How unschooling changes lives
Sandra Dodd
This is a description of a family, and I’ll tell you more below:
_____________________
Because of home education, we have had an incredible opportunity to be a family, in a way that few in our busy and pressurized modern world experience. For most people, family time is something snatched – briefly – out of the myriad responsibilities and requirements placed on them by separate lives and separate agendas.
Craig and I know our children, and our children know us – strengths and weaknesses. We share life so closely together. There is lots of opportunity to communicate our interests, values, beliefs, problems and problem solving approaches. There is time to talk. Concepts and ideas are hotly debated and argued over. Standards are set and ideals are tested in practical contexts. There is time to be real.
The children all have a strong sense of identity and personhood. They know what they want out of life and have done so from an early age. They are all very different to one another, with different interests, learning styles and personalities. And yet they are also good friends. They know each other well. They experience the inevitable clashes that are the result of people living closely together, and they grow in their relational skills as a result. In spite of the occasional flare up in sibling strife, they look after each other and care for each other and stick up for each other when the chips are down.
_______________________
Cathy Koetsier wrote that.
I was on her site looking for some information about the sort of horse “training” (not the best term) she’s doing these days. She and some of her grown and nearly-grown children train horses in ways that are much more like unschooling than traditional methods.
The quote above is from this page:
http://www.christian-unschooling.com/about-me.html
It continues, near the bottom.
The descriptions of the children are a couple of years out of date—they’re a bit older now.
Cathy is one of several moms I’m going to interview or survey (some and some) for an article about unschooling and religion, for HSC’s online magazine. I’ve visited her in person and hope to be able to do so again in early September this year, because she has moved from Hampshire to Norfolk.
It’s a good description, and for anyone even slightly worried about religion (Christianity especially) clashing with unschooling, or who has Christian relatives being critical, that page (and her larger site, where you’ll be if you go there) might help.
Sandra
_____________________
Because of home education, we have had an incredible opportunity to be a family, in a way that few in our busy and pressurized modern world experience. For most people, family time is something snatched – briefly – out of the myriad responsibilities and requirements placed on them by separate lives and separate agendas.
Craig and I know our children, and our children know us – strengths and weaknesses. We share life so closely together. There is lots of opportunity to communicate our interests, values, beliefs, problems and problem solving approaches. There is time to talk. Concepts and ideas are hotly debated and argued over. Standards are set and ideals are tested in practical contexts. There is time to be real.
The children all have a strong sense of identity and personhood. They know what they want out of life and have done so from an early age. They are all very different to one another, with different interests, learning styles and personalities. And yet they are also good friends. They know each other well. They experience the inevitable clashes that are the result of people living closely together, and they grow in their relational skills as a result. In spite of the occasional flare up in sibling strife, they look after each other and care for each other and stick up for each other when the chips are down.
_______________________
Cathy Koetsier wrote that.
I was on her site looking for some information about the sort of horse “training” (not the best term) she’s doing these days. She and some of her grown and nearly-grown children train horses in ways that are much more like unschooling than traditional methods.
The quote above is from this page:
http://www.christian-unschooling.com/about-me.html
It continues, near the bottom.
The descriptions of the children are a couple of years out of date—they’re a bit older now.
Cathy is one of several moms I’m going to interview or survey (some and some) for an article about unschooling and religion, for HSC’s online magazine. I’ve visited her in person and hope to be able to do so again in early September this year, because she has moved from Hampshire to Norfolk.
It’s a good description, and for anyone even slightly worried about religion (Christianity especially) clashing with unschooling, or who has Christian relatives being critical, that page (and her larger site, where you’ll be if you go there) might help.
Sandra
Sandra Dodd
OH! I left out a link.
I’ll be writing about unschooling and religion for The Homeschooler Post:
http://www.homeschoolerpost.com
There’s the link.
Sandra
I’ll be writing about unschooling and religion for The Homeschooler Post:
http://www.homeschoolerpost.com
There’s the link.
Sandra