Unschooling success stories?

Question

I need some unschooling success stories. My mom is convinced that if I unschool I'll end up at a *gasp* community college. (I'm not going to college. Maybe art school, though...) Anyone wanna prove her wrong?

Answer 1

Thomas Edison. He was homeschooled by his mother until he was adept at reading and writing. Then he was left to his own studies--expected to study, but studied what he wished other than the odd book that his parents wanted him to read. All of his early scientific study was the result of unschooling.

As for something more modern, I know one girl who unschooled and is currently in college, I think working on a psych degree. She created her own high school program and did her own thing.

Perhaps if you put together your own plan so she can see what you would be spending your time on she would be more open to the idea.

Answer 2

http://www.Sandradodd.blogspot.com has a blog where she talks about her oldest children who are adults,

http://www.leapingfromthebox.com/art/kmg... has a woman talking about her adult unschooler

http://www.nhen.org/nhen/pov/teens/defau... talks about unschooling and how to look at college.

It's not about proving her wrong I think. It's more about showing her that success does not have to equal college first of all. It makes me sad that society has bought, hook line and sinker, that you MUST graduate from the most expensive and namely college you can to succeed. Many people can get jobs they enjoy that pay the bills and then some, by apprenticeship, living life, following their passion and interest.

Secondarily, it's also showing her that learning does not have to occur the way that mainstream educators say. Any child at all could learn everything that is taught in high school, enough to get into college at least. Many unschoolers can start learning high school subjects at age 16, and be done by 18. With an interest to go into college, and the willingness to learn, they whiz through all the prerequisites. They can do so with joy, not like my cousin's high school graduation speaker said "Thank God, we're finally free and we never have to learn anything again!"

Many unschoolers start taking community college courses at the age of 16, out of interest, not necessarily to go to college later, but because they want to learn. Now, do I have books or websites to prove this? No! They are too busy out living life to publish proof to please someone else's mom! Their parents mention it on the support groups, they put a post on their blog, etc etc. Kelly Lovejoy, owner of the live and learn conference, is one I can think of. her son is 18 and regularly attended college classes for the past two years.

Answer 3

I would say my own kids are successful.  One did take *gasp* community college classes at 13.  I don't really get why that would be a bad thing.  Seems better than highschool.  

Anyway, they can read and write (both are novelists).  Somehow without formal schooling, they have grown up into wonderful and intelligent human beings.

Answer 4

It will be next to impossible to try to convince your mom of this, since the definition of "success" is very subjective, and each person measures success differently.

Success to us is when a young person reaches their goal, and are satisfied, and content with the results.

This is not measured in monetary rewards, like a big paycheck, but rather personal satisfaction.

We unschool, and have children ages p*****n to late twenties, each, and everyone of them is a success in what they chose, or are choosing to do.

None of our children have careers, jobs, or future goals that were picked by us, or what we thought would make them a success; they need to decide that for themselves.

As unschoolers, yes, they go to "gasp" community colleges, but often at ages 15, or 16, because they can take college courses at an earlier age than conventional schooled children; home/unschooled children have the time, and opportunity to do so.

As long as they can manage the work they do just fine, and get a good jump on transferable credits, saving them lots of money when they can enter college as a sophomore instead of a freshmen.

Unschooling is simply a method of learning way different from any traditional model of schooling, and your mom may simply not be able, or even unwilling to understand that concept if she is still steeped in conventional school thinking.

Here are some web sites that may help you compile enough information to present to her, but in the end you cannot change her mind unless she is open to such change; you may reach a point where you can agree to disagree, and respectfully state; "mom, I love you, but this is my education, my life, and I need you to give me a chance, and trust me".

Good luck.

http://www.unschooling.com

http://www.unschoolingamerica.com/

http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/meth...

http://www.vegsource.com/homeschool/

Book recommendation:

The Teen Age Liberation Handbook.

http://www.lowryhousepublishers.com/Teen...

and

The Case Against Adolescence - Rediscovering the Adult in Every Teen.

by Robert Epstein, Ph.D  

Check the library, or Amazon; well worth the read for parents, and young people alike.

