18 Feb 2014, Natalia Khorobrikh
Epigraph:
“If you want to raise good children, then spend half as much money and twice as much time on them.”
Greetings to everyone who misses Natalia and Temka, and especially those who are interested in how our homeschooling is going. Or rather, how our life moves, in which there is a place for learning too.
Honestly, every day I realize more and more that our decision to homeschool was the right one. These months when we are at home have become the most wonderful time of our lives.
In the fall, we were actively attacked by journalists. At first I accepted everyone, generously answered questions, but then I realized that they were twisting the information in such a way... that it was better to remain silent, and I began to refuse conversations, stories and interviews. But I remembered them because one day a journalist and a cameraman came to see us, and the cameraman looked at Tyomka and said: “You can immediately see a happy child, not exhausted and bullied by school.”
Because, to be honest, we have such a home theater here that it’s never boring. Tyomin’s friends from the yard come to us to “hang out,” play in skits, and listen to funny stories about history and literature. In general, sometimes there is a passage through the yard, but I have never heard so much children’s (teenage!) laughter as in the last couple of months.
But I'll start from the beginning. I have already written about how we organized the process; we worked in this mode until the beginning of December. And then we discovered that we had completed the entire school curriculum for the seventh grade.
A little about what it means to “pass the program.” It wasn't stupid textbook study, of course. We followed the topics suggested by the textbooks, but we raised a little more layers.
For example: Physics. Section "Optics". We studied the topics of the textbook, dug into what else we have on the topic “Optics” in other books (thanks to my dad for the gorgeous physics and mathematics library), studied it, discussed it. We discussed the use of optics in everyday life.
* The most difficult thing for me in classes is to come up with and find something for which it can be useful in practical life. It's incredibly difficult! Because 70-80% of the school curriculum will never be useful to him, I remember from myself!!!
And in this mode, we had fun going through all the subjects. Although, to be honest, there were some subjects that I allowed to be treated formally, that is, at the textbook level. Because the main thing teach a child to learn, find information. And modern children don’t even know how to search for information on the Internet. Mine is now like a help desk: they constantly resort to “help this”, “find that”... Although mine, too, cannot always use the correct algorithm for finding what is needed.
There is nothing more valuable than self-education. And if a child is taught to learn, he will be able to master everything. When you need it, and not to store useless things in your head. There are theoretical subjects that, I am sure, if necessary, he can easily master on his own.
Although even I had no idea how backward textbooks are now. Everything is written in them as if neither biochemistry nor genetics had developed over the last 50 years, and there were no scientific or historical discoveries.
History is generally a separate layer. I don’t even want to raise this topic; it’s hard to imagine how many lies they have told us throughout history. It’s difficult to find anything uglier than a school textbook on this subject...
In general, by the beginning of December I realized that I needed to do something... bright, interesting, new. Temka clearly realized that the school curriculum, firstly, is a little stupid, and secondly, he needs to do something for the second semester? And we began to compile a list of skills that every person needs in life, and that are not taught in school. Someday I will introduce you to this list.
We are actively working on it, and it is more valuable than any school! Everything is there, from communication skills and office management, to psychology and touch typing.
At the beginning of December we had the next stage of passing tests. And here, finally, Tyoma and I entered into a quiet conspiracy. Having received the next “portion” of tests, the child came home in slight shock... Why? And I will give you some of the questions below, and you will understand.
Our conspiracy is that we have divided the process of acquiring knowledge into “know” and “pass”. We answer tests to pass. And what we teach beyond this serves higher purposes.
In the fall, I conducted surveys among 6-7 grade students at nearby schools. Imagine, when asked: “Why do you teach mathematics?” Absolutely all the children answered “To write tests well.” There were similar answers for other subjects. To the question “Why read programmatic works of literature?” the answer was “To retell the content to the teacher and get a normal grade.” Test thinking. All. Nothing more. Even to the question about learning the Ukrainian (Russian) language, the answer was this: to write tests and dictations without errors. That is, the answer “to write correctly” does not even sound!
There is no value in school education. Neither in general nor specifically for children. They go to school solely for the sake of communicating with classmates and “harassing” teachers. This is especially supported by a bunch of public posts on social networks on the topic that the richest people in the world did not go to school, and that you can “make money” without having any knowledge. It's coming out of all the cracks now! Moreover, for example, this is beneficial for politicians: illiterate people with primitive instincts are always easier to manage.
Yes, maybe the richest people in the world did not receive the best education, but their self-education was at a high level. Plus fantastic performance. But for some reason teenagers don’t think about this aspect...
Against the backdrop of a cheerful and happy life, our relationship with one of the neighboring families from below became strained. There are 10 of them living in a three-room apartment, one computer for everyone, black envy and anger are constant towards us. Well, of course, not only am I sitting at home, now Tyoma is too, and everyone is always happy.
And now Tyoma has a serious life test: as soon as he goes out and starts going downstairs, someone will inevitably come out of that apartment, swear, and say nasty things to him. And I teach the child not to react to all this. It’s also a kind of school of life: to respond cheerfully and with a smile to insults, or even to pass by and not react at all. It doesn’t matter to me, so they don’t touch me, but pester the little one, seeing that he is “starting up.” Temka is an “explosive” guy, easily excitable since childhood. And now it’s also a transitional age, when all the senses are heightened. But he's trying. To make the neighbor’s level clear, here’s what he writes on VKontakte:
I apologize to my readers for this, of course, but... Have you paid attention to literacy and vocabulary? The guy is 19 years old, graduated from a vocational school, and constantly boasts that he is from a police family, so no matter what he does, nothing will happen to him. What can you do, the new laws of our country, introduced in January, allow him to speak and behave like this. But more on that below.
...But why do people like this grow up? Due to the fact that parents shifted responsibility for their children to school, and it is forbidden to leave them in school even for the second year! Still, they give at least “sixes” to transfer.
Would you like to demonstrate that it is enough to know to get 6 points (this is like a three before). I take any test I can find from the pack of tests - “History of the Middle Ages.” I'm rewriting.
Questions, level 6 points.
Exercise 1.
Choose one correct answer:
1. The Great Migration of Peoples is called:
A. discovery of new lands
b. conquest of the Germanic tribes under pressure from the Huns
V. Arab invasion of Europe.
2. The Kingdom of the Franks arose in the territory of:
A. Gaul b. Italy. V. North Africa
3. In 486, in a battle near the city of Soissons, the Franks defeated:
A. Huns b. Arabs in. Romans
4. Which of the representatives of the Merovingian dynasty had the nickname “Short”:
A. Childeric III b. Clovis c. Pepin.
That's all for this test. You take 4 or 5 such tests in a year and get a C grade.
Okay, I've bored you with the story. Let me give you an example from a physical education test. Don’t laugh, now they rent this too. Having learned about this, my friend, a theater institute teacher in stage movement, said: “Now I understand why they ask if they can not go to classes and just write an essay for me.” By stage movement! Not the story of tea!
Okay, a couple of simple questions about physical education:
What is the size of a football goal?
A. Length 5 m 22 cm, height 1.5 m 24 cm.
b. length 8 m 36 cm, height 2 m 30 cm
V. length 9 m 41 cm, height 2.20 m 53 cm
g. length 7 m 32 cm, height 2 m 44 cm
Lovely, isn't it? I especially liked how the height was given in the answer options A And V. I wasn’t mistaken, it’s written there: 1.5 m 24 cm. They couldn’t write 1 m 74 cm.
Second example question:
What harm does smoking cause?
