Archive for the ‘What Qualifies You as a Teacher?’ Category

Co-op Craziness

Posted: February 7, 2012 in Family Life Learning, Schooling at Different Ages, What Qualifies You as a Teacher?
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I love my kids.  Really, I do.  And we work from home.  We see them a lot.  In order for us to not strangle get some time to refresh, we need a break from them during the week.  We don’t, however, need a 40-hour/week break (sometimes, it does sound nice).  We need a two day break where they are in an enriching environment away from our care so we can get our work completed and do those all so important adult tasks that aren’t kid friendly (and yes, that could include some um, recreational fun as well).

When kids are young, this is easy – there are preschools and mother’s day out programs all over the place.  Once they hit age 5, though, you’re SOL.  That’s what school is for!  For those of us that venture beyond the brick walls, we’ve got to find some help!

Enter in the homeschool co-op.  There are quite a few variations on this, but the one we’re looking for offers 1-3 days a week with teachers leading different subjects.  Here is a great example of one I’m looking at: The Center for Homeschool Enrichment Tutorial (CHET).  This may be an option for us.

The fifteen other awesome options in my area?  Perfect.  Except for one thing.  Here in the Bible Belt, right after someone asks you your name, the very next question is “where do you go to church?”  Thus it makes perfect sense that when I am looking to educate my children outside of the traditional school setting, the assumption is it is for spiritual reasons, I’m going to take them to a church, and in order to get into said church/co-op, I must have a pastoral recommendation.

That has been our biggest roadblock.  Out of all the legalese and things that could be a pain with non-traditional school, here I am not even allowed to take a tour of a co-op facility in the churches because I don’t have a pastoral recommendation.  They want to know what our worship attendance is, what our involvement in a church is, and exactly how much we put into the offering bucket every Sunday (okay, made that last one up).

I have been appalled by the “Christian Homeschoolers” – wow – the stereotype has been confirmed.  Homeschoolers are ultra conservative Christians who choose to only allow their children to connect with people who think exactly as they do unless it is an evangelical mission, which then allows for mingling with the “sinners.”  

Yes, yes, that is a gross generalization and cruel judgement on my part.  It is, however, the exact thoughts going on in my head when I hit the same roadblock with six great co-ops in the area.   I have to say, last week I was frustrated and pissed off at the lack of openness to a non-church-goer.  So, I’m coming here to vent, to say my piece, and then find the people that we can connect with.

If you are a Christian or if you are not, that’s not my focus here.  I want to connect with people eager for their kids to open their minds and hearts to the beauty the world has to offer, and all the people in it.  Give me like-mindedness in that alone, and the details on where (or if) we go to church are inconsequential.  If the word “homeschooler” puts me into the stereotype that the reason is only for religious purposes, then homeschooling is not what we’re doing.   Hmmm, more on that in the next post.

What is a “Teacher?” – Papa Gray

Posted: July 17, 2011 in Family Life Learning, What Qualifies You as a Teacher?
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As a parent, especially one that takes your child’s education seriously, you have to
ask yourself…”what will my contribution be to my child’s education?” Perhaps a more fundamentally important question is defining what kind of a teacher you are.

Knowing your strengths and weakness is critical in determining how you will instill
your all-knowing, all-encompassing, and always-right omnipresent knowledge of the world on to your little ones.

I think we fall into one of four categories in this arena:

The Boss: This matter of fact parent won’t stand for any funny business. When
addressing a topic of interest, class clowns beware! This is a fact finding maniac
who wants 100% of the pupils’ attention and will stand for nothing less. With a
detailed blue print on how everything works in this world, this child will be instilled
with the knowledge of the right way to do anything!

The Enthusiast: This minivan driving party of excitement is the proud owner of the house EVERY kid wants to be invited to for a sleep over. There is no law but this: Have tons of fun mixed with no regrets! (Preferably shaken not stirred) With an open road to the wide-open world, the experience drives right over the details, as parent and child flutter from one spot to another, soaking in the world as they go.

The Sweet Heart: This lovable teddy bear of a parent will hug and kiss all over those sweet little children, going out of their way to make every experience a memorable one. “Yes, Ma’am” and “No, Sir” are standard protocol to enter the exciting world of discovery. With an “after you” attitude, this parents tiptoes through this world experience with their child, hoping they didn’t leave a mess behind that someone else might have to clean up.

