August 2007 on the Unschooling Basics list: Hello all,
It is now one year since my now 15 y/o daughter Anya spent her last day in school.
To recap-my daughter should have been unschooled from day one, but that was not in the cards due to some circumstances. She begged me to "home teach" her all through first through third grades. (broke my heart) She had a few good years, 4th and 5th grades, due to some "hippie teachers." By the end of eighth grade, she was a dismal unhappy mess, and decided of her own accord to blow off high school. I gave her "The Teenage Liberation Handbook" and pointed her in the direction of Not Back To School Camp. It was at NBTSC that she discovered Unschooling and chose that over Homeschooling.
The last year has been a journey, to say the least. Nothing went as planned. I had planned to quit my job to facilitate her interests (not wanting to "leave her to her own devices") and I had made some financial arrangements to make it happen (real estate investments) but life intervened, the real estate market tanked, I lost some money, my husband had back surgery knocking him out of commission for six months, (putting me in primary breadwinner position)—long story short I could not quit my job.
Anya did a whole lot of sleeping for several months. She told me her dreams were more vivid and enjoyable than ever, and she was experamenting with "lucid dreaming." All fine with me. She spent time downloading music, maintaining her Myspace pages, surfing youtube, watching TV and reading whatever she wanted.
We moved and had no money for awhile while we carried three mortgages. No furniture in the new house, no money for any extras, but the other house finally sold and we bought furniture. She painted her new room turquoise, bought a black rug and black furniture, and put up music posters. Cut her long hair super short. Remarked that "when you unschool you have lots of time to get to know yourself. School keeps you too stressed out to have an original thought."
(How may times is my mother going to ask me if "anyone from the district is monitoring her progress?" )
I noticed that she has "dictionary.com" bookmarked on her computer. She has read about 10 different books, all her own choices. She reads the paper and bakes cookies. Works out at the gym. Travels up to our vacation home in the Tahoe area and hangs out in our cabin. (for sale, BTW, any takers?) She took a college course in Digital Photography. She goes to SKA band concerts. AND -She got certified as a junior open water SCUBA diver!! We went to Belize for 10 days where we spent four days diving the reef and four days in the jungle where she met a Belizean archaelogist and spent an entire evening discussing Mayan history and the lack of regard showed by the Discovery Channel while filming something they are calling "Adventures of the Bone Detective. " (written by a hollywood script writer with no interest in either archaeology or history).
Anya also got a job! I am proud of her because its pretty competitive in the teenage entry level market but she would not let anyone tell her she was too young. She found out the loopholes in the work permit system, and started applying everywhere. At one point, she was offered a job bussing tables at a restaurant but then they found out she was 14 and took back the offer. She finally got hired by Coldstone Creamery. She worked there for four months until the franchise was sold and the new owners laid everyone off. I am noticing she is far more focused somehow than her schooled friends. Her mental arithmatic has improved as well.
Anya will be at Not Back To School Camp in Oregon this summer for both sessions. She has no desire to go back to school. Life is so much better now that she is happier. She plans to find a job when she gets back, and still talks about passing the CHSPE, only now she wants to pass it for a different reason: to get the school district off her back about working. The permit process is B.S.
Kathryn
sibling relations among unschoolers