Playing a game with my son (at his request) using hiragana flash cards.
In fact, I would argue that modern, compulsory schooling is often a detriment to a child's development as a learner and reader.
I write this article with my son in mind, who, now at age four, can read two of the three basic Japanese language character sets (hiragana and katakana), knows some of the third (the Chinese characters system not taught to children until elementary school), and is also reading English.
The children his same age that I teach at the kindergartens here in Japan appear to be at a lower level, comparatively, in this area. I do not write this piece to brag, or even to denigrate public schools (which I despise, for many reasons), but to point out that learning to read is as natural as learning to walk, run, or swim, when it comes to a child's self-interested, personal development.
My son's world, at present.
Why "schooling" does kids a major disservice.
When a child goes to school, they are often taught that they must earn to read, as an academic endeavor separate, disjointed, and disconnected from the rest of life. Reading is taught as a "subject," and not as an integral part of being human.
For example, my son is really into the original Mega Man games for Nintendo, currently, and learned to read the word "man" from seeing the names of the enemy bosses on the game repeatedly: "Cut Man," "Air Man," "Metal Man," "Spark Man," etc. I didn't realize he was absorbing all this until he started picking out these words by himself while out in public. The game is something he cares about, and that he has an interest in.
READING IS THUS JUST A SUBSIDIARY TOOL WITH WHICH HE CAN CONTINUE TO EXPAND HIS KNOWLEDGE BASE AND PURSUE HIS INTERESTS.
What happens at school is typically this:
Okay, kids! Now we will practice reading!......Bobby! Bobby! Come back over here and sit down! What? There's a bug on the window sill? You want to know what it is??? NOT NOW! IT IS READING TIME!
A parent (due to not having the absurd responsibility of meeting the various needs--emotional, physical, and otherwise--of 20 to 30 kids whilst simultaneously being expected to "teach" them) could have whipped out the insect identification handbook and shown Bobby exactly what the insect was. Bobby would have seen the name in print, and, if really interested in bugs, probably would have continued down that path of inquiry for awhile, picking up names, and acquiring a desire to learn to read so as to better be able to tell which bug was what in the future.
At least this was a little more human than the "modern" classroom, I guess.
If no one "teaches" them, how will they learn?
Well, in short, they will ask. Neurotypical children will naturally follow their curiosity and passions into the realm of reading, as they see that signs, symbols, and text are all around them, and are used by adults to do very important things every day. Humans naturally understand the use of symbols. This begins from the first moment a child learns to identify a cartoon bunny rabbit or other animal, for example.
Life is full of symbols, and written text is just a natural extrapolation of this. Children want to be empowered too, and to be able to make more and more sense of the world around them. They can sense from the beginning, even if only intuitively, that language is power.
Of course parents should read to their children as much as possible. This is a great opportunity to bond, and builds a bridge between the child and parent wrapped and infused with literature and text. Furthermore, the more a child sees his or her parents reading, the more that child will come to understand that reading is something very important.
Flash cards and other learning tools are also great, if used as tools and not as ends in and of themselves. My wife has done a fantastic job drilling my son on the aforementioned Japanese character sets. He needs to know these to be able to successfully participate in written communication and creative literary enterprise here in this country.
Having fun is the most important thing, because learning is fun.
A lot of schools and educational programs brag that they "make learning fun!" This always makes me laugh. If they are so lost as to imagine that learning is not a self-rewarding, natural-as-breathing, interesting and amusing pastime, then they are already pretty lost. Probably this can be attributed to these folks having undergone a lifetime of indoctrination and propaganda asserting that learning happens at school exclusively and the knowledge, that typically, school is one of the most "un-fun" places there is.
(My son has just interrupted my writing here to ask me whether the Mega Man password I wrote down from our last session was "B 2 or B 5?" Now he is learning that reading the messy handwriting of others can sometimes be a challenge, too. See how natural all this is?????!!!!)
The reason my wife's approach with my son has worked is because they are both having FUN. As long as it is fun, learning is going to be happening. It is a game, and not a test where failure to identify a card means my son is "inadequate." It is just a game to help him learn, and he knows that. When he gets a word or character right, we celebrate with him. When he has some difficulty identifying a character, we help him. The goal is never just to "get a sticker" or to avoid being embarrassed at having the "wrong answer" in front of an impatient teacher or his peers. The goal is to learn, and "wrong answers" are just useful guideposts in getting on to the right one.
