Linda has been encouraging everyone to read this book all year and I have to admit I hadn't made the commitment to read it until now. Wow. I shouldn't have waited so long.
Here is an excerpt from the book, only the 2nd chapter in, so I'm eager to keep reading more and more...
"...The current win-lose, right-wrong model of education approach sends children the message that if they are not superhuman, they are weak and without inherent worth. Participating on the swim team or doing well in physics does not define who a child is or is able to become. Children cannot keep standing on tiptoe straining to grasp some ever-elusive magical combination of socially accepted activities that will give them the golden ticket to a successful and meaningful future. Parents today appear to be in the process of branding their children as if they were some marketplace product. They package them and present them to the world as if their resumes of achievement and activities are their identities and the foundation of their personalities. This is why children are anxious. They want to be more than a list of achievements and scores.
We really must start believing in the inherent worth of each child if we are to have any hope for their healthy future. If we could do this, school could become a journey, an exploration, rather than an evaluation that lasts eighteen years. Think about it - sixteen years of someone telling you what is right and what is wrong about you. And throughout, you've never had an ounce of input into the discussion. Imagine if this were happening to you in your workplace; imagine if you never set any of the goals or expectations, and you never had the opportunity to disagree. We could never fathom success in such a repressive environment for ourselves, so why do we think it is healthy for our children?"
Let me be clear as well...Jenifer Fox is NOT a homeschooler, nor does she promote homeschooling. I'm curious to see how this book unfolds, especially for those parents that chose traditional schooling and feel "caught" because they agree with everything she is saying, yet feel helpless to do anything about it because of the educational system we live under.
2 comments:
I have been holding off on reading this book...now, I know I need to read it. Another book to add to mama's reading list!!
Sounds like a really interesting book. I'll have to check it out.
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