I live therefore I learn---article by Pam Sorooshian
[email protected]
This is an article by Pam Sorooshian, a speaker at this year's Live and
Learn Unschooling Conference.
I LIVE THEREFORE I LEARN: Living an Unschooling Life
Unschooling is both easy and difficult to describe. The easy answer is
that unschooling means "not schooling," but it is a lot harder to
explain what we do instead of schooling.
Unschooling means not depending on the usual school methods. It means
no lesson plans, no curriculum, no assignments, no quizzes or tests, no
required memorizing, and no grades. It means that the parent does not
become the child's schoolteacher—it means not creating a miniature
classroom in the home.
Instead, unschoolers focus on living a rich and stimulating life
together. Seriously, that's it. We do not "school," but, instead, we
concentrate on living a life filled with opportunities and
possibilities and experiences. Human children are born learners.
Literally. What unschoolers aim for is keeping that love of learning
and intense curiosity alive as the children grow up.
How do we do this? In practice, it is going to look very different for
each unschooling family. "We follow our interests," is the unschoolers’
anthem. And, each family's interests will lead to all kinds of
learning—history, math, writing, music, reading, science, and all the
other real-life subject matter that is valuable and interesting. But we
won't think of them as “subjects.” We'll just think of them as
interesting and fun and fascinating and something we want to pursue
further or not. One thing will lead to another and life goes on and
kids learn and parents learn and life is full of opportunity everywhere
we look.
It is natural for people to learn—each in their own way. It is natural
for children to want to understand the world around them. They also
want to join the adult world and become competent and capable adults
themselves. They'll strive for this in their own natural ways.
Unschooling parents work on creating a home environment that supports
their children's natural desire to learn and grow.
Each child is unique and experiences the world in a different way than
any other person and expresses themselves in ways that are different
from every other person. There is no curriculum in the world that is
designed specifically and dynamically for any particular child, but an
unschooling lifestyle can, in effect, provide a 100 percent
individualized learning experience. Unschoolers aren't likely to learn
exactly what the professional educators and textbook publishers think
they should—so, in that sense, they will have gaps in their learning.
But they'll learn so much more, too, that is not included in those
lists of "learning standards." What is important for one person to
learn is not necessarily important for another and we don't really have
any way of predicting what will be important to know in the future. We
DO know that learning that is forced or pressured is not lasting and
that most of what kids are "taught" is not truly "learned" in any kind
of lasting way unless it is something in which they are interested.
Unschoolers also have in mind a lifelong timeline for learning. We
don't worry about whether a child is "at grade level" because we know
that children are learning "something" all the time and that they will
eventually learn whatever they need to know for whatever reasons they
have. We don't worry that they'll miss something important because, if
it is important, they'll realize that and find a way to learn it.
A true unschooling slogan is, "Life is learning, learning is life."
Unschoolers simply do not think there are times for learning and times
for not learning. They don't divide life into school time or lesson
time versus play time or recreation time. There is no such thing as
"extracurricular" to an unschooler—all of life, every minute of every
day, counts as learning time and there is no separate time set aside
for education.
Is unschooling right for everyone? My answer is, "It depends." I think
ALL children can learn and grow and thrive as unschoolers. But, I also
think it takes an intensity and focus on living life with a great deal
of gusto on the part of unschooling parents. Unschooling parents work
hard. For example, they must develop a very high level of sensitivity
to their children to know what to offer, when to support, when to back
off, how busy they want to be, how much solitude they need, when to
nudge them a bit with encouragement, when to get more involved, and so
on. AND parents need to be able to always have their kids and their
interests in the back of their minds, thinking always about what would
interest them; bringing the world to them and bringing them to the
world in ways that "click" for that particular child. And it takes a
great deal of trust that the child will learn without external
pressure.
We could do the curriculum—I could put together a few hours per day of
"school work," insisting that my children do it. But I've read
everything I could get my hands on about learning and I've had 30 years
of teaching experience and I know, deep down inside, that any coercion
in learning creates either open resistance, passivity, or apathy, and I
don't want to create any of those in my children. Learning feels
good—it might be hard, but it is also pleasurable. Coercion feels bad
and trying to learn under coercion is not pleasurable, even when we
make the best of it. Children who have only experienced the pleasure of
unforced learning show the effect in their incredible creativity,
confidence, intensity, focus, persistence, self-knowledge, and strong
sense of personal responsibility.
Not all parents WANT their children to grow up strong-willed and truly
independent-minded. And, it is fair warning to say: "Be careful what
you wish for." If what we mostly want is for our children to respect us
and to adopt our beliefs and goals, unschooling may not be for us. Many
parents have a general definition of "success" in their own heads, and
what they want is for their children to achieve their version of
success. Many want their children to offer living proof that they were
good parents—they may even be especially interested in outcomes that
will impress friends, relatives, and acquaintances. Again, unschooling
is probably not a good fit under those circumstances.
Unschoolers do have goals, though, that impact our day-to-day
interactions with our kids. We want our children to discover
theirlife's passions and to jump into them with both feet, with
confidence and trust in life and themselves. We want our children to
know, deep inside themselves, that they are strong and capable and can
make their own individual choices. We want them to be willing to buck
the mainstream culture AND buck the counterculture and think for
themselves and do what they think is right and good and worthy and
valuable.
I think, most of all, we want them to love being alive—now and in their
future.
~Pam Sorooshian April 2005
Kelly Lovejoy
Conference Coordinator
Live and Learn Unschooling Conference
October 6-9, 2005
http://liveandlearnconference.org
Learn Unschooling Conference.