Please enjoy this video of my son reading a Mega Man II Password!
NOTE: I realize that some may take issue with my assertion that learning to read is as natural as learning to walk. Just to clarify, and avoid misunderstanding: What I mean is that learning to walk is a natural progression and result of a child's desire to move. Learning to read is, in exactly the same way, a natural progression and result of a child's desire to know.
For further reading on this topic, I highly recommend this excellent article:
http://education.penelopetrunk.com/2012/04/16/you-dont-need-to-teach-reading/
(Thanks for stopping by! If you missed the last Unschooling Blog, "Montessori Update, and the CRITICAL Difference Between Learner-Centered (Natural) and Top-Down Approaches to Education," you can find it HERE.)
~KafkA
Graham Smith is a Voluntaryist activist, creator, and peaceful parent residing in Niigata City, Japan. Graham runs the "Voluntary Japan" online initiative with a presence here on Steem, as well as Facebook and Twitter. (Hit me up so I can stop talking about myself in the third person!)
People need to be stimulated with love, they need to do things from the hearth so they can immerse themselves in what they do.. Only then does one start to learn truly by soul.. Cheers for the article it was quite nice to read.. I didn't upvote it because I'm a low powered minow, but I gave you a follow to read your stories.
Cheers and all the best from me
Goldie
You said it. Thank you :)
Good post. I agree that reading progresses naturally from a child's desire to know. I spent my early childhood surrounded by books and could read before I started school without anyone actively teaching me.
That is so cool! And yes, exactly what I'm talking about!
This is another great Unschooling post, and one I can relate to well. My youngest learned to read from watching Pokemon with the subtitles on. We weren't even trying to teach her at all.
I had been very "teacherly" with our eldest and he learned to read early. Luckily I didn't destroy his desire to read like many parents who push early reading do. But with Lily we stepped back. She wasn't as 'into' books as her brother had been even as a baby, so I was pleasantly surprised when she simply picked it up on her own.
This isn't to say there aren't times she needs to ask a word or mispronounces something, but she doesn't mind asking for that help because there has never been any pressure or judgment involved in her learning.
I love hearing these kinds of stories. Thanks so much for sharing. Excellent parenting!!!
Thanks for this, is schooling not mandatory there? I agree with you. Same with music, my teacher told me that the instrument is merely a tool with which to express your art.
Sounds like you have an excellent teacher.
Your question is a good one. In typical, ambiguous, bureaucratic fashion, it both is and isn't mandatory. Go figure. The definition of tyranny. Not crazy Fascist laws defined clearly, but ill-defined rules backed by arbitrary and brutal state violence/"consequences."
There are a few homeschooling groups here, though, and many people do it. I am planning to write more about that soon.
Thanks for the comment!
Please let me know when you do. Here in Virginia I figured out a "legal" way to get around compulsory high school for my children. There are ways around the system, but the people working within the system do not tell you the process. I'd love to remove my children completely from government schools, but it just isn't possible. They can skip high school completely though using the process I figured out. :)
Any sabotage is good sabotage when it comes to this issue and taking the power back, my friend. Our kids are everything. I am glad to hear you found a way.
Thanks for the comment @finnian, why do you want to remove your kids from government schools, just curious? Do you feel the same about private schools?
They are indoctrination camps. One teacher told one of my sons, "It's not okay for one person to be more successful than someone else." That's the type of garbage they teach while your children are in school.
I prefer private tutors, but that's very expensive. Private schools would be better. It depends on the parent's choice and what's best for the children. I do not believe school should be mandatory in anyway.
Let the parents decide and a free market provide. All my children need to do is learn to read and write. After knowing those two things, they can teach themselves everything else they need to learn to be successful.
In the city where I live there is this one school, not really a school, it is like home schooling but in one place. So kids from different families go there. But yeah what you explain there is very extreme, sounds pretty bad. I can see how someone can think like that, but it does not reflect reality at all.
I went to a really good private school in Washington DC for 6th and 7th grade. and then I went to Harvard later. The rest of the time I was in public schools. The difference is stark. In private or liberal arts settings they actually teach you how to think critically and make up your own mind about things, at least it is supposed to.