A. no
b. destroys health
V. weakens the body a little
d. negatively affects the oral mucosa
Imagine the fun we have with the answers!
And I’ll give you a third example - it’s just a miracle! Ready?
Question: Does a tourist need physical training?
A. Yes.
b. No.
V. Absolutely not needed.
d. There is not a single correct answer.
You read it and don’t know whether to laugh or cry. Or kill the one who compiles such tests. Tyoma was shocked when he received them and looked through them. What else can we talk about? Revealing a secret, I’ll say: the school we have enrolled in this year is also a sports school, one of the three best in the region! So I want to ask what criteria this is determined by. Is it really about the quality of tests?
Now about our winter experiment.
From mid-December to mid-January I started an experiment: I allowed him to do what he liked and wanted. Without limiting anything (of course, this did not apply to visiting clubs). And I just started watching. After all, we have time, the annual tests are far away.
I would also like to add that we got a puppy in mid-November. The girl we named Ponochka. Not far from our house, a dog was crushed by a car, leaving three puppies. He installed two of them and brought the third one to us.
I agreed, on the condition that the puppy would be looked after entirely by him. The puppy was 2 months old at the time. After vaccinations and quarantine, the stage of walking 4-5 times a day began. Plus cooking. And this also began to take up a certain part of the day. But the child became so happy. After all, he’s been asking me for a dog for 8 years! But I didn’t allow it, because only now I see that he has grown to take proper care of her. Even a year earlier, I’m sure that I would have had to walk the dog in the morning...
For three months now, Tyoma has been fiddling with her like a small child, he really does everything himself, cooks porridge, cleans up when she craps in the apartment. And this also made him more responsible.
Now let's go back to December, when I decided to take a month-long vacation and see what happens.
The first three days I played computer games until I dropped. Although before that I hadn’t played them since the summer, and I didn’t play around very actively in the summer. Actually, he stopped playing about two years ago. I learned then that when he plays, someone makes money from it.
Then he started playing with toys and asked me to play board games with him. I played a lot with the puppy. From time to time I picked up books. Then I read voraciously for several days, rereading my favorite books like Treasure Island, Harry Potter and Gulliver. That is, what was read in grades 1-2 at school.
I didn’t notice any interest in the classics. Perhaps reading the programs of works, especially Ukrainian literature, can be called our weakest link. Although he listens with interest when I tell biographical facts about the authors that make him a living person (after all, if you read the “polished” biographies in textbooks, our writers are all heavenly angels, not living people).
I noticed that he agrees with pleasure to read what is not included in the program. A very strong protest against everything that is imposed by the school... By the way, we watch films very often. Especially biographical ones - about great people. Or about historical events. I remember that he remembered the film “The Demidovs”, with the brilliant Evstigneev, and a generally good acting ensemble. I watched it three times, two of them without me. The modern series “Dostoevsky” was watched twice with unflagging interest, after which Tyoma read two of his stories, I won’t say that enthusiastically, but without “forcing”, and also said that he would not read “Crime and Punishment” unless forced. Considering that in the 9th grade only 1 lesson will be devoted to Dostoevsky, I think they won’t force me to.
Then he began to review Soviet comedies, which I also taught him from an early age. His desire to act (in theatre, cinema or TV) has always been strong, and now it is strengthening.
A few days later he said that he and the children decided to set up a home theater. Practice doing sketches, and then maybe film a series. And it began... Their core is 4 people, from time to time the number of children in the skit reaches 8. Spectators also come.
They act out scenes of school life, what happens during breaks and after school. Sometimes my hair stands on end from what I see. But I understand that they copy what exists, without inventing it... I won’t shout like a prude “we didn’t have that,” the generation of children is different now.
They have almost forgotten how to talk, everything is on their phones or VKontakte... Therefore, such games greatly enliven their lives. Temka is also in this photo. The girls changed him and put on make-up, this is him in the image of a “bad teacher”.
We live in a remote area, in order to go to some clubs, you have to go to them, there is nothing nearby except banal drawing. Therefore, practically no one goes anywhere, everyone hangs out in the yard. And I sincerely feel sorry for these kids...
Tyomin's 6 sections, which he goes absolutely on his own, have always caused surprise. Now, however, two of them had to be cancelled. Because they are located in the Palace of Pioneers (sorry, schoolchildren) on the square, which since January has become a “Maidan” on a city scale. And there it became difficult and scary to walk from the minibus to the Palace. Even I was afraid to go there, so visits were postponed until the situation stabilized.
And he visits the rest with interest and desire. I'm not forcing you. Although I have already spoken about my principle: if a child stops liking a certain club, we cancel it, but in its place we find another one, so that the schedule is intense. It has long been noted that the more dynamic the schedule, the more a person gets done.
When all the New Year holidays had passed and all the children went to school, I decided to use Tyomin’s idea with skits and invited him to act out educational skits. For example, I say: “The topic is such and such. You are the teacher, I am the student. Portray the worst and most harmful teacher, but the task is still to explain the topic to the student.”
Temchik really liked this “by contradiction” method, and he got involved instantly. I saw a lot of parodies of the teachers he had. And then we figure it out: what exactly do you not like about this? show me how you would like it to be. Then he shows the “ideal teacher” - and all using the example of specific subjects and lesson topics.
All in all. role-playing games. A lot of fun, fantasy, invention. A lot of benefits, because there is active action, and not sitting at a desk in an unnatural position...
And, most importantly, if our family now consisted not of the two of us, but of at least 4-5 people, then this would be ideal bonding communication for the whole family. Now the main problem for families is disunity. Everyone is at their own computer, with teenagers, except for “have you done your homework?” In general, parents don’t talk about much. Teenagers consider adults to “suck”... Of course, there are exceptions, I don’t argue, I’m talking about a mass phenomenon.
Temka also used to consider me retarded. And since last autumn he took on me. I got my first jeans (I had never worn them in my life, I didn’t like them), sweaters replaced the business style that I had adhered to for the last 20 years.
Tema said: “You dress for 40, so they give you 40. You dress for 25, then no one will give you more than 30 years.” And he turned out to be right. Now I’m slowly changing my strict image to a cheerful one, letting my hair grow, and wearing makeup differently. Even I myself am amazed at how much taste my son has. He likes to pick out my bags, scarves, and yesterday he even picked out my lipstick. Unexpected color, but I liked it. Teaches me to play table tennis. We go with him to the club in the neighborhood, I play with teenagers. At first they were a little shy of me, but now they accept me as one of their own.
All his friends and buddies in the yard constantly tell Temchik that I am “advanced” with him, and he is very pleased with this. He said that he wants to be proud of me always and everywhere. It’s not for nothing that they say that if you want harmony between growing children and parents, then the parents have to adapt. I really even began to feel younger, as a teenager I tried to be mature and respectable, communicated more often with those who were 10-15 years older, and at the age of 15 I generally began working in a serious office. Now I somehow want to go back to my childhood.
I finally went dancing! I’ve been dreaming about it for a long time, but couldn’t find the time before. During my school years I wanted to study, but because I was overweight, they didn’t take me anywhere. Now there are “Seniors” age groups where everyone is accepted. We who work at the computer should always think about and take care of our backs and posture. Dancing holds your back well, I really like it.
I recently read the following statement: “You just need to love children under 7 years old, raise them from 7 to 14, become their best friend from 14 to 21, and then release them into the world and pray that everything will be fine with them.” So I read it and understood: YES! I felt it so much!
