255 2 2MB
English Pages [104] Year 2023
“Man is the only creature that refuses to be what he is.” ~Albert Camus
Author Acknowledgments I want to thank Gatee who made the drawing of the snake used on the cover. I used Mathematica and Picsart.com in order to modify it. Tiffany Dvorak was the main proofreader and her detailed work is highly appreciated. I learned about Albert Camus after finishing writing this book but before publishing. And while his work was not used to help me form the presented conclusions, it helps me validate what I wrote. Camus was an absurdist. A requirement from this is that there is no absolute system of universal values. A person can cope with this by committing suicide, adhering to another person’s system of values, or becoming an absurd hero. I believe nature dictates our human values but humans are mostly irrational. And the natural world follows physical laws and there is a god that idealizes a precise set of morals. But words are always ambiguous. And so our human systems are always irrational. The general theme of the methods are to follow the child’s needs and dictating them strictly for the purpose of themselves eventually becoming their own absurd hero.
Table of Contents A History of Education
1
Objectives
7
Notes on Neurodiversity
9
Notes on Architecture and Ergonomics
12
Appropriate Attire and Color Schemes
14
Ages 0-3: Stable Family Life
17
Ages 3-5: A Retrofitted Montessori Method
20
6 year olds: An Altered Monitorial Method
24
7-9 year olds: Chores and Fantasy
45
9-12 year olds: Atavism
50
12-16 year olds: Deschooling and Unschooling
55
Ages 16+: An Educated Life
77
Geography for Evangelism
89
Personnel Structure
93
Financing: Stoic and Idealized
96
Appendix List of Educational Methods and Systems
1 1
A History of Education History is interpreted from data. One cannot compress a data file to an arbitrarily small size without losing some data. And it is very possible that there will never be a computer that could solve or store the solution to chess because of the complexity. A chessboard has only 64 squares. The world is more complicated than a chess board. As such, every summary that is readable to a human must necessarily have missing data. So I must add something. History is interpreted from data and opinions resulting from a biased story. With this disclaimer, I commence my propaganda. Every education reform that actually helped to reform education in a positive light shared two opposing themes. 1. They aimed to spread education to people regardless of social class. 2. They all failed. The torch of reform is way too complicated to explain or even list out. But for this narration, we concern ourselves with three forces. The forces are: 1. Governments 2. Organizations of Worship 3. Individual Reformers
1
Homeschool Cooperatives
Individual reformers were the most altruistic. And perhaps many had very similar visions for an ideal. But they were located in different time periods or different places. When reading their writings, they seem to be working on a different body part of the same elephant. They encouraged democratic thinking, helping the poor, and an admiration of a child’s natural curiosity. These include Plato, Comenius, Piaget, Frederick the Great, Joseph Lancaster, Dr. Montessori, Loris Malaguzzi, Horace Mann, John Dewey, Charlotte Mason among many others. I would say that even though they all seem very different, an educational philosophy is naturally impossible to fully explain, and so the overlap is much larger than at first glance. They all seem very similar and on the most correct track. Unfortunately, altruistic reformers typically have the least amount of sway in reform. Governments often hijack these people’s works and incorporate part of it into the public education system. This historically has always led to overall improvements. All major Organizations of Worship had aimed to increase the morality of their students. Most succeeded. Yeshivas are great. Jesuit universities are great. Gurukuls are great. Mosque-schools are great. A lot of them were great. But many throughout history encouraged authoritarianism and restricted subjects taught. But overall, they were good for society. But unfortunately, they were also often ethnocentric as well. This often caused distress for the communities not actually at the school. Christian schools are most notorious for causing unintended harm. The Waldorf Method is particularly ethnocentric and
Teg Louis
2
has discouraged the use of vaccines which has caused harm. The problems of over emphasis on authority can also be seen with the rampant abuse that had taken place in Ireland, the incapacitation of Native Americans that were deemed useless upon return back to their homes because they were no longer able to hunt or participate in their home community, or rejecting teaching about Evolution, not providing adequate sexual education, or even restricting access to books such as Harry Potter. While Christianity has brought education to all regions of the world, authoritarianism has no place in guiding education. Being authoritative should be done instead. Governments reform in two ways. In good or stale times, they intentionally make education worse in order to control the populace. When things get bad, like Prussia losing a war badly because of corruption or the space race during the time the U.S. was competing against Russia, we see a rapid improvement in education quality and access. But this improvement is artificial and leads to an unnatural learning environment. Not every child needs to learn Algebra. Government initiatives often lead to bureaucratic perversions of what individual reformers fought for as well as copious amounts of harmful propaganda. ‘Be nice’ morality is not the same as ‘Bear your cross.’ Government reforms lead to a disgusting reversal of the morality that Organizations of Worship wrought. An example is in America where children pray to a flag instead of the Creator of the universe. Globally, for the past several decades, the world has experienced mostly good times. It is important for a long-lasting movement that a permanent international 3
Homeschool Cooperatives
divorce occurs between education and the States. The solution is a styled version of homeschooling cooperatives. But I will say this. What we currently have in public schools internationally is an abomination. And the only purpose of the didactic Prussian-style is to teach a skill that is high stakes and high complexity. It should not be the main mode of education. It is important to keep in certain situations. Examples are for teaching a student how to use an NMR machine used in chemical analysis or perform a specific surgery. If the NMR machine breaks or a patient dies, an expensive tragedy occurs. A teacher must give clear and detailed explanations followed by students asking pertinent questions. And the student must be able to pass an exam with a satisfactory grade after studying the underlying complex phenomena. But such a method does not lead to a student being able to create a new machine or surgery. And many private traditional schools are overly elitist. Spoiled children make for horrible students, yet they have the most access to resources which are mostly wasted. And such schools have to put on such a show to look good, such that it often harms the actual quality of education. Grades are often inflated at these private schools. These schools have deals with other institutions that let children go to more elite schools with less work. Also, it is more difficult to maintain order in the class because students cannot be adequately punished for poor behavior. They are also elitist by nature simply by requiring such a high pay wall. This high cost is often due to not being run as a cooperative, but by
Teg Louis
4
the same hierarchical structure as public schools but without the same public access.
5
Homeschool Cooperatives
Teg Louis
6
Objectives There are two independent objectives that are under the control of those administering education. And there are three dependent objectives that can be used to guide judgment on how well the independent objectives were administered. The independent objectives are: 1. Maximize independent discipline 2. Maximize academic freedom of all parties involved, with each individual student taking the first priority. The dependent objectives are: 1. Motivation and adequate time to delve into intrinsic curiosity 2. Ability to make the students own moral decisions in a way that does not cause harm to others. 3. Proficiency for a field of work.
7
Homeschool Cooperatives
Teg Louis
8
Notes on Neurodiversity Neurodiversity is an absolutely beautiful word in every possible aspect. The entire range of differences in individual brain function and moral behavioral traits should be incorporated into education. Embraced should be any child difference that does not cause harm to themselves or others. If a child is passionate about trains, that should be revered as a great quality. A person with Down syndrome should be openly loved by the community rather than aborted. A person with William’s syndrome should participate in group activities. People with high functioning autism that are of at least 18 years of age and have a passion for education make the best headmasters and teachers. They will naturally do things that neurotypical parents do not fully understand at first. But truth be told, as long as it is not a moral violation, the person with high functioning autism is most likely correct and should be followed by pope-like infallibility in terms of didactic and pedagogical instruction. You are free to make both positive and negative suggestions privately and bluntly with a person with high functioning autism. They will gladly appreciate it. They might seem obstinate if they ask you questions or make comments afterwards. But it is likely to solidify your words to make sure that the autistic headmaster fully understands you and just simply wants your wording to be precise. A person with autism does not naturally agree to do things to artificially change things. They normally would not
9
Homeschool Cooperatives
care about the status quo and pleasing school board masters. Their whole system is now susceptible to questioning in order to provide as close to educational perfection for yourself and your child.
Teg Louis
10
11
Homeschool Cooperatives
Notes on Architecture and Ergonomics The architecture and ergonomics of every single physical aspect required for the proposed methods mentioned in this book are extremely important. Everything in the neighborhood community where education takes place, to what is in the yard, to the internal and external apparatuses of the buildings, to all of the equipment that is being worn and utilized by the people involved, must be considered carefully with loving intentions and democratic involvement. Everything must be structurally, functionally, and aesthetically sound in a way that would leave Vitruvius unabashed as if he were an apostle witness.
Teg Louis
12
13
Homeschool Cooperatives
Appropriate Attire and Color Schemes Children should not have to wear a uniform simply because they should be able to explore themselves and a uniform does not have any impact on student academic outcomes. The only requirement is that it be the child’s choice and culturally and morally appropriate. If a student wants pink hair, then so be it. An interesting outtake for clothing policy can be found in the book: “Notes from Nethers: Growing Up In A Sixties Commune”. While I disagree with children and students being required to wear a uniform, adults or more complicated. The chaperones can wear their normal attire or wear a designated uniform. But most indoor staff should wear a uniform. Uniforms help establish a sense of professionalism among adults. A child is not expected to be professional because they are not a professional. But the uniforms should not be only white and black. Suits and ties lead to over professionalism where staff overly conform and lack empathy. The Montessori and Atavism teachers should not have to wear a uniform because it is vital that their clothing is very comfortable to facilitate motion. The staff for Year 6, Deschools, and after the age of 16 should all wear uniforms. Blue or pink buttoned dress shirts for men or women. They should also wear black pants, black belt, black socks, and black dress shoes. Men must wear
Teg Louis
14
black ties. Women can wear blouses or long skirts if they don't wear dress shirts. Unlike white that is always white, it means that collectively the staff would look like a pink/blue tie dye because there are so many shades of the blue or pink. It would encourage people to be different but they still look professional and are more approachable than if they wore a suit.
