Archive for March, 2010
31 March 2010
Upcoming events
Posted by DAVID BC TAN under: Announcement.
>> Gifted Education : Constraints and Opportunities
Guest speaker: Prof James Watters, QUT (For more info on Prof Watters)
Date: Thursday , April 1, 2010
Time: 8.30pm -10pm
Venue: Dewan Arif, Blok Pentadbiran, Fakulti Pendidikan , Universiti Malaya
Admission is FREE.
Please register via email to aileen_then(at)yahoo.com or sms 016 2741688 More on this notice here
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>>Learning Works’ Essay Writing Program
Taught by Eileen Lian. Learn how to write clearly, coherently, succinctly and in a compelling way. Suitable for ages 13 and above.
Be exposed to different writing styles. Learn how to write persuasively. Learn how to edit your work. And more…
Classes are available:
Every Monday 10.00-11.00 a.m. (New class starting 5 April 10-11 am)
Every Friday 7.00-8.00 p.m.
Venue: Learning Works, 74 Jln BU 11/6, Petaling Jaya
Call Eileen at 012-207 2845/Dennis at 012-267 8298 or email mylearningworks AT gmail DOT com to reserve your space NOW. Visit us at www.mylearning-works.com
30 March 2010
Passing the test
Posted by DAVID BC TAN under: Examinations.
On 22 March, we began our series on college-bound homeschoolers with observations by a homeschooling mom Swee Bin on her son’s experience with public exams. In this post her 17-year old son Jian Eu shares how he made the transition to formal education at a tuition centre in preparation for IGCSE O Level exams.
AFTER BEING HOMESCHOOLED FOR FIVE AND A HALF YEARS I left home and enrolled in a centre to do my IGCSE. I went to two centres, the first one through the latter half of 2008 and the second one throughout 2009.
I am seventeen this year. I took my exams last November at age sixteen. I did quite well too.
The two centres I went to were very different. The first centre was much more relaxed and much smaller, only about 15 students most of whom were homeschoolers. The second centre I went to had more than 130 students, only two of whom were homeschoolers, and was run much more like a school. This is the centre that I will be writing about.
Being a homeschooler in such an environment made me different. I came from a different background and I was unused to being in a school. There was quite a lot of pressure. Not only was there the pressure of the exams, but some of the moms of other school kids were constantly comparing and sizing me up! One of the moms gossiped about the only two homeschoolers at the school, my friend and I: “They may have done well in their mid-year exams but success in life is only 30% academic and 70% social.”
There is a popular conception that homeschoolers are social misfits. I may have been different from my classmates but we got along fine. One of my classmates told me, “Eh, I thought homeschoolers are supposed to be like weird.” On a side note, I have learned from my experience that weird people, people who don’t quite fit in, can be found among both homeschoolers and schoolers.
Going to school was a very different experience for me. My homeschool had been very relaxed. We didn’t follow any curriculum and we were left to pursue whatever we were interested in. Now I had to study according to a timetable, from a pre-set syllabus!
Getting used to the school hours was hell; I never quite got used to it. Every day I would try to escape home early. School hours were ridiculous, eight hours per day. The worst part was that half of the time we didn’t have any classes on!
I was one of the top students in class but I never got along very well with the teachers. I think homeschooling had given me a confidence to speak out if I felt something was wrong. As a result, over the year, I have had a one-on-one discussion of my behaviour with one of my teachers three times.
Homeschooling had given me the backbone to discuss my differences with teachers and not shrink away. I may not have been chummy with the teachers but I respect them. They are good teachers. The quality of their teaching is good.
Looking back, I think my IGCSE experience was the baptism of fire for my homeschool. All the rhetoric about me having time to develop was tested. The test was not just a test in academics but in character. My exam results came out in January this year. I passed. Not just with C’s and B’s but with 4 A*’s and one A.
Photo: Jian Eu (pictured with sister Jian Lin) is happy that he can have his, uhm, chocolate ice-cream and eat it too!
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If you want to know how other homeschoolers moved on from home to formal education, read their stories here:
Jianwen – According to his ability
Rachel – They said
Ethan – First days of spring
Balakrishna – Passion for physics
Yao-ban – Youngest PhD grad
Ping Lian – Autistic savant artist exhibits in NY
22 March 2010
From homeschool to O Level
Posted by DAVID BC TAN under: Examinations.
One of the big questions about homeschooling is, “what next?” For most of us whose children have been educated at home, SAT and O Level have been the way forward, if college is where they’re heading, that is. However, although SAT is a legitimate college entry pathway, more and more, IGCSE O Level has become the preferred option.
