posted March 10, 2010 04:42 AM         

Many parents aren't pleased with public schools because they have a auditory sequential learning environment which makes neurodivergent children susceptible to having learning problems, being taught incorrectly, and unnecessarily labeled as having a learning disorder or behavior disorder leading to be misplaced in special education classes and/or be on medication. Neurodivergents tend to learn better in a multisensory environment. Many of them are independent learners,and they may learn much better at their own pace. They tend to be "rightbrained", and so they may favor artistic,creative,and musical subjects. Therefore, parents turn to alternative education to get their children's education needs met.

HOMESCHOOL

Homeschooling or homeschool (also called home education or home learning) is the education of children at home, typically by parents but sometimes by tutors, rather than in other formal settings of public or private school. Although prior to the introduction of compulsory school attendance laws, most childhood education occurred within the family or community, homeschooling in the modern sense is an alternative in developed countries to formal education.

Homeschooling is a legal option in many places for parents to provide their children with a learning environment as an alternative to publicly-provided schools. Parents cite numerous reasons as motivations to homeschool, including better academic test results, poor public school environment, improved character/morality development, and objections to what is taught locally in public school. It may be a factor in the choice of parenting style. It is also an alternative for families living in isolated rural locations or living temporarily abroad.

Homeschooling may also refer to instruction in the home under the supervision of correspondence schools or umbrella schools. In some places, an approved curriculum is legally required if children are to be home-schooled. A curriculum-free philosophy of homeschooling may be called unschooling, a term coined in 1977 by American educator John Holt in his magazine Growing Without Schooling. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeschooling http://www.nheri.org/ http://www.homeschool.com/

MONTESSORI
The Montessori method is an educational approach to children based on the research and experiences of Italian physician and educator Maria Montessori (1870–1952). It arose essentially from Dr. Montessori's discovery of what she referred to as "the child's true normal nature" in 1907, which happened in the process of her experimental observation of young children given freedom in an environment prepared with materials designed for their self-directed learning activity. The method itself aims to duplicate this experimental observation of children to bring about, sustain and support their true natural way of being.

Applying this method involves the teacher in viewing the child as having an inner natural guidance for his or her own perfect self-directed development.The role of the teacher (sometimes called director, directress, or guide) is therefore to watch over the environment to remove any obstacles that would interfere with this natural development. The teacher's role of observation sometimes includes experimental interactions with children, commonly referred to as "lessons," to resolve misbehavior or to show how to use the various self-teaching materials that are provided in the environment for the children's free use.

The method is primarily applied with young children (2-6), due to the young child's unique instincts and sensitivity to conditions in the environment. However, it is sometimes conducted with elementary age (6-12) children and occasionally with infants and toddlers, as well as at the middle and high school level.

Although the "Montessori" name is recognized by many, it is not a trademark, and it is associated with more than one organization. Schools differ in their interpretation, practical application, and philosophy in using this method with children. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montessori_method http://www.montessori.org/ http://www.amshq.org/

SUDSBURY
A Sudbury school is a school which practices a form of democratic education in which students individually decide what to do with their time, and learn as a by-product of ordinary experience rather than adopting a descriptive educational syllabus or standardized instruction by classes following a prescriptive curriculum. Students have complete responsibility for their own education and the school is run by direct democracy in which students and staff are equals.
The name 'Sudbury' refers to Sudbury Valley School, founded in 1968 in Framingham, Massachusetts, the first school of this type; since 1991, about 40 schools of this type have opened around the world. These schools are not formally associated in any way, but are a loosely connected network that are mutually supportive of each other, operating as independent entities. See here the features that apply to the Sudbury Valley School.

The model differs in some ways from other types of democratic schools and free schools, but there are many similarities:

* De-emphasis of classes: There is no curriculum or set of required courses, because there are no courses. Instead learner interest guides things, with students studying what they want to study. There are generally no classrooms, just rooms where people choose to congregate.
* Age mixing: students are not separated into age-groups of any kind and are allowed to mix freely, interacting with those younger and older than themselves; free age-mixing is emphasized as a powerful tool for learning and development in all ages.
* Autonomous democracy: parents have limited involvement or no involvement in the school administration; Sudbury schools are run by a democratic school meeting where the students and staff participate exclusively and equally. Such meetings are also the sole authority on hiring and firing of staff, unlike most other schools.

Sudbury schools are based on the belief that no kind of curriculum is necessary to prepare a young person for adult life. Instead, these schools emphasize learning as a natural by-product of all human activity.

