Most people believe that the word “school” comes from a Latin word meaning “a place of learning,” but it actually comes from a Greek word meaning “leisure.” The ancient Greeks believed that the most honorable and proper use of leisure time was the discussion and deliberation of ideas. Today, the word school usually means a place where kids spend fifty minutes at a time studying disconnected subjects, for most of the calendar year. At some point they fill in bubbles on a sheet of paper to gauge their progress. How did education evolve this way?
The modern education system has two purposes. The first is to prepare kids to find jobs and establish careers. The second is driven by the concept of the “Whole Child”. This is why it takes more than the mastery of a subject to be a teacher in the modern system. Teachers are expected not only to teach subjects but to create lesson plans that contain all the necessary metaphorical nutrients for a child’s development.
The question is, upon leaving school and entering the real world, how are students faring? The answer is unsettling. Countless articles about student psychology focus on an epidemic of loneliness, isolation and alienation. From an economic perspective, a greater proportion of students are returning to their parents’ house after graduating from college than ever before. Based on these results, the modern education system is failing. Is there a better method for preparing children to become adults, connect with the real world and understand their place in it?
The philosophy behind independent education is that the one of the best ways that children can learn is by spending more time as part of the community, not apart from it. Most homeschoolers spend only about two or three hours a day on classroom material. The rest of their school day is spent engaging with and learning from experts and artisans with a certain passion and knowledge to share.
IndED facilitates that critical connection between homeschoolers and the community. Our mission is to create a network of families, students and professionals who can work together to educate our children and help them find their place in the world.
Join us on April 7, 2018 for a Homeschool Lunch and Learn. This local event will give families and businesses the opportunity to share options and resources for homeschooling, whether you’re already homeschooling or you’d just like to learn more about it. See details and register here.
