Lifelong Learners

Today’s kids live in a world that we couldn’t have dreamed of when we were children. The opportunities they have for learning are really incredible. Just think of all the changes that have occurred since we were in school.

When we wanted to look up information on a specific subject, we went to the library, searched through the card files, and then searched the stacks for the books that seemed most likely to be useful. Today’s kids simply turn on the home computer, tablet or smart phone.

To read for fun, we checked out our library books for a week or two. Today’s kids can instantly download whole books from Amazon, Google Books, Project Gutenberg, and more.

We waited for weeks for Scholastic Books order forms, and then orders, to come to our classroom. They download Kindle books and iPad apps in seconds.

We had books and magazines. They have e-books, video and interactive media.

For the first time in history, kids can pursue and develop their own interests at a very early age, and get access to a wealth of information almost instantly. For eager, engaged students, the Internet is better than any classroom we could have ever imagined.

Well, most of us could not have imagined it. But the popular twentieth-century science fiction writer, Isaac Asimov, did predict much of it. More than 20 years ago, before there were home computers or an Internet, Asimov foresaw that someday computers would become ubiquitous and interconnected, and that this situation would improve learning possibilities for eager learners everywhere. And he concluded that:

“Once we have computer outlets in every home, each of them hooked up to enormous libraries where anyone can ask any question and be given answers and reference material…. you can ask, and you can find out, and you can follow it up, and you can do it in your own home, at your own speed, in your own direction, in your own time.

“Nowadays, what people call learning is forced on you, and everyone is forced to learn the same thing on the same day at the same speed – in class. And everyone is different. For some it goes too fast, for some too slow, for some in the wrong direction.” However, in the future, the student “can be the sole dictator of what he is going to learn, of what he is going to study… He’ll still be going to school for some things… but [he can also] look forward to the fun in life, which is following his own bent.”

“Through this machine, for the first time we’ll be able to have a one-to-one relationship between information source and information consumer…. “

In this future, “anyone, at any age, can learn by himself, can continue to be interested. There is no reason then, if you enjoy learning, why you should to stop at a given age.”

Asimov’s future is here. The only question now is this: Will we take these amazing learning tools for granted, or will we take full advantage of them for lifelong learning, in the ways that Asimov predicted we would?

Asimov’s predictions for future learning, excerpted here from an interview with Bill Moyers more than 20 years ago, are in many ways remarkably accurate.

Today’s kids are floundering in many different aspects of their lives according to the Search Institute, an organization studying children’s developmental needs and support systems throughout the world.

After surveying more than three million children across 60+ countries, including a 2010 survey of 89,866 U.S. sixth-to-twelfth graders, the Search Institute reports that young people are not experiencing nearly enough of the 40 developmental assets they have identified as necessary for healthy development.

The Institute’s most recent report, A Fragile Foundation, contains the following:

“On the average, the 89,366 surveyed adolescents report experiencing only 20 of the 40 developmental assets. … More than one third (37 percent) report being involved in two or more of the ten dangerous patterns of high-risk behavior that we studied.”

The researchers further discovered that, regardless of gender, cultural background, town size, or geographical location, today’s young people typically:

• Receive too little support through sustained and positive intergenerational relationships;
• Lack opportunities for leadership and involvement;
• Disengage from youth-serving programs in the community;
• Experience inconsistent or unarticulated boundaries and expectations;
• Feel disconnected from and unvalued by their community, and
• Miss out on the formation of social competencies and positive values.

As long as these patterns continue, we will see too many young people who are susceptible to risky behaviors and negative pressure, drawn to undesirable sources of belonging (e.g., gangs), and ill-equipped to become the next generation of parents, workers, leaders, and citizens.

The great benefit of the Search Institute model is that it provides information on how the situations for children can be improved through specific kinds of support from families, peers, school, and community can foster developmental assets in children.

Following the line of reasoning outlined in the report, just a few of the many things that might help turn the tide include:

• Reducing children’s unstructured, unsupervised time home alone.
• Reducing TV overexposure (3+ hours per day).
• A caring school climate (experienced by only 35%).
• Positive family communications (experienced by only 32%).

The Search Institute does not directly measure poverty, although it acknowledges poverty as one of the most pervasive deficits in young people’s lives. There is extensive research to show that, statistically, poverty interferes with development, places children at greater risk of harmful behavior, and limits their options for the future.

Someone once said that the problem with today’s public schools is that they teach to the test instead of to the student. There’s plenty of truth in that. For our public schools, test scores are plummeting, and the stakes just keep getting higher. School funding depends on student test scores, and of course those funds trickle down into salaries. As a result, motivated administrators and teachers are focusing harder and harder on prepping their students for the annual standardized tests.

