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You have read this article What's Popular
with the title July 2011. You can bookmark this page URL http://machining33.blogspot.com/2011/07/what-popular-this-week-on-innovative.html. Thanks!
What's Popular This Week on The Innovative Educator
Here’s the roundup of what's been popular on The Innovative Educator blog this week. Below you’ll see my top weekly posts along with the number of pageviews in the past 7 days. I hope there's something that looks of interest to you. If it does, check it out. If you’re so inspired leave a comment.
Turn Your iPad or iTouch into a Document Camera
I just LOVE saving people and schools money and here's another way to do it. If you have an access to an iPad or iTouch you also have a document camera you can use in your classroom. Simply connect the device to the projector and balance it on something in camera mode, then wah-la! A document camera. You don't need any fancy or extra equipment. So simple and so cool.
We used it in a workshop where people had iTouches and iPads and we were trying to figure out a very easy way for everyone to share their work without having to upload, email, etc. All we needed to do is turn one iTouch or iPad into a document camera then everyone just took their device. Placed it under the document camera -designated device and we were able to share! It also worked well when we were trying to share how we did something on a particular device.
This video made by Chris Bell features Lainie Rowell showing us how at Alan November's Building Learning Communities conference.
We used it in a workshop where people had iTouches and iPads and we were trying to figure out a very easy way for everyone to share their work without having to upload, email, etc. All we needed to do is turn one iTouch or iPad into a document camera then everyone just took their device. Placed it under the document camera -designated device and we were able to share! It also worked well when we were trying to share how we did something on a particular device.
This video made by Chris Bell features Lainie Rowell showing us how at Alan November's Building Learning Communities conference.
You have read this article document camera /
iPad /
ipod touch
with the title July 2011. You can bookmark this page URL http://machining33.blogspot.com/2011/07/turn-your-ipad-or-itouch-into-document.html. Thanks!
Listen to Me Speak Today! Creating Schools that Empower Students with the Freedom to Find Their Sentence
I will be speaking today at the Reform Symposium Worldwide conference about Creating the Schools that Empower Students with the Freedom to Find Their Sentence. This is a free webinar where I will discuss why we need to help students break out of the boring prison of school if we want to prepare them for the real world in which they live. I hope to shatter some of the myths that have been used as excuses for administrators and policy makers to take the easy way out keeping 21st century students stuck in the past. In my presentation I will bring in voices of real students and educators who have experienced the success that ensues when students are empowered to think outside the ban and are given the freedom to communicate, connect, and create in real ways, with real meaning, for real audiences.Time and Date: Saturday, July 30th, 15:30 to 16:30 LA time/ 1830 to 1930 Boston time/ 23:30-00:30 London time. You can check other time zones here.
Join at this link.
Payment information: FREE!
Twitter: My alias @InnovativeEdu Conference hashtag - #RSCON3
You have read this article #RSCON3 /
education reform
with the title July 2011. You can bookmark this page URL http://machining33.blogspot.com/2011/07/listen-to-me-speak-today-creating.html. Thanks!
Is College Really for All?
The Common Core Standards are being adopted far and wide and sprinkled throughout is a new acronym that concerns educators like me.
CCR
It stands for College AND Career readiness. This concerns a lot of people for a lot of reasons. You can read what I’ve written about this here. Here are five obvious reasons not everyone should go to college:
- Many of our most successful entrepreneurs didn’t graduate from college and many of those who did question its value.
- College-ready shouldn’t be a requirement for blue collar workers.
- The artists, musicians, photographers, actors, of our world don’t need a college degree.
- College debt has surpassed credit card debt in our country. Do we need to force everyone down this path?
- High school students are given less and less choice when it comes to focusing on what they are interested in. They may need time in the world before picking a path in college. Heck ask around and you’ll see that many people who did graduate from college aren’t in the field they went to school for.
- Not everyone is, or should have to be, academically-minded.
