ain't it the truth 'bout "gubbamint skools"--an' navigatin' the "system" EVEN when yer fully informed 'bout the pitfalls (most parents with kids in the skool system do not have a clue) and in terms of tellin' yer kiddos to question the history, question the dogma--I know ain't easy! Bein' homeschoolers ourselfs I've long been a fan of John Taylor Gotto & Sir Ken Robinson an' some others that truly speak ta the ears of parents, learners, an' not followers! But ya done good Tonika an' yer boys will all follow their own piper, beat their own drum, an' likely not fall prey ta the pressures of conventional learnin'. Don't worry much 'bout the phone recordin' thing but I'm all fer the "do somethin' don't jus' stand their" approach myself--even if it's just gettin' an adult on the spot to help stop a skool fight. Been recorded quite a bit -- all sorts of stuff--for not wearin' a mask on the train platform! an' many've my austistic kiddo's tantrums seem to have made it into cyberspace...--so I find it so STRANGE--the idear of "documentin'" which is DISengaging with life. But all the rest ya write of--seems like the ONLY innoculation that's good--that mental one that's all FOR natural learnin' an' against indoctrination--by any system, skool, boss, etc.
I keep meanin' ta write 'bout all I've discovered 'bout skools when in a fit of frustration my younger girl wanted to attend ('fore meetin' other kids out here)--horrific stuff really--kids tracked like animals (which should not be tracked either!). She does college now stuff an' dealin' with the online systems is hell--it would turn off ANY kid from learnin' (we're doin' it ta git early credits IF college happens--a HUGE conversation now as she knows I have no skin in that game an' will be FINE if she doesn't go ta college). Fer me, I LOVED college (ssssh, I spent a lotta time in colleges just cuz readin' an' meetin' like-minded pals wuz SO MUCH FUN!) but nowdaze--all the skools I attended are so woke, so GONE, I would never....
Bein' lifelong learners the blessin' is that we an' our kiddos will never NEED insty-2-shuns or expurts. I just hope all the libraries remain' standin' cuz isn't that what folks really need? many good wishes yer way an' to yer dear kiddos--so lucky ta have such a kool fun mama--their BEST teacher!
Aw, thank you, Daisy! So glad to receive the thumbs up from a fellow homeschooling mom. Thank you so much for sharing your anecdotes. I know that NY was probably even less receptive to your alternative ways.
Someone filmed you not wearing a mask?!? 😂 did ya start posing? 😂 😂
fer sure fer sure---an' re my bein' filmed by some jerk on the train platform--I yelled at him an' stuck out my tongue! lol (I'll bet he posted it smugly on his FB or instagram whatever--but he likely wuz bummed such a "crime" didn't go viral)--yea, I ran inta nut bars like that--which is why we gotta keep our kiddos feisty cuz nutbars seem ta self-replicate in funky times ;-)
Tonika! You are such a fabulous mother, thinker, writer, and so many things! I've just been feeling the rub about school schedule, worrying that L is getting sucked into the system of obedience, losing his innocence...
And also, totally fed up with trying to figure out life with screens. I tend to be pretty open to screens in his life, but dang, lately, it is wearing on me. I know that turning to screens is a way of freedom for young people, - one place they have more choice when the rest of the world is taking away freedom.
I started planting seeds today about bringing in forest school one day a week or every other week. L is open to it, not sure about my husband, and not sure how it will go over with the school. When I see how I feel obedient to the school system - and we pay for private school! - sheesh. That training to follow authority runs deep in me and I want to keep clawing my way out of it.
Let me start off by saying that private school is already better than public because they don’t have to answer to some of the absurd testing requirements that stress out kids to no end. The few interactions I’ve had with you have convinced me that you’re a gentle parent with highly intelligent qualities and no matter where Loki goes to school, he will always profit from your wisdom.
I don’t follow a curriculum per se. I tend to do “academic” tasks with Frankie in the morning because he is the most focused then but I don’t push it if he doesn’t want to. Forest school is a grand idea. Perhaps when I get through this last stretch (scans are scheduled for October), I can pick up Loki and Frankie and we go on a hike or a forest preserve to explore. That would be very fun. Especially as the leaves are changing.