But test prep is not education. Learning to correctly answer multiple choice questions is a poor substitute for rich learning experiences that build curiosity and a passion for learning. If anything, our test-prep focused classrooms are stifling creativity, dumbing down curricula, and numbing both students and teachers alike.

Of course, there are a few schools, administrators, and teachers willing to buck these trends because they know that students need more – much more – than test prep. Call it child-led learning, differentiated instruction, or scaffolding; at the core, what these teachers are doing is re-engaging students. And that makes all the difference!

People often use the words “education” and “learning” to mean the same thing. But, of course, these two words are not synonymous. “Education” implies a teacher. In fact, it places emphasis on the process of one person (or system) in charge of the process of imparting knowledge and skills to another. For me, it conjures up an image of opening up a head, and pouring in new information. The learner is a passive participant. “Learning,” on the other hand, conjures up the images of activity: it is the learner himself (or herself) who is setting out on a quest for information, memorizing facts, or busily practicing a new skill.

This distinction is more important than ever. Our traditional public schools have increasingly made students passive participants in their own education. In fact, as Sir Ken Robinson frequently points out, our schools have been built around a factory model. One by one, students are put through the assembly-line-like process of successive grades. They are evaluated by standardized processes to determine how well they do, or do not, measure up to the criteria of product perfection and factory-generated sameness. This standardization has been carried to such ridiculous extremes that in some places, students in the same grade must be provided with the exact same information on the same day, throughout the school district, and throughout the state.

Compare this to a model of natural, student-led learning. The student develops an interest, and pursues it, taking his/her own inquires to their natural conclusions. Teachers may take the form of books, web sites, parents, peers, siblings, neighbors, and more. This natural learning process could hardly be more different than our current education system’s rigid structures of state-adopted curricula, tiers of administrators, and teacher-clerks. And I strongly believe that there are serious consequences to this.

Our traditional education system can create artificial barriers for the brightest, most eager students. These students want to be active learners. They want to follow the trails of new information and concepts. They often want to dig deeper into the subjects that interest them, but they are prevented from doing so. Instead, they must passively wait for direction from the teacher, school, district and state.

If we fail to attend to the interests, goals, challenges, desires, and unique development of each learner – especially our most eager and brightest, we will reap the consequences.

Consider how natural learning takes place. As the student’s body of knowledge grows, passion builds. And the more passion builds, the more rapidly the learning progresses. This is the way Einstein progressed. And Mozart. This is the way children learn before they enter school. It is, in fact, the path to the most fulfilling learning experiences for us all.

Do we really want to stamp out greatness? Self-direction? Personal fulfillment? No? Well, then, we may still have some time.

Questions we hear from parents who are considering homeschooling: Can this really work? Will my child still learn what s/he needs to learn? Is it possible for her/him to keep pace with students in traditional public schools?

We’re happy to be able to be able report that the answer to all of these questions is a resounding YES. Not only can your child keep up, but all things being equal, it’s very possible for your child to surpass the mastery levels of peers in traditional public school settings.

In one 1997 study of 5,402 homeschool students from 1,657 families, homeschoolers out-performed their counterparts in the public schools by 30 to 37 percentile points in all subjects. Homeschoolers who were homeschooled two or more years scored substantially higher than students who were homeschooled one year or less. New homeschoolers scored, on average, in the 59th percentile while students who had been homeschooled the last two or more years scored, on average, between 86th and 92nd percentile.

Another study of 20,760 homeschooled students, conducted by Dr. Lawrence Rudner in 1998, found that students who had spent all their school years in homeschool had the highest achievement levels of all – especially in the upper grades.

Another important finding of the 1997 study was that there was no significant difference between minority and white homeschooled students. In grades K-12, both white and minority students scored, on the average, in the 87th percentile. Averages were higher, and disparities far less pronounced, among homeschoolers. In math, whites scored in the 82nd percentile while minorities scored in the 77th percentile. In the public schools, however, not only were scores much lower, but there was a sharp contrast. White public school eighth grade students nationally scored the 58th percentile in math while black eighth grade student math scores averaged at the 24th percentile and Hispanics at the 29th percentile.

What’s even more impressive is that these homeschooling results were produced with much smaller per-student spending. In the 1997 study, Dr. Brian Ray found the average cost per homeschool student is $546. This is only a fraction of the average cost per public school student, which was at that time, $5,325. Parents who spent over $600 per student had a positive effect on results: among these students, averages were even higher.

