What Clonlara Students Learn Outside The Classroom

By Marie Schutt

An education can’t be defined by the walls of the classroom. In their 2008 study titled “Developing Citizens: The Impact of Civic Learning Opportunities on Students’ Commitment to Civic Participation”, Joseph E. Kahne and Susan E. Sporte surveyed high school students in Chicago to examine the impact that volunteerism and community service have on students’ civic involvement. They found that students who were more active in school and extracurricular activities, and who felt more like they belonged at the school tended to report “higher levels of commitments to civic participation”. These, and the results of similar studies, all seem to point to one overarching trend: that the kind of hands-on learning that happens through volunteering and community service has positive effects on academics, citizenship, and personal development.

The 2010 New York Times article “The Benefits of Volunteerism, If The Service is Real” discusses the many personal benefits of volunteering if the intention is genuine. The article cites another study carried out by Kahne and colleagues, this one in California, where they found that high school students who were engaged in community service of some kind were more likely to be involved in civic service in their lives after graduation. Most striking, perhaps, in terms of students’ personal growth and citizenship, is the finding that students who were involved in volunteer work (whether it was required or not) were more likely to indicate that they’d vote when eligible than those who weren’t. Students were asked about voting twice: once at the beginning of their high school career, and once at the end. Those who weren’t involved in volunteering and answered no to the first time were much more likely to answer with a ‘yes’ the second time if they’d spent time involved in some kind of civic or community service in between. The study also found that students who had some kind of outlet to discuss and reflect upon their service experiences tended to get more out of the work.

At Clonlara we not only recognize that community involvement is crucial to a student’s education; we require it, for graduation from both our campus and our home-based programs. And though some may argue that required or mandatory community service defeats the purpose of volunteering, we have already come up with our own solution to this problem: our students pursue their interests and passions in their volunteer work and civic involvement. As with many other aspects of their Clonlara educations, students get to choose how to how and where to serve their communities (although we do place limits on volunteering through churches or religious organizations.) Their service is meaningful, and allows many of our students to try out potential career paths. For students who have never held a job, community service provides valuable working and skill-building experience.

Clonlara Campus students have put many hours of their time into a diverse array of projects, including the following:

- Food Gatherers (a program that distributes millions of pounds of food to needy families in Washtenaw County)
- Growing Hope (a program that supports and advocates sustainable food and health equity)

-Great Strides (a therapeutic riding stable)
- University of Michigan Spectrum Center (a center for student-centered education, outreach, support and advocacy for LGBT issues)
- The Michigan Abilities Center (a center for healing, teaching, and innovative equine therapy)
- The Young Actors Guild (an Ann Arbor production company and resource for education through drama)
- Peace Neighborhood Center (provides support/programming for children, families and individuals experiencing social/economic difficulties)

We’ve also had students pursue projects on their own in their communities, including creating art for donation and installation at a local library to promote the message “reading is cool” and working with the “Planned Pethood Adoption Program” at the local Petco. Students also help out around the school with yard projects and clean up, and some students also do their community service work through their families’ place of worship.

 

While almost all American public schools mandate some kind of community service for graduation, these programs don’t always meet their full potential to foster the kind of character-building and civic awareness that we see develop in our students. We do find that an hour requirement is necessary, but the point is not to simply rack up volunteer hours until the numbers add up. It is simply to ensure that our students have adequate time to learn through service in the world beyond their homes or classrooms.

Sources: http://aer.sagepub.com/content/45/3/738.short

Learning Styles – Which One, or Ones, Match Your Student

Clonlara School recognizes that children are smart in many different ways. There isn’t just one expression of intelligence, and it can’t be quantified with one number. Each child’s learning needs are as unique as his or her personality, so taking a “one size fits all” approach to education doesn’t make much sense. This is why families choose to homeschool: children’s educations are tailored exactly to their learning needs, by educators (often parents) who know them best. The beauty of homeschooling is that it is a direct educational response to each student’s unique intelligence gifts.

Defining intelligence can be a tricky business. In an interview with Simon Hanson at Brain Connection, Howard Gardner challenges what he says is the ‘standard view of intelligence: “The standard view of intelligence, held since the beginning of the century by most psychologists, is that there is a single intelligence. We are born with it, we can’t change it very much, and psychologists can measure it with a simple instrument. I feel that each of these claims is wrong.” Instead, he argues, there are several distinct types of intelligence, and “From an evolutionary point of view, it seems probable that each intelligence evolved to deal with certain kinds of contents in a predictable world.” (From his website’s FAQ) Gardner pioneered the theory of multiple intelligences with the publication of Frames of Mind: The theory of multiple intelligences in 1983, initially listing seven and then adding the eighth, Naturalistic intelligence, in 1999 (source). Elsewhere in his FAQ, Gardner recommends observing students’ behavior and filling out questionnaires in order to determine a student’s learning strengths and weaknesses.

