That is why the best skaters, musicians, architects, etc. study from the most experienced and trained teachers- they would never become excellent at anything if they were to train themselves. And, they would never push themselves beyond a certain point. Does this ever get out of balance the opposite direction (too much direction/control)? Of course it does. But if you ask me, it is easier on a child that has had to work and been pushed too hard to learn how to relax and learn to discover, than on a child that has been raised to only do whatever he or she pleases to learn to care about anyone else but himself and learn respect for others time or efforts.

That is why I would never ever even consider such an education for my own children. Why send them to school? You can offer all the same things at home with a healthy dose of neglect- which most kids get during summer vacation anyway.

Just my thoughts.

-Lindy

@Orem Mom, don’t worry that it was long. That was a great summary of these different forms of education and reminder for parents to get involved in their children’s education. I wonder with a good teacher and with support from the school and district, why these same principles can’t be applied in public and private schools. This is why local control and more parental involvement is so important.

Someone mentioned “Thomas Jefferson Education.” I’m not so sure you totally understood it. I didn’t either when I first read it, but over the years I’ve found that it works – but it wasn’t what I thought at first (which was unschooling/sudbury type stuff.) Thomas Jefferson Education doesn’t say let the kids do whatever they want to. The book says there are three phases in a youth’s life: core phase, love of learning and scholar phase. Children must be guided by parents through these phases.

Core phase is typically ages 0-8 (or so), although some adults are still in it. This is the phase for children to learn discipline, principles, right/wrong, etc. This is a great time for them to learn good habits and to work hard. In this phase, children play creatively in their free time (not video games/tv.) Public schools often cheat younger children of this time by pushing academics too hard too early. This is not to say that academics during this age are wrong, per say, but that the core values are the 1st priority, not academics.

Love of Learning phase is usually 7-13ish. This is when children really learn to love learning. Parents fill the environment with enticing books and other learning tools while setting the example themselves. This is not to say that parents let their kids do whatever they want to! It means that you don’t push the child to do things they may not be ready for or interested in (yet you can get them interested in almost anything if they are in this phase.) Children in this phase will spend most of their free time reading. This is also where traditional public schools also often kill the love of learning in children. Perhaps because they learn to do the minimum required to pass the test.

Scholar Phase – usually ages 13-18 – this is when the teenager really takes his education into his own hands and begins studying hard many things. He catches up in areas that he may have been behind in. The parent helps with planning what the student wants to learn, time management and helping the student stay on track with his goals. The parent can also help by finding classes, mentors, teachers, etc if learning on his own isn’t working out. Parents don’t have to remember calculus to guide a teen through the high school years. A student in scholar phase spends most his free time studying and reading. Society seems to have this a little bit backwards because it is during the teen years that they are encouraged to play.

This is somewhat similar to the classical education model, which is as follows (in a nutshell):
K-3 – Grammar stage – collecting ideas and information
4-8 – Logic stage – thinking about the information
9-12 – Rhetoric stage – expressing ideas about the information.

Charlotte Mason’s works fit in very well with the TJed model as well. She encourages short, simple lessons when young along with a lot of outdoor time.

The principles of Thomas Jefferson Education are below. (One caution is that the “not” doesn’t mean NEVER. And many of the “nots” are appropriate for a scholar phase.)

1. Classics, not textbooks – reading classics instead of someone’s condensed version with all the interesting things taken out is certainly more conducive to loving learning and learning to think.

2. Mentors, Not Professors – mentors would be preferable to guide you in a personalized education.

3. Inspire, Not Require – inspiring children to learn new things makes the knowledge stick better because they wanted to know it, rather than learn it for a test. Giving children the big picture of themselves as someone great with something to contribute to the world is very inspiring too. Definitely the most controversial principle, but it doesn’t really mean to never require anything.

4. Structure Time, Not Content – It make sense to have certain times when you are studying, playing, etc. You don’t always want to have to know exactly what, but that’s not to say you can never structure content. This is actually a good time management technique – to make a time map with blocks of time. However, in scholar phase, structuring content is definitely appropriate.

5. Simplicity, Not Complexity – It’s SO easy to make learning complex, yet it doesn’t have to be. It’s the KISS principle.

6. Quality, Not Conformity – better to master the subject than to learn it for a test and immediately forget it after.

7. You, Not Them – basically means the parents need to be setting the example of studying, reading, learning.

These phases could happen in a public or private school, however all of this very much depends on parental involvement. And because most schools do not have systems in place to promote this, it’s easier to get this by homeschooling. Which is one reason I homeschool my own kids and have seen incredible things from them because the process does work if the parents are involved (the nitty gritty of implementation doesn’t matter so much as the parents being involved.) My oldest is 16 years old and really does study for 75 hours a week not because I make him, but because he wants to – reading tons of classic books in all subjects, writing, speaking, etc. Even though I knew the process, I had a very hard time picturing that of him four years ago.

