Every child matters, learns differently

Hyderabad-based educator James Tooley has spent long years in India, China and Africa studying private schools that are not recognised by the government. Tooley’s studies defy traditional wisdom that government must provide the poor education. He spoke to Nandita Sengupta:

Your book, The Beautiful Tree, documents the achievements of unrecognised private schools, a sector that education experts have ignored.
The book brings into focus what the poor are doing for themselves. Our study in Hyderabad two years ago showed more children were in unrecognised private schools than in government ones. There’s room for improvement though. But these schools are off the radar. It’s a perplexing conundrum. Every development report talks of government school inefficiency, yet as a solution returns to government schools. What development guys fail to realise is that in every country these schools are highly regulated. Certainly, the regulations may be of the wrong kind and invariably lead to corruption.
Is there a low-cost model then for schools?
That’s what we’re working on. Even if you get the funding, you want a replicable model. It has to be very low cost. With expensive teachers the model collapses. I’m interested in peer-learning models. It’s at an embryonic stage in Hyderabad. We are trying in Ghana too. Peer learning is inevitably tied to differentiated learning. So a group of 10 has a pupil teacher. As they master the class, they move on. We’re focused on pre-primary and primary because there’s freedom there. We’re not exposed to tests. Exams, certainly, is an issue. In higher classes we’re looking at improving students’ spoken English, doing foundation courses for exams.
One reason entrepreneurs give for not training teachers is that once trained, they’d move for higher salaries. Teacher retention is hard. Short, sharp-focused training can be one way ahead. We do an initial five-week training programme during the summer holidays followed by shorter modules. Teachers’ mentoring posttraining counts. In our model, as much importance is given to an academic coordinator who works with three or four schools and mentors class teachers. I’m interested in making these local private schools great places of learning. My guiding principle is every child matters, learns differently.
Should government get out of schooling?
To an extent, government has got out of education. Majority of school kids are in private schools. Not as if government decided to get out. But parents pushed it out. Do we want it back? I’m not sure. The question is what role do we want the government to play? It’s probably not the historical role of providing schools, managing schools etc. For whatever reason, it hasn’t proved very good at that, barring a few exceptions. Even if you get into private-public partnerships, if teachers aren’t in your control and continue to be government teachers, it’s a complete waste of time.

Copyrights TimesofIndia Newspaper 30-12-2009

Source : http://www.paperarticles.com/

The extreme amount of flexibility offered by homeschooling creates many educational benefits. One of them, of course, is that "home" and "school" become one, so that the educational experience doesn't have to begin and end with the ringing of a bell. By incorporating educational activities into your home life as a whole, you child will gain a more valuable educational experience.

One of the best things about home schooling is you can come up with an educational plan that suits your child's particular needs. By working one on one with a child, you can create an individual learning system that can be more beneficial then the learning techniques used in a public or private school. When coming up with an individual education plan for your child, make sure you place focus on reading.

Much of the philosophy of homeschooling is about not being subject to the limitations of the public school system, and an area where the public school system commonly falters is in reading. Many public school students perform poorly on standardized reading tests, which is unfortunate as reading skills are crucial to a child's education.

Reading can't really be emphasized too much when homeschooling your child. While there should be a good balance of subject areas taught throughout the teaching day, reading should be encouraged during your child's free time. While it may be difficult to get a child into doing math or science work in his or her free time, reading is a different story.

As soon as your child can read, he or she should always be reading something. As long as you find the subject matter appropriate, allow your child to read whatever he wants in his free time. Develop the habit at a young age of getting your child to always have a book on the go. By finding books that your child enjoys, your child will, from a young age, associate reading with a fun experience, which will do wonders for his further education.

You must also understand how important it is to set your own example. Try and set time aside during the day in which you read, and in the evening hours, when most children would be watching television, sit down with your child and read together. When it gets close to the child's bedtime, imply that you will be going to be soon as well - because you have a good book to read.

Reading is a fantastic educational opportunity because it is the basis for which your child will learn many other things. When a child is reading a book they are not only bettering their reading skills, they are becoming privy to knowledge contained within the book. It is important that reading begins at a young age because mastering it is a slow process, and you will be doing your child a serious disservice later in life if you choose not to focus on reading early.

Every education should be well rounded of course, but reading is a building block from which other education follows. When homeschooling your child, encourage him or her to read from a young age. If you so do you stand a good chance of instilling a lifelong habit that will benefit your child until the end of his days.

People choose the option of homeschooling their children for a variety of reasons.

