Hello comrade families! I wanted to start a discussion about values in raising children, from infancy and toddlerhood. I think it’s safe to say that trying to get your 2 year old to understand Marx is a fruitless endeavor - they’re children after all! What I’m looking at for my 6 month old is trying to get her used to being around as many kinds of people as possible. Keeping things simple might be best for me for a while yet until she gets into school. My priority as a parent right now is to provide a loving atmosphere first and foremost, and to give my girl every opportunity to learn and connect with others. I saw some Reddit thread advocating home schooling for a Marxist family, but that sounds to me like a recipe for disaster, and far too insular for a growing mind to make formative experiences. So what are your plans? What do you think about schooling? Daycare? Life at home? Thanks all. Solidarity forever.
I think homeschooling doesn’t have to be insular. A lot of parents decide to homeschool their children for religious reasons and to prevent contact with different ideas so I can see where the prejudice comes from. But there is also a different group of people homeschooling: the ones who think that our school system is very damaging to a child because of a lack of freedom and the systematic suppression of any real interrests the child has. Basically, most people in school today aren’t interrested in what they are learning not because they have no interrest in history, literature, maths, etc. but because the school system trains them to hate it.
I think if children could decide what and when they want to learn themselves they would be more interrested, happy and ultimately learn more.I am not an anarchist but when it comes to education I share a lot of their values (selfe education).
I had contact to a few ‘anarchist schools’ (they didn’t call themselves that) and I honestly think it is the best system of education if your goal is to encourage critical and independent thinking.
One of these schools worked like I described above and I can tell you that it worked. The children decided (individually) what they wanted to learn but still had to pass public tests at the end of every year. Eventually the school gained the same status as a private school (officially it was not a school before that, just a place for ‘homeschooled’ children to go to learn). After that the school was allowed to give out their own school reports and the public tests weren’t necessary anymore. The reports looked very montessori inspired. (if you have never seen one I recommend looking it up)
Sadly this school had to close due to lack of interrest after a few years. I kinda dream about building a school like that again but there is just not enough interrest by parents where I am from.
I think you’ve got a point with ‘Anarchist’ type schools. I do know Montessori schools, but I’m really hoping we can get a local Waldorf school for her. It’s a philosophy founded by Rudolf Steiner who was a Christian seer and philosopher - sounds a bit ‘uhh what’ but trust me, he was an incredible writer and orator. The schools allow kids to guide themselves by their interests and there’s loads of outdoor experience involved.
Engendering interest in these ‘alternative’ education methods would be pretty tough - I think the way to go is to just do it, and results will speak so much louder than any conversation.
Sorry for jumbling your comments - but regarding home schooling, I think parents have a legitimate apprehension towards the material in schools (or, in this era, the risk of a shooting etc) but the community and group of friends that can build around a child in school is (in my inexperienced opinion) fucking vital to human growth.
The typical waldorf school is still (far) to restrictive for me to consider them ideal, but it is the right direction and probably the best you can find for your child (especially during elementary school) without building your own.
Regarding home schooling: I think it is a wrong assumption that school has to be the central point of a child’s social life. Friends and community can be found outside of it.
I have seen some bad shit from Waldorf schools, it is a bit hairy but I think there are some good ones, but they’re too few. To continue with homeschooling, how do kids socialise outside of the home? Sports teams and clubs are largely school-based aren’t they?
Sports teams and clubs are largely school-based aren’t they
Where are you from? At least where I am from we have about zero clubs that are related to schools in any way.
I was thinking neighbor kids, playgrounds, public pools, parks, children of your friends and family, clubs,… Very depending on where you live and how old they are.
I’m from New York, but I’m living in the UK for now. For me growing up, everything was tied to school. The idea of bringing a kid from outside the school community to events like that comes off as creepy. I guess I can see parks and playground being cool, but there’s a lot more a kid can (and have to) learn on their own. We can’t be parents forever!
I want to add to my recent comment: a lot of waldorf schools are shit. Definitely look into the specific one. It could be different depending on where you are from but at least in germany and autria there are some that don’t revolve around selfe education at all and suppress individualism like a normal school would.