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Read other letters about this article
...not by the article, which seems to tacitly accept that test scores are the be-all end-all goal in education, and discusses how parents are finding new ways to manipulate those scores.
No, I am encouraged by the John Gatto suggestion. Hallelujah Unadilla, I'm right there with you. Then imagine my surprise and pleasure to even encounter the work "unschooling"! Thank you firefly82, I am unschooling my daughter as well. And Juliebird, well put - we have lost the actual discovery and creative learning process amidst the race for the test scores.
Education is being treated in an exclusively linear fashion in a twisted attempt to improve it. Yet true learning happens in ways that can never be measured, and knowledge exists in children who will never test well. The existence of different learning styles is barely acknowledged, much less addressed. Instead, kids are labeled for life because they don't fit into the mold that the school system dictates.
My daughter spent her first 4 years of schooling at a wonderful Krishnamurti school in Ojai, CA. One emphasis they had was that different kids learn things at different times; while one child in the class might struggle with reading, he/she would get there eventually, and might be much better at math than the rest of the class. Differences were to be appreciated, not criticized.
One morning I walked my daughter to class and lingered a bit before leaving. The kids were talking amongst themselves, and this is what I heard:
Let's make a book! That will be cool...
Yah, and Alexa and Amanda can write it, 'cause they're so good at writing...
And Laurel can do the illustrations because she's so good at art...
And Luke can help us put it together because he's really good at making things with his hands...
Yes! This will be cool...
Now that is true esteem-building, not testing and seeing who had the highest score. Competition always has winners and losers, and the losers might just be poor test takers. The winners might be kids whose parents manipulate the system in a desperate attempt to ensure higher test scores.
People, please! This is about the kids, not the test scores. I, for one, am delighted to be raising a child who can think outside the box, whose creativity and spirit are intact; a child who is learning about life instead of test scores. Because you all should be aware of the real truth that no one in public education likes to talk about: Homeschoolers do better on the ACT and the SAT, across the board, than kids with public educations. And guess what - homeschoolers also do better in college - they are more independent and self-directed than their peers from public schools. Do a google search - the information is out there.
Yes, I am encouraged by you Salon readers - the tide is turning.