There are about 40 Sudbury-type schools around the world. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudbury_school http://www.lifeteaches.us/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=47&Itemid=57 http://www.sudval.org/

VIRTUAL SCHOOL
A virtual school or cyberschool describes an institution that teaches courses entirely or primarily through online methods. Though there are tens of thousands of commercial and non-accredited courses available online, the term "virtual school" is generally reserved for accredited schools that teach a full-time (or nearly full-time) course of instruction designed to lead to a degree. Virtual public and private schools serving every grade level including graduate programs may elect to pursue accreditation through various regional and national organizations. Accredited schools must meet rigorous standards as defined by the issuing organization and are designed to insure that students are receiving the highest quality instruction and education. Examples of organizations that issue school accreditation include: Middle States Association of Schools and Colleges, Northwest Association of Accredited Schools

All student services are conducted through Internet technology. The virtual school differ/contrasts from the traditional school through the physical media that links administrators, teachers and students and is an alliance of public distance learning schools. Many states in the United States have their own virtual school, and many of them have students numbering in the thousands. By providing a student's social security number the person is then entered into a database where they can choose which classes they want to take.

There are many different virtual school instructional and enrollment models. Instructional models range from fully independent self paced courses to semester based, teacher facilitated courses. Class sizes range widely with anywhere from 25 students to as many as 200 students in each class section. Students keep in contact with teachers and collaborate with other students through web communication tools provided in the course delivery platforms like Blackboard or Desire2Learn or Moodle . In some cases students communicate by phone with instructors. To help with communication many virtual schools have implemented their own system programs to help build courses and maintain student profiles. There are also many books and training manuals to aid in the development of such schools and courses. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_school http://www.inacol.org/ http://www.kpk12.com/

WALFORF
Waldorf education is a pedagogy based upon the educational philosophy of the Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner, the founder of anthroposophy. Learning is interdisciplinary, integrating practical, artistic, and conceptual elements. The Waldorf approach emphasizes the role of the imagination, developing thinking that includes a creative as well as an analytic component. The overarching goals of this educational approach are to provide young people the basis on which to develop into free, moral and integrated individuals, and to help every child fulfill his or her unique destiny, the existence of which anthroposophy posits. Schools and teachers are given considerable freedom to define curricula within collegial structures.

The first Waldorf school was founded in 1919 to serve the children of employees at the Waldorf-Astoria cigarette factory in Stuttgart. As of 2009 there were 994 independent Waldorf schools located in sixty countries throughout the world; as of 2001 there were 1400 kindergartens and 120 institutions for special education world-wide.There are also Waldorf-based public and Charter schools, homeschooling environments, and Waldorf ideas are being taken up, often less in whole than in part, by an expanding number of American public and private schools today.

The educational approach is known in some countries as Steiner or Steiner-Waldorf education. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldorf_education http://www.whywaldorfworks.org/ http://www.waldorflibrary.org/pg/home/home.asp

Raymond

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"Nothing matters absolutely;
the truth is it only matters relatively"

posted March 10, 2010 11:19 AM         

*re the sudbury schools, they are modelled pretty much on SUMMERHILL, an english school that started well before the late 60s...it is the prototype for the sudburys but a crucial difference is that the sudbury schools may or may not be LIVE-IN...summerhill was strictly for boarders as its founder AS NEILL, believed that most parents would undo the school's influence every night! Though summerhill is for ages 3-18 (i believe) mr neill was not given to taking in kids over 7 because he felt after that the "normal" school indoctrination would have so damaged their instincts that they would be unable to benefit from the freestyle environment and drag the whole thing down to the level of rebellion and NOTlearning...

posted March 10, 2010 01:00 PM         

This is going to be my page on alternative education for the new neurodiversity website. I want parents that there are other options.

however, the one that I am considering to be my secretary and fellow director, Dave Gaines wants to come up with a new model.

he's the one with the bachelor's degree and is working on his master's degree.

He's a behavior analyst,and he has experience working with many autistic children.

I am also going to have pages on
Learning Styles, Multiple Intelligences,Interventions/Programs/Therapies,Nutrition/Vitamins/Minerals,Kiersey Temperament Sorter (based on Myers Briggs),and Psychiatric Disorders, and FAQ going over the various neurodivergent conditions.

I have already had those done. I am just going to go over and make any needed changes and then I am going to give to Dave to put on the new website that he is going to make for the organization.

I will always add new information to it. News stories will definitely be added.

I thought about a famous person page too. I am disappointed that there aren't any known Dyspraxics beyond Harry Potter as there are Dyslexics and ADHDers. I would definitely have Temple Grandin for Autistic Spectrum.

