Intro and questions
Janice
Hi,
I just joined this list today, and thought I should post a quick
introduction of myself and my family.
My name is Janice, DH is Glen. We have 5 boys - ages 13, 10, 7.5, 6,
and 4. We have been homeschooling since 2001, but I would not yet
truely consider us unschoolers. My oldest two were in the public
school system thru 4th and 1st grade, respectively. My younger 3
have never attended the public schools.
I am very intrigued by the concept of unschooling, but have not been
able to convince myself of how to do this. Both of my oldest two
(the ones that went to public school) are very resistant to anything
that they consider "school" This includes reading anything, even
comic type books, unless forced to do so. They would spend all day,
every day, in front of the the TV, computer or playstation if they
were allowed to.
None of my children has any interest in anything that requires that
we get in the car to get to it. In other words - they want to stay
on our property. We are in a somewhat rural setting - only other
single family dwellings anywhere on our street. There is nothing
within walking distance of us. This makes me very concerned about
unschooling for them.
Also, the youngest three are still non-readers, including the 7.5 yr
old. They have not shown any desire to learn to read at all. They
have all been read to since they were several months old and the
youngest 3 still get bedtime stories at the very least, but the 6 and
7.5 yr olds are getting resistant even to being read to.
Can this really be a good way for my family to learn?
Any input appreciated.
Janice W.
I just joined this list today, and thought I should post a quick
introduction of myself and my family.
My name is Janice, DH is Glen. We have 5 boys - ages 13, 10, 7.5, 6,
and 4. We have been homeschooling since 2001, but I would not yet
truely consider us unschoolers. My oldest two were in the public
school system thru 4th and 1st grade, respectively. My younger 3
have never attended the public schools.
I am very intrigued by the concept of unschooling, but have not been
able to convince myself of how to do this. Both of my oldest two
(the ones that went to public school) are very resistant to anything
that they consider "school" This includes reading anything, even
comic type books, unless forced to do so. They would spend all day,
every day, in front of the the TV, computer or playstation if they
were allowed to.
None of my children has any interest in anything that requires that
we get in the car to get to it. In other words - they want to stay
on our property. We are in a somewhat rural setting - only other
single family dwellings anywhere on our street. There is nothing
within walking distance of us. This makes me very concerned about
unschooling for them.
Also, the youngest three are still non-readers, including the 7.5 yr
old. They have not shown any desire to learn to read at all. They
have all been read to since they were several months old and the
youngest 3 still get bedtime stories at the very least, but the 6 and
7.5 yr olds are getting resistant even to being read to.
Can this really be a good way for my family to learn?
Any input appreciated.
Janice W.
Valerie
> I am very intrigued by the concept of unschooling, but have notbeen
> able to convince myself of how to do this. Both of my oldest twoanything
> (the ones that went to public school) are very resistant to
> that they consider "school" This includes reading anything, evenday,
> comic type books, unless forced to do so. They would spend all
> every day, in front of the the TV, computer or playstation if they*****Hi Janice and welcome,
> were allowed to.
>
I'm on my way out the door, but have to respond to this (and I know
others will also). I'm Valerie, Mom to a 24-year old daughter,
Laurie who was unschooled all of her life. She did nothing (and I'm
not exaggerating) but sit at the computer all day and night, 7 days
a week, for about 7 years. She then decided to start college and
graduated summa cum laude 3.5 years later. She's now happily (key
word here) pursuing her PhD. I'll let others tell you the whys
about letting your children do what THEY need to do with their time.
It works!
love, Valerie
www.ubpub.com
[email protected]
Janice, same situation here but with two boys. You wouldn't happen to be in
missouri would you? Just curious, you're kids' ages sound familiar to
another family we knew when we were in school.
My kids don't like to leave home either, they are so content to stay home.
Boy, do they come up with the wildest stuff to do!
syndi
"...since we can't know what knowledge will be most needed in the future, it
is senseless to try to teach it in advance. Instead, we should try to turn
out people who love learning so much and learn so well that they will be able
to learn whatever needs to be learned."
