To Each Their Own Pace

"A child who is miserable with a curriculum is not 'learning' a whole lot. As for what they're 'supposed to' learn and when they're 'supposed to' learn it, I think they pull this stuff out of a hat and call it good. It has nothing to do with how children learn and what will serve each individual the best. It's about pushing the meat through the grinder. A numbers game. We find that we do better without adhering to a standard scope and sequence because we're tailoring the education to the individual."

~The Libertarian Homeschooler


Standards, by definition, are NOT individualized. Teachers are encouraged to differentiate instruction to meet all children's needs, but in a classroom of 30 or more, that is utterly impossible. 

A standard suggests that there is a specific concept that a child should have mastered at a specific point in time. But why? Why is it so important that a child master any given concept at a particular age? If you have children, think about this. At what age did each child learn to walk and talk? Probably it was different for each kid. So then, why can't each kid master concepts and skills at his own pace throughout his school days? Why must we have deadlines for mastery?

I've heard a story of an unschooled kid who was slow to begin reading. Suddenly, at age nine, he blossomed and couldn't stop reading. By public school standards, he would have been labeled with any variety of (often negative) terms used for kids who have not achieved mastery by an arbitrary set date. He likely would have been placed in remedial reading classes under the Special Education umbrella, where kids who enter rarely leave. 

Strict and arbitrary standards are not healthy for kids. I say let kids learn what they want when they want, because, why not? 

Alternative Schooling and Parenting

I'm not a parent yet but greatly look forward to that day. My husband and I have agreed that if we fully subscribe to the libertarian non-aggression principal as we do, that needs to also apply to parenting. So lately I have been reading blogs about what are mostly known as "alternative parenting" styles such as Attachment Parenting and Peaceful Parenting.

Most of these blogs mention how difficult it can be to deviate from mainstream ways and opinions. In fact, these parenting styles go beyond deviation to flat out rebellion against common mainstream parenting. I completely understand how tough it must be when other parents on the playground expect you to go over to your kid and respond a certain way to whatever issue has arisen. When you don't, there are looks of pity, of surprise, of frustration and even anger. But one thing these blogs agree on is to keep the child at the center of the response, for it is about their growth and not what these lollygags think.

I believe this mindset is similar to that of public school, which is the primary (mainstream) way we do things in the US. Because public school is the mainstream, people raise their eyebrows when an alternative such as homeschooling or unschooling is mentioned. One reaction is that public school is something kids just have to get through-- after all "I did it," many adults lament.

As a teacher and avid reader of educational blogs and research, I can't subscribe to public school. It goes against what we fundamentally know to be true about how children learn. I recently started reading a fascinating book on neuroplasticity, The Woman Who Changed Her Brain, about a woman diagnosed with severe learning disabilities who developed brain exercises to rewire her brain. As a child, she struggled tremendously in public school. The thing that got her through was her impeccable memory, which she used to regurgitate information on tests while not understanding it at all. For her sake, I am glad she was able to do this. But any school system that allows children to pass without understanding the material in the slightest is obviously doing a disservice to those children and to society as a whole.

Neuroplasticity and even the entire field of neuroscience is largely ignored in public schools. On a positive note, the bridge between education and neuroscience is finally being bridged via a new masters degree known at Harvard as Mind, Brain, and Education. It will certainly take time for this information and these degrees to be applied to education reform but at least we're finally bridging this gap!