At Clonlara School, our campus instructors utilize a learning styles inventory to assess a student’s strengths and weaknesses. The test we use gives multiple scenarios as possible answers (for example, “When you study for a test, would you rather: a) read notes, read headings in a book, and look at diagrams or illustrations b) have someone ask you questions, or repeat facts silently to yourself c) write things out on index cards and make models or diagrams”) and tallies up students’ scores in different categories to determine the student’s learning style. A summary of the different learning styles is available here.

Too often, children whose learning styles do not conform to the educational models of our institutions are labeled “problem children” or are funneled into remedial or disciplinary programs that don’t actually help them. A student who is constantly fidgeting, moving around in his or her seat or even getting up to visit different areas of the classroom during instruction cannot be simply dismissed as a disruptive presence who deserves a time-out, but considered rather as a child who might score highly in the Bodily/Kinesthetic category. Having to sit still and passively listen for long periods of time would be difficult for such a student. If tactile and physical activities like drama, games or building projects were integrated into the material, would this student be more focused? Maximizing a student’s education by catering to different learning styles helps everyone, because it allows students to use their strengths while working on their weaker learning styles. Employing multiple intelligences and learning styles in teaching also provides educators with a greater array of teaching options.

Have you taken a multiple intelligences inventory? Whether you’re a student or not, it may be worth your while to learn a little more about how you uniquely process information. The one we use and recommend can be found here.

Clonlara Campus School Answers the Question, “Why Do I Have To Learn This Stuff?

Did you know that school starts up in less than two weeks? The first day of classes on Clonlara’s campus is September 6th, and while we can’t wait to see our students again, we’re also incredibly busy gearing up for another great school year. Will your child be joining us on campus this fall?

If your child is constantly asking “Why do I have to learn this stuff?”, don’t fret—it doesn’t mean your child is lazy, or a bad student. It means that they need instruction that supports this line of inquiry, and encourages exploring how the information they’re taught connects to the world outside the classroom. If your child is creative, confident in being him- or herself, curious, and lively—your child will fit right in at Clonlara School.

Our Campus program focuses on taking a student-centered approach to learning. Though even the child’s coursework can be tailored to his or her abilities, interests, and learning pace, our students don’t learn in an individualized vacuum. They are active members of both the Clonlara campus community and the community at large. These world experiences combined with project work create a well-rounded student who is prepared for both college and a career.

It’s true that our students are well-prepared for the testing and other requirements needed to get into college, but we never force our students to focus on cramming material that will show up on standardized tests. Rather, our students enjoy full intellectual freedom, and learn from day one to take ownership of their educations. As Plato says: “Bodily exercise, when compulsory, does no harm to the body; but knowledge, when it is acquired under compulsion obtains no hold on the mind…”

Intrigued? Please stop by our Quiz for students, and if you get an “A” for two or more items, give us a call or email us to get started on exploring our enrollment process. If after learning more about our program you would like to move forward, there are a couple of steps we can take. If you would like to explore Clonlara with your child before our school year starts, please call us at 734.769.4511 or email us at campusinfo@clonlara.org. If classes are in session, we will schedule a campus tour to show you around our facility, meet with program teachers, and answer any specific questions you may have. We then have prospective students participate in a three-day visit: Day One is for observation, and Days Two and Three are for full participation. During this time, prospective students have hands-on experiences in the classroom. It is important that all sides—parents, student, and Clonlara—agree that a Clonlara Campus education is the best fit for the child. If this is the case, we will move forward to an interview, then filling out admissions paperwork and working together to set up the student’s academic plan.

The new school year is almost here, but it’s not too late—come find out how our Campus Program can serve your learner!

Clonlara Campus Meets the Wave of the Future: Introducing the Clonlara Dual Enrollment Program

Blended education is the wave of the future. While blended scheduling is nothing new to Clonlara School, increasing numbers of American schools are getting caught up in this wave—according to this The Journal interview with Heather Staker, Senior Research Fellow and Project Manager at the Innosight Institute, in 2010 four million students were participating in a blended learning curriculum.

Clonlara School’s Dual Enrollment Program was designed with the students’ learning experience in mind. When developing the Clonlara Dual Enrollment program, we identified eight points that we consider crucial aspects of this experience: Options, Blended Scheduling, Flexibility, Strength/Interest-Based Learning, Excellence, Customized Scheduling, Freedom, and Tailored Education.  Available for students of all ages in kindergarten through high school, our program allows for each child to be him- or herself and to learn at whatever pace is natural. The program involves a combination of direct instruction and home school guidance, allowing students to choose how much time they spend on campus and how much is spent learning at home.

The core topics are language arts, math, science, and social studies, but the Dual Enrollment program also makes use of an independent study program, either self-directed or instructor-coached, which allows students to pursue their own interests. Advising is available from certified teachers, and graduating students are issued a private school diploma that’s accepted at top universities. Students learn from experience and by completing projects, which enables them to enjoy freedom balanced with responsibility. In the Dual Enrollment program, they earn three campus credits and up to six home-based credits per year. For tuition and scheduling information, please visit the Programs page on our website or contact the enrollment specialists directly at 734-769-4511 and ask for either Martha or Julia.

