This post comes from an original article by Jerry Mintz at the Alternative Education Resource Organization (AERO) website: The Ten Signs You Need to Find a Different Kind of Education for Your Child. Published here with permission from AERO. Click over to the article for more of Jerry’s thoughts on alternative education models, and find out if the AERO Conference might be something for you and your family.
1. Does your child say he or she hates school?
If so, something is probably wrong with the school. Children are natural learners, and when they’re young, you can hardly stop them from learning. If your child says they hate school, listen to them.
2. Does your child find it difficult to look an adult in the eye, or to interact with older or younger children?
If so, your child may have become “socialized” to interact only with peers within their own age group—a very common practice in most schools—and may be losing the ability to communicate with a broader group of children and adults.
3. Does your child seem fixated on designer labels and trendy clothes for school?
This is a symptom of an approach that emphasizes external rather than internal values, causing children to rely on shallower means of comparison and acceptance, rather than deeper values.
4. Does your child come from school tired and cranky?
While a student can have a hard day in any school, consistent exhaustion and irritability are sure signs that their educational experiences are not energizing, but actually debilitating.
5. Does your child come home complaining about conflicts that they’ve had in school, or unfair situations that they have been exposed to?
This may mean that the school does not have a student-centered approach to conflict resolution and communication. Many schools rely on swift, adult-issued problem solving, depriving children of their ability to emotionally process and thoughtfully discuss the situation at hand.
6. Has your child lost interest in creative expression through art, music, and dance?
Within the traditional system, these creative outlets are often considered secondary to “academic” areas, and are not as widely encouraged. In some cases, courses in these areas are not even offered any more. This neglect often devalues, or extinguishes, these natural talents and abilities in children.
7. Has your child stopped reading or writing—or pursuing a special interest—just for fun? Are they investing the bare minimum in homework?
This is often a sign that spontaneous activities and student independence are not being valued in their school. Children have a natural inclination to direct their own learning; however, an emphasis on meeting standardized test requirements limits the abilities of teachers to nurture and encourage this inclination. The result can be an increasing apathy toward subjects that were once exciting, and a loss of creativity.
8. Does your child procrastinate until the last minute to do homework?
This is a sign that the homework is not really meeting his or her needs—perhaps it’s “busy work” or rote memorization—and may be stifling to their natural curiosity.
9. Does your child come home talking about anything exciting that happened in school that day?
If not, maybe nothing in school is exciting for your child. Why shouldn’t school—and education—be a fun, vibrant, and engaging place?
10. Did the school nurse or guidance counselor suggest that your child may have a “disease,” like ADHD, and should be given Ritalin or another behavior regulating drug?
Be wary of these diagnoses and keep in mind that much of the traditional school curriculum these days is behavior control. If test requirements limit a teacher’s ability to engage students, if students are discouraged from following their own passions and expected to sit for five or six hours a day with limited personal attention and interaction, I suggest it’s the school that has the disease, EDD—Educational Deficit Disorder—and it might be time to get your child out of that situation!
Original AERO article by Jerry Mintz here. Definitely worth a read.
Learn more about Stacy on our Contributors page.
