Learning and Life Skills

Thousands of school teachers 'lack subject expertise' - what's a parent to do?

    “It is very concerning that a lot of our young people are not being introduced to subjects by teachers with the necessary expertise in them,” he said.

via www.telegraph.co.uk

I found this quite interesting given that the frequent objection raised by teachers to parents who homeschool is, "Do you have a teaching certificate?"  They hold the belief that in order to teach your own children a parent needs special training and a piece of paper 'certifying' the ability to do so.  Seems, though, that the school systems are quilty of committing the same offense - utilizing non-subject experts to teach.   Knowing that this is occurring both in the UK and US education system, how do parent who have students in the system, deal with this? 

Based on my conversations with parents I advise as they search for supplemental and core academic resources, parents have taken to schooling in the after-school hours.  While not formally recognized as 'homeschooling', because the child is counted on the public school's roster, my impression is that this is an increasingly common occurrence.  I'd love to see research that accumulates the number of hours parents spend teaching or re-teaching content their child is supposed to be mastering at school.  Anyone know of research that looks into this?  

What concerns me is that the children never seem to come first.   Shouldn't parents be encouraged and taught how to be effective in supporting and, yes - even teaching - academic content?  What if we trained parents in techniques for tutoring their own?  Granted, many take the position that they are paying for the school system to educate their child, so why should they need to?  Those are not the parents I'm thinking of.  I work daily with parents who are desperate to find ways to help their child, and because the 'system' carries a belief that the parent isn't 'qualified' to teach, they don't engage them in the education process involved with the transfer of academic knowledge.  Yet, that same system staffs math and science classes with individuals who have no more, and frequenly less, education in those subjects than the parents.

If you are a parent interested in learning more about how to support your child's academic success, including identifying worthwhile resources for use at home, contact me directly if you'd like to begin to benefit by being coached by a 15 yr veteran homeschooler and parenting coach.  Visit our Thinking To Learn website to explore educational resources in use by parents at home and homeschoolers.

Post a comment to share links to other websites that you've identified as carrying good resources for your children and why you think they are good.

Let me know whether you are a parent who schools in the afterhours, how many hours you do so, and what subjects you teach.   I look forward to hearing from you.

 

 

Smart Kids: Why Do Schools Stigmatize “Gifted Children”?

Being smart has never been easy, especially in the modern world of public education. Since the Soviet Sputnik ratcheted- up the Cold War in the 1950s, school systems have attempted to respond with school programs for “gifted children” supposedly aimed at re-asserting North American brain power. After 1958, bright kids were suddenly identified as “gifted” and hothoused in special segregated classes. Yet, since that time, bright kids, by whatever  name – “egghead,” “browner,” or “nerd”” – have not been very well served by public education.

via educhatter.wordpress.com

Round and round the discussion goes, repeating the same unfortunate stereotypes of parents of gifted/high-ability children -  that they are middle-class, helicopter parents with nothing better to do than to over-stress over their child's education and opportunities (read the post comments.)

If we want to change the discussion on gifted education, we will first have to change this society's inherent problem with jealousy and generalizations.  Dismissing parents of truly gifted children only leaves them with fewer advocates in a process that is fraught with difficulty.  Hence, why so many who are either economically able, or sacrificially inclined will homeschool, charter school, and private school their children - anything rather than sign them up for the factory-driven public education system, which too often appears bent on shaping them to their liking instead of freeing them to exercise their abilities. 

Post a comment here if you are fed up with the same-old discussions with little resulting change....

 

 

A homeschool approach at school - school teaches by ability not grade

"Don't Fail Me: Education in America " examines the crisis in our public education system and why America's financial future is at risk if our students can't excel math and science.via www.cnn.com

"Every single student is getting an individualized education," said Hodgkins Principal Sarah Gould, who helped usher in the reform at her school two years ago. "We are giving our kids exactly what they need when they need it." 

Isn't this the same proposition that homeschooling parents make when they talk about why they homeschool?  Is this a game-changer, ultimately, as we look at the future of our education system?  An individualized education... make sense to me.  How about you?  Have you been frustrated by the one size fits all approach to educating your children?  How do you overcome that at home?

 

An alternative approach for gifted children: Home-schooling preferable to some Los Altos families

When most elementary students go to school, teachers construct their day. There might be 45 minutes of math in the morning and an hour of reading after lunch.

via www.losaltosonline.com

This article interviews families who have chosen homeschooling over public or private school options.  It's a good look into the lives of families who've seen the alternative approach instill a love of learning in their children.

If you are considering homeschooling and would like answers to the how, when, and why questions related to homeschooling, perhaps my coaching service is just for your family.  Together, we can develop a plan and identify learning resources while I support your goals.

Register for support using this link.  I look forward to seeing your goals come true.

 

 

The status quo in education no longer suffices.. the global achievement gap - thoughts for parents

A post by Dr. Scott McLeod, coordinator of the Educational Administration program at Iowa State University and the director of CASTLE, in his blog Dangerously!Irrelevant,  summarizes well the issues regarding how we educate our children in the United States.  Dr. McLeod shares his letter to the Ames, IA School Board Members, who are in a candidate search for both a new District Superintendent and a high school principal.   His aim is to build awareness and a desire to hire professionals concerned with the how we are preparing students for the demands of the 21st Century.   Parents need to hear these concerns, understand them, and begin to address them at their schools and in the home.

The following is an excerpt I found most important.  You can find a link to the entire blog post just following the quote.

"Dr. Tony Wagner, Harvard University, notes that there are two achievement gaps in this country. The first is the gap between the educational experiences of middle-class children and those of most poor and minority children. The second gap is that between what even our very best schools are teaching and testing versus what all students will need to be successful in today’s globally interconnected, technology-suffused, information economy. The new educational paradigm requires an emphasis on critical thinking, collaborative problem-solving, creativity and innovation, information fluency and media literacy, data synthesis and analysis, and the applied use of many other higher-level cognitive skills, much more frequently than we currently are doing in our classrooms.

"... We have many things of which to be rightfully proud. But the second global achievement gap that Dr. Wagner so aptly describes will increasingly be an issue for our schools and our community if we do not transition from a system in which student success is judged by mastery of lower-level cognitive work to one that emphasizes to a much greater degree the skills of higher-level thinking and real-world application."

via dangerouslyirrelevant.org

For my part, this post again reaffirms my commitment to encourage the development of these skills in my child independent of the school system. Parents are increasingly becoming aware of the need to supplement, or as in my case, to home-school in order to implement these ideas in the near term. To what extent can we partner together - parents and schools - home-schoolers and home-supplementers - to impact the education and futures of our children?

We cannot afford to wait for educational reform. We have already waited too long. For our children it will come too late, if it ever really comes.

Join with me to explore ways that parents can engage directly in their child's education and  practically implement the ideas discussed as "authentic learning" and "21st Century Skills". I'll be exploring the following questions: What are these skills?  Why are they important? Can they be taught at home? If so, How and with what resources? What can research tell us, if anything? How can parents partner with their local school to enhance learning and build these skills?  These are questions I'll be exploring through this blog. I'd love to hear your thoughts.