Schooling During a Pandemic
I have no idea why this topic seems urgent to me right now, but I want to share an idea for anyone who is resposible for making plans for Grades 1-12 students for the following school year. I am thinking especially about how best to manage education for students in families that have not chosen to homeschool, but may be forced again into some alternative mode of education, just as was the case duirng the past school year.
I'll give it to you straight. If you are a parent, the best way to insure that you will not experience major upheaval and crisis during the school year is to plan to homeschool during the coming year. Buy your curriculum now so that you can get started whenever you please and keep going, no matter what happens in the brick-and-mortar schools around you. If you are accustomed to sending your children away for school, and hope to do so again soon, it may be worthwhile to consider the curriculum that is being used in the school they would be attending if society were not in emergency mode. Having teacher's material will be important, although this will add considerably to the cost.
You should know, however, that if you choose to go the classroom-school curriculum route, you run the risk of a high level of frustration because the material may not be well-matched for you or for the students in your family. Materials prepared for a classroom full of age-mates is of necessity geared toward the middle of the class. This means that students who are not in the middle will likely find the material and the pace frustrating, either because it moves too fast or too slow. This problem is most pronounced in subjects like math that are of necessity rather rigidly sequenced.
The second piece of what I recommend is that you seek to partner with a few neighboring families to organize a one-room school for all the school-aged children in these families. I idealize six to eight students in these one-room schools, but possibly up to 12 would be possible. Basically, I believe the gathered students should still be family-sized in number, and they should fit around a dining room table.
The students in the one-room school would gather in one of the neighborhood homes whenever they meet. They would meet at least one day (or half day) per week, and one parent would be in charge of providing the supervision for the day in which the meeting happens in their home. The parent in charge for the day could hire someone outside the family if the parent is not able to perform the task of supervision.
What happens during the time the students are gathered should be determined collectively by the parents involved in individual one-room schools. At a minimum, the parent-teacher for the day will need to function as a supervisor/facilitator for the students working on the lessons assigned by the students' own parents. Students will bring the needed curriculum materials and supplies from home.
Alternatively, the parent in charge for the day could plan and carry out some group activities that all could participate in. This would provide a wonderful opportunity for parents to share their passion and expertise in the specific areas in which they shine, and for the students to benefit. The downside is that it would require more planning and preparation for parents than carrying out the minimal duties.
I have considered a myriad of details related to this proposal to form one-room schools, but I will zero in on only one additional detail: Why neighborhood schools? This seems intuitive partly because that's the model that comes to us from education in America. Before consolidation, every small geographic area had a school While mechanized transportation is more available now than it was then, biking or walking to school would have some benefits. Beyond this, however, is the simple fact that in the event of a near-lockdown, staying as close to home as possible has some benefits.
In some cases, extended family groups might work better than geographic-proximity groups. Other criterea for groupings are possible also. The difficulty of moving away from geographic proximity as a determiner of who makes up an individual "school" is that things can get very messy very fast organizationally, and some families are at risk for not being "wanted" in any group. Perhaps some existing "authority" like a homeschool administrator and some helpers, or a school board or school staff or a group of church leaders could take some initiative in organizing the groups. Beginning with the idea of geographic groupings and making needed adjustments where that doesn't seem feasible would be one possibility. In any case, I believe that tweaking the method of forming groups would be preferable to discarding the idea of small one-room schools entirely.
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In our extended family (our sons' families), too little planning together has taken place for me to know how a one-room family school might look. I'm happy though that the idea of having a "cottage school" on our property is beginning to take shape. The cottage building is being prepared at the home of my brother Lowell. It will be 12' x 24'. The size is pre-determined because the cottage is being created using an existing framework that originally was made for bedrooms added on to Lowell's house before the house underwent a major remodel much later.
I vizualize the possibility of all the school age grandchildren coming to the cottage one day a week with one of our three daughters-in-law being in charge. I could babysit the preschoolers inside the house while school happens in the cottage. Every fourth week, I could possibly be the teacher in charge at the cottage. On that day, no babysitting services would be offered.
Even if no one-room school meets in the cottage, I believe meeting in this space would greatly enhance what I have been able to offer my nature group children so far. I know that it would really streamline my preparation and ability to assist the students in working on their nature journals.
