Homeschool – Page 10 – I love learning, knowledge is power

School is Dead: Alternatives in Education by Everett Reimer

I just finished reading “School is Dead: Alternatives in Education” by Everett Reimer. When we interviewed the politician Bertel Haarder, he recommended us to read this book. It is from 1971.

It puts forward some interesting questions about how we have organized our learning.

It starts out by referring to Bertolt Brecht’s “If Sharks Were Men”.

It can be interpreted in many ways, but here it describes how unevenly the educations systems around the world distributes their means.

The main problems with this, as I see it, is that we are told, in most of the developed countries, that when you have a free Public Education system, we all have equal opportunities to advance. We just have to work hard enough.

The problem with this, is that advancement and getting a good well paid job as an adult, is not entirely dependent on working hard or how clever your brain is.

It is often dependent on connections, support from family and friends, having the right mentors, being related to the right people and already being well off.

One main thing the book also mentions, is that most children in the world don’t actually have the opportunity to go to school. Further more, most of the children who get the opportunity to go to school, leave them after only a few years.

Despite this worldwide data recorded (UNESCO world data on children out of school) the expences governments spend on schooling their population is increasing everywhere. It increases by a higher rate than the national income. So why do we keep on spending more and more on education when it doesn’t increase our national income? Or even break even? Has it become more of a belief or ideology?

The School is the worlds greatest Corporation, even greater than Farming, Industry and warfare.

The fact is that most of the education money is spend on a very small part of the population. The ones that possible had been able to pay for their own education anyway. The higher the education becomes, the more it costs the nation.

The point of Schools was to start with, mainly to educate the population.

The Book states the main 4 functions it has today:

Care.
Selection for social roles.
Indoctrination.
Education.

The description of these 4 areas in the book is too much to go into here, but I recommend my readers to read this book, as it really makes you think about the concept Schools generally.

Today we live in an Industrialisered world, where most people live in cities. In such a society, Children and Old People are a problem, as there are no need for them. They are actually in the way of the rest of the people making a living. So we put them in care, until they are shaped into something that can be of use in this kind of society.

The Book has a collection of interesting quotes and one which I liked what this one. It is a note about the Native American “Savages” by Benjamin Franklin 1784: “After the principal business was settled, the commissioners from Virginia acquainted the Indians by a speech, that there was at Williamsburg a college, with a fund for educating Indian youth; and that, if the Six Nations would send down half a dozen of their young lads to that college, the government would take care that they should be well provided for, and instructed in all the learning of the white people. It is one of the Indian rules of politeness not to answer a public proposition the same day that it is made; they think it would be treating it as a light matter, and that they show it respect by taking time to consider it, as of a matter important. They therefore deferred their answer till the day following; when their speaker began, by expressing their deep sense of the kindness of the Virginia government, in making them that offer; “for we know,” says he, “that you highly esteem the kind of learning taught in those Colleges, and that the maintenance of our young men, while with you, would be very expensive to you. We are convinced, therefore, that you mean to do us good by your proposal; and we thank you heartily. But you, who are wise, must know that different nations have different conceptions of things; and you will therefore not take it amiss, if our ideas of this kind of education happen not to be the same with yours. We have had some experience of it; several of our young people were formerly brought up at the colleges of the northern provinces; they were instructed in all your sciences; but, when they came back to us, they were bad runners, ignorant of every means of living in the woods, unable to bear either cold or hunger, knew neither how to build a cabin, take a deer, or kill an enemy, spoke our language imperfectly, were therefore neither fit for hunters, warriors, nor counselors; they were totally good for nothing. We are however not the less obliged by your kind offer, though we decline accepting it; and, to show our grateful sense of it, if the gentlemen of Virginia will send us a dozen of their sons, we will take great care of their education, instruct them in all we know, and make men of them. ” link to article

“If we continue to believe, that the Industrial goal – expansion of production, and from there the expansion of consumption, technological advancement – are identical with life, will our whole lives involve around serving that purpose. We will be slaves”.

John Kenneth Galbraith, The New Industrial State, 1967.

The book does not come up with an easy to follow manuel to change our way of learning, but presents a lot of today, just as relevant questions.

