Education Blog

              Last class we discussed home schooling.  There were many benefits to this alternative kind of education mentioned:

• It is a viable and successful option from the public school stream
• Can use curriculum from a wide variety of sources
• Can move at student’s own pace (something may take 14 months can something else could take 3 months)
• There is a lot of family flexibility
• No emphasis on grades, as there is no report card or transcript
• Do not have to follow PLO’s ~ have complete freedom

And the list could go on.  After a week of reflecting, I have come to love how involved the parents are in the child’s education with regards to home schooling.  I think that a parent can best see a child’s progress in life, and how their child got from say point A to point B.  However, a teacher may not know about the progress a child has made, and how hard it may have been for that child to get to point B.  If that teacher is expecting the child to already be at point C, then it can be very frustrating for the teacher, parent and child.  Home schooling enables a parent to help their child move along at a pace appropriate to the child’s learning needs. 

      As someone wanting to teach in the public stream, I would hope that this would be the option parents would choose, but I do commend any parent who chooses to home school their child.  It may be something I will do one day, but at the moment, I still hold high regards to the public school education system, for if I did not, I do not think I would be in the program in which I am. 

         This past week, we were also talked to by a Vice Principal about what to expect going into the Middle Schools.  He had some wonderful things to say, for instance, how we must  “know our stuff” but more importantly “know ourselves” .  Kids do not care about what we know, as so much they do about getting a sense of caring and success that that we, as teachers, impose upon them.  My favorite thing that I will always remember now, is that “our job is to develop talent, not select talent”.  We are going to be in classrooms with 30 kids who are all different, and we need to be prepared for this.

          After weeks of reflection, a recurring theme is really getting to know the kids.  Learn their names off the start, and make them feel like people.  It can make them feel safe, and when they feel safe, you can do a lot more with them.  When you let your students know that you care, they will do more for you.