15
Homeschool Cooperatives
Teg Louis
16
Ages 0-3: Stable Family Life I don’t feel qualified to write much about this age period. My biases are fivefold. 1. Do what is expected for a Montessori nursery. She is a qualified expert over this age group. And she has a proven track record of success. Her words take precedence over mine for this age group. 2. Be married before having the child with the most loving person you can. Do not commit any act of infidelity, nagging, or abuse towards your spouse. And you should expect, and clearly state that you expect, the same since dating your potential spouse. This is to prevent you from making parenting mistakes that you would never commit on your own if you were your unstressed self. I know most of you will fail at this. Just do your best. Do not marry only for appearance, validation, or money. Place G-d at the center of your relationship at all times. 3. Become the servant of your child for material and physical needs. Yelling and arguing is to be forbidden in the household. Note that arguing is different from debating. A healthy marriage will always require debating, and should be encouraged. 4. Do not have electronics in the house that takes the place of socialization. Televisions are bad. Mobile phones are bad. Landline phones should be muted except for automated messages. Read with your child 17
Homeschool Cooperatives
instead of reading newspapers. Socialize with your spouse, family, colleagues, longtime friends that are good, and your child. Do so in small groups. Lovingly talk with your child a lot, even if they don’t usually understand. 5. Do not worry about having children if you are lovingly married and poor. If a good man is married to a good woman, both will do whatever they can to take care of the child and the responsibility of taking care of a child will ensure that both work hard for the foreseeable future. And G-d will take care of the rest using the tools of nature and a sympathetic community. I know that having such responsible parents is an increasingly rare phenomena, but so are loving marriages. Study what is written in the Torah, the Song of Songs, and the Talmud about choosing a spouse and marriage to help you make a choice for your spouse.
Teg Louis
18
19
Homeschool Cooperatives
Ages 3-5: A Retrofitted Montessori Method Unlike the previous age group, I consider myself fairly expert on this age group as well as the optimal education. I am 100% certain that children should be raised with strict adherence to traditional Montessori methods with one caveat. Two aspects of the Montessori method should be emphasized. The caveat is in the last paragraph of the first one mentioned. It is in relation to the use of technology. 1. Anthropological Method: A Guide should give succinct and simple instructions, observe the child at their task, take opinionated anthropological notes about each of the children, and use their notes and observations to place objects around the room to facilitate lengthening the time on a task or with objects. Humans are complex creatures that cannot be quantified or ever fully understood. There is beauty in the mess. And humans’s brains are geared towards making judgments with broad strokes. They still need to be educated about philosophy, anthropology, and popular theories on child development. This will let the bias among the Guide be diminished. But there is a contemporary benefit that the world has to offer.
Teg Louis
20
Technology should be used to monitor children for simple data collection. It should observe how much time is spent doing what and with what, while taking notes on which 7 senses are being used and which kinds of items. It is impossible for a Guide to fully observe everything all the time. But using well organized and compiled data, a Guide can make an inference much quicker and reduce bias. This is the only addition that I recommend to the traditionally done method according to Montessori. 2. Proper Play: Children at this age should not be introduced to fantastic play, but real play. This sounds harsh but it really is not harsh for the child. Small children have difficulty separating real play from fantastic play. No length will be made to purview the research on this now and why real play is beneficial and natural. But it would be great to make sure that there was a community house just for this age group and some 6 year olds to play in. It should be a fake house which no one lives in at night, that has only furniture that resembles what one would find in a house. But it should be made in such a way that is impossible for children to touch dangerously sharp, heated, chilled, or electrified items. It should be essentially kiddie proof Home Depot/Walmart made for children surrounded by wilderness for exploration. The outdoor preschools in Sweden can give some insight in developing the outside of the institutions appropriate for this age group. 21
Homeschool Cooperatives
The only natural exception is for children with autism. They should be able to play how they want to play, provided that it does not intrude upon others, and given resources based on observation. The Guide and parents involved should regularly speak to the child with autism, regardless of the child’s nonverbal or verbal status. Outside the home, we will honor Glasgow to make a playground as glorious as possible. Personally, there is not much I agree with Glasgow on except for the importance of playgrounds and equal access to quality education. Which Dr. Montessori did as well. This entire set up should be made completely free to the public for this age group to use freely during the day hours. These are small children. A civilized society should not let these people’s prospects be subject solely to the current status of their parents’ pocketbooks.
Teg Louis
22
23
Homeschool Cooperatives
6 year olds: An Altered Monitorial Method The rudimentary skills required for reading, writing, and arithmetic should be formally developed at this age. Reading, writing, listening, and speaking can all be wrapped up into learning the local language. Arithmetic can still be called arithmetic. Joseph Lancaster had created a method of teaching that worked well for arithmetic, reading, and spelling but nothing else. This system is called the Monitorial Method. Out of every mainstream pedagogical method used to date, his method worked the best and was the cheapest for arithmetic and rudimentary language skills. The controversy of his method was not his wild success, but outside problems. Horace Mann wanted to move away from Lancaster’s system because of how much the classrooms looked like factories (but Horace made mandatory prisons instead). And Glasgow thought the disciplinary punishments were too cruel. They were both correct. Lancaster was a Quaker that had been rejected from public education in the U.K. because he was a Quaker. This embitterment drove him to open schools for the needy. He did not hit children because he was a Quaker. But he would humiliate them by tying naughty children to desks, making them shuffle around the room with both legs tied up for
Teg Louis
24
getting up out of the seat. He would bind their hands if they were distracting others. And if they continued, they would receive the dunce hat and sit in a corner. And if they continued after that, he would place the child in a cage on top of the school for students to see when walking out. His schools were filled with quiet, obedient children. But his method of instruction was superb at teaching arithmetic and rudimentary language skills. The desks were long tables along with a pew for a continuous seat. The teacher would tell the student what to write, and the students wrote the same letters and symbols at the same time. They would then write the answer together. Time was allowed for students to demonstrate their knowledge, and if they regurgitated properly they would be advanced to the next step. For example, instead of single digit addition, they would move up to a single digit addition to a double digit number and so on. Pupils that should have the best skill at a level, would be required to teach the class later. So a pyramid for the skills had been developed. This worked well until more complex things were introduced. Students were not held back at the level of the least advanced student like now. If a child developed a skill quicker, they can complete the system quicker. You cannot teach writing stories or essays with this method. You cannot teach proof-writing this way either. A student gets bored from this method as easily as the instructors do. Complacency abruptly forms if this method is taught for anything else.
25
Homeschool Cooperatives
Lancaster’s method is limited, and I would say his method is only superb for basic arithmetic, not language. I have developed a method of teaching a local language, particularly English, that is much more efficient. But his method for teaching arithmetic is superior with minor alterations to how it was practiced hundreds of years ago. For behavior in arithmetic class, there are 3 things that I would change. 1. Have an orientation with the parents and potential pupils simultaneously. Give a list of rules and a list of punishments if the child breaks them. (Hitting children and none of the Lancaster punishments are acceptable.) 2. Students are given a test during orientation to see which level they should start at. Most of the students that had followed the Montessori Method prior should be able to skip quite a few sections. This is to prevent boredom. 3. Use personal whiteboards, paper, and mechanical pencils instead of slates and the writing utensils used at that time period. The pew should also have a cushion for the comfort of the child. During the orientation, the rules and punishments will be listed out and explained. Only children that agree to the following rules and accept the proper punishments will be allowed into the classroom for the following day. These are the rules:
Teg Louis
26
● ● ● ● ● ● ●
●
Arrive to class on time. Sit down quietly when you walk into the classroom. Do not talk unless spoken to first by the teacher. Do not get out of your seat unless you are told to get out of your seat by the teacher. Do not touch other students. Always listen to the teacher. Obey the instructions of the teacher. A hierarchy of pupils will be maintained. (It is important to say obey when obey is meant rather than just simply listen.) If you make a mistake, that is okay. There are no punishments for making mistakes, only for bad behavior.