Living out the Viking Age in Sagnlandet Lejre 2017-07-24 to 2017-07-28

After having lived out the Iron Age two times (Our Iron Age experience). The children started talking about wanting to try living as Vikings in Sagnlandet Lejre. It was a bit more expensive than the Iron Age trip, but included a bit more survival luxury, like having trips arranged for us and more staff to help us. We even sometimes had help cooking our food over the fire. Included, was also a trip on a vikingship in Roskilde Inlet. Also a 1½ hour horse carriage trip around Lejre. In the mornings the staff did story telling around the fire, and that was so much fun. There was also many craft opportunities. We did tin jewellery over the fire, Straw dolls, carved spoons and knives, dyed wool and spun yarn with it, forged kitchen equipment and knives.

The whole family were equipped with Viking outfits, which we wore the whole week.

We sleept 6 people in this tent. It was very little space, but waterproof.

Our youngest son enjoyed the outdoor freedom.

Every day, we had 1 hour fighting strategy training.

There was time to chill out with a knitting project.

There were goats right by our tent, and the children liked to drop by and feed and pad them.

There were blacksmith facilities and you had to work together to make a knife.

One evening we were attacked by the nearby Iron Age inhabitants and challenged to a burping duel. We lost. But the next evening we took revenge! We had a bulls horn that we had gotten quite good at blowing in. So we won, this time.

Sailing in a Viking Ship in Roskilde .

Our oldest daughter is very fond of languages and particular Antiquity and the Viking Age. So when one of the employees said he could teach her runes, she was very exited.

That is the horn we won over the Iron Age people with 🙂

The main difference we experienced between the Iron Age and the Viking Age, was the improvement in the cut of the clothes, better weapon, better knives in the kitchen and it seemed that they generally had become better trade Merchants.

Life in the Dream House with Arduino

How do you introduce knowledge about electronics in the Home School? Well, try to find a project that the children would like to use it for. In our case, it turned out to be lighting our Barbie house and installing different types of gadgets. We got really far today, but have still got some way to go.

Testing that the lights work individually.

Preparing the wires.

Sorting out all the connections at the back, so that the front only shows the lighting and gadgets.

Technical drawing of electrical installations.

This is how it looks on a daily basis.

Broadcast is a thing of the past 2018-11-08

We don’t believe in TV. Particularly broadcast. You have to be ready at a certain time. It doesn’t make any sense.

Broadcast through publicly funded means was intended to bring the people objective information and learning, but it has turned more and more into superficial entertainment for the masses. The Danish television also find it hard to stay objective.

It is interesting to hear Julius Bomholt in 1955 tell about his concerns about TV, and relate to current time. We first saw this movie in the Radio Museum in Ringsted. A very interesting Museum I probably will write more about later:

Julius Bomholt – education minister 1955 talks about the use of TV.

So, we havn’t had a TV for the past 18 years. Maybe we will get one in the future if we find that it could serve a purpose in our lives. But for now, we don’t.

It is not that we don’t like relaxing with a good movie or to get informed about what is going on in the world. There are just so many other ways to do just that. We like the internet, youtube and talking to people. Then you can look up many sources of information and points of view. If you try to see a news story from many sides, you can better try to understand what is really going on, without feeling manipulated.

So TV is not a part of our Home School. Neither is Netflix. Different offers of streaming of movies and series on the internet is also in our eyes a manipulated type of information. They only stream what is selling the best, so if I wan’t to see an old movie that nobody else is interested in right now, I probably wan’t be able to see it.

So we still buy and watch DVD’s and watch youtube movies. Mostly watching a movie is a collective project, where we all have our turns to choose or we choose together and all watch together.

The medias is a social thing in our family.

We love ALKALÆR! 2018-11-02.

When we started out homeschooling our first child 10 years ago now, Eag V. Hansn had just come out with a reading system, that only use words that are pronounced exactly as the letters sound. We bought the system and it has now been such a succes, that all our 4 children has learned to read, using that system.

We then found out that ALKALÆR had moved and held a reception open to all in their new headquarters. So we went 🙂

We are going in!

We met the great creator! A kind spirit, with a mission.