"Jerry Mintz, Mkurugenzi wa Mtandao wa Rasilimali za Elimu mbadala (AERO), aliandika ""The Ten Signs You Need to Find a Different Kind of Education for Your Child.""" Imechapishwa hapa kwa ruhusa ya AERO. "Kuchunguza makala hii ya ""Jerry"" na kuona kama kuna kitu cha kufanya na wewe na familia yako." 1. Uwe na mtazamo wa kweli Je, mtoto wako anasema kwamba anachukia shule? Ikiwa ndivyo, yaelekea kuna tatizo fulani katika shule hiyo. Watoto ni wanafunzi wa asili, na wanapokuwa wachanga, haiwezekani kuwazuia wasifundishe. Ikiwa mtoto wako anasema anachukia shule, sikiliza. 2. Uwezekano wa kupata Je, mtoto wako anaona ni vigumu kumtazama mtu mzima machoni, au kuwasiliana na watoto wakubwa au wadogo? Ikiwa ndivyo, mtoto wako anaweza kuwa amezoea kuingiliana tu na wenzao katika kikundi chake cha umri - mazoea ya kawaida sana katika shule nyingi - na anaweza kuwa akipoteza uwezo wa kuwasiliana na kikundi kikubwa cha watoto na watu wazima. 3. Uwe na mtazamo wa kweli Je, mtoto wako anaonekana kuwa na mwelekeo wa kupenda mavazi ya mtengenezaji na mavazi ya mtindo kwa ajili ya shule? Hii ni dalili ya mbinu ambayo inasisitiza maadili ya nje badala ya ya ndani, na kusababisha watoto kutegemea njia za chini za kulinganisha na kukubali, badala ya maadili ya kina. 4. Uwe na uhakika Je, mtoto wako anakuja kutoka shule akiwa amechoka na mwenye hasira? Wakati mwanafunzi anaweza kuwa na siku ngumu katika shule yoyote, uchovu wa mara kwa mara na hasira ni ishara za uhakika kwamba uzoefu wao wa elimu sio nguvu, lakini kwa kweli kudhoofisha. 5. Uwe na mtazamo mzuri. Je, mtoto wako huja nyumbani akilalamika juu ya migogoro ambayo amekuwa nayo shuleni, au hali zisizo za haki ambazo amekuwa akigunduliwa nazo? Hii inaweza kumaanisha kwamba shule haina mbinu ya mwanafunzi-kituo cha utatuzi wa migogoro na mawasiliano. Shule nyingi hutegemea suluhisho la haraka la tatizo linalotolewa na watu wazima, na hivyo kuwazuia watoto wasitende kwa hisia-moyo na kuzungumzia hali inayowakabili. 6. Uwe na uhakika Je, mtoto wako amepoteza kupendezwa na uumbaji kupitia sanaa, muziki, na dansi? Ndani ya mfumo wa jadi, hizi maduka ya ubunifu mara nyingi ni kuchukuliwa sekondari kwa maeneo ya "academic", na si kama sana kuhamasishwa. Katika visa fulani, kozi katika maeneo hayo hata hazipewi tena. Mara nyingi kupuuzwa huko hupunguza thamani, au kufuta, vipawa na uwezo huo wa asili wa watoto. 7. Uwe na mtazamo gani? Je, mtoto wako ameacha kusoma au kuandika - au kufuatia upendezi fulani wa pekee - kwa ajili ya kujifurahisha tu? Je, wao huwekeza kiasi kidogo sana katika kazi za nyumbani? Mara nyingi hilo ni ishara ya kwamba shughuli za kipekee na uhuru wa mwanafunzi hazithaminiwi shuleni mwao. Watoto wana mwelekeo wa asili wa kuelekeza kujifunza kwao wenyewe; hata hivyo, msisitizo juu ya kukidhi mahitaji ya mtihani wa kawaida hupunguza uwezo wa walimu kukuza na kuhamasisha mwelekeo huu. Matokeo yaweza kuwa kutojali zaidi na zaidi kwa habari ambazo wakati mmoja zilikuwa zenye kusisimua, na kupoteza ubunifu. 8. Uwe na mtazamo gani? Je, mtoto wako huchelewesha kazi ya nyumbani hadi dakika ya mwisho? Hii ni ishara kwamba kazi ya nyumbani si kweli kukidhi mahitaji yake - labda ni "kazi busy" au rote kumbukumbu - na inaweza kuwa stifling kwa udadisi wao wa asili. 9. (a) Kwa nini? Je, mtoto wako anakuja nyumbani na anaongea juu ya jambo lolote lenye kusisimua lililotokea shuleni siku hiyo? Ikiwa sivyo, labda hakuna kitu katika shule kinachomfurahisha mtoto wako. Kwa nini shule na elimu zisiwe mahali pa kufurahisha, pa kusisimua, na pa kuvutia? Kumi. Je, muuguzi wa shule au mshauri wa mwongozo alidokeza kwamba mtoto wako anaweza kuwa na "ugonjwa", kama ADHD, na anapaswa kupewa Ritalin au dawa nyingine ya kudhibiti tabia? Uwe mwangalifu na utambuzi huu na kukumbuka kwamba sehemu kubwa ya mtaala wa shule ya jadi siku hizi ni udhibiti wa tabia. Ikiwa mahitaji ya mtihani hupunguza uwezo wa mwalimu wa kujihusisha na wanafunzi, ikiwa wanafunzi wanakatazwa kufuata shauku zao na wanatarajiwa kukaa kwa masaa matano au sita kwa siku na umakini mdogo wa kibinafsi na mwingiliano, napendekeza ni shule ambayo ina ugonjwa, EDD < Deficit Disorder ya Elimu < Na inaweza kuwa wakati wa kupata mtoto wako kutoka kwa hali hiyo! Makala ya awali ya AERO na Jerry Mintz hapa. Kwa hakika inafaa kusomwa. Jifunze zaidi kuhusu Stacy kwenye ukurasa wetu wa Washiriki.