Paula Sjogerman

on 2/10/04 11:55 AM, [email protected] at
[email protected] wrote:

> Obviously I have 4 years at least to figure this out,
> since she is just 14 and goals have a way of changing
> rapidly through the teen years.
>
> What is the Tao of Unschooling until college?


My daughter is also 14 and has always said she wants to go to college. Since
this is her goal, I just do what we've always done - find out what's needed,
examine various resources, etc. It's still all up to her. For instance,
about a year ago, I began a discussion with her about studying a language.
What I said was: here's some options: you can do the required 2-4 yrs of
language in some way or you can forget about it and find colleges that don't
care. Zoe: I want to learn a language. Me: OK, any that strike you as
interesting? Spanish is practical. Zoe: Not Spanish, that's so ordinary
(History repeats itself: that's how I ended up studying Russian in HS <gg>).
Me: It seems to me that the best way to really be able to learn to speak a
new language is to be around someone who really speaks it. Zoe: my good
friend Hannah and her whole family speak German. It would be fun to learn
with them. Me: Cool.

That was a year ago. Since then, she bought herself a dictionary and a
workbook. She did some work in the workbook right away and then none at all.
Hannah's family brought her some German kid's books. She hears them speak
German a lot. She's learned some vocabulary. That's it. Maybe she'll do more
as time passes. Maybe she'll bag it and find colleges that don't care. Maybe
she'll bag the idea of college and it will be moot. All reasonable choices.

And remember, not everyone goes to college at 18. And not everyone goes into
a regular 4 yr program. There's options galore!

Paula