Ask a 5 year old what she wants and she will probably say, "to go to school." But let's not stop there. Ask more questions. What do you think school will be like? What interests you? And you will find no school can fit this shoe (no matter how slick, integrative, or alternative).
Kids care about making connections - with other kids, with concepts, within their own heads. Every child will paint a different picture of kindergarten. But much like the 23 year old at university, the shit happening in the classroom is just that. It's what the state, the teacher, or the culture want "taught" and the learner, whether child or adult is left thinking,"hey, why am I here?"
What if we didn't see ourselves as vessels to load down with facts and with other people's knowledge. Rather, we saw ourselves as full from birth with everything we need. That our goal was to find the mentors to help us unpack and utilize all that we have. That we can live in presence and in passion rather than bow to the man because we gotta. This idea that we "gotta" put our kids in school to get educated is the first and most profound act against our own brilliance. We don't really trust ourselves, right? And unfortunately somewhere along the way we decided not to trust our kids either. That they need to move rather than sit in a desk. That they aren't interested in the ABCs and would rather be writing a story in scribbles. No, that's not learning. Sorry, your child is not okay. They THINK and we can't be thinking right now. They dance, no god damn dancing in these halls.
Seriously why the hell is it a problem if a kid doesn't want to read until they are nine? Why?! But yet every day I see that school bus packed with faces bouncing around like buttered popcorn headed to the formal instruction that is needed to BE.
I hope in my lifetime we stop and think about why we send our kids to kindergarten. We didn't send our kids to school to learn how to walk or talk yet we think they can't read, write or fucking think without outsourcing to a "professional". As one of those pros, I wish parents knew how incredible they are. I wish we stopped shipping our kids off to foreign concrete caverns (schools) and instead met every neighbor within a 5 block radius and set up a community based cooperative child care/learning programs for parents and kids. Don't laugh. Don't forget that we are the ones making the choices here. We are the moms and dads that our children chose as guides. We are the folks that help our children construct reality. What kind of reality do we want? One where our kids see themselves as test scores, desk fillers, or inadequate according to other people's professional opinions? Or do we want our most precious to see themselves as empowered, nurtured beings who are heard and respected, who have rights and choices, who are as much the teacher as the learner.
What if we stopped and listened? To our heart, to our own experiences, and most importantly to our children. They know what they need. And we can work together to support our children.
