Please critique my philosophy of education! Or share yours

[laurac5]

Actually, I'm not even to the point of thinking about the "how" of education yet... right now I'm just focusing on the desired end product. What defines a well-educated person? I'm not writing this up for anyone but myself... just want to have a clear picture of where we're going, ykwim? Here are my thoughts so far -- I would love to hear other hs moms' philosophies or hear critiques of mine. We lean CM/Classical but just want to give dd a good education.

First of all, a well-educated person has learned the skills needed for adult life. After high school, the graduate should be prepared* to:
-Study any academic discipline in college or pursue a trade of his choosing.
-Read and understand English writing of any difficulty.
-Speak and write with clarity and eloquence.
-Think logically and identify fallacies.
-Apply a strong knowledge of history to present-day issues.
-Cook basic meals.
-Maintain a reasonably orderly home.
-Manage finances wisely.
-Enjoy art, literature, poetry, and music throughout adulthood.
-Teach himself any subject or skill that suits his interests or needs later in life.


A well-educated person has been exposed to the best ideas, art, and culture that civilization has preserved up to today. His education has introduced him to the greatest heroes, philosophers, artists, and scientists that history has known. He understands the heights to which humanity can rise, and his own standards are higher as a result.

A well-educated person has developed good habits needed for adult life; including** compassion, manners, courage, diligence, generosity, patience, respect, temperance, thrift, concentration, accuracy, attention, integrity, memorizing, mental effort, priorities, reading, self-control, humility, thinking, and thoroughness.


*Now, the graduate may not choose to do all of these things -- for instance, maintain an orderly home! -- once he's on his own, but it ought not to be because he doesn't know how. Shame on me if any of my children don't know what to do with a dirty bathroom once they leave home!

**Habits advocated by Charlotte Mason; this list was adapted from "Laying Down the Rails" by Sonya Shafer.

[Stacey B]

Ours comes in two part one is a quote:

We can attempt to teach the things that one might imagine the earth would teach us: silence, humility, holiness, connectedness, courtesy, beauty, celebration, giving, restoration, obligation and wildness.
David Orr from "Earth in Mind"

The second is that it is our job to give ds the ability to learn for himself, that he knows how to access information and what to do with it. In other words how to decide where to look and how to know what is important. It is also our responsibility to teach him how to present what he has learned and to communicate about anything with others.

[Daffodil]

Your picture of the well-educated person could put a little more emphasis on science. I think it's just as important to apply a strong knowledge of science to present-day issues as it is to apply a strong knowledge of history. (Actually, I might argue that a knowledge of science is more important.)

And I'm not sure about this one: Enjoy art, literature, poetry, and music throughout adulthood. I think it's great to enjoy all of those things, but I don't know that it's important for everyone to enjoy all of them. I'm sure there are plenty of well-educated people living rich lives who aren't terribly interested in poetry or art. And there are a lot of (arguably) equally enriching interests you didn't include - building things, training animals, nature study, computer programming, gardening, traveling and learning about other cultures . . . Wouldn't it be fine if your kid grew up completely uninterested in art, but instead spent hours observing wildlife and learning to identify bird songs, plants, and animal tracks?

And what about sports and physical activity? I'd ideally like my kids to be physically active, and to become competent at one or two sports or activities they can enjoy all their lives, like skiing or swimming or horseback riding.

[lmk1]

Excellent...you've pointed out to me that I need to make a list like this myself!
In the second part, I think that you may not be able to present the "greatest" of the great to your children... there are so many cultural greats that you yourself may not be familiar with (from other cultures, for example). This is just a matter of phrasing, of course. One can shoot for presenting the "greatest" that one knows about.

For me, one area that is missing is the "physical"...the understanding of one own's body, what it requires in terms of care (such as nutrition, exercise, other care). Otherwise, this is a great start. I read it to my dh, and he mentioned prioritizing the bullet points that are more important.

[BellinghamCrunchie]

Your list is excellent and inspiring.

For my DD, I would include things regarding science as a PP mentioned, and also nature.

A basic understanding of how machines work, particularly cars. Levers, gears, how to build a structure that won't fall down, how plumbing and electricity work, that kind of stuff.

Nature: how plants thrive, how pollution affects our world, how all life forms survive in a balance, how to help maintain that balance.

[Momma Aimee]

We wrote a Mission Statment:

Mission and purpose

We the parents have the moral and legal obligation to craft, mold, and guide our children into adulthood as functional, ethical, moral and productive people ready and willing to serve God’s Glory and to be productive members of their community and good men / fathers and husbands. Trustworthy, successful, and competent. Deuteronomy 6:7 “You shall diligently teach your children My words as you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up.”

We can, and should, use all resources available to us, such as the state school system, but the end result the responsibility is ours alone. The education of our children is our mandate from God who blessed us with the children, and to Him alone are we ultimately accountable, and to our grandchildren. This not a burden we can, or would choose to, hand off to any other individual or organization.
It is wise to remember that Modern institutional education began only in the last 100 years in American and that this great country was founded through the efforts of those who were schooled at home or in one-room schools; at the time the norm and the expectation for all education. It is also important to remember that Home-educated students typically score 15-30% points above public-schooled students on standardized academic achievement tests. Our intent is for our children to excel when considered with their peers and it is our duty as parents to give them every means necessary to do so.
While we are teaching our children to study, research, and write, we need to remember that they are establishing and perfecting tools that they will one day use to God’s glory. Both tools of knowledge and academic skill as well as tools of faith. Proverbs 1:7 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”
Socialization:
•Young children are impressionable; we the parents are morally obligated to ensure that the models the children are impressed upon by are worthy.
•Children should not be expected to exercise sound judgment regarding actions and associations independently until they are of an age to be able to make such moral decisions.
•The family must be the most important circle for children till they reach the age of accountability and can be a motivational force within their peer group.
•You cannot effectively compensate for 30+ hours/week of a humanist worldview with a few hours at home when the child is already tired or emotionally done. The influence of the school system on young children is a very serious thing.
•It is very difficult, even impossible, to tell a child the MUST listen to an adult (teach or other) then to tell them NOT to listen / believe certain things that person says, or not to trust that adult or believe him / her on certain issues. That is an unfair situation to place a child in; and will effect child ability to learn anything in that situation.