We were taught that we need to raise children when they lie across the crib. And we educate, educate. It’s sometimes scary to be on the playground where the kids are: mothers don’t give any freedom, they don’t allow them to build relationships themselves, they interfere... By the way, not enough is given to children either... I know this from myself, in the first 7 years I didn’t give Temchik a lot of love.
In the first years, a child should soak up love. And he will one way or another pick up the model of behavior, moral values, etc. from his parents. It’s not for nothing that kindergarten teachers say that a child shows the ins and outs of the whole family. And you need to educate not a child, but YOURSELF! It is useless to raise a child at this age. He will still act not as he is taught, but as he sees around him. And this does not always coincide...
Now Temka and I are at a stage, from 14 to 21, when I have the opportunity to become his best friend. He even admitted that none of his acquaintances are frank with their parents about their lives. And he is frank. And he likes it. The most interesting thing is that I like it too. If there were periods when it seemed that he was interfering with me, and because of him I didn’t get a lot done, now somehow everything has lined up, I have time for him, and for myself, and for work.
...The situation in the country is sometimes alarming. Complete access to information and privileges for the security forces in 3-4 years will lead to an even greater “ordinaryization” of these groups. Appetite comes while eating... It’s unpleasant to feel humiliated, a person on whom nothing depends, who can be condemned for unknown reasons without his presence. I’m already silent about the ban on freedom of speech...
My firm belief: a person should live where he is comfortable. Living in a city and cursing it is terrible. You need to change the city, choose what suits you, and go live there. And it's not as difficult as many people think!!! You just need to set yourself such a goal and follow the steps to achieve it one by one.
If now I feel uncomfortable in this country (from which I have not seen anything except $25 in benefits for a single mother), if my knowledge, skills, and talents are not in demand here, if I am worried about the future of my son, then it’s time to look for something a place where we will enjoy living.
I started learning a foreign language! And not just for brain training. I won’t say anything more for now, so as not to jinx it... I am a person far from politics, my home is my fortress. But there are situations when it’s nice in the fortress, but you don’t really want to go outside of it... That’s how it is with us now.
But no matter what external events happen, our attitude is unbending, we are happy, we ourselves create a lifestyle for ourselves, and it is a great happiness to find and do what you like!!! This is inner freedom.
P.S. Remember, I wrote not so long ago that I still can’t decide what exactly I want to do. I can do a lot, and I succeed in almost everything I undertake. But making a choice is difficult. So, a few days ago I felt that I had found something I liked... HURRAY! I think my readers will also be pleased with this in due time.
We press buttons on social networks - this leads to money!Photo by Olga Gorina
If you decide to choose family education for your child, what should you do? What are the legal aspects, what are the opportunities and what are the difficulties? Larisa Pokrovskaya, editor-in-chief of the Family Education magazine, talks about this.
Even though family education (FTE) is becoming increasingly popular, there are still many myths surrounding it. Many teachers and parents of schoolchildren still believe that CO is for losers. For those who can't. And, on the contrary, many “family people” believe that CO is for children who are motivated, serious, independent, focused on academic achievements, “2 years in a year,” etc. etc.
But family education is just one form of education. It is chosen for various reasons, sometimes with diametrically opposed goals. Therefore, some of the “family students” actually achieve considerable heights in learning, learn faster or more, or both. And there are those who, thanks to SB, get the opportunity not to adjust the child to the general pace at the cost of their own and the child’s neurosis, or not to integrate a highly sensitive child with special needs into the system. There are those who have chosen a sports or musical career, and attending school is not combined with daily hours of training and rehearsals. And some families prefer to lead a “nomadic” lifestyle, wintering in warm countries or even moving there for an indefinite period of time - for them it is very convenient to take certifications remotely. Some people preferred family education to school education due to religious or ideological beliefs. Parents want their children to adopt family values, and not what the school teaches directly or indirectly.
Since parents have the legal right to choose the form of education and training for their child, any reasons for switching to CO are legal. There are no “more correct” or “less correct” reasons. Each family makes a choice based on its preferences and the needs of the child.
! It is important not to confuse family education with home education, in which children with special needs are taught by home-based teachers. For training in the form of CO, no medical indications are needed; the desire of the parents and the child is sufficient.
Despite all the shortcomings of Russian lawmaking, with the presence of unclear, “vague” wording in the law on education, Russian legislation is nevertheless considered one of the most liberal when it comes to family education. We have a legally enshrined right to choose and the opportunity to implement that very individual approach that, for a number of reasons, the school cannot provide.
Step 1. Study the law
The main document that spells out our rights and responsibilities in terms of education is the Federal Law “On Education in the Russian Federation” dated December 29, 2012 No. 273-FZ. It is also useful to familiarize yourself with the letter of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation dated November 15, 2013 No. NT-1139/08 “On the organization of education in the family form” and with the regional regulations on family education, which are different in each region. It is not necessary to immerse yourself in the study of the law; it is enough to pay attention to articles related to education outside the school walls. The most important are Articles 17, 33, 34, 58 and 63 of the Federal Law on Education.
In particular, the law says that you can study at school not only by attending it daily (full-time education), but also by correspondence and part-time.
In part-time and part-time education, some subjects can be studied at school, and others at home. Or attend school on certain days and study independently on other days. These nuances are prescribed when drawing up an individual educational plan (IEP). The correspondence form involves studying without attending school, which is very similar to family education, but in this case the child is listed as a student at the school (part of the contingent), which means that the school is responsible for the results of his education. That is why the school prefers to control the knowledge of a correspondence student with particular passion. For example, he conducts certifications more often, or generally sets annual grades based on monthly tests in each subject.
If the child is formalized specifically as a student in the form of family education (or self-education, when it comes to high school students), the parents are responsible for the results. In this case, the school also has the right to set the frequency and form of certification itself (Article 58, paragraph 1 of the Law “On Education in the Russian Federation” dated December 29, 2012 No. 273-FZ), however, the Ministry of Education and Science recommends doing this “taking into account the opinion parents (legal representatives), including based on the pace and sequence of studying educational material" (Letter of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia No. NT-1139/08 dated November 15, 2013). It is unknown whether the school will want to follow this recommendation. As practice shows, it all depends on the specific school to which you want to attach for passing intermediate certifications.
! In everyday life, “family members” are considered both those who are registered for family education and those who are enrolled in correspondence courses. After all, in fact, both of them at school are only certified, not trained.
Step 2. Inform about the choice of CO
In order for a child to study in the form of CO, you do not need to ask anyone for permission, explain the reasons or prove your right to this choice. All we are required to do by law is to notify the local government body of a municipal district or city district about our decision (Article 63, paragraph 5 of the Federal Law “On Education in the Russian Federation” No. 273-FZ). These bodies keep records of school-age children and the forms of education they choose.
The system of local self-government and education management in Moscow and St. Petersburg differs from other regions. Therefore, in Moscow, a notification about choosing a family form of education should be sent to the district government, in St. Petersburg - to the education management department at the place of residence.
From grades 1 to 9, an application for choosing a family form is written by the parent (legal representative), and in grades 10 and 11 by the child. In this case, he informs the relevant authorities about the choice of training in the form of self-education. The application is written in free form.
! It happens that an application written in free form is “not suitable” and the official asks you to fill out a form of the “established sample”. This requirement is illegal. You can comply and fill out the application form given to you, or refuse, since the law does not establish a specific form.
The application can be submitted in person or sent by Russian Post by registered mail with acknowledgment of delivery and a list of attachments. The notification of delivery will serve as proof that the document was delivered to the recipient, and the inventory will clearly indicate that you sent exactly the application for choosing a CO, and not something else. If you decide to do without mail, do not forget to print out the application in two copies: you will give one, and on the second you will be stamped with receipt, so that you can, if anything happens, prove that you have taken all the actions required by law.