'College for All' Campaign Getting a Second Look
Catherine Gewertz - Education Week
This article points out that some say students should also be prepared for postsecondary options that could lead to a bright future—but not necessarily a four-year degree. It identifies that while research shows that today’s students need “some” postsecondary education or training to make a good living in today’s economy, the nation has yet to flesh out what that means short of a baccalaureate degree.
Pathways to Prosperity: Meeting the Challenge of Preparing Young Americans for the 21st Century
Harvard University Graduate School of Education
The report contends that our national strategy for education and youth development has been too narrowly focused on an academic, classroom-based approach. It summarizes some of the concerns that practicing educators have been expressing regarding the notion of pushing students into a four-year college path. The report argues that job-market and college-completion realities demand that schools pay more attention to the large group of students who graduate from high school but might not earn four-year college degrees. The report advocates development of a comprehensive pathways network to serve youth in high school and beyond.
This pathways system would be based on three essential elements.
1) Broader Vision
2) Employer Involvement
3) Social Compact
The University Has No Clothes
By Daniel B. Smith - New York Magazine
The notion that a college degree is essentially worthless has become one of the year’s most fashionable ideas, with two prominent venture capitalists (Cornell ’89 and Stanford ’89, by the way) leading the charge.
Why the Future of College isn’t on Campus
Kate Fridkis - Brazen Life
Kate Fridkis shares that in her experience college doesn’t prepare anyone for life after college. She identifies a big college issue, imagines alternatives, questions the structure and provides suggestions.
College isn’t for Everyone
Michael Prater - Growth Through Learning
In this post, Michael Prater asks, “Shouldn’t rigor be accompanied by corresponding relevance for the student?” He goes on to say that not all students will be successful at the college level, nor should they be. He advises common sense tells us that many people do not have the academic ability, motivation, or learning style that is necessary to succeed at the four-year college level.
He provides this smart advice for educators.
- Educate parents and students about career opportunities outside of the typical four-year college track.
- Remove the elitist view that some in education have. Trade school isn’t “just” trade school.
- Partner with those in vocational/career education and industry.
- Provide more curricular options for students in grades 9-12.
Admissions Lab White Paper
The Pew Foundation reveals we’ll have less students applying to college, they will be less prepared, and they’ll need more financial aid. This white paper address the changes colleges will need to make for future students who among other things will be less likely to respond to old-fashioned recruitment measures. Colleges will need to speak their language in their social media worlds.
Is College Worth the Investment?
By Mark Schneider | American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
PayScale.com, recently released data on the return on investment (ROI) from over five hundred colleges and universities.
Key points include:
- The return on investment (ROI) from a college degree is higher at more selective universities and at public universities.
- Within each level of selectivity, ROI varies widely among individual colleges.
- With many colleges simply not worth the investment, we need to find ways to collect and publish ROI data so students can make better decisions about what college or university to attend
Will Higher Education be the Next Bubble to Burst?
By Joseph Marr Cronin and Howard E. Horton – The Chronicle of Higher Education
Early warnings suggest that higher ed could be the next bubble to burst. There is a growing sense among the public that higher education might be overpriced and under-delivering. For instance over the past 25 years, average college tuition and fees have risen by 440 percent — more than four times the rate of inflation and almost twice the rate of medical care. The article shares solutions being proposed by several colleges which includes ideas such as offering more online options, increasing the number of semesters each year, and studying abroad.
Drowning in Debt: The Emerging Student Loan Crisis
Education Sector
As recently as the mid-1990s, borrowing was the exception. Now it’s the rule. This article sheds light on borrowing trends.