Put together the financial comparison and achievement comparison and the success of homeschooling becomes clear. Homeschooling students averaged in 85th percentile with budgets of $546 per student while public school students averaged in the 50th percentile with per-student spending of almost ten times as much.

Further studies are confirming. In 2009, these studies were repeated in greater detail with 11,739 homeschooled students from all 50 states, utilizing three well-known tests— the California Achievement Test, Iowa Tests of Basic Skills, and Stanford Achievement Test for the 2007–08 academic year. The results corroborated the findings of the 1997 and 1998 studies. In the new study, homeschooled students’ averages ranged from the 84th to 89th percentile across all subjects (in comparison to public school students’ scores of 50% across all subjects).
Household income had little impact on the scores of homeschooled students.

• $34,999 or less—85th percentile
• $35,000–$49,999—86th percentile
• $50,000–$69,999—86th percentile
• $70,000 or more—89th percentile

The education level of the parents made a noticeable difference, but the homeschooled children of non-college educated parents still scored in the 83rd percentile, which is well above the national average.

• Neither parent has a college degree—83rd percentile
• One parent has a college degree—86th percentile
• Both parents have a college degree—90th percentile
• Parental spending on home education made a little difference.
• Spent $600 or more on the student—89th percentile
• Spent under $600 on the student—86th percentile
• These studies were rigorous, utilizing 15 independent testing services.

So, does homeschooling work? Study after study has demonstrated that it can, and does. We hope the information produced by these studies will be useful to parents considering homeschooling and/or independent learning charter school, an increasingly popular option that provides a way for students to learn at home while receiving funding and other benefits from the public school system.

For more information on homeschooling, take a look at http://www.homeschool.com, http://www.home-school.com and http://thehomeschoolmom.com. For more information on independent learning charter schools, see http://www.uscharterschools.org and http://www.ieminc.org.

Just a couple of months ago, my daughter, Annie opted out of traditional high school to attend a charter school. It’s a great local charter school through which students learn at home: a sort of public school and homeschooling hybrid. Today she and I both have far more control over what, how, when and where she learns.

Annie’s advanced algebra class is based on a rigorous online system. She accesses it by sitting on her futon, keyboard in lap, facing the large-screen television that we have adapted for use as an oversized computer monitor. She can read her English assignments in book form or on her new e-reading device. She keeps up with her Spanish by reading the AP (Advanced Placement) recommended Spanish reading list, and she takes courses in history, anthropology, and PE.

Annie is considering a local college course in biology next semester. And she’ll take some classes at the local art center as well. But for most of her work, her classroom is now anywhere and everywhere: the local Starbucks, public library, living room couch, a nearby park. She is reading more and learning more than she was when she was attending the local, traditional high school, and yet she has more free time now. (Annie enjoys playing club waterpolo, volunteering, cooking, playing flute, and knitting.)

At first glance, it doesn’t add up. How can Annie be getting more learning done in less time? The biggest change seems to be the reduction in time spent on testing. We don’t focus on getting her ready for the next state-mandated standardized test. Instead, we follow her interests as much as the state standards. And this makes her a very happy student – happier than I have seen her since elementary school.

Annie has always been a straight-A student, and she was paying an increasingly large price. The higher grades seemed to be increasingly focused on testing, to the point that Annie spent most of her time getting ready for the next one. She was constantly “studying,” constantly anxious about multiple upcoming tests. And with college rapidly approaching, she felt the pressure of needing to get an A on every single test.

We’re done with all that now. Now, Annie is focused on learning. She has become excited about anthropology, and loved reading To Kill a Mockingbird and Lord of the Flies. She is looking forward to more courses in the sciences, and she excels at math. She is fluent in Spanish and will soon be starting to learn German.

Her goal is Columbia University’s pre-med program, with Berkeley and Harvard as possible back-up plans.

I have no doubt that Annie will reach her goals because, in addition to learning all the subjects I’ve mentioned, she is learning to take control of her own education. Gone are the stresses of trying to guess what will be on tomorrow’s test. Instead, she has time to read more widely, write more frequently, and think more deeply. What’s more, she has a head start on choosing a college major because she’s already in the practice of asking herself what she’s interested in. She is becoming increasingly self-directed.  She sits in on lectures at a local college and listens to Harvard and UC Berkeley lectures online.

While Annie’s new school is extraordinary, the situation that led us here is common. Today’s college-bound students are experiencing unparalleled pressures as the emphasis on testing in traditional public schools continues to grow. This pattern has been so gradual that I think most parents haven’t noticed. However, the radical change that Annie has experienced these last few months has made it crystal clear to me: too much testing gets in the way of learning. It takes up our students’ time – not just the time it takes to actually take the tests, but all the time that students spend preparing for the next one.

