what is “unschooling”, anyway?
as my son grows quickly from a baby to a toddler,the type of schooling he will receive has become a great concern. this is not a new subject. before there ever was a child my husband and i discussed the pros and cons of traditional schooling methods (including public, private, and home school). the problem is, we never agreed on a solution.
about two months ago, i began to hear a lot of buzz about something called unschooling. ever heard of it? it’s a fairly new movement (as far as education goes) that, to me, seems like home schooling meets montessori. basically, the idea is teaching your own children through life experiences and situations. there is no set curriculum, no textbooks, and no standardized testing. students progress is measured individually through the observation of a caring and attentive parent.
for an interesting perspective on how unschooling can be amazingly effective and interesting, see theorganicsister.com!
personally, i think this sounds awesome! i would love to be able to devote my time to teaching my son while allowing him to grow freely at his own pace and learn applicable academics rather than rote memorization from a textbook! and no standardized testing, YES, thank you very much!! the only problem i have here is the same one i had for home schooling – i would be an incompetent teacher and i know it. i have seen home schooling done poorly (and even some cases of unschooling done poorly), and the children are the victims. what can you do with an 18-year-old who can barely write his own name? so, my own personal thoughts of unschooling at this moment are, “sounds wonderful! where can i sign up for a course in teaching unschooling?”
May 25th, 2010 at 12:37 pm
I love the idea too but, I’m with you on the “needing a course” part!
At first we were really leaning toward public school but I just don’t think we’re there anymore.
I think Silas would do great at a Montessori school…but the COST would kill us.
Homeschooling is still the front-runner for us but I have no idea how to even start!
May 25th, 2010 at 1:09 pm
All these methods can prove to make us crazy! The bottom line is that no method is a direct path to success. The encouragement comes from the fact that children adapt!!
Standardized testing is ridiculous the way that it is implemented in public school (teaching for a test), however in any method it is needed. If a child never sees a standardized test in the primary and secondary years, they will see it in college. Even to enter college, placement tests must be taken.
As parents, the greatest method we can use is to take what the child is recieving and SuPpLement! No method is flawless, my son goes to a Montessori school and there are issues I take with that approach, even though it is a great fit for him.
God has given parents an intuition that goes beyond understanding to show us what is right for our family. Whatever decision you make IS right for your child and should be assessed as your child grows (just like every other aspect of parenting, what worked at 2 won’t be proven to work at 5). The fact that you question is the proof that you are doing “right” by yours!
Love your blog!!
May 25th, 2010 at 1:30 pm
i know what you mean…i’d love to see josiah in a small private school, but who can afford that? richard has never been in for homeschooling, and i feel totally incapable, SO…we are back to square one:(
May 25th, 2010 at 9:30 pm
I could talk this subject all day long. Girl…I NEVER thought I would homeschool. I made fun of my friends who did! But once we realized that Annagrace was very bright and advanced (and therefore bored to tears) in public school and we saw the opportunity for me to homeschool the girls when we moved to NC, we jumped at it.
The approach we take is this. For reading, writing and arithmetic…we use homeschooling curriculum. And if I can teach my kids, anyone can. I mean, seriously…if someone insinuates that I can’t teach elementary math and grammar then they are insulting my intelligence!
For other subjects we are leaning towards an unschooling approach. If Annagrace is interested in sewing then that is our art project for the moment. If she develops an interest in Helen Keller (that’s all we have heard about for the last month!) then we study Helen Keller. We try to go with her interests for certain subjects.
In NC, kids are required to take a standardized test every year. I don’t see any way to get around it so there are certain things that she has to learn for that.
While I love the idea of unschooling and we incorporate some of the philosophy into it, I still want my girls to graduate from high school so that they can then decide at the age of 18 (or probably 16 in Annagrace’s case!) what they want to do with their lives. The bad thing I see in unschooling is that if you gear your child’s education towards a particular subject (based solely on their interests at the moment) and then at age 18 they realize they want to do something else with their lives then do they have the basic knowledge they need to pursue a new career choice?
I have done a lot of reading and research about the subject so if you ever have questions e-mail me! We took a lot of time to pray about our decision and we have been so happy. I wouldn’t trade the time I have teaching my children for anything!
And let me reiterate…you are NOT incapable of homeschooling. There are a vast number of resources available to help you! Do you have any friends in your area that homeschool? I actually visited with one of my homeschooling friends and really picked her brain about things when we were still in our indecisive stage. You could also find a local homeschooling group and find out if they have any meetings you could attend to ask questions.
OK, done rambling. Please e-mail me or FB me if you ever have any questions at all! Let’s get Richard on board with it! LOL! I’ll even buy you a denim jumper.
Hee hee.