In the coming days, you will be reading about homeschoolers who went from wading pool to the deep end of IGCSE exams. Today’s post features homeschooling mom Swee Bin who shares how her son’s unconventional education experience was no obstacle to doing well in exams.
THREE BOYS, THREE DIFFERENT ROUTES.
One did the AOP programe after leaving school in early primary. One did Sonlight and assorted Singapore books, also after leaving school in early primary. My son did a mixture – private school for Std One, AOP centre for next two years, came home to unschooling for 6 years.
In June-July 2008, all three signed up at a tutorial centre to prepare for the IGCSE. In January 2009, my son and his best friend (the AOP one) enrolled in Sirius Scholar, a centre/school newly opened in USJ to prepare students from Form 1-5 for the IGCSE. The Sonlight one opted to study for the exam with the help of his parents for most of 2009.
The Nov 2009 IGCSE results were released in January. My son did well, as did two other homeschoolers. The three of them scored straight As, with quite a few A-Stars thrown in to boot.
What struck me about the three boys was how they embraced the learning. Their minds and hearts were ready. There was real interest in the material. That was nice to see. For my son and his friend, the school principal and English teacher was most struck by their general knowledge and reading habit. Their classmates too noticed how they seemed to “know so much” or “they know everything.”
To my mind, these boys were prepared in the basics – language (English) was strong (which also means reading/comprehension skills) and math skills were in place. These enabled them to handle specialised content, including material they had not handled before. Eg, physics, chemistry and additional math. The starting months were tough as they grappled with the many gaps (total zeros, knowledge-wise) but, they quickly overcame these.
All three also attacked past year papers with a real earnest (an excellent website is freeexampapers.com which comes complete with marking schemes). Between my son and his best friend, they did more past year papers than their 9 other classmates combined. I had told my son to think of kungfu: you may know the moves but will only be good if you fight and get to practise what you know. Every exam question is like an opponent’s blow – left, right, centre, you don’t know how the blows will come. But, you’ve got to deal with them. And, the more blows you deal with, the better you become. He was quite challenged by the questions. The harder, the better.
I remember him sitting in front of the notebook, intently working through the online question papers. Then, excitedly checking his answers. The more he did, the more confident he became. The more confident he became, the more questions he wanted to do. He would burst out with his score, with a big grin.
On his school experience, “one year is enough.” He didn’t like the regimentation of time; he didn’t like having to do things he had no interest in; he felt much of the school day was a waste of time. He’s glad though for the two new good friends he’s made during his year there and for the two excellent teachers he had.
Having achieved his results, he feels the value – especially when he went recently for some interviews for part-time jobs (he is now a waiter in a noodle shop). He is spending this year and maybe next to discover more of himself. He has just turned 17. There is still so much time and we certainly prefer him to go out and explore the world a bit before he thinks about college.
A qualifier before I end. We’ve always known that our son was academic-minded, with the capacity to study. Hence, taking the education pathway he did was right for him. Not all children are academically inclined, in my humble opinion. As their parents and stewards, we ought to recognize that and guide them where their God-given gifts and strengths lie. It does take all types to make the world!
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18 March 2010
Can a homeschooler sit for BM exam?
Posted by DAVID BC TAN under: Examinations; Malaysian schools.
Here’s an interesting bit of news for those who missed it in the Sun.
16-year old homeschooler Adrian Kumar Vendargon wants to sit for the SPM Bahasa paper as a private candidate. Unfortunately, there are obstacles in his way. Chief of which is the fact that Adrian has not gone through the system or sat for the PMR. The other is that he does not yet qualify as he is just 16 years old and the SPM is only for those who are 17 and older. Adrian, who turns 17 in December this year, is fond of the Malay language and has been home tutored on it since he was 14. Why is Adrian aiming for an exam in the Malay language?
“My fondness for the Malay language started when I was in primary school. I realised it is a good communication language in small towns and plus it is the national language,” he said.
“I got good grades in my BM in school and I am ready to sit for the SPM BM paper this year. It is preposterous that the examination board is not allowing me to.”
Adrian began homeschool back in 2007 “because he wanted to progress academically without being bound by a particular system.” But we do not know if he was educated at home or in a learning centre – one of those commonly touted as ‘homeschooling’ centres, providing ‘homeschool.’ Nevertheless, you can read the report which came out in theSun on Wednesday March 17.
