Today a friend posted a video about how schools handle normal behavior by active boys. As I watched the 5 minute video, all I could think was how obvious the video's assertions are, and yet how far public schools are moving away from addressing the truths presented. Not just limited to boys (many girls share these traits with boys), the traits regulated by policies being implemented in schools reward quiet intellectual pursuits in young children while simultaneously removing the opportunities for these kids to explore and learn through play. (The video doesn't even bring up the additional problem of how common school lunchroom diets affect learning.)
The subject is one about which Peter Gray writes extensively, and it deserves attention. On his blog at Psychology Today, Gray states:
Why are we so unimaginative in our thinking about our children’s needs and how to solve them? We try to solve every problem through the school system, and that system always fails. It fails primarily because children don’t like school. People don’t thrive and learn well in settings that make them unhappy. This point is so obvious, yet is almost completely ignored by educational policy makers. Children who are allowed to make their own choices, in an environment where they have real choices and where those choices pertain to real life, learn far more, far more efficiently, than children who are forced to follow a curriculum that seems irrelevant to them.
The primary school ages should be a time of wonder and exploration, not testing and stress. Homeschooling can make sure that is the case.
Mary Ann Kelley lives in coastal North Carolina with her husband and has two grown daughters, both homeschool and college graduates. Mary Ann, who homeschooled for almost 20 years, is a Virginia Tech graduate and lifelong learner. Mary Ann has been featured in interviews on Money.com, HuffPost, and in the Free Lance-Star newspaper. Her desire is for the content on TheHomeSchoolMom to encourage and empower parents and children to take personal responsibility for their own educational options and choices. In her free time, Mary Ann enjoys reading, traveling, genealogy, and volunteering for the Atlantic Beach Sea Turtle Program.
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