tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881402584568285627.post8817631272162797493..comments2024-03-20T00:30:11.702-07:00Comments on Home Education Heretic: Working outside the mainstreamSimon Webbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10865289865412656573noreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881402584568285627.post-56271182986717101802013-04-22T18:40:08.489-07:002013-04-22T18:40:08.489-07:00Hi there I am so excited I found your webpage, I
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Of course it doesn't happen like this for every child, even when the resources are there as we have experienced. But for some children it's a great way to learn to read quickly and easily despite the supposed research evidence against it. This is what I mean about comparing oranges to apples.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881402584568285627.post-49625082808076789612011-05-27T15:33:57.916-07:002011-05-27T15:33:57.916-07:00'You are the one attempting to compare oranges...'You are the one attempting to compare oranges to apples.'<br /><br />Well, not really. To take an example, the process whereby a baby's brain begins to recognise abstract symbols such as pictures and toys can be examined in a number of ways. How this happens and how it leads on to the understanding of written language is something that we can usefully observe. It has nothing to do with whether the child is at school or home, except perhaps that one could retard and the other accelerate the process! The process itself is a separate thing and worth learning about for its own sake. I am suggesting that without a familiarity with such matters, those trying to arrange for a child's education will be handicapped.<br /> Simon.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881402584568285627.post-27458214767527805282011-05-27T15:16:08.541-07:002011-05-27T15:16:08.541-07:00"Once again, we have drifted into discussing ..."Once again, we have drifted into discussing schooling, which is a very different thing from learning and teaching in a domestic setting."<br /><br />Exactly. And this is why much of the research you talk about is not relevant. The vast majority revolves around group teaching methods - methods designed to work for teachers with relatively large groups of children that they do not know well - and the finding of methods that work quite well for a large proportion of a group, rather than those that very well for an individual child. You are the one attempting to compare oranges to apples.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881402584568285627.post-81448529973341997862011-05-27T14:26:01.694-07:002011-05-27T14:26:01.694-07:00'Professional teaching involves the use of cro...'Professional teaching involves the use of crowd control methods, classrooms, institutions, government curricula, acting in loco parentis'<br /><br />Once again, we have drifted into discussing schooling, which is a very different thing from learning and teaching in a domestic setting. <br /><br /> Simon.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881402584568285627.post-36478016496714829372011-05-27T14:24:46.174-07:002011-05-27T14:24:46.174-07:00'Dave H said...
Of course, the real problem w...'Dave H said... <br />Of course, the real problem with Simon's analogy is that the mainstream physicists in it are Creationists... '<br /><br />I suspect that with your background, you actually appreciate the truth of the analogy.<br /><br /> Simon.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881402584568285627.post-1723883924312684032011-05-27T13:31:59.049-07:002011-05-27T13:31:59.049-07:00Home educators are not professional teachers. Prof...Home educators are not professional teachers. Professional teachers are a different case entirely. Professional teaching involves the use of crowd control methods, classrooms, institutions, government curricula, acting in loco parentis, etc etc etc. <br /><br />Being a home educator is about being a learning facilitator - that is a very different task indeed. One does not need to know about pedagogy to facilitate the learning of one's child. One needs to know one's child.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881402584568285627.post-75622080536569060602011-05-27T09:43:55.526-07:002011-05-27T09:43:55.526-07:00Of course, the real problem with Simon's analo...Of course, the real problem with Simon's analogy is that the mainstream physicists in it are Creationists...Dave Hnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881402584568285627.post-50255455477914523342011-05-27T05:40:06.061-07:002011-05-27T05:40:06.061-07:00Simon said:
