Blog 4- Jennifer Provencher

            This weeks reading entailed learning all about the structure of education in Canada.

            The first thing that really stood out to me in this chapter was the concept of schools choice.  This is the parent’s choice in “selecting the type of school that their children attend free from government constraint, whether it is public, alternative, charter, religious, or private” (93). As a sister to twin brothers with special needs, I know my mom stressed over sending my brothers to the right school that would provide them with all the resources that they needed. Luckily, she lucked out and was able to select schools that would cater to their needs, even if they were outside of our catchment area. Even with selecting the school of her choice for them my mom was constantly fighting for funding for them, attending meetings, training teachers to use equipment, and arranging therapy times with the schools.

            I also found the idea of alternative schools very interesting. Although I am not too familiar with the system I did have an uncle who taught a small group of at risk students a couple years back. Prior to that, I had no idea that alternative schools even existed. I think it is wonderful that schools exist that differ in the “delivery of education from the mainstream public schools” (101). I was just talking to my friend that other day about how mainstream schools work for some people, but  for others it is an anxiety-ridden process. She felt that her whole school experience was terrible, she was not good at core subjects and as a result she always felt worthless and devalued. However, she excelled in the arts and was able to find some sort of validation in that program.

            Lastly, I found the information on homeschooling interesting, particularly the information on unschooling. Personally I do not think that unschooling is a good idea. I think that if I were to home school my kid I could not do it “without curriculum, schedules, tests, or grades” (107). I think that a schedule is necessary especially when homeschooling to give your child/student some stability. Without a schedule I feel like the whole day would be a free for all. Instead I think having an hour of unscheduled work would be much more appropriate. At this time the student would be able to engage in choice time or have some time for discovery learning. Also, I think that some method of assessment is necessary to ensure that my student was retaining some sort of knowledge.

Discussion question: What are your opinions on unschooling? Do you think it is beneficial or a complete waste of time?