kgharriman1@...

So I wrote recently about how my 10 year old wants to homeschool using a distance education program. That is be enrolled in a distance ed school and so she can experience school without going there.

This brings up a complication when it comes to unschooling in queensland. The state requires an annual report which includes dated samples of maths and language arts (dated 3 months apart to show evidence of progress). The last 2 years I have passed and am allowed to continue homeschooling. To do this i needed to have her sit and do schoolish work just so i could submit the report. It was horrendous. The requirements go strongly against what I am about here .

So requests to enroll in a de school would get us put of that job but send us through a whole bunch of other hoops to jump through. The longer I have been unschooling and watching the learning that happens every second of every day and most of it intangible, the more distasteful it's felt being forced to jump through ridiculous hoops.

My question is how am I supposed to really unschool while we live in queensland when I am required by law to submit samples of learning on paper.

I hear distance ed is a very large workload. I just can't see her sitting at the table competing hours of bookwork.

My report is due April 11 and at this point I have nothing to hand in.

And yes I have turned alot of natural learning into school speak. Eg. Calculating distances in the car while we drive, cooking, allowance adding up, and last year I wrote realms about the wonderful merits of minecraft and put a school twist on it so the teachers marking me would feel happy. But you can only rehash these classic natural learning episodes so much. I have run out of ideas!

So I am having trouble pulling apart my problem here.

Or maybe I should just do what lots of homeschoolers do and buy a maths and a language arts curriculum and at least I would have hard copy samples of work to submit. From an unschooling viewpoint out would just be something we could do when the mood strikes and hopefully over the course of time I would have sufficient evidence to prove learning is taking place.

I just want to unschool purely and simply. I don't want anything to do with curriculum!! I need help with the bigger picture I think please.

Sandra Dodd

Jo Isaac

==That is be enrolled in a distance ed school and so she can experience school without going there. This brings up a complication when it comes to unschooling in queensland.==

If you were enrolled in DE, then you wouldn't be registered as homeschoolers anymore though? Only if you didn't want to continue with DE. 

==My question is how am I supposed to really unschool while we live in queensland when I am required by law to submit samples of learning on paper.==

Either by partnering with your daughter to come up with a fun way to get the samples done so you can just get on and unschool, or by doing the samples yourself. Others may disagree, but I don't see that as anymore dishonest than a parent helping with a child's homework in school. 


== But you can only rehash these classic natural learning episodes so much. I have run out of ideas!==

There are plenty of reports online to give you ideas, some are more school-at-home, but could still offer inspiration. I'm happy to help if you want to contact me off list - I've written a couple of Queensland applications for people in the past.

Jo

Cass Kotrba

-=- So I wrote recently about how my 10 year old wants to homeschool using a distance education program. That is be enrolled in a distance ed school and so she can experience school without going there.-=-

Are you concerned that once she is enrolled it will be difficult to return to homeschool?  I wonder if this is a valid concern or more of a fear that is growing larger in your mind do to the unknown factor.  Can you find out what would be involved in switching back?  

When my daughter wanted to try school, after having been unschooled for a couple of years, I had a lot of fears and concerns but most of them were due to my own lack of knowledge and my own insecurities.  In the end, it was actually pretty simple for us to decide to either do school or return to homeschool.  If you could find out more about the process where you live that would be useful in helping you clarify your thoughts on the subject.  

If you learn that it is not a simple thing for your daughter to switch back after committing to the program then maybe you could find a way to meet her desire to "do school" in an alternative way.

I went back to find the original post, "Daughter wants to try curriculum", and here are some quotes from there:

-=- this year my daughter who is 10 and has never been to school wants to do school at home homeschool using a distance education curriculum (her cousins do this as they live in remote property in Australia-=-

-=-  I think it's to fit in or to make sure she's covered in case she's tested and she is also aware that if she wants to be a vet (if she's not a professional ballerina) she needs to cover maths etc. at university. -=-

-=- I have suggested we just do mathusee or some other type of schooly thing by ourselves if she wants to experience what school is. But she wants to enroll in this school of distance education. I think it's so she can get best of both worlds.-=-

-=-She's done a drawing of her Dream Desk! She's excited to do school work.-=-

I wonder what it is about the distance education in particular that is so appealing to her.  Maybe the fact that her cousins will be doing it makes it seem desirable and that, combined with the idea that she will be doing the "right" type of work for a child her age, is the draw?

Maybe you could find a curriculum that other kids her age are doing without actually involving an official change in your status.  Perhaps what she's really seeking is reassurance that she is learning important things and is not missing out.

-=-  or to make sure she's covered in case she's tested and she is also aware that if she wants to be a vet (if she's not a professional ballerina) she needs to cover maths etc. at university. -=-

It sounds here like she is worried that she is falling behind or that she will need to catch up on doing math that she has missed.  I wonder if she is thinking that she should start now so that she doesn't fall further behind? Have you told her "if she wants to be a vet...she needs to cover maths..."?  Could you be giving her mixed messages that are triggering feelings of angst, fear, self doubt in your daughter? I wonder if you yourself still have fears in this area and your daughter is picking up on that.  http://sandradodd.com/math/


My kids and I have all been slow to wrap our minds fully around the idea that they are not missing out on learning math.  While my kid's interactions with math are not the same as their peers I know that they are continuously manipulating numbers and figuring stuff out with all kinds of math concepts.  They are actually developing a much deeper understanding of math concepts than their schooled friends.  It is easier for me to see this than for my kids to see it in themselves so sometimes I try to find ways of (nonchalantly) pointing out their learning to them in an effort to reassure them. 

-=-I have suggested we just do mathusee or some other type of schooly thing by ourselves-=-


Maybe you could find a curriculum, or create your own, that feels real and important, like what other kids are doing instead of doing "some other type of schooly thing by ourselves."


When my daughter went back to school for awhile she enjoyed the homework initially.  I think it gave her a sense of accomplishment.  It was fun, for awhile, to have a task assigned and see it successfully completed.

I wonder if you could help her create her dream desk, help her create a space for herself and help her find some workbooks and materials to be excited about.  You could create assignments for her and make it all feel very official - for as long as it is appealing but without the stress of involving an official change.  Help her feel like she IS getting "the best of both worlds".

-Cass