! Often, officials insist that parents indicate in the application which school the child will undergo certification. Sometimes they even require you to bring documentary evidence that you are attached to the school. This requirement is illegal. You are only obligated to inform the relevant authority that the child will be enrolled in education.
The Law does not stipulate specific sanctions for failure to notify about the choice of a family form of education, but other types of problems are possible. It is not uncommon for relatives to dislike the choice of family education. Or the neighbors will suddenly discover that your child is walking in the yard or constantly sitting at home while his peers at school are gnawing on the granite of science. Among them there are sometimes quite active citizens who advocate for the child to receive the education required by law. And one day the doorbell may ring - Guardianship has arrived. They received a “signal” that a certain child was deprived of the benefits due to him by law. They have no right to ignore this information; their task is to check everything. And here it is very important to have confirmation that you have notified the relevant authority that the child is studying at home. If you didn't notify anyone or didn't take care of supporting documents, you may have problems.
! Sometimes, when submitting a notice to select a CO, the official tries to force you to a specific school to attach to. It is illegal. Parents have the right to choose a general education organization (Article 63, paragraph 2 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation; Article 3, paragraph 1.7 of the Federal Law “On Education in the Russian Federation” dated December 29, 2012 No. 273-FZ).
Step 3. Select a school to attach to
Choosing the right school to enroll in can make life a lot easier. How often do you want to test your child's knowledge? Is your parental control enough for you or is it important to receive feedback from the school more often? How strict (or, conversely, soft) control would you prefer, taking into account the individual characteristics of the child? Do you want to interact with teachers face-to-face or minimize contact with the school? Are you satisfied with a test-based assessment or do you think it should resemble a full-fledged exam? Even if you clearly understand what you want, the school most likely will not satisfy all your needs. But it’s still worth trying to negotiate with the administration or find the most suitable school.
To apply for both distance learning and family education, you need to write an application at the school with which you want to cooperate.
Only in the first case will you enter into an agreement with the school for distance learning, and the child will be considered a student of the school (correspondence student), and in the second case, the school will enter into an agreement with you to conduct certifications (agreement on external studies), and the child will be called as an external student. In both cases, the contract will specify your relationship with the school, including the procedure for passing certifications (their number, form, frequency, timing).
If your child is already studying full-time at school, you need to write an application to transfer to CO (if you want to take certifications at the same school), or expel from this school, and then contact the school you have chosen for passing certifications and write an application for training there in family form. Application forms can be easily found on the Internet, or taken directly from the educational institution.
Some schools are ready to accept “family students” throughout the school year.
year, others set a date after which it is no longer possible to join for certification.
! A child who is attached to a school to pass certification is considered an external student and can enjoy the academic rights of students in the relevant educational program (the list of rights is in Article 34 of the Law “On Education”).
Step 4. Train the child
Family members solve educational issues in different ways; there are as many options as there are families. It all depends on your goals and capabilities.
What do you want to get out of it? Do you consider the knowledge that your child will receive while preparing for school certifications to be sufficient? Or perhaps they have nothing to do with the education you would like for your child?
Are A's important to you? Or is CO for you the maximum free development of the child and forced compliance with the requirements of federal state educational standards (FSES) (which means that “C” grades are enough)?
Do you prefer structure and systematic lessons, or do you prefer an approach in which it is important to create an educational environment, and the child will take everything he can carry? These are extreme options, but there are many intermediate ones!
Decide on your goals, and then answer the following questions. How much time are you willing to devote to teaching your child? Can you do it yourself? Does the child have the ability to study independently? If the issue of education cannot be resolved by the family, is there a financial opportunity to attract tutors (in person or via Skype) or pay for an alternative school? Or maybe you want to collaborate with like-minded people and create your own family school? Or join an existing one?
Unfortunately, there is no correct answer to any of these questions. There are no universal solutions when it comes to learning, simply because all children are different, all people are different. And the opportunity to take into account the unique characteristics of our children is the most important advantage of family education. Therefore, it makes sense to read and listen to how other families structure their education, try it on yourself, try it and keep what works well in your case.
This may be useful to you:
List of alternative and family schools in Moscow and some other cities(Believers should carefully study this list. Not all the schools listed in it are compatible in their ideological principles with the Orthodox upbringing of a child. However, such schools make up only a small part of this detailed list. — ed.)
Step 5. Pass the certification
The lack of clarity of some of the wording in the Law “On Education” gives us the opportunity to consider passing intermediate certifications a right, and not an obligation. Theoretically, by law, a child is required to pass only state final certifications (OGE and Unified State Exam). To get admission to the OGE, you need to be certified for grade 9. And without certification for grades 10 and 11, you will not be allowed to take the Unified State Exam.
So, is it possible to notify the appropriate authority about the choice of SO, and then “disappear from the radar” for the next 8 years and appear in the 9th grade to pass the certification and receive admission to the OGE? Theoretically yes. But there have been no such precedents yet. But there is a huge probability that the certification for grade 9 will eventually turn into certification for all nine grades or will be carried out with special bias. And it is unknown how it will all end in the end.
However, if you do not want to take certifications every year, you can draw up an individual educational plan (IEP), which sets out the deadlines for passing certifications in each subject. In particular, you can agree with the school (and document this) that the child will come to take certification immediately for the elementary school course. And then - for the high school course. All this time, the child will be assigned to the school to take certifications; he just won’t take them every year.
In the same way, you can apply for accelerated training and be certified for several classes within one academic year.
The law allows intermediate assessments to be taken remotely, but does not oblige schools to provide external students with such an opportunity.
But the state final certification (in the 9th grade of the Unified State Examination, and in the 11th grade - the Unified State Exam) is taken exclusively in person, regardless of the form of education and training.
Where you can take certifications remotely:
- International School of Tomorrow(MShZD), Moscow. Registration for correspondence courses. Monthly written tests for each subject. Remotely.
- Private school "Training Center for Children and Adults"(TsODIV), St. Petersburg. Different forms of training. You can join only for passing certifications (family education), or for online learning (online correspondence class). For family education - certification in test format, once a year in each subject, at a time convenient for you, online.
- External office, Novosibirsk. An intermediary that provides a platform for online assessments, as well as training and writing practice papers. Collaborates with schools in Novosibirsk and Moscow (the student is officially assigned to one of these schools, and passes the certification through the External Office). Online certifications, the training system is modular (learned a subject, passed it, then the next subject). The certification format is detailed answers to questions, in writing. The certification process is being video recorded.
- Home school Interneturok.ru. Intermediary, cooperates with schools in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Registration for a family form of education. Training + certifications. Homework, tests online.
In case of unsatisfactory passing of the certification, a commission is created to accept a retake; the subject can be retaken no more than two times. If academic debt is not eliminated within the time period established by the school, the child is required by law to switch to full-time education (Article 58, paragraph 10 of the Federal Law “On Education in the Russian Federation”).
Step 6. Solving the issue of socialization
Socialization is one of the main myths of family education. Many immediately imagine a poor child whom his mother forcibly keeps at home, does not let him go anywhere, and does not allow him to communicate with his peers. This myth is based on the illusion that children communicate at school. But if we observe what is happening during recess, most often we see children playing games on their phones. And other children who watch them play games. There is essentially no communication.
It turns out that the notorious socialization is a problem that concerns all children and adolescents, regardless of where and how they study. And it’s easier to solve this problem if you have enough free time from studying, something that modern schoolchildren cannot boast of.
