The "whys"
sara_boheme
Greetings all! I am relatively new here (this is my first post!),
and had a question for you all. Forgive me if this has been answered
ad naseum or in archives etc. But....
What brought you to unschooling?
Why did you choose it and what put you on the path? Was is a gradual
transformation of the homeschooling journey? Did you read John Holt
in college or while pregnant and just know you wanted to unchool?
etc...
I see posts all the time about "how" to unschool, or "why" to
unschool (as in the philosopy behind it). I just want to hear about
your journeys and what brought you here.
For example. I've always homeschooled my 2, but I started out trying
to be really structured (curriculum in a box anyone?) and then
Charlotte Mason and Classical (talk about a distaster!)and have
gradually discovered that unschooling just fit our personalities and
lifestyles to a "T". I love unschooling!! It just took me awhile to
get over my brainwashed perception of what learning was (and to find
awesome books and websites about uncshooling). Fortunately, my kids
are young enough to have not been scarred by my earlier attempts
at "school". :-)
Anyway, Just musing on the thought and wanted to hear other stories.
Peace,
Sara
and had a question for you all. Forgive me if this has been answered
ad naseum or in archives etc. But....
What brought you to unschooling?
Why did you choose it and what put you on the path? Was is a gradual
transformation of the homeschooling journey? Did you read John Holt
in college or while pregnant and just know you wanted to unchool?
etc...
I see posts all the time about "how" to unschool, or "why" to
unschool (as in the philosopy behind it). I just want to hear about
your journeys and what brought you here.
For example. I've always homeschooled my 2, but I started out trying
to be really structured (curriculum in a box anyone?) and then
Charlotte Mason and Classical (talk about a distaster!)and have
gradually discovered that unschooling just fit our personalities and
lifestyles to a "T". I love unschooling!! It just took me awhile to
get over my brainwashed perception of what learning was (and to find
awesome books and websites about uncshooling). Fortunately, my kids
are young enough to have not been scarred by my earlier attempts
at "school". :-)
Anyway, Just musing on the thought and wanted to hear other stories.
Peace,
Sara
Michelle/Melbrigða
On 8/10/06, sara_boheme <Superchick400@...> wrote:
oldest in Kindergarden although we knew eventually we would be
homeschooling because we knew how "smart" our child was and that
eventually traditional schooling would be of little use for her. She
had the "dream teachers" for K through 2nd (and I truly do believe
that they were wonderful teachers. Had my children been fortunate
enough to have teachers like this all along we probably would never
had homeschooled!) Her third grade teacher was a disaster! We made
it a whole 3 weeks before we leapt into homeschooling. I really felt
that my daughter needed to heal from those horrible three weeks and
then realized that I couldn't really do much that looked like real
school. 3or so years ago they dabbled back in school for a year when
their father and I separated and divorced, but came home that summer
(actually Emily quit school mid-year because of another disasterous
teacher) when my ex and I bought a house together. From the point
when Emily quit school we started unschooling. First it was just
cuirriculum and it eventually flowed into the rest of our lives as I
allowed myself to trust my children. I had heard of unschooling here
and there, but hadn't done much reading of it until we really started
doing it. Ren is the one that pointed me towards Holt, Dodd, Kohn,
etc and this list. It was her personal touch that really helped
though. Being able to go to her house and see her in action with her
kids. See it all working. That was such a blessing! I think that is
one of the big reasons that I miss her (oh and that she always had a
pot of tea going LOL!) Tea with Ren. I should write a book :)
I think that reading books from experienced unschoolers (including my
friend Terry who is quoted throughout the Unschooling Handbook - and
who I know through LLL) and blogs and posts and articles has really
helped affirm more than convince me of where we are heading.
Michelle - who is enjoying a peaceful day with her co-parent working
from home, 2 children laughing at a video game in the living room and
another curled up with a cat asleep on my bed.
--
Michelle
aka Melbrigða
http://eventualknitting.blogspot.com
[email protected] - Homeschooling for the Medieval Recreationist
> Greetings all! I am relatively new here (this is my first post!),Getting to unschooling was a journey for us. We started off with our
> and had a question for you all. Forgive me if this has been answered
> ad naseum or in archives etc. But....
> What brought you to unschooling?
oldest in Kindergarden although we knew eventually we would be
homeschooling because we knew how "smart" our child was and that
eventually traditional schooling would be of little use for her. She
had the "dream teachers" for K through 2nd (and I truly do believe
that they were wonderful teachers. Had my children been fortunate
enough to have teachers like this all along we probably would never
had homeschooled!) Her third grade teacher was a disaster! We made
it a whole 3 weeks before we leapt into homeschooling. I really felt
that my daughter needed to heal from those horrible three weeks and
then realized that I couldn't really do much that looked like real
school. 3or so years ago they dabbled back in school for a year when
their father and I separated and divorced, but came home that summer
(actually Emily quit school mid-year because of another disasterous
teacher) when my ex and I bought a house together. From the point
when Emily quit school we started unschooling. First it was just
cuirriculum and it eventually flowed into the rest of our lives as I
allowed myself to trust my children. I had heard of unschooling here
and there, but hadn't done much reading of it until we really started
doing it. Ren is the one that pointed me towards Holt, Dodd, Kohn,
etc and this list. It was her personal touch that really helped
though. Being able to go to her house and see her in action with her
kids. See it all working. That was such a blessing! I think that is
one of the big reasons that I miss her (oh and that she always had a
pot of tea going LOL!) Tea with Ren. I should write a book :)
I think that reading books from experienced unschoolers (including my
friend Terry who is quoted throughout the Unschooling Handbook - and
who I know through LLL) and blogs and posts and articles has really
helped affirm more than convince me of where we are heading.
Michelle - who is enjoying a peaceful day with her co-parent working
from home, 2 children laughing at a video game in the living room and
another curled up with a cat asleep on my bed.
--
Michelle
aka Melbrigða
http://eventualknitting.blogspot.com
[email protected] - Homeschooling for the Medieval Recreationist
Pam Genant
--- In [email protected], "sara_boheme"
<Superchick400@...> wrote:
children. Them being human beings, not less than as some parents see
their children, with thoughts, feeling, ideas, wants and needs all
their own. We have always believed that the individual is fully
capable of knowing what is best for himself. Having this foundation of
working together, talking, seeking, and exploring, has led us to
explore unschooling as one facet of our lives.
Our children became "