A New Definition of "No Child Left Behind"
I had an interesting dream yesterday.
I dreamed I was doing a science experiment with a group of kids.
That's not the unusual part.
We were sitting in our living room, on the floor. I poured some substance over another substance to show the chemical reaction. There were "oohs" and "aahs" all around.
Right as the chemical reaction was complete, Taliesin, my twelve-year old son, came in from the kitchen, ready to watch the science experiment.
The look on his face when he saw the experiment was done without him was one of hurt and astonishment and doubt. He couldn't believe.
In this dream, I realized what I had done. In tears, I told Taliesin we would go to the store right then and there and get more supplies, and he could do the experiment, too. Being the kid he is, he said that was fine. But he was still hurt.
This was such a startling dream that I literally lost my breath and woke up choking. I can still see the look he had on his face in my dream. I hate even writing about it, because I would never want this to happen.
Sometimes we unschooling parents have our doubts. We wonder if we do not push our kids hard enough, to make them perform well enough. We wonder if our whole life philosophy may be too easy-going. I was kind of asking myself those questions before I feel asleep yesterday. I think I got my answer in this dream.
You see, Taliesin is one of those kids who learns differently. He struggles in some of the mechanics that are stressed in a traditional school setting. Forcing him into an uncomfortable, tedious type of learning would be like forgetting he wanted to take part in a science experiment. It would be like saying that how he learns is not important, so he can just be left out. It would be like saying he isn't important enough to be a part. As though he isn't worthy of waiting for.
When we allow kids to learn in their individual, diverse ways, we show them they are important. We show them they do not have to be like everyone else. We show them every learning style is unique and valuable. Every person needs to be present to make the science experiment work.
I dreamed I was doing a science experiment with a group of kids.
That's not the unusual part.
We were sitting in our living room, on the floor. I poured some substance over another substance to show the chemical reaction. There were "oohs" and "aahs" all around.
Right as the chemical reaction was complete, Taliesin, my twelve-year old son, came in from the kitchen, ready to watch the science experiment.
The look on his face when he saw the experiment was done without him was one of hurt and astonishment and doubt. He couldn't believe.
In this dream, I realized what I had done. In tears, I told Taliesin we would go to the store right then and there and get more supplies, and he could do the experiment, too. Being the kid he is, he said that was fine. But he was still hurt.
This was such a startling dream that I literally lost my breath and woke up choking. I can still see the look he had on his face in my dream. I hate even writing about it, because I would never want this to happen.
Sometimes we unschooling parents have our doubts. We wonder if we do not push our kids hard enough, to make them perform well enough. We wonder if our whole life philosophy may be too easy-going. I was kind of asking myself those questions before I feel asleep yesterday. I think I got my answer in this dream.
You see, Taliesin is one of those kids who learns differently. He struggles in some of the mechanics that are stressed in a traditional school setting. Forcing him into an uncomfortable, tedious type of learning would be like forgetting he wanted to take part in a science experiment. It would be like saying that how he learns is not important, so he can just be left out. It would be like saying he isn't important enough to be a part. As though he isn't worthy of waiting for.
When we allow kids to learn in their individual, diverse ways, we show them they are important. We show them they do not have to be like everyone else. We show them every learning style is unique and valuable. Every person needs to be present to make the science experiment work.
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