O.K. so we have established the idea that everyone has an opinion. However, is this opinion based on fact, or just what you believe is fact? Do you really KNOW what home schooling or “unschooling” is or is it just based on what you have heard it is. Did you do your research before you closed you mind to “new” or “old” ideas. In my research I have found that “unschooling” is a way to teach you child vital information in everyday life through a method that does not require them to sit in a desk for 6 hours a day and be bored out of their mind. Reading and Math are vital skills that can be taught every day in life. While I do not profess to “unschool” my children, a great example of reading in everyday life is a variation of I spy. My 3 and 5 year old are waiting in line, or grocery shopping, and we start the game with…. “I spy a letter that is red and makes the BUH sound”.
We made the decision to home school when we had problem with the administration at our elementary school. We were told we did not have the right to know what was happening in our child’s classroom. Yes, this is illegal, and yes we do have a lawyer. However, I refuse to put my child in an environment that is not conducive to her learning style or that can easily become hostile. She was beginning to read before she went to school. She got their, became confused and stopped reading, and was very upset most of the time. We talked to her about it and let her know we would like to try learning at home. She was thrilled. It was like the stress was lifted off her.
I read a comment about home schooling text books being harder than public school therefore public school refuses to use them. Let me just interject that curriculum is very much based on what you want to teach your child. There are many varieties of curriculums just like there are many varieties of learning styles and family structure. If you choose this route, you must consider you family structure and your child’s learning style. If you have three children it is very possible to need three different curriculums to help each child reach his fullest potential.
I have been through public, private and home schooling. I was in public through eighth grade, private for 9th and 10th and then home schooled the 11th and finished the 12th the same year. In public school I excelled until the third grade. The school system split my class twice in two years. The second time we were given to a teacher who generally taught 6th grade. She let us play all year. I remember virtually nothing from this class. I received D’s and F’s and I was passed. I tool algebra in 8th grade (public) with a lousy teacher, who refused to answer my questions but I received a B in the class. I could not tell you how to solve a simple equation. I took it again the 9th grade with a slightly better teacher, because I wanted to know how to solve the problems I was sure I would need for college. I felt like I was living the same thing over again. I begged my parents to home school me and I found a curriculum that I thought would work well. They agreed and we begun. I finished high school at 17 and went to a junior college. I transferred to a university and received my BS in Child Development, and I will finish in May with my MS in Early Intervention.
In closing, you have to look at the family as a whole and the child’s learning style. There is not a right and wrong way it is just the best way that fits each individual child and family.
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.
