govindarupini

Yes, that is a very interesting site. I have been there. In my search for what to do for my boy I think I have been to just about most homeschooling sites. That one is listed in my favorites. I have got a long------ list of homeschooling and learning in freedon sites book marked.

Govindarupini

We live in a very rural area where there is one public school, a small school house of two rooms, I believe. The devotee community runs a small charter school, where they have a wonderful morning spiritural program of bhajans, reading and learning verses. All the parents and children seem to love it.

We are not part of the charter school this year because my son has a different learning style, where he has a hard time concentrating in a room with lots of different activities and noises going on at once. He also had been diagnosed as dyslexic. So we try to make it to the morning program when possible and he follows a self-directed learning program at home with help from a teacher of a private long distance homeschooling umbrella school. The teachers from our devotee school try and envolve him in any extra activities that they do outside of the academic learning schedule.

Homeschooling gives the child the freedom, time , and opportunities to discover for themsevles what is important to them personally in their growth as an individual human being. There isn't the artificial peer pressure to follow all the whimsical fads and distructive habits that come along with being with people of the same age group day after day. There is so much more of an advantage when they can associate with people of all ages, younger and older, and actually get involved in community activities that broaden their life experience.

Especially in their teenage years I think it is important to let them know that we as their parents trust them to make decisions for themselves in their learning and growing. My boy is only 13 but has always had that determination to be himself. For many years it was like trying to force a round peg into a square hole. It was not going to happen and caused alot of pain and resentment. He is slowly healing from years of trying to force the artificial government standards of his age group on to him.

Everyone learns at their own rate and style. This is something the school systems of today will not recognize. Thus you have the "learning disabled" and "gifted" The problem comes what to do with the misfits from both sides. My son was evaluated as being above average in intellegence, but because of his different learning style he would be labled "learning disabled". So we did away with the labels and let him learn in his own way and to begin to find learning as an exciting adventure like it is for every child before they are forced into a 12 year life of imprisonment.

Yes, I am afraid I am pushing a learning style that is new to alot of peolple, but acturally was the norm before the onslaught of forced compulsory govenment run schooling took over.

Sorry , enough of my rambling, but I have been looking for some devotees in the Vaisnava community to share these ideas with for along time now. Most I have talked to locally (but not all) can't relate in the least. Just looking for some one with an open mind amd is interested in investigating the possibilities that I have been discovering in learning and creating real varnasrama

communities by letting our children be brought up as vaisnavas and being the best they can be in contributing to our communities, instead of to the economic goals of the society around us.

Govindarupini

Thanks for taking the time to read the posts.

We live in a very rural area where there is one public school, a small school house of two rooms, I believe. The devotee community runs a small charter school, where they have a wonderful morning spiritural program of bhajans, reading and learning verses. All the parents and children seem to love it.

We are not part of the charter school this year because my son has a different learning style, where he has a hard time concentrating in a room with lots of different activities and noises going on at once. He also had been diagnosed as dyslexic. So we try to make it to the morning program when possible and he follows a self-directed learning program at home with help from a teacher of a private long distance homeschooling umbrella school. The teachers from our devotee school try and envolve him in any extra activities that they do outside of the academic learning schedule.

Homeschooling gives the child the freedom, time , and opportunities to discover for themsevles what is important to them personally in their growth as an individual human being. There isn't the artificial peer pressure to follow all the whimsical fads and distructive habits that come along with being with people of the same age group day after day. There is so much more of an advantage when they can associate with people of all ages, younger and older, and actually get involved in community activities that broaden their life experience.

Especially in their teenage years I think it is important to let them know that we as their parents trust them to make decisions for themselves in their learning and growing. My boy is only 13 but has always had that determination to be himself. For many years it was like trying to force a round peg into a square hole. It was not going to happen and caused alot of pain and resentment. He is slowly healing from years of trying to force the artificial government standards of his age group on to him.

Everyone learns at their own rate and style. This is something the school systems of today will not recognize. Thus you have the "learning disabled" and "gifted" The problem comes what to do with the misfits from both sides. My son was evaluated as being above average in intellegence, but because of his different learning style he would be labled "learning disabled". So we did away with the labels and let him learn in his own way and to begin to find learning as an exciting adventure like it is for every child before they are forced into a 12 year life of imprisonment.

Yes, I am afraid I am pushing a learning style that is new to alot of peolple, but acturally was the norm before the onslaught of forced compulsory govenment run schooling took over.