You have read this article college myth
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Public schools that don't require high stakes tests
Did you know that if you live in New York and you don’t believe high stakes tests are what is best for kids there is a coalition of high schools which have pioneered the creation of educational communities synonymous with active student learning, exemplary professional development and innovative curriculum and teaching strategies for 21st century students? Yep there is. In fact many of the schools and leaders have even been nationally recognized through such honors as New American High Schools, 21st Century Schools, and Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence.These Consortium schools have devised a system of assessment and they document how their work meets and exceeds New York State Regents standards through a system of rigorous commencement-level performance-based assessment tasks. Performance on these tasks is reflected on student transcripts. The tasks require students to demonstrate accomplishment in areas such as analytic thinking, reading comprehension, research writing skills, the application of mathematical computation and problem-solving skills, computer technology, the utilization of the scientific method in undertaking science research, appreciation of and performance skills in the arts, service learning and school to career skills. Experts external to the schools, from universities and the business world, participate in reviews of student work.
You can visit the Member High Schools to discover if there is a school near you. You can find out about schools and programs in other areas at The Coalition of Essential Schools website.
You have read this article standardized tests
with the title July 2011. You can bookmark this page URL http://machining33.blogspot.com/2011/07/public-schools-that-don-require-high.html. Thanks!
Homeschooling, Socialization, and the Autism Spectrum
Guest Post by Homeschooling Mom Heather DeGeorge
Editor’s note: When I mention home education as an option some in the education world who are in my PLN have brought up socialization being an issue. Heather DeGeorge has had wonderful feedback which she shares on the Homeschooling, Unschooling, Uncollege, Opt Out, DIY, Hack Your Education group. I asked her to share her insights here and she said yes! This is part 2 of her insights. Part 1 addresses homeschooling and socialization in general. Thank you Heather.
I am a mother of a child in the spectrum. Our journey started when he was flagged with profound delays at 9 months old and suspected of cerebral palsy. I remember when, as a nursing infant of a stay-at-home mother, my son had no concept that I had left the room let alone gone out to the store. I remember when he had progressed to the point of being able to verbalize a need, but didn’t understand that a human needed to be present to hear it in order for that need to be met. I remember the very first time he laid his head on my shoulder, or looked me in the eye—because they were exceptions in our life.
He is now 7-1/2 years old. I have a Master’s in Education with additional graduate credits in Special Education and teaching children with autism. I have been a foster parent.
And I homeschool.
None of these things seem to belong in the same paragraph, do they? Every therapist, specialist and educator would scream that these things are mutually exclusive: a child in the autism spectrum and homeschooling. Their most fervent argument is the need for the child to be socialized. And they are right. We simply disagree on the best method of providing that education to a child in the autism spectrum.
I had two very major concerns for my son’s education:
1) not squashing his love of learning (which I wasn’t sure he had, but didn’t want to remove the opportunity for) by forcing him to do work that was below his level simply as a means of teaching him how to follow directions (with the mindset that: because he already knew how to do those things, the frustration level would be with following the directions vs. following directions AND completing the task)
2) a school’s ability to direct his interpersonal development. By this, I really meant: are they truly going to be able to supervise and mentor his relational skills in that setting better than I could do as a homeschooling mother? Who's going to be responsible for this in the classroom? A teacher with training specific to my kid's needs (and not split among 6+ other kids)? Or the aide assigned to him who has a high school diploma and MAYBE some specialized training (if at all)? And do any of them share my ideas of what “acceptable behavior” is?
It really came down to seeing the classroom in session first-hand. I'll be honest: I ADORED the preschool disabled teacher my son would've been with. She believed in all the same literature that I did--had studied much of the theories I was most supportive of. She was really good with the kids.
But at the end of the day, the classroom setting wasn't going to be a good fit for my son. At the time, he had more oppositional behavior than he does now. In a school setting, there was absolutely no way they would legally be able to work him through that in ways that were going to produce the results that I wanted for my child. They wouldn't be allowed to hug and rock him until he calmed down from a rage. They wouldn't know him well enough to understand when it was okay for him to be upset for any length of time (at least not till mid-year at BEST). These were very big deals. And with no real way to redirect him into compliance (he had no real "currency" for praise and frankly, I'm not "for" the whole "If you do this, you can do/have that" mentality anyway) I just felt that it was a recipe for him seeing the classroom as a place of no real consequences for poor behavior... and that becoming the mentality about school.