Goals of Education:
•Generally:
To facilitate an education developing the ability to locate, understand and utilize needed information. To be a fully functional productive member of society that is able to think for ones self and make sound choices and demonstrate the ablity to reason and evaluate data and arguments.
•Specifically
•To read well, critically, for comprehension and for joy. To be able to find and expertly use reading to gather needed information on any topic
•To learn to research and gather information and data confidently and quickly. While evaluating the gathered information for validity and relevance and “trustable”.
•To be a critical consumer of pop culture and the media. To evaluate bias and its effects data offered.
•Confidently express self well orally and in writing, present information clearly and persuasively when necessary
•Be able to successful use a variety of math skills in daily life and for complex reasoning.
•To be able to engage in complex reasoning and use advanced logic in life and professional / academic endeavors
•Enjoy Art and Music and Lit for its intrinsic beauty as well as understanding how it fits into history and expresses and reflects the time period of its creation, as well as how it makes God visible in our daily lives. To recognize and appreciate universal truths.
•Understand history and politics so as to be able to make critical choices and make sense of current events with the end of being a fully participatory member of the electorate and the body politic personally if necessary.
•To understand the scope of science to an extent that allows for an understanding of current event and the working of the world around us. Also to allow for recognition of and respect for God’s inherent design in all.
•To understand the human body, its form and functions and care. To make wise personal choices in lifestyle and personal behavior. To be an educated and wise consume of health care.
•To build a solid foundation in faith and the Word of God. Both as it speaks to our lives in matters of personal choice and faith, and also as Lit and History.
•To be aware of other world religions / schools of thought / faiths. To compare and contrast them with our faith, and with each other. With an eye towards being able to understand others, live tolerantly and to understand world history and politics and current events more completely.

Other:
•No fear of bullies on the playground or being disgraced in front of our social group (class) when you struggle with a subject
•No opportunity to fly under the radar and get by with out truly accomplishing a task or learning information or skill
•Expectations
Age / dev app – not sitting quiet all day at age 5
Achievement – higher personal goals, not dictated by the average of a class of 30 (or even 20)


I lllove the OP !!

[One_Girl]

I like that philosophy, but I think math is very important for a good education. Not having math skills closes you off to a lot of options in college, especially if you only have a limited amount of time and resources to get yourself through. I also wonder how much history and art appreciation a person really needs in order to be successful. History, art, and music are nice things to be exposed to, but the type of history you will need will depend on the field of study you go into. It is easy to learn what you need to know for a job when you know how to find good information. I think it is more important to know how to use research and historical material (documents, art, cartoons, maps, stories, etc...) to make a reasonable judgment about what was going on during a particular moment in history, especially if your child finds history to be a tedious subject that must be memorized then forgotten.

[Savoir Faire]

I've been toiling with a homeschool mission statement in my head for awhile. We also lean towards Classical.

What I would like to see as a result of my our homeschooling journey:

• Tolerance. I believe children should know their way of thinking is NOT the only way. They should be able to accept the differences in all of us. (We had discussions on world religions today at 4 and 5!)
• That they are fluent at reading and writing English and enjoy doing both.
• A solid background in math and science so that they can use those skills either in life or higher education.
• A solid foundation in world history (first), then US history (second) and finally, state history. I think there's too much emphasis at times on state.
• Enough comprehension of a foreign language to match what is taught in other countries.
• Life skills that translate over to being a self-sufficient adult: Car care, cleaning, cooking, organizing, etc.
• An appreciation of good health and fitness, even if they aren't interested in sports.
• The ability to critically think. The ability to use it in education, the workplace and in life.
• Most importantly...A LOVE OF LEARNING THAT WILL CONTINUE THROUGH LIFE!

[Tjej]

Maybe I'm getting too technical, but "read and understand English writing of any difficulty" seems pretty impossible. I have a reputation as a walking dictionary, but I can't read and understand writings that are very specialized - a computer programming manual, for instance. Now I could learn how to read it if I wanted to, but I can't right now.
I'd personally re-phrase the finances one too.
And some people just don't like the same things - so "enjoying" certain arts might not be attainable (but "appreciating" them might).
I'd add in more science, health, and relationship-type goals.

Anyway, sorry if that sounds critical. I'm not trying to be. I like your lists. They capture a lot of what I would like to instill in my children before they are adults as well.

Tjej

[AAK]

Originally Posted by Savoir Faire

. [*] Most importantly...A LOVE OF LEARNING THAT WILL CONTINUE THROUGH LIFE![/LIST]

Right there! That says it for me. I feel that if you truly have a love of learning, that you will be able to do it all. The other stuff is great too--and clearly more specific, but I think the love of learning will encourage a child to continue to do so and to make use of what he/she has already learned.

Amy