Post AMZ6N5hICLOVYIuc6K by mishari@mastodon.technology
(DIR) More posts by mishari@mastodon.technology
(DIR) Post #AMZ6MvSkFZodoI1r2O by mishari@mastodon.technology
2022-08-15T14:00:38Z
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I was recently asked if I will ever send my kids to school. Now that they'll be 10 soon, here is a thread containing some observations of my kids vs. schooled kids and why schools would be terrible for us. 🧵
(DIR) Post #AMZ6Mw3y1BadfjRa3U by mishari@mastodon.technology
2022-08-15T14:00:38Z
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Social skills - A neighbor that the kids speak very well with adults, they enjoy it and can can carry a conversation. This was my initial impression of unschooled kids too, they seem more confident and better adjusted. /1
(DIR) Post #AMZ6MwZW7spLFaCmES by mishari@mastodon.technology
2022-08-15T14:00:39Z
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Agility - when Covid hit, our lives were in disarray, but we could rapidly adapt because our kids unschool and I work out of home. I could move out of town and start another business, there was no significant changes to their lives while I could adjust to keep family afloat. /2
(DIR) Post #AMZ6Mx4iFtmSoKngrA by mishari@mastodon.technology
2022-08-15T14:00:40Z
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Efficiency - Schools are terrible place to learn things. It may have made some sense once upon a time when information was scarce and you needed a 12 year tour of human knowledge.Could you sit your Highschool exam now? If you forgot all of that, it's time wasted. /3
(DIR) Post #AMZ6MxZYPES0LzEJvc by mishari@mastodon.technology
2022-08-15T14:00:41Z
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Efficiency (2) - In 1984 Benjamin Bloom observed "the average tutored student was above 98% of the students in the control class." This is because schools are not optimized for individual outcomes. Again, a lot of wasted time. /4 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloom%27s_2_sigma_problem
(DIR) Post #AMZ6N0VPV5v1S0JYO0 by mishari@mastodon.technology
2022-08-15T14:05:33Z
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Variety - rather than being limited to the choices in school, kids can learn anything they want through YouTube/Khan/Coursera/etc., if they want to go deep, they can hire a tutor on Preply.Marcos here has a PhD in general relativity, will tutor you for $30 an hour. /5
(DIR) Post #AMZ6N1bTQ2MYr69uTY by mishari@mastodon.technology
2022-08-15T14:05:36Z
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Learning variety (2) - if the teacher in a school isn't clicking with your kids, you cannot do anything about it. If the online tutor sucks, you change them, or change your approach. It's a click away. Kids are learning 4 languages along with other classes. /6
(DIR) Post #AMZ6N2cDekYNzhW1HE by mishari@mastodon.technology
2022-08-15T14:05:37Z
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Physique - the kids are strong. They can touch their toes, lift more than their body weight, play in the pool for 6 hours, outrun me (I jog 6kms several times a week), walk up 20 floors without sweating, walk 8++ kms casually. /7
(DIR) Post #AMZ6N3iHZgzvOnMNMm by mishari@mastodon.technology
2022-08-15T14:05:38Z
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Quality time - I get to spend a lot of time with them, and we have a fantastic and open relationship. Many old people I talk to wish they got to spend more time with their kids, I don't have that problem. We spend time hanging out, playing games, reading, tinkering. /8
(DIR) Post #AMZ6N4fU1aLwMP3eds by mishari@mastodon.technology
2022-08-15T14:05:39Z
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Keep it real - kids learn from real life, not some simulacrum of a hybrid factory prison we call school. Their achievements are real, their failures are real, their learning real. They learn how to assess possibilities, manage risks, and I'm there to help guide them all along. /9
(DIR) Post #AMZ6N5hICLOVYIuc6K by mishari@mastodon.technology
2022-08-15T14:08:30Z
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Community - everyone gets involved in raising the kids, my parents, my aunt, my neighbours. We all contribute, and the kids are enriched by absorbing a variety of perspectives. I'm grateful for all the help I get and the kids have a great relationship with everyone. /10
(DIR) Post #AMZ6N6fuYxsqaJH1aS by mishari@mastodon.technology
2022-08-15T14:08:31Z
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There are other factors in favour of unschooling but these are the main ones for me. People may have other priorities but based on how vastly superior the unschooling experience has been, I would never, if I can help it, ever send my kids to school. /end