“Ah, shit. You’re actually colour blind.” Morpheus realised when he watched Neo hesitate and dither with his hand changing which pill he was going to pick.
“I’ll make it easy for you but do you trust me. (it was a statement, not a question).
Morpheus continued: “I’ll emphasise the colour when your hand is over one or the colour, OK?
(thinks: OMG and this, is who I think is The One…)
This was a great read, thank you. Written with beautiful honesty. Like other people commenting, I wish I had home schooled my two children. As a single parent, who still believed in all the systems around me, I did not have the confidence in myself. As it has turned out my two adult children 26 and 28, both autistic and dealing with society in total opposite ways, have ended up teaching me more about life than anyone else! What a great turnaround.
Sometimes the universe gives us exactly the beautiful load we can carry. We are their teachers just as much as they are ours. I wholeheartedly believe that. And autistic kids have a very keen view of the world. They sometimes help us see with clarity our adapted brain can’t. I’m sure it helps they have such a contrarian as a mum. 😂
Ha ha yes the universe seems to work that way for sure! I do like to tell them that they have ‘infected’ me with autism. 😂 My daughter has learnt to speak the language of the world and act ‘normal’ my son refuses to participate in any way with what he calls, ‘a fake society'. It is a bit like watching some fascinating experiment!! My daughter says I might not be neuro divergent but I sure am divergent 😂
We share so many guideposts, Tonika. Gatto, the video by Sir Robinson, homeschooling... though my stint on that was short. Waldorf really worked for my kids, and it gave us a community, too -- until it didn't. (Thanks, covid!)
Your description of Illinois' insane laws re: children left alone brought me back to an incident in Connecticut where I left my three kids in the car (10, 8, and 6) so I could run in and mail a letter and got ripped by a passer-by. The kids were calm and happy, but I was deemed a horrible mother. I'm lucky no one called the cops 😂
NY Mom Lenore Skenazy (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenore_Skenazy) started the "Free Range Kids" movement after her kiddos were left ta play at the playground nearby (at like age 9) an' someone called the NYPD on 'er--LIKELY an'nuther mom I'm sad ta say. In NYC there wuz a lotta finkin' on any free rangin' an' most of us ('specially us homeschoolin' mamas) had ta navigate with care an' 'specially watch our Ps n' Qs as all the bizzybuddies would call CPS on us--it wuz weaponized against us totally. EVEN if an adult wuz present (like one mama watchin' a bunch of the kiddos) an' of course if the kids were in the park durin' the day an' we let 'em go off ta explore we all knew it wuz a risk if a ranger finked on us.
Back at the time I didn't realize this wuz the SOFT police-state system, literally gettin' kids used ta bein' "policed" and checked on an' observed--an' havin' parents skeered as heck of the weaponized CPS an' weaponized authorities--Now that the HARD system is in place the groomin' kids inta fear / compliance / lack of independence is so much MORE obvious. We did a lotta Waldorf / "Unschool Farm School" an' wilderness survival stuff ta counter all the city pressures an' build some independence skills. But most don't go against the tides an' folks still rat-fink on their neighbors if the kids are left alone... happens more now than ever.... Lotta fambly court for such absurd-ditties, 'specially among homeschoolers. An' it's funny as I ain't anti-police, just anti-WEAPONIZED police--lotta NYPD an' FDNY kiddos are homeschooled but they're from famblies that--like us--were "old schooled"
I hope that bein' "deemed a horrible mom" stuff wuz fleetin'-- I'll take mome wraths over judgemental "mom wraths / wraiths" any day!
Amen, sister! We grew up pretty free range. But I do feel safer with my kids roaming free in Bulgaria than I do here. Too many shootings in my damn city. Even in my “safe” neighborhood.
Wow. Thanks for sharing that anecdote. What was the passerby railing about? Someone stealing your kids? That would be my only worry. Although I’ve definitely let the twins watch over the toddler while I ran a quick errand. They look the doors behind me. But I think a ten year old is more than capable of making game decisions if something was to happen inside the car.