He is able to do everything! Write, sing and play. Amazing. What an atmosphere and party attitude to life. Beautiful.

It was all there…. in many copies. An Aladdins cave. Go buy here ALKALÆR

Learning about zero waste

I hate when something is given a new name and then suddenly it is the new thing to do.

We all know it is bad to buy too many thing and to throw too many things out, before they have ended their life cycle.

I have been brought up to buy second hand clothing, buy all our things at flea markets. It was not because we were poor, it was a way of getting more value for our money and a way to keep a good healthy economy in our house.

It was also a respect for the environment. If we try to consume as little as possible and to look after the things we own, so that they last as long as possible, we keep our nature free of man made objects.

Then we respect mother nature, and try not to let our greed overtake our love for the free things, like a beautiful walk in the nature, forests, sundown and sunrise, clean water, the sea and other magical experiences.

We have to think, that every time we purchase an object, it will at some time in its life cycle, end up in the nature. Even if we burn it, it will produce pollution. So if we live simple, and try to keep “things” to a minimum, we will respect nature and treasure our earth.

So how do you teach this in our home school? Well, it is a matter of life style and attitude. Every time a child asks to get more stuff, ask them if they really need it? Let them think. Don’t accuse them of being bad for wanting more stuff, but try to explain how the mass production world works. How advertising works, how shops work.

We always say:”We don’t wan’t our children to become consumers but individuals”.

We work hard at that. Every time you try to convince yourself you need something, try to ask yourself, why do I wan’t that?

With this zero waste trend I find people asking:”What do I need to buy to be zero waste? It is crazy. It’s in the word – zero waste! Don’t buy anything. Use what you have already. Some people also say:”I threw out all my stuff”. That is not zero waste. That is also mad. Great, so you have just polluted us all with your old stuff.

People have moved so far away from living with nature and feeling it’s magic. Some people even say:”We can’t afford living zero waste or environmentally friendly”. Well, how expensive is not buying anything and living simple?

So we try to teach the kids, than things can be repaired and to look after their things. If you don’t need a thing anymore, you can either sell it, give it to someone who needs it or bring it to the relevant way of discarding it for recycling.

We have a huge pile of things we no longer need or maybe could get use of for some creative project in our living room. That is to the childrens free disposal. They can do with it how ever they wan’t to use it.

One day one of my daughters asked me if I could just remind her how you calculate a circle with pi. So I told her and went on a trip with her sister. When I came home, she had made this skirt on her own! I was really impressed. It is made out of an old bedding we had been given by someone sometime.

It is all about seeing the opportunities.

Positive creative mess in our livingroom. One day the children said:”Mum, we are playing, that we live in a landfill, it’s so great!” The freedom of not being told materials costs money, is such a creative freedom to cut, stick, sew and build from all this still not dead junk.

Home School gathering with Children Christmas Market and Dakota Fire Pitt Project 2018-11-03

We like fire. All sorts of fire. As long as it is real old fashioned fire. We attended scouts for 5 years with the kids, in reflection, I think just to sit at a bonfire and stare into the flames. We love starring into a bonfire and feeling the warmth. No thoughts in our brains. It is relaxing. Meditative. It is so lovely simple and primitive. Still so fascinating and magic. A chemical reaction and pure energy.

When we suddenly realized that we could just make a bonfire in our garden, we stopped being scouts and continued the fire love in our garden. The smell is also wonderful. When you have made any kind of food over the fire or just sat next to a bonfire you smell wonderfully of bonfire. For many days. Your clothes keep the smell for weeks.

We have done a lot of cooking experiments over fire and other things too, but lets try to focus on the food things for now. Our favorite is pancakes and fried bacon.

Today we held a gathering for Home Schoolers in the celebration of Christmas. We had a market for the kids to sell their home made crafts and our oldest daughter had been given the job of selling and frying pancakes over the large bonfire. We held the event at a Nature Cottage owned by the borough. They have 2 large bonfire places.

Then my husband had been reading about how soldiers can make a Dakota Fire Pitt, which is a bonfire buried in the ground. The effectiveness of this fire is that you dig 2 holes next to each other and make an air canal between the two to make a ventilation duct. That reduces the smoke and visibility from afar of the bonfire. You can then get heat and cook food without being found by the enemy.