Where do children who do not attend school communicate? In clubs and interest groups; in physical and chemical laboratories; on hikes and family/teen camps; at free education festivals; on trips to museums, parks, picnics, and excavations, which are often organized jointly by several (and sometimes many) families; at competitions; in alternative/family schools...
! Family Education Support Club, Moscow - a community of parents teaching children in the form of education, and those who are interested. General meetings in nature, theater festivals, and family camps are held. In the community group on Facebook you can find a list of local communities in Moscow and the Moscow region and much other useful information.
Very often we hear criticism of the modern school curriculum, school, teachers, and classmates. Parents are increasingly expressing dissatisfaction with the system in which their children find themselves. But the proposal to transfer the child to home schooling is met with hostility. In this article I would like to clarify some issues of homeschooling from the point of view of Western countries.
The article will focus on homeschooling children who are transferred to homeschooling not for medical reasons, but for other reasons.
Option one. The family lives in a very remote place and the child simply physically cannot attend school, because taking the child 100 kilometers to the nearest school and bringing him back every day is not an option. In such a situation, the family is given a package of textbooks and assignments, which the children complete at home under the guidance of their parents. In addition, they have the opportunity to attend classes remotely, since technology allows this today. Children are assigned teacher-curators who can be called or written if questions arise about new material. Students write tests and tests, take exams, and receive grades just like students in schools. But they study at home.
Option two. Parents decide to homeschool their child despite their proximity to schools. In this case, there can be an infinite number of reasons. A child may simply be far ahead of his peers. The reason may be conflicts with classmates and/or teachers. A child may lack motivation to study at school because he feels that he is wasting a lot of time. At an older age, the school may simply not be able to provide the child with training in subjects within the chosen profile. As a result, parents are faced with a choice of what to do - leave their child in the general school education system or try to give him more individual and personally targeted education.
Depending on the child and where they live, parents can take several directions in homeschooling.
1. Extern. In this case, the child simply studies at home using the same textbooks as his classmates at school. Training is approximately the same as for remote living. The advantages in this case are obvious. The child learns at his own pace, he does not have to catch up with classmates or, on the contrary, wait for the teacher to finish calming the class and start giving material. According to the observations of teachers, studying externally saves the student a lot of time, freeing up this time for activities based on interests. I think that many teachers will agree with me here - with a classroom teaching system, time is not always used effectively. Disciplinarians and the need to reach every student in the class take up a lot of time. When studying externally, all these difficulties are eliminated. Externship involves the help of the school and teachers, quarter tests and exams in each class
2. Training in a parent group. Education is more controversial for many, since often professional teachers do not take part in children's education. In this case, parents or a group of parents themselves develop a program for children, prepare didactic materials, organize the educational process and presentation of material in their own way. Very often, under such a system, several families gather and divide the subjects that they could cover among themselves. This method often takes a more hands-on approach to learning, with children often learning on a theme-week basis, gradually covering more and more material. Parents often approach education creatively. It is this unstructured nature of this method of teaching that causes many complaints from critics of homeschooling. They find this approach too practical and limiting the child's capabilities.
3. Modular training. With this approach, learning cannot be called 100% home-based, since only part of the learning takes place at home. Modular learning most often occurs in middle and high school, when the child has already more or less decided on his choice of profession. If the school cannot provide the opportunity to study some subjects on the basis of the school or the material is not presented as deeply as required for admission and further education. In such a situation, parents often organize the child’s education so that he learns some of the material at home, and some by attending lectures at colleges and institutes (you can enroll the child in one or two elective subjects). More directed education gives the student additional motivation - he knows why he is doing it studies this or that subject. There is a desire to understand complex issues and not give up when difficulties arise.
The options described above are the most common today in Western countries. But home education is not limited to just these subjects. Homeschooling is not always left entirely to the parents without any outside control. In Singapore, for example, a child cannot be transferred to home schooling without a program previously approved by the Ministry of Education. Parents must develop and present a program. If approved, the child can study at home and take final exams at the end of primary school (grade 6) and secondary school.
Homeschooling has a lot of critics. Skeptics are prejudiced about the quality of education in such conditions. They say that children do not have socialization, do not have the skills to learn and work in a group, that children grow up to be individualists, unable to build relationships with the people around them.
However, supporters of home education are not discouraged. Many experts note a reduction in time spent on training and higher student motivation. As a result of a freer schedule, children communicate more and their communication is of higher quality - after all, they choose their social circles themselves, and do not revolve among people imposed on them by the general education system. Homeschooled children have higher self-esteem, they suffer less from complexes caused by peer ridicule for any reason or no reason.
This article is not written to encourage everyone to homeschool their children. This is difficult and almost impossible to implement en masse. One of the necessary conditions for this form of education is a non-working parent who can teach children. In addition, such a parent must understand that he himself will have to learn a lot, master a lot. And this is not always possible in modern life. The article was created to give readers the opportunity to become familiar with alternative approaches to education, to show that education can be carried out not only in school. I also wanted to show that homeschooling is not a way to keep children with health and development problems away.
A striking example of successful learning outcomes outside of school was the speech of 13-year-old Logan LaPlante at the famous TEDx conference. Two years ago, an American teenager took the stage at the University of Nevada and talked about how he dropped out of school because there, Logan said, he could not become a healthy and happy person. In addition to the fact that the teenager's speech sounded as good as any adult conference speaker, its content was so convincing that it would make even the most ardent skeptics reconsider their views on alternative education.
Logan LaPlant at TEDx. Photo: www.tedxuniversityofnevada.org
As Logan explained, harmonious human development requires several components - sports, proper nutrition, time in nature, helping others and cooperation, relationships, entertainment, recreation and spiritual development. And unfortunately, schools often do not pay attention to these things, forcing children to sit in class and learn what they do not like. Logan's parents gave up traditional schooling when he was 9 years old. As a result, the teenager began to study the school curriculum himself, but only in a more interesting and unusual way, which he later called “hackschooling.”
- What does my school look like? Like most kids, I study math, history, and creative writing. I used to not like writing essays because my teachers made me talk about butterflies and rainbows. And I wanted to write about skiing. Luckily, a good friend of my mom started a Kids Ski Academy where I could write based on my experiences and my interests, asking questions of amazing experts around the country. And it developed my love for writing. One thing I have learned is that if you are motivated, you can do a lot in a short time.
Hacking physics was fun. We studied Newton and Galileo, experiencing basic physical phenomena. I really loved the huge Newton's pendulum we made from boccia balls.<…>Also, the time I spend in nature is very important to me. Being in peace and quiet, I disconnect from reality. I spend one day a week completely in nature. We learn to survive in the wilderness with just one knife. We learn to listen to nature, to feel our surroundings. I developed a spiritual connection with nature that I never knew existed. But the best part is that we make darts, bows and arrows, light a fire and assemble tents for the night.
The concept of hackschooling, invented by Logan, is accessible to every family. True, there are countries in which family education (CO) is prohibited: for example, in Germany, attempting to educate children at home is punishable by fines and can lead to the deprivation of parental rights. In Russia, the form of family education is approved by law. Parents who decide to educate their child independently need only notify the local government of their choice. They have the right to come to the school at their place of residence, and by law the school cannot refuse to organize certification. But taking exams every year is not an obligation, but a child’s right, so homeschoolers may not appear at school until the 9th grade. Students only need to pass the final certification before the Unified State Exam and Unified State Exam in grades 9 and 11.
