In Denmark, parents are allowed to set up a new school if they are dissatisfied with the school in the area where they are living. Although these schools have to follow the national courses, they are allowed a lot of choice in deciding what to teach. Some of these new schools are called "small schools" because usually the number of pupils in them is only sixty, but a school has to have at least twenty-seven pupils. Cooleenbridge School in Ireland, is a small school similar to the ones in Denmark, it was set up by parents who came from Holland, Germany, Czechoslovakia, England and other parts of Ireland. They came because they wanted to live in the countryside and to grow their own food. In June 1986, they decided to start a school. They managed to get an old, disused primary-school   building and started with twenty-four children aged from four to twelve. The teachers say, "The important thing in school is doing, not sitting." And so the courses includes yoga , cooking, knitting, kite-making, music, fishing, drama   and environmental  river studies, as well as reading, writing, maths and science. The important thing in school is doing not sitting. What the teachers say actually means   _   .
What we should do is teaching in the classroom, not sitting in the office. Children should do more homework at home, not just sit in class to listen to the teachers. Children should learn by themselves not rely on teachers. Children should learn through practice not just from books.