Instead, we tried two different private schools--moving mid-year when the first didn't work out. Neither was a good fit.
The following year (what would've been his pre-K year) we kept him home. I dreaded it given his behavior issues; but ultimately it was the best thing ever. I was able to supervise and mentor his relational skills in a way that made so much more progress. Of course, I also made a serious effort to have him out and about a lot. About halfway through that year, the behavior started to level off and things were really good.
The people that gave me a hard time about him needing the socialization are baffled when I explain that children like my son truly needed more help with socialization--help that *I* could give him one-on-one by being there all the time. I didn't intervene, but I was there. I saw what happened first-hand vs. what the teacher managed to catch and/or he remembered from the day (assuming he could even verbalize it). I was able to work him through it right after it happened while it was fresh in his mind (and heart). Sometimes I was able to work him through it while it happened (although this was rare). And I was always modeling behaviors for him... when we were at stores, the library, at group activities. He really couldn't have had better social skills training and he couldn't have had it more intensively. Furthermore, it was social skills training that I knew I was in line with, because *I* was giving it to him.
He WAS in a classroom setting until his pre-k year. But my child was becoming the "problem child" and THAT was also something I didn't want to stick.
There are absolutely still issues. He has very little idea when kids are taking advantage of him. He’s been held down against his will and still thinks that child is his friend. And really, he presents like most neurotypical 7-year-old boys, which is a blessing and curse: he looks like every other kid—but he isn’t. There is no question that he could’ve been mainstreamed into a first grade classroom at first grade thanks to the work we did at home for two years. I’m not confident that level of progress could’ve happened in a classroom.
We will continue to keep our son home where he is free to learn his lessons—social and academic—at his own pace, with better supervision by someone whose interest in him is unparalleled even by the most loving teacher, and whose values are the ones who SHOULD be instilled in his social skills.
It is not bashing the schools to say that they are incapable of providing my son with the level of socialization that we were capable of providing him at home. It is a matter of student-teacher ratio, teacher expectation (which research shows has a PROFOUND effect on achievement), and opportunity. The best teachers will concede that some children simply do better in a home environment. And to those who would say (and have said) that my training in teaching makes it okay for my son, I will tell you unequivocally that the bulk of my education dealt with teaching me how to juggle the needs of 24+ children at a time and legal issues. The precious little that applies to teaching my own child at home is easily found on the internet by parents willing to look.
This is not a popular route. It is generally not a SUPPORTED route. But it is a life-changing course of action for your child that could make a world of difference.
Consider it.
------------------------------------------------
Heather DeGeorge holds a Bachelor's in Business Administration and a Master's in Education with additional graduate credits in Special Education and teaching children with autism. She is a biological and adoptive mother; and former foster mother and teacher. Her journey with the children in her life and helping in their significant struggles has led her to becoming certified in Holistic Health Counseling and focusing on children with developmental and behavioral issues.
Editor’s note: When I mention home education as an option some in the education world who are in my PLN have brought up socialization being an issue. Heather DeGeorge has had wonderful feedback which she shares on the Homeschooling, Unschooling, Uncollege, Opt Out, DIY, Hack Your Education group. I asked her to share her insights here and she said yes! This is part 2 of her insights. Part 1 addresses homeschooling and socialization in general. Thank you Heather.
I am a mother of a child in the spectrum. Our journey started when he was flagged with profound delays at 9 months old and suspected of cerebral palsy. I remember when, as a nursing infant of a stay-at-home mother, my son had no concept that I had left the room let alone gone out to the store. I remember when he had progressed to the point of being able to verbalize a need, but didn’t understand that a human needed to be present to hear it in order for that need to be met. I remember the very first time he laid his head on my shoulder, or looked me in the eye—because they were exceptions in our life.
He is now 7-1/2 years old. I have a Master’s in Education with additional graduate credits in Special Education and teaching children with autism. I have been a foster parent.
And I homeschool.
