supermomblues

Hi everyone! I am an avid blogger (I have 3 that I write regularly). I started a blog when I started homeschooling my kids and one of the topics I've been writing on is different methods of homeschooling.

My current blog post is on unschooling, and I want to make sure that I represent it in an honest and true light - I don't want people to read my post and get the wrong idea about what unschooling really is. I am wondering if I might post (copy and paste is) here and get some input? The direction I'm headed with it now is more of what unschooling ISN'T rather than what it IS, and I need more direction on how to explain what it IS.

Thank you in advance!

Joyce Fetteroll

On Apr 30, 2013, at 9:00 AM, supermomblues wrote:

> I am wondering if I might post (copy and paste is) here and get some input?

Sure. It could be helpful to you and the group to analyze a definition of unschooling. :-)

Joyce

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supermomblues

>>>> Sure. It could be helpful to you and the group to analyze a definition of unschooling. :-)<<<<

Thank you!
Here it is:


"One of my favorite homeschooling books on the market right now is called The Big Book of Unschooling by Sandra Dodd. It has some amazing ideas and affirmations on not only a child's education, but parenting in general.

Sandra Dodd is one of the forerunners in the Unschooling movement, along with Pam Sooroshian, Joyce Fetteroll, Kathy Ward, and others. They all have ideas about what Unschooling is about, and some of them are more radical than others, but they all have the same premise about the basis of what unschooling is:

Unschooling is child-led learning without a set schedule or curriculum.
But that's not really a good explanation of it.

There are two different philosophies in Unschooling.

The first, and most prominent is called Radical Unschooling, where children make ever decision for themselves. In a radical unschooled home, there are no rules, no schedules, no guidelines. Children choose every aspect of their day from when to get up, to what they're going to eat, to what they're going to do that day, and even what time they're going to bed. It's not uncommon to find radically unschooled children up at 2 am playing video games. While some parents may look at this and find it harmful, in some families it works quite well. The philosophy is that when children are given the freedom to govern themselves, they make better choices than we would think they would.

For example, a child given the freedom to chose whatever he/she wants to eat will often chose junk food - for a time. But soon, the child will throw in some healthier choices. In my own experience with this, I have given Miss E and Mr. J freedom to chose whatever they want to eat. Sometimes they chose junk, and sometimes they chose healthier foods. As of late, Miss. E has become concerned with weight gain and so has begun to chose healthier options like fruit and vegetables. Mr. J enjoys a wide variety of foods. From what I've seen, I am fostering a healthy attitude about food for my children. They don't obsess over what they're going to eat all the time, nor do they obsess over one type of food. My children have, on their own, chosen a healthier lifestyle.

This is what the idea of Radical Unschooling is about.
But sometimes it can go very, very wrong.
There is a fine line between Radical Unschooling and Neglectful Parenting.
So let me clarify that right now:
Radical Unschooling is NOT Neglectful Parenting.
It is NOT allowing your children to go through life unattended.
It is NOT allowing your children to run wild with no parental supervision.
It is NOT "uneducating" your child.
It is NOT consistently sitting at home playing video games.

It IS allowing your children the freedom to learn what they want, when they're ready.
It IS allowing your children the freedom to make their own choices.
It IS "partner-parenting" - guiding your children, NOT ruling over them.

There are some parents that are uncomfortable with the radical form of unschooling, and those parents chose to unschool in a different way. These parents allow their children freedom of choice in what they learn, and do not use any curriculum. The children learn through life experiences, when they're ready. This is where the similarity ends. This form of unschooling has rules and chores and bedtimes. It is still unschooling by educational philosophy, but is not radical, and there is much debate as to weather this is beneficial for the child or not..."



--- In [email protected], Joyce Fetteroll <jfetteroll@...> wrote:
>
>
> On Apr 30, 2013, at 9:00 AM, supermomblues wrote:
>
> > I am wondering if I might post (copy and paste is) here and get some input?
>
> Sure. It could be helpful to you and the group to analyze a definition of unschooling. :-)
>
> Joyce
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>

Colleen

****Unschooling is child-led learning without a set schedule or curriculum.****

Unschooling is...
*Helping your child follow his/her interests and passions, out in the Real World.
*Living as if school doesn't exist (I can't remember if it was Sandra Dodd or someone else who first said that, but I like it :-)).
*Recognizing that learning can come from a variety of experiences, interactions with people, toys, outings, games, TV shows and movies, video games, etc. - the world is full of learning opportunities, and unschoolers are out in the world (whether the world on a particular day is their own house or backyard or a far away place or anywhere in between) learning all the time!
*Being involved with your children, learning alongside them, enjoying them, supporting them, and bringing new materials and opportunities into their lives based on things they like, questions they ask, or interests they express.

But it's not child-led learning, in my opinion.

Pam Sorooshian wrote about the difference between child-led learning and unschooling:
http://learninghappens.wordpress.com/2011/09/24/unschooling-is-not-child-led-learning/

****Radical Unschooling, where children make ever decision for themselves****
****there are no rules, no schedules, no guidelines.****

My 10 year old does not make every decision for himself. He expresses his needs, wants, interests, and desires - and his dad and I try to the best of our ability to help him meet those need, wants, interests, and desires.

And we don't have *arbitrary* rules, schedules, or guidelines.

But today, my husband is attending a funeral for our neighbor who passed away last week. He needed to get up early to get ready to go, so we all went to bed on the early side last night. My son likes my husband to make him breakfast, so we told him he'd need to get up before 9 if he wanted his dad to cook for him before the funeral today. He asked us to wake him up in time, so we did.

