aroundthemilkyway

i am new to this list....glad i found it. my children are 7, 5.5, and
1. my dh and i knew we were going to homeschool from the start and i
sort of fell upon unschooling and it really seemed to hit a right
cord with me. my dh was not quite as sure, but not totally against it
either. when dd1 was 5 we definately unschooled (as well as from the
very start really, but now we were labled kindergarten 'unschoolers').
not only do i think we would have chosen to be just learning as we
lived, but we were forced to since i became pregnant and really sick.
my dd's simply had to play play play. friends would come over and
take them on nature walks (there were ablet o see newt eggs being
layed and watched the gestation of these babies...what a great
parallel to what their mom was going through) anyway it was amazing!!
we live a bit up in the woods, so we decided for no other reason
than "fun" for the girls we would enroll them in the homeschool
charter program. it is an enrichment program, big group projects, a
spring play every year, lots of fun field trips, camping together,
ect...ect... through enrolling in this program however i was suddenly
thrown into accounting for our schooling. blak! we would have to sit
and make semester "plans" witht he charter teacher, do follow up at
the end to see if those plans were fulfilled...eventually the teacher
started going over standards with me and "how are they going to be
met?" sort of conversations. i would share my plans of learning
through living, following their interests, my confidence in their
capabitilies. slowly but surely i was pursuaded to just pick up some
early readers....how about the bob books....maybe use the math book
supplied by the school as a guideline....blah blah blah!! i fell into
the trap!BLAK!! last semester we followed the girls interests, i was
able to document everything so all were happy for the most part. then
holiday break came and i started feeling the pressure again to have
the girls up to "standard"....so....i bought math curriculm, explode
the code, borrowed story of the world (who am i??) and made a plan to
do some of these things everyday! wrote up a schedule the whole 9
yards! holiday was over....time to start school!! the first week went
okay, some power struggles, i felt inadequate, we didn't really have
much fun (but i sure was ablet o write down alot!), week 2.5 we went
on a road trip (all books packed, but i didn't really get them out we
were having too much fun exploring the science museum, children's
museum, going on walks in the city and hikes in old favorite forests
we used to visit on a regular basis), week 3 back to the books....we
all hated it! i was a beast, they loathed each other and our home was
an unhappy one! it wasn't until week 4 when i got a phone call from
the charter teacher (even though remember this whole charter is
supposed to just be enrichment)recommending my oldest dd be held back
a grade since she isn't reading and wouldn't do well on the
testing....there was a little more in this phone call, but that was
the straw that broke this camels back (in a good way) we have since
(a few weeks now) been back to unschooling....books all put away,
other than our literature books which are asked for on a daily
basis....my dh (and i) see's such a dramatic change in the girls, in
me and our home as a whole!!! he is 'almost' convinced! he just wants
to read a couple more articles and see it take place a little longer
(he went to school as a teacher and has always been fairly
alternative....so i know that this will be something that he will
eventually receives with open arms as a whole). it is a little scary
turning and walking a totally different direction from all those who
surround you, but i know it is the best thing for our family. we are
going to stick wiht the charter for now as our dd's have friends
there and love the spring musical they are a part of. i will write
down the things we do and be proud of not opening up a book we aren't
interested in. i will have to seek wisdom from others here who have
been unschooling faced with pressures from family and close friends
(most of my friends are all teachers....and not very alternative
ones), as well as the charter teacher (who is really a wonderful
lady). with this list i am thankful i will be able to share struggles
and not feel like all are pointing fingers saying "see i told you it
wouldn't work". SO i thank you in advance! basically that is my intro
and sort of history of where we are coming from. glad to be here!
sarah