When You Tell Your Kids “Go to School”

Maria Montessori has written several books on the process of childhood education through play. Play is crucial for developing one’s creativity, and creativity is crucial for one’s education. It seems that some schools have been attempting to make their classes more creative, while others haven’t. What are the consequences for education? People become better test-takers than students, better at sucking up to their teachers than delving into their own minds.

I think this is significantly due to the fact that many parents rely on schools as the source of a child’s education. The school day is pretty long, but it should not be considered the main aspect of a child’s life. Actually, for less advantaged students, school does become a major part of one’s life, as it was for me. However, one must take into account that school doesn’t necessarily teach about crucial current events and the reality of history. School mainly teaches us how to apply our minds critically to the world. The context of the world is often at question because we have unreliable text books to tell the children about the wars that were fought and the presidents from George Washington to Obama.

If you haven’t read Lies My Teacher Told Me, and you like history, or even if you hate history, you should pick it up and at least read a chapter. It shows us that textbooks never tell the truth about minorities and support a very westernized view of the world, which is very biased. It also shows that schools often avoid discussing America critically, elaborating on our pride in independence and freedom, without touching on the faults. The attempt to portray America as a nation of do-gooders is one reason history class is often so boring. For example, one chapter in the book focuses on the life of Helen Keller, who actually grew up to become an active socialist, however that side of her life is never mentioned in school.

So read this book, and the next time you tell your kids to learn something at school, make sure it’s not the only source of their education. It’s good to do well in school. But that doesn’t mean a child should turn off her brain when she comes home. I always did great in school, but one advantage my friends had over me was that their parents also added some of their own lessons to the picture. The advantage you have is, you don’t have to be boring about it. The time after school is considered a break, so children will be much more willing to learn something as long as it’s excites the mind.