Meanwhile, Adrian has decided not to leave any stone unturned in his bid to sit for the exam. He left a comment on PM Dato Sri Mohd Najib’s 1Malaysia blog and here’s what the homeschooler wrote:
Dear Dato Seri, I am a Malaysian, homeschooling doing the iGCSE at the British Council. I was born in December 1993. I will complete my iGCSE’s in June 2010. I am not allowed to sit for the BM paper as a private candidate this year, because I am not 17 as at 1-1-10, and I don’t possess an SPM/PMR certificate. However, I have already sat for and obtained grades in 6 iGCSE subjects as at June 2009. There is no age limitation for sitting iGCSE’s, ‘O’ levels or ‘A’-Levels. I would like to appeal to Dato Seri to intervene so that I can register as a private candidate for the November intake, as I wish to proceed to my ‘A’-Levels next year in college. I intend to work in Malaysia,therefore I need a credit in BM. With all due respect, I think we need to scrap this age limitation for the SPM, as it only holds students back. Such a move is essential in improving our education system to the level of that in developed countries.
Way to go Adrian!
This is certainly a story to follow. It would be interesting to see if Adrian’s woe is due to his age or to his being homeschooled. Either way, we’ll want to see if if this cracks open the door that keeps Malaysian homeschoolers out of the system. Watch this space.
15 March 2010
School vs Education
Posted by DAVID BC TAN under: Education.
MORTIMER ADLER was a philosopher, educator, and author. Together with educational philosopher Robert Hutchins, Adler went on to found the Great Books Foundation, which seeks to promote the reading of Great Books and western classic literature as a means to develop reflective and responsible thinkers. He also served on the Board of Editors Encyclopaedia Britannica since its inception in 1949, and was its chairman from 1974. As a thinker and scholar, Adler’s ideas on education were not always in tandem with conventional wisdom. Here’s a gem from Adler that should make for an interesting conversation.
FOR MORE THAN 70 YEARS, a controlling insight in my educational philosophy has been the recognition that no one has ever been — no one can ever be — educated in school or college.
That would be the case if our schools and colleges were at their very best, which they certainly are not, and even if the students were among the best and the brightest as well as conscientious in the application of their powers.
The reason is simply that youth itself — immaturity — is an insuperable obstacle to becoming educated. Schooling is for the young. Education comes later, usually much later. The very best thing for our schools to do is to prepare the young for continued learning by giving them the skills of learning and the love of it. Our schools and colleges are not doing that now, but that is what they should be doing.
To speak of an educated young person, rich in understanding of basic ideas and issues, is as much a contradiction in terms as to speak of a round square. The young can be prepared for education in the years to come, but only mature men and women can become educated, beginning the process in their 40’s and 50’s and reaching some modicum of genuine insight, sound judgment and practical wisdom after the age 60.
This is what no high school or college graduate knows or can understand. As a matter of fact, most of their teachers do not seem to know it. In their obsession with covering ground and in the way in which they test or examine their students, they certainly do not act as if they understood that they were only preparing their students for education in later life rather than trying to complete it within the precincts of their institutions.
There is, of course, some truth in the ancient insight that awareness of ignorance is the beginning of wisdom. But, remember, it is just the beginning. From there on one has to do something about it.
And to do it intelligently one must know something of its causes and cures–why adults need education and what, if anything, they can do about it. When young adults realize how little they learned in school, they usually assume there was something wrong with the school they attended or with the way they spent their time there. But the fact is that the best possible graduate of the best possible school needs to continue learning every bit as much as the worst.
How should they go about doing this? In a recent book, I tried to answer the question, “How should persons proceed who wish to conduct for themselves the continuation of learning after all schooling has been finished?” The brief and simple answer is: Read and discuss.
Never just read, for reading without discussion with others who have read the same book is not nearly as profitable. And as reading without discussion can fail to yield the full measure of understanding that should be sought, so discussion without the substance that good and great books afford is likely to degenerate into little more than an exchange of opinions or personal prejudices.
Those who take this prescription seriously would, of course, be better off if their schooling had given them the intellectual discipline and skill they need to carry it out, and if it had also introduced them to the world of learning with some appreciation of its basic ideas and issues. But even the individual who is fortunate to leave school or college with a mind so disciplined, and with an abiding love of learning, would still have a long road to travel before he or she became an educated person.
If our schools and colleges were doing their part and adults were doing theirs, all would be well. However, our schools and colleges are not doing their part because they are trying to do everything else. And adults are not doing their part because most are under the illusion that they had completed their education when they finished their schooling.
Only the person who realizes that mature life is the time to get the education that no young person can ever acquire is at last on the high road to learning. The road is steep and rocky, but it is the high road, open to anyone who has the skill in learning and the ultimate goal of all learning in view–understanding the nature of things and man’s place in the total scheme.
