Alternative forms of schooling

[Joseph]

A couple of private school systems, which are much more attuned to actual education rather than indoctrination are the Waldorf system and the Montessori system. Both are very expensive but if you can afford it they are both extremely good education systems.

http://www.whywaldorfworks.org/

http://www.montessori.edu/

If your curious about these systems I encourage you to watch some youtube videos on these education types to see how they work, and see them in action.

[Acala]

How about NO "schooling" and just learning? Children are hard-wired to learn. But they learn in their own way at their own rate. Let them. The idea that children need to be force fed some curriculum on a fixed timetable is diametrically opposed to the way learning naturally occurs. Provide a good role model. Provide ample resources. Curb your agenda, get out of the way, and let nature take its course.

[Joseph]

I guess schooling was a bad word, my bad.

Yea, these are alternate forms of education that don't age segregate. At least Montessori doesn't, I don't know about Waldorf.
In these schools, children do learn at their own pace. They are not forced into some class system. It's not anything like the military style indoctrination of public schools, it's an open environment. Seriously, look into it. They are by no means centered around the curriculum style lack of education public schools.

[WilliamC]

For most any and all textbooks on any and all topics you can imagine try thepiratebay.se

There is no trick to learning, and all the information is free, so any 'schooling' that doesn't maximize the use of this free information is actually indoctrination at our expense.

[Keith and stuff]

There is a Waldorf school where I live. The cost per student is around $10,000 per year. The cost at the government schools is over $17,000 per year. I don't know what the Montessori school here costs as it isn't listed on the website. A private Lutheran school costs $4,000 to $5,000 per student per year. A 7 Day Adventist school just outside of town is $2,000 to $3,000 per student per year. There is a pro-liberty school, Liberty Harbor Academy, in Manchester, but that's 60 miles away so forget that. If I was a parent and I couldn't home school, I'd likely send the kids to the Lutheran school.

I agree that both Montessori and Waldorf offer better than government education, and at least in New England, at likely a lower cost.

[Lindsey]

How about Sudbury-type schools? I think if I have a child, I will give him/her schooling options that include unschooling or sudbury school, (which is basically a school for unschoolers where they really heavily on student-run democratic government.)

The Original Sudbury Valley School in MA:
http://www.sudval.org/

Highland School in WV: (I think this school may be older than Sudbury Valley.)
http://www.thehighlandschool.org/

New School in DE:
http://www.thenewschool.com/

Philly Free School:
http://www.phillyfreeschool.org/

Summerhill - not technically a Sudbury School - there are differences; for example, it has a monarchy(the founder's daughter) rather than a pure democracy. Students make a lot of decisions, but classes, while non-compulsory, are scheduled and staff is hired by the monarch rather than by the students. This is also a boarding school.
http://www.summerhillschool.co.uk/

Costs vary among the schools - the one in WV is ~$2000 per year and the one in MA is ~$10000 per year.

On another note:
I never attended a public school so I don't really understand the indoctrination, but I really have no desire to understand either. If my potential child thought that was what they wanted, then I suppose we'd give it a chance. My parents told me no when I asked to go to public school. While looking back I understand that they probably made the right decision to keep me in my private school, I still wish they would've considered letting me try it. 20+ years later and I still remember being told No; your kids should have input in where they spend 25-30 hours every week for the next ~12 years.

[Paul Or Nothing II]

How about NO "schooling" and just learning? Children are hard-wired to learn. But they learn in their own way at their own rate. Let them. The idea that children need to be force fed some curriculum on a fixed timetable is diametrically opposed to the way learning naturally occurs. Provide a good role model. Provide ample resources. Curb your agenda, get out of the way, and let nature take its course.

+1

Absolutely agree

[donnay]

How about NO "schooling" and just learning? Children are hard-wired to learn. But they learn in their own way at their own rate. Let them. The idea that children need to be force fed some curriculum on a fixed timetable is diametrically opposed to the way learning naturally occurs. Provide a good role model. Provide ample resources. Curb your agenda, get out of the way, and let nature take its course.

Absolutely! +rep!

[LibertyRevolution]

Unschooling

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unschooling

[tttppp]

Why does school have to be expensive? If you put it online you can dramatically reduce costs and even improve quality if you want.