Other people gain mastery by careful reading.Still others are best taught through discussion. Again, as always, one size does not fit all .
When the student begins to make the transition from a classroom instruction environment to self-instruction, he begins to makes the transition to academic maturity. Academic training is supposed to be governed by this principle: as a student becomes more mature, he becomes less dependenton any teacher . He learns mostly on his own, and he approaches teachers for further illumination only when he gets stuck. Yet even here there is a compromise with teacher-based instruction. First, the student becomes dependent on a teacher to get him through the hard places. Second, he may not learn the techniques for mastering new and difficult information. Third, he becomes dependent upon aclassroom environment. At some point, this comforting environment is going to be taken away. It is therefore best to wean a student away from classroom instruction as early as possible. This will be at different ages for different students. It may also be at different ages for the same student in different courses. But, at some point, the student has got to be kicked out of the nest. The classroomis the nest.
* * *
Because classroom-based education is geared to multiple students in a room, the principle of the lowest common denominator takes over. The teacher is tempted to concentrate on showing the least prepared, least intelligent, and least gifted student in the class how to master the material. The brighter students thereforeget bored fast. They are being held back by the least competent student. In other words, classroom instruction favors the less-competent students.
If the goal of education is to maximize the learning experience of every student in the program, the best form of education is self-education. The student is not put into a classroom environment. He is not held back by slower students. Ifhe is one of the slower students, he can review the material until such time as he is ready to go on to the next level. He does not become a liability to other people in a classroom. He does not feel as though he is the dummy. He does not feel singled out as the least competent person in the room. It is not good for a student psychologically to be at the bottom of the heap in a classroom. If he isat the bottom of the heap in several classrooms, he will be tempted to drop out of school. That kind of mind-set can persist into adulthood, when it may have been easily avoided.
This is a reason that homeschooling is superior to classroom education. The homeschool student can go at his own pace. If he is very good in a particular course, he moves ahead rapidly. If he has trouble withanother course, he keeps reviewing the material until he is ready to go on to the next level. He sets the pace. He may set the pace in a classroom environment, but only when he is the one who learns slowly, and so becomes an object of derision. This is not the kind of mental attitude that favors personal progress in education.
Most students are ready to make the transition to self-taughteducation by the beginning of the sixth grade. Some students achieve this earlier. When the student is capable of reading without moving his lips, and of writing a brief summary of what he has read, he is ready to be placed in a self-instruction program. He has the fundamental skills to read and write. He can assess what he is reading, and express this clearly in writing. In a well-designedhomeschool curriculum, the student begins writing no later than the fourth grade. Through the fourth and fifth grades, he develops his writing skills. By the sixth grade, he should be ready to learn on his own.
Such a suggestion horrifies professional educators. Professional educators have spent their lives thinking about how to make classroom education more efficient, or fairer, orless expensive, or whatever. An educator is focused on an environment in which
When the student begins to make the transition from a classroom instruction environment to self-instruction, he begins to makes the transition to academic maturity. Academic training is supposed to be governed by this principle: as a student becomes more mature, he becomes less dependenton any teacher . He learns mostly on his own, and he approaches teachers for further illumination only when he gets stuck. Yet even here there is a compromise with teacher-based instruction. First, the student becomes dependent on a teacher to get him through the hard places. Second, he may not learn the techniques for mastering new and difficult information. Third, he becomes dependent upon aclassroom environment. At some point, this comforting environment is going to be taken away. It is therefore best to wean a student away from classroom instruction as early as possible. This will be at different ages for different students. It may also be at different ages for the same student in different courses. But, at some point, the student has got to be kicked out of the nest. The classroomis the nest.
* * *
Because classroom-based education is geared to multiple students in a room, the principle of the lowest common denominator takes over. The teacher is tempted to concentrate on showing the least prepared, least intelligent, and least gifted student in the class how to master the material. The brighter students thereforeget bored fast. They are being held back by the least competent student. In other words, classroom instruction favors the less-competent students.
If the goal of education is to maximize the learning experience of every student in the program, the best form of education is self-education. The student is not put into a classroom environment. He is not held back by slower students. Ifhe is one of the slower students, he can review the material until such time as he is ready to go on to the next level. He does not become a liability to other people in a classroom. He does not feel as though he is the dummy. He does not feel singled out as the least competent person in the room. It is not good for a student psychologically to be at the bottom of the heap in a classroom. If he isat the bottom of the heap in several classrooms, he will be tempted to drop out of school. That kind of mind-set can persist into adulthood, when it may have been easily avoided.
This is a reason that homeschooling is superior to classroom education. The homeschool student can go at his own pace. If he is very good in a particular course, he moves ahead rapidly. If he has trouble withanother course, he keeps reviewing the material until he is ready to go on to the next level. He sets the pace. He may set the pace in a classroom environment, but only when he is the one who learns slowly, and so becomes an object of derision. This is not the kind of mental attitude that favors personal progress in education.
Most students are ready to make the transition to self-taughteducation by the beginning of the sixth grade. Some students achieve this earlier. When the student is capable of reading without moving his lips, and of writing a brief summary of what he has read, he is ready to be placed in a self-instruction program. He has the fundamental skills to read and write. He can assess what he is reading, and express this clearly in writing. In a well-designedhomeschool curriculum, the student begins writing no later than the fourth grade. Through the fourth and fifth grades, he develops his writing skills. By the sixth grade, he should be ready to learn on his own.
Such a suggestion horrifies professional educators. Professional educators have spent their lives thinking about how to make classroom education more efficient, or fairer, orless expensive, or whatever. An educator is focused on an environment in which
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