Our morning today was definitely more scheduled than usual - but it wasn't for an arbitrary reason - it was for a Real reason. Unschoolers aren't exempted from reality - schedules, rules (especially those posted in public places, like no throwing rocks at the playground or no dogs allowed on the beach after May 15), and guidelines are a part of our life just as they are part of anyone's life. The difference is that we skip *arbitrary* rules like "10 year olds need to be in bed by 8 PM every day" or "you must eat all your dinner before you have a cookie" or other such random things.

Those are a couple things that popped out at me from your post :-)
Colleen

Joyce Fetteroll

On May 1, 2013, at 8:19 AM, supermomblues wrote:

> Unschooling is child-led learning without a set schedule or curriculum.

On the surface unschooling can look child led. But the image that phrase creates cuts out the necessary part the parents play.

Better might be "Unschooling is creating a rich environment that supports and encourages children in exploring what interest them to discover what is meaningful to them."

I've said that children don't unschool. They learn. Parents unschool by the environment they create for their kids to learn in.

> The first, and most prominent is called Radical Unschooling,

Only if prominent is read as "loudest" perhaps. ;-) Radical unschoolers are just a small segment of the broader group who call themselves unschoolers.

The regular unschoolers are more numerous. They run the gamut from helping their children explore freely to helping their children find the classes and projects the kids enjoy

I think the radical unschoolers *talk* a lot more about unschooling than regular unschoolers because applying this philosophy of learning to all of life involves letting go of a lot of baggage around what children need to learn and grow. And rooting out and eradicating baggage can take a great deal of discussion and reflection.

> where children make ever decision for themselves.

Clearer is that choice is valued as a primary avenue for learning. So children are supported in and given a great deal of choice in their lives.

> In a radical unschooled home, there are no rules, no schedules, no guidelines.

Clearer is in a radical unschooling home principles are emphasized, not rules. Rather than "Don't hit your sister," the focus is on finding ways to meet needs that are kind, respectful, safe, doable and so on.

Some unschoolers have very scheduled days :-) There are no *arbitrarily imposed* schedules. Days are scheduled around the children's activities and daily living so things can get done. Some families live with very loose schedules. Personality and need determine how much the days are scheduled.

There isn't guide*lines* but there is guidance. If kids aren't meeting their needs in a kind, respectful way, Mom is there to sort things out and offer better approaches. Social skills are *much* harder to figure out than rocket science! ;-) Kids need to see negotiations and juggling of needs done lots of times to begin building a working understanding of it.

> Children choose every aspect of their day

It's clearer to say children are given choice. "Children choose" sounds like an unbreakable rule and mom must obey.

> It's not uncommon to find radically unschooled children up at 2 am playing video games.

Taken out of the context of parents creating a safe way for kids who are old enough to do stay up late at night, the above will just paint a picture of neglect.

If you want to paint a picture of learning that's very different than school, maybe: "It's not uncommon for radically unschooled kids to grow their understanding of math from video games, of history from exploring early baseball, and of social skills from playing Dungeons and Dragons."

> The philosophy is that when children are given the freedom to govern themselves, they make better choices than we would think they would.

When kids are supported in making choices they get better and better at making thoughtful choices. The emphasis is away from making the "right" choice and on the natural self reflection of how well a choice worked. Also parents are there to steer kids away from the choices that are hurtful or dangerous.

> For example, a child given the freedom to chose whatever he/she wants to eat will often chose junk food - for a time.

That doesn't happen with always radically unschooled kids, aside from occasional binges. Though it can happen to a child whose diet has been controlled who is allowed choice. They will often choose to eat a lot of the foods that were limited -- for a time. Once they feel confident those foods won't be limited again, their diets grow more varied as they're better able to listen to what their bodies need.

> It IS allowing your children the freedom to learn what they want, when they're ready.

I would get rid of "the freedom". Freedom can paint a picture of free license.

> It IS allowing your children the freedom to make their own choices.

It IS supporting your children in making their own choices.

> It IS "partner-parenting" - guiding your children, NOT ruling over them.

> There are some parents that are uncomfortable with the radical form of unschooling, and those parents chose to unschool in a different way.

"those parents choose to apply the unschooling philosophy only to academics."

> These parents allow their children freedom of choice in what they learn, and do not use any curriculum. The children learn through life experiences, when they're ready. This is where the similarity ends. This form of unschooling has rules and chores and bedtimes.

An unschooling family *might* have rules and chores and bedtimes. How much choice the kids are allowed outside of academics will vary from family to family. The parenting may be fairly liberal to fairly conservative.

> It is still unschooling by educational philosophy, but is not radical, and there is much debate as to weather this is beneficial for the child or not..."

Are people debating whether radical or regular is better somewhere? I think it's more a difference of opinion. Since unschoolers and radical unschoolers aren't fighting over territory, so to speak, it's easy to ignore each other then let new unschoolers choose for themselves which idea they like. So which camp an unschooler is drawn to depends on how comfortable they are that children can learn the skills they need for life naturally or if they need taught.

Joyce

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Joyce Fetteroll

On May 1, 2013, at 11:07 AM, Colleen wrote:

> Living as if school doesn't exist (I can't remember if it was Sandra Dodd or someone else who first

It was Ned Vare, an unschooling dad from Connecticut who died several years ago. His wife Luz Shosie continues writing about and supporting unschooling.

Joyce

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Sadie Bugni

I really don't see it as a fine line at all. For me, radical unschooling
is the Most involved type of education or parenting there is. I am
involved all day, everyday with my kids. Neglect is leaving them on their
own to figure the world out.
Their education and most importantly, happiness, are at the forefront of
my mind everyday. I don't think a neglectful parent could say that:)

Sadie Bugni


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