Although Russia has a legislative framework for out-of-school education, teachers still treat such a system with distrust and are in no hurry to conclude an agreement with the parents of homeschoolers. Here is one of the stories about how the head teacher of a St. Petersburg school launched an entire campaign against a father who, due to his son’s frequent illnesses, decided to teach him at home:
An excerpt from material published in the newspaper " Paper »:
- SO — this is a budget business, the money is allocated for children, not for teachers, so if you want to do this business in a free school, then be prepared for constant intrigues, since you can’t cut the money.
The teachers were divided into two camps: those who did not understand anything, but helped, and those who did not understand anything, but that’s okay. The former were ready to help for free on any issue, be it a test or help with an equation. The latter were strongly opposed and adhered to the “camp” of the head teacher. For example, a history teacher said that she would only give “good” marks for work in a notebook, but at the same time she said that she did not have time for any nonsense with personal answers. It’s interesting with physics: the head teacher is responsible for it, so we were assigned a detachment of selected physicists, “failures,” who in the end were able to draw us a “satisfactory” grade in the magazine.
SO — this is great if you have the skills of a teacher. It’s even better if you live in Europe, where this form is no longer news to anyone. If you have the first, but have problems with the second, prepare either your wallet or your nerves of steel. The main thing is to try, experience has never been superfluous.
Almost every parent who has chosen a family form of education for their child faces similar problems. The main and practically the only sources of information about CO for parents are still groups on social networks, forums and thematic websites. Therefore, one Moscow mother, Oksana Aprelskaya, having met with another homeschooler’s mother, Lara Pokrovskaya, decided to launch the Family Education magazine, dedicated to the difficulties of educating children outside of school and the variety of ways in which such education can be organized. Having assembled a team of like-minded people, the mothers prepared and laid out the first issue of the magazine, and in order to send the circulation to press, they began collecting funds on the website Planeta.ru. The entire amount was received 12 days before the end of the campaign, and the first issue was published on September 7. The magazine can now be ordered in print or online, and some articles are available on semeynoe.com.
Video: http://planeta.ru/campaigns/semeynoe
We talked with Oksana about why it is important for people to know about family education and how she herself teaches her 8-year-old daughter Sasha.
Photo from the site: http://www.semeynoe.com/
Judging by the fact that you raised the necessary amount to publish the magazine ahead of schedule, the idea turned out to be in demand. Why do you think? Do so many parents really want to leave their children at home and educate them on their own, forgetting about their career?
It seems to me that the topic is relevant Not only because parents see: the mass school does not cope with the task of education and upbringing. They want to take responsibility for their children, and not delegate them to the state machine. In fact, there can be many reasons for refusing public school services. About the same number as homeschooling families. Several classes of reasons can be distinguished: worldview, the needs of children and the needs of the family, the ability to regulate the educational process in accordance with these needs and views. That is, this is the same individual approach that people like to talk about in the context of education.
Plus, family training doesn't mean the end of your career. In the second issue of the magazine we will have a lot of material about how parents combine work and teaching their children at home.
You said that each parent who chooses family education has their own personal reason. Speaking about your family, why did you not want to send your daughter to school?
The fact is that the educational goals of our family are somewhat different from the result that the mass school strives for.
For us, the key goal now is to support the child’s natural curiosity and cognitive interest. Therefore, a ready-made, predetermined program is not suitable for us, from which, within the framework of a comprehensive school, if it is possible to deviate, it is only conditionally. We want to teach our daughter how to obtain and analyze information. Therefore, frontal lessons are not suitable for us, where knowledge is presented either in a simplified form or in a too concentrated and ready-made form: in neither case does the child have the opportunity to figure it out on his own. We want to teach Sasha to listen to himself, look for and find his own interests. Therefore, we try to be very attentive to her needs, answer all questions or look for answers together.
- Where did you initially get information about how to teach a child at home?
Information was obtained mainly from the Internet. I got the feeling that we are not alone in our choice and that family education is not such a marginal topic as it usually seems from the outside, at a meeting of homeschoolers. And I found inner support in the books of Holt, Illich and in the support of my husband, who in fact was the initiator of our story with family education.
- What difficulties did you encounter, and which difficulties turned out to be more imaginary than real?
For me, the biggest difficulty was facing my own expectations and their discrepancy with reality. This is a common occurrence in life in general, but everyday life and work are one thing, and the child’s education is another. It turned out that I was completely unprepared for such a turn. I thought that we would have a program, subjects, two classes per year, and so on. But the first year of homeschooling for my daughter Sasha showed that neither she nor I needed it at all. I had to work hard on myself to accept the situation, to stop proving to myself that Sasha was no worse than other abstract children. After all, I already know this! But habitual patterns, the desire to compare and evaluate are so firmly driven into our heads that getting rid of them turned out to be the most difficult thing for me. And when a person has dealt with expectations, all other problems begin to seem far-fetched to him.
- When should parents think about homeschooling?
It’s difficult to say when you need to think about upbringing, about education, about life, about everything in the world. When the time comes to choose an educational path, probably. Sooner or later such a moment comes. Some people prefer not to worry at all and go to a district school, some are looking for the best school available for their family, and some choose a less traditional path.
Among our readers there are parents of babies who have not yet celebrated their first birthday, and there are also parents of adult schoolchildren who are looking for their path.
- Is it necessary to prepare preschoolers for family education?
I don’t think that preschoolers are somehow prepared for family education. Although Alexey Karpov, a father with nineteen years of experience in family education of his homeschooling children, suggests teaching young children to organized classes, discipline, etc. But this is only one of the options. I don't take this approach.
What questions do parents need to answer to understand that family learning is the model that really suits them?
It seems to me that the most important thing is to understand why your family needs it. What do you want to achieve, what to achieve. Why homeschooling for mom, dad, child. Determine priorities: what is important, what is not important. Set a goal. This greatly simplifies life in the future.
Usually, when a family decides to leave a child to study at home, the first thing everyone does is to look for methods, magic remedies that will magically do all the school work, but only at home. This option of transferring responsibility is no longer to the school, but to the methodology.
But when the goal, objectives and priorities are clear, the choice of methodology fades into the background. If, for example, the goal is to provide a way to understand the world, it becomes unimportant whether the child loves to read. There are a million of these ways, and reading is not an end in itself. You can listen to audiobooks or music, you can look with your eyes, touch with your hands — these are all different ways of knowing. Or you can endlessly suffer yourself and torment your child, causing hatred of reading, just because the means — reading — was confused with the goal.
But if we talk about specific subjects, the curriculum, then how is family education structured? Do parents explain subjects to their children themselves or invite tutors?
Your question is explained precisely by your school experience and the idea that knowledge is equal to sitting for lessons and passing exams. But homeschooling is different, not the same for everyone. Even within the same family, it is difficult to talk about how the day is structured, because it is structured differently every time. I understand that this is not what you want to hear, but here you have fallen into the same trap as many families who are just starting their after-school journey: you ask for technology, but it is not there. And what happens in our family most likely will not work for another.
Sometimes each of our days can be different from the other, and sometimes the whole week is equally lazy at home. Sometimes we travel all week to my work meetings, where Sasha either plays with his brother or other children, or listens to what I talk about with the interlocutor. And thus he gets involved in my life and work, meets interesting people, sees how different people are and how different things they do. Sometimes we just sit at home, I work, and the children do their own thing. We do not hire tutors and do not teach Sasha ourselves. Learning occurs without interruption from life, in the background: go to the store, cook lunch (estimate the cost of purchases and change, figure out proportions). Go to the other end of Moscow and discuss the history of the metro (topography, history) along the way. Watch a movie, read a book, take part in an “adult” conversation on a variety of topics — from science news to everyday issues — or even just listen to him. This is education, learning, knowledge. We do not have any specially designated hours for studying at the table, working days or holidays. We just live, work and learn from each other every day. We tried to master mathematics and English with the help of online games, but games quickly get boring — life is more interesting.
