Posted on 09/15/2024 7:41:54 AM PDT by CFW
Mary Payne always liked the idea of a one-room schoolhouse. She grew up reading Laura Ingalls Wilder’s “Little House on the Prairie” series and appreciated the concept of various ages learning together and a more practical, hands-on approach to education.
More so, she and her husband Michael weren’t thrilled with their experience with public schools back home in Illinois and had been looking for alternatives for their 5-year-old son after moving to Wyoming.
When they heard about something called a microschool in Campbell County, Homestead Learning, they decided to check it out.
The couple liked what they saw and decided to give it a shot.
“Education is so important,” Payne said, “and we like this different style of learning.”
[snip]
Their vision is based on fostering lifelong learners using a mix of homeschool curriculum with a Montessori approach.
This includes Socratic debate with multi-aged students, hands-on learning and inspiring students through exploration, curiosity and play while emphasizing their individual interests.
Another major factor of their model is to teach students practical life skills such as learning to use a tape measure, balance a checkbook, basic sewing and cooking their own meals in the on-site kitchen.
Playtime is also prioritized as is family time and letting the kids be kids while activating their innate desire to learn.
As part of their curriculum, the students will also produce a product or service to be presented at an annual business fair, where they will be similarly encouraged to seek out mentors in various fields to help foster their real-world business skills.
Another break from the public-school model is that parents are encouraged to have a say in what their children are learning.
(Excerpt) Read more at cowboystatedaily.com ...
I went to a ONE room school—— long before MONTESSORI was a household word.
14 kids—3 of them my brothers-—8 grades -—1 teacher—no running water (it was brought in every day in a 10 gallon milk can) & 2 outhouses behind the school.
Older kids helped mentor younger kids when they were done with their paperwork. We had homework. 2 days a year-—NO CLASSES-—we brought yard tools to school & spent the day cleaning up the schoolyard. Snowball fights in the winter. ONE Merry Go Round. NO baseball- but sometimes ‘catch’.
All of us 4 kids became responsible adults-—ALL of us became SELF EMPLOYED. One brother had 63 employees. I hired no one. the others had a small group. ALL are now retired—84 to 78 in age & still active.
I would bet money that at least 30% of those kids got SOME COLLEGE education. I graduated high school on the Honor roll-all 4 years-—and went back to night school accounting classes 11 years later.
I AM THANKFUL EVERY SINGLE DAY FOR THE EDUCATION WE GOT FROM MRS WILLIAMSON—she had 2 years of college.
What a concept! A school fucused on education and life skills rather than social engineering.
What they were teaching in the 7th grade, I learned in the 3rd and 4th!!
Someone THREW a desk chair out of the second story window and there was a brother and sister who were whispered to be "MUCH TOO CLOSE" to each other. (I didn;t even know what that meant)!
My brother talks about putting their potatoes on the furnace in the small basement for hot lunch. The smell in the whole school room was mouth watering by lunch time. Doesn’t talk about fall or spring when the furnace wasn’t operating.
there USED TO BE an after school business vlub, rememberr?
socratic beats out “being smartt makes you white”.
seeen 1st schoolhouse in delaware. one octagonal room, deesk on each wall, chairs in center,
checkbook?? no credit cards@!
People can’t understand modern education simply because they can’t wrap their minds around the fact that the goal of modern education is not education as normally thought. The goal is indoctrination, social change, chaos, etc.
I had one obnoxious egghead (literally) professor tell me that the goal of education was to change society.
Great story! Thanks for posting.
I’m hearing more and more about “microschools,” too. Parents are rejecting the government-run indoctrination centers and running their own schools responsive to the parents’ needs. That is wonderful.
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