These are the punishments: ● If the child and family do not show up for the scheduled time for a lesson, they cannot come in. Make sure to close and lock the door. If class starts at 10am, then it starts at 10am. If they know they are going to be late, they can call. The teacher can postpone the start of class by several minutes to ensure people have time to arrive. There are things such as traffic jams. But if it is a no call, no show or tardy, they miss that class. ● Kick the kid out immediately if the child shows signs of intentional breaking of the rules. Such behavior is not fair to the other students, and has wasted ridiculous amounts of resources for children across the world at all stages of time. Chaperones must be there to observe. The teacher must meet with the 27
Homeschool Cooperatives
parents afterwards and discuss if the child needs to wait to return. But the child must start again from the place where the child left off. They are not to be with that same class again. It is up to the parent how to punish the child further. Considering the part that followed the Montessori method before, the child should have already been introduced to letters and numbers and be able to do some simple things regarding academics, and there should not be too many behavior problems. If it was unintentional, initiate the Warning System immediately and consistently. 1. Tell the kid to stop and tell them what they did wrong. Only do this for one of the listed rules. If they were clever, then so be it. 2. If they do it again or break another rule in the same class, tell the kid to stop, what they did wrong, and what the punishment will be if they continue breaking rules. Say this sternly, but never angrily. 3. If they break a rule yet again, kick them out of class as if they had done it intentionally. Do not let them return into the classroom. Most children will be able to equate, not equate, concatenate, add, subtract, multiply, and divide positive and negative numbers within 4 months. Once they graduate, they will never need to learn by the Monitorial method again. If they need longer or special attention, that is okay. If they can
Teg Louis
28
complete the course in 6 months maximum, then they move on. If they cannot complete the course, they should still stop enduring it after 6 months. But rather, they can use a computer program and move on with the next class. We don’t start with a computer program in order to establish societal discipline and let the child develop impulse control. These operations in the current American public education system take about 7 years to learn these operations. Academically, the alteration is two-fold. Concatenation is to also be taught and a table is given to the students explaining the language of operations. It is from my experience that most children do not have trouble grasping these concepts. The issue arises from sloppy language use by the instructor. This discombobulates children who understand at first, then get confused, and over time think they are stupid or incompetent when they most certainly are not. An example would be mixing ‘using addition’, ‘plus’, and ‘add’ in the same paragraph. Mixed fractions are poor form and should not be taught. Understanding is not actually important for learning the procedures. If they do, that is great. But after this program, they will be using money to purchase things and have access to balance sheets. They will be able to understand constructively after this time.
29
Homeschool Cooperatives
Here is the table to be given: Operator symbols
Operation Examples
_ operate _
Operation names
=
2=2 3=3 870=870
2 equals 2 3 equals 3
equate
≠
1≠2 3 ≠ 57362983
1 does not equal 2
not equate
2
8 is more compared to 2
comparison
⊕
8⊕2=82 9⊕4=94
8 concatenate 2 equals 82
concatenation
+
8+2=10
8 add 2 equals 10
addition
-
8-2=6
8 subtract 2 equals 6
subtraction
∗
8*2=16
8 multiply 2 is 16.
multiplication
8 divide 2 equals 4
division
,⟌
8 2
=2⟌8=4
We do not teach concatenate_to, add_to, subtract_from, multiply_by, divide_by, minus, plus, or is. The helping verbs
Teg Louis
30
are not very helpful because they make the language more difficult and confuse the order. For example, multiplication is commutative. This means that they can be reversed and we still get the same result. But division is not commutative. We do not use ‘is’, ‘minus’, or ‘plus’ because the words are not related to the name of the operation. The helping verbs also imply understanding the operation before you even do the operation! Keeping the above semantics lets good habits form. When the child starts to cook later or manage their own finances in the near future, they will be introduced to less rigid expressions. By treating future semantics as a language, they will be able to adapt quickly. Just like the method for teaching language, the grammar rules for mathematics are important for the teacher to know, but it is not important for the students to be able to verbalize them. Good habits are good enough. There are some smaller notes to observe. Note how an asterisk operator was utilized for the multiplication symbol. This is much easier because of the extra line. It will not be as easily confused with ‘x’ and ‘t’ from the alphabet and lets a child keep their thoughts more organized. Yet, we use only the ‘ ’ and ‘⟌’ symbol for division because they automatically set up the problem for us. Word problems are incorporated into living life and future academic adventures. They should have experiences with paying at counters from the role-playing at the playhouse during the Montessori Method. We don’t teach square roots or other roots because most adults don’t even know how a
31
Homeschool Cooperatives
calculator does that. And powers are not taught, because that can be explained later when they use it in later classes. The set up for mathematical exercises should be horizontal for concatenation, equals, and division when in the long division symbol. The remaining operations should all be set up only vertically. Otherwise, it is simply sloppy hazing. They must write and solve together with the class using the operations on operators between 0 and 100 for 300 problems. The answer sometimes being larger than 1 or more than 100. For homework, the students will then be given a sheet of 200 random problems for each operation. When they have mastered that, they must present 10 assigned problems to solve, and to demonstrate on the board to the other students. Failure means to repeat that section of the class. Superiority means that they can be trained to teach that class, giving freedom to the teacher to observe and maintain the classes in the large expansive multi-class classroom. We will not mix the operations together because the purpose for 6 year olds is to simply have a strong foundation. And division naturally requires all of the previous operations as well. Triple digits and further addition is not required, because that will be intrinsically addressed in the multiplication section. We do not teach spellings, because that will be done as part of the language course and when they read and do things later. Kids should be allowed to use a calculator after they finish the altered Monitorial Program.
Teg Louis
32
Teaching the common language outside of arithmetic is a much more fun endeavor. And except for the behavior management aspect, everything is completely different from what Lancaster had envisioned. There are 30 lessons that can be extended into 60 days worth of lessons or shortened to 15 days depending on the ability of the students in the classroom. ESL students would likely take the longer classes with native speakers rarely taking a full 60 days. The course is available for free at https://libfree.info/. The format of the first two lessons are quite different from the others. The format for lessons 3-30 are identical. Each lesson can take 25, 50, 1.5, or 2 hours to complete. It depends on the ability of the class and the lessons are quite flexible. Class sessions should be at most 50 minutes with 20 minute breaks if 2 hours. It should be 40 minutes of class with a 10 minute break in the middle of an additional 40 minutes. The children must be physically active or resting outside of the classroom during break. They are not allowed to use electronics except in the case of emergencies in order to maintain impulse control. The classroom should be empty except for a mat or full carpet, calendar on the wall, rules and punishment list and ottoman seats for the children. Back support is provided by the classroom walls. There should not be armrests or a back on the comfy ottoman because the children will be encouraged to move around a lot and do fun activities. When 33
Homeschool Cooperatives
they do activities, they should move onto the personal tray tables. The personal tray tables can be moved around by the child to wherever the child wishes inside or directly outside the classroom, provided that the child is not distracting others and is productive. There can be 6-12 students in a class. Ideally, 12 in a class is best provided that the behavior management mentioned above is strictly followed and it can cut the cost by at least a half. Children may freely go to the bathroom by themselves. It is important that the door is extremely light and swings silently both ways. Think about an empty living room with beadless string curtains. Windows and clocks should not be in the classroom in order to prevent distractions. But a recording camera to observe the classroom for parents to be able to see is ideal. Pupils absolutely cannot continue without having done the homework prior to commencing with the next lesson no matter the duration of the lesson. Ideally the walls are blue and the floor is a matching carpet. This is to achieve a calm atmosphere. Lessons are only 30 minutes if the students know the material already, but are perhaps scattered in the way they were taught. The arithmetic aspect for 6-year olds can be tested out of. The language part cannot be. The teacher must assign homework to the students after each day's lessons. Every single student must do the homework or have to rejoin for the next lesson with a different group of kids. The child must be able to read by themselves if the lesson is only 30 minutes. At most two 30 minute lessons can be
Teg Louis
34
taught in a day. Otherwise, this one, as well as for longer time frames, must be done only once a day. Lessons are 50 minutes for typical children. The homework should take them roughly about the same amount of time. This can involve tracing, reading, watching television shows, or making sentences. Correcting mistakes in sentences is not important. Summarizing is not important for this age group. Lessons are 1.5 hours if the child needs to do the homework with the aid of a Guide or needs time to read with the class because of issues at home. This is also typical. Lessons are 2 hours if the child has academic struggles or the child needs to have more practice socializing. That is okay! This means the class has more traditional worksheets, games, reading, singing and dancing. Games, theater, singing, and dancing are gloriously useful! There is not really a time limit on the activities provided they are used to help with the objective material in the classroom. Examples are hide and seek with items from the new vocabulary. Flash card races and interpretive dance. Or singing silly songs with the vocab words are also acceptable. TPR is vital for efficiently learning a language.
35
Homeschool Cooperatives
Here is the generic format for the lessons with regards to the main objectives only. Lesson 1 1. The Guide reads ‘English 1’. There are no words of disagreement or agreement if the students echo what was said. The same applies for reading Lesson 1. State the day of the week and the date while pointing at the calendar. 2. The Guide touches the screen while looking confused. If a student sings the named alphabet song, silently shake your head and hand to say no. Touch the screen again, and make the sounds with the letters. Coax the class to repeat by praising children that attempt to copy you. If possible, say a phoneme, find the phoneme. Then do the same with a student. Let the student touch the phoneme or find a flashcard with the symbol on it. 3. Move on to the next slide. Pause. Click the screen. Make the sounds once, then read the word for them. Have students find the bag on the screen. It is easy, but important. The guide points to the word ‘bag’ at the same time as the student points at the picture of the bag. 4. Move on to the next slide. Pause. If a child says the word, congratulate them. Then click the word, and read bed. Have the student that said it right away find the bed. Have another student find the bed. The
Teg Louis
36
Guide can then point and outline an invisible bed for the class, and pretend to sleep. The children will naturally do the same, and this is to be immediately encouraged. 5. Wake up and move to the next slide. Click the letters and let the animation play silently. Then let a quiet volunteer repeat the same. Then do the chant. Repeat the chant. Have students do the same. They are not expected to be perfect today. Just let them do their best and praise participation. Never force participation, especially with ESL children. Note, the short vowel ‘i’ is often difficult for ESL learners. You can have students touch their Adam’s apple in order to feel it move downwards so they can physically check their pronunciation. 6. Wake up and move to the next slide. Touch the word ‘kid’ without saying the phonemes. Pause for a very long time while looking eagerly at the students without pointing. If someone reads it, jump up and down and be super happy. The other kids will want to try also. Have the children find a kid. They will get to socialize. After it is slightly quieter, no matter how loud it has gotten, suddenly shush the children and move onto the next slide. 7. Immediately touch the word. Let the children read ‘big’. Correct some of the students and repeat the word again.