Too much testing does not serve anyone. In addition to the direct effect this has on students, it forces teachers to focus on test prep, administering tests, and grading, instead of actually teaching. Teachers are increasingly pushed to narrow their instruction – reaching the most extreme position possible when test preparation becomes the instruction, with instructional materials mimicking the formats and exercises that appear on the tests.  This isn’t teaching. It isn’t learning. It’s madness!

I don’t know exactly how much of my own daughter’s time had previously been taken over by tests. But I can tell you that removing those artificial pressures, and replacing them with a program focused on her learning experience, has been nothing short of life-changing.

Most parents are familiar with the saying that “parents are a child’s first teachers.” But what about being your child’s primary teacher – not just for life skills and values, but academics as well – at age 8, 12, and 16? That’s a different idea completely. And it’s catching on.

I often hear from many parents who either homeschool or participate in an independent study charter school where they serve as their child’s primary teacher. More and more, I’m also hearing from parents who are considering these options.

These parents have very different needs and questions from those who are trying to make traditional public school work for their children. Parents-as-teachers are asking for curricula advice, learning resources, pacing guides, and information on the wide variety of educational approaches out there.

A good place to begin is with educational philosophy. And the good news is that there is a wide range of educational philosophies and approaches to choose from.  These include:

Montessori
The three Montessori principles are Observation, Individual Liberty, and Preparation of the Environment to “control the environment, not the child.” Montessori methods include the provision of appropriate materials and tools for children to use in mastering age and state-appropriate skills.

Unit Study
The Unit Study approach integrates the typical school subjects into units based on themes, and are useful for multi-level teaching.  There are many unit study curricula available, but you can also create your own. Themes might focus on character building studies, history based studies, literature based studies, or science based studies.

Unschooling
Unschooling is focused on following the interests of the child, and allowing learning to occur in a natural way.  Parents facilitate rather than “educate” their children. Academic subjects are incorporated into everyday life.

Waldorf
The aim of Waldorf schooling is to educated the whole child; head, heart and hands. There is a strong focus on imagination and fantasy play. Competition is discouraged, and reading is not taught until much later than it is in traditional public schools. Students are encouraged to follow their own interests, and the unit study approach is often utilized as well.

Charlotte Mason
The Charlotte Mason philosophy encourages reading good books from original sources as well as the incorporation of nature study and enjoyment. Music, books, and art are emphasized.

Classical / Trivium
This model is often (but not always) tied to Christian content, and it is based on elements drawn from ancient Roman teaching methods. The Trivium contained three areas; Grammar (factual knowledge), Dialectic (reasoning), and Rhetoric (expression and application). This approach often connects these three areas of the Trivium to different stages of cognitive development.

Eclectic
Most homeschooling and parent-led learning takes an eclectic approach that may borrow elements from one or more of the approaches above. Methods and curricula are most often chosen to meet the particular needs, strengths, and desires of the individual child.

Child Hates School?
You Have More Choices than You May Realize

This time of year, as schools reopen their doors, many parents are hearing the same refrain: “I hate school!” While some families succeed by relocating their child to another classroom, hiring a tutor, coaching their child through the homework, or making other small adjustments, many children continue to struggle in our public school classrooms. And sadly, many parents do not realize that they have the power to opt out of the neighborhood school to find a situation that provides a better fit with their child’s needs.

In fact, the time has never been better for parents and children who discover that their local public schools are not working for them. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 provided new ways open for a variety of educational options. Since the passage of the act, many of these new and expanded options have become a reality in most communities.

This federal law allows parents to take advantage of free tutoring if their child attends a Title 1 school (a school that has been identified as needing improvement) for an extended period of time. And it provides some protections for homeschooling parents as well.

Thanks to this law, it is even possible to take children out of the local public school while keeping them within the public school system. The No Child Left Behind Act allows parents the option of choosing another public school if the school their child attends is unsafe. It allows for the development of diverse magnet schools within school districts; these schools pull students from a wider geographic area in order to focus on a particular educational focus. It even supports the growth of independent charter schools.

Charter schools are public schools that operate with freedom from many of the local and state regulations that apply to traditional public schools. Charter schools allow parents, community leaders, educational entrepreneurs, and others the flexibility to innovate and provide students with increased educational options while remaining connected to the public school system. Charter schools are sponsored by local, state, or other organizations that monitor their quality. For more on charter schools, see this informative US Charter Schools website .