Sasha goes to clubs that she chooses based on her interests. So far this is the third year of capoeira (and this is not only physical activity, but also Brazilian culture, music and the Portuguese language), the second year of robotics (and this is physics, mathematics, radio electronics: our robotics is not like Lego construction clubs, we are old school, as before in the homes of young technicians, with a soldering iron and turning parts), a little chess, and this year she became interested in the English language.
There are as many family education options as there are families. It all depends on the goal pursued by a particular family, on its capabilities and needs. For example, if the goal is to obtain a matriculation certificate without nerves and unnecessary stress, you can attach yourself to a school in your area of residence, get textbooks there and take consultations from teachers. You can easily do without tutors. If the goal is different, then the means to achieve it may be different. You can take many clubs in all subjects, hire tutors, go to a family “school”, etc.
- Can all families afford to educate their children at home?
Probably not. If money is a question, then family education is no more expensive than school education. But this is a very responsible choice. Not every parent will decide to refuse the opportunity to transfer the lion's share of responsibility for the future of their child to someone else — teacher, head teacher, director, president. After all, failure will be your own fault, and this, frankly speaking, is not a very pleasant feeling.
Is this form of education suitable for all children? There are, for example, very active children who need to be in contact with a lot of people, run and jump during recess.
You can run and jump not only during recess, and it seems to me that it will be difficult for active children to sit for 40 minutes without moving, when they could stand upside down or walk around during this time. But in fact, of course, there are many children who feel great at school.
We advocate that every family has information and the opportunity to choose the option of education and social activities that suits their child.
Many are afraid that children without school, without a community of classmates, will be antisocial and will not be able to acquire the necessary communication skills. Is there such a problem in reality?
The problem of socialization is far-fetched, and the significance of the role of the school in this process is greatly exaggerated. Most adults have gone to school but lack the necessary communication skills. All people are different: some are born with a passion for communication and powerful charisma, others are reserved and prefer solitude to society. You cannot force all people to be equally sociable. And it's not necessary.
If we return to your experience again, how do you assess the results of family education for Sasha? Is she different from her peers who study in schools? Has she become more capable of learning?
I stopped comparing my child with other children. I didn’t really strive for this before, but now I’ve almost completely abandoned this practice, so I don’t know. I would venture to guess that she knows (or doesn’t know) about the same as her peers. In some ways better, in some ways worse. All people are different, and children are also different, and there is no point in trying to make everyone into a spherical, harmonious person who understands equally well in all areas of knowledge in a vacuum.
Part 1.
I wrote about this at the request of my friend Sasha Ivanov. And the purpose of this article is to talk about how you can study at home if for various (any) reasons you cannot go to school. For example, you live in a village far from the school. Or you are building your own village, eco-village and want to educate your children differently than in a regular school, instilling in them your values not only at home, but also in the educational process. Either your child is simply special, or he is having a hard time at school... And here’s the thing, in a certain sense it is correct. If parents are able to easily navigate different sciences, even at the school level, then this is an excellent example of education for the child, and he perceives learning more naturally. Believe my experience - it is possible!
First, I’ll tell you how we got to this life and why we study at home.
My son has been homeschooled for three years now. But in fact, he and I are studying, since I also have to study almost all school subjects for the second time...
It was not easy for me to make such a decision - to take my child out of school. Firstly, I really didn’t want to dive back into studying school subjects, almost to the point of disgust. Secondly, I thought that it would take up a lot of time that I needed for work and for myself.
On the other hand, there was a question about the psychological comfort of the son and his future. By the middle of the fourth grade, he had formed a very negative attitude towards school and, most importantly, towards teachers. Teachers began to sound the alarm when the word “death” appeared in his notebooks instead of class work or tests. To be honest, I was not very surprised, since he told me everything. At home he was an absolutely wonderful child, and everything related to school made him sad. But what to do? I was very scared to pick him up from school.
It is true that they say that the most important thing for a child in the first year of school is not to discourage his curiosity and desire to learn. But that’s exactly what happened to us. In my opinion, his teachers were good and competent, but some of them were quite emotional. And there were still moments in education that were not suitable for all children. Yes, and I shifted the responsibility of educating my son to the teachers and school. I thought that if they are experts in this, then they should be able to do it better.
The first minus of the school for us. Ratings. Perhaps this is the biggest disadvantage for my son. Since he thinks slowly and the Russian language is very difficult for him, when they started giving grades, his self-confidence collapsed completely, and he lost interest in studying. While in a school environment, a child will always compare himself with his classmates, his grades with the grades of others. No matter what the grades look like: emoticons, stars, numbers – it’s still a grade, and the child understands this very well! There are children who are motivated by assessment, and there are those who are scared by it. These are the psychological characteristics of a child. To this day he has not yet fully recovered from this shock. Recently he told me that he already likes studying, but does not like taking exams, since assessing knowledge turns learning not into studying, but into a pursuit of a grade. And the knowledge gained from such a pursuit turns into a heavy obligation and is quickly forgotten.
The second disadvantage of the school. An average approach to teaching children. If teachers focus on children who think and remember faster, then the rest fall behind and lose interest in learning. And if they focus on weak students, then excellent students will be bored and they may also lose interest. Therefore, most often teachers focus on those children who are between excellent students and poor students. For my son, after 2nd grade, lessons were taught while looking at the minute hand of the clock. He did not understand anything of what was happening in the class, did not understand what they wanted from him. And when he came home, he could not remember what he was asked or what was even discussed in class. I had to explain school material to him from scratch. I didn’t like this the most because it was completely irrational. Why then would he go to school and waste half a day? And then study at home for another half a day...
The third disadvantage of school– large classes. The minimum number of people is 24. This is a lot so that the teacher can pay enough attention to everyone. Moreover, there is no need to talk about an individual approach to each child.
By the fourth quarter of fourth grade, the teachers themselves suggested that I pick him up from school to relieve the child’s stress. So we switched to family education. I took full responsibility for my son’s education. And it turned out that everything was not as scary and overwhelming as I had seen it before.
We had to tighten up the “tails” that he had in all subjects, fill in all the gaps with knowledge in the four-year educational marathon. The first two months of homeschooling inspired us. In just eight weeks, my child mastered four years' worth of Russian language material. He didn't write better, no. To do this you need to work longer. But he began to understand what the Russian language is, what this subject is about, why it is needed in life, and what the Russian language teacher wanted from him all these four years. The situation was exactly the same with other subjects: mathematics and natural science. It was more difficult with English, but everything that he was able to master in just two months raised his self-esteem and inspired him. As he told me then: “Mom, I learned more in two months than in four years.”
In connection with this, then I had a question. Why do children spend almost half a day at school for four years in a row, if the entire elementary curriculum can be mastered by a child with average abilities in 2 months??? And this despite the fact that now, when entering school, a child must already read and count!!! FOR WHAT???
My son finished fourth grade. The fifth grade program awaited us. In this class we passed all subjects every quarter. And we were quite happy with this certification regime. But in the sixth grade there were changes in the education system. Our principal panicked a little and confused me, but by the beginning of the second quarter we finally figured out the new laws and continued to study, but already took all subjects once a year. Of course, we had to restructure the approach to teaching, but, in general, now we like it even better.