37
Homeschool Cooperatives
8. Add 6 phonemes to the chant. But in this case, make karate motions with the additional 6 first. Then conjoin. Students can stand. 9. When ready, let students take turns with the word and practice reading. 10. Carry on how you see fit until the last slide. 11. On the last slide, use your fist to make an example for digraphs. Have you and a student stand next to the boxers and get closer. Make the digraph sound when touching. Then have student-student pairs do it at the front. Do not let students do it with other students as a class. The theory of mind for 6 year olds is not developed enough. 12. The homework should be to practice reading the words with their parents or guardians. They should trace the words. And they should start memorizing the phoneme chant with the parents. Lesson 2: 1. The Guide reads ‘English 2’. There are no words of disagreement or agreement if the students echo what was said. The same applies for reading Lesson 2. State the day of the week and the date while pointing at the calendar. 2. Initiate the chant by yourself with your hand out to silence the students.
Teg Louis
38
3. Welcome the class to join using hand gestures, then do it together. You can try once or twice. 4. Vowels are the most difficult. There is a fun way to exaggerate the differences without pronouncing anything differently. Gather the children around an electric standing fan. Just as you would as a child, cheerily make the vowel sounds into the fan. Have students copy you in order. Then you change slowly to a random vowel, and let the students catch on. 5. Play a vowel game. Break the class into 2-4 teams. You make a vowel phoneme, and they write the phoneme. Give a point to the team that has at least one person correct. Show the correct one. Repeat several times, and then announce the winning team gleefully. Thank all of the participants in all of the teams. 6. Point one finger close to the other hand for ‘this’, far away for ‘that’. Move close and use all fingers for ‘these’. Do far away and all fingers wiggling for ‘those’. You can do an interpretive dance with the class. You can use objects or people in the classroom. Have them guess without you saying. Change up the order of the chant. Have students play. Do something similar to the game ‘Simon says…’. Or do almost none of these for step 6. The Guide uses his or her complete discretion for carrying out this step.
39
Homeschool Cooperatives
7. The Guide reads the words and has the students take turns finding the possessive pronouns on the next slide. Most are not phonetic. There is no real need to demonstrate. 8. Do a similar thing with the personal pronouns. 9. And the same for prepositions. 10. Then play Sight Word bingo! You can play Zingo as well later on. If there is reading in the class. Have the students do something quiet if they hear the sound. 11. The homework should be to practice reading the words with their parents or guardians. They should trace the words. And they should be still memorizing the phoneme chant with the parents. Lessons 3-30: 1. The first step is identical to all previous lessons. 2. Do the chant together. 3. Have the students read the words you point at, you can change the order and praise. If no one can do it correctly, you can say the word. Repeat the first student that reads it without needing correction if they say it before you do. Then start flipping the words. They will understand that they go together.
Teg Louis
40
4. Repeat step 3 for the next set of words. Typically, the word order introduction is adjective, verb, noun (thing), and another noun (place). 5. Use a ball to make cognates with the vocabulary words. Examples are, “this floor, that chair, these chairs, those floors”. You can tour them around the building and practice with realia. 6. Do the same with the possessive pronouns. You can gently correct children along the way. Mistakes are perfectly okay. 7. Continue this pattern with the next slides until you get to the story. 8. Read the story together. Lower cases are only used because it makes reading easier and generalizing later is not very difficult for children. 9. Feel free to stop and roleplay with the story as much as you would like. 10. Have students read the questions. They will perhaps not understand the questions. You can act them out. 11. Homework is mostly tracing, reading, and forming their own sentences. ESL students should be able to have simple conversations and be able to get around wherever they want to after these 30 lessons and the arithmetic is finished. 41
Homeschool Cooperatives
TPR is great!!! Only language and arithmetic should be required to be taught formally at this stage in their life. This transitional phase requires at most 5 hours of formal schooling a day and at the very longest, 6 months of school. It is very likely that most children will need at most 3 months of formal school. The rest of their day should be spent doing light chores, free play, and personal hobbies. If a child takes an academic hobby, like learning Vietnamese as an additional language, then that is great and they should be supported. But if not, that is okay. If they want to play almost the entire waking hours playing basketball or other sports, then that is great and they should be supported. But they should be required and encouraged to help with light chores. They should be able to help ‘pay the bills’ restricted to typing in amounts into balance sheets. They should be handling money at stores when making purchases. They can lay out the blankets at picnics and should be collecting their laundry and putting clothes in the laundry basket. Putting food and other items in the shopping cart at stores is also great. Anything that does not require fire, electricity, or other dangerous things are great. Another aspect of a child’s life is a reflection of this transitory time. They are to be allowed to visit, observe, and participate in any of the programs for the different age groups. They
Teg Louis
42
may be able to continue this until they formally join the 7-9 age group. It is also at this time that formal musical or Fine Art education can or should be taught. The problem arises for Music as well for Fine Arts, is that it requires an experienced expert in both the art as well as teaching. The child may meet the teacher wherever the teacher wishes. The only recommendation I have for music class is that it follows the Dalcroze Method.
43
Homeschool Cooperatives
Teg Louis
44
7-9 year olds: Chores and Fantasy This age group has developed enough theory of mind to start engaging in groups but more with awe and wonder than with full participation. But the thoughts that they have will be hardly original, but nevertheless extremely important. This age group are natural wallflowers. It is important for them to be introduced to many aspects of a functional life, as well as the ability to tinker with the unreal, unbuilt, and the impossible. An upgrade in freedom should correspond directly to an upgrade in responsibility. They should be equal, and if the responsibility is found to be too overbearing, then the required responsibility and corresponding freedom should be limited. This is not to be done in a punishing way. A healthy child will naturally want to help, but nagging and fear would discourage a child from taking up new tasks. Restricting freedoms has nothing to do with punishment, even though that might appear that way. It just lets the child have more self-control so they don’t get overly distracted and they can maintain being better stewards. Parents in the Community Roles: The child will follow an agreed upon rotation with their parents’ and others parents in a group of 6-12 families. This is to maintain high behavior expectations as well as letting 45
Homeschool Cooperatives
the child and parents learn more about him or herself by reflecting on the contrasting familial lives. The child can stick with one parent for a week, a day, or up to a month. It depends on the agreements and the comfort of the child. The child has the right to say who and when they want to schedule with. The child’s parents have the ultimate authority for making any final decisions. Guides’/Teachers’ Roles: A guide/teacher should act as a social worker that regularly meets with parents and the child at the same time. The guide/teacher will meet the family at their home. They will take notes about activities performed by the child, facilitating communication between the child and parents by letting them answer lines of questioning that start with: 1. “What would you/the child like to be free to do and which responsibilities are you/the child willing to take on accordingly?” 2. “Which concerns do you have if you/the child is given the freedoms or responsibilities”? The teacher/guide can then explain to the family a list of suggestions using the expert’s previous experience for the following week. A single teacher/guide should be used for the commune of 6-12 families. The guide might become a teacher when explaining common or difficult suggestions. Introducing Chores: Children should now be introduced to chores that require the use of controlled heat or electricity.
Teg Louis
46
They must do so under supervision. This means that the child can start helping with cooking with an oven, moving extension cords, washing or drying clothes, mowing grass, and etcetera. They should not do any chores requiring using uncontrolled heat such as starting fires or putting gasoline in a car. The child must be encouraged and welcomed when the child asks to do something. A parent/guardian should also lead by example. Permitting is more motivating than coaxing. Coaxing should only be used if the child made a commitment and needs a small push to follow through. Other chores are not particularly chores but rather involvement. When rotating, they should be able to attend community meetings such as political quorums, coming with the parent/guardian to work, churches, synagogues, mosques, temples, active charities, or other positive civil organizations. They should also be able to have complete access to see bank statements/bills/accounting spreadsheets. Wallflowering lets the child understand the world around them. It is acceptable to require silence during observation. But the parent/guardian must set aside daily time to privately meet with the child after the experience, and for the child to ask questions. It is important that the parent/guardian is honest and says only what they believe they know and admits what they believe they do not know.
47
Homeschool Cooperatives
An additional activity is a cross between chores and play. They should be actively involved in helping prepare crafts to be used for holiday decorations. Wallflowering should account for about 6-7 hours a day. Introducing Play Children in this age group should be allowed to explore and have fun the rest of their waking hours. This means that the child should be able to play with friends in semi-organized sports. They should be able to read books in a comfy chair at home or in a library. They should be able to draw, play cards, scout, build, dissect, socialize, hike, dig, jump, run, or meditate. They can make their own plays for theater and do as much fantastical play as they wish to do. The only requirements are that they do so safely and not attached to a screen.
