Teaching children skills that are really important

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Instead of worrying whether we should give gold stars for participating or for being the best we should involve children in real world activities where the end result of the activity itself is the reward.

Teaching them gardening, woodworking, repair skills, fiber arts, sewing, leatherwork, cooking, and so on. Those are important skills that are useful. I am not saying that reading and writing and being able to do sums and such are not. Those are essential for self-directed learning but so very many subjects and things that are taught in public schools today are not necessary, let alone essential, for later life. Those subjects are just taught because they are used for the passing of tests and many are as useful in later life as the proverbial bits on a hog.

Getting them out hiking somewhere with gorgeous views. Teach them to raise animals and care something other than themselves. Have the help out an elderly relative or elderly neighbor. Give them age appropriate chores to do in the home, garden, etc. and making them feel important when they have done so.

When they help you in the garden (I know that to begin with such help can be more a hindrance than help) don't give them plastic or cheap “tin” gardening tools but invest in the small version of the real thing. They can be had. Or, with a little ingenuity, make the bigger tools smaller, and suitable for them.

The same goes for woodworking and such like activities. Years ago one could get real woodworking toolboxes, for instance, for children with real, small, saws, planes,, chisels, hammers, etc. Today, alas, they no longer seem to exist. The fear that kids could hurt themselves with those has done away with this, it would appear.

Our society has lost what is truly important in life. It is time to find it again. It teaches the young ones things – in school – that are more or less unimportant and those things that are important for life and in life it tends to neglect. In fact, often the school system makes those things that are not part of the “curriculum” out as unimportant and actively discourages the pursuit of those despite the fact that those are the things that are important in and for life.

The school system, and no doubt not just in Britain, “teaches” children to pass tests rather than teaches them things for life. Good test results put schools in front in the league tables but it does nothing for the students. The only way to change that is if we either demand the system to change, are able to change it ourselves – and I do not think that those two will happen – or take maters into our own hands, as many people do already, and homeschool or even unschool our kids.

© 2017

In handling ADHD, American parents should look to the French

A shocking 9 percent of U.S. kids are diagnosed and medicated for ADHD, compared to 0.5 percent of French kids. What's causing the big difference?

Several years ago, a fascinating book came out called Bringing Up Bébé. Written by an American woman named Pamela Druckerman who lives and raises her kids in France, the book explores the many ways in which the French, as a whole culture, parent differently than the Americans (and Canadians, since that’s where I live and see the many similarities in parenting styles).

The biggest difference between France and the United States is the approach to routine and structure in children’s lives. While the French implement a strict daily routine from the very beginning and expect their children to fit into a parent-determined lifestyle, American families are usually child-centric, with parents accommodating their children’s needs and desires.

This stereotypical American parenting style, however, may have a serious downside. An article in Psychology Today attributes the relatively low levels of ADHD in French children in part to the presence of structure in their lives. Because their parents insist that they learn self-control from an early age by enforcing limits and are supported in this by the education system, fewer French children develop behavioral problems that reach the point of requiring medication.

Read more here.

Why we need public libraries

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

“When I graduated from high school... I couldn't go to college, so I went to the library three days a week for ten years.” ~ Ray Bradbury, author and library lover.

That's why we need public libraries... and that's why we need to fight to keep them open, in Britain and elsewhere. They are a lifeline and a way of learning for many if they would just be introduced to them properly.

But what is a public library. Is it only one that is paid for and run by the local municipality, local authority? A public library, first and foremost, regardless who runs it and pays for it, is one where the public, all of the public, have access to, free at point of use, to read books and also to borrow books.

I never went to school at all, and I thank my lucky stars for that, and got my education, after having been taught to read and write, through having access to a large library and devouring books, including a complete set of the Encyclopedia Britannica (1942 Edition).

While the library that I used as my reading room was not a public one in the general sense but based on a military post the same goes for public libraries with general access. They are a lifeline to those youngsters, and not just youngsters, who do not have access to books at home, or have not got the money to buy themselves every book that they would like to read.

On the other hand public lending libraries are also a very green option as one does not have to, then, buy all those book which one only has to dispose off at a later stage or, like me, who hates to part with books, ends up with a library of 1000s – literally – of books at home. And that again takes up lots of room.

So, let's hear it – listen up government – for public libraries.

© 2015

Parents’ preschool co-op breaks the education mould in Greece

The Greek economic crisis led to devastating cuts in social services, including preschool childcare – but a new model of education is now emerging, with parents forming a co-operative to fill the gap.

The Halandri Parents Social Cooperative Enterprise is only the second co-operative care-giving enterprise in Greece – the first was established on Crete a few years ago – and offers a platform for parents to share information about preschool, primary and secondary education.

It started life in 2011, when parents in the Athens suburb of Halandri formed a committee to oppose the closure of a number of preschool nurseries. At the time, there were more than 2,000 preschool-aged children in the city while five out of nine public nurseries had been shut down, leaving expensive private nurseries as the only alternative for most parents.

“Free, public school services have collapsed – it’s a combination of services not working properly, cuts, and standards not kept – in some cases, they should be closed,” said Dinos Palyvos, a teacher and translator who helped set up the co-op. The team also includes two engineers, two translators, an illustrator, a graphic designer and two teachers.

In a bid to change the way education is delivered, the co-op has developed a number of projects, including a co-operative school of private tuition, which was opened two years ago. It has already doubled its number of students, and teachers’ wages are significantly higher than the market average.

Read more: http://www.thenews.coop/91161/news/co-operatives/parents-preschool-co-op-breaks-the-education-mould-in-greece/