Anyone out there practice "unschooling" or child-led learning?

Question

I am planning on using this philosophy for my child's education - in fact we already do so. She will not be attending school. I am looking for comments from people who are familiar with this philosophy and who have practiced it. Please, do not comment unless you are familiar and/or experienced with this type of homeschooling.

Answer 1

At this point I would consider ourselves unschoolers...although I don't like the word and never use it around people who don't understand it. My dd is 5 and we started "officially" HSing her in Aug at 4 1/2 yo.
I had purchased curriculum and had a schedule and we were going to sit and do school. As I met some very experienced unschoolers and saw how well there children were flourishing and became more and more comfortable with it. She goes to classes Spanish 2 x a week, gymnastics, science club, History club, Art class and will be starting music and dance lessons soon.

She loves studying about animals, the human body--has a real stethoscope at her request--science experiments, story writing the list goes on and on,

But it is because she is allowed to do what is interesting to her. She is learning the basics while playing...we play restaurant and she takes my order by "writing it down"
then she has to calculate the bill "math" but let me tell you if I try to make her sit down and practice writing she fights me all the way but she will play and write for an hour easy.

I think the main thing is that it is going against mainstream and is scary because it's different.

And for those that say they've seen the horrible aftermath of "unschooled" children...how many kids ar in public school that the teachers have had their hooks into for years and they can't read at 17 years old...these people shouldn't worry about those not in school they should worry about those in school

Answer 2

We are unschoolers. I have two daughters, ages 6 and 7, and to answer the question, "How are they even going to learn to read?" I have to say that not only do both of my children read (above "grade level" I might add) but they love to do it. They never leave the house without a pile of books. My 7 year old will read anything she can get her hands on. When we offered to buy them each a book at Sam's Club, she picked out an encyclopedia sized book about the human body. She looked at the table of contents and told me she couldn't wait to get to the chapter entitled "Animal Physiology." And, by the way, she not only pronounced physiology correctly, but also knew what it meant. Contrast that with my younger sister, who is in 8th grade in public school, and won't pick up a book to save her life.

People have this idea that unschooling means you just sit back and do nothing while expecting your kids to figure out what to "study." This is so far from what unschooling actually is. As an unschooling parent, I have to make sure that there are resources galore at my kids' disposal. I have to keep up with their interests and help them to find answers to their questions. They learn so much more than they ever would in school and I don't have to push them to do it, because it's not "work" to them. It's just life and it's lots of fun.

Answer 3

You should practice unschooling. Children who unschooled are usually more interested in learning and know what they want out of their college experience. They also won't have to listen to the BS of the public education system which teaches children to be a follower instead of a leader.

Answer 4

If you're looking to chat more about this, there are a bunch of unschooler groups in Yahoo Groups.

I'm not an unschooler for all subject areas, but I'm not a strict, structured schooler, either.

I've seen wide ranges of unschoolers: from those who essentially abandoned their children's education to the children to those who actively introduce things into their children's lives but let their children decide if they will follow through, how much, etc. The latter are truly admirable and their children are amazing. Their lives are kind of like miniature Sudbury Valley Schools.

My one comment, suggestion, would be to make sure that your child comes before the philosophy. I've seen one parent become so frustrated by focusing on the philosophy instead of her individual child (whom she'd pulled out of school) that she put him back in school--twice. Yes, she pulled him out of school, he didn't live up to her idea of unschooling, she put him back in out of frustration, then pulled him out again, got frustrated again and put him back. I've met a boy who did not know how to read at 12--not because he didn't want to, but because he didn't know how to go about learning how to read and his mother wouldn't help him. She figured he'd learn how to read on his own and stuck to the unschooling philosophy a little too rigidly.

