Re: [AlwaysLearning] Unschooling Misconceptions
Sandra Dodd
-=---unschooling means that the kids teach themselves.
-=-well, sometimes, but not always and not for every kid and not in
every
situation. unschooling really involves learning in the way that works
for your child on the schedule that works for him/her. max sometimes
teaches himself. sometimes he asks to take a class. sometimes i suggest
a class or teacher. sometimes i show him how to do something myself...
etc...-=-
If you use that argument to explain to relatives, maybe change it from
"teach himself" to "learns on his own."
The less the word "teach" is running around in your head, the easier
it will be to understand and to explain unschooling.
http://sandradodd.com/wordswords
Sandra
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-=-well, sometimes, but not always and not for every kid and not in
every
situation. unschooling really involves learning in the way that works
for your child on the schedule that works for him/her. max sometimes
teaches himself. sometimes he asks to take a class. sometimes i suggest
a class or teacher. sometimes i show him how to do something myself...
etc...-=-
If you use that argument to explain to relatives, maybe change it from
"teach himself" to "learns on his own."
The less the word "teach" is running around in your head, the easier
it will be to understand and to explain unschooling.
http://sandradodd.com/wordswords
Sandra
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k
Most of the misconceptions seem to me to obviously be based on a larger
overall misconception that decisions for parents only have two extremes for
choosing from, even if the words "always" and "never" don't appear in such
misconceptions:
--always leaving your kids alone or never leaving your kids alone
--always letting your children run wild or never letting your children run
wild
--always allowing children to do anything that comes to their heads or never
allowing children to do anything
--always using curriculum/workbooks or never using curriculum/workbooks
--kids always teaching (learning by) themselves or kids never teaching
(learning by) themselves
--kids always learning things considered "academic" or kids never learning
things considered "academic"
--kids always running the show or kids never running the show
I think I could always be happy saying if unschooling means never punishing
a child, though life itself is not set up so a parent can guarantee that
children always "gets away" with everything, and, sure, some things I would
prefer for children to get away with. It's the nature of punishment that it
almost always unintentionally stirs up multiple problems on the way to
solving a single problem.
I see these above misconceptions as only a few of the choices one might have
in parenting children. And the misconceptions don't sound very fun, for the
parent or for the child. It conjures up a picture of kids who "have to" have
supervision and direction at all times in order to do anything at all,
sitting or being still, not being very adventurous or independent, the only
thing acceptable for children to do is being academic showpieces for their
parents.
The word "sometimes" in place of all those "always" and "never" words is but
a starting point, the tip of the iceberg, as to the many choices parents
*really* have. Sometimes, or as many times as a parent can spare, a child
can run about having fun and this can be much more fun with than without the
parent. With just that first "sometimes" I've already found a little more
fun. Karl just had a blast playing games that he has left on the shelf for
months. He's old enough to know they're academic but it was fun for him. He
doesn't see them as dry or boring because he has the choice to play them or
not as he likes. In other words, sometimes he does things that could be
considered academic.
~Katherine
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overall misconception that decisions for parents only have two extremes for
choosing from, even if the words "always" and "never" don't appear in such
misconceptions:
--always leaving your kids alone or never leaving your kids alone
--always letting your children run wild or never letting your children run
wild
--always allowing children to do anything that comes to their heads or never
allowing children to do anything
--always using curriculum/workbooks or never using curriculum/workbooks
--kids always teaching (learning by) themselves or kids never teaching
(learning by) themselves
--kids always learning things considered "academic" or kids never learning
things considered "academic"
--kids always running the show or kids never running the show
I think I could always be happy saying if unschooling means never punishing
a child, though life itself is not set up so a parent can guarantee that
children always "gets away" with everything, and, sure, some things I would
prefer for children to get away with. It's the nature of punishment that it
almost always unintentionally stirs up multiple problems on the way to
solving a single problem.
I see these above misconceptions as only a few of the choices one might have
in parenting children. And the misconceptions don't sound very fun, for the
parent or for the child. It conjures up a picture of kids who "have to" have
supervision and direction at all times in order to do anything at all,
sitting or being still, not being very adventurous or independent, the only
thing acceptable for children to do is being academic showpieces for their
parents.
The word "sometimes" in place of all those "always" and "never" words is but
a starting point, the tip of the iceberg, as to the many choices parents
*really* have. Sometimes, or as many times as a parent can spare, a child
can run about having fun and this can be much more fun with than without the
parent. With just that first "sometimes" I've already found a little more
fun. Karl just had a blast playing games that he has left on the shelf for
months. He's old enough to know they're academic but it was fun for him. He
doesn't see them as dry or boring because he has the choice to play them or
not as he likes. In other words, sometimes he does things that could be
considered academic.