**************
Feel free to share questions or comments either by responding here or by sending an email to miriam@iwashige.com.
I'll give it to you straight. If you are a parent, the best way to insure that you will not experience major upheaval and crisis during the school year is to plan to homeschool during the coming year. Buy your curriculum now so that you can get started whenever you please and keep going, no matter what happens in the brick-and-mortar schools around you. If you are accustomed to sending your children away for school, and hope to do so again soon, it may be worthwhile to consider the curriculum that is being used in the school they would be attending if society were not in emergency mode. Having teacher's material will be important, although this will add considerably to the cost.
You should know, however, that if you choose to go the classroom-school curriculum route, you run the risk of a high level of frustration because the material may not be well-matched for you or for the students in your family. Materials prepared for a classroom full of age-mates is of necessity geared toward the middle of the class. This means that students who are not in the middle will likely find the material and the pace frustrating, either because it moves too fast or too slow. This problem is most pronounced in subjects like math that are of necessity rather rigidly sequenced.
The second piece of what I recommend is that you seek to partner with a few neighboring families to organize a one-room school for all the school-aged children in these families. I idealize six to eight students in these one-room schools, but possibly up to 12 would be possible. Basically, I believe the gathered students should still be family-sized in number, and they should fit around a dining room table.
The students in the one-room school would gather in one of the neighborhood homes whenever they meet. They would meet at least one day (or half day) per week, and one parent would be in charge of providing the supervision for the day in which the meeting happens in their home. The parent in charge for the day could hire someone outside the family if the parent is not able to perform the task of supervision.
What happens during the time the students are gathered should be determined collectively by the parents involved in individual one-room schools. At a minimum, the parent-teacher for the day will need to function as a supervisor/facilitator for the students working on the lessons assigned by the students' own parents. Students will bring the needed curriculum materials and supplies from home.
Alternatively, the parent in charge for the day could plan and carry out some group activities that all could participate in. This would provide a wonderful opportunity for parents to share their passion and expertise in the specific areas in which they shine, and for the students to benefit. The downside is that it would require more planning and preparation for parents than carrying out the minimal duties.
I have considered a myriad of details related to this proposal to form one-room schools, but I will zero in on only one additional detail: Why neighborhood schools? This seems intuitive partly because that's the model that comes to us from education in America. Before consolidation, every small geographic area had a school While mechanized transportation is more available now than it was then, biking or walking to school would have some benefits. Beyond this, however, is the simple fact that in the event of a near-lockdown, staying as close to home as possible has some benefits.
In some cases, extended family groups might work better than geographic-proximity groups. Other criterea for groupings are possible also. The difficulty of moving away from geographic proximity as a determiner of who makes up an individual "school" is that things can get very messy very fast organizationally, and some families are at risk for not being "wanted" in any group. Perhaps some existing "authority" like a homeschool administrator and some helpers, or a school board or school staff or a group of church leaders could take some initiative in organizing the groups. Beginning with the idea of geographic groupings and making needed adjustments where that doesn't seem feasible would be one possibility. In any case, I believe that tweaking the method of forming groups would be preferable to discarding the idea of small one-room schools entirely.
***************
In our extended family (our sons' families), too little planning together has taken place for me to know how a one-room family school might look. I'm happy though that the idea of having a "cottage school" on our property is beginning to take shape. The cottage building is being prepared at the home of my brother Lowell. It will be 12' x 24'. The size is pre-determined because the cottage is being created using an existing framework that originally was made for bedrooms added on to Lowell's house before the house underwent a major remodel much later.
I vizualize the possibility of all the school age grandchildren coming to the cottage one day a week with one of our three daughters-in-law being in charge. I could babysit the preschoolers inside the house while school happens in the cottage. Every fourth week, I could possibly be the teacher in charge at the cottage. On that day, no babysitting services would be offered.
Even if no one-room school meets in the cottage, I believe meeting in this space would greatly enhance what I have been able to offer my nature group children so far. I know that it would really streamline my preparation and ability to assist the students in working on their nature journals.
**************
Feel free to share questions or comments either by responding here or by sending an email to miriam@iwashige.com.
posted by Miriam Iwashige at
9:25 AM
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