None of these things seem to belong in the same paragraph, do they? Every therapist, specialist and educator would scream that these things are mutually exclusive: a child in the autism spectrum and homeschooling. Their most fervent argument is the need for the child to be socialized. And they are right. We simply disagree on the best method of providing that education to a child in the autism spectrum.
I had two very major concerns for my son’s education:
1) not squashing his love of learning (which I wasn’t sure he had, but didn’t want to remove the opportunity for) by forcing him to do work that was below his level simply as a means of teaching him how to follow directions (with the mindset that: because he already knew how to do those things, the frustration level would be with following the directions vs. following directions AND completing the task)
2) a school’s ability to direct his interpersonal development. By this, I really meant: are they truly going to be able to supervise and mentor his relational skills in that setting better than I could do as a homeschooling mother? Who's going to be responsible for this in the classroom? A teacher with training specific to my kid's needs (and not split among 6+ other kids)? Or the aide assigned to him who has a high school diploma and MAYBE some specialized training (if at all)? And do any of them share my ideas of what “acceptable behavior” is?
It really came down to seeing the classroom in session first-hand. I'll be honest: I ADORED the preschool disabled teacher my son would've been with. She believed in all the same literature that I did--had studied much of the theories I was most supportive of. She was really good with the kids.
But at the end of the day, the classroom setting wasn't going to be a good fit for my son. At the time, he had more oppositional behavior than he does now. In a school setting, there was absolutely no way they would legally be able to work him through that in ways that were going to produce the results that I wanted for my child. They wouldn't be allowed to hug and rock him until he calmed down from a rage. They wouldn't know him well enough to understand when it was okay for him to be upset for any length of time (at least not till mid-year at BEST). These were very big deals. And with no real way to redirect him into compliance (he had no real "currency" for praise and frankly, I'm not "for" the whole "If you do this, you can do/have that" mentality anyway) I just felt that it was a recipe for him seeing the classroom as a place of no real consequences for poor behavior... and that becoming the mentality about school.
Instead, we tried two different private schools--moving mid-year when the first didn't work out. Neither was a good fit.
The following year (what would've been his pre-K year) we kept him home. I dreaded it given his behavior issues; but ultimately it was the best thing ever. I was able to supervise and mentor his relational skills in a way that made so much more progress. Of course, I also made a serious effort to have him out and about a lot. About halfway through that year, the behavior started to level off and things were really good.
The people that gave me a hard time about him needing the socialization are baffled when I explain that children like my son truly needed more help with socialization--help that *I* could give him one-on-one by being there all the time. I didn't intervene, but I was there. I saw what happened first-hand vs. what the teacher managed to catch and/or he remembered from the day (assuming he could even verbalize it). I was able to work him through it right after it happened while it was fresh in his mind (and heart). Sometimes I was able to work him through it while it happened (although this was rare). And I was always modeling behaviors for him... when we were at stores, the library, at group activities. He really couldn't have had better social skills training and he couldn't have had it more intensively. Furthermore, it was social skills training that I knew I was in line with, because *I* was giving it to him.
He WAS in a classroom setting until his pre-k year. But my child was becoming the "problem child" and THAT was also something I didn't want to stick.
There are absolutely still issues. He has very little idea when kids are taking advantage of him. He’s been held down against his will and still thinks that child is his friend. And really, he presents like most neurotypical 7-year-old boys, which is a blessing and curse: he looks like every other kid—but he isn’t. There is no question that he could’ve been mainstreamed into a first grade classroom at first grade thanks to the work we did at home for two years. I’m not confident that level of progress could’ve happened in a classroom.
We will continue to keep our son home where he is free to learn his lessons—social and academic—at his own pace, with better supervision by someone whose interest in him is unparalleled even by the most loving teacher, and whose values are the ones who SHOULD be instilled in his social skills.
