GCSE's, Exams, oh my!
In my last post I outlined my continuing philosophy of the children's education. In this post, I want to make it practical.
We have recently decided that the kids won't be taking GCSE's and A-Levels to follow the British system, but instead work towards High School Diplomas, SATs and AP's: the American system. We feel very grateful for the freedom we have here as home educators, that we can pick - in most other European countries, that's not the case!
American? But why?
We have no plans to send our kids to the USA as students - in fact, we have no plans for our kids, as such. Their adult lives are theirs. What we see as our role is to prepare them as well as we can for the lives they wish to lead, and giving them the greatest options and choices we can. This leads us to the American system.
British GCSE's, taken in the mid-teens, are essentially tickbox exercises of parroting information. I have worked for an A-level student in my disability support work, and I have seen how material is taught to the test even there (to an incredibly detailed level: "If there are six points available for this question, you need to write three paragraphs, and here's what needs to go in each of them...") - so even at A-level, which would be higher than GCSE's, there is no creative engagement with the material, no depth, no ownership, no critical approaches. It's just: here's the information you need to regurgitate, make sure you do it in the right way.
Contrast that with the American approach of credits. We will sign up for an 'umbrella school' when the kids turn 14, and automatically collect credits in the subjects the kids are interested in because they do these things anyway; and only add formal study where their natural interests may not lead but the study is needed (such as maths). They must collect a set number of credits to graduate, but how they accumulate those will be determined by their interests. On top of the High School Diploma that is an accumulation of credits, there are tests at the age of 18ish - SAT's and AP's - which take a year or two of dedicated study to prepare for. Which, at that age, the kids will have the maturity to prioritise if that is what they want to do - it's not for me, as the parent, to push them; in our family, that has never been my role.
Where this takes them
Whether or not the kids want to go to university, the American system provides them with the credentials to do so. I personally don't rate British universities very highly - the quality of instruction, the student experience, as well as the cost: it's just not good value. As European citizens they will be able to study elsewhere for a much lower cost or for free, and in many countries, universities teach in English anyway.
D will also have to do his military duty in Austria, which could be a brilliant gap year experience that could build up his skills in German as well as offer potential other training the military may offer him - from HGV licenses to helicopter or even flight training. I like the idea of him potentially doing this, if only because the Austrian military doesn't fight wars - it's more a character building exercise, skills building too, and potential disaster recovery work (think floods, mountain rescue and such). But, this is merely one of the options I will put before him when the time comes and he is ready to decide where to go with his life.
Our job is to open many doors. Theirs is to walk through the one they pick.