I LIVE THEREFORE I LEARN: Living an Unschooling Life
Unschooling is both easy and difficult to describe. The easy answer is
that unschooling means "not schooling," but it is a lot harder to
explain what we do instead of schooling.
Unschooling means not depending on the usual school methods. It means
no lesson plans, no curriculum, no assignments, no quizzes or tests, no
required memorizing, and no grades. It means that the parent does not
become the child's schoolteacher—it means not creating a miniature
classroom in the home.
Instead, unschoolers focus on living a rich and stimulating life
together. Seriously, that's it. We do not "school," but, instead, we
concentrate on living a life filled with opportunities and
possibilities and experiences. Human children are born learners.
Literally. What unschoolers aim for is keeping that love of learning
and intense curiosity alive as the children grow up.
How do we do this? In practice, it is going to look very different for
each unschooling family. "We follow our interests," is the unschoolers’
anthem. And, each family's interests will lead to all kinds of
learning—history, math, writing, music, reading, science, and all the
other real-life subject matter that is valuable and interesting. But we
won't think of them as “subjects.” We'll just think of them as
interesting and fun and fascinating and something we want to pursue
further or not. One thing will lead to another and life goes on and
kids learn and parents learn and life is full of opportunity everywhere
we look.
It is natural for people to learn—each in their own way. It is natural
for children to want to understand the world around them. They also
want to join the adult world and become competent and capable adults
themselves. They'll strive for this in their own natural ways.
Unschooling parents work on creating a home environment that supports
their children's natural desire to learn and grow.
Each child is unique and experiences the world in a different way than
any other person and expresses themselves in ways that are different
from every other person. There is no curriculum in the world that is
designed specifically and dynamically for any particular child, but an
unschooling lifestyle can, in effect, provide a 100 percent
individualized learning experience. Unschoolers aren't likely to learn
exactly what the professional educators and textbook publishers think
they should—so, in that sense, they will have gaps in their learning.
But they'll learn so much more, too, that is not included in those
lists of "learning standards." What is important for one person to
learn is not necessarily important for another and we don't really have
any way of predicting what will be important to know in the future. We
DO know that learning that is forced or pressured is not lasting and
that most of what kids are "taught" is not truly "learned" in any kind
of lasting way unless it is something in which they are interested.
Unschoolers also have in mind a lifelong timeline for learning. We
don't worry about whether a child is "at grade level" because we know
that children are learning "something" all the time and that they will
eventually learn whatever they need to know for whatever reasons they
have. We don't worry that they'll miss something important because, if
it is important, they'll realize that and find a way to learn it.
A true unschooling slogan is, "Life is learning, learning is life."
Unschoolers simply do not think there are times for learning and times
for not learning. They don't divide life into school time or lesson
time versus play time or recreation time. There is no such thing as
"extracurricular" to an unschooler—all of life, every minute of every
day, counts as learning time and there is no separate time set aside
for education.
Is unschooling right for everyone? My answer is, "It depends." I think
ALL children can learn and grow and thrive as unschoolers. But, I also
think it takes an intensity and focus on living life with a great deal
of gusto on the part of unschooling parents. Unschooling parents work
hard. For example, they must develop a very high level of sensitivity
to their children to know what to offer, when to support, when to back
off, how busy they want to be, how much solitude they need, when to
nudge them a bit with encouragement, when to get more involved, and so
on. AND parents need to be able to always have their kids and their
interests in the back of their minds, thinking always about what would
interest them; bringing the world to them and bringing them to the
world in ways that "click" for that particular child. And it takes a
great deal of trust that the child will learn without external
pressure.
We could do the curriculum—I could put together a few hours per day of
"school work," insisting that my children do it. But I've read
everything I could get my hands on about learning and I've had 30 years
of teaching experience and I know, deep down inside, that any coercion
in learning creates either open resistance, passivity, or apathy, and I
don't want to create any of those in my children. Learning feels
good—it might be hard, but it is also pleasurable. Coercion feels bad
and trying to learn under coercion is not pleasurable, even when we
make the best of it. Children who have only experienced the pleasure of
unforced learning show the effect in their incredible creativity,
confidence, intensity, focus, persistence, self-knowledge, and strong
sense of personal responsibility.
Not all parents WANT their children to grow up strong-willed and truly
independent-minded. And, it is fair warning to say: "Be careful what
you wish for." If what we mostly want is for our children to respect us
and to adopt our beliefs and goals, unschooling may not be for us. Many
parents have a general definition of "success" in their own heads, and
what they want is for their children to achieve their version of
success. Many want their children to offer living proof that they were
good parents—they may even be especially interested in outcomes that
will impress friends, relatives, and acquaintances. Again, unschooling
is probably not a good fit under those circumstances.
Unschoolers do have goals, though, that impact our day-to-day
interactions with our kids. We want our children to discover
theirlife's passions and to jump into them with both feet, with
confidence and trust in life and themselves. We want our children to
know, deep inside themselves, that they are strong and capable and can
make their own individual choices. We want them to be willing to buck
the mainstream culture AND buck the counterculture and think for
themselves and do what they think is right and good and worthy and
valuable.
I think, most of all, we want them to love being alive—now and in their
future.
~Pam Sorooshian April 2005
Kelly Lovejoy
Conference Coordinator
Live and Learn Unschooling Conference
October 6-9, 2005
http://liveandlearnconference.org