Sir Ken Robinson on Education

“We have to go from what is essentially an industrial model of education, a manufacturing model, which is based on linearity and conformity and batching people. We have to move to a model that is based more on principles of agriculture. We have to recognize that human flourishing is not a mechanical process; it's an organic process. And you cannot predict the outcome of human development. All you can do, like a farmer, is create the conditions under which they will begin to flourish.”
― Ken Robinson

I read this quote in a recent issue of the Costco Connection. The whole article was quite inspiring for this homeschool mom because most of the things he had to say about an educational system that could work, sound so much like what is possible in homeschooling. He talks about personalizing education to the needs of the student, personalizing assessment to how the child learns individually, really every point he made describes what is done in two million homes across America through homeschooling.

As I gear up for a new school year, it is encouraging to know that not only am I following what I believe is best for my children from a Biblical perspective, much research also points to homeschooling as a superior educational system.

Memorizing History

I just spoke at Valley Home Educator's conference on a homeschool history program that is classical, memorable and fun. One of the aspects of history studies that I spoke about is memorization.
I have to admit, most of the memorization we have done has been Bible verses and the occasional poetry selections.
My sister's children have stacks of flash cards that they have worked on memorizing for their Classical Conversations studies, but this has never been my modus operandi.
We have mostly focused on lots of reading aloud, daily Bible, and because we live on property we throw in a good dose of nature study/weeding. You would be surprised at how many interesting creatures you can find when spending a significant amount of time weeding the garden!

weeds among the flowers

A few ways we have squeezed in some memorization has been through songs. Although Neurodevelopmentalists warn against memorizing important facts that need to be recalled frequently to music (think how automatic it is to start singing the "ABC" song in your head when you are trying to figure out which letter comes after Q)we have learned a few facts this way.

singing through the States

My children participated in a patriotic concert this spring that was full of facts that they may not need to recall often, but were fun to learn. They sang their way through the 50 states and all the Presidents, and entertained many moms and dads. I think the highlight for them though was eating up all the jelly beans at the end.