An educated person is one who through the travail of his own life has assimilated the ideas that make him representative of his culture, that make him a bearer of its traditions and enable him to contribute to its improvement.
12 March 2010
According to his ability
Posted by DAVID BC TAN under: Homeschool Profile.
What do you do when you’re told that your son doesn’t belong in a regular school? That’s what one public school told parents LT Loo and Shirley about their special needs son Jianwen. Fortunately, the Loos (who also have two grown-up daughters) heard about homeschooling, and in 2001 took the road less travelled that eventually led Jianwen to a private college. I posed 10 questions to Shirley and subsequently edited her responses alongside Jianwen’s input as they shared about schooling without being in school.
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HF: Tell us about Jianwen.
Shirley: Jianwen our youngest boy is a ADHD/special needs child. We have 2 grown-up daughters but Jianwen was the only one who was homeschooled.
HF: So it was Jianwen’s special needs that led the family to consider homeschooling?
Shirley: Jianwen first went to a Chinese school for two-and-a-half years. During the second half of the third year we transferred him to a Kebangsaan school where he spent less than 2 weeks in class out of the 5 months he was enrolled there. All through those years we were told that Jianwen was not suitable for a regular school, so we began to look elsewhere. We then signed him up with a private school for the last 2 years of his primary education. I must say that the teachers, staff and management at the school were very supportive, but sadly, the children and their parents were not. A couple of children bullied Jianwen, which gave him nightmares and made him aggressive as well. As luck would have it, we met David and Sook Ching in 2001 and were introduced to homeschooling. So Jianwen began homeschooling during his secondary years, 6 years in all.
HF: Jianwen, you spent time in a government school and then a private school. Can you tell us how you felt about those years in a school compared to your homeschooling experience?
Jianwen: School was kind of hectic and stressful. I had to wake up early to go to school and I felt I was the odd one out especially during group activities. But I preferred the private school because it not only focused on academics but also on the students’ latent or hidden talents. I developed my talent in poetry writing during my time in the private school. The multiple intelligences approach that was used in that school helped improve my critical thinking skills and pique my intellectual inquisitiveness. The hands-on approach to learning was also good for me.
On the other hand, homeschooling allowed me to be flexible and pursue what interests me. I could travel during normal school days. We’ve been around the country, as well as Bali, Bangkok, Hanoi, Beijing, US, learning about different ways of life which I enjoy. Also I did not feel I was a stranger when I was among homeschoolers. I could also attend functions that I would not normally have been able to otherwise. I have also learned many skills like typing, cooking, and baking.
Shirley: Before we began homeschooling, there was a lot of stress managing time. There was also difficulty in managing behavior when others were around Jianwen. But we had a more relaxed time homeschooling since we were able to pursue what was more relevant to life instead of the paper chase.
HF: It must have been a relief for you and Jianwen. Were you worried about educating a child with special needs by yourself? What did your husband say about taking a big step like that?
Shirley: My husband was very supportive, morally and financially. He loves to drive and travel, and it has enabled us to travel and learn. But teaching and guiding him at home wasn’t new to me because I had been helping him with his studies all those years when he was in school. Being a child with special needs, I had to teach differently and specifically according to his ability. We used many different approaches. I would say it was a lot of trial and error as I had no one to model after. However, I did have initial concern for his social life.
Jianwen: But I was involved in lots of activities. I participated in the swimming events in the Paralympic Games. I learned Aikido, joined The Mutiara Voice Club in Penang, which is a self-advocacy club for people with disabilities, volunteered at the Toy Library to help pack and unpack toys, and played with other children in the community centre. When Bethany Home in Teluk Intan organised a 3-day 2-night camp at Gua Tempurung, I went along.
HF: Seems to me he’s got a normal social life then! What values did you encourage in Jianwen and how has he been helped by them?
Shirley: We have always taught our children to give their best in whatever they do. It is not the marks that count but the effort they put in. They should always try to beat their best. For Jianwen, being exposed to the world around him and coupled with his love for reading, it helped him to tackle the questions in his SPM exams with minimum preparation.
HF: Was that his first public exam?
Shirley: No, he attained 3Bs & 2Cs in the UPSR, but we didn’t tell our friends and family back then. But now he’s gone on to college!
HF: It’s remarkable how far you have come since you homeschooled.
