” “Given that a good deal of the social values, visions and ideals that we have are shaped and communicated through our social institutions, it would be interesting to ponder what might happen if a large percentage of families took up the home-schooling banner and became their own mini school districts. I tend to think that a significant portion of our social fabric would begin to unravel, and we might end up with a degree of instability.”

What nonsense.

Homeschooling cooperatives exist and in many places and quite frankly unless parents are hermits there is little or no support for Mr. Hurley’s talking point…..because that’s all it is.  Predictable though because of Mr. Hurley’s perspective within the public education system. Why wouldn’t he hammer homeschooling….kind of expected no?

My daughter had the America’s Next Top Model show on the other night. It’s their “College” edition. One of this season’s finalists is homeschooled right from elementary and even did post-secondary online and at home. I was stunned by the spin and attention given this girl by the producers of this show. They’ve already got her at odds with the other girls in the house because she’s anti-social and homesick as hell. ALL because of homeschooling.

Homeschooling represents another choice in Ontario and for those who choose it, it’s working very well.

In Ontario the melting pot is definitely in charge.

It all comes down to what parents and taxpayers want schools to accomplish. I recall (still with astonishment) one mother’s calm acceptance of the failure of her daughter’s school to teach the child to read. It just wasn’t a big deal for this parent. The only explanation I could come up with is that this woman was looking for other things from the school, things that the school was delivering.”

My observations and experience, is that there is more parents calmly accepting the failure of their children in the 3 Rs,  in some aspects or in all aspects for various diverse reasons because ultimately the education system has managed over the years to become the de-facto filter for everything between A to Z in education. It gives the public education system the ability to control education information. and the mechanisms to deliver education and ultimately the content.

Way back in 2001, I was asked by the principal, than asked again in a meeting with a school board official, why I did not just accept the fact that my child is slow, that implied she would always be academically slow.  Of course, I reacted like a mother tiger,, but looking back now I can see that the education officials had already anticipated my responses. To this day, I swear all the educators have a secret class or classes on how to put parents in their place, and keep them there for the next 12 years of schooling.

But I have strayed, as parents, it is the excuses that parents react to, that ultimately leads to acceptance of parents or parents rejecting the excuses, that leads to options such as home schooling. Both groups are reacting to the same thing, the low quality, low expectations and more importantly the low standards in the basic foundation block - the 3 Rs.

Stephen’s statement - “I tend to think that a significant portion of our social fabric would begin to unravel, and we might end up with a degree of instability.”

But where would it unravel? As I believe, within the public education institute, that no longer teaches to high standards, that each and every child reaches their full potential academically.

“My observations and experience, is that there is more parents calmly accepting the failure of their children in the 3 Rs, “

Not my experience Nancy.  It’s been my experience that too often parents trust that the system will teach the basics but sometime in and around grade 4 reality kicks in. Too late IMO for parents. Rather than go to the trouble of researching alternatives too often parents put up and shut up. It’s the rare few who actually act on the choices available to them BEFORE reality hits.

Good Question — Mosaic or Melting Pot ?

Somewhere in the distant past I remember discussing the “superiority” we Canadians felt because we supposedly embraced the “mosaic” theory of “integration” as opposed to the “melting-pot” theory of “assimilation” of “minorities”. 

I do not recall if our conversations hit the touchy issue of forced residential schools for our First Nations people.  I do vaguely remember discussing my ancestors (Doukhobors) who were forcibly kidnapped by the RCMP (170 children from ’53-’59) and placed in a BC government public school to be “Canadianized”.

So, I’m rather sensitized to “child-snatching” !

More later on this IMPORTANT conversation.  I wrote 2 comments to the G&M story. This is the 2nd one I wrote late last night:

“Mean, Totalitarian Impulse Emerges

Not only Mr. Hurley, one of the experts on the G&M panel, sees danger in too many people home educating. This comment section has revealed a good number of totalitarians who do not abide different paths to education.

In fact, some of the comments actually seem to equate “socialization” with a form of political grooming so that graduates will be good little “socialists” and love the state and its monopoly services. I wrote the following letter to the editor, hoping that at least a part will be published to warn people about this totalitarian streak that always emerges when home education is discussed and gets glowing reports.

Sir: Having participated in and watched the home education movement for over 50 years, I’m ever alert to any threats posed to this alternative that some families enjoy.

I am gratified to see this topic treated fairly in your pages over the years.

Resulting conversations show a lively interest in and healthy controversies about this style of education.

Invariably, however, some-one will display a mean totalitarian impulse — saying ALL children should be “socialized” through common school experiences. It’s said the social fabric will unravel.