Teg Louis
48
49
Homeschool Cooperatives
9-12 year olds: Atavism Atavism is the general theme for this age group. While Prussian methods are extremely good for some things, this age group should completely forgo it. A perfectly well-behaved child can suddenly be obstinate and unruly during this age. This especially occurs during the ages of 10-11. In traditional Prussian schools, teachers often consistently demand better behavior from such children. They are not mature enough to simply require advocacy like most of those who are 12-15. And they will behave wildly different depending on who the instructor is just because of indescribable detestation towards certain individuals and an affinity to others. They will also do things in order to garner attention from their peers that when they look back upon, will feel quite embarrassed. Stating the solution first requires describing the reason for the occurrence of the problem. These children have a fully developed theory of mind but lack the control to act on it well because of poor bodily function. This is an evolutionary good thing. In paleolithic times, this age group would cling to others in their age group but also start to do things with the community.
Teg Louis
50
Going on hunting trips with the clan and slowly gaining more responsibility. Making pottery or gathering fruit at the village with the mostly women remaining. They would then be left to herd sheep alone and travel long distances with merchants. Wandering in the forest is also important. This should still occur but in an only slightly more modern sense. They should be able to choose which guide or teacher to lead them. The Guide is to choose which parents to act as unelected chaperones. Then they go and explore upon a simple vote from a list of possibilities from their Guides. If a child wants to build larger structures or their own cooking store from home, they should be able to. Hard labor such as replacing roofing, plumbing, and skinning meat should be mandatory. Pressure from the elder children and chaperones should be used to maintain order among the younger children. Sporting events should be overly competitive. Breaking the child’s over-idealism and replacing it with humility is great. This does not mean coaching should be abusive. But pitting the child against themselves by encouraging the child to push themselves to a limit is great. One more lap. One more throw. Go farther. Go higher. Just make sure their individual safety is also prioritized. This theory of helpful competitiveness runs counter to Dr. Maria Montessori. Much more artistic work should be demanded. Whether this requires playing the piano with strict adherence to doing so properly or copying an art teacher's much more complex work. This is a time for severe discipline.
51
Homeschool Cooperatives
Disrespect of a child may be met with ostracizing and other nonviolent peer pressure tactics. The Guide just leads the group in social punishment in a way that prevents a Lord of the Flies occurrence. Testing of adults should be met with an utter and cold harshness by the community. It is important that work and chores be fully collided with the Guide being extremely strict. It is natural at this age for the children to levy charges on adults. All allegations with serious implications should be investigated by adults in the community. If it is found to be true, then the accused should be removed or penalized. If it is not true, then the young accuser should be brought in front of the investigators and the investigators state what was discovered. The accuser should then be given a chance to apologize if the accuser was wrong, and be required to write a letter of apology to the person that was accused. The embarrassment of being confronted with the truth is good, and the topic should never be brought up again. But if the accuser does not apologize for a possible false accusation, the community should keep their eye out for any problems with the accused. And the chaperones for that student, as well as the Teacher/Guide, should make the decision if that child can attend the homeschooling cooperative. This is the age where a child must be confronted with turmoil by all in the community. This tests the strength of the child as well as the entire community.
Teg Louis
52
NOTE: Homeschooling cooperatives are the typical mode of education on communes for obvious reasons intrinsic to communal life. This age group demands harkening back to human tribalism. No matter what we do, this group elicits reminiscing about paleolithic times.
53
Homeschool Cooperatives
Teg Louis
54
12-16 year olds: Deschooling and Unschooling Being an advocate for people of this age group is the role of adults. This is a historically neglected age in terms of academics and everything else. As a result, there is not much theory to rely on that I feel confident in pointing to and this chapter will be much longer as a result. Deschooling and Unschooling will be the theme of this chapter and age group. Personal bias on formalizing these terms will be projected onto them. Unschooling is the goal after the wondrous marathon of deschooling. There are two kinds. The two kinds are: Unschooling Type I This is alluded to by the synonym ‘unschooling schools’ in casual unschooling forums. It is essentially equal to a library plus a summer camp. Children, parents, and friends may visit the communal library to read and study what they like. They may also go to the summer camp and play around or study their surroundings. Rules are set up exactly like Democratic Schools. Bullying others is simply forbidden though. Everyone deserves the right to feel safe, especially when they go to school.
55
Homeschool Cooperatives
Guides walk around and offer assistance. So, suppose a group wants to build a structure or formally study the stars, the guide helps them find resources in the local community or elsewhere to initiate their tasks or get unstuck. Experts and pupils may set up formal Prussian classes for the public in these communal environments. The highlights of this Type are best seen as someone like Einstein, Newton, or Michael Jordan doing their own thing but with help from the community. This is the end objective for everyone. I was the only person that had gone to college and completed an academic degree program out of my brothers and sisters. I had thought this was what college was like. And that we would all be pushed to be carbon copy Newton’s. A professor told me that was not expected because that was 1 in a billion. But later I learned that it was more like 1 in 500 million. And that was because there were less than 1 billion people at that time. And 2 people invented calculus at the same time. Not only was that the case, but only the elite could do it, and there were certainly less than 500 million elites at that time. And he had done his most useful work outside of academia because of the Bubonic Plague. Otherwise, he would have likely been forced to spend more time on Alchemy for his graduate studies. Furthermore, when you look at the Flynn effect and the fact that he was restricted by publishing until much later in his age, I firmly believe the current world limits the genius of the
Teg Louis
56
everyday person. And it is the job of the altruistic education reformer to unleash potential. Unschooling Type II This is alluded to by the synonym ‘free range’ in casual unschooling forums. And often rightfully so, are often ridiculed by the Media. But free range is great as well. And so a quote of Dr. Montessori is necessitated for discernment: “To let the child do as he likes when he has not yet developed any powers of control is to betray the idea of freedom.” ~Dr. Maria Montessori Free range lets a child do as the child pleases and learn when and what and how the child pleases as well. The guardian is to show reluctance in helping the child. The objective instills immense confidence and independence if done properly, otherwise it provides trauma from neglect. Free range should never be the go to choice for a child. A child does not know what is most important and naturally does not have impulse control. Free range should be used in two instances. When the child has successfully spent time in Type I Unschooling or when the child is traumatically ill or under therapy for mind, body, or soul.
57
Homeschool Cooperatives
If a child is always leading in Type I but no longer wants to lead others and do his or her own thing, and has the funds to not work for an employer, this free range is likely a great option. If a child is bedridden because of cancer and is depressed, or a kid becomes phobic of society because of hazing or bullying, or a kid got in a car accident and lost a family member or became severely crippled, or is showing signs of severe schizophrenic behavior that causes catatonia… Any tragedy that causes withdrawal or severe lack of confidence may be medicated with free range schooling. But the child must be expected to follow the Noahide laws and have an adequate support system. Deschooling Most children, even after following the prescribed program for earlier ages, are not capable of Unschooling. But almost all children would be ready for Unschooling after Deschooling. A common phenomenon for when people transition to Unschooling from the Prussian-style traditional classroom, is the child becomes lackadaisical for about a year. They lack the capacity to initiate things on their own and still have struggles fitting in with the larger society and understanding themselves. This phase typically lasts about a year, but can be longer. This is why I developed an age appropriate program for Deschooling. The purpose is to be a transitional period of gentle depressurization. The general theme is structured creativity.
Teg Louis
58
The remainder of the chapter is to be spent on behavior, architecture, and curriculum. Behavior Management Unlike Unschooling Type I, where the list of rules are created, destroyed, and voted on by the students only, Deschooling is different. The Guide proposed at least 3 systems of rules. The students then vote on which system. The students can request amendments or detractions, but the Guide always has absolute power of veto and authorization. The same method applies to punishment. But punishment should be initiated by the votes of the students. Positive peer pressure works for this age group. Students have much more flexibility in academics than the traditional system, and they are not judged by grades. They also have much better access to healthy food and have comfortable seats. Parents from the Community are also rotating among the classes. This should limit a lot of the behavioral problems. The school day should last at least 9 hours every day. The hours off, the child should be able to do as he or she wishes permitted the funds are available. If the child slacks on chores by having a fairly messy room or other things, this is acceptable as long as the child acts morally. This is a tough age hormonally and in terms of theory of mind. Cut some slack for your child and let them enjoy life unstructured.
59
Homeschool Cooperatives
Students should never have to ask permission to go to the restroom though! And students should be able to rotate cooking and be able to vote on the inventory for meals! Architecture Students vote on and budget for posters and other items for the classroom and the surrounding area. And they have a choice on their design. It can be done at a family home. But ideally, a Deschool should be a repurposed hotel or a collection of one room apartments at a complex but with a communal kitchen. This allows flexibility in choosing groups to work and study with. There can be more or less, but ideally each Deschool has 60 students and 1 formal teacher. There are 8 classrooms, and 7 parents/guardians or other close relatives volunteer every day. The parents must rotate in helping chaperone and facilitate classes. Two classrooms are set up for 12 students. And 6 classrooms are set up for 6 students. Exactly one chaperone/facilitator should be in each classroom at all times of instruction. Homework is always voluntary and there is a lot of choice for which assignment the student will do. It is not graded in the sense of A, B, C, D, F or a percentage. But errors are shown by grading either by the Guide, and Expert, or others in the Community. Tables must be trapezoidal. Each classroom has a specific arrangement. The two different types of classrooms will be
Teg Louis
60
spent. Ideally the deschool building is exactly 1 story but with the kitchen below in a basement. Chairs should be wide to accommodate democratic involvement and independent thought, at an adult height with the option of using a booster or ottoman. The table is also at adult height. Various sitting styles should be permitted within the chair. The chair should have a back and a place for the arms but a fully rounded armchair. The seat should be lined with velvet cushioning with a metal interior. There should be four legs. Many of the Eames chairs with velvet lining are good. But chairs should not have wheels or be able to rock unless it is a sensory requirement for children with differences such as Sensory Processing Disorder or Autism. The chairs are ideally black color and the legs and rims of the tables are best black with a blue top. This is not a requirement and may be voted on differently. Mobile Whiteboards, Kindles with color (not iPad-type devices), and Chromebook-type devices are to be used. There should also be the use of a relatively new invention. There are white desk buddies that can store items on the inside, and a person can write on the top and put their mechanical pencil, Kindle, and notebooks. The Chromebook-type computers should only be in one of the rooms at any time. Group involvement should be used for research. There should not be stationery whiteboards or chalkboards. There should not be any smartboards. Mobile Whiteboards are forever superior. Desk buddies are great too.