-- _John Holt_ (http://www.quoteworld.org/author.php?thetext=John+Holt)
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
missouri would you? Just curious, you're kids' ages sound familiar to
another family we knew when we were in school.
My kids don't like to leave home either, they are so content to stay home.
Boy, do they come up with the wildest stuff to do!
syndi
"...since we can't know what knowledge will be most needed in the future, it
is senseless to try to teach it in advance. Instead, we should try to turn
out people who love learning so much and learn so well that they will be able
to learn whatever needs to be learned."
-- _John Holt_ (http://www.quoteworld.org/author.php?thetext=John+Holt)
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[email protected]
Forgot to tell you to ck out some books by John Holt.
"...since we can't know what knowledge will be most needed in the future, it
is senseless to try to teach it in advance. Instead, we should try to turn
out people who love learning so much and learn so well that they will be able
to learn whatever needs to be learned."
-- _John Holt_ (http://www.quoteworld.org/author.php?thetext=John+Holt)
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
"...since we can't know what knowledge will be most needed in the future, it
is senseless to try to teach it in advance. Instead, we should try to turn
out people who love learning so much and learn so well that they will be able
to learn whatever needs to be learned."
-- _John Holt_ (http://www.quoteworld.org/author.php?thetext=John+Holt)
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Robyn Coburn
<<<<I am very intrigued by the concept of unschooling, but have not been
able to convince myself of how to do this. Both of my oldest two
(the ones that went to public school) are very resistant to anything
that they consider "school" This includes reading anything, even
comic type books, unless forced to do so. They would spend all day,
every day, in front of the the TV, computer or playstation if they
were allowed to.>>>>
I would encourage you to go to www.sandradodd.com and browse all the
unschooling essays, articles and collections of interesting things people
have posted on various forums over the last few years. There is a particular
section about the value of all of these electronic media to unschooling.
Since you say "unless forced to do so" I must assume that sometimes your
comfort level makes you force some other activity, including reading, on
them. Many people suggest instead of doing that, if you get involved in what
they are watching, playing or investigating, you will start to see the value
of it, or at least gain an insight into what *they* find great about the
game or program. You may also discover the huge amount of reading and
math/logic that goes into many computer games. Even so, if you don't try to
limit their time for arbitrary (ie your concerns about them not doing
something "educational") reasons, you will find that it is not really "all
day", and that even if it is, it won't be that way forever. If it really is
all day, then you know that you may have a future game designer or
programmer in your house.
<<<None of my children has any interest in anything that requires that
we get in the car to get to it. In other words - they want to stay
on our property. We are in a somewhat rural setting - only other
single family dwellings anywhere on our street. There is nothing
within walking distance of us. This makes me very concerned about
unschooling for them.>>>
It may be that if you have been home schooling with some kind of curriculum
or parent directed educational goals since 2001, you are all still in the
process of deschooling. In moving into unschooling, it is like playing
"Snakes and Ladders". If you push (uninvited) a schoolish activity or make a
criticism of the decompression activity that the boys are doing, even once,
you slide down the snake to, if not the very beginning, some way back.
Some of us city dwellers are now salivating with envy, btw. Jayn goes
through periods when she is very much a homebody. It seems to be in response
to a lot of outside pressures and activities in the days prior. In your
case, I really would think about whether in part it is an ongoing reaction
to the control of their activities in the past. Isn't it better to have a
real reason for them to want to leave the house - like an interest they can
only fully pursue elsewhere - rather than trying to get them out just for
the sake of it?
If it is not a reaction, but you really do have a couple or more of real
homeloving kids, then unschooling allows you to honor that facet of their
personality, without needing to drag them out the door. If you are worried
about friends, then invite people over sometimes.
<<<Also, the youngest three are still non-readers, including the 7.5 yr
old. They have not shown any desire to learn to read at all. They
have all been read to since they were several months old and the
youngest 3 still get bedtime stories at the very least, but the 6 and
7.5 yr olds are getting resistant even to being read to.>>>
I wonder if they sense the hidden agenda in your reading to them - ie you
have a goal that they learn to read by some age/time and are apparently
starting to get anxious about it. Kids pick this up, even if you think you
are doing a great job of hiding it. The only way not to have to hide anxiety
is genuinely not to have any. Again at Sandra's site, and the message boards
at Unschooling.com there are many stories of "later" readers.