I know some good people that graduated from Waldorf. And people say good things about Montessori as well. I always liked Sudbury’s model. Very similar to what I was doing at home but in a place with other kids. But the closest one from my house was an hour and a half commute and I just couldn’t spend three hours there and back to drop them off and another three hours to pick them up. That’s a day’s work!
I don't actually remember what her beef was. Not safe, what kind of mother, blah blah blah. A hundred years ago, ten-year-olds were working in factories!
I wish more people chose to homeschool their kids. I've never met a homeschooler that I didn't love -- they're all so unique. I want to meet your kids someday, T! xox
We will make it happen! And I’ve heard so much about yours (I know they’re adults, but I bet they’re very interesting still!) and some times I look at all y’all’s grinning mugs on that Christmas card on my fridge and just KNOW from their inteligente and happy faces that they will augment any conversation. We’ll make it all happen one day! 🙌
I had the whole normal edumacation but my father leaving when I was 3 and no decent authority figures made me a bit suss emotionally. However it was John Berber’s ‘Ways of Seeing’ that I saw in art class in Highschool that made me go “ you mean culture is seen through the lens of who owns the means of production and I don’t own anything?’
Women in art in Europe were objects pretty much. Being raised by a single mum I knew that society was not telling the truth.
Sometimes the hardships we experience as kids (today known as childhood trauma) are exactly what made us significant and compassionate adults. Thanks for sharing that.
Oh my gosh Tonika. Are you familiar with Kristi Yapp? She writes here on Substack. She was quite high up in childhood education in Chicago and was terminated because she would not get the vax. She is a creative artist and makes incredible art with dyed wool and yarn. She has so much knowledge about young children and education. It makes me so sad that someone like her has been discarded and the children are no longer benefitting from her love and knowledge.
Kristi wrote about caring for her mother during her death from jab-induced turbo cancer, but the fact that you both are from Chicago is amazing. Here is her Substack: https://mamaearthdesignshop.substack.com/
Your work is a gift to me. I should be thanking you.
And know that as bad as things are, there are still a lot of people in the system, especially in higher education who are pushing back against this sh*t in Australia. The students really respond.
I’m glad there are teachers pushing back. I do think there are gems in the system. My earliest memories at child play is lining up my dolls and toys and “teaching them” in a class setting. 😆 I think many of us yearn to share information with our fellow humans and there are so many different methodologies, because there are so many different way to learn. God on teachers in AU for standing up to the one size fits all model.
I loved every bit of this, Tonika. You are a wonderful parent, and even though the twins are in the system now, their foundation is solid. I have no doubt they'll still learn lots, mostly what's not what's on the curriculum.
Letting things unfold as they will is wise. We're all learning that one together.
Thank you for sharing this, for your big heart and mind and humor.
When you make it back to Bulgaria, I hope to visit you there. :-) XO
Oh, Kathleen, if you ever make it there, I will take you around and show you all the magic!
Yes, I believe you’re right, being in the system isn’t a prison sentence in the sense that you can’t experience anything out of it. I’d like to think the foundation at home still has huge impact and we’re doing the best we can at home. I was just scheming how to turn my next Tijuana trip into a family road trip. Literally, planning it around their winter break.
Thank you for your generous comment. And for reading. And for your tender heart. 💓
Yes school is the root of so many problems, including the foundations of health & wellness issues. Thanks for including my quote, and great memes! Another substacker talking about this is Peter Gray https://petergray.substack.com/p/letter-51-common-core-is-the-main
Very interesting dive into mental health, Gary, thank you for sharing that article. Coming from a country that had very rigorous schooling (at least, it did in the 90s when I was there) and an impressive about of testing moving from one grade to the next, although there was some anxiety around these test dates, for the most part, I didn’t get a sense of ac decline in happiness nor was there an increase in suicide. The problem in the states is combative and nuanced. I’m sure common core standards didn’t help, just like the rise of social media didn’t help. But zooming out of it all, there is also a silent factor: the lack of purpose or even the knowledge that one ought to be searching for it. Most people don’t feel comfortable in their own skin. Adults meander with a lack of purpose too, but by the time you make it to that age, you’re pretty assimilated in the system so individual purpose is replaced by the illusion of it by being a cog in the machine. Dare I say it’s a soul thing? Forgive my ramblings at 4:30 in the morning. It’s what I get for waking in the middle of the night and trying to put my self to sleep by reading Substack. 😆 (I know, I know, being on screens is not going to help me go back to sleep.)