It is not bashing the schools to say that they are incapable of providing my son with the level of socialization that we were capable of providing him at home. It is a matter of student-teacher ratio, teacher expectation (which research shows has a PROFOUND effect on achievement), and opportunity. The best teachers will concede that some children simply do better in a home environment. And to those who would say (and have said) that my training in teaching makes it okay for my son, I will tell you unequivocally that the bulk of my education dealt with teaching me how to juggle the needs of 24+ children at a time and legal issues. The precious little that applies to teaching my own child at home is easily found on the internet by parents willing to look.
This is not a popular route. It is generally not a SUPPORTED route. But it is a life-changing course of action for your child that could make a world of difference.
Consider it.
------------------------------------------------
Heather DeGeorge holds a Bachelor's in Business Administration and a Master's in Education with additional graduate credits in Special Education and teaching children with autism. She is a biological and adoptive mother; and former foster mother and teacher. Her journey with the children in her life and helping in their significant struggles has led her to becoming certified in Holistic Health Counseling and focusing on children with developmental and behavioral issues.
You have read this article Autism /
DIY Learning /
home education /
homeschooled /
homeschooling /
unschooled /
unschooling
with the title July 2011. You can bookmark this page URL http://machining33.blogspot.com/2011/07/homeschooling-socialization-and-autism.html. Thanks!
How “Socialization” Happens in Homeschooling
Guest Post by Homeschooling Mom Heather DeGeorge
Editor’s note: When I mention home education as an option some in the education world who are in my PLN have brought up socialization being an issue. Heather DeGeorge has wonderful feedback on the Homeschooling, Unschooling, Uncollege, Opt Out, DIY, Hack Your Education group. I asked her to share her insights here and she said yes! This is part 1 of her insights. Part 2 will address homeschooling and socialization with children on the Autism spectrum. Thank you Heather.
It’s such a hot-button issue, isn’t it?
I’m the mother of a 7-1/2 year old social BEAST. My kid has spent (literally) EIGHT hours playing with the THIRTEEN kids on our block and come in at night crying that he barely got to play with his friends. So please—I’ve been there if you have one of those. It’s misery.
But I’m also a very fervent believer that children need to learn how to work with others in joint decision-making, on a team, taking direction from other figures of authority, and just understanding basic, NORMAL, day-to-day social interactions. And really, I think this is what people are thinking that homeschoolers just toss to the wind “in exchange” for the academic benefits.
SO not so.
The reality is that: as homeschooling parents, we have a lot more opportunity to teach our children social skills and interactions. In fact, we have the best opportunity because we are there to see them and redirect our kids behavior while it is still fresh in their heads (and hearts) and before it becomes a habit. It’s a basic supervision issue. We are better able to supervise our kid under a variety of situations better than they are getting in a school setting.
We are also available to model these situations for them better, too. Those 30+ hours each week of classroom time is now spent with (and watching) me interact with all manner of people in all manner of situations. My son holds the door open for people at the post office not because I told him to do it (because I haven’t), but because he’s seen me do it, asked me why, and decided that (predominantly for the praise it receives him—no different from most other kids his age) it’s something he should do, too. He overhears my phone calls to the credit card company, the doctor’s office and to the lawyers when I was trying to resolve some real estate transaction issues—and my tone and demeanor differ with all of them based on the situation.
We have homeschooled in two states. One has a much more active homeschooling community than the other.
In addition to homeschool coop classes and regular park outings, opportunities for any homeschooled child to “socialize” (aka “play”) with other children are:
Many of these things not only provide play time with age-peers, but taking direction from another authority figure.
Think about exactly what it is “socialization” means to you before you decide this is something that is best learned in a school—where your child is spending 6 hours/day with the same group of children who are the same age (and usually same academic level, possibly the same race, ethnicity and socio-economic status depending on your particular district) in a single building with a single adult authority figure (maybe a few more if they’re a little older).
The schools were not set up to teach social skills. They were initially designed to promote literacy, and changed with the industrial revolution to enhance the vocational workforce. But as we move towards more service-driven industries of the future where social skills, creativity and analytical thinking are critical, these are skills we need to take very seriously. Giving them the care and attention they deserve in the settings our children will most likely use them in as adults gives them the best possible social training we could ever ask for.