61
Homeschool Cooperatives
The chaperones and volunteers stand unless they are incapable. They will give instructions and facilitate projects and short Prussian demonstrations. The 12-student classrooms are for Model ASEAN and Abrahamic Studies, and any bubbled up conferences. There can be only 1 teacher for the 60 students provided the Teacher/Guide is paid extremely well and has adequate support from the rotating parents/guardians. Ideally, the Deschool is exactly one floor for these classrooms and a kitchen/bathrooms are downstairs in a basement. This is only a loose ideal, and could be a repurposed hotel or single-room apartment complex with a couple of large rooms. Also, small schools of 60 students are very nice because of a couple of reasons. It prevents too much drama from spreading because it is such a tight knit community. There is also the global occurrence of a decreasing birth rate. When a local area does not allow for a functioning school anymore, smaller buildings are much more liquidatable than large buildings. Below is a photo of the ideal arrangement of classrooms for the building, followed by what the individual table set ups will be. The tables need to be larger parallel to the ground than what is shown in the picture.
Teg Louis
62
Figure 1: This is the ideal classroom layout for the classrooms in the building. There are two classrooms for 12 students and six classrooms for 6 students.
Figure 2: This is a picture of what a classroom should look like for 6 people. Notice the decadence of the chairs. These facilitate discussion and comfort. Children will not have difficulty sitting in these seats.
63
Homeschool Cooperatives
Figure 3: Here there are 4 tables for the 12 person class set-up. The tables are the proper shape and arrangement, but should be made larger to accommodate room for using the same chairs as shown in Figure 2, but 12 instead of 6.
Outside the school building, there should be 6 gazebos. People can socialize or play chamber music there if they wish. Meeting prospective parents and students can also meet there as well. Ideally, they are weatherproofed and comfortable. And they should be hexagonal. Gazebos are great for use in the Indochina Peninsula because of the fantastic weather.
Teg Louis
64
Curriculum There are 8 courses that are mandatory for Deschooling. The great aspect of the building set up above, is that there is more than enough room so that each class runs every hour. Each class should last 50 minutes followed by a 10 minute break. Since there are 8 classes, this means 8 hours should be spent on these topics. The extra hour is for lunch and recess. One of the classes, Adventure Walks, does not require a classroom. The Independent Study and Construction courses and the Student-led courses sometimes do and sometimes don’t. The 8 course are: A. Adventure Walks B. Model ASEAN C. Abrahamic Studies D. Computer Science E. Medicine F. Student-led classes G. Literature H. Independent Study and Construction
65
Homeschool Cooperatives
Here are the descriptions as follows: A. Adventure Walks Students will be able to walk in a place designated by the instructor and voted on by the students. They can explore and have a natural experience. This means that they will walk in places like a mall, museum, factory, or forest. The purpose is to encourage students to ask questions and the Guides to help them find the answers and explore safely. Often for Nature Walks, the Guide will line up the students. Then the Guide will ask who wants to be the leader. Then the group votes twice on who they want to be the leader. The chosen leader becomes the boss and everyone follows the boss. This is an aspect shared with Unschooling Type II. Small doses are acceptable. The students and Guide are responsible for returning back to base on time. Questions that can be encouraged are: ● “How do stores decide on the price of an item?” ● “What is the statistical distribution of people entering these stores?” ● “How can I write a poem about my experience?” ● “How are pencils made?” ● “Where is the nearest hospital?” ● “How did the sun form?” ● “How do Do-Not-Touch-Me plants move when touched without having muscles?”
Teg Louis
66
● “What is dirt made out of? What do I get if I burn dirt?” ● “Are prisons effective at deterring crime or reforming criminals?” ● “Which shoes work well with my figure?” ● “What is the tallest mountain I can climb today?” B. Model ASEAN The students will have many group discussions. It is to be set up like Model UN with some caveats. A major difference is that a specific region is picked. I prefer ASEAN because the politics there is much simpler than Africa and the European Union. And it is more exciting than the politics of a single country. Students will study their interests with respect to their country. At a chosen date, two classes will be joined in a table of 12. A Model ASEAN meeting shall then commence. This will help students practice their presentation skills and develop so many different aspects of their lives. Here are a couple of examples: ● If a student loves music and is assigned to Vietnam, they might learn a Vietnamese song and perform it for the class. ● If a student loves medicine and is assigned to Malaysia, they might meet a doctor and discuss hand, foot, and mouth disease which was common
67
Homeschool Cooperatives
there at the time of writing and teach the class about it. ● Students will learn how to budget finances and do basic accounting for their respective country. Just like Computer Science, the class must start with a challenging Introduction to Philosophy. The difference is that this one will be in reference to everyday life. The Computer Science one will use examples geared towards software or engineering applications. Here is the Lesson Plan for the beginning Introduction to Philosophy part:
Teg Louis
68
Areas of Debate = Branches of Philosophy A. Aesthetics- “What is valuable or beautiful?” B. Epistemology- What is knowledge? C. Ethics- “What is harmful/beneficial, good/evil”? D. Metaphysics- What is real? E. Logic i. How to Argue/Debate a. Call out logical fallacies!!! b. Monitor statements, “Are they descriptive, normative, or moral?” c.
Socratic Method, ask questions and break down your opponent’s arguments
ii. Logical Fallacies a. Ad Hominem b. Argument from Silence c.
Bandwagon
d. Circular Argument e. Correlation/Causation Fallacy f.
Fallacy Fallacy
g. False Dilemma h. Hasty Generalization i.
Middle Ground Fallacy
j.
Red Herring
k.
Slippery Slope
l.
Straw Man
F. Political Philosophy- The role of government and who gets to govern.
69
Homeschool Cooperatives
Each student is to receive a laminated copy of the lesson plan. The Guide will ask a student to choose a student who will suggest to the Guide one of the 6 branches of Philosophy. Then the Guide will EDIP it. Explain the definition. Demonstrate by giving a question that fits neatly into the category. Have a student Imitate by giving their own example and discuss the example with the class if it fits the category. Then discuss the implications. Next, let the class Practice by making their own fallacies and possibly judge which fallacy is the funniest. A debate can commence. Highlight logical errors without giving the names of the logical fallacies until the logic part arises in the classroom. No course or class will be the same. Students are allowed to research debates and philosophers and talk about their contributions if they wish to do so. This section of the class is not a race. A test should be made for the group using only the examples discussed in class and using the definitions given in the classroom. It is important that the Guide praises any and all contributions no matter how slow. This might take up to 4 months, or it might only take up to a week. It will normally take about 2-4 weeks of classes.
Teg Louis
70
C. Abrahamic Studies This is a mixture of a religion and history class. All of the Abrahamic religions rely on the existence of a Torah at least existing in the past. But I will state this. I am Jewish. Judaism has an actual list of rules that are not really debated over what is written, only over the implications. Samaritanism does as well. The other religions do not have such a clear cut legal interpretation. Thus, I believe that the class starts by reading a Parsha from the Torah. Then meditating over a random Mitzvah each day for 5-10 minutes. One can get a random Mitzvah from here: https://libfree.info/Torah.html. The group and individuals can choose their particular Torah. But I strongly recommend The Five Books of Moses: A Translation with Commentary by Robert Alter. This should typically take about 20 minutes. The remaining 30 minutes should be spent politely discussing or debating history or religion in the group. Using the Kindle, they can search through various texts such as the Quran, Book of John, or the Talmud. The extra texts do not have to be
71
Homeschool Cooperatives
Abrahamic. They can be atheist or Buddhist as well. Only 6 students at a time should be in the group. Students are encouraged to form their own opinions about morality. D. Computer Science Students will learn how to write software using: JavaScript, Erlang, or GoLang. Choosing which ones to use will be done by voting. The instructor makes targeted suggestions for the group to work on a project. The project and deadlines are voted on by the students. Mathematics, digital art, biology, and chemistry will naturally be incorporated into the course. Using software such as Excel, Mathematica, and Power BI is likely to occur. Students get to do important or purely academic projects but with loving guidance and patience. Remember, there is not a certain grade that has to be accomplished to pass. The Guides will sometimes instruct students on interesting computer science topics to elicit responses and discussions. Sometimes video
Teg Louis
72
conferencing experts will be required to get unstuck on problems. But, just like Model ASEAN, the class must start with an Introduction to Philosophy. Examples must revolve around software implications. The class then, before any programming commences, a small portion of the class should be spent talking about Turing completeness. As long as a while loop, variables and arrays can be assigned, mathematical expressions, and if statements are in the programming language, every single computer program that a computer could ever do will be able to do it. This will help instill confidence. Code should be openly shared. Only one computer should be in the class at any time. The students can write suggestions on their desk buddies. But students and the Guide should take turns writing code. This encourages critical thinking as well as impulse control. E. Medicine This class is a lot less formally structured than the others. Teachers will make a list of living organisms based on the students’ interests, and the students vote on which living organism to study. They will then do research on that organism. 73
Homeschool Cooperatives
Mathematics, biology, and chemistry will be incorporated into the course. Going on field trips will be required. Engineering and 3D printing will be incorporated into the class. Any question of the form: “How does the plant/animal/mold/illness eat, heal, grow or reproduce?” , can lead to years worth of study. F. Student-led classes A student that becomes knowledgeable or skilled about any topic, may ask permission to teach a class of students about the knowledge or skill. The Guides will help the student prepare. All attendance to the student-led class is voluntary. If a student learned a dance or how to do embroidery, the student can teach the class. Any appropriate subject is acceptable. G. Literature Teachers will make a list of books based on the students, and the students vote on which books will be read. It is recommended that most of the stories will be historical fiction books. This is because the words are easier and the complexity of the topics encourages conversation and debate. Various essay and writing styles shall be permitted
Teg Louis
74
provided that the material expresses the author’s message well. This is also a primetime special for utilizing the Charlotte Mason Method. I.