Answer 5

ME ME ME

I started writing at age 7 and put out my first book at age 8 it got panned by the Gogaltha Lutheran Talent Festival as "No exhalting God."

It was about the planets in our solar system (I thought GOD had a hand in them, am I wrong)

I started working with tape recorders at age 8 and movies at age 11 and telescopes at age 12 and photographic darkroom equipment at home at age 14

I built my own enlarger with a toliet paper tube, shoe box and light.

I got published for a Lunar Eclipse observation in Sky and Telescope at age 16.

My work in Photography got me a job in retail at age 19.

I eventually became an Adiminstrative Manager for GAF (that's General Analine and Film Corp) at age 24 and Director of Customer Service for the Western Region (The mississippi to Hawaii) at age 29 for Argus Interphoto.

My sound recording and homeschooled and unschooled music experience got me started in home studio work and that got me published in Mix Magazine, Music Connection magazine.

I worked with bands and promoted them and got them into Sound Pro News and BAM Magazine and Music Connection.

My photography got me into the Desert Sun at the age of 20.

It also got me and bands I was promoting into International Magzines with Color Photos in Metal Rendezvous and BAM and Music Connection.

My unschooling in 8mm and 16mm movie work get me $$$$ and on TV with a commercial when I was 28 years old.

My unschooling work in audio engineering, music and producing got me on INTERNATIONAL RADIO with ASCAP current production credits and $$$ at age 40

I got published in Mix, Music Connection, Compelte Woman, Income Opportunities, Valley Magazine and others as a result of my unschooling and homeschooling.

I'm in the Readers Guide to Periodical Literature

I'm in libraries world wide

My unschooling computer programming helped me develope the WORLD'S FIRST NO CODE WEB PAGE MAKER and I have testimonials from the mid 1990s from students, teachers and minsiters whom I helped publish web pages

LONG before there was a DREAM WeAVER or FRONT PAGE

My best selling program let people make CD covers for software, music, DVDS and helped them make indexes for their DATA cds.

This was a MAJOR download at AOL, Compuserve and from C-Net's Shareware dot com.

It also paid for my software and some of my internet stuff.

OK I have to give credit where credit is due

My Elementary school taught me basic math, basic English I also learned a little more in High School

My Middle School Plastics teacher helped me make my own COLOR draw for my Durst Englareger so I could do color work.

Everything else was HOMESCHOOL or UNSCHOOL.

I am not rich

But I do things only a few hundred thousand people in the world can do.

I put things into newspapers, magazines, TV and radio.

I put things into libraries.

Few people do that.

My legacy will live for hundreds of years after my death.

Unfortuantely my death will probably be paid for by the tax payers as I am not Bill Gates and Not rich.

Of coruse Bill Gates NEVER finished HARVARD

He was too busy making BILLIONS to worry about his BA degree

Condolezze Rice was homeschooled half her life, Calthoic schooled from High School.  College at Notre DAme, not bad for a BLACK GIRL WHO WAS A BAPITIST to graduate with a BA from a CAtholic Private College!

YOU are only as good as YOU are.

It is that simple.

I'm in Who's Who in Entertainment 2nd edition.  Your mother father ain't.

That's the bottom line!

Answer 6

The very first homeschool book I ever read was the Colfax book. That was way back when my oldest was only about 2 years old. He is 20 now. I was inspired by it to want to homeschool our children as they came along. As I understand it, it is considered an unschooling classic. You can find it at Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Homeschooling-Exce... . Their boys went to Harvard.

Though I was inspired by the Colfax book, we didn't really pursue an unschooling philosophy in total. I would classify us as ecletic. We have done a little of everything over the 15 years we have homeschooled: unit studies, RC Curriculum, K12 with a virtual, Charlotte Mason, e-notebooking, textbooks (mostly just for high school science and all levels of math), etc. It has kept the feel of homeschooling fresh and fun to shift gears avery now and then. We school year round, so the summers are pretty unschoolish. The kids develop their own 3 month projects which they plan and pursue themselves. I am more a resource and hold them generally accountable to their plan. What I have found is that they put more total hours in per day during the summer than they do during the traditional school year because they are working on things they love. They are engaged and get some amazing things done.