Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Join a naturalist club near you
A great way to learn about nature from experts and enthusiasts. In my area we have the Ottawa Field-Naturalists. There are plenty of outings on a weekly basis with great leaders and naturalists who have so much to teach. They even have a group for children to explore nature with peers and the guidance of experienced and knowledgeable adults.
School Reform is Boring
Here's a recent article from Salon magazine discussing how the ever-increasing focus on standardized testing and hardcore academics is stealing resources from other much needed areas of curriculum like music and recreation. Guess what?! School reform is not improving outcomes, but it is making school more tedious and soul-crushing than ever before.
Check out the article here!
Check out the article here!
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Deschooling for kids with ADHD: Psychology Today
Here's an interesting article from Psychology today that offers some kindly support to deschooling!
A psychologist studied a number of families who removed their ADD/ADHD children from traditional school. The report came up with 3 major conclusions based a the case studies:
Conclusion 1: Most children who had been medicated for ADHD while in conventional schooling were taken off of the drugs when removed from conventional schooling, and those who were never in conventional schooling were never medicated.
Conclusion 2: The children's behavior, moods, and learning generally improved when they stopped conventional schooling, not because their ADHD characteristics vanished but because they were now in a situation where they could learn to deal with those characteristics.
Conclusion 3: Many of these children seem to have a very high need for self-direction in education, and many "hyper focus" on tasks that interest them.
A psychologist studied a number of families who removed their ADD/ADHD children from traditional school. The report came up with 3 major conclusions based a the case studies:
Conclusion 1: Most children who had been medicated for ADHD while in conventional schooling were taken off of the drugs when removed from conventional schooling, and those who were never in conventional schooling were never medicated.
Conclusion 2: The children's behavior, moods, and learning generally improved when they stopped conventional schooling, not because their ADHD characteristics vanished but because they were now in a situation where they could learn to deal with those characteristics.
Conclusion 3: Many of these children seem to have a very high need for self-direction in education, and many "hyper focus" on tasks that interest them.
Monday, April 26, 2010
The myth of the teenaged brain
Why teenagers are growing up so slowly
This article discusses how obligatory education shelters young adults from meaningful work. The repetitive monotony of schooling leads youth to disengage and to become disinterested and lethargic: to act like 'teenagers'.
This article discusses how obligatory education shelters young adults from meaningful work. The repetitive monotony of schooling leads youth to disengage and to become disinterested and lethargic: to act like 'teenagers'.
Chomsky on Adam Smith
Chomsky on Adam Smith
Noam Chomsky discusses classical liberal thought, the problems of corporate power and mass education.
Noam Chomsky discusses classical liberal thought, the problems of corporate power and mass education.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)