This article looks at several one-room schoolhouses (mostly for K-8) that are still in operation in the U.S. I thought it was a pretty interesting read...and LOVED that there is one called the "Strange School" :). One of the schools has three students!
An excerpt:"here the lessons are not just about math or science, but about older children helping the younger ones with things like learning how to read. And there is an unusual teaching tool that may only work in a one-room school: eavesdropping. It sure helps first grader Thomas Trygier: "'Cause when I was in kindergarten, I was, like, listening to all the third grade stuff," he told Petersen. "So I learned a lot in kindergarten." "I remember last year he came from kindergarten, 'Mom, what is the Silver War?'" said his mother, Cynthia. "He didn't know it was Civil War. But he hears the older kids talking."
For a significant part of U.S. history, the one-room schoolhouse was the standard model. Would you ever be interested in attending one? What or why not? And, in a nod to the three-student school, there is widespread consensus that many of our class sizes here in CA are too big. But what's the ideal number of students? Is there a small that is too small?
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Lego, Cav (the Lego brand name was derived from the Danish expression "leg godt" - play well - and lego also translates in Latin as "I study" or "I put together"...really, one of the world's most perfect words!)
I think a one-room school is a good for the children because they learn from each other and from the teacher. Especially the younger kids look up to the older ones and see them as a role model, so they copy them and learn things from them. Apart from that, I wouldn't want to go to a one-room school because of various reasons. First, I think when the children are in a one-room school until their 8th grade, high school will be very overwhelming and shocking for them because suddenly, there will be a lot more people! I also think that the children don't become as independent as they'd become in a regular school.
I think a class shouldn't have more than 25 students because eventually the teacher should still care for each student in a class. A class of three students is too small for me because again, the independent working wouldn't be the same and I think this is a important part of growing up!
I have come to the understanding that, the closer the clads size is to being one-on-one, the easier it is to learn. In other words, the less students there are in the class, the easier it is for the teacher to insure that everyone understood the lesson. I believe and ideal class size should be between 15-20( half the size of most of my classes). Coming from only having experience in relatively large public schools, the thought of going to a single room school is unfathomable. I would be very interested in being in a class of less than ten people, because the teacher could individualize the lesson more to fit the needs of each student. But, I wouldn't be able to hide. Being in a smaller class more or less almost force. You to participate more in fear of awkward silence and judgement.
