Not Just another Homeschool Book
Knowing Susan Wise Bauer is a well-known homeschooler who has written several books, including homeschool curricula, I was expecting another “How to homeschool” book. On the contrary, his book stood out from all of the other homeschooling books I have read because it does NOT jump right into the hows and whys of homeschooling. Surprisingly, this book is geared more toward parents of students in the public (and private) school system and how to rethink school within the system.
Who is the book for?
While Rethinking School is directed mostly at public school parents, as a homeschooling parent, there was still tons to glean from it.
But even more than that, I am excited to have a book recommendation for friends or acquaintances who are struggling in the school system but don’t necessarily feel called to homeschool. So who should read this book?
~Any parent who is frustrated with their child’s current school situation
~Anyone with a child who doesn’t fit the mold of school grades being grouped by ages. The current system takes the stance that if it’s not working the child is broken not the system, mismatches, giftedness, disorders or learning differences.
~Parents that has recently pulled their student out of he public system to homeschool.
~Homeschooler who has similar struggles or questions related to mismatches, “I don’t know what grade my child is in!” Taking a gap year. Testing. Tangible methods and approaches to learning.
The book is broken up into 5 parts: The System, Mismatches, Taking Control, Rethinking the System, and Opting Out
The Public School System
Part one sets the stage, talking about the artificial system and how it influences our thinking and mindset with regard to education and life itself. “The way we currently do education has become a paradigm (as academics would call it), or a matrix (in movie-speak): an invisible pair of glasses through which we view everything else.” She gives a good glimpse at how our view is shaped by the system and even addresses the 3 biggest myths about school:
My kid should attend an accredited school
My child has to take English, math, science, and social studies every year
My high school student needs to earn a diploma
I won’t spoil it for you, but if you have ever wondered about any or all of these things, check out the book!
Student Mismatches
“If your child falls anywhere on this mismatch spectrum, there’s a very good chance that the problem is school, not your child.”
Susan Wise Bauer (from “Rethinking School”)
The Bauer gives an excellent overview of how schools came to be organized by age versus the one room school house that they used to be. The short version is that a man named Horace Mann visited Prussia and decided to model the Massachusetts schools after their system. The Prussians were trying to restore their military which was organized into platoons by age. In order to better streamline their military efforts, the schools were also setup by age to make it a more streamlined transition. Mann though this streamlined design could help with assimilating the large number of immigrants coming into the US at the time.
This setup, grouping kids by age and not by their ability, leads to a mismatch for many students. This is happening because children do NOT mature and grow at the same rate. So students on either extreme from the average for the age are likely to feel out of sync with the rest of their peers. A mismatch can also happen with an individual student who does really well in one area and poorly in another. This mismatch among subject areas can be frustrating to manage for parents, students, and teachers alike.
Most helpful from this section:
- How to tell if your child is mismatched with their current grade. (So helpful!)
- Consider a Gap Year. This is not the same as “holding back” your student!
- Differences, Disabilities, and Disorders: Definitions, distinctions, why the increase? and options to explore within and outside the school system.
- She gives a well laid out “Action Plan” as well at the end of each section.
“Flex the system, not just the child,”
Susan Wise Bauer (from “Rethinking School”)
Gifted Students
Not everyone realizes the challenges that can arise with having a gifted child. What is giftedness? There is actually no accepted definition of giftedness in American education which may lead you to not even explore it. Despite the fuzzy definition, it is helpful to determine if your child is “gifted” because 1. Your state’s standards for “giftedness” can lead to access tutoring and additional options for services or more challenging curricula. 2. Giftedness could also be related to learning challenges.
Four challenges of giftedness: 1. asynchronous development (mind and body do not develop at the same rate) 2. Giftedness can mimic a learning disability. 3. Giftedness can mas a learning disability. 4. Giftedness lends itself to perfectionism, which can stall learning.
If you can related to any of these challenges, or think your student may fall into this gifted category, this section is worth the read.
Taking Control of Your Child’s Education
- This section is really the advice and action steps for parents of students who are struggling within the school system. I just skimmed these chapters as most did not apply to me, but this is what she touches on:
- “How not to be ‘that’ parent.”
- Control tests to help you assess: what tests to take, which ones to avoid, and what to do with the results.
- Dealing with the “homework monster.”
- Accelerating (but not necessarily skipping).
- Shift the Method- real-life examples of methods that work for multiple intelligences.
- Teaching yourself and the way forward.
Not only does Bauer give practical advice and actionable steps, but peppered throughout the book are relatable, real-life quotes from numerous parents who have also struggled.
Rethinking the School System
Now that you are aware of the system and how it has shaped your thinking, it is time to “rethink” the school system and how you want to approach education going forward. This section contains lots of challenging questions to ask yourself and your student, as well as some helpful exercises. She also addresses all of the things that schools do that is not related to academics. Here she addresses the debate on “socialization” and what is the role of the school in our society? Tough topics that need to be considered as a parent. In the end you need to decide if you are going to stay in the system and “flex” it, as she says, or opt out.
Opting Out of the School System
So if you end up deciding to homeschool…
This is what I was expecting most of the book to be about, and she gives some great advice and structure for how to get started with homeschooling. Included are several homeschooling styles, five steps to getting started, develping independence, and out of the box teaching strategies.
The Appendixes are well worth a glance as well, filled with High School Transcript help, a ‘Skills vs Content’ section, and Bibliography information for further research on anything she mentions in the book!
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