Friday 15 June 2012

My dream school is not a school or homeschooling but an Environment where -

The child is responsible for his/her learning and no one else.
The child is capable of taking the responsibility for his learning.

Child lives in a community/home. From birth child is not taught anything. No one teaches the child to speak, to eat, to walk.  The child will learn himself whenever he needs to. Further the child is never told to sit and learn maths etc. At home the parents do their own work. For example the mother would do house work, then she may sit down and do stitching or whatever interests her. If the child lives in community, then the child has exposure to different people. The child would observe others. The child will also have peers. The child is in the house doing whatever he wants.  the day child comes and says i need help, the child is given help. The day child comes and says i want to learn this.  The child and parents/ or whoever work together and learn it.  There is no teaching.. If the child doesn't know reading till the age of 12 it doesn't matter. the child decides what to do whole day. If child plays whole day it doesn't matter. the child is given exposure like the parents may take the child to different places but not force the child to explore things around him. This doesn't mean parents don't to anything with the child. they can play with the child and other things. they give child freedom to pursue interest. When child grows up the child may be at any stage in education but the child is independent. The child knows himself and is capable of learning anything. The parents can express their concern on behaviour and health of the child and take care of the child. But parents would  not tell the child you still don't know maths, you should work on it. For such a system the parents need to be clear and confident.