I had no idea! This was an engaging read. Wow and good on you! I have often wished - post covid- that we had homeschooled. But back then I did not get it yet.
I homeschooled the children I raised. Found that the public system lack any accountability. Having lived in French territory for over a decade living with a teacher, the complaints are the same there, the dumbing down of the students. It is the same here in Nicaragua, i am aghast at the quality of education here. Know a 1st year university student majoring in mathematics and supposedly a math whiz that cannot even figure out the area of a rectangle or even how to use Pi. Asked him about it and he told me he was not good at story problems. But the Nicaraguan students all know how to march to the beat of a drum.
the marching in parades in uniform is the ultimate in conformity and following orders, a good preparation for cannon fodder. Uniforms are always blue and white, the Nicaraguan flag colors.
they have the means, the government dictates the curriculum, filled with cultural awareness, dance and of course the marching, at least two parades a year they must march in. the parents have to pay for useless marching uniforms, only used for the parades. Shoes/boots they march in cost $30 US. That is a large sum of money just for the boots, and then there are the shirts/blouses and pants/skirts that add another $45 to the cost.
"There are people stuck inside the grind of the system, being polished into the rocks that will be used for the future grind. But just once in a while, you find the ones that are perfect for skipping along the surface." Perfect from beginning to end, Tonika. I did the homeschooling after they got home from school, and it worked to some extent. I've been glad that Veronica's husband was homeschooled, and went to the community college for 7 yrs, obtaining 7 degrees, I think, instead of HS. After awhile, he had so many credits in all the maths and sciences that a couple of classes would get him another.
I also tried to bribe my kids not to go to college. Through our point system, that combined useful household skills with my curricula of subversive documentaries and podcasts, they could earn a modest sum in their pocket AND a generous sum towards either college or a downpayment on a house. There was a limit of $70K for undergrad and $20K for grad school. They all chose college. But I did get 1700-2200 hrs of real education into them in the process. If I still had my website up, I could show you UniverseCity.us where I kept our lessons under Connecting the DOTS.
I’m so happy to hear how much on the same length we are on this topic. I will for sure check out both posts.
There are so many options for self education these days that paying an absurd amount of money that results in a piece of paper no one asks for or doesn’t get you employed is a waste.
And I KNOW, college or not, all three daughter profited immensely by having you as a mom.
Thanks for reading and commenting, T! Much appreciated.
I’m going to quickly add that I’ve also met educators who see a problem with the system and proudly speak against it. Mathew Crawford on Substack, for example, has a whole series of Education War articles worth looking into, here’s one in which he argues the specialisation is not better than generalisation, a concept I whole heartedly agree with: https://roundingtheearth.substack.com/p/specialization-is-anti-education
ain't it the truth 'bout "gubbamint skools"--an' navigatin' the "system" EVEN when yer fully informed 'bout the pitfalls (most parents with kids in the skool system do not have a clue) and in terms of tellin' yer kiddos to question the history, question the dogma--I know ain't easy! Bein' homeschoolers ourselfs I've long been a fan of John Taylor Gotto & Sir Ken Robinson an' some others that truly speak ta the ears of parents, learners, an' not followers! But ya done good Tonika an' yer boys will all follow their own piper, beat their own drum, an' likely not fall prey ta the pressures of conventional learnin'. Don't worry much 'bout the phone recordin' thing but I'm all fer the "do somethin' don't jus' stand their" approach myself--even if it's just gettin' an adult on the spot to help stop a skool fight. Been recorded quite a bit -- all sorts of stuff--for not wearin' a mask on the train platform! an' many've my austistic kiddo's tantrums seem to have made it into cyberspace...--so I find it so STRANGE--the idear of "documentin'" which is DISengaging with life. But all the rest ya write of--seems like the ONLY innoculation that's good--that mental one that's all FOR natural learnin' an' against indoctrination--by any system, skool, boss, etc.