~Katherine
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Sandra Dodd
-=-Karl just had a blast playing games that he has left on the shelf for
months. He's old enough to know they're academic but it was fun for
him. He
doesn't see them as dry or boring because he has the choice to play
them or
not as he likes. In other words, sometimes he does things that could be
considered academic.-=-
ARE they "academic"? They belong to an academy?
But Karl isn't academic. So if he learns from something designed for
teachers to use, he's still learning in a natural way.
I think unschoolers shouldn't consider anything "academic" except
maybe high-tuition school with uniforms.
When kids don't need to prove their "academic standing" before playing
sports or music or video games or attending their clubs or dance or
martial arts classes... then how can their lives have any "academic"
aspect anymore?
Sandra
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months. He's old enough to know they're academic but it was fun for
him. He
doesn't see them as dry or boring because he has the choice to play
them or
not as he likes. In other words, sometimes he does things that could be
considered academic.-=-
ARE they "academic"? They belong to an academy?
But Karl isn't academic. So if he learns from something designed for
teachers to use, he's still learning in a natural way.
I think unschoolers shouldn't consider anything "academic" except
maybe high-tuition school with uniforms.
When kids don't need to prove their "academic standing" before playing
sports or music or video games or attending their clubs or dance or
martial arts classes... then how can their lives have any "academic"
aspect anymore?
Sandra
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Jenny Cyphers
***--unschooling means that the kids teach themselves.
well, sometimes, but not always and not for every kid and not in every
situation. unschooling really involves learning in the way that works
for your child on the schedule that works for him/her. max sometimes
teaches himself. sometimes he asks to take a class. sometimes i suggest
a class or teacher. sometimes i show him how to do something myself...
etc...***
This is one of those little catches in unschooling discussions! People don't teach themselves anything. People learn. Teaching is something that is done as an action to another, even if that action implies that the someone on the receiving end is learning. The two are not the same. Teaching is very different from learning and that difference is a big part of unschooling.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
well, sometimes, but not always and not for every kid and not in every
situation. unschooling really involves learning in the way that works
for your child on the schedule that works for him/her. max sometimes
teaches himself. sometimes he asks to take a class. sometimes i suggest
a class or teacher. sometimes i show him how to do something myself...
etc...***
This is one of those little catches in unschooling discussions! People don't teach themselves anything. People learn. Teaching is something that is done as an action to another, even if that action implies that the someone on the receiving end is learning. The two are not the same. Teaching is very different from learning and that difference is a big part of unschooling.
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k
>>>Teaching is very different from learning and that difference is a bigpart of unschooling.<<<
The reason it's such a big part of unschooling is most parents who get into
unschooling are coming from a perspective of how things work in school,
having gone to school or been a school-at-home student themselves. For
parents, teaching means instilling knowledge from the outside into the
child. The same is true for a child who has been a student either at home or
school. For them, learning is a much better word for getting the concepts of
unschooling.
For a child who has never been to school and has never been a student at
home, teaching probably means being mentored and having a choice as to when
to start or stop going to the mentor for information. The word teaching
isn't likely to be as confusing for the unschooled child as it is for the
unschooling parent.
In other words, it's something the unschooling parent could do well to learn
but it isn't an idea that has to be made clear to the unschooled child.
~Katherine
On Mon, Apr 19, 2010 at 2:39 PM, Jenny Cyphers <jenstarc4@...> wrote:
> ***--unschooling means that the kids teach themselves.
>
> well, sometimes, but not always and not for every kid and not in every
> situation. unschooling really involves learning in the way that works
> for your child on the schedule that works for him/her. max sometimes
> teaches himself. sometimes he asks to take a class. sometimes i suggest
> a class or teacher. sometimes i show him how to do something myself...
> etc...***
>
> This is one of those little catches in unschooling discussions! People
> don't teach themselves anything. People learn. Teaching is something that
> is done as an action to another, even if that action implies that the
> someone on the receiving end is learning. The two are not the same.
> Teaching is very different from learning and that difference is a big part
> of unschooling.
>
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
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Sandra Dodd
-=-In other words, it's something the unschooling parent could do well
to learn
but it isn't an idea that has to be made clear to the unschooled
child.-=-
Good point.
That goes for most of unschooling.
I rarely ever talked to my kids about unschooling at all, in any way.
I'm taken aback, still, when I hear a parent talking to the kid all
about how unschooling is and how it works. In a good unschooling day,
why talk about that!?
Sandra
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to learn
but it isn't an idea that has to be made clear to the unschooled
child.-=-
Good point.
That goes for most of unschooling.
I rarely ever talked to my kids about unschooling at all, in any way.
I'm taken aback, still, when I hear a parent talking to the kid all
about how unschooling is and how it works. In a good unschooling day,
why talk about that!?
Sandra
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