Ren Allen

I read it. It's definitely a nice Christian eclectic/relaxed
homeschooling article, but not an unschooling article.:)

"We have educational goals, but our methods of accomplishing them
are challenging and require a lot of energy because we work to
motivate the kids to learn for themselves in a deep and meaningful
way. It's harder to motivate a child to read Plato than it is to
assign him the reading. "

This is not unschooling. I don't try to motivate my kids to learn
anything, I know that motivation comes from within. I don't have
goals for them, I trust their own goals are what matter most.
I DO however, try to provide a rich, nurturing, interesting
environment in which learning can blossom.
Our focus is enjoying life, learning happens all on its own.

If a parent is trying to get the kids to enjoy Plato, I'd call that
eclectic/relaxed homeschooling. At least the parents are interested
in making learning more fun, rather than complete drudgery.
Unschooling trusts that if a person does what they love, they will
eventually bump into some tidbit about Plato and ignore it or delve
into it as it fits (or doesn't fit) their life at that moment.

Ren

averyschmidt

> I read it. It's definitely a nice Christian eclectic/relaxed
> homeschooling article, but not an unschooling article.:)

I read it too.
What she was talking about didn't really seem to have anything to do
with unschooling.
She says:

***So, we've come up with our own philosophy and methods of
learning, taking ideas from here and there because it seemed natural
for our family to do so.***

Isn't that the very definition of eclectic homeschooling?
I think it would be a nice article, though, for someone trying to
move away from complete control but not quite ready or willing to
unschool.

I also noticed that she mentioned the "challenge" of instilling in
children a love of learning. Huh? That's not a challenge at all
unless you first squash it out of them! :-)
Children are born with a love of learning.

Patti

[email protected]

In a message dated 11/10/2004 6:56:10 PM Eastern Standard Time,
patti.schmidt2@... writes:

Isn't that the very definition of eclectic homeschooling?
I think it would be a nice article, though, for someone trying to
move away from complete control but not quite ready or willing to
unschool. <<<<

Right.

And it's unfortunate that so many people will read that and think that they
know what unschooling IS. Very unfortunate.

Exactly why people will come to these unschooling e-lists and message boards
and assume *we* are talking about the same thing. Structure. Motivation.
Challenges. Control. Teaching. Educational goals. Leading.

And she even mentions how people want to be a part of the crowd or "culture."

>>>>He talks about culture—those that have it and those that want to have
it. The second group gets all excited about having culture and moving in
cultured circles (they are enamored with the "idea" of it). The first group (the
truly cultured) does not think a thing about being cultured because it is truly
a natural part of their lives. In our homeschooling, we need to be careful
not to put on something because it sounds good or because we want to hang in
certain circles. It’s a kind of sophisticated peer pressure. <<<<<<

And yet she wants to call herself an unschooler. This is the problem. She
wants to hang in a "certain unschooling circle," but is unable to actually *be*
an unschooler.

Same old, same old.

~Kelly


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]