This short story is about how we started homeschooling. Now I’ll tell you about what we encountered during homeschooling and what we are doing now.
The first, of course, was that I myself first had to accept and agree with the fact that now I would have to take school subjects all over again. This was the hardest part. Love for my son and the desire to help him helped. And when I began to delve into how the curriculum is structured for the year and for the entire school course, I felt completely better.
Turns out,
- for the main part of the subjects, the topics are repeated from year to year, gradually acquiring a large number of details;
- with the help of a school textbook and the Internet, you can know everything you need in the school curriculum;
- systematic learning with immersion is much easier for a child to perceive than “piecemeal - fragmentary” learning stretched out over the whole year, as is given at school.
— one subject can be mastered in a month or even faster.
Secondly, I set myself the task of teaching my son to learn on his own without my help. It was not easy, since he had absolutely no skill to learn and, moreover, no desire to do so. Plus – natural laziness, inability to concentrate for a long time, fear of teachers. Since I really like honesty, I immediately told him that according to the law, if he cannot pass the exams for the next class, he will be returned to school. This motivated him. But various intimate conversations helped more. For example, that he should pay attention not to the content of the school curriculum, but to the fact that all this information is used as a simulator for developing willpower, attention, memory and other cognitive and useful options in life. We talked and talk a lot about the meaning of life and love, relationships, etc. And then, I think that he was influenced by my passion for this process. Often some topic from the school curriculum becomes a topic for conversation in which he can express his opinion, and I can tell how I understand it, feel it, know it...
And this became the basis of the educational process, if you like! And now I value such conversations, because they help me convey knowledge not only that required at school (and they are very conservative and often no longer correspond to reality and the latest scientific discoveries), but also to show him the multidimensionality of everything that happens, to teach him to see the depth of any event. This is a reason for me to impart to him spiritual knowledge that he will never receive at school. And this is truly the most important learning! At the age of fourteen, Igor asks very deep questions about the meaning of life, talks about Love as the basis of everything, and ponders the infinity of the universe.
In addition, I gradually began to increase his area of responsibility for training. Since we started studying at home quite late - from the end of the fourth grade - I think our achievements at the moment (seventh grade) are impressive. Now he can study some subjects on his own, without my help at all. Can plan activities for the day and do everything he planned.
And recently we were walking, and he told me that he began to think about what he would do after school. He told me what business trainings he had watched on the Internet and what they were about. I was simply incredibly surprised!
Third - planning the educational process. Together with Igor, I am planning the exam program for the year. It hangs before his eyes so that he can regulate his pace of learning.
There are subjects that require regular study - literature, Russian, mathematics, English. We study them in parallel for 4-5 months. Other items don't take more than a month at all. Mastered it, passed it, and you can forget it. This year he took physics. We've been studying it for three months now, but I think it's time to take it.
Subjects such as drawing, labor, music are handed over to crafts that he makes throughout the year. We take physical education at the end of the year. He passes the standards and an oral exam.
In general, classes are held in a free format. In some subjects I give him assignments, in others he divides the number of paragraphs into twenty to twenty-five days and prepares himself. At the end I can only test it and ask questions to check my preparation for the exam.
Often, preparing for exams involves taking tests that we take from the Internet.
Fourth – passing exams. It all depends on the teacher. We are attached to a school that has little experience working with families. And that's why there are no standards. Some teachers have a final test, others have a ticketed exam, and some even sit down and quickly conduct a survey on all topics for the course. Of course, it would be more convenient when you are preparing questions or solving tasks that will be no different from the exam ones. Or you fill out a notebook with questions and tests for the year, which is an indicator of knowledge. But each teacher has his own view on this, and it is better to maintain good relations with them.
Igor used to be very worried before any meeting with a teacher, especially when he was going for an exam. I always went with him as a guarantor of his peace of mind. Now he goes to take most subjects alone. And I’m glad that his attitude towards teachers is gradually changing. He already sees in the teacher not a monster who dreams of tormenting him with questions, but a person who wants to help him.
According to the Family Education Law, a child has the right to retake the subject once. If you don’t pass anyway, then you’ll have a tail next year. If you fail two or more subjects in a course, you are left for the second year. We haven’t had anything like this yet and I hope we never will. But I believe that all these issues can and should be resolved with teachers on the spot.
My experience of communicating with teachers has shown that they are all good, understanding people. Yes, with your own views and beliefs, but who without them? For three years they have been telling us how necessary the school environment, communication and system are. That without this it will be difficult in life, etc. And I don't even argue with them. For what? They will not be convinced until they themselves see the opposite example. It is better to maintain an understanding relationship with them.
Fifth is communication. This is the downside of homeschooling for us. Yes, Igor really doesn’t communicate much with his peers. He goes to tennis twice a week (he didn’t like any other sections or clubs), and this is his only interaction with teenagers during the school year. During the holidays, he goes to his grandmother, where he has a childhood friend, and there they do not part. But there is little communication in the city. To be honest, at first I was worried about this, but after talking with my son, I realized that this is not such a critical issue for him. He communicates on the Internet with guys from other cities who share his views and hobbies with him. And in the city he had not yet met such a friend. And so I see that he easily gets acquainted and communicates. I don't think this is a reason to worry. But I plan to send him to some live training that is interesting to him, where he could communicate and meet different people and his peers too.
If we talk about the environment of an eco-village, family estate or village, I think that there will be absolutely no problems with communication there, even if the child is studying at home. Especially if you organize general classes, which I will write about later.
Sixth – daily routine. This, of course, is important for health. But our daily routine developed spontaneously. We like to sleep and sit at the computer until nightfall, so Igor starts studying at 10-11 o’clock. Plus, I have a little daughter, who is one year old, so my daily routine often depends on her.
Igor can study for five to six hours a day, and if something is urgent, then all day long. We have no such thing as a weekend. Partly because I have a flexible work schedule. And often the weekend for everyone is a working day for me. We can arrange weekends spontaneously, on any day. Of course, we lack discipline and order.
In general, how and what we do at home depends on many factors: well-being, mood, Igor’s plans for the day, my plans for the day, the weather, different surprises... All this can influence the choice of subjects, the number of tasks, the duration of classes.
Seventh – information. To be honest, the quality and relevance of information on school subjects is very questionable. Teachers themselves often talk about this. And the way modern textbooks are written is my eternal surprise! It is written in a very complex manner and is incomprehensible even to a person with a higher education. My child often does not understand what he is reading at all, so I have to work as a translator. Moreover, sometimes I myself cannot understand what the author is talking about, and therefore I use the Internet. What would we do without him!
History is basically a song. It has been rewritten so many times that even teachers themselves treat this subject with irony. We study history in two forms - for school, to pass and forget, and alternative, which is kept silent about.
Literary requirements are very high. The number of works included in the school curriculum is impossible to study in an academic year. Therefore, everyone goes over them very superficially. Films based on these works help us.
Family education or we study at home.
The success of learning at home, as in school, the time spent on this learning depends on the abilities of your child and your personal ambitions. I have no ambitions for my son’s education, and we study school subjects with one goal - to get a certificate. All! Therefore, we are satisfied with any grade other than a two.
For me, the task is much more important than school knowledge - to teach a child to live, love, be happy in any circumstances, cope with difficulties on his own, achieve his goals, believe in himself and God. To be truly human, to develop personally and spiritually. And school and education are a tool for this.
Be that as it may, the son is free to choose any form of education that interests him. And if he decides to return to school, then let him return. Now he is a big boy to take on such issues and move on independently.
Kiseleva Tatyana.