Which is completely different from what you are describing there, where the goal is kind of to make everyone think the same. And then I would place vocational training in a completely different category - things like learning how to be a plumber, electrician, blacksmith, computer programmer.
I feel that all of these different types of skills or approaches or ideologies get muddled together sometimes and people get confused about what education is even all about. And unfortunately, I think then it becomes a race to the bottom, as the easiest way out is likely always gonna be to just revert to a state-sponsored kind of conditioning.
Takes away people's creativity a lot of the times I think. You need to be pretty creative to be self employed or start a business. Better for govt maybe if you are an employee in a big company because then you pay more tax.
Thanks for your comment @kafkanarchy84. Yeah he is good, he spends all his time maintaining his website, www.studybass.com.
Funny how you say it is, and isn't mandatory. So its like damned if you do, damned if you don't? I am really curious about Japan, and what it must be like to live there. How long have you been there?
Been here for seven years now.
Cool are you intending to stay permanently?
I'm new to steemit. I'm from Ukraine. I try my best to make money on this. So you help me very important.
I'm already following you. Please check my blog on this link and vote.
https://steemit.com/photography/@viphh2017/caught-a-goldfish
This is a spam comment unrelated to this post. Just so you know, I usually flag comments like this. It is nothing personal, but just letting you know. If you want to promote your posts, or reach out to another user, Steemit chat is a good place to do it. That, or leave a link to one of your posts that adds value and is related to the post you are commenting on. Cheers, and good luck!
What a wonderful post!!! I love that you decided to unschool!!! School anymore is just daycare for our youth..I love that you shared this post with the Steemit Family - hoping that more people will follow in your footsteps..so important for the future generations. You are a GREAT parent!! SUNSHINE247
Agreed! And quite a shitty daycare, at that! Thanks for the encouraging comment. Sometimes I totally suck at parenting, I think, but we all do our best for these little geniuses entrusted to us :)
There is no right or perfect way to raise your children..But you certainly can make good/right decisions along the way..you have definately made the right decision with unschooling :) Keep up the AMAZING job!! SUNSHINE247
Love this!
Well done writing about it.. I am currently again at logger heads trying to decide if it's better to school my girls at home, but I stay so concerned about their social side of things..
The social side of things does require work, and has been a challenge for us, at times, but as I said above in some of the other comments, your kids will have the opportunity to interact daily with people in the community of all ages to learn from them.
Depending on where you are, there are likely some unschooling/homeschooling groups nearby as well!
On Line you can find a lot of informations about Unschooling and about the social aspect of Unschooling. And its important to consider that the socialization in school is sometime really worst that what it could be at home : bullying, compétition, discimination, you are only with people that are your age, and only one adult is your référence...
I really do agree with you on this. When kids are at school they are indoctrinated into 'the system'. And lets be honest... how much of what is taught at school is actually useful or even used in the real world. Very little in my opinion.
Personally i think kids would benefit a lot more with learning useful lifeskills whether in school or home schooled. Things like cooking, woodwork, working with money, etc. Those are useful.
I also really agree with what you said about reading being treated as a subject. This is such a huge mistake! Because many kids approach it with a reluctance. It is absolutely a fundamental part of life and very essential.
You have made some very thought provoking statements.
So nice to read this, reminds me from the schooling here in Norway, i've been struggling with my learning disorder for quite sometime from 1th grade to the 4th grade, until my mom discovered the little thing i learned from the school, i can say that much that of age 8 i still couldnt read. So my mom got me to a different school who were focused on learning disorder. This is were i got to learn writing,reading, and actully enjoyed math from practially use of tv,computers, sound books. Were as from the first school i went to, they nearly forced me to learn the theoretically and all the basic "human" learning. Just a year on the new school got me further then the old school did in 4 years.
This was just about the best article I ever read about homeschooling and letting the kids have fun learning at their own pace! I bet your son will always have fun reading or studying as opposed to the rest of the population nowadays who, after school and after they've learned their job skill, simply hate to open a book or going to a course learning something nice. The still prevalent school system simply dumbs the kids down instead of encouraging their learning and letting them have fun with it! Thank you for this great post!
I totally agree!
