Debra,
I'm going to chime in here, as my business model is centered around providing nature and place-based adventures for children, in small groups no larger than 6. I lead three "Summer JOY" camps for children ages 4.5 - 9, 3-days per week; "Nature School JOY" for ages 4-6, 3-days per week; and "Afterschool JOY" for ages 6-9, 2-days per week.
I don't advertise, but rely on word-of-mouth and referrals from current and former clients. I am a CO licensed elementary teacher, as well as a CO Director-qualified Early Childhood Educator.
To address your specific question about transferring credits to schools, I think there first needs to be an agreement crafted between the provider and the school in question, indicating what learning goals are expected. This is where opportunities come in - crafting learning goals that are more inline with the pedagogy of Constructivism. This pedagogy is rarely even taught in teacher-training, and considered out of reach by many educators who have too many children in their classrooms to consider the individual skills, passions and desires of each child. Whether it is ideal for children to experience both institutionalized learning and private, small group instruction is a good question, and I believe should be the choice of parents. Not all parents can afford to pay for private instruction, so equal opportunity is a problem with that model. I do have a solution for this, as outlined below.
I'm in communication with my CO House District Representative to craft legislation that would provide State education funds to families to cover the costs private educators who offer supplemental learning opportunities. My idea is based on a practice that was highly successful in a Colorado's Delta School District in the 90's and early 2000's, to allocate state education funding to that district, that was then reallocated to families to cover a portion of the costs of non-religious homeschooling. There were parameters that needed to be met for families to receive funds from the district, and those were hammered out between the district's Superintendent and Director of the local home-school program, called Vision Home and Community Program.
I've always been an advocate for parental choices when it comes to providing children with the best learning opportunities for them. I believe this is the time to look beyond the institutionalized schools as the only option for valid instruction - in my experience (30 years of teaching) learning happens everywhere, and the role I play as an educator is to recognize what excites and inspires the children in my care, and to foster those experiences. I do not advocate offering the same type of top-down, teacher-focused instruction in the private setting you're speaking of. Sitting at desks outdoors negates the opportunities outdoor learning offers. It takes complete attention on my part, to what children are engaged in, to recognize when an activity a child is engaged in can be the basis for offering further instruction. It requires diligence on my part to observe them as they interact with the natural and built environments, with their peers, with myself.
State and school district mandates for educating children need more input from parents and other community members who have an interest and the passion to offer something more than what is being offered.
I just received this email from a parent this morning, and he couldn't have expressed more clearly the importance of being mindful to what children, at any age, need and what parents want for their children when they're in the care of others, at any age.
"One of the great things I noticed about your group is the way Marleigh is filled up emotionally and energetically when I come get her at the end of the day. In contrast to the other two days a week where she needs a hug and to be picked up and held at the end of the day, she's so centered and full of life when I swing by to get her on Mon, Weds, Fri. It makes me feel wonderful about what you're doing, every time. Thank you again!"
I invite you to approach your local school board, as a private educator, with your ideas and with parents as advocates to create a new model of education - or bring to fruition John Dewey's model he outlined so succinctly in his book,
Experience and Education, 1938, Touchstone. A few other critical books to further an understanding of Constructivism and Place-based Education, are :
1. "in search of understanding: The Case for Constructivist Classrooms, Jacqueline Grennon Brooks & Martin G. Brooks, 1999, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development;
2.
Curriculum in Abundance, David W. Jardine, Sharon Friesen, and Patricia Clifford, 2006, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
3. Place-Based Education: Connecting Classrooms & Communities, David Sobel, 2005, Orion Society.
4. The Third Teacher: 79 ways you can use Design to Transform Teaching & Learning, A collaborative project with OWP/P Architects + VS Furniture + Bruce Mau Designs.
I'm so excited to see how the institution of education transforms to a more humane, child-centered form of community-based learning and exploration.
"Experience is the source of knowledge. Everything else is just information". Joyce Webb and Melanie Phelps, Colorado River Experiences
Mary
Mary L. Russell, Owner/Lead Facilitator
Journeys Out Yonder, LLC
BS in Education
MEd in Education for Sustainability
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Mary Russell
Owner
Journeys Out Yonder
Boulder CO
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Original Message:
Sent: 07-20-2020 01:00 AM
From: Debra Bernstein
Subject: Private Teaching Pods
In Los Angeles there have been many requests for private Small Group (4-5 children) instruction for Pre-K and Kindergarten. Does the teacher need accreditation for private instruction? How can the parents transfer the child's credits for this completed class once school resumes in-person teaching? Is it ideal for them to stay enrolled in their school and receive supplemental private instruction or withdraw enrollment to learn exclusively with the private teacher?
Thank you.