cara
01-08-2010, 02:25 PM
I'm curious about everyone's childhood education. Were you educated in a non-traditional school like a montessori or a Waldorf School? Were you home schooled? What was it like for you? How did the experience help/hinder you in later years?
I'll start: My parents enrolled me in a montessori pre-school and day care for a few years before I started kindergarten in a non-traditional grade school program. In grade school, we had very small class sizes and called our teachers by their first names. Our parents were required to help out in the classroom many hours each year. We were not graded and rarely had homework. Field trips were monthly occurances and we spent hours each day playing and creating artwork and learning on our own terms and at our own pace. Often, classrooms had more than 1 grade level. For instance, I had the same teacher for 4th, 5th, and 6th grade. In addition to frequently tutoring younger students, we also mentored differently abled students in a program called "Share & Care," since our school was next door to the district's special education program. I had to take three different shuttle buses to school and spent nearly three hours each day getting to/from school. Thankfully, there was a number of other kids in my neighborhood who also participated in the program. We would sit together and defend each other when the other kids would start picking on us for being different.
It's safe to say the transition from grade school to a traditional, public junior high school was not easy. The kids I previously spent seven years with were in different schools all over the district or in private schools. I was smart and did well academically so homework was still a rareity for me. However, I was not used to such big class sizes and rigid rules and structure, including bells between classes and the most dreaded class of all--gym class. Socially, I was a bit awkward, but who isn't during at that stage of life?
So, that's a little about my experience. How about yours?
I'll start: My parents enrolled me in a montessori pre-school and day care for a few years before I started kindergarten in a non-traditional grade school program. In grade school, we had very small class sizes and called our teachers by their first names. Our parents were required to help out in the classroom many hours each year. We were not graded and rarely had homework. Field trips were monthly occurances and we spent hours each day playing and creating artwork and learning on our own terms and at our own pace. Often, classrooms had more than 1 grade level. For instance, I had the same teacher for 4th, 5th, and 6th grade. In addition to frequently tutoring younger students, we also mentored differently abled students in a program called "Share & Care," since our school was next door to the district's special education program. I had to take three different shuttle buses to school and spent nearly three hours each day getting to/from school. Thankfully, there was a number of other kids in my neighborhood who also participated in the program. We would sit together and defend each other when the other kids would start picking on us for being different.
It's safe to say the transition from grade school to a traditional, public junior high school was not easy. The kids I previously spent seven years with were in different schools all over the district or in private schools. I was smart and did well academically so homework was still a rareity for me. However, I was not used to such big class sizes and rigid rules and structure, including bells between classes and the most dreaded class of all--gym class. Socially, I was a bit awkward, but who isn't during at that stage of life?
So, that's a little about my experience. How about yours?