deschooling question
Tress Miles
I'm wondering about deschooling. For a child who has been to school in the
past, is there a ballpark figure for how long deschooling might last?
In other words, could you say that for every year a child was in school,
deschooling might take ___ months (or years)?
OR does it vary greatly for each child?
My 9-year-old daughter was in day care for 2 years and public school
kindergarten for 7 months. It seems that we have been deschooling for 3
1/2 years
I don't really feel that we have moved into unschooling yet. She basically
plays with her toys most of the time. I will add that she was adopted with
a trauma
history and is quite immature.
Thanks,
Tress
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
past, is there a ballpark figure for how long deschooling might last?
In other words, could you say that for every year a child was in school,
deschooling might take ___ months (or years)?
OR does it vary greatly for each child?
My 9-year-old daughter was in day care for 2 years and public school
kindergarten for 7 months. It seems that we have been deschooling for 3
1/2 years
I don't really feel that we have moved into unschooling yet. She basically
plays with her toys most of the time. I will add that she was adopted with
a trauma
history and is quite immature.
Thanks,
Tress
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Sandra Dodd
-=-In other words, could you say that for every year a child was in school,
deschooling might take ___ months (or years)?-=-
Since before I was involved in homeschooling (20 years ago), people were saying to allow a month per year in school.
So for a child who was in school four years, don't expect any calm interest in academic topics for at least four months.
Parents might have been in school for ten to twenty years (some more, some taught), so for the parents, it's likely to be a year or two before they themselves are able to see the world without expecting to see schoolishness. That's a year or two of being consciously aware that they hope and intend to come to see the world in a new and different way.
So for kids, deschooling tends to look like a vacation.
For parents, it's good when it involves some exploration of new ways to see things, and new ways to learn.
-=- It seems that we have been deschooling for 3
1/2 years
I don't really feel that we have moved into unschooling yet. She basically
plays with her toys most of the time.-=-
Her learning should come from playing with toys, pretty much. Yours could too if you played with more toys. :-)
Are you thinking that unschooling will look more like school and less like toys, perhaps?
-=-I will add that she was adopted with
a trauma history and is quite immature.-=-
That could add to the time deschooling could take, if she's aware of the adoption and has memories of the other family. It might take a while for her to feel accepted and secure.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
deschooling might take ___ months (or years)?-=-
Since before I was involved in homeschooling (20 years ago), people were saying to allow a month per year in school.
So for a child who was in school four years, don't expect any calm interest in academic topics for at least four months.
Parents might have been in school for ten to twenty years (some more, some taught), so for the parents, it's likely to be a year or two before they themselves are able to see the world without expecting to see schoolishness. That's a year or two of being consciously aware that they hope and intend to come to see the world in a new and different way.
So for kids, deschooling tends to look like a vacation.
For parents, it's good when it involves some exploration of new ways to see things, and new ways to learn.
-=- It seems that we have been deschooling for 3
1/2 years
I don't really feel that we have moved into unschooling yet. She basically
plays with her toys most of the time.-=-
Her learning should come from playing with toys, pretty much. Yours could too if you played with more toys. :-)
Are you thinking that unschooling will look more like school and less like toys, perhaps?
-=-I will add that she was adopted with
a trauma history and is quite immature.-=-
That could add to the time deschooling could take, if she's aware of the adoption and has memories of the other family. It might take a while for her to feel accepted and secure.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Joyce Fetteroll
On Dec 10, 2011, at 12:07 AM, Tress Miles wrote:
Unschooling will most often look like play, especially when kids are young. It can look like staring at the ceiling. It can look like kids having fun. It can look like trying things out. It can look like experimenting. It can look like being curious.
Except for the 1st 3, the words describing what unschooling looks like are also used in school. But the words mean something different in school. What you want to look for are the original meanings without the school overlay.
In school experimenting refers to science class. (And drugs!) In real life it can be anything. Banging on pots. Telling lies. Changing story lines during play. Seeing what changes when different choices are made in video games. Pouring and immersing and splashing in a bubble bath. It's all about "What happens if ...?"
Being curious in school means paying attention to what's being taught and asking questions. In real life, it's asking questions about *anything*. When's Daddy coming home. When's Pokemon on? What's *that*??? (on the dinner plate ;-) Why does Sammy hate me? Where does meat come from? ;-)
Joyce
> I don't really feel that we have moved into unschooling yet. She basicallyWhat do you expect unschooling to look like? That may be where you're going wrong.
