Quote From: sneakers145How do kids learn to walk? Talk? They do it by trying. No matter how many 'walking lessons' you set up, basically your child will walk only when ready. Same with talking. They learn by doing, and because they WANT TO. Kids want to explore the world around them. They are programmed that way!! Try stopping a toddler from learning. You can't!
And if you don't stick life in a box or relegate it to black and white words on a page, where you're hemmed in by four walls and a teacher, the whole world is at their fingertips just waiting to be explored. There are no bells to interrupt a subject you're fascinated by. There is no forcing what their minds aren't quite ready to absorb.
My kids are 8 & 12. They read, write, and do math. Just not with textbooks and worksheets. Math is all around us. You can't get away from it. They play with numbers all the time.
Contrast that to their public schooled friends who will avoid anything that has to do with numbers [my son was playing with a car advertisement and reading the prices (learning place value from 10s to 10s of thousands) and a school friend piped up and told him to stop 'doing math' because it was Saturday and you don't do math if you don't have to. He was just having fun. I knew he was learning. Learning happens. You can't stop a kid from reading when they're ready.
How do they learn to spell? E-mailing friends and family. Making lists. Asking questions. By reading. Because they have a real-life reason to.
How do they learn to read? Again, the written word is all around us. Internet, computer games, instruction manuals, e-mails, etc.
I don't need to MAKE SURE my kids know these things. They WANT to know these things. As I said before, it comes down to TRUST. And after 12 years of watching and observing, it's easy to see that they are learning. Every day. By living life in the real world instead of being closed into a box.
I am my children's facilitator. I supply information, or where they might find that information. Google is our friend. The world is at our fingertips. Not in a dull textbook written 20 years ago.
Let me ask this: As an adult, how do YOU learn? Do you take a class every time you want to know something? Or do you go to the library, use google, ask friends, find someone who knows, etc?
I understand what you are saying but, what about a child that does not care to learn math or much of anything else? I know and respect that you made that choice for your kids...I just feel more comfortable with books. But, hey, that's the wonderful thing about home schooling....we can choose how to do it...as long as kids are learning what they need to know and to the law.
I wish you luck.
Parents want the best for their children, but what’s the best way to educate them? Dr. Phil’s guests face off in a debate about whether to school, homeschool or unschool. Dana and her husband, Joe, call themselves radical unschoolers. They say education happens as a side effect of life, and they don’t believe in tests, curriculums or grades. Are their three kids learning what they need to know? Then, RaeAnn says public schools are death traps and wants to homeschool her children. Her husband, Steve, says their kids are safer at school than they are at home. Can this couple reach a compromise? Plus, Nicole feels like an outcast at 26. She says she hated being homeschooled, and couldn’t relate to other kids. Share your thoughts here.
