Unschoolers - please answer?

Question

I have seen a lot of questions about "unschooling" (if you don't know what it is go to unschooling.com).

It seems interesting. If you unschool your kids, are unschooled, or are considering either one, then please anwer these questions:

Why do you unschool?

What do you think can be gained from unschooling that you can't get from a public school?

Do you think that unschooling will sufficiently prepare a child for college?

What do you do for higher level math, etc., that a child can't find out on his/her own?

Do you meet with any other families that unschool or homeschool?

Do you (or your children) ever get asked questions about why you unschool? How do you answer them?

Answer 1

your refuring to the reggio amelio method of teaching/rassing children. as long as they are really learning on a daily basis kids who are taught with this method are very creative and smart beyond their years. however i think a great deal of it is how the teacher responds to the child such if they have training in child development and know how to use this method.

Answer 2

1. We unschool because we find that our kids learn better when they have a genuine interest in the subject. Their learning is also more natural and is learned across environments when they learn it naturally as opposed to book learning.

2. Several things can be gained from unschooling. Independence, self-reliance, emotional maturity from being trusted, and an innate understanding of the topic.

3. Yes, I do. IF a child is interested in college, I think that they will build enough of an academic base from unschooling that they could enter easily. Alternative colleges are also viable options, as well as mentorship programs.

4. Anyone could learn anything on their own. If I was interested in astrophysics and had no previous base knowledge, I could check out books about physics. i could check out books about astronomy. I could take college classes. I could hang out with astronomers. As a parent, it is my job to understand what my kids are interested in and help them achieve it.

5. I meet with a local unschooling group at least once a week, usually two or three times. I have homeschooled friend that we see daily.

6. We get some questions about unschooling. If someone has a genuine interest, I will do my best to explain. If someone is using questioning as a way to criticize our choices, I tell them they can choose our friendship or an honest answer.

Answer 3

I unschooled without even knowing I was doing it.

I found it fun.

My mother got me a weather kit and I learned isobars, weather maps, get a piece of glass and grease pencil and started making weather charts, I put my wind thing outside, took wet and dry bulbs, figured out humidity

I still have my Aneriod barometer.

My other got me a telescope and book on astronomy and I'd go outside and look at everything.

To this day I can still look in the sky and find Mars, Jupiter, Venus, Pleadeads, Orion, I know where the great nebula actually IS in Orion, I still get up and go out and take pictures for the lunar eclipses and major meteor showers AND I got my obervations of a lunar eclipse PUBLISHED in Sky and Telescope at the age of 16.

My mother got me an audio recorder and I taught myself to hook it up to a phonograph and do line recordings and Ilearned to mask the erase head and do sound over sound.

I got a 8mm movie camera when I was 12 and started making films.  I bought myself an Anamorphic prism and started doing wide screen work, dual system sound, day for night, superimposed titles, lap dissolves, fades, animations.

My mother homeschooled me in typing at the age of 6 and by 8 I was doing 45 WPM with no errors and I started creative writing and entered a book into a talent fest and kept writing and submitting and Sky and Telescope picked me up, then later a whole bunch of other publications picked me up.

My unschooling in cinema was so good I had to tutor the college class who didn't understand things like T/stops and F/stops, so I had to explain it to them after class.

I went into college already knowing about 80% of the whole process and working with it at home and at the rental editing centers.

I always wanted to program computers but I failed algebra 1 (actually got a D) so I couldn't take any programs in HS or college so I learned it on my own.

Studied BASIC for 14 years, plus some C, C++, Perl, HTML and Modula 2

My software made me some money and taught me more about algebra, geometry and trig.

My mother homeschooled me in music notation and harmony and theory and I unschooled myself in guitar, bass and keyboards.

I played professionally for 30 years and produced a variety of record albums for people.

My commercials run on TV

I do music videos that run on TV

All from mostly homeschooling.

Answer 4

read "teach your own" by John Holt ,"doing it their way" by Jan fortune wood or "winning parent winning child" also by Jan Fortune-Wood

Answer 5

Unschooling is child directed learning, in which the child decides when and what he will learn.  Unschoolers learn by pursuing their interests and participating in daily life.  Reading, writing, going on field trips, working with parents, etc.

That is not possible in  public school setting where all children must  learn the same material at the same time.  In addition, school wastes many hours in classroom and homework time, leaving children little time to their pursue studies on their own.

Unschooled children have gone on to college successfully.  The Colfax children are a great example.  They were unschooled and graduated from Harvard.

http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?r...

Unschooled students can learn higher level math and science using textbooks, co-op classes, online classes or a tutor.  Unschooling doesn't mean you can't use traditional materials, it means children aren't forced to use those materials.  They learn through a variety of methods, including textbooks, etc. when necessary.

Unschooling mimics how we learn as adults.  We become interested in something or decide we need skills we don't have, and find ways to learn what we want to know.

Answer 6

Home schooling is teaching your children at home instead of using a conventional school, private, public, or charter to do it for you.

Home schooling gives the parent complete control over what is taught, as well as the time, place, and method used to do the teaching.

Both home schooling, and unschooling gives the parent the choice to go year round, or simply set their own schedule that is best for their families.

Children quickly gain the understanding that learning is not confined to a school, certain hours, or pre-selected books, but is a life long process, and has only those limitations that we ourselves place upon it, or allow others to place upon it.

Unschooling is not, at least not for us without guidance.

Children need guidance, and direction throughout their young lives to be able to learn, and develop character, and integrity.

Unschooling is a natural continuation of basic parenting, we simply add academics when they are ready.

Unschooling simply means learning in a natural setting, and using non-traditional means to teach.

Non-traditional meaning without an artificial school setting, either in a conventional school, or at home.

Unschooling uses many media, and some, but rarely traditional school text books, much of the learning is hands on, by working along side the adults, through 4H, and other organizations that have hands on training.

We use 4H for all our electives, as well as speech and debate. (Toast Masters).

Unschooling is learning by doing, not just reading about it.

We learn math, reading, and writing in a more structured (traditional) setting once they are between 6 and 10, but it depends on the child.

Higher level math, or college has not been a problem at all.

There are many higher level courses that can be taught by using video instruction, or they attend a community college while finishing the remainder of their high school program.

We use a lot of games, board games, computer software, or outdoor games.

See this web site what is available for games, and you will see learning does not have to be confined to a textbook.

http://www.educationallearninggames.com/...

Unschooling can be completely, or to some extend be child directed, and this; at least for us; means that when our children come to a particular subject that they want to learn about, we do not put a time limit on them as to how long they can learn about it, we simply try to provide every opportunity they need to learn as much as they want too.

Most often when children are allowed to learn in a natural way, in the form of unschooling, relaxed, Montessori, or self directed learning, they understand the concepts better, and score high on any (academic) test they are given.

Hands on teaching, instructors who are experienced in their field, from a car mechanic, pilot, store clerk, to a doctor; if these are willing to answer childrens questions and children would be incouraged to ask questions freely; can teach more in 15 minutes than textbooks, and hours in classrooms could accomplish.

For some other sources to research the many faces of unschooling see:

Click on the little purple box to view the video for free.

http://www.raisingsmallsouls.com/...

Click on home school methods, and than unschooling.

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

http://www.unschooling.com/

http://sandradodd.com/unschooling

http://ulfaq.home.comcast.net/~ulfaq/ULf...

http://www.unschoolingamerica.com/

http://info.nbtsc.org/schoolfree/

http://sandradodd.com/life

A book that is popular with many young home/unschoolers is;

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

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