Homeschooling ADD Kids

I’m about halfway through Seth Godin’s book Purple Cow. If you haven’t read it, it’s about transforming your business by being remarkable.  Although it’s a business book, it has some interesting things to say about schools. Here’s a quote:

"Where did you learn how to fail? If you’re like most Americans, you learned in first grade. That’s when you started figuring out that the safe thing to do was to fit in. The safe thing to do was color inside the lines, don’t ask too many questions in class, and whatever you do, be sure your homework assignment fits on the supplied piece of white card stock.

We run our schools like factories. We line kids up in straight rows, put them in batches (called grades), and work every hard to make sure there are no defective parts. Noboday standing out, falling behind, running ahead, making a ruckus.

Playing it safe. Following the rules. Those seem like the best way to avoid failure.  And in school, they may very well be. Alas, these rules set a pattern for most people (like your boss?), and that pattern is awfully dangerous. These are the rules that ulimately lead to failure."

 
So…are our ADD kids purples cows in schools full of brown cows?  Probably makes them feel kind of wacky, being purple and all. Which is what is so great about homeschooling kids with ADD. They can be as purple as they want.

What do you think?  Click on the title of this post, then scroll down to get to the Comment box.

In: general | | #