I keep meanin' ta write 'bout all I've discovered 'bout skools when in a fit of frustration my younger girl wanted to attend ('fore meetin' other kids out here)--horrific stuff really--kids tracked like animals (which should not be tracked either!). She does college now stuff an' dealin' with the online systems is hell--it would turn off ANY kid from learnin' (we're doin' it ta git early credits IF college happens--a HUGE conversation now as she knows I have no skin in that game an' will be FINE if she doesn't go ta college). Fer me, I LOVED college (ssssh, I spent a lotta time in colleges just cuz readin' an' meetin' like-minded pals wuz SO MUCH FUN!) but nowdaze--all the skools I attended are so woke, so GONE, I would never....
Bein' lifelong learners the blessin' is that we an' our kiddos will never NEED insty-2-shuns or expurts. I just hope all the libraries remain' standin' cuz isn't that what folks really need? many good wishes yer way an' to yer dear kiddos--so lucky ta have such a kool fun mama--their BEST teacher!
Aw, thank you, Daisy! So glad to receive the thumbs up from a fellow homeschooling mom. Thank you so much for sharing your anecdotes. I know that NY was probably even less receptive to your alternative ways.
Someone filmed you not wearing a mask?!? 😂 did ya start posing? 😂 😂
fer sure fer sure---an' re my bein' filmed by some jerk on the train platform--I yelled at him an' stuck out my tongue! lol (I'll bet he posted it smugly on his FB or instagram whatever--but he likely wuz bummed such a "crime" didn't go viral)--yea, I ran inta nut bars like that--which is why we gotta keep our kiddos feisty cuz nutbars seem ta self-replicate in funky times ;-)
Badass Daisy!
Tonika! You are such a fabulous mother, thinker, writer, and so many things! I've just been feeling the rub about school schedule, worrying that L is getting sucked into the system of obedience, losing his innocence...
And also, totally fed up with trying to figure out life with screens. I tend to be pretty open to screens in his life, but dang, lately, it is wearing on me. I know that turning to screens is a way of freedom for young people, - one place they have more choice when the rest of the world is taking away freedom.
I started planting seeds today about bringing in forest school one day a week or every other week. L is open to it, not sure about my husband, and not sure how it will go over with the school. When I see how I feel obedient to the school system - and we pay for private school! - sheesh. That training to follow authority runs deep in me and I want to keep clawing my way out of it.
Can I send Loki to homeschooling with you?
Let me start off by saying that private school is already better than public because they don’t have to answer to some of the absurd testing requirements that stress out kids to no end. The few interactions I’ve had with you have convinced me that you’re a gentle parent with highly intelligent qualities and no matter where Loki goes to school, he will always profit from your wisdom.
I don’t follow a curriculum per se. I tend to do “academic” tasks with Frankie in the morning because he is the most focused then but I don’t push it if he doesn’t want to. Forest school is a grand idea. Perhaps when I get through this last stretch (scans are scheduled for October), I can pick up Loki and Frankie and we go on a hike or a forest preserve to explore. That would be very fun. Especially as the leaves are changing.
Thank you for your very kind words. 🤗
“Ah, shit. You’re actually colour blind.” Morpheus realised when he watched Neo hesitate and dither with his hand changing which pill he was going to pick.
“I’ll make it easy for you but do you trust me. (it was a statement, not a question).
Morpheus continued: “I’ll emphasise the colour when your hand is over one or the colour, OK?
(thinks: OMG and this, is who I think is The One…)
Hahahahaha! Well, yeah. But aren’t we all the one in a way?
