December 23, 2020
Local School Attendance, Home Schooling Or ????
If you and your children have been doing school together at home over the (almost) last year, our hats are off to you!! We celebrate you! You have done an amazing job! Truly! And your reward is much more than the total exhaustion you feel each day. You have accomplished much more than you realize. Much more!
One thing we’re betting you’ve accomplished is that you have uncovered the “inside scoop” on how your child/children learn --- what captures their attention, what interests them, how long do they remain interested in something, how they get organized or don’t get organized --- in general how they learn. This is very valuable information! And it’s information that is extremely hard for a teacher who works with 30 students (in the lower grades) or 300 students (in the upper grades and high school) to figure out! Some teachers want desperately to get to the heart of the matter! And many succeed. But, having the time to curate each child’s day based on this information is very difficult for most teachers to accomplish.
You have uncovered the “inside scoop” on how your child learns --- what captures their attention, what interests them, how they get organized --- in general how they learn.
School systems generally play to a so called average student. They strive to make sure that all students get the exact same content delivered in the same manner everyday. This is equality in education and well intended. But it’s not equity in education! We don’t believe there is such an entity as an average student and we don’t advocate teaching to the average student. It’s pretty hard to believe that all students at a certain grade level in an entire school system learn at the exact same rate and in the exact same manner. Educators need to think through this differently.
Your child is not average!
Now that you have some personal research data into how your child learns how about considering making some adjustments to the way your child is taught? Why not teach the way learning happens best? Maybe being in a school building 6 to 7 hours a day, 5 days a week, 180 days a year is not quite right for your child.
What if you could design something that is a better fit for your child (children)? Maybe something that’s a combination of attending a local school and some time learning at home and also learning in the real world? Would you consider doing it? Could you do it --- would your school system allow you to do it?
Children’s Concierge has gathered the state policies and procedures and requirements for doing full-time home schooling as well as the possibilities for some other very interesting part-time arrangements from the 50 States and the District of Columbia. Have a look at what’s possible in your state and see if anything excites you and your child (children).
Be creative! Enjoy!
Other Resources
The 10 Most Significant Education Studies in 2020
What Educators are Learning During the Pandemic
Why Travelers Are Moving the Home Office Abroad to Work Even More Remotely