Sorry , enough of my rambling, but I have been looking for some devotees in the Vaisnava community to share these ideas with for along time now. Most I have talked to locally (but not all) can't relate in the least. Just looking for some one with an open mind amd is interested in investigating the possibilities that I have been discovering in learning and creating real varnasrama

communities by letting our children be brought up as vaisnavas and being the best they can be in contributing to our communities, instead of to the economic goals of the society around us.

Govindarupini

Thanks for taking the time to read the posts.

Not only did our Srila Prabhupada teach us this but through two years of research and reading, I have found that there are alot of parents and educators (outside of the devotee community) realizing the harm the public schools are doing to our children in general.

There is one man , John Taylor Gatto, who was a teacher in the public schools in New York for 30 years. He won awards for his teaching, the teacher of the year for the city and also for the state. He quit. And has since then wrote books, essays and spoken around the world about what he himself had learned trying to teach within the system. Very interesting reading. Two books,"Dumbing Us Down" and "The Underground History of American Education". I think anyone who would read these books would immediately pull their kids out of school.

There are so many alternatives to getting a good education outside of the government compulsory school system. But I think so many are brained washed that "if I don't get the high school diploma, I have no chance to make a decent living". There are colleges who seek out homeschoolers.

For our devotee communities to grow and become self-sufficent we have to go back to our pioneer,revolutionary spirit that the movement started out with. But the question is "do we want to just merge back into the present materialistic society? ( which I am afraid to admit alot of us have), or do we want to try and create Krsna Conscious communities, where people can come and take shelter of spiritual life and live peacfully?

I have also been studying about creating learning communities, where eveyone in the commuunity has some unique talent or knowledge to share. A community to provide learning experiences that lets the learner choose what they want to learn, and when they are ready to learn it. The commutity consciously provides learning opportunities for all. The children are able to grow according to their natures and discover their gift that they have to develope and share with others. Thus they are not caged up for 12 years of their life wasting their time on subjects that have no relevence to their real life experiences. There are many ways people are coming together to start such kinds of communities.

These are just a few of my thoughts, I am just touching the surfice of what has been brewing in my heart since my adventure with teaching my child at home has started.

Govinda

Not only did our Srila Prabhupada teach us this but through two years of research and reading, I have found that there are alot of parents and educators (outside of the devotee community) realizing the harm the public schools are doing to our children in general.

There is one man , John Taylor Gatto, who was a teacher in the public schools in New York for 30 years. He won awards for his teaching, the teacher of the year for the city and also for the state. He quit. And has since then wrote books, essays and spoken around the world about what he himself had learned trying to teach within the system. Very interesting reading. Two books,"Dumbing Us Down" and "The Underground History of American Education". I think anyone who would read these books would immediately pull their kids out of school.

There are so many alternatives to getting a good education outside of the government compulsory school system. But I think so many are brained washed that "if I don't get the high school diploma, I have no chance to make a decent living". There are colleges who seek out homeschoolers.

For our devotee communities to grow and become self-sufficent we have to go back to our pioneer,revolutionary spirit that the movement started out with. But the question is "do we want to just merge back into the present materialistic society? ( which I am afraid to admit alot of us have), or do we want to try and create Krsna Conscious communities, where people can come and take shelter of spiritual life and live peacfully?

I have also been studying about creating learning communities, where eveyone in the commuunity has some unique talent or knowledge to share. A community to provide learning experiences that lets the learner choose what they want to learn, and when they are ready to learn it. The commutity consciously provides learning opportunities for all. The children are able to grow according to their natures and discover their gift that they have to develope and share with others. Thus they are not caged up for 12 years of their life wasting their time on subjects that have no relevence to their real life experiences. There are many ways people are coming together to start such kinds of communities.

These are just a few of my thoughts, I am just touching the surfice of what has been brewing in my heart since my adventure with teaching my child at home has started.

Govinda

Hare Krsna,

I am looking for devotees who homeschool their children and would like to discuss their homeschooling methods. I belong to some homeschooling forums but would really like to have the association of other Vaisnavas who homeschool, or even have thought about it and like to talk about it.

Is there anyone interested in starting an on-going thread about the education of our children?

Govindarupini

Hare Krsna,

I am looking for devotees who homeschool their children and would like to discuss their homeschooling methods. I belong to some homeschooling forums but would really like to have the association of other Vaisnavas who homeschool, or even have thought about it and like to talk about it.

Is there anyone interested in starting an on-going thread about the education of our children?

Govindarupini