> plays with her toys most of the time.
Unschooling will most often look like play, especially when kids are young. It can look like staring at the ceiling. It can look like kids having fun. It can look like trying things out. It can look like experimenting. It can look like being curious.
Except for the 1st 3, the words describing what unschooling looks like are also used in school. But the words mean something different in school. What you want to look for are the original meanings without the school overlay.
In school experimenting refers to science class. (And drugs!) In real life it can be anything. Banging on pots. Telling lies. Changing story lines during play. Seeing what changes when different choices are made in video games. Pouring and immersing and splashing in a bubble bath. It's all about "What happens if ...?"
Being curious in school means paying attention to what's being taught and asking questions. In real life, it's asking questions about *anything*. When's Daddy coming home. When's Pokemon on? What's *that*??? (on the dinner plate ;-) Why does Sammy hate me? Where does meat come from? ;-)
Joyce
Jenny Cyphers
***I don't really feel that we have moved into unschooling yet. She basically
plays with her toys most of the time.***
What do you feel she should be doing instead? What do you think unschooling should look like?
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
plays with her toys most of the time.***
What do you feel she should be doing instead? What do you think unschooling should look like?
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Tress Miles
I have read on this group that after a child has deschooled, they will be
interested in academic areas again, not in the traditional schooling sense
but in a naturally curious way. I hope I worded that accurately in the way
that I have seen it expressed here. My daughter is not interested in
academic areas at all. She mostly plays with little plastic animals,
making them talk to each other and act out social scenarios. She also
likes to watch youtube videos of other people playing video games. We have
Minecraft, Terraria and Jumpstart but often she becomes frightened playing
them herself, maybe because of her sensory issues which make them seem like
reality.
I have also read, either on this group or in unschooling blogs, that a
child must feel very safe and secure in their family setting in order to
learn on their own, as unschoolers do. I am sure that my daughter is not
to that point yet. I adopted her at age 2 internationally, and she
remembers her birth family. She experienced several traumatic events in
her early life, the last of which (hopefully) was the transition to me..
So maybe she just needs more time, not so much to deschool, but to feel
secure enough to let down her defenses and relax and learn on her own.
Tress, mom to Lillie, age 9
Unschooling since 2/08
interested in academic areas again, not in the traditional schooling sense
but in a naturally curious way. I hope I worded that accurately in the way
that I have seen it expressed here. My daughter is not interested in
academic areas at all. She mostly plays with little plastic animals,
making them talk to each other and act out social scenarios. She also
likes to watch youtube videos of other people playing video games. We have
Minecraft, Terraria and Jumpstart but often she becomes frightened playing
them herself, maybe because of her sensory issues which make them seem like
reality.
I have also read, either on this group or in unschooling blogs, that a
child must feel very safe and secure in their family setting in order to
learn on their own, as unschoolers do. I am sure that my daughter is not
to that point yet. I adopted her at age 2 internationally, and she
remembers her birth family. She experienced several traumatic events in
her early life, the last of which (hopefully) was the transition to me..
So maybe she just needs more time, not so much to deschool, but to feel
secure enough to let down her defenses and relax and learn on her own.
Tress, mom to Lillie, age 9
Unschooling since 2/08
On Sat, Dec 10, 2011 at 7:25 PM, Jenny Cyphers <jenstarc4@...> wrote:
> **
>
>
> ***I don't really feel that we have moved into unschooling yet. She
> basically
> plays with her toys most of the time.***
>
> What do you feel she should be doing instead? What do you think
> unschooling should look like?
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Sandra Dodd
-=- I hope I worded that accurately in the way
that I have seen it expressed here. My daughter is not interested in
academic areas at all. She mostly plays with little plastic animals,
making them talk to each other and act out social scenarios.-=-
Does she know the names of the animals and where they would have lived naturally? Does she have ideas about which ones are bigger than the others in real life? Can she count them? When they play social situations, is she acting through things that have happened recently, or in her childhood? Is she acting out being sweet and loving? Is she acting out abandonment?