Who is choosing the reading material for the three younger ones? Are the 6
and 7.5 year olds being seen as a homogenous pair, or do they get to have
their own separate interests catered to in the reading material?
<<<<Can this really be a good way for my family to learn?>>>
Yes, and to live. Our life is wonderful, and I have every expectation of it
getting even better as Jayn gets older.
Robyn L. Coburn
---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
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able to convince myself of how to do this. Both of my oldest two
(the ones that went to public school) are very resistant to anything
that they consider "school" This includes reading anything, even
comic type books, unless forced to do so. They would spend all day,
every day, in front of the the TV, computer or playstation if they
were allowed to.>>>>
I would encourage you to go to www.sandradodd.com and browse all the
unschooling essays, articles and collections of interesting things people
have posted on various forums over the last few years. There is a particular
section about the value of all of these electronic media to unschooling.
Since you say "unless forced to do so" I must assume that sometimes your
comfort level makes you force some other activity, including reading, on
them. Many people suggest instead of doing that, if you get involved in what
they are watching, playing or investigating, you will start to see the value
of it, or at least gain an insight into what *they* find great about the
game or program. You may also discover the huge amount of reading and
math/logic that goes into many computer games. Even so, if you don't try to
limit their time for arbitrary (ie your concerns about them not doing
something "educational") reasons, you will find that it is not really "all
day", and that even if it is, it won't be that way forever. If it really is
all day, then you know that you may have a future game designer or
programmer in your house.
<<<None of my children has any interest in anything that requires that
we get in the car to get to it. In other words - they want to stay
on our property. We are in a somewhat rural setting - only other
single family dwellings anywhere on our street. There is nothing
within walking distance of us. This makes me very concerned about
unschooling for them.>>>
It may be that if you have been home schooling with some kind of curriculum
or parent directed educational goals since 2001, you are all still in the
process of deschooling. In moving into unschooling, it is like playing
"Snakes and Ladders". If you push (uninvited) a schoolish activity or make a
criticism of the decompression activity that the boys are doing, even once,
you slide down the snake to, if not the very beginning, some way back.
Some of us city dwellers are now salivating with envy, btw. Jayn goes
through periods when she is very much a homebody. It seems to be in response
to a lot of outside pressures and activities in the days prior. In your
case, I really would think about whether in part it is an ongoing reaction
to the control of their activities in the past. Isn't it better to have a
real reason for them to want to leave the house - like an interest they can
only fully pursue elsewhere - rather than trying to get them out just for
the sake of it?
If it is not a reaction, but you really do have a couple or more of real
homeloving kids, then unschooling allows you to honor that facet of their
personality, without needing to drag them out the door. If you are worried
about friends, then invite people over sometimes.
<<<Also, the youngest three are still non-readers, including the 7.5 yr
old. They have not shown any desire to learn to read at all. They
have all been read to since they were several months old and the
youngest 3 still get bedtime stories at the very least, but the 6 and
7.5 yr olds are getting resistant even to being read to.>>>
I wonder if they sense the hidden agenda in your reading to them - ie you
have a goal that they learn to read by some age/time and are apparently
starting to get anxious about it. Kids pick this up, even if you think you
are doing a great job of hiding it. The only way not to have to hide anxiety
is genuinely not to have any. Again at Sandra's site, and the message boards
at Unschooling.com there are many stories of "later" readers.
Who is choosing the reading material for the three younger ones? Are the 6
and 7.5 year olds being seen as a homogenous pair, or do they get to have
their own separate interests catered to in the reading material?
<<<<Can this really be a good way for my family to learn?>>>
Yes, and to live. Our life is wonderful, and I have every expectation of it
getting even better as Jayn gets older.
Robyn L. Coburn
---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.707 / Virus Database: 463 - Release Date: 6/15/2004