Our children are our happiness and joy, but also – our future. The knowledge and culture we pass to them will determine the kind of future there will be on Earth. Does today’s Schooling system give our kids everything we want them to know? Is it adequate in preparing them for a happy and fulfilling life, while making this planet a better place?
The school year has begun and many newspaper articles concentrate on education and schooling. One of them in today’s newspaper stated that those kids whose parents help with the homework progress much better. Most parents today understand the importance of spending time with their children after school doing homework, reading or researching together. Some parents go further and choose homeschooling saying that they know better what and how to teach their children. So what is the role of parents in their children’s education?
Let’s step aside and look at education from a distance with an unbiased mind. What is it supposed to give our children? Is existing schooling system doing a good job or does it need to be improved?
First, think of what you want your child to learn to succeed in life? You certainly want your child as a minimum:
– To become literate, to learn to read, write, do math;
– To acquire certain skills which will be handy in life, such as swimming, logic thinking, problem solving, time management and even cooking;
– To learn sciences and laws of nature;
Also, you might want your children to acquire these desirable skills:
– learn how to be strong, achieve his dreams and set goals for himself;
– learn to be kind and honest, to love and to help others;
– acquire the knowledge that you have learned in the childhood and developed through life;
– learn how to teach their children, your grandkids, all this;
– understand the purpose of life, meaning of universe and Nature;
– learn how to be happy and enjoy life and to realize their potential;
– learn how to use the knowledge of the ancestors to succeed in life and make this world better;
– if you understand the importance of your culture, then you would also want your children to acquire this culture, understand and appreciate its traditions, believes and knowledge. You might want your children to your cultural dance, songs, crafts, martial arts, cooking, language, history, ways of raising children and being human.
Maybe you do not think that all of these points are important. But, hey! These are your children, don’t they deserve the best education? Don’t you want to give them all you can and more?
Let us think now what the school certainly should not do:
– Turn your children away from knowledge and develop disguise to education;
– Teach them something better not to-be-taught
– Put too much pressure on the kids so they cannot develop and grow properly;
– Punish and hurt them if they cannot cope with the load;
– Develop only one skill and ignore others;
– Take away the possibility to learn what the child wants at the speed that is the best for him.
Unfortunately, these are some of the Negative Outcomes, which can hurt the child.
Now, take a moment and think whether the school our children are going to and the education they are receiving correspond to these entire requirements, which we listed.
Certainly, today’s school systems manage to give our children many of the requirements mentioned in Minimum requirements. Although, as shown by the experience of many parents and probably your own, the education is often acquired with the Negative Outcomes. Sadly, no typical school today can teach our children anything from Desirable.
There are some inspired and talented teachers and carrying parents, who work hard to give the children a decent education on their own, but not the system. Unfortunately, we can see some of the following happening today among youth:
– Many children do not get a chance to develop their talents and abilities and end up with the jobs which they dislike;
– Force of children who cannot succeed in school and cannot acquire post secondary education;
– Degradation of morale;
– Drug and alcohol abuse;
– Depressed and hurt children and students, who cannot cope with the pressure at schools;
– Obedient youths who cannot manage their lives and be creative;
– Problematic parent-child relationships and so on…
The good news is that many people understand this problem and also many are developing alternative education techniques and even schooling systems. Many parents homeschool and even unschool their children with great results.