the internet looking for an answer, you're probably feeling a little bewildered by now. I mean, Geez Louise, how many definitions can there possibly be? Really, only one. But, human perception being what it is, multiplied by the number of blogs and personal web pages out there, well, you're gonna end up with as many explanations as there are people willing to explain it. It's one of those Holy Cookie Monster Eyes, Batman! situations. (Personally, I think the internet is one of those classic examples of Less is More. It used to be easier to find good, solid information on a subject when there were fewer websites. But I digress.)
The concept of deschooling is pretty simple: "Being Schooled" means all those things they teach you in kindergarten and keep reinforcing for the next 12 years - how to wait in line, sit in a circle, raise your hand to go to the bathroom, learning only what adult strangers deem appropriate for you to learn, spending your off time doing "home-work" because apparently no one in the world learns anything unless they repeat it 188 times, straining to memorize a list of facts/dates/names/whatever so you'll pass the test on Friday (promptly forgetting the whole litany immediately afterwards). What a waste of time, considering that it only takes about 50 contact hours to teach the basic curriculum to a child. In between, you participate in class activities you may or may not be interested in, suddenly stopping/starting/changing to a completely different activity because a bell rang or the teacher told you to.
And, if you don't do these things -- and do them well -- you'll be punished. By your teachers, your parents, your future employers, society as a whole. You're not an "A" student. You're not "taking your student career seriously." You're a rebel. A slacker. A bum.
Not very empowering, is it? You have no control over your own education. Everyone else controls it. You're totally left out of the loop, as if you don't matter. But since it happens to be your education, your life, and your opinions, why are you the least important part of the decision making process? What kind of sense is that?
When you begin taking matters into your own hands by homeschooling, first you need to shake off the Being Schooled mindset -- and that's where we get the term "De-Schooling". It takes roughly two weeks to twelve months to undo the major psychological damage. The commonly accepted timetable is 1 month of deschooling for every year your child attended school. Yes yes, I know that seems like an awfully long time. But, it's so worth it. I went through it with my eldest son, who'd been in public school for 6 years. It took that child a full year to deschool (read: mother hitting head against wall, tearing out hair). But, I sat on my hands, phoned a LOT of friends for sanity, attended more support group meetings than I could count and said nothing to him (well, almost nothing). By the 13th month of homeschooling, that boy started going to the library, devouring books on a multitude of subjects, teaching his little brother (!!) cool Greek mythology and math equations, and begging to try wacky science projects in the kitchen. Three years later, at the age of 14. he'd advanced to a point so far above and beyond me, eager to jump into algebra, chemistry and computer networking, that it became time for college. He passed the placement test and was accepted. Which meant he'd mastered middle school and high school in just under 2 years. My youngest son was a different breed; he preferred to take his time. He didn't begin college until 16.
So, if you asked me, is deschooling worth it? I'd answer a resounding Yes. Absolutely. You bet!
We parents need to deschool, too. In fact, we probably need it more than our kids. I was talking to a friend the other day and we were shaking our heads at ourselves. Even though we've been homeschooling for eons (she, for 17 years, me 15) we still find ourselves thinking "schoolishly" at times. And we, of all people, know better! But, the lessons of childhood stick hard. Not only did we experience our own 12-to-18 years of institutional schooling, we've had several more years of ingesting the subtle (and sometimes not-so-subtle) messages that the media/family/friends toss into our thinking. It's no wonder we parents have so much trouble trusting our own instincts or judgment, especially where Education is concerned. Worst part is, we don't even realize we're doing it. Award-winning educator John Taylor Gatto explains why that is.
The following is a nice list of deschooling articles, from the academic, to the historical, to the personal, written by homeschooling parents, child advocates and professional educators. Some will appeal to you more than others. At least one or two will "speak" to you and cause a lightbulb to go off. And again, I know the whole deschooling thing seems time consuming and daunting, but I repeat: you'll never regret it.
DE-schooling
The first time I felt how great my own deschooling
needs were was during those first few shaky months of
homeschooling. I asked Christopher one night, "What
have you learned today?" Then I stopped to wonder: why
did I need proof? By Pattie Donahue-Krueger.
Deschooling and Unschooling
School phrases like "being a student is a full-time job" and "what you do here will affect your entire life" and "you have to learn to get along with people, [so no, we're not going to transfer you to a teacher you can stand]" live in the heads of people who went to school for twelve to eighteen years, and if we didn't question them then, are we safe to question them now, with our tender children's futures in the balance? A Home Education Magazine interview with Sandra Dodd.
Deschooling Gently
Even as parents leave school to teach their children at home, there is a longing for the old way. Curriculum, learning through workbooks and directives, checking of learning lists, “keeping up”, and making sure that kids learn “everything that’s important” are concepts that are deeply rooted in our American psyche. Giving any of these up is like going cold turkey. By Tammy Takahashi.
Deschooling for
Parents
Take a breath and picture your favorite, clearest
school year. Is it vivid? By Sandra Dodd.
Deschooling: The Mental Vacation You
Didn't Expect
Are your kids resisting all your attempts to start
homeschooling? They're not trying to drive you nuts.
Really. They're just unconsciously letting you know
that they need time to decompress, to take a deep
breath and flush all that unhappiness out of their
system. An RMEC article. By Cindy Englan.
John Holt and The Origins of Contemporary Homeschooling
John Holt, a professional educator and early pioneer of the modern homeschool movement, found himself deeply influenced by Ivan Illich's Deschooling Society
The Promise of De-Schooling
A political argument in favour of deschooling is a fairly simple one. Schools are huge businesses. They command massive amounts of capital, huge administrative apparatuses, they have enormous workforces and sprawling facilities. "Schooling is the largest single employer in the United States, and the largest grantor of contracts next to the Defense Department". Over the course of a century, schools have developed into monumental undertakings, and the money that pours into them comes directly out of tax dollars. Schooling is "a very profitable monopoly, guaranteed its customers by the police power of the state." An article by bestselling author Matt Hern.
Also look for these books:
Homeschooling Our Children, Unschooling
Ourselves by Alison McKee
Moving A
Puddle by Sandra Dodd
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