This was a great read, thank you. Written with beautiful honesty. Like other people commenting, I wish I had home schooled my two children. As a single parent, who still believed in all the systems around me, I did not have the confidence in myself. As it has turned out my two adult children 26 and 28, both autistic and dealing with society in total opposite ways, have ended up teaching me more about life than anyone else! What a great turnaround.
Sometimes the universe gives us exactly the beautiful load we can carry. We are their teachers just as much as they are ours. I wholeheartedly believe that. And autistic kids have a very keen view of the world. They sometimes help us see with clarity our adapted brain can’t. I’m sure it helps they have such a contrarian as a mum. 😂
Ha ha yes the universe seems to work that way for sure! I do like to tell them that they have ‘infected’ me with autism. 😂 My daughter has learnt to speak the language of the world and act ‘normal’ my son refuses to participate in any way with what he calls, ‘a fake society'. It is a bit like watching some fascinating experiment!! My daughter says I might not be neuro divergent but I sure am divergent 😂
😂 BS divergent!
ha ha, indeed!! 😂
We share so many guideposts, Tonika. Gatto, the video by Sir Robinson, homeschooling... though my stint on that was short. Waldorf really worked for my kids, and it gave us a community, too -- until it didn't. (Thanks, covid!)
Your description of Illinois' insane laws re: children left alone brought me back to an incident in Connecticut where I left my three kids in the car (10, 8, and 6) so I could run in and mail a letter and got ripped by a passer-by. The kids were calm and happy, but I was deemed a horrible mother. I'm lucky no one called the cops 😂
NY Mom Lenore Skenazy (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenore_Skenazy) started the "Free Range Kids" movement after her kiddos were left ta play at the playground nearby (at like age 9) an' someone called the NYPD on 'er--LIKELY an'nuther mom I'm sad ta say. In NYC there wuz a lotta finkin' on any free rangin' an' most of us ('specially us homeschoolin' mamas) had ta navigate with care an' 'specially watch our Ps n' Qs as all the bizzybuddies would call CPS on us--it wuz weaponized against us totally. EVEN if an adult wuz present (like one mama watchin' a bunch of the kiddos) an' of course if the kids were in the park durin' the day an' we let 'em go off ta explore we all knew it wuz a risk if a ranger finked on us.
Back at the time I didn't realize this wuz the SOFT police-state system, literally gettin' kids used ta bein' "policed" and checked on an' observed--an' havin' parents skeered as heck of the weaponized CPS an' weaponized authorities--Now that the HARD system is in place the groomin' kids inta fear / compliance / lack of independence is so much MORE obvious. We did a lotta Waldorf / "Unschool Farm School" an' wilderness survival stuff ta counter all the city pressures an' build some independence skills. But most don't go against the tides an' folks still rat-fink on their neighbors if the kids are left alone... happens more now than ever.... Lotta fambly court for such absurd-ditties, 'specially among homeschoolers. An' it's funny as I ain't anti-police, just anti-WEAPONIZED police--lotta NYPD an' FDNY kiddos are homeschooled but they're from famblies that--like us--were "old schooled"
I hope that bein' "deemed a horrible mom" stuff wuz fleetin'-- I'll take mome wraths over judgemental "mom wraths / wraiths" any day!
Amen, sister! We grew up pretty free range. But I do feel safer with my kids roaming free in Bulgaria than I do here. Too many shootings in my damn city. Even in my “safe” neighborhood.
Wow. Thanks for sharing that anecdote. What was the passerby railing about? Someone stealing your kids? That would be my only worry. Although I’ve definitely let the twins watch over the toddler while I ran a quick errand. They look the doors behind me. But I think a ten year old is more than capable of making game decisions if something was to happen inside the car.
I know some good people that graduated from Waldorf. And people say good things about Montessori as well. I always liked Sudbury’s model. Very similar to what I was doing at home but in a place with other kids. But the closest one from my house was an hour and a half commute and I just couldn’t spend three hours there and back to drop them off and another three hours to pick them up. That’s a day’s work!
I don't actually remember what her beef was. Not safe, what kind of mother, blah blah blah. A hundred years ago, ten-year-olds were working in factories!