Jianwen: Some people say that homeschooling does not conform to the norms of education but my experience proves that I can achieve the required results to enable me to enroll in a college. And, I have won medals in the Paralympic Games, sat on the organising committee of the 3rd National Self-Advocacy Conference. I have also been invited to read my poems at opening ceremonies and conferences.
HF: That’s wonderful, Jianwen. And Shirley, wasn’t it especially challenging just to prepare Jianwen for college? Was there a specific curriculum?
Shirley: The biggest challenge actually was to get him to realize that education was for his sake! We were mainly unschooling for more than a year, so did not follow any specific curriculum although we did use Singapore schoolbooks as a guide. Since Jianwen was of secondary age, we had to have a goal and we tried to do things and stuff that matched the O Levels. But we were in no hurry, and we didn’t push him. We used a portfolio style based on topics/themes incorporating language, maths, science, and history, wherever possible. More importantly, we worked on self-help skills like cooking and household chores.
HF: Homeschool has worked out well for you hasn’t it?
Shirley: Yes, especially for special needs children. They will definitely benefit from homeschooling since it can be tailored to their needs and ability.
HF: Jianwen, having been homeschooled, would you encourage others to do the same?
Jianwen: Yes, a child’s talent will not be revealed and developed otherwise as mainstream schools tend to focus on academic aspects and have a rigid expectation of children.
Photos: Top, the Loos in a visit to the US. Jianwen is second from right, between his Mom and Dad. Lower, Jianwen as seen on his Facebook page
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RELATED POSTS: Other homeschool families we have profiled:
Start with love
Character is tops in this homeschool
Living, loving, learning, unschooling
The Soons take it free and easy
Ice-skating homeschoolers
10 March 2010
Options in Malaysian education
Posted by DAVID BC TAN under: Malaysian schools.
The Nutgraph is running a 4-part series on education in the country. The third installment by Deborah Loh which comes out today examines the growing interest in homeschooling. You’ll find comments by the usual suspects, meaning KV Soon of Family Place, and yours truly, as well as Hafizah who runs the Malaysia Homeschool Unite forum.
Of particular note is a comment by the education director-general, and both KV and my response to him:
(T)he government has no intention of recognising home schooling, says education director-general Datuk Alimuddin Md Dom. “It’s just a minority of people doing it. There are also other political aspects to consider like racial harmony. When children home-school, they miss the socialisation process of mixing with different races,” he tells The Nut Graph.
But Soon and Tan rubbish claims that home-schooled children are poorly socialised. Home school families often get together for educational activities and field trips where their children interact. Additionally, Tan questions whether racial harmony in public schools has been achieved. “Society has become more polarised after so many years of ‘socialising’ in regular schools,” he observes.
Read the rest here.
In the first installment, writer Koh Lay Chin looks at the number of parents sending their kids to private schools as indicative of growing disenchantment with Malaysia’s public education (but of course!) and asks what in the present system caused the shift:
For certain, the statistics indicate that a significant number of Malaysians seem to be losing faith in Malaysia’s public school system.
For instance, there is clearly growing demand for private education. The number of private kindergartens, for example, went up from 263,307 in 2004 to 668,287 in just two years, according to statistics from the Education Ministry’s Private Education Department.
Enrolment in international schools, meanwhile, rose from 5,069 students in 2000 to 8,341 the following year.
And within seven years, the number of students enrolled in private primary schools nationwide increased more than 22% from 7,234 students in 2000 to 16,190. [Read the rest here]
The second installment comments on the popularity of Chinese medium schools among Malaysian parents, and even among those who are non-Chinese. The article quotes Chinese educationist Dr Kua Kia Soong who said:
“[The increased interest in Chinese-medium schools] is more of an embarrassment to the government because it aims to attract all races to the national schools but more and more Malay and Indian [Malaysians] are going to Chinese schools.” [Read the rest here]
The series has been an interesting read not just for what it says about the declining appeal of public education in the country (we know that), but about how life always finds a way! For what it’s worth, it does appear to mirror something I had previously posted entitled, Between a Rock and a Hard Place which surveyed present options for unhappy parents with school-going kids.
Parents are seeking out options – whether private or chinese-medium schools, or homeschool – and indeed, options are out there either by default or by design. While we hope that our government will ‘do something’ about the state of affairs in our schools, we need to know that governments can’t do everything, and shouldn’t do everything. Careful, there be dragons, going down that road. Besides, as a commentator wrote, “for the moment and probably the next twenty years, a bulk of our government servants are not going to be able to meet quickly the demands of society.” With things the way they are, this will include most if not all our government institutions.
Make sure to visit The Nutgraph and follow the series. And yes, do add your 2-sen to the discussion.