So today was the day and he made one. It turned out really fine and worked.

Living out history lessons – The Iron Age.

August, 2011 we went for the first time to live one week in Sagnlandet Lejre, as they did in the Iron Age. We had 3 children at that time, and they were 7, 4 and 3 years old. I thought it could be great history lessons, learning by living as they did then. The village was build to fit the time period 200 B.C. until 200 A.C. When we first arrived we were given clothes as they would have been worn then. So we put all our present things away and lived with one outfit for the rest of the week. We also put away our phones and computers for a week.

There were 4 houses in the village and we were 4 families living together there in the village. We had no running water og electricity. We were given food to prepare every day, and everything had to be cooked over a fire or in an oven which took hours to heat up. We had no watches, so had to start estimating time in a new way.

We had a ritual area where we did a sacrifice while there, as they would have done in the iron age.

There was a lot of animals loose the area and the children got used to walk near them.

We had a witch doctor who would walk around in the local area with us and teach us which plants could be eaten and we picked them and put them in our food.

More animals. Most of the animals they keep at Sagnlandet, are original breeds that can be traced back to the iron age. These are wild pigs.

We did yarn dying with natural colours, picked in the area. We dyed yarn from the local sheep. We then spun it and made belts.

Making belts.

We made sushi from salmon and then smoked the rest over the fire.

Lovely to spend your time watching the fire at night.

The small kids LOVED the outside toilet 🙂

The geese and the wasps pestered us quite a bit, but was also a part of the real life experience of the iron age. This holiday has meant a lot to our children. It but a lot of the things we do today in our life, into perspective. Brought out our grateful side for having running water, water closet, hot showers, a potato pealer and so on. When we talk about history now, they often say “is that before or after the iron age, mum?”. We actually repeated our trip to the iron age 2 years later. In 2017 we went there again, but then to their viking site, but more will follow later in a new post about that experience.

The Children made a movie about Octopuses

We have combined the children’s interest in making movies with their interest in biology. This is our second movie in our series of biology themes they have chosen. They have made the movie on their own. As a parent, I have only contributed with the advise on ideas and helped with the planning of their time spend on the project. The project didn’t really happen, until we put the project on our weekly schedule. They had to have a set time to work on it. Like an author, sometimes needs to set himself a set time where he works on a book. Then things started to happen.

Octopuses is an amazing category of sea animals. There are 800 different species, and they are split into 5 categories:

Nautilus.
10- armed octopuses.
8-armed octopuses.
Sepia octopuses.
Vampire Octopus from hell.

Nautilus.

5 species. It has a shell. No ink. Can get up to 20 years old. Has 90 tentacles without suction cups. Found around Australia and in the Pacific ocean.

10-armed octopuses.

300 species. Spine of cartilage. Can swim very fast. More than half of them light in the dark. 13 species in Denmark. One of the 10-armed species is the kolos octopus. It is the largest octopus found. It can be up to 10 meters long and weigh 500 kg. It can put up quite a fight with sperm whales who likes to eat them. It has eyes the size of a football.

8-armed octopuses.

Spits poison. Can get through very small gaps. Very soft, apart from their beak. Can change colour and shape. Can let go of an arm and regrow it. Can get up to 5 years old. Very strong- can lift up to 33 kg. Clever brain.

Sepia octopuses.

120 species. The chameleon of the sea. Can change colour and shape. Has an inside shell. They are cannibals. Has 10 arms. Usually get 1-2 years old.

Vampire squid from hell.

Likes to be on its own. It has light cells, so it can choose where on the body it want to light. Around 28 cm long. Turns inside out, and shows some spikes it has on the inside. That makes it seem invisible. It shoots off blue slime which lights up. Lives at 1 km depth.

Pleurotus ostreatus – growing Oyster Mushrooms with the kids

We are making a biological experiment at the moment. We like to grow all sorts of things, sometimes with success other times with failure. We dance around when we have success and learn a lot with the failures.

At a Maker Space Event we went to, we made and bought a bag with a mixture for growing Oyster Mushrooms.