Unfortunately, this view was expressed by one on your select panel, the “School Council” — Stephen Hurley, a Catholic schoolteacher. He goes so far as to project that if too many families chose this route to education, our country could end up with “a degree of instability” !

This is a “slippery slope” projection and one I fear, especially coming from a vested interest public educator.

Two western democratic countries which embody a deep commitment to welfare statism — Germany and Sweden — already outlaw home education.

I see home education as a significant “marker” measuring the degree of freedom and sovereignty individual citizens enjoy in a country. In that respect, home education contributes a great social good to society in demonstrating respect for alternatives to state services — services which may start out as a “safety-net” but then morph into an entitlement or the coerced use of a state monopoly.

Each new generation needs to be reminded of the precious freedoms we enjoy in Canada. Home education choices are but another way in which we can counterbalance the state’s interest with individual responsibility.”

I was referring to the early grades, and as Chuck describes it starts in grade 4. I would say, the message to parents inevitably is reinforced to remain quiet, and not to kick up a fuss. In exactly the same way back in grade 1, repeating the identical information and indoctrination messages of various hues and colours, that the schools are in charge.and the public education system knows what is best for your children.

Why don’t parents do their own research, asked the questions, and look for the alternatives? A study probable would be in order and it better be independent of any education officials, to find the true reasons.

That said, one of the top reasons I believe plays a pivoted role, - the type of education information available to parents that is offer by the public education system. Also the absence of the information crucial for parents to make decisions and help their children.

I just got off LD Online, reading a short summary, easy to read language, on the importance of fluency for young readers. One would have a hard time to find this kind of information on the government and schools’ web sites, let alone on a display on a cork board for all to read.

” Fluency: What is it? Why is it important?
If someone is fluent in speaking another language or in playing an instrument, there’s a smooth, graceful and easy quality to it. The same is true with reading skills. Reading fluency is a child’s ability to read a book or other text correctly, quickly, and with expression. A fluent reader doesn’t have to stop and “decode” each word. Rather, most of the words can be read automatically. This means the reader can focus his attention on what the story or text means. For that reason, fluency is critically important — it is the bridge between decoding words and understanding what has been read.”
http://www.ldonline.org/article/53643

On the Ontario education ministry site -  8 pages to explain fluency and parents come out none the wiser, besides being confuse, and maybe think it is beyond their skills and abilities.

“Instruction that supports the development of fluency is an important part of a comprehensive program of reading and writing instruction. Good readers recognize words accurately,
quickly and with automaticity. They are skilled at processing phrases and sentences as
meaningful units as they read orally and silently and use appropriate tone, pauses,  emphasis and expression to convey meaning (Klauda & Guthrie, 2008). Fluency is necessary for skilled reading, but it is not sufficient. It must not replace a focus on
comprehension as the goal of reading. It is instead a requisite tool – an enabling skill – for achieving that goal. Fluency is not an end in itself but a critical bridge to comprehension, freeing the reader to interpret and make meaning.”
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy/inspire/research/reading_fluency.pdf

Two different meanings - the LD Online article - “For that reason, fluency is critically important — it is the bridge between decoding words and understanding what has been read.”

On the Ontario ministry site - “Fluency is not an end in itself but a critical bridge to comprehension, freeing the reader to interpret and make meaning.”

The latter implies that fluency is only important as a bridge to comprehension, when in fact fluency is the bridge that connects decoding words to the other side understanding the words.

My point is, the information and content on the public education web sites, and other knowledge information is confusing, overly complicated and more importantly laced with too much ideology rather than the facts, based on the science in reading. I had to go outside of the public education system to obtain the knowledge I needed. The public education system does not provide the knowledge and information for parents that encourages parents to seek alternatives and options for their children.

“Socialization” In Schools Has Many Meanings

“Socialization” seems to be such a big issue regarding schools, especially public schools.  But, let’s look at some of the reasons given by home educating families when they say they seek to AVOID negative aspects of socialization.

1.  Negative socialization as: a) bullying, b) peer pressure, c) drugs, d) sexual pressures, e) regimentation, f) poor discipline, etc.

2.  Parental socialization when parents are pressured to: a) not be “pushy” about your child, b) accept that teachers know best, c) to not teach reading at home because “we have to unteach it”, d) to not look for choices outside your neighborhood school, e) to not demand good reporting or assessments because “creativity” is important, f) to not challenge incompetent teaching because that’s life, children need to experience the good and the bad, etc.

3.  Socialization for changing human nature such as: a) values clarification exercises, b) life-boat survival exercises, c) instead of competitive sports and awarding of prizes, everyone gets “participation certificates”, d) de-emphasis of excellence and mastery, e) excessive demands for “co-operation”, teamwork, consensus decision-making and emphasis on the collective versus the individual, etc.

