article about unschooling - My Parents Were Homeschooling Anarchists
Cara Barlow
The article published on Nov 8, 2011 in the NYT is by a grown woman who was
unschooled in the 1970's until she was 10 years old.
What's especially interesting is that there's a side link to an article
about unschooling by the woman's mother that was published in the NYT in
the 1975, blog posts from her mother and father commenting on the current
article and more.
I haven't had time to go through all of it, but the tone of the main
article is unhappiness and resentment. It's pretty sad.
My Parents were Homeschooling Anarchists by Margaret Heidenry, Oct. 9, 2011
<
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/13/magazine/my-parents-were-home-schooling-anarchists.html?pagewanted=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha210
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unschooled in the 1970's until she was 10 years old.
What's especially interesting is that there's a side link to an article
about unschooling by the woman's mother that was published in the NYT in
the 1975, blog posts from her mother and father commenting on the current
article and more.
I haven't had time to go through all of it, but the tone of the main
article is unhappiness and resentment. It's pretty sad.
My Parents were Homeschooling Anarchists by Margaret Heidenry, Oct. 9, 2011
<
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/13/magazine/my-parents-were-home-schooling-anarchists.html?pagewanted=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha210
>Cara B
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Sandra Dodd
-=-I haven't had time to go through all of it, but the tone of the main
article is unhappiness and resentment. It's pretty sad.-=-
They were homeschooled, more than unschooled, and not very well.
They hadn't seen any Hollywood movies.
They didn't own jeans? (Implied, hinted...)
And they went to school, in elementary grades (3rd, 5th and 6th grades?)
I think anytime a parent thinks there should be a school schedule, but then fails to stick to that, the children don't kick into natural unschooling. They think their parents are incompetent, and if the parents are blaming the kids for not paying attention or not "working," then the kids might feel bad, and the relationship between parents and children isn't ideal. "Homeschooling" can split that family.
I hope one of the kids from that family will write up some of the fun parts--the seeing castles and such. :-)
Sandra
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article is unhappiness and resentment. It's pretty sad.-=-
They were homeschooled, more than unschooled, and not very well.
They hadn't seen any Hollywood movies.
They didn't own jeans? (Implied, hinted...)
And they went to school, in elementary grades (3rd, 5th and 6th grades?)
I think anytime a parent thinks there should be a school schedule, but then fails to stick to that, the children don't kick into natural unschooling. They think their parents are incompetent, and if the parents are blaming the kids for not paying attention or not "working," then the kids might feel bad, and the relationship between parents and children isn't ideal. "Homeschooling" can split that family.
I hope one of the kids from that family will write up some of the fun parts--the seeing castles and such. :-)
Sandra
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BRIAN POLIKOWSKY
The author was really really young during the homeschooling years. She was 5 when she went to school.
It also sounds that she resented NOT having money more than anything.
It was more about the parents not working and not having money. She is short of calling her dad lazy ( well she does in other words).
It is really not a nice or happy story. I wonder how someone so young would remember so much in so many details.
Alex Polikowsky
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It also sounds that she resented NOT having money more than anything.
It was more about the parents not working and not having money. She is short of calling her dad lazy ( well she does in other words).
It is really not a nice or happy story. I wonder how someone so young would remember so much in so many details.
Alex Polikowsky
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Marina DeLuca-Howard
The author herself was not unschooled nor homeschooled. It sounds like the
big resentment is *going* to school. Like mid-stream they changed horses.
This is not the sort of thing unschoolers do. The parents chose to
homeschool, unschool and then send the kids to school. So, she is angry
about how she was treated in school, being poor and missing the adventures.
She was too young to be homeschooled at five. It was her siblings who
struggled with going to school. Sounds like Mexico and England were fun.
Poverty and school were not fun.
The adventure began and ended when mom and dad decided, without the kids
getting any preparation or input.
Marina
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big resentment is *going* to school. Like mid-stream they changed horses.
This is not the sort of thing unschoolers do. The parents chose to
homeschool, unschool and then send the kids to school. So, she is angry
about how she was treated in school, being poor and missing the adventures.
She was too young to be homeschooled at five. It was her siblings who
struggled with going to school. Sounds like Mexico and England were fun.
Poverty and school were not fun.
The adventure began and ended when mom and dad decided, without the kids
getting any preparation or input.
Marina
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chris ester
On Sun, Nov 13, 2011 at 3:55 PM, Marina DeLuca-Howard <
delucahoward@...> wrote:
their own needs and the needs of the children came second
Definitely not unschoolers, at least not from my experience.
The author did not seem to hold her parents in very high regard when she
referred to them as 'freeloading'.
It seems that the word "adventure" in the article was actually a euphemism
for poverty and insecurity in a new place, not an exciting experience
that stretches your limits or self concept.
I wonder if the years spent homeschooling would have been remembered more
fondly if the parents hadn't sent them to school with no preparation?
Would they have felt better about homeschooling if the parents had actually
either unschooled them OR homeschooled them, instead of what appears to
have been a haphazard hit and run approach to learning?
Chris
delucahoward@...> wrote:
> **I agree with you and it sounds as if the parents were really trying to meet
>
>
> >>The adventure began and ended when mom and dad decided, without the kids
> getting any preparation or input.
>
> Marina<<<
>
their own needs and the needs of the children came second
Definitely not unschoolers, at least not from my experience.
The author did not seem to hold her parents in very high regard when she
referred to them as 'freeloading'.
It seems that the word "adventure" in the article was actually a euphemism
for poverty and insecurity in a new place, not an exciting experience
that stretches your limits or self concept.
I wonder if the years spent homeschooling would have been remembered more
fondly if the parents hadn't sent them to school with no preparation?
Would they have felt better about homeschooling if the parents had actually
either unschooled them OR homeschooled them, instead of what appears to
have been a haphazard hit and run approach to learning?
Chris
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