Answer 5

i'm homeschooled, and my family does a sort of variety of unschooling and curriculum. i'm in high school, so i don't have quite as much freedom, as there are things i need to accomplish in order to graduate, but for children up through middle school, unschooling is a wonderful oppertunity to grow and develop skills and interests and just get your hands into the learning. when i was doing more "unschooling" type stuff, my mom was more concerned about us enjoying what we were learning then anything else. she bought a curriculum online that was a sort of basis for science, history, and english. we did one on africa, and one on russia. We would learn about psanky eggs, and the history behind them, and the next day we would be making them ourselves. i remember in the africa unit, me and my sisters all went and got some cheap cloth and made our own "kente cloth" with stamps. we would put on skits that we wrote ourselves, and whenever people came over we would show them our handiworks and spew out millions of facts about it. It was so much fun, and we became immersed in the cultures. My little sister once saw a man in a store wearing kente cloth, and came up to him and started telling him all she was learning about Ghana.

For math, you are better off with using a curriculum, workbooks, those sort of things, as it is hard to "unschool" with math. to apply it, though, when my mom would take us out, we would be responsible for figuring out how much was owed, and how much change we should recieve, according to our mathematical abilities.

the beauty of home schooling is that it doesn't shut you in with dates and deadlines and rules. the kids can just learn, and end up being way ahead of the gang in just a short time. I know of a 13 year old who will be entering college in the fall, who is home schooled.

don't let the "standards" of the school pressure you, in elementary and middle school, all of the subjects are basically fluid, there is no set thing that all 5th graders "must" learn. take advantage of these years by letting your child bloom in knowledge. Good luck!

Answer 6

We unschool our kids, seven of them. Five of them are actually of school age, we've had them out of public school for two years, and unschooling for 18 months.

There are several important resources, www.sandradodd.com has the links to most of them. unschooling basics is a yahoo group that is very good for learning more. A warning...it is NOT a support group, it is a discussion group. It is not for feeling warm and fuzzy, but working through issues.

As someone mentioned, there are no RULES for unschooling. It's about principles.When you run your life by rules, you cannot be flexible and find what unschooling is for your family.

We are very much involved in what our kids do, in fact, with so many children, it often leads us at wit's end trying to fulfill the needs of so many children heading in different directions. However, it has led our children to completely new heights educationally, they love to learn everything, and are completely open to all new topics.

As for reading, my (now) seven year old was in preK when the teachers were pushing reading. We had all kinds of homework and papers and forms to fill out to 'prove' that we were pushing her at home too. FInally she turned to me with tears of frustration in her eyes and said "Momma, you can't MAKE me learn to read." She was right, whether in school or at home, with a curriculum or just supports, you can't FORCE anyone to learn to read. After two months of unschooling, at the age of six, she learned to read on her own and went straight to second grade level books. My now five year old is reading on his own.

Answer 7

If you call "experienced" a public school teacher who must remediate "unschooled kids" when the parents tire, give up, or wake up and realize the life they are dooming their children to, then, "Yes" I am experienced with parents who "no-school" their children.

Good luck with your idealism.

I could only wish American society mirrored your philosophy.

Too bad your child will rue every mistake you make along the way!

The price I will pay is -10 points....

OK, Seriously, from Wikipedia:

Unschooling is a form of education in which learning is based on the student's interests, needs, and goals. It may be alternatively referred to as natural learning, child-led learning, discovery learning, delight-led learning, or child-directed learning.

Unschooling is generally considered to be a form of home education, which is simply the education of children at home rather than in a school. Home education is often considered to be synonymous with homeschooling, but some have argued that the latter term implies the recreation of school in the context of the home, which they believe is philosophically at odds with unschooling.

Unschooling contrasts with other forms of home education in that the student's education is not directed by a teacher and curriculum. Although unschooling students may choose to make use of teachers or curricula, they are ultimately in control of their own education. Students choose how, when, why, and what they pursue. Parents who unschool their children act as "facilitators," providing a wide range of resources, helping their children access, navigate, and make sense of the world, and aiding them in making and implementing goals and plans for both the distant and immediate future. Unschooling expands from children's natural curiosity as an extension of their interests, concerns, needs, goals, and plans.

The term unschooling was coined by John Holt. An author of ten books on education, John Holt founded the unschooling magazine Growing Without Schooling.

Answer 8

i actually do something like that. i basically teach myself.

Answer 9

Depending on where you live that might not even be legal.
And you have to give them some sort of education. for example how are the even going to learn to read?

Answer 10

Sorry, no comment