The forms that charter schools take vary widely. Some emphasize technology, foreign language, or specific trade preparation. Others spring from a particular educational philosophy, like Waldorf or Montessori. Still others, like Innovative Education Management schools in California, provide families with a way to stay within the public school system while gaining the advantage of independent study at home.

There are other options outside the public school system as well. There are private schools, including church-related schools. And there is homeschooling, which today takes many forms.

If you are interested in learning more about your choices, call your local school district office. They are required by law to provide you with information on your local options. You can get more in-depth information directly from the www2.ed.gov/nclb/choice/schools/choicefacts.html US Department of Education as well.

So, if you are hearing “I hate school,” take heart. Today many parents are finding great new paths to help their child thrive, learn, and excel – and you can too!

Parent Driven Schools has long advocated for parents’ choice in the education of their children. After all, who is most motivated to make our educational systems the best they can possibly be? It’s not the educators, the administrators, or the politicians. It’s the parents!

Parents vote with their feet. They move their families to cities and neighborhoods where the schools are known to be good. They seek out charter schools that are a better for their child than the neighborhood schools. They home-school, too, in ever-increasing numbers.

Here at Parent Driven Schools, we are strong supporters of parent choice in the education of their children. We recognize that there’s no one right answer for all children, and we know from experience that parents are in the best position to make educational decisions. That’s why we want every family to be informed and empowered to make the best possible decisions. Following are a few tools and web sites that can help:

• Greatschools.org publishes annual School Chooser guides and distributes them at no cost to thousands of parents so they can make more informed choices about where to send their children to school.
• The US Department of Education provides a webcast called New Tools for Parents: Getting Informed & Getting Involved.  This webcast highlights the benefits of The No Child Left Behind Act, which provides parents with access to a greater range of educational options, including free tutoring programs, charter schools, and scholarships for low-income students. Another US Department of Education webcast, Charter Schools and School Choice, provides a more in-depth look at charter schools. The US Department of Education publicly states that “charter schools, in particular, have become increasingly appealing to parents, and for good reason—as laboratories for new educational strategies, these flexible schools improve education for everyone in the system and offer innovative places for children to achieve at their highest possible levels.”
• The homeschooling movement, while strong, is somewhat more diverse. Some resources for parents considering homeschooling include the Homeschooling section of About.com, Homeschool.com, and Classical Christian Homeschooling.
• Independent study charter schools are yet another option, offering benefits of both charter schools and homeschooling. For examples, see Innovative Education Management (IEM) Charter Schools, Sky Mountain Charter School  and Ocean Grove Charter School . IEM has been successfully developing and operating California charter schools for many years.
• Call our free HelpLine anytime during business hours. Our support specialists provide free information, ideas and resources for parents making educational decisions or experiencing difficulty working with their child’s school. The HelpLine phone number is (800) 893-6199.

By Kathleen Bowers

In these days when education reform has become a rallying cry across the country, when classroom sizes are rising and schools are understaffed, parents need more help than ever before. At Parent Driven Schools, we have always believed in the importance of empowering parents, our children’s first and best teachers.

There is so much we can all do to ensure that our children are learning – and that they are developing a love for learning as well. Teaching opportunities are all around us, every day. There are many lessons we can build into our children’s everyday experience, building their confidence and mastery in areas that range from math and science to reading and following directions. By incorporating learning activities into our daily lives, we can support our children’s development as learners as well as their mastery of core subjects.

Math Resources
One of the most natural ways to approach math concepts is to invite your child to work with you in the kitchen. Just about all cooking calls for measurement. More advanced skills are required for conversions between units of measurements (tablespoons to cups, for example), and for adjusting recipes in order to make more, or fewer, portions. (For more on math in the kitchen, seethis page) and this page.

Science Resources
Science is all around us too. The San Francisco science museum, Exploratorium, provides a wonderful web page filled with hands-on science activities to try. More resources for hands-on science activities can be found here, here and here. Tryscience.org is a wonderful resource as well.

Language Arts Resources
Reading is fundamental to so much of our daily lives. From labels and signs to books and magazines, words are all around us. National and international studies show that many children experience difficulty with language arts simply because reading is not part of their home life. Parents who read in front of and to their young children have a huge impact on later literacy. While this includes books, there are many other ways to incorporate reading together into daily life too. Here is a list of reading activities, information on promoting reading skills, and more resources that may be useful in thinking about how to make reading a greater part of your family life.

Do you have favorite online resources for family learning? Or have you had success with particular strategies for learning at home? Leave a comment to share your ideas with other parents and teachers.