I translated what the median U.S.A. teacher has into generic language to come up with the tutor criteria. That is based on anecdotal data from observing n of approx. 50 and hearing first-hand of another n of approx. 100.
Yes, in the “good” school districts in the US that are big enough, there can be classes like Theater, Biotechnology, a full spread of AP/IRB classes, Computer Programming back in the ’90s, a school newspaper / tv station, an actual Film (ie movie creation) class, etc.
Free university lectures are good (and a step up from the widely available YouTube classes, for the in-person Q&A with other students), but in many cases there is physical equipment (science labs, performance venues, machine shops) that wouldn’t be available for free.
For a typical kid with high self-directedness, you probably only need 10 hr/week of professional guidance, plus continuing to have involved parents. The key point (I’m synthesizing this from How Children Learn and How Children Fail, by John Holt) is that the learner needs two things to succeed:
1. Access to a trusted authority, to get their questions answered (eg “how do I even get started with this?” or “Did I do this right?” or “What is this one tricky word?”)
2. Someone observing them while they work, to spot the unknown unknowns and answer the questions the student doesn’t even know they have.
The key point (I’m synthesizing this from How Children Learn and How Children Fail, by John Holt) [...]
It’s very much similar to what @Raj mentioned above, am I right? Seems that Holt advocates for self-driven learning, e.g. from a goodreads review:
Holt believes that children learn best when they learn at their own pace and pursue their own interests—learning should never be forced or uniform, but spontaneous and dynamic. Children don’t need to be “taught”—they simply need to be given opportunites to LEARN
Thanks for the tips though, those two books (How Children Learn | Fail) are definitely going on my reading list.
1. Access to a trusted authority, to get their questions answered (eg “how do I even get started with this?” or “Did I do this right?” or “What is this one tricky word?”)
2. Someone observing them while they work, to spot the unknown unknowns and answer the questions the student doesn’t even know they have.
This is extremely important, because it seems to me that some opponents of current school system go to the opposite extreme and claim that any guidance is harmful. (As if the best way for the child to learn is to wait until they reinvent the entire civilization from scratch.)
I translated what the median U.S.A. teacher has into generic language to come up with the tutor criteria. That is based on anecdotal data from observing n of approx. 50 and hearing first-hand of another n of approx. 100.
Yes, in the “good” school districts in the US that are big enough, there can be classes like Theater, Biotechnology, a full spread of AP/IRB classes, Computer Programming back in the ’90s, a school newspaper / tv station, an actual Film (ie movie creation) class, etc.
Free university lectures are good (and a step up from the widely available YouTube classes, for the in-person Q&A with other students), but in many cases there is physical equipment (science labs, performance venues, machine shops) that wouldn’t be available for free.
For a typical kid with high self-directedness, you probably only need 10 hr/week of professional guidance, plus continuing to have involved parents. The key point (I’m synthesizing this from How Children Learn and How Children Fail, by John Holt) is that the learner needs two things to succeed:
1. Access to a trusted authority, to get their questions answered (eg “how do I even get started with this?” or “Did I do this right?” or “What is this one tricky word?”)
2. Someone observing them while they work, to spot the unknown unknowns and answer the questions the student doesn’t even know they have.
Thanks for clarifying my questions.
It’s very much similar to what @Raj mentioned above, am I right? Seems that Holt advocates for self-driven learning, e.g. from a goodreads review:
Thanks for the tips though, those two books (How Children Learn | Fail) are definitely going on my reading list.
This is extremely important, because it seems to me that some opponents of current school system go to the opposite extreme and claim that any guidance is harmful. (As if the best way for the child to learn is to wait until they reinvent the entire civilization from scratch.)