For many years, homeschooling was the purview of those families who lived in rural areas and found the cost and/or time it would take to transport their children to school unbearable. For these people, homeschooling was and continues to be the only real option when it comes to their children’s education. Many rural families have traditionally relied on their children to help around the house, and thus homeschooling allowed them to pursue their studies around the family schedule, and work and education could be fit into the day according to a suitable timetable.

Another traditional reason for families choosing the option of homeschool was a fundamental disagreement with what was or is being taught in other schooling environments. Chief among this group are families whose religious beliefs clash with the prevailing educational methods. Families who choose the option of homeschooling are not subject to the rigid curriculum of established schools, and there are many options when it comes to homeschool resources that can offer as wide or as narrow a field of study as far as worldviews that the parent wishes.

A more recent development in the reason people choose to homeschool their children is that of safety. School ground violence seems to be increasing, and that has many parents worried. They feel that the best way to keep their children away from harm is to keep them close.

Hand-in-hand with the safety issue is a concern for the child’s self esteem. Bullying is a common issue within any school system, as any parent well remembers from their own school days. Many parents cannot bear the thought of throwing their children into the kind of system that breeds a pack mentality, and are choosing instead to have them educated at home.

A very recent development in the reasons for homeschooling is the fluidity in choices that homeschooling children allows. This is especially apparent in Generation X, who seem to be fairly insistent on independence and not being tied down to any one place or situation. Homeschooling eliminates the need to plan all vacations around established school holidays, as the pace is determined by the parent and child.

Finally, parents may choose to homeschool their children because they simply feel they can do a better job than any educational system. Parent of gifted children do not want to see the child wasted in the hard pressed for both resources and qualified teachers system that public schooling represents, and private schools are becoming increasingly unaffordable for the average family. Parents who believe their children need the advantages of a more intimate education are therefore turning to the option of homeschooling.

The rise in popularity of homeschooling has meant a corresponding rise in the materials available to the parent who chooses to homeschool. There are resources available to meet any educational needs, and with a little bit of homework a parent will find the curriculum they feel will best suit their children’s needs.

A lot of teaching your child to read is first instilling in your child a desire to read. It’s so very important for the child to know that reading activities and learning to read is fun. Early on, for instance, if you haven’t yet, set aside an area of your home where your child can have their very own reading area and little person library. This will get most all your reading activities off to a great start. Having their own special place for reading activities will encourage the child to spend time reading.

Encourage them to begin to find their favorite spot within their area for their reading activities. Grab yourself a comfy chair and join them and you’ll be amazed how much your child will want go into their reading area and have you with them for a reading session. And an added bonus to the reading area is a great place and time for you to spend with your child reading to them and vise versa. Reading is nothing more than a practiced skill. Practicing being the operative word. Instilling good reading habits in your child early on with consistent and daily reading and practice sessions is laying the bricks to a solid learning foundation no matter what the subject matter.

Books from bookstores, garage sales, flea markets and such are a great way to begin building your child’s reading library content. Grab a cardboard box, and old milk crate or two and decorate them with your child so they can have their own library and take pride in how it looks and help them organize their reading materials. If you already have bookcases, then clear of one of the shelves and make that special place for your child’s books. It’s fun to do and your kids will have fun too. Build momentum early with how much fun reading and exploring books can be.

Also make good use of your public library. Teaching reading skills begins with developing in your child an interest and love for reading. As your child’s library grows along with their reading skill they will understand that books are important, enjoyable, and always filled with new things to learn.

A good reading activity can involve very little actual reading. Use picture books with very few or no words and ask your child to describe the picture or tell a story about what the picture is about. This will allow you to monitor the child’s vocabulary and the use of the words they have been learning. Don’t overlook the importance of vocabulary building along with building reading skills. A strong vocabulary goes well with understanding what you’re reading which, in turn, keeps the frustration level down, and the fun factor up.

Encouraging your child to verbalize to you a story or even a couple pages of something they have read about gives them great pride (while you listen for accuracy) and makes them feel like a reader!  And when kids feel good about their reading skills they naturally strive to learn more

Parents are very excited when their children are old enough to get started in the learning stage level one. They are just too excited to play dough alphabet and clay with their 3-4 aged kids, flashcards with colorful drawings, number blocks, dress up in costumes and plant trees in the backyard with kids and other activities.

Homeschool helps parents to spend time with their kids in the early stages of learning. But one thing they always forget because of too much excitement is the planning of the homeschool year for their kids. This is important to track their progress and assess their performance in the long run. A homeschool calendar is a good tool to keep you on track and on schedule. You can easily make your lesson plan coinciding with the schedule you mapped out.