Independent Study and Construction This means students will be able to study by themselves what they wish to study or build what they wish to build provided the funds exist. This might mean making an electrical circuit using an Arduino or taking apart an old watch or microwave.
NOTE: Sports activities should be done immersed in the community. This means going to a public tennis court or golf course. And students should be lifting weights. Skilled experts and coaches should be training them just as trained musicians and teachers should be teaching music.
75
Homeschool Cooperatives
Teg Louis
76
Ages 16+: An Educated Life The common theme about this is incorporating work/life/education together in one smooth cookie when the dough first touches the hot pan in the oven. This puddle is where the individual should be allowed to make their mark in the world. Apprenticeships in the fields that they enjoy working in should be funded, granted, and accommodated. Time and ability to study what they wish to study or project what they want to project with projects should be granted, funded, and accommodated. People of this age should be allowed to date along with a chaperone or friends in public places with couples choosing each other until they are married. Socializing should be allowed provided that they appropriate the funding from their apprenticeship and study savings. A job requiring labor in the trades such as a plumber, welder, mechanic, or electrician should be mandated or voluntarily patronized away by benefactors if the adult wishes to make use of their time with sports, competitive or not competitive. It is important to have good habits of physical health. Only 4 hours a day should be used for this. While the body is most likely capable of extending past this, if society has those labor jobs taken by younger ages and by more people, the injuries occurring over years is severely reduced while more people stay physically healthy.
77
Homeschool Cooperatives
Then, like Spinoza did with lenses or Gosset with the Student’s t-Test, these workers should be able to record and study the phenomena from their work experiences. And be able to publish this to the world if they so choose. To facilitate these accomplishments, the curmudgeons of the world should provide them open access (not necessarily free of cost) to laboratories, engineering equipment like FabLabs, academic libraries, insides and outs of business/factories, parks and gardens, among anything else that is on the outside world that they fancy exploring. They should even be encouraged to drive to the beach or climb mountains by themselves! But unlike the past, where the Prussian system should never be used except for the occasional class, its use should be perfuse yet strictly limited. The Prussian system should still be used for medical school. But only for the equipment, procedures, and surgeries. The Prussian system should not be used for teaching the nonmedical courses at a University, except for the perfuse caveat mentioned in the next paragraph. Even the sciences should not be taught that way. But standardized tests are welcomed and necessary for any field’s licensure. That being said, the study materials for these tests should be made freely for the public at no cost to the pupil to use. Fields such as Mathematics, Chemistry, Physics, Engineering, Music, Composition, and all others except for History, Psychology, Biology, and Anthropology should be
Teg Louis
78
taught in a similar fashion. Namely, the Teachers/Guides in a department should collaborate and make it easy on themselves by updating and sharing lesson plans freely within the department. The instructor then gives a 15-20 minute well-written lesson using EDIP on a concept. Virtually innumerable examples should be provided to the students as well as the prior planned notes. Then the students will explore by themselves or in small groups of at most 6, and play around with the concepts. The way the Sciences (except biological fields) and Mathematics are taught would be the most changed. Here are examples for Chemistry, Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering, and Physics. Mathematics, Statistics, and Music Typically, college level math courses are modular and teach a particular concept like integration under a spherical coordinate system. The books are expensive, the teacher yaps a lot while nobody really asks questions or understands, and the teacher writes things sloppily on the board. The students copy notes and the class is expected to only stop if the teacher made a simple arithmetic error or typo. This same, or a similar, lesson has been taught for hundreds of years in thousands of places. Yet most teachers still write their own lesson plans from scratch while they are under increasing amounts of pressure from their bosses to do useless things. Most of the professors hate teaching but are doing it out of obligation so they are able to do research. The students who have been in boxes most of their lives' feel 79
Homeschool Cooperatives
like their entire future is dependent on knowing this information, even though they don’t know how to use the stuff they memorized. The professors call them entitled and immature, but that is because the student’s have not been able to live a normal life and of course they can’t think for themselves because they have been told not to or punished for doing so most of their life. The examples are written on the board throughout the dull class. And then the students regurgitate the answers back onto the test. The professors have poor knowledge about educational theory, so they occasionally provide a challenging problem out of whimsy which most students fail, except the most conscientious which allows the distribution of grades to make the course not seem too easy or too difficult. Then the students forget the material immediately after. They just memorized it so they can achieve a paper diploma in the future to maybe get a decent job. The students work separately in silos and guard against cheating. And the entire Mathematics department becomes an overly office-politically heap of authoritarianism. Mathematicians often do not publish the software code they used for a research paper in order to maintain an edge over others. Students then go out in an overly competitive environment after forgetting most of what was yapped on about with fragments of completely useless information. Here is a different way. Take the example of integrating under the spherical coordinates. The lesson would be like this instead.
Teg Louis
80
Explain How and why we integrate using other coordinate systems instead of just Cartesian. Demonstrate Show a use case and how to do it. Imitate Have a student volunteer mention a possible different use case or example. Have the professor/Guide work through the problem with the class. Practice Students go and use examples from a book or their own examples to and make their own solutions (ideally in groups of exactly 6). (There can be up to 30 people in a class, ideally exactly 30). They then rotate presenting what they did to the rest of the class. The Teacher/Guide makes appropriate corrections and they discuss why they did the wrong thing, and the Teacher/Guide provides an explanation or advice to the entire class. If time permits in the houred symposium, the students can incorporate information from previous classes or outside courses for a cumulative project. The students are then given a laminated general formula with a table of generalized integrals from the Cartesian system to the Spherical Coordinate system. All possible cases can be listed out. They can take this home. They have the laminated lesson plan as well.
81
Homeschool Cooperatives
This next lesson is not in a traditional Calculus class, but convoluted later on in courses with most people not being able to even know that they should be able to do it then. So here is the corresponding lesson for the next day. Music should be taught similar to this ideal form of Mathematics. But instead of making a software program or proof, the students will make a musical composition. The class size also needs to be limited for an obvious auditory reason. Explain Ask about the steps they used in the previous lesson. Explain a general procedure for any coordinate system. Demonstrate Show an arbitrary case, like a helicoidal coordinate system. Imitate Have a student volunteer mention a possible different use case or example, like a toroidal coordinate system. Have the professor/Guide work through the problem with the class. Practice Students do what they did yesterday, but if they want to do something traditionally obscene, like making it for a coordinate system that has a topologically disconnected space (imagine two boxes that are not touching, i.e. two disconnected Cartesian graphs), then so be it. They are still expected to present their findings and the Teacher/Guide guides them and instructs the class.
Teg Louis
82
The students are then given a laminated general formula with a table of generalized integrals for various coordinate systems, along with a standardized procedure for working with a different coordinate system. The Prussian system of explanation should take only a small time in each of the classes. Maybe 15-30 minutes. The test should consist solely of the results done from practicing. The answers should be well-written out by the students and compiled for all of the students to study. The tests should be graded to facilitate improvement, but participation and improvement dictates whether or not the student passes or fails.