Raymond

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"Nothing matters absolutely;
the truth is it only matters relatively"

posted March 11, 2010 02:02 AM         

Raymond

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"Nothing matters absolutely;
the truth is it only matters relatively"

posted March 11, 2010 02:49 AM         

quote:

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The Sudsbury school sounds great however I feel like if kids were to pick what they study, they may not be as well rounded. If I went to a Sudsbury school, I would've stuck to literature and would've never learned a lick of algebra in my life.

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Kids aren't well rounded anyway. And all too many kids with a high school diploma still have to take "bone head courses" (essentially remedial, typically math) just to be at a level that a college will accept them. This tells me that schools fail to help kids anyway.

And countless people out there, even working at registers, seem perfectly fine getting through life without anything more than simple addition & subtraction, and some manage to keep their jobs despite having trouble with even that.

posted March 11, 2010 03:30 AM         

I agree with you. Damn...you always come up with great points! I admire you about that!

When I was in high school, all I wanted to do was major in English or Liberal Arts. I wanted to be an actor,screenplay writer,director,and producer.

I think mathematics requirements too high for those type of degrees.

I definitely would have thrived in a Montessori School.

Public schools have been broken a long time ago, and many ND's are at the short end of the stick. So many drop out of school. Many are misplaced in special education classes. Many drugged up on medication. The grading system in schools are based on factory working systems, and it was William Farrish that came up with it in the 1790's. Along with that system, the auditory sequential teaching methods were implemented which is a total incompatibility issue for visual spatial learners like myself. I read that most learners are visual spatial learners.

Raymond

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"Nothing matters absolutely;
the truth is it only matters relatively"

posted March 11, 2010 08:25 PM         

but anyone who has spent time with young kids knows they are learning machines. in fact we learn more in the 1st four years of life than in all the rest put together!

the fact is that given the power to choose what they learn kids would probably pick things a lot of parents consider "useless" but in order to do those things they will have to learn life skills and if they want to build something that will include math, language and art, plus other disciplines that help with specific projects.

if they want to learn about anything they need to read, listen and watch any number of materials ... give them sympathetic and positive supervision and anything can be turned into a vehicle for learning the things that are drilled into their heads by boring repetition. and if they learn it because they want to it will sink in a lot faster.

ever heard of rosetta stone? the language course you "absorb" instead of studying? how after all did you learn your first language? very little of it was through coaching and principles of grammar, was it?

this is what john holt discovered after teaching, watching and relating to thousands of kids, and why he came to the belief that if we want our kids to be intelligent, self-directed and well-balanced/adjusted, we should take them out of school as early as possible.

posted March 11, 2010 10:25 PM         

Im horrible at algebra and math in genral (though im great at geometry), but i recognize te benefits of learning it. Its a good brain exercise, for instance.

posted March 11, 2010 10:56 PM         

quote:

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have a basically ignorant voting population

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I hate to break it to you, but of the few who vote (less than half the country, IIRC), they ARE vastly ignorant. I'd show you vids of voters (and people signing petitions) being interviewed but it would be seen as political and the actual point itself would be missed. (Btw, I believe schooling is one of the reasons so few vote as schools mold kids into adults who feel disempowered and that the authorities have the answers anyway.)

I've had some downright frightening experiences of my own on the people who vote who are not only mind boggling ignorant, but proud of it. It's no wonder to me why the "stupid vote" is the most fought over by our 2 major parties. And by this I don't only mean about the candidates, but even like the significance of being Speaker of the House or why an issue matters among many other things (granted few government schools teach this anyway and are frankly more interested in keeping kids ignorant than in educating them).

And even if someone was never taught about it, it's easy to research and there are people who try very hard to get people to vote to the point of walking them through the steps (unfortunately, IMO).

Oh, and history has become one of the worst classes for being messed up due to various political actions groups on both left & right watering down the text so that history classes are boring, meaningless, and drive kids to not care about it in the first place. This happens because corporations that make the books don't want to lose sales so try to offend as few people as possible and what's left after that just isn't useful (and sometimes not even true).

quote:

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Around 80% of americans dont think evolution is real

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posted March 12, 2010 05:46 PM         

people have thrived in all educational settings, AND failed, but the public school system is answerable to the national and state curriculae and their job description is to teach all kids the same thing on the same schedule so we all come out like christmas cookies at a chosen age, able to drop our work at the sound of a bell like pavlov's dogs and never question the status quo.

i would rather be an algebra-ignoramus than believe the "party line" because it has been drilled into me for 12 years straight! some of the smartest people i know are basically NOT educated...not academically anyway. but they have built their own houses (without algebra or geometry or architecture classes) and their own lives in their own unique ways.

the thing about the sudbury/summerhill schools is they are not there to "make it easier for the kids to follow their own inner guidance" but to teach them how to make it possible for themselves. and they have all=school policy meetings decided by debate and vote, and enforced by everyone as well.