HomeWork: The Cunning Flip

The homework tonight is read pages 32 to 33 and answer the questions on page 35. Also do the even numbered math problems in chapter three of your math book. And remember to start the outline for your mid-semester project.

So much to do. So little time to do it.

Parents receive an email at home that conveys the homework assignments for today.

Parents pick up where the teacher leaves off.

The school's mission statement: We will teach your children. We will educate your child.

The school takes on this mission. This responsibility. This obligation.

The parents are obligated to leave their kids with the school. The school is obligated to teach the kids.

And what if the child isn't taught? Doesn't learn? Fails?

Can the parents have a meeting with the teacher?

A parent - teacher meeting?

And ask: Why?

Yes... well...

Unless the obligation to teach and educate has been cleverly flipped from the teacher and the school.

Over to the parent and into the home.

The cunning flip.

HomeWork.

_________________________________________________

A parent - teacher meeting happening right now.

Let's listen in...

Parent:  My child isn't doing well in school. My child says he hates school. My child doesn't like going to school. Why does my child hate school? Why does my child not like school? Why does my child feel bad about not getting all the school work done? There's just so much work to do. It seems so overwhelming, so impossible to finish. And it seems like my child's self esteem is suffering. Suffering in the name of education.

School teacher:  I completely understand. Let me ask you a quick question: Are you, as the child's parent, helping in a positive way with your child's homework? Supervising the homework? Encouraging completion of all of the homework? Doing the homework yourself? Did you receive my email? You know, I send you a homework email everyday.

Parent:  Oh, my. How clever of you.

School teacher:  Yes. Homework is really a linchpin in traditional education. Homework keeps alive an illusion. The illusion that the obligation undertaken by the school, to teach the child, is too big. Too much to do alone. Parents need to participate. To share in the accountability. Parents need to reduce the size of the school's obligation by helping at home, sharing the work. Parents need to shoulder the responsibility of teaching. Of educating their child. It's a lot of work. It's too much work for one institution. And... and this is important, the very most important part:  If something goes wrong, the child doesn't do well, the child fails or some how isn't educated, the school cannot be blamed. The school cannot be found at fault. That would seriously hurt the grand tradition of the school. We just cannot allow such a thing to happen. And, so, we have.. homework.

Parent:  Yes. Of course. And I want to do my part.

School teacher:  I just knew you would understand.

_________________________________________________

Decompress for how long?

So, now we have an 11 year old at home. Not going to school every morning. Home all the time. Not gone from 7:30 am to 3:30 pm.

Did you ever count the hours a child spends in school? Eight hours. Add an hour for homework. Nine hours. That's too much. Unless you are the parent or parents and traditional school is your babysitter. I mean daycare center. Then 8 or 9 hours is not too much. Then 8 or 9 is not enough. [Question: Can I help you find an after school program that will keep the kid till 5?] [Answer: Yes, yes. That would be so perfect. You know I'm just so busy.]

Family timed robbed. Can never be returned. Time spent away at school.
Unknown value. Unknown loss.

Continuing on.

Jack's mom and I know next to nothing about homeschooling. We *do* know Jack was not happy to go to school. Traditional school.

Pre-school seemed OK. Kindergarten was OK as best we can remember. But at age six in the very first grade, Jack started whining.

Kids whine. No kid *likes* to go to school. "Jack is normal", said other moms.

And this type of uneasy battle continued through grades 1,2,3,4,5, and into March of grade 6.

Before I go on, let me talk about a fabulous lady, woman, mom that Jack's mom and I met a couple years ago. She is mother to three boys. Ages now: 11, 8 and 4. She homeschools/unschools all three. She's great. She's a friend. She's trusted counsel. She's awesome.

One time, about a year ago, I mentioned to her how Jack doesn't like school. Dreads going to school. Hates homework. And his behavior is even wearing down his parents. Wearing us down to the point we were questioning the methods and mind games children are subject to in a traditional school. ("methods and mind games": see, we were even starting to think negatively about this wonderful school Jack was attending.)

This wonderful mom that homeschooled her kids didn't hesitate in her response. "If you ever want to homeschool Jack, I'm the one to see. I'm a homeschooling leader in the community."

So that's what we did. Jack's mom and I asked this homeschooling leader in the community, "Now what? We pulled Jack out of school. He's home all the time. Loves to play video games. Seems happier, but it's only been a day or two."

Wonderful homeschooling leader-mom says he needs time to decompress. To expand. To get back to his original size. To get back to size regular. Size normal. Behavior normal.

Whatever that is for Jack, he needs to return to it, embrace it and, ultimately, be it. It will take time.

How much time? we ask.

She smiles and says, "One month for every year of traditional school."

Did you ever count the years a child spends in school?

For Jack: K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and half of 6. Equals = Six and a half months.

That takes us from March to September.

Perfect.

Homeschooling, here we come.

Or is it: Homeschooling, here comes Jack.

Either way, it better be good. It better be GREAT!

It better be fun and something he likes. Something Jack loves.