And it’s not happening in a classroom.
------------------------------------------------
Heather DeGeorge holds a Bachelor's in Business Administration and a Master's in Education with additional graduate credits in Special Education and teaching children with autism. She is a biological and adoptive mother; and former foster mother and teacher. Her journey with the children in her life and helping in their significant struggles has led her to becoming certified in Holistic Health Counseling and focusing on children with developmental and behavioral issues.
Editor’s note: When I mention home education as an option some in the education world who are in my PLN have brought up socialization being an issue. Heather DeGeorge has wonderful feedback on the Homeschooling, Unschooling, Uncollege, Opt Out, DIY, Hack Your Education group. I asked her to share her insights here and she said yes! This is part 1 of her insights. Part 2 will address homeschooling and socialization with children on the Autism spectrum. Thank you Heather.
It’s such a hot-button issue, isn’t it?
I’m the mother of a 7-1/2 year old social BEAST. My kid has spent (literally) EIGHT hours playing with the THIRTEEN kids on our block and come in at night crying that he barely got to play with his friends. So please—I’ve been there if you have one of those. It’s misery.
But I’m also a very fervent believer that children need to learn how to work with others in joint decision-making, on a team, taking direction from other figures of authority, and just understanding basic, NORMAL, day-to-day social interactions. And really, I think this is what people are thinking that homeschoolers just toss to the wind “in exchange” for the academic benefits.SO not so.
The reality is that: as homeschooling parents, we have a lot more opportunity to teach our children social skills and interactions. In fact, we have the best opportunity because we are there to see them and redirect our kids behavior while it is still fresh in their heads (and hearts) and before it becomes a habit. It’s a basic supervision issue. We are better able to supervise our kid under a variety of situations better than they are getting in a school setting.
We are also available to model these situations for them better, too. Those 30+ hours each week of classroom time is now spent with (and watching) me interact with all manner of people in all manner of situations. My son holds the door open for people at the post office not because I told him to do it (because I haven’t), but because he’s seen me do it, asked me why, and decided that (predominantly for the praise it receives him—no different from most other kids his age) it’s something he should do, too. He overhears my phone calls to the credit card company, the doctor’s office and to the lawyers when I was trying to resolve some real estate transaction issues—and my tone and demeanor differ with all of them based on the situation.
We have homeschooled in two states. One has a much more active homeschooling community than the other.
In addition to homeschool coop classes and regular park outings, opportunities for any homeschooled child to “socialize” (aka “play”) with other children are:
- recreation teams and activities
- community activities
- church functions and religious instruction
- family functions with relatives that have children
- play dates
- playing with neighborhood kids
- enrichment classes (art, music, etc.)
Many of these things not only provide play time with age-peers, but taking direction from another authority figure.
Think about exactly what it is “socialization” means to you before you decide this is something that is best learned in a school—where your child is spending 6 hours/day with the same group of children who are the same age (and usually same academic level, possibly the same race, ethnicity and socio-economic status depending on your particular district) in a single building with a single adult authority figure (maybe a few more if they’re a little older).
The schools were not set up to teach social skills. They were initially designed to promote literacy, and changed with the industrial revolution to enhance the vocational workforce. But as we move towards more service-driven industries of the future where social skills, creativity and analytical thinking are critical, these are skills we need to take very seriously. Giving them the care and attention they deserve in the settings our children will most likely use them in as adults gives them the best possible social training we could ever ask for.
And it’s not happening in a classroom.
------------------------------------------------
Heather DeGeorge holds a Bachelor's in Business Administration and a Master's in Education with additional graduate credits in Special Education and teaching children with autism. She is a biological and adoptive mother; and former foster mother and teacher. Her journey with the children in her life and helping in their significant struggles has led her to becoming certified in Holistic Health Counseling and focusing on children with developmental and behavioral issues.
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with the title July 2011. You can bookmark this page URL http://machining33.blogspot.com/2011/07/how-socialization-happens-in.html. Thanks!
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