I know one problem with the public school system is that many parents are NOT involved. PTA and volunteering in the classroom is great and all, but does that make them involved in their own children’s education? Not really. Parents need to be involved by setting the example, teaching children the things that are missing from school (classics, US constitution, etc), and by helping their children manage their time and resources. It also helps if parents could recognize these phases for students no matter where the children went to school.

I always found it interesting that some people who graduated from public school do not feel equipped to teach their own children – why is that? Did the public school not do a good enough job? Did you stop learning once you graduated? Does someone have to tell you what to learn? Much of what is learned in a teaching degree is classroom management and curriculum development, but if you’re teaching your own children, you just need to manage your own kids (which you should do no matter where your kids are educated), and once you’ve figured out the big picture of education and you know how (and like) to read, you can teach your own children at home, or support their education elsewhere.

Sorry, that was really long. I really like studying different forms of education!

I want to know how many of the “graduates” from these types of schools go on to get a college degree.

On the other hand, our current school system destroys creativity and will not encourage artistic abilities. To each their place, it all depends on the child.

I completely agree with you, Traditional Educator. Thanks for posting. My comments follow.

In my home school, children decide much of the curriculum under guidance from parents. For example, my 7th grade daughter wanted to learn Italian this year so she agreed with my suggestion to start off with Latin root words to improve her spelling, vocabulary, and to ease into the Romantic languages. At the same time, she is interested in related subjects like ancient Rome, famous Italian artists, mythology and the forming of governments leading to our Constitution. When a child learns what he/she wants, but a teacher/parent guides the work to make sure it is well-balanced, they learn to love learning and get much more out of it. A parent or teacher’s job is to make sure they receive the best books to study from that are interesting and factual. My daughter and I hate dumbed-down school history and science books for example, and use original sources and more interesting books. The consequence is that she loves reading her school books all hours of the day because they are so interesting (and this includes Math and History!)

For science, we study the world we live in from biology, chemistry, physics, astronomy, geology, etc. We go outside, sometimes in the middle of the night, in every season, and learn to love and appreciate our world through microscopes, telescopes and through our 5 senses. We use the best books to study these topics and find great videos.

I like children being able to spend more time on certain things they are interested in without a bell going off and telling them to stop. This encourages creativity and interest. But they shouldn’t be allowed to just do whatever they want all day as these movies describe. The goal is to have a child who loves to learn and has a foundation of good habits and skills to be a life-long learner. School isn’t 9-3pm. School is a way of life in my home and we are grateful for every learning experience however it comes. Our favorite methods are hands-on, working things out by experimentation, and taking field trips for multiple types of instruction (art, science and history museums, hiking with audobon books, backpacking in the wilderness to figure out how to set up tents, light fires, catch fish, survive). We have hundreds of books and the kids see us reading and looking things up all the time so they have learned to do that also. They know from our example that it is important to know how to communicate through speaking publicly and through written word. We let them figure out math equations when figuring out home projects and cooking. But they have to work in math books also to get the basics. If we are supposed to be writing in journals to keep a personal history, why not let this be the main form for writing and just give them prompts? If we want them to know basic Bible stories and good principles, why not have them learn how to read using scripture readers and simple books about what is most important to us? Use their cue: my younger daughter loves poetry so we read poetry from The Book of Virtues, she uses these poems for copywork and handwriting and she writes her own poetry.

Mixing ages in a classroom or home encourages children to not only learn from those with more experience, but affords them the opportunity to teach and to be compassionate with those who need help.

Balance, obedience, and a good foundation in core subjects are missing from those schools in the videos. Public schools many times are missing ways for children to create, figure things out and have fun while they learn. I admire teachers who can motivate students to love learning. There are ways to present traditional education to make it fun for kids. We need kids with skills and knowledge….not just kids with high self-esteem. When we pattern the love of learning, we tend to have children who also love life and end up reading every sign at the zoo and other museums so they learn even more. Children want to go to ballets and plays and concerts if they see parents doing it. Turning off the TV and reading good books together like Shakespeare or the Narnia Series makes going to those movies or plays more enjoyable and understandable for them.

Sorry Oak, there’s my long answer to these kinds of schools.

In contrast the Bible says, “Train up a child in way he should go,” Proverbs 22:6 and “A child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.” Proverbs 29:15. At the Hebrew school that Christ would have attended the students studied from the scripture almost exclusively. “The aim was to encourage study by sense of duty rather than by reward or fear. Reading, writing, and grammar were taught.”

Young children lack the wisdom to know what they need to learn. Parents have the responsibility to guide their children’s education. Schools are a resource to help parents do that.