"I'm not referring to anythi...Simon said:<br /><br />"I'm not referring to anything specific. There is a lot of research on the use of computers in teaching, the effects that television has on developing brains, the value of being read to as a child, structured or open-plan classrooms and so on. Some of this stuff finds its way into popular books and newspapers; much does not. A lot of home educating parents seem work from an ideological rather than an empirical perspective when deciding how to go about educating their children. There are hazards in this. "<br /><br />I agree that there are hazards in working from an ideological perspective, but many home educating parents appear to adopt the strategies they adopt through trial and error. If they find a method to be effective for their child, then they continue to use it. How much more empirical can you get?suzygnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881402584568285627.post-16169280873994930132011-05-27T05:03:56.658-07:002011-05-27T05:03:56.658-07:00"Some home edcuating parents do not do this, ..."Some home edcuating parents do not do this, relying instead upon communication only with like-minded individuals."<br /><br />Except I've seen a wide range of methods suggested on email lists from highly structured to very informal. There are a few groups that only cover particular types of approaches, but these are usually populated by people who have gradually moved in that direction as a result of experimentation and experience. All of the home educators I know have gradually evolved their approach. None appear to have chosen a style from the very beginning and stuck to it through thick or thin regardless of results.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881402584568285627.post-20033895731649274262011-05-27T04:59:50.051-07:002011-05-27T04:59:50.051-07:00'but you don't need the same approach when...'but you don't need the same approach when deciding on methods for your own child.'<br /><br />This is of course quite true. if one were living on a desert island and having no intercourse with the rest of the human race; that would be fine and dandy. The problem can arise when one talks of a method which has worked well with one's own child and recommends it to others. This can lead to the growth of a 'movement', rather than each parent choosing to do what is best for their own child. I am well aware that the way that I raised my own daughter worked here, but might not work elsewhere. nevertheless, when we look at a large number of children and their backgrounds, we can discern trends, things that are better for children than some other things, ways of learning which work more often than other ways. Because our own experience is so limited, it can help to examine studies of this sort. Some home edcuating parents do not do this, relying instead upon communication only with like-minded individuals. <br /><br /> Simon.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881402584568285627.post-56033718834528432432011-05-27T04:54:12.616-07:002011-05-27T04:54:12.616-07:00Allie wrote,
"Then there is the fact that mos...Allie wrote,<br />"Then there is the fact that most home educators are largely concerned with what works for their child/ren and so are mostly interested in aspects of education theory that translate to the home ed set-up."<br /><br />Exactly. If a study finds that a particular method works extremely well but only for 5% of the school population (the usual study group), it's unlikely that it will be used at all. But this will be a loss for the 5% for whom it worked so well. Obviously, these children can be catered for easily at home. Home educators tend to notice what works and doesn't work for individual children and rapidly adapt their methods to suit. This cannot happen in schools. Using research as a springboard for ideas on different methods to try can be useful, but the results for large groups of children taught at school may be less useful. At best it might suggest the order in which you try methods.<br /><br />Simon wrote,<br />"When something 'works', it is often hard to pick out the salient points which made it 'work'. That is the value of research." <br /> <br />Why? If the methods you've arrived at work for your child, why would the methods that work for other children be relevant if you've tried them and arrived at a better approach for your individual child?<br /><br />Simon wrote,<br />"If another parent tries this approach, perhaps in a home with a television blaring out all day, with little conversation and hardly any books; a child of the same age might not learn to read spontaneously."<br /><br />In that case, as happened in our home, the children that learn spontaneously do so, and the others learn using alternative methods when they want to learn to read. We've observed both 'spontaneous' learning and 'taught using a mainly phonic' approach in our home. I put 'spontaneous' in quotes because, as you say, it involves a lot of input from the parents and the child's environment.<br /><br />"I am interested in the factors which make one child succeed academically, whether taught at home or in a school, while other fail miserably."<br /><br />I suspect that age, ability and aptitude along with the child's interests have much to do with this. Unless you are suggesting that all children who receive the same education will achieve the same outcomes?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881402584568285627.post-8078875505645395812011-05-27T04:52:55.022-07:002011-05-27T04:52:55.022-07:00'suzyg said...
What research are you referrin...'suzyg said... <br />What research are you referring to specifically?'<br /><br />I'm not referring to anything specific. There is a lot of research on the use of computers in teaching, the effects that television has on developing brains, the value of being read to as a child, structured or open-plan classrooms and so on. Some of this stuff finds its way into popular books and newspapers; much does not. A lot of home educating parents seem work from an ideological rather than an empirical perspective when deciding how to go about educating their children. There are hazards in this. <br /><br /> Simon.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com