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  • From: "Michelle Maggiore" <mmaggior@mindspring.com>
  • To: <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [permaculture] Sustainability and invisible structures
  • Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2006 21:12:09 -0400

When one chooses to learn something, or at least is an observant frame of
mind, what is observed will stick and hopefully provide some valuable
lessons.....I am sure I was told ("taught") many important things in school
but the learning depended upon me, and at the time, I was not really there to
learn. I had the feeling that I had no choice, and consequently skipped
school as soon as I could and tried to go to unique places like museums, and
the beach, and places that me and my friends would joke were more
educational! So, I find school to be an interesting concept.

The classes I have since attended that I got to choose for myself were
definitely more valuable to me overall- it sometimes saddens me to think how
much time I must have sat and possibly heard interesting things, but did
nothing with the information.Perhaps it was the school systems I was in,
partly, but most likely it was my frame of mind....who knows.

It was this reflection on my early education among other things that
prompted my husband and myself to consider homeschooling. Our kids are now
grades 5-8, and in general, we have enjoyed the flexibility and also the
breadth of classes, workshops, groups, teams, etc. around here that our kids
have been involved in.

I think my main concern with homeschooling has been cohesiveness with a
group, meaning if a class or workshop ends, it is not guaranteed that my kids
will ever see the participants in that class again. I could be more
aggressive :"Hey! Our kids are the same age! Let's get together" and
sometimes that approach has been fruitful...However, it is somewhat awkward
and my eldest child does not like that at all. Therefore, for my oldest at
least, her most cohesive group has been our family, at home and extended, and
a few special friends. And lately, the families in our barter network.

It may be because of too many years in the institutional school setting that
I sometimes worry about this set-up, guessing kids will be better off when
surrounded by many others of the same age (when else does this happen in our
lives, anyway?) However, this year some people nearby began a Sudbury Valley
homeschool group, hoping to start a school. If you have not heard of these
before, they are definitely worth looking into. The permanent school idea
here is coming along, slowly but surely, but the original school is based in
Massachussetts and has been around for well over 30 years. It is child-led
and democratic, and it is surprising how many things kids will do in a day if
not coerced or required. (Similar to "unschooling", but without full-time
parental involvement, and at a separate place other than home).It is the
first time I have considered sending them to a school, though it really does
not much resemble much of what we would consider to be "school". Anyhow, if
the social aspects of school concern you, it is an option worth looking into:

Since there are not really teachers in a Sudbury school (unless the children
arrange a class themselves or ask the facilitators to ), I cannot say this
will lead to more ecologically aware children. However, with a homelife of
people who are concerned with permaculture ethics, and interaction with a
group of friends on a regular basis at the Sudbury School (which is actually
a camp of 750 acres of fields, woods, lakes, and rivers) I think it would be
difficult to end up with children who don't care about their surroundings.
People are less likely to intentionally hurt something that they feel a part
of, whether it be a group or a place.

I know this is not something that works for everyone, but for our particular
way of life and outlook, it has worked surprisingly well and I cannot believe
it is more than halfway through. And if a Sudbury school ends up happening,
I think it will be a bonus. Anyway, your kis are already priveleged in that
you question how the experience can be made better or changed, and they pick
up most of what they learn, I think, at home.
cheers,
M
www.sudval.org/








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