Physics: Explain Explain overarching objectives and purpose of physics. Introduce measurements of consideration, like velocity, acceleration, jerk, snap, crackle, and pop. Do NOT use ambiguous language. Demonstrate Show a single formula that can be manipulated using any of these problems, with specified boundary conditions, that can be manipulated to find the answer for any problem. Do not word problems in an unstandardized way to make the students ‘think’. Otherwise, the instructor is just wasting everyone's time with sloppiness. Imitate 83
Homeschool Cooperatives
Students use prefabricated laboratory experiments that they can then play around with later to measure other variables under testable conditions. Discussion Students as a group state what the results were and how they differed from the expected results as well as mistakes they did while experimenting. They then mention other possible measurements of consideration and initial conditions/boundary conditions. (For example, what does the formula look like with extreme speeds or extremely small masses or extremely large masses? Oftentimes it is just adding a correction factor like what Einstein did to Newtonian formulas.) The Teacher/Guide then says which variables will be added next. The process is then repeated with the included variables. Physics being taught this way would mean a person with a median University IQ could catch up with the greatest of physicists in a couple of months. Chemistry: I understand why, but Chemistry is typically taught in a modular way that is a mesh pot of historical chemical undertakings that lets clear, constructive learning fall through for artificial testing goals. In Mathematics, there is a concept called a ‘cover’. A cover is a way to partition a set such that the parts partitions for the original set and they do not have intersections. For example,
Teg Louis
84
a positive integer can be even or odd. This is a cover. Or a positive integer can be prime or not prime. This is a cover. But the original set, the positive integers, is the same. There is often more than one cover for a given set but they are not the same. An example in Chemistry is nucleophiles and electrophiles, as well as acids and bases. But the conditions in chemistry have huge ramifications for how chemicals act. This should actually be listed out. Also, especially for organic chemical reactions, the products are not as neat and tidy as the final result. And there are a lot of things that are sloppily explained in order just to preserve the history of how the field of Chemistry was developed. Or we use statistical tests, like the Dixon’s Q test, using numbers that nobody knows how they were even developed or derived. Here is how it should be different. Explain Explain a classification or phenomenon such as a chemical cover, electronegativity, or statistical tests. It shouldn’t take long, maybe 5-10 minutes. Demonstrate Show an example as well as a table. For example, show a chart of electronegativity for atoms. Imitate Have students ask preposterous and offensive questions like: ● “Are there different shaped orbitals for elements not shown on the periodic table?” 85
Homeschool Cooperatives
● “We know the electronegativity for each of the known atomic elements. How do we guess or find the electronegativity of molecules?” ● “How were the values for the Dixon’s Q test derived?” Practice Work through the problems together as a class or in small groups. They should also have access to real chemical data and be able to use data science to find their own correlations. Laboratories are already openly accessible and those who enjoy being in a lab can start apprenticeships when they turn 16. And had many years prior to at least see and ask questions about them if that had piqued their interest from books. Mechanical Engineering Explain Explain a concept like self-support for static structures or Reynolds number. Demonstrate Give an actual situation where calculating these things are important as well as a calculation. Imitate Have a student ask silly questions, like: ● “How do I calculate the limit for self-support not for a pillar but an arbitrarily shaped surface. For example, a large bowl instead of a pillar?”
Teg Louis
86
● How do I calculate the Reynold’s number in conditions with a different gravitation constant like Mars?” Practice: Plan, build, and test using what they learned in groups. This might take weeks. Let it take as long as it needs to take. Not all concepts need to be covered. But the Teacher/Guide should have an available list to choose from.
Anthropology is taught perfectly but just without enough funding for field trips. Biology should be taught like Anthropology is currently, but with more standardized tests. Fine Arts, Religion, and Philosophy courses do not need change, but just require receiving more societal adoration. Computer Science and Computer Engineering is taught well as well without much need for change. Psychology is best taught in a discursive Prussian-style with interesting and long lectures. Composition does not need to be changed except more writing incorporated in various topics earlier. History should be taught like a writing course requiring intensive research and no lecture simply because it is impossible to present history without bias. Adult life and education should be practical, theoretical, liberating, and cooperative. It should not be a pyramid of useless and expensive slavery. And it should not be a rat race either.
87
Homeschool Cooperatives
Teg Louis
88
Geography for Evangelism The best place to start spreading the movement is in your local community. If you are a student reading this, refuse to go to a public or private Prussian school and homeschool instead. Just make sure to invite others according to the amount of space you have. If you are a parent, start sending your kids to a homeschooling cooperative. It does not take that much to start. If you are a teacher, offer it after school hours and please try to transition from the current mainstream education system. If you are a church, synagogue, temple, or mosque leader, request your congregation to start offering homeschooling cooperative services. There are 6 places that homeschooling cooperatives would find the easiest to form for natives. They are: 1. Texas 2. Cambodia 3. Laos 4. Myanmar 5. Thailand 6. Vietnam
89
Homeschool Cooperatives
Why? Texas is an outlier in the list because it is good for different reasons. There are almost no laws for opening schools and teachers are not treated well in the State. The building and facilities must simply be safe. There are also many disadvantaged children there who behave well and would really benefit from the type of education advocated. Opening and running a homeschooling cooperative in Texas would be much simpler than any other U.S. State or European country. The countries in the Indochina Peninsula have identical reasons but quite different from the ones for Texas. The people in the Indochina Peninsula are almost as curious as the people in Western countries. They both satisfy the curiosity requirements. The governments do not have absolute control in the Indochina Peninsula like they do in Cuba, North Korea, and Iran. Indochinese work well in groups like the Northeastern Chinese, Koreans, and Japanese. But they are not as hierarchical. The culture is more peer-peer collectivistic. The religion in those countries does not get in the way. And while the government causes many problems for businesses, the governments there are weak. Also, these countries are not as distraught in poverty as others so people can risk reform. There is also not the love-hate relationship with authority there like there is in Italy, The Philippines, and Indonesia. Homeschooling cooperatives are actually popular in Thailand. But the curriculum has not been perfected and the business model currently used for them is slow to expand.
Teg Louis
90
Cooperatives can be done almost anywhere. But the cultures most inclined are those of the Indochina Peninsula. Yunnan province would also be a good fit. Kenya’s culture is also prime, but is not quite there yet as of 2022 because of the impacts of poverty. But Kenya is improving.
91
Homeschool Cooperatives
Teg Louis
92
Personnel Structure Community Involvement For all of the age groups, there needs to be a trained professional and family involvement. Every school needs just one headmaster and possibly a paid assistant for the headmaster. There can be one teacher for every 60 students or fewer. But this large number relies on cooperative involvement from the community. Parents of attendant children rotate with helping the class or risk suspension until they otherwise help. If there are 12 students in a class, and 24 resulting parents, each parent has to help with the class about one weekday a month. This helps with behavior, supports time with family, and prevents false rumors from being spread. There are no bus drivers. There are no cooks. There are no admission counselors. There are no lunch, recess, or detention attendants. There are no janitors. Most classrooms are held in homes, so building costs are much lower. There are no IT staff. There is no HR department. There are no accountants. There are no school counselors, no test proctors, nor any librarians. There are fewer teachers per capita than the Prussian system. There is no school board. There are no licensing deals with curriculum developers. All jobs are distributed among the parents, students, guides/teachers, a possible headmaster’s assistant, and
93
Homeschool Cooperatives
headmaster. The headmaster is there to lead everyone towards enlightenment and good practices. The teachers/guides carry out instruction and provide advice and guidance to parents and students. Hiring and Firing The initial headmaster for a new cooperative should be voted on by the parents. The term of a headmaster before an election is a 2 year term. The headmaster has sole discretion on picking the first teacher. The headmaster and first teacher vote on a third. A simple majority of the headmaster and teachers dictate whether or not a new teacher is hired. A two-thirds vote or more of the headmaster and teachers is required to terminate the position of a teacher or a headmaster. Parents have no direct say on when a teacher is hired or fired. In the instance of a very small school with only a headmaster, the parental helpers can impeach the headmaster and replace with a new one. The headmaster has full discretion over choosing a single assistant, who does not have voting power over educational policies. But petitioning the parents for this need in order to remunerate the assistant must be agreed to by at least 50% of the parents. Compensation Teachers/Guides and Headmasters should be well-off and make a much higher income than the local average.
Teg Louis
94
95
Homeschool Cooperatives
Financing: Stoic and Idealized Stoicism is like making lemonade from the lemons that you were given in life without any complaints. The homeschooling cooperatives would be affordable for the general masses, but would require limits on the quality of the equipment because of so much money going towards taxes. This would be substantially better than existing education. But it would not be an ideal. Each member would pay a certain fee. Donations and borrowing expensive equipment would be encouraged. If the institutions need to purchase an item for the long term, such as more expensive playground equipment, the parents will vote on where or not to purchase the item. The institution then purchases the item and temporarily increases the cost of the tuition to pay for it. Homeschooling co-ops and Credit Unions share a similar business model. It makes sense for Homeschooling co-ops to incorporate and get loans from Credit Unions and to encourage students to enroll in both.
Teg Louis
96
There are two ideals depending on the financial system: 1. Universal Basic Income/Voucher System: The government collects taxes and gives money to individuals in the masses to use towards education. The citizens can use it to fund their homeschooling cooperatives. The obvious problem is that politicians are typically power hungry and will put controls on how the cooperative is managed. 2. Fixed currency system with Limited Government: Here, money is deflationary in direct correspondence with increases in labor productivity. This would mean that people could keep their wealth and would not have to work so much to be able to afford things. The common parent would be able to accrue material improvements for the homeschooling cooperatives much easier than now while also having more free time from labor to focus on their child and family. The way the cooperative would be managed would be almost completely independent of governments and monopolies.
97
Homeschool Cooperatives
Teg Louis
98
Appendix List of Educational Methods and Systems ●
Brisker Method
●
Montessori Method
●
Charlotte Mason Method
●
Pair Programming
●
Prussian System (or Method)
●
Dalcroze Method
●
Democratic Schooling
●
Scrum Meeting
●
Deschooling
●
Socratic Method
●
Emil Reggio Method
●
Unschooling
●
Free Range
●
Wahldorf Method
●
Glasgow System
●
Zilberman Method
●
Gurukul System (or Method)
●
Havruta
●
Lancasterian (Monitorial) Method
●
Luzzatto Method
●
Moore Method
Teg Louis
1