Sunday, November 5, 2006

The Real World

I wish I had a dollar for every comment I've had over our 14 years of homeschooling about socializing! As if putting a child in a room with 30 other children, for the majority of their day, and the majority of their childhood is really socializing them...preparing them for the real world. As if giving each child the same books and the same blanks to fill in as they press them into the cookie cutter agenda really is preparing children for the REAL WORLD. Children have very unique personalities, learning styles, gifts and bends in life. People like Edison did not fit in the cookie cutter and had to leave school at a young age. Thank God for that! He was able to learn and experiment. I wonder how many Edisons are being medicated so they can squeeze into the cookie cutter?

If modern psychology had existed back then, Tom would have probably been deemed a victim of ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and proscribed a hefty dose of the "miracle drug" Ritalin. Instead, when his beloved mother - whom he recalled "was the making of me... [because] she was always so true and so sure of me... And always made me feel I had someone to live for and must not disappoint." - became aware of the situation, she promptly withdrew him from school and began to "home-teach" him. Not surprisingly, she was convinced her son's slightly unusual demeanor and physical appearance were merely outward signs of his remarkable intelligence.
ThomasEdison.com

Spunky has a good post about The REAL WORLD. Go HERE to read it.

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