All Children Can Learn

A first impression of Outcomes Based Education suggests that all children can learn.

By looking at this statement on its own I guess it could be true. All children can learn something, but in outcomes based education this statement means that all children can learn everything they are expected to learn! This really sounds encouraging until it is scrutinized.

I believe that there are students who simply do not have the ability to learn trigonometry properly or perhaps a foreign language. To make a statement that all students can master high school physics is a little far fetched, let alone suggest that all students can master a foreign language is beyond acceptance.

Personally, I agree that children can learn anything, if their minds are set on learning any particular topic, but wouldn't it be better to encourage and direct children in their areas of strength, rather than bogging them down with unnecessary generalized curriculum?

The main focus of the outcomes based education applications is founded on social behaviours that will enable children to function at a minimal dependent level, firstly at school and secondly in the labour market.

No matter where that is in the world!

The traditional concept of literacy with the ability to read, comprehend and write was considered effective for future life. However, I wonder if in this fast moving, jam-packed school syllabus, children are really encouraged to properly read and write.

Some children mainly work with a word processor, and as far as mathematics understanding, a hand-held calculator is the norm. How much emphasis is placed these days on neat, accurate hand-writing? What happens when power fails and check-outs go down? What happens when forms need to be filled in correctly?

I'm sure most of us have encountered such absurd situations where people had to use their brains and calculate how much you needed to pay for your groceries. When a twenty-year-old postal worker needs a calculator to work out how much two $2 stamps plus three one-dollar stamps cost, you really should feel sorry for them.

Do Governments of this world really want everybody literate or academically able?

One thing I've noticed... and is far more pronounced these days, is that many large businesses and companies have moved their manufacturing operations to areas where many uneducated labourers live. This does not mean stupid labourers by any means. These companies are relying on the dependability of the people and not on their general educational level, although a small group of highly educated, creative people are essential for innovation and expansion of the company.

Ending discrimination and changing values are probably more important than reading, writing and arithmetic. In order for governments to keep a pool of cheap labourers available they need to ensure that many students don't get educated. As long as the masses are poor and uneducated, the small group of highly educated, creative people can control them and have the kind of life they want.

I'm encouraging parents to get their children's brains into gear and get them learning more than the values and social issues pushed through the curriculum framework under the name of outcomes based education. I believe that the following change needs to happen if the system is going to be seriously outcomes based. Home teachers (parents) have to stop being time-based teachers.

WHY! Because many of you still follow a set, time-based curriculum. I have said this before in my previous post but I'm going to reiterate it again.

I’ll try to explain. Outcomes based education means freedom to teach, time to teach, time to learn, relax, enjoy and achieve the outcomes set before you. Don’t place work in front of your children and not give enough time to finish it properly, and no time to enjoy what they are learning. Many home educators still fall into the trap of being too curriculum based…. school mentality! For sure... follow a curriculum, a set of standards, a set routine... but take your time.

Allow your children to take their time to finish their tasks. Quite often my children will only complete one worksheet over the entire morning. I mean from 9am till noon! But did you know that with the one worksheet they will cover Maths, English, Science, Technology, Art and quite often, environmental issues, health related areas and more.

HOW!

True outcomes based education is simply like that. Obtaining the right learning material is the key! Did you know that libraries are bursting with books? So, I encourage you again to help your students learn in an interesting way. Not with boring books that have been dusted year after year, decade after decade. Yes, we need books but hey... the libraries are bursting with them.

Take a look around, there is more to learning than the set ‘approved’ curriculum from your education ‘approved’ department store.

OK… I'm probably treading on some people's toes here, but you have to admit if you are like everybody else in this world and you have children, you want the best education for them... right?

Think outside the box... look beyond classroom walls and look further a field!

Don’t limit your educational program to books recommended by ‘professional’ school teachers. Did you know that there are professional people out there who write far better educational materials than the university taught teachers?

What amuses me is the fact that as soon as someone hears you teach your children, their first question is; ‘Are you a qualified teacher?’

Please, tell me… what does a twenty three year old university graduate ‘qualified teacher’ have that you don’t have? After teaching nearly two decades with excellent results I deem myself reasonably efficient in teaching children. Yes, I’ve taught my own children at home, but did you know that it is sometimes harder to teach your own children, than it is to teach other people’s children?

