The real goal of education is to learn. The goal should be to not to need to be taught.

I am a parent who has home schooled 3 children, two of whom have graduated from home-school, one who is still being "unschooled". Unschooling is a philosophy of life, and education that focuses on children, not on textbooks. If you are not familar with John Holt, and the basic ideas behind unschooling, I would encourage you to investigate the ideas in his books.

I can tell you is that I have raised 3 children who have learned how not to have to be taught. Children who read, write, pursue their goals, follow their interests, explore their world. Children who are in charge of and are constantly pursue their education- not in a classroom, but in their lives- not from 8am to 4 pm, but from morning to night.

To learn, to grow, to grow into who you are and who you were created to be- this is the goal of an education. Put books, and toys, and games and new ideas in front of a 3 year old, and they will explore them- they will be interested to know...

Put a child behind a desk for 6 or 8 hours, and tell them what they must know- drill it into them until they just don't care- and you will kill that child's desire to know...

Open up the world to a child, give them the room to think, experience, grow, learn, explore, and that child will rise to his or her potential.

The public school system, in it's "one method fits all" approach to education, teaches to a very small minority of children- those who learn best by "being taught." The mass majority of children, those who learn by exploration, by seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, creating and exploring, are not suited for this environment.

They have created an environment to fit their idea of an education, and expected the children to "fit" into it. It is impossible, in a public school, to create the environment to fit the child. Yet when a child does not "fit" they say their is something wrong with the child, and not the environment.

There cannot be, and never was there meant to be, a "one size fits all" educational system. The idea assumes that all children are the same, will share the same interests, will learn in the same ways, and will excel at the same things. When a child is not "the same" they are labeled "slow" or "hyperactive" or "ADD" etc...

The children are normal. The expectations placed on them, and the environment created for them,in the public school classroom is what is not normal, or natural.

If the goal is teach a child how to learn, that goal should be accomplished once the child can read, write, and is able to pursue what they are interested in. In a public school, however, a child who has a love for Science will never be able to delve deeply into the subject, pursuing it with all his or her being, developing that love into something which could change the world. That child must receive only the basic "Science" courses, and a realm of other courses which don't relate to what he or she loves and wants to learn about.

We know that many geniuses, such as Albert Einstein did not do well in a "classroom" environment. Only when they were freed of this type of environment, and allowed to pursue where their curiosity led, did they finally excel, at levels unimaginable, for those confined to the public school classroom.

Learn more about this author, Randa Morris.
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