As someone who has taught in schools in three continents, and ages 4-74, I have to say that the educational systems are designed for the industrial revolution- to manufacture complacent, authority-respecting, unquestioning worker bees for the factory system. The problem is that this model still exists! Our world is incredibly different in the information age that is technocratic and moving at an exponential speed; we need critical thinkers, innovators, dreamers, young people to question status quo, and create something new. I would see my students as the geniuses who I was to facilitate in their curiosity, rather than an authority figure. I co-designed how we would approach the designated curriculum with my students, and for that I was in the principal's office more times in my first year of teaching than my entire 12 years as a student combined. Children are absolutely incredible and should not be looked down upon but collaborated with and inspired for their creativity. I also used to live in Japan and witnessed how my friend's children soaked up not only Japanese and English, but spoke another 4 languages at the dinner table because both the husband and wife had parents that worked internationally. The educational system is limiting and needs to be discarded for something new to take its place. I left teaching because I was tired of fighting with the principals at my schools for my innovations.... In my humble opinion, "unschooling" all the bs programming we were taught in schools is one way to becoming a free individual. Kudos for your article!!!
Hey ! Thank you for this most, it's always a pleasure for me to read parents Who enjoy looking at the development of their kids ! Especially in Unschooling, everyday can bring new learnings.. Do you Know this documentary Being And becoming by Clara Bellar ? In this video we See children in Unschooling and They all explain That When the willingness to read came they have learn So fast !
In Franxe, more And more children have big difficulties with reading, And thenet They go to See professionnals and spend even more time struggeling with books. And at the end They don't like to read...
School Simply Makes It Easier That's All :) Besides It's A Nice Place To Socialize !!!
As someone who has taught in public schools for years, the "socialization" learned there is very, very poor in quality. Unschooled children socialize not only with kids the same age as them but babies, the elderly, older brothers and sisters, adults in the community, and their peers.
Fascinating, >> "unschooled children socialize not only with kids the same age as them but babies, the elderly, older brothers and sisters, adults in the community, and their peers."
just curious have you read about this or you know from experience? I mean obviously you are homeschooling your own son but before you started that, how did you know homeschooling would be such a better option in the first place? Was it just due to you public school experience...and you thought any alternative would be better than that?
Finally, just to be devils advocate here (I truly think home schooling can be the best or worst option all depending on how the parents go about it), what about private schools? Do you think private schools - let's say charter schools especially - are able to socialize children any better, or educate them and encourage their creativity more (vs the repetition and regurgitation of facts)?
Sorry for the million and one questions...as a former teacher of university courses myself, I think this is a fascinating topic.
I studied to be an elementary school teacher in university and in that time (thanks to some "rogue" professors, my own personal reading, and experience working in the schools) I realized that compulsory, public education is, was, and has always been a scam.
A few books that opened my eyes were:
Summerhill - A.S. Neill
How Children Learn - John Holt
How Children Fail - John Holt
Dumbing Us Down - John Taylor Gatto
Awareness - Anthony DeMello
My son attends a Montessori kindergarten/preschool 3 times a week which he loves, so I have nothing against schools that understand how things work and are student-centered, really.
I also don't wish to tell other parents how they ought to approach the matter. I've just seen how broken it is (the compulsory system) from the inside. Not to mention the fact that forcing people to surrender their children to the state under threat of violence/sanction is unethical.
My son is able to hang out with children and adults of all different ages, and be a part of the community in day to day life in ways that other children simply cannot, because they are couped up in age segregated indoctrination centers.
I am aware that some homeschooling parents are horrible, so don't get me wrong. That is on them, though, and not the idea/philosophy of unschooling itself, in my view.
I really appreciate your questions and commentary!
Well You Guys Know It Better But I'm Still A College Student And That's How I See School But Nevertheless HomeSchooling Might Be A Better Option After All :)
@steemian69 got you a $2.08 @minnowbooster upgoat, nice! (Image: pixabay.com)
Want a boost? Click here to read more!
Good Luck!This post was resteemed by @resteembot!
in the introduction post.Learn more about the @resteembot project
Awesome, and I appreciate those references - I don't have kids myself (though hopefully someday, knock on wood) I still find the topic fascinating and may just check out one or three of those titles for fun ;)
"age segregated indoctrination centers." - bold words, but from what I've been learning recently that's more or less the truth. I mean seriously..the pledge of allegiance?! (For those of us in the US).