If you’re an author and you don’t have a few letters behind your name, you will likewise have a hard time getting published. The fact that free Internet material is good enough to be used by many teachers in schools around the world is proof of my theory, although when it comes to many of these teachers having to buy these products, they hesitate, after all whoever developed the material is not a qualified teacher!

Are you getting the drift?

I am certainly not saying that I never use books written by professionals, to the contrary… I use them all the time. You have to ask yourself where did these qualifications come from in the first place?

Well, the answer is people study or have studied. The fact is... we are not restricted to an institution to learn or to study! Knowledge is gained by experience or learning and we can all pass this on to our children! Where do you think Solomon gained his wisdom? Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Many home educators fall into the trap of this 'so-called professional' system. A trap which can provide bad results if you restrict yourself and your children the pleasure of reading and viewing books and educational material other than those written by university taught school teachers.

Oh my… I have probably stirred up a hornets nest here, but I really believe it is time for people to wake up to the fact that television, radio, newspapers and... dare I say it... many educational resources only give you what they want you to know.

We will all head back to the ‘Dark Ages’ if we don’t look any further than the so-called ‘approved’ educational bookstores where you can buy ‘approved’ educational resources. You may just as well send your children to school because they can learn all that 'approved' stuff there at a fraction of the cost and you can go to town shopping, go to a coffee shop. or watch television all day.

I am truly sorry if what I’ve just said upsets you but it is the truth as far as I’m concerned. Many people have become blinded to what is going on, in the home, at school, in Universities and in the workforce. An ostrich does not put his head in the sand, in fact his head lowers to protect his eggs or brood underneath him.

Don’t let anybody ever tell you that an ostrich puts his head in the sand because he (the ostrich) is very much aware of the dangers surrounding him and threatening the well being of his offspring, unlike humans who like to be blinded and have their ears tickled.

Deception is at large! Don’t be hoodwinked my dear unschooling friends.

Recently I had a look in a school's resource room, wow! Incredible dinosaur stuff! What used to send me to sleep as a kid thirty years ago these teachers were still using... and they wondered why their students were bored and half-asleep.

Many schools are changing which is great to see. If you have taken on the wonderful job of teaching your children yourself, I suggest that you visit your library every week. If you can afford to buy new books on a regular basis... great, but there is nothing wrong with borrowing books and anything else libraries have available.

Another suggestion is to utilize a University library, they may charge you a fee for accessing their resources but the choice of books and materials are often far greater than public libraries, especially those in small country towns.

If you are connected to the Internet you can find many educational resources, some are free and others you need to purchase. Internet educational resources can be useful but can also be very time consuming to find. Some online educational activities are click after click and so on. If you’ve surfed the net you will know what I mean? Forever looking and getting nowhere fast!

Children hate those pages as much as adults do. Please don't torment your children with these, give them the big flick. Find material that is easily navigated, no more than two or three clicks away and where children don't have to wait for a new page to load for every mathematical sum, each word they type or every picture they see.

Some worksheets on the Internet are what I call, not very thought provoking. These type of worksheets are not even worth printing and if you have them ready for next week, re-consider using them for scrap paper and take another look around. Look for interesting worksheets, covering varying topics, that have at least one graphic, simple... yet brain teasing.

After years of experience I started writing my own worksheets. The children loved them! Amazingly enough they also started learning more. After a while our older children started writing worksheets for their siblings. Even though they were writing baby-stuff, they were learning how to make a worksheet.

What a wonderful learning experience!

Some years ago now, one of our daughters was given the assignment at University to make at least six worksheets relating to environmental issues. No problem! You should be able to guess why and you should not be perplexed to find that others in her class had severe problems completing this task, yet our daughter enjoyed this assignment, unlike her class mates.

Everything a child does is a learning adventure and should be regarded as such. You need to be enthusiastic and ready to give a helping hand at any time.

Creativity plays a major role in learning, it provides every day for a different feel, a different look, a different approach and a different outcome and that is what you want. Not the same boring outcome day in, day out, no way... you and your children want to have fun learning together, being together and growing together in a loving and secure family environment where everyone is special and safe.

Enjoy your time unschooling as it passes by all to soon.