I wish more people chose to homeschool their kids. I've never met a homeschooler that I didn't love -- they're all so unique. I want to meet your kids someday, T! xox
We will make it happen! And I’ve heard so much about yours (I know they’re adults, but I bet they’re very interesting still!) and some times I look at all y’all’s grinning mugs on that Christmas card on my fridge and just KNOW from their inteligente and happy faces that they will augment any conversation. We’ll make it all happen one day! 🙌
I had the whole normal edumacation but my father leaving when I was 3 and no decent authority figures made me a bit suss emotionally. However it was John Berber’s ‘Ways of Seeing’ that I saw in art class in Highschool that made me go “ you mean culture is seen through the lens of who owns the means of production and I don’t own anything?’
Women in art in Europe were objects pretty much. Being raised by a single mum I knew that society was not telling the truth.
Love this piece
Sometimes the hardships we experience as kids (today known as childhood trauma) are exactly what made us significant and compassionate adults. Thanks for sharing that.
Fabulous insights from super mumma
🙌
Oh my gosh Tonika. Are you familiar with Kristi Yapp? She writes here on Substack. She was quite high up in childhood education in Chicago and was terminated because she would not get the vax. She is a creative artist and makes incredible art with dyed wool and yarn. She has so much knowledge about young children and education. It makes me so sad that someone like her has been discarded and the children are no longer benefitting from her love and knowledge.
Kristi wrote about caring for her mother during her death from jab-induced turbo cancer, but the fact that you both are from Chicago is amazing. Here is her Substack: https://mamaearthdesignshop.substack.com/
Thanks for another fascinating article.
I’ve been slowly making my way through Kristi’s substack on chronicling her mother’s last stage in life. It’s a hard read sometimes.
I didn’t know realize Kristi was an educator or in Chicago, thanks for informing me!
And thanks for reading!
Your work is a gift to me. I should be thanking you.
And know that as bad as things are, there are still a lot of people in the system, especially in higher education who are pushing back against this sh*t in Australia. The students really respond.
Humbled. ❤️
I’m glad there are teachers pushing back. I do think there are gems in the system. My earliest memories at child play is lining up my dolls and toys and “teaching them” in a class setting. 😆 I think many of us yearn to share information with our fellow humans and there are so many different methodologies, because there are so many different way to learn. God on teachers in AU for standing up to the one size fits all model.
I loved every bit of this, Tonika. You are a wonderful parent, and even though the twins are in the system now, their foundation is solid. I have no doubt they'll still learn lots, mostly what's not what's on the curriculum.
Letting things unfold as they will is wise. We're all learning that one together.
Thank you for sharing this, for your big heart and mind and humor.
When you make it back to Bulgaria, I hope to visit you there. :-) XO
Oh, Kathleen, if you ever make it there, I will take you around and show you all the magic!
Yes, I believe you’re right, being in the system isn’t a prison sentence in the sense that you can’t experience anything out of it. I’d like to think the foundation at home still has huge impact and we’re doing the best we can at home. I was just scheming how to turn my next Tijuana trip into a family road trip. Literally, planning it around their winter break.
Thank you for your generous comment. And for reading. And for your tender heart. 💓
As usual, I'm with Kathleen on all of it. Including coming to Bulgaria!! ❤️
God that would just be heaven!!!
Yes school is the root of so many problems, including the foundations of health & wellness issues. Thanks for including my quote, and great memes! Another substacker talking about this is Peter Gray https://petergray.substack.com/p/letter-51-common-core-is-the-main
Peter Gray is terrific.
