We will be doing a lot of reading on this in the coming year. Here's some links I'll be saving for myself and I'll be watching for more to share.
Common Core Links
As far as I can tell, the Core will be good for students in some states by raising the standards of their education. However, it will have a negative impact for students in other states or schools where standards are already higher. It could also have a potential impact on home schooled children. This is worth monitoring, as ultimately parents should have the right to make schooling decisions for their children as long at those children are showing proficiency to a reasonable standard of knowledge. For the vast majority of home schoolers, acceptable test scores are a non-issue.
As the debate rages, I try to remember that as much as I have loved our time home schooling and now our ability to mix home schooling and public school, that is not an option for everyone. I would argue it is a right of citizens and parents of our nation to home school their children if they so wish, but that's another issue entirely. Irregardless, of how we may feel about the Core, I think we can all agree that a quality education must be made available to our nation's children if we want to create healthy and whole adults, healthy families and a healthy nation.
We want healthy children who succeed when they set foot in their schools. I am again reminded of How Children Succeed by Paul Tough.
Tough ends How Children Succeed
dialoguing about
education reform and how to best help our disadvantaged students
stuck in the cycle of poverty. He makes a strong case that when
education reform becomes based on child development and parent encouragement, the prosperity of our children and our nation will
rise.
I find myself asking, how can I best support the children in my community I interact with today? What are my responsibilities in educating my own children and being an encouragement to my community, whether I home school or not? No matter how I feel about the Core, how do I support the teachers I know, men and women who are part of my community? Education and learning are a mind set. Education spans our whole lives, not just 12 years. Am I living and mentoring this attitude daily?
