Can kids not go to school 5days a week?

wicked

I have enjoyed watching 凤凰卫视的世纪大讲堂. For teachers, isn't a classroom whithout walls the ultimate compliment?

IT development has enabled knowledge to be very accessible to the general public. However, my young children are now spending almost 3hrs travelling between home and school everyday. Far more time than I needed when I was a kid living in the remote countryside with only one shabby school in the area. I feel very guilty about it and also think it's totally bizarre if not wrong. I have been wondering when the IT revolution can bring significant changes and benefits to the current education system. Home schooling is getting more popular. Can schools incorporate this trend? More people are working from home now. By the time our kids come to age perhaps offices will be in a totally different existence. Do we still need to send our kids to school everyday? I can only see a waste of resources than need.

Other than 5-day school, will there be room for other mode of schools? e.g. 5-day school changed to 3-day school+ 1-day online study at home+  1-day for community activities. Thus schools are more in touch with each other and parents and the community. Activities requiring concerted effort provide good oppotunities to learn co-operation which is ever more valued at time of globalization.

My family think my ideas are far too ahead if not weird to be feasible.

wicked

不知是否有别的父母也想过HOMESCHOOLING。我想国际学校的父母见识相对较广，或会有些看法可以分享。

在美国HOMESCHOOLING IS GETTING  POPULAR。加拿大还有政策支持。I JUST LEARNED THAT IN AMERICA THERE ARE ALREADY PRIVATE SCHOOLS INCORPORATING HOMESCHOOLING IN THEIR SYSTEM。 THATS WHAT I WANT FOR MY KIDS。HOPE IT WILL ALSO HAPPEN IN HONG KONG SOON。

最近上了些HOMESCHOOLING WEBSITES，很受启发，竟然还有UNSCHOOLING的说法。转贴一段UNSCHOOLING MOVEMENT FOUNDER JOHN HOLT的话：

"We can see that there is no difference between living and learning, that living is learning, that it is impossible, and misleading, and harmful to think of them as being separate. We say to children, You come to school to learn. We say to each other [educators], Our job is to teach children to learn. But the children have been learning, all the time, for all of their lives before they met us. What is more, they are very likely to be much better at learning than most of us who plan to teach them something."

网上各种知识铺天盖地，学习途径也多。放着家里的电脑不用，然后舟车费时地到学校去上一些平庸老师的课感觉就是浪费时间和资源，看了HOMESCHOOL WEBSITES后感觉更甚。

课堂和网络同样是传授和交流的媒介，结合起来应该能更有效地为教育服务。道理和网络买卖股票与亲身去到交易场的作用没有大分别一样，越来越多人选择网络买卖，因为方便。

网络课堂，方便不说，而且没有围墙，好的老师，他的影响就可以更大，受惠的人就更多。

我尝试这样比喻一下，不知道是否合适:

在制造业，产品设计师的报酬比机戒修理师高很多。

老师，就象产品设计师，只是他的产品是人的灵性。
医生，就是人体的机戒修理师。（没有贬低医生的意思）

和制造业不同的是，优秀的老师往往比普通医生的收入还差一大截，我认为就是因为THE CLASSROOM IS WALLED AND ONLY A SMALL FRACTION OF THE POPULATION CAN HAVE ACCESS TO THE GOOD TEACHING。

假如网络课堂可以改变这一状况，ALLOWING THE TEACHING REACH WHOEVER WITH INTREST AND THE TEACHER IS PAID WITH DUE RESPECT AND MONEY，那会有更多优秀的人选择成为老师。平庸的老师，不好意思，那就请过主了。或者可以考虑帮优秀的老师打打工.

听说香港有补习社的老师年薪有千万，就是运用了WEBCAM，同时教好几班的学生。年薪千万是否合理不好说但这应该是个启示。

将来很多的工作和学习可能都是在家完成的，人们出外主要为了社交。我看过一篇对未来吃香行业作预测的文章，其中提到LIVE EVENT, 就和这趋势有关。另外还有和非洲，水资源，环保有关的工作。其实养生应该也是个方向。中医该大派用场了。