Part
5: Completing The Circle - The Work Of Our Hearts
When
our eyes see our hands doing the work of our hearts,
the circle of Creation is completed inside us, the doors
of our souls fly open, and love steps forth to heal
everything in sight. Michael
Bridge
Lighting
A Candle If you have knowledge
let others light their candles by it. Margaret
Fuller The time will eventually arrive when the homeschooling
community will not only gain universal acceptance but
also command universal respect. Where else does such
a rich and invaluable knowledge base regarding experiential-based
learning exist? Regrettably for Welsh teachers faced
with the challenge of a radical new approach to helping
children learn the homeschooling community in the
UK is but a pale shadow of its American counterpart.
One mother expressed very eloquently what homeschooling
had taught her: "Unschooling
has taught me nothing if not to utilize all available
resources and to provide my children with the best available
opportunities regardless of their form."
(Life Learning Magazine)
Dead Dreams If
a little knowledge is a dangerous thing then the lack
of it can prove fatal. Apparently over 90% of
internet businesses fail due to lack of knowledge. That's
a lot of dead dreams! How sad if the Welsh initiative
failed for the same reason. The question is - if
American schools also decided to adopt an experiential
play-based learning model, would the homeschooling community
be prepared to get alongside and help? Before answering
perhaps we need to step back and consider the bigger
picture for there is a battle taking place.
The
Secret War On one side stand the forces committed
to a centralized education system defined by standardized
curricula and driven by a regime of testing and
examination that assigns children their specific
rank in life. Opposing them are those who believe the
child should be central to the process of learning,
not merely a passive commuter following pre-planned
routes over which he has limited control and little
choice. Events in the UK suggest this analogy is
not overly-dramatic. Disregarding the resentment and
outrage it will inevitably provoke, the government
has just announced that all schools in England must
teach reading using synergetic phonics. This stands
in stark contrast to the Welsh model that encourages
innovation and diversity. But the battle lines are rarely
that clearly defined, and anyway why get drawn into
somebody else's war?
Shades
Of Achilles At their hour of direst need
the Greeks were denied the presence of their greatest
warrior. Achilles remained in his tent and the consequence
was the death of his beloved friend Patrocolus. If you
believe children are suffering within a system that
does not nurture and support the growth of the whole
child don't you have a responsibility to try and influence
or change that system for the better? Not every child
is ever going to be in the privileged position of being
homeschooled and prisons worldwide are full of disaffected
casualties and that impacts upon us all. Troy had stood
for generations secure behind her mighty walls. The
institutionalized bastions of state education
probably feel as impregnable and untouchable as
did the citizens of Troy. Well, Troy got it wrong.
The
Heart of the Matter If seeing is believing then
doing is a personal affirmation of that belief. The
most powerful means of affecting change is
getting alongside someone. Let them observe the work
of your hands and if you are committed and passionate they will recognize it as the
overflow of your heart. If a strong homeschooling community
existed in Wales many headteachers would be making contact and asking families
to share the experience with their teachers for the
benefit of the children in their care. This is not
the improbable scenario it initially appears. The irony
is that the battle that is raging may already be irrelevant.
Just
like Apple HelpYourChildSucceed.cmis
a small company driven by a mission to provide
you with innovative
and self-directed learning material that reflects the way your child learns
best. We
are confident that, just as Apple forced IBM to
rethink and adapt, education systems worldwide
will have to respond to the latest developments in learning
being pioneered by small companies like ourselves and
embraced by parents involved in homeschooling.
m