Messages By: unschools

My advice? Remember that learning happens in many situations.  It doesn't have to be from books.  Doing, reading, watching, every situation in life can be a learning one.   

Can you tell I'm an unschooling mom? :) But seriously, have FUN with it, don't let learning become drudgery for you or your children.  So long as you're having fun learning they will continue to want to.  So long as there is desire, there will be joy.  It's full circle.   

This is the first I've actually heard of "unschooling", and it sounds rediculous!  I suppose it's a part of the whole self esteem idea...if we don't test them, they can't "fail", and then they won't think poorly of themselves!  In life, we are tested daily.  If we have a job and don't complete it satisfactorily, we are in jeopardy of losing that job...it's a test of sorts.  To raise a child in an environment that they are never tested and only learn what comes to them as a side effect of living is to be neglectful of that child's well-being for the future.

I know that when I was in High School, I wanted to go to business school and probably become an accountant. I took accounting an business course at my high school, but my high school standards also insisted I take English and History and Science.

Once I was in college, I discovered I did not like business as much as I thought I would, but I excelled at my literature and writing classes. I am grateful that those in charge of my education insisted I receive well-rounded study. I ended up becoming an English teacher and then a school administrator.

I have to wonder, do you have any safeguards in place in case your child changes his mind or interests, as young people often do? My concern would be if the child was really interested in something and followed it intensely only to lose interest and then want something else. Is there any plan to keep them well-rounded an exposed to many options. Is there a point where you think, my child is reaching college age, I better make sure he has at least these skills?

I don't much like the idea of home schooling, primarily for civic reasons.  We are one country, ideally.  Plenty of room for improvement, it's true, but at least we should share an education and grow up understanding such things as our own history and the way a democracy runs.  Home schooling takes kids out of that democratic environment where you have to learn to get along with other citizens who may be different from you.

But one thing that Dr.Phil said he believes made me laugh.  I don't know if education is a science, but he  is too deferential to teachers as experts who have received a unique training.  I was an ed major in college until I took my first ed course.  What an empty course.  I immediately switched my major to history and at least learned about a real subject.  Ed majors do not get anything from their training but an escape from truly intellectually demanding subjects and a lot of soft facts and theory that changes with the wind.

There are a lot of good reasons to send your kids to school, but teacher ed is not one of them.

I'm a teacher in the public school system and I fully support it!! I also understand that it is not perfect, but nothing is. Teachers under go tons of training in order to be able to teach. We have to have a master's degree in education and are always learning new ways of teaching.

 I believe that parents who choose to home school firmly believe that they are doing what is best for their child; however, they are cheating their children out of valuable life lessons. Yes, they will be exposed to bullying, yes they will be exposed to children out back sneaking a smoke, and they will have to learn something they don't have much interest in. They need to know how to react to all of these things and much more. The parent's and teacher's job is to teach them to make good choices when in these positions, but  ultimately it's up to your child to decide. If they aren't making good life choices in high school and middle school where there is still some adult supervision then they will be faced with making these life choices once they are out of the house and on their own.

My question to a home schooler or unschooler is - if your child was sick and needed medical care would you self medicate or take them to a trained professional? There are alot of of resources out there to help you choose the best way to treat the problem, but most parents would choose to take their child to a medical professional. Why would your child's education be any different?

I am 18 years old, recently graduated from high school, and currently in college working on a double major and double minor. I was traditionally schooled my entire life in both private and public schools, and hated every minute of it up until this year, when I went to college. I agreed with a lot of the "philosophy" of the parents who wanted to unschool their children, especially in their belief that children are the most unheard and "discriminated against" people in our society today. I have felt silenced by the school systems since I entered them -- teachers don't listen to their students' opinions, advisors hardly hear students' problems, administrators seem to care so very little about the actual well-being of the kids in their care. I felt like a statistic my whole life, and especially felt like there was so much information and subject matter being crammed down my throat -- most of it unimportant, uninfluential, and long since forgotten.

That being said, I also look back and appreciate it. The traditional school provided me with insights and experiences I never would have encountered had I been homeschooled or "unschooled. " I believe that there can be "unschooling" while a child is being schooled traditionally. My parents never restricted me, never stifled my creativity or imagination, never silenced me, never ignored or shot down my opinions, and generally let me make my own decisions and my own mistakes. I learned to be a free thinker with specific morals because my parents were "unschooling" me on the weekends, while I learned to deal with rigidity, conflict, ignorance, and intolerance during the weeks in traditional schools. My family constantly went on weekend trips, went to museums, studied things, and did all the "hands-on" learning that unschoolers hope to achieve, while still allowing me the benefits of traditional schools.

The biggest problem with education is that people take things to the extreme. Why must it be either all school or no school at all? Why can't parents put thier children in the educational system and still monitor them, nurture them, and enhance their person? I don't understand why it has to be one of the other -- I hated school for many reasons, but I recognize the value and the benefits of it and I am grateful my parents put me through it. At the same time, I recognize that my parents put in the extra 300% to ensure I became an individual who is both traditionally educated and independent of "the system," and who is not entirely dependent on them or anyone else to make my decisions or be hanging over my shoulder. Balance is the key, not extremity.