Very interesting dive into mental health, Gary, thank you for sharing that article. Coming from a country that had very rigorous schooling (at least, it did in the 90s when I was there) and an impressive about of testing moving from one grade to the next, although there was some anxiety around these test dates, for the most part, I didn’t get a sense of ac decline in happiness nor was there an increase in suicide. The problem in the states is combative and nuanced. I’m sure common core standards didn’t help, just like the rise of social media didn’t help. But zooming out of it all, there is also a silent factor: the lack of purpose or even the knowledge that one ought to be searching for it. Most people don’t feel comfortable in their own skin. Adults meander with a lack of purpose too, but by the time you make it to that age, you’re pretty assimilated in the system so individual purpose is replaced by the illusion of it by being a cog in the machine. Dare I say it’s a soul thing? Forgive my ramblings at 4:30 in the morning. It’s what I get for waking in the middle of the night and trying to put my self to sleep by reading Substack. 😆 (I know, I know, being on screens is not going to help me go back to sleep.)
I had no idea! This was an engaging read. Wow and good on you! I have often wished - post covid- that we had homeschooled. But back then I did not get it yet.
Even being hippie-adjacent, I didn’t really get the implications fully until covid hit. I hear you!
Fabulous article. Bravo on all accounts! :)
🙏
Your kids are very very lucky Tonika. I wish I had partnered better… or awoken sooner. Grateful for your example.
Much gratitude, Brian! Undoubtedly your kiddies benefit greatly from your parental guidance.
I homeschooled the children I raised. Found that the public system lack any accountability. Having lived in French territory for over a decade living with a teacher, the complaints are the same there, the dumbing down of the students. It is the same here in Nicaragua, i am aghast at the quality of education here. Know a 1st year university student majoring in mathematics and supposedly a math whiz that cannot even figure out the area of a rectangle or even how to use Pi. Asked him about it and he told me he was not good at story problems. But the Nicaraguan students all know how to march to the beat of a drum.
🤯 This is wild. How long has it been like this? Is it on purpose or do they not have the means for a better education?
the marching in parades in uniform is the ultimate in conformity and following orders, a good preparation for cannon fodder. Uniforms are always blue and white, the Nicaraguan flag colors.
they have the means, the government dictates the curriculum, filled with cultural awareness, dance and of course the marching, at least two parades a year they must march in. the parents have to pay for useless marching uniforms, only used for the parades. Shoes/boots they march in cost $30 US. That is a large sum of money just for the boots, and then there are the shirts/blouses and pants/skirts that add another $45 to the cost.
Wow. Milking the citizens this way and they don't complain? Oh, man. Me and my big mouth wouldn't last long in Nicaragua.
"There are people stuck inside the grind of the system, being polished into the rocks that will be used for the future grind. But just once in a while, you find the ones that are perfect for skipping along the surface." Perfect from beginning to end, Tonika. I did the homeschooling after they got home from school, and it worked to some extent. I've been glad that Veronica's husband was homeschooled, and went to the community college for 7 yrs, obtaining 7 degrees, I think, instead of HS. After awhile, he had so many credits in all the maths and sciences that a couple of classes would get him another.
I also tried to bribe my kids not to go to college. Through our point system, that combined useful household skills with my curricula of subversive documentaries and podcasts, they could earn a modest sum in their pocket AND a generous sum towards either college or a downpayment on a house. There was a limit of $70K for undergrad and $20K for grad school. They all chose college. But I did get 1700-2200 hrs of real education into them in the process. If I still had my website up, I could show you UniverseCity.us where I kept our lessons under Connecting the DOTS.
And I was glad you mentioned Sir Ken Robinson and Gatto, one of my great heroes. In case you haven't seen these: https://thirdparadigm.substack.com/p/reinventing-education, which mentions both of the above, and https://thirdparadigm.substack.com/p/five-feminine-economies.
I’m so happy to hear how much on the same length we are on this topic. I will for sure check out both posts.
There are so many options for self education these days that paying an absurd amount of money that results in a piece of paper no one asks for or doesn’t get you employed is a waste.
And I KNOW, college or not, all three daughter profited immensely by having you as a mom.
Thanks for reading and commenting, T! Much appreciated.
I’m going to quickly add that I’ve also met educators who see a problem with the system and proudly speak against it. Mathew Crawford on Substack, for example, has a whole series of Education War articles worth looking into, here’s one in which he argues the specialisation is not better than generalisation, a concept I whole heartedly agree with: https://roundingtheearth.substack.com/p/specialization-is-anti-education