It doesn't matter for the list; I'm not asking questions that need answers. I'm trying to pull out ideas for you to consider when you look for what she might be learning.
http://sandradodd.com/seeingit
That's about why sometimes it's hard to see what natural learning looks like.
http://sandradodd.com/checklists
That's about how to scan for knowledge, and also for ideas for expanding (in discussions, or strewing) on what she's interested it. It could be animals or video games.
http://sandradodd.com/strewing
Sandra
that I have seen it expressed here. My daughter is not interested in
academic areas at all. She mostly plays with little plastic animals,
making them talk to each other and act out social scenarios.-=-
Does she know the names of the animals and where they would have lived naturally? Does she have ideas about which ones are bigger than the others in real life? Can she count them? When they play social situations, is she acting through things that have happened recently, or in her childhood? Is she acting out being sweet and loving? Is she acting out abandonment?
It doesn't matter for the list; I'm not asking questions that need answers. I'm trying to pull out ideas for you to consider when you look for what she might be learning.
http://sandradodd.com/seeingit
That's about why sometimes it's hard to see what natural learning looks like.
http://sandradodd.com/checklists
That's about how to scan for knowledge, and also for ideas for expanding (in discussions, or strewing) on what she's interested it. It could be animals or video games.
http://sandradodd.com/strewing
Sandra
Meredith
Tress Miles <milesdt@...> wrote:
There are whole fields of academic study which revolve around social scenarios and how to understand and/or manipulate them. Sociology. Economics. Graphic design. Literature. Quantitative analysis. And there are real grown-up jobs in which thinking about social interactions is really important - receptionists and nurses, ministers, human resource personnel, managers.
---Meredith
> My daughter is not interested inPart of the problem is you're still Thinking in traditional academic terms and not seeing learning as a result.
> academic areas at all. She mostly plays with little plastic animals,
> making them talk to each other and act out social scenarios.
There are whole fields of academic study which revolve around social scenarios and how to understand and/or manipulate them. Sociology. Economics. Graphic design. Literature. Quantitative analysis. And there are real grown-up jobs in which thinking about social interactions is really important - receptionists and nurses, ministers, human resource personnel, managers.
>> she becomes frightened playingMaybe because there's too much going on and its hard to figure things out on her own. Have you shown her how to access cheats? That can help. Also show her how to lower various volumes - sound effects, music and dialog are generally separate, and getting rid of just the music can help enormously.
> them herself, maybe because of her sensory issues which make them seem like
> reality.
---Meredith
Sandra Dodd
-=>> she becomes frightened playing
An unschooling dad wrote some years back about helping kids with games, too. I like Meredith's ideas.
Here might be some more you can use:
http://sandradodd.com/game/cheats
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> them herself, maybe because of her sensory issues which make them seem like-=-Maybe because there's too much going on and its hard to figure things out on her own. Have you shown her how to access cheats? That can help. Also show her how to lower various volumes - sound effects, music and dialog are generally separate, and getting rid of just the music can help enormously. -==
> reality.
An unschooling dad wrote some years back about helping kids with games, too. I like Meredith's ideas.
Here might be some more you can use:
http://sandradodd.com/game/cheats
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
tucsonhmn
I actually helped my son find cheats and it was a great experience with 'research'. We went online and googled certain keywords to get the right levels. Research can be a great learning tool in itself.
-Michelle
-Michelle
--- In [email protected], Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...> wrote:
>
> -=>> she becomes frightened playing
> > them herself, maybe because of her sensory issues which make them seem like
> > reality.
>
> -=-Maybe because there's too much going on and its hard to figure things out on her own. Have you shown her how to access cheats? That can help. Also show her how to lower various volumes - sound effects, music and dialog are generally separate, and getting rid of just the music can help enormously. -==
>
>
> An unschooling dad wrote some years back about helping kids with games, too. I like Meredith's ideas.
> Here might be some more you can use:
>
> http://sandradodd.com/game/cheats
>
> Sandra
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
Joyce Fetteroll
On Dec 12, 2011, at 9:05 AM, tucsonhmn wrote:
It's realer than the "research" assigned in school. Unless a kid cares about the subject for his term paper or project. Then it can be deemed research without the quotes :-)
Joyce
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> it was a great experience with 'research'.It wasn't 'research'. It was research! :-) It was searching for real answers to real questions.
It's realer than the "research" assigned in school. Unless a kid cares about the subject for his term paper or project. Then it can be deemed research without the quotes :-)
Joyce
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