The Bookworm: This walking instruction manual will have a firm grip on the who, what, when, where, and why before ever taking that first step. With a need to know attitude, this parent dives in the deep end of the education pool, leaving nothing to chance. This is a wild world that need to be understood, defined, quantified, and then re-checked to ensure validity. With a flutter of manuals and maps, this parent teaching will have the facts checked, double checked, and triple checked, and then it will be time to learn.

No matter where you fall in this ramshackle list, know that there is no right or wrong way to teach your kids. Understanding yourself and your kids is the fundamentals of connection, and that is where the learning really begins to pop!

What is a Teacher? – Mama Rose

Posted: July 17, 2011 in Family Life Learning, What Qualifies You as a Teacher?
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What really qualifies someone as a teacher?  In my recent post on Do Facts = Education, I talked about how just knowing the information doesn’t make you wise in a subject.  So…

This is the sign for "teach" - shake your hands forward twice and you are teaching - yay!

  • Do you have to have a college degree to teach?
  • Is there a certain age that qualifies you as a “teacher?”
  • What makes you an “expert”?

I’ve got all kinds of questions, and, as you’ll get to know more about me in these posts, you’ll find out that I always, always, have an opinion. (Actually, if you have your own question for us, you can ask us here.)

Anyway, the point of even asking what makes a teacher essentially boils down to our crazy fear of actually having to “teach” our children.  Why do we have to define “teacher?”  Because we’re ridiculous.  Because we need the black and white answer that yes, we can teach because we’re “qualified.”

Being a teacher doesn’t mean you have to know all of the curriculum on the market, how to find E=MC2, or that are are up to date on licensing requirements with your education degree.  Quite honestly, everyone is a teacher in their own right.  Unfortunately, that means that even when you aren’t meaning to teach something, (ie the dreaded swear word your child overhears you saying), you’re still making an impression.

I could go round and round here.  We’re always teaching, all the time.  Our kids are looking at us on how to cope with life in general.  How do they react when they’re angry?  Big hint will be however I act when I blow my steam.  How do they comfort, how do they handle obstacles, how do they treat others?  They are looking at the examples we set–we are parents; we are role models.  Like it or not, we are teachers.

To take it to the educational level, where not only are we teachers in the parenting realm, but people expect us to actually “play” teacher with our kids, I think there are a few great qualities for being an effective one – both in life in general and in learning things like ABCs and 123s.

Make it fun:  To many times I see people who dread work – homework, classwork, work as in a J-O-B…it’s the “have to do” versus the “want to do.” My father’s favorite quote by James Michener says “The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion.  He hardly knows which is which.  He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing.  To him, he’s always doing both.”  Don’t make it drudgery – learning is fun – figure out how to make it that way for both of you!

Let them make their own lines sometimes:  My oldest is notorious for this.  When I gave her this project, the goal was to go from the letter A to the letter Z.  She did it, but she had fun with it.  Sometimes you need to let it go.  We tend to get stuck on expectations for how things should be (that’s a whole blog post in and of itself) and sometimes just because we think you need to do it one way doesn’t mean there aren’t other ways to get the same result.  When you are teaching a child, you want them to learn so it sticks.  If your child start going in a direction you don’t see, but they are having fun and they are picking up the ultimate goal, let them to it!

Go with the flow: Take cues from the kids.  Going along the same lines as the point above, make sure they are receptive to learning the task at that moment.  If they are tired, cranky, hungry, sick, stressed, etc., it may become a battle you don’t want to fight because you both end up losing.  Sometimes, letting the lesson flow at the time/pace they are most receptive to works best.

Let them lead: I’m definitely leaning toward more child-led teaching – if they are interested enough to ask, they are more open to learning about it.  Tonight at dinner, the question was “why is it called an ‘ear’ of corn?” She was curious and it became a perfect time for a lesson on corn – how it grows, what is good about it, etc.  We had fun and she learned something new.

So being a teacher ultimately, to me, means being in tune with the fact that you always have the opportunity to teach something.  We are all teachers, so be aware of it and know that either way, they are picking up on what you do, so look for ways to intentionally make it something you want them to learn!