One benefit of homeschooling your child is you can identify easily and mix in the calendar family schedules. The schedules are not followed strictly like an eight hour job. It depends on the activities and availability of each family member who may be assigned to do the teaching in certain subjects.

The homeschool year can be memorable depending on the activities you set for your kids. Learning time is also your bonding time with the kids, that’s why you opted for a homeschool approach for your child in the first place. Another benefit in the schedule you are mapping out for the year is the flexibility of it that you can incorporate out of town activities or even educational trips in different places or even country. And you decide when is the best time.

Here are the other benefits you will enjoy while your child is homeschooled.

• Homeschooling can alleviate the problem of peer pressure and bullying because your child is safe but at the same time learning at his own pace and learning capability.

• Homeschooling is not only for those kids who were labeled with “learning difficulties”. Some children just need a different approach best suited for them.

• As others would have said otherwise, research shows that kids who are homeschooled have better social skills.

• The best is: your child and you interacting. Your child gets your sole attention to himself.

• You are the mother or the father, so who has the best way of educating your child, YOU! You know what is best and his learning styles. You are the best teacher and you can tailor fit your lesson according to his uniqueness.

If you think that the best place to learn the essentials is your home, then homeschooling is for you.

If you are interested in homeschooling information, it's simple to attain on the Internet. You can actually purchase guides that instruct you on how to teach your child at home. Some parents find it much more convenient to homeschool, or prefer the safety of their child to remain in their own hands. This is perfectly fine; however, you do want your child to interact with peers as they grow.

This essentially allows them to adapt and make friends easier. I remember back when I was in elementary school, and was jealous of the children who were homeschooled. How cool it would be to not have to go to school everyday. Your child's education is a big decision to consider. Discover a spectrum of homeschooling information today. Homeschooling information is just a mouse click away.

Public education can be a life experience. You truly get a sense of how to interact with your peers. I attended public school from kindergarten through senior year, and think it worked rather well. Sure, you have some good and some bad experiences, but overall it was fun. Regardless, more and more these days parents are in need of homeschooling information. Maybe they are a stay-at-home parent, or simply wish to provide their own style of education for their child.

This can be beneficial if you consider the personal attention the child will receive. The key is tenacity. You have to stick to a daily regime in order to properly school your child. Homeschooling information found online can help you better understand this process before you start. Are you qualified to teach? Are you truly going to challenge your child to the same level a public school would? These are questions to ponder.

Our education is certainly a crucial part of our development. As we grow into adulthood we need our minds to be prepared for the job we tackle or the University we venture off to. With public schooling growing on a regular basis, there is always room for more and more children to learn.

However, some parents take a different path in the education process. A second way to acquire academic knowledge is at home. If a parent chooses to, he or she can teach his/her child at home. In fact, homeschooling information is more available now days than ever before. All you need is a computer and Internet access to delve into the world of homeschooling online.

There is a wide variation when it comes to the public opinion on homeschooling. Some are avid supports, while some do not find it in the best interest of children. And to weight out the pros and cons of homeschooling, a list of advantages and disadvantages of this alternative means of education is set up.

Either way, if it is really the best of the learners that is at their supporters and detractors hearts; why not consider what the learner really needs in order to achieve learning success whether in the public and private educational system or through homeschooling.

Taking the side of homeschooling, it is important to evaluate and identify the needs of the children, their interest, the learning methods that best stimulates their curiosity and inquisitiveness. This is the only key to a quality homeschool education - addressing what the homeschooled kid needs.

In homeschooling children, the instructors may be in the form of the parents or a tutor should be able to commit a time for learning. And homeschooling, with all the preparations, will really take up much time. A child will have to be given a strict time schedule for learning, and time for playing as well.

Homeschooled children are criticized to be less sociable individuals. Indeed, socialization is a major factor in developing the personality of a child. Having this in mind, instructors should give attention to the child getting together with other children apart from the home.

All children grow at their own pace. Let kids be kids. Understand that they are experiencing the world for the first time. Get involved and be interested in what interests the child. If it is in the arts and crafts field, then focus on that. Not only will it help the instructor foster rapport with the child, but this will also stimulate and motivate the child to learn new things. Give the child some room to grow and develop on his own with proper guidance.

The effort of homeschooling children will never be too much. It is constant striving to address the children's needs and this will greatly vary as you go along. Children grow and develop, and sooner or later will be interested in new things. And when this time comes, the instructor should always be ready to cater to the children's requirement for learning.