4.  Political socialization when schools are expected to confront and solve social ills such as population explosion, nuclear weapons, environmental changes, poverty, inequality, oppression, etc.

5.  Socializing education, as in socialized medicine, as something that must be provided by the state, free and compulsory and that compulsory attendance at a school is what will achieve “educated” citizens, regardless of individual needs and talents.

6.  Socializing public, media and consumers to accept that education is what happens when there is a huge infrastructure of bureaucrats, trustees, administrators, consultants, turn-around experts, and other occupations dependent on this institution for their employment, wages and benefits.

7.  Socialization experiences as briefly described above have delayed and often obstacled the development of efficient, effective, responsive, flexible and innovative approaches beyond the structures presently in place.

These are just some of the reasons that the home educating community mentions in explaining negative socializations they try to avoid.  To summarize — these One Percenters, the home educators:  a) stand as beacons and steadfast witnesses to the validity and legality of educating in family units, b) are an example of resistance to the forces that compel uniformity and conformity, and c) are incubators of education styles that are groundbreaking and neither deadweight tax-eaters nor political hostages.

The Internet has tons of information and resources to help this movement!

Also Nancy that the info on the M. of Ed.websites don`t echo the chambers of empirical research but their own personal views.
There`s a huge difference in Yale`s view on Reading versus OISE`s.
Also University of South Florida`s and Harvard`s versus OISE`s which sets the tone it seems for Canada because that`s where Fullan and Levin reside and they are the conductors.
This allows the publishers to very successfully sell whole language materials to the school boards and allows the Universities to continue to churn out teachers who have never learned how to properly teach students to read and spell—-let`s not forget spelling,such a crucial communication tool.

And yet Fullan and Levin and the rest of them, will denied their influences over the curriculum content, instruction practices, and more importantly the actual educational content of materials and knowledge that is made available to the public Fullan and Levin’s whole system reform based on change theories is nation wide, where the education ministries sites are virtually clones of each other, with Ontario education ministry leading the pack.

A short paper by Levin and Fullan - “Whole-system reform means focusing on a small number of core policies and strategies,  doing them well as a set, and staying the course by not being distracted. It must be politically driven by leaders at the very top, such as is the case in Ontario, with Premier
Dalton McGuinty. But these leaders also must understand, embrace, and participate deeply in implementation by putting in place a set of fundamental whole-system-reform strategies. There are six fundamentals in particular, which we briefly outline here.”
http://www.michaelfullan.ca/Articles_09/WholeSystemReform.pdf

No need for teachers to be properly trained, when the entire education system has been politicized where the OISE is running the show on what is and what will not be taught to students.

On the CEA web site, Levin’s answer to early reading instruction. Just a touch of science, to make it sound realistic enough, to the untrained person and/or people without the background knowledge.

“Back by popular demand, CEA and Dr. Ben Levin’s Knowledge Mobilization Team at OISE have teamed up to provide you with new one-page summaries on timely and relevant topics of interest to parents, trustees, teachers, and administrators, based on current empirical educational research. “
http://www.cea-ace.ca/blog/michael-sefcik/2011/02/2/facts-education-how-children-learn-read

One page summary on reading - “The foundation of language and literacy skills is laid during early childhood. Early learning is important to lifelong
development. Researchers have identified some of the most important factors that help children learn to read.  While there are some definite skills children need to develop, it is also vital that children read things they enjoy, and enjoy what they read.”
http://www.cea-ace.ca/sites/cea-ace.ca/files/cea-2011-foe-read.pdf

The above quote - It is the language, that implies that reading instruction and what the school does is not as important, as the foundation laid in early childhood. It is designed to elicit guilt feelings by parents on what they did and did not do, when their children were smaller. It allows plausible deniability at the school and school board district in reading, writing and numeracy instruction.

Tunya describes the outcomes of the different socialization tactics used inside the schools. to which parents will react in various ways. The public education system and its structures responds, by attaching negative connotations to people and knowledge that runs counter to the status-quo of the public education system.

“Plausible deniability is also a legal concept. It refers to lack of evidence proving an allegation. Standards of proof vary in civil and criminal cases. In civil cases, the standard of proof is “preponderance of the evidence” whereas in a criminal matter, the standard is “beyond a reasonable doubt.” If an opponent lacks incontrovertible proof (evidence) of their allegation, one can “plausibly deny” the allegation even though it may be true.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plausible_deniability

The education of children are the standards of the legal definition. No need of high standards, and/or to ensure that each and every child reaches their full academic potential, when the only legal duty of a public education system, is to deliver education. Quality does not matter, nor the instruction practices. Homeschooling stands as a testament to what a public education system, no longer provides for all of their students - a solid academic education, with a strong foundation of the 3 Rs for all students to stand on.