Re "forcing people to surrender their children to the state under threat of violence/sanction is unethical." -- agreed, and again I don't know the details of this especially since I'm not a parent, but if you officially say your child will be homeschooled you don't have to worry about that, right?
I went to Montessori preschool myself and still have fond memories, hehe. I remember the different color readers and all that..though I'm sure things are different now.
Glad to follow you on here. That is so cool you went to a Montessori school. It has probably changed a lot less than you might imagine! Having kids will change your life, my friend! Blessings.
Thanks, likewise. I'll keep that in mind for when I'm at that stage of my life..I still need to meet that lucky lady first :P
Informative piece @kafkanarchy84 although what you've said will take me some time to understand and register coming from a very traditional society and educational system. But I sure believe that the compulsory 'formal' education our children are receiving is one of the ways for the state to control the minds of their citizens.
Check out Sugata Mitra he is scientifically confirming most of what you say. Check for Self Organised Learning Environments SOLE
I laughed at this:
"Okay, kids! Now we will practice reading!......Bobby! Bobby! Come back over here and sit down! What? There's a bug on the window sill? You want to know what it is??? NOT NOW! IT IS READING TIME"
I also study japanese bro...Its really hard( specially the kanji)...
Your son is such a smart kid and you a great dad. Nicely written post, kids are smart and do not need school to learn. However, school is good for them to meet their peers and play together. Thank you for sharing
For sure, but unschooling kids have that same opportunity, and in some ways, moreso.
nice post
So good kafkanarchy
Thanks for sharing this post
That was useful
Upvoted
@kafkanarchy84 - I believe that the best way to learn is when learning is fun. The more interesting the learning method, the faster children learn. It has nothing to do with someone 'teaching' them. No one 'taught' my son three languages. He picked up one from us( his parents) and two more as he went out to play with neighborhood children. I am sure if we had sent him for 'language class' he would have been bored and taken a long time to learn what he learnt in a month or two, playing with the kids. I think the flash cards are an interesting way for kids to interact and learn. Kudos to you and your wife for making it fun for your son to learn. I was thrilled to see how confidently your son read the Mega man II password. He had a bit of trouble getting the concept that there were more than one numbers on the same line but his reading skill was great! Thanks for sharing that cute video. Upvoted.
I request you to visit my latest blogs when you have some free time. You valuable comments and feedback will be very much appreciated. Thanks
He got the concept about the lines, but my writing was a bit jumbled.
I think I can help you with the requests. Honestly, every one of your comments feels like a sales pitch with a really well crafted introduction. Have you ever thought of just leaving a comment for a comment's sake? I think that that type of connection is what entices users to visit other users' blogs, generally. For me these types of comments (you've been persistent, I'll give you that) are a turn off.
Honestly, today I did not make a sales pitch. I genuinely like your blogs and today I especially felt a connection because of the experience I remembered about my son growing up that I have mentioned in my comment.
Sorry. I will not put in any requests to visit my blogs hence forth. I get carried away in spreading word about wildlife. I will curb my urge. Apologies again.
Nice Thoughts and all Post
I think school nowadays is more for social aspect , not to study kids) so they learn how to be in with other kids and socialise with them.
As someone who has taught in public schools for years, the "socialization" learned there is very, very poor in quality. Unschooled children socialize not only with kids the same age as them but babies, the elderly, older brothers and sisters, adults in the community, and their peers.
Your ideas are very interesting! I appreciate it!
very interesting post... as a German living in Vietnam, my daughter (she just turned 2) is also growing up with 3 languages at the same time. German, Vietnamese and English. I can definitely tell that it is all about the effort you put in in a playful kind of way. She is going to an international Kindergarten now where they only speak and teach in English.
I do you think about international schools compared to local schools (as a foreigner living in Japan)?
Also, I think homeschooling sounds interesting but what if you are not in a situation that allows homeschooling (for example both parents are working)?
Hello ! I did studies about Unschooling And met families who practice it and most of them change their family organization to be able to homeschool the kids. So its a big choice but its possible. There are also famimies Where both parents are working and theyafind solutions with grand-parents, or you can have an au pair at home, or I met this family When They decided to unschool their two daughters they sended a email to their families, neighbors, friends, to ask them if they maybe have something, some knowldges that they could share with the daughters, and it happen that now they take english lesson with their old english neighbor for example.. !