The following is the text of a speech by John Taylor Gatto accepting the New York City Teacher of the Year Award on January 31, 1990. It is reprinted from the Iowa State Newsletter.
I accept this award on behalf of all the fine teachers I’ve known over the years who’ve struggled to make their transactions [...]
Archive for February, 2002
John Gatto: Teacher of the Year Acceptance Speech
John Taylor Gatto: I may be a teacher, but I’m not an educator
From The Wall Street Journal, July 25, 1991
By John Taylor Gatto
I’ve taught public school for 26 years but I just can’t do it anymore. For years I asked the local school board and superintendent to let me teach a curriculum that doesn’t hurt kids, but they had other fish to fry. So I’m going to [...]
Read the rest of this entry »I Can Breathe Again – My Children Finally Learned To Read
by Carol Rice
Waiting to Exhale was such an inspiring book. In fact, just its title inspires me the most. Have you ever caught yourself “waiting to exhale”? I have spent so much of [...]
Carol answers a question about Burnout
If you don’t want to imprison your children in a school, why are you imprisoning all of you in your own home?
I’ve been homeschooling for 10 years now. I have five children ages 18-3years. My question is, how do I effectively homeschool when I no longer have the heart for it? I am burnt out, tired and just plain bored of it. Yet, my conscience won’t allow me to imprison my precious children in the typical school setting.
Burnout is a common concern among homeschoolers who try to do school at home. (Note: This family uses a fairly strict Christian curriculum.) In fact, the only homeschoolers I’ve heard complain of burnout are those who are using a “school in a box” curriculum along with a strict daily schedule. It’s probably time to climb out of the box. …
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