Clonlara’s Very Own Dr. Montgomery Spoke at the 8th Annual AERO Conference on August 5th

Dr. Pat Montgomery, our school’s founder and champion of free and alternative schooling everywhere, recently sat down with us to answer a few questions. She presented at the eighth annual AERO (the Alternative Education Resource Organization) conference this month in Portland, Oregon, the theme of which is “Transforming Education and Our World.” Dr. Montgomery will be speaking with Sandy Hurst about international exchange in education. The title of her talk is “A Tale of Two Countries: Japan and the U.S. and Their Alternative Schools/Programs”.

For 22 years, AERO has actively promoted the concept that children are natural learners, and that they need an educational system that recognizes this rather than treating them as individuals who need to be forced or coerced into learning a standardized curriculum. AERO survives on grants and donations, using its resources to revolutionize education and empower learners. Dr. Montgomery has a long history of involvement with the organization.

Q: Tell us a little bit about how you became involved in alternative education.

A: My husband, Jim and I wanted childhood experiences based on natural child development for our children.  Schools offered experiences based on adult needs and designs, not on a child’s needs and designs.  So in 1967, we started Clonlara School for them and for whomever else agreed with this concept and would enroll their children.  Our campus school grew from its initial 8 enrollees (ages three and four) to 114 enrollees five years later.  Out of that campus school grew a second program, Clonlara School Home Based Education Program (1979).

Q: How did you become involved with Japanese schools?

A: In 1978 I started a national organization, the National Association of Alternative Community Schools (NCACS).  Schools and programs with similar philosophies and practices joined the group.  Around this time, John Holt was in the process of changing his thinking on free schools (as alternative schools were then known); he favored home education instead.

In 1981 a book was published in Japan: Totto-chan, The Little Girl at the Window, by Tetsuko Kuroyanagi.  Tetsuko is an artist herself, and she credits that fact with her having attended a free school as a young child in the early 1940s.

She was enrolled in a conventional school near her home when she was six years old, as was customary.  At the close of that school year, her teacher told Tetsuko’s mother not to bring her back for the new school year.  She had failed first grade.  Why?  Because she persisted in doing things that aggravated the teacher and disrupted the entire class again and again.  Things like opening and closing her desk.  (She explained to her mother on the very first day of school that she got to sit in a desk that opened up and down; not in and out like the drawers at home.  The teacher told her that students should only open and close their desks when they had something to get or return, so she made sure that she had to fetch an eraser or a book or whatever in order to enjoy this wonder.)  Worse than that, she stood up from her desk and walked to the window without being given leave to do so.  Even worse, she spoke from the open window to strolling musicians outside and to workmen.  The teacher rendered her incorrigible.

Her mother searched long and hard for a school for her ‘wayward’ child.  She found Tomoe School, crafted out of several beached railroad cars.  The Founder wanted to have a place where children’s natural development was honored, where they were free to grow without interference with their need to play and explore, much like Summerhill School in Leiston, England started in 1921.

Hokkaido Shimbun, the Sapporo newspaper, sent a reporter to the United States to visit free schools (1982).   He visited Clonlara and twelve other similar schools throughout the U.S.  A publisher in Tokyo read the series of articles the reporter produced for the Shimbun and offered to publish them as a book.  In 1983, Diakichi Suzuki, the publisher invited me to Japan to address various audiences in cities and towns all over Japan, sharing my Clonlara experiences.  Over the years, I was invited about 10 times to do the same.  Clonlara developed many ties with numerous groups and individuals there.  We were in the catbird seat to observe the blossoming of free schools all over that country between then and now.

Q: Why do you think that intercultural exchange is so important for the education of young people?

A: I don’t only think it; I have observed firsthand for over 52 years the understandings, the communications (even without good grasp of a language), and the cooperation possible when people of all ages interact with one another as ‘family’.

Q: What have you learned about free and alternative schooling from the Japanese? What about from other countries, such as Spain and Germany, where Clonlara School currently offers specific study programs?

A: I have seen Japanese people work against great odds to realize their hopes for a change in the system of education extant in Japanese culture even today.  For example, it was only possible for a person or group to start a school anywhere in Japan if they had 1000 students enrolled; nevertheless, people like Keiko Okuchi started Tokyo Shure in the early 1990s with 12 children, one of them her own son.

Clonlara’s work in Spain, Germany, France, Sweden, and other countries has been focused on promoting home based education.  Working with families and conventional school folks and lawyers and courts in those countries took me back to the harrowing struggles of home education in our own State of Michigan and across the U.S.

Q: Is there anything else you’d like to add about Clonlara School, or about the conference?

A: AERO is a thriving group of national and international parents, teachers, students, and school administrators.  Its conferences provide an excellent opportunity for people, young and older, to compare game plans, learn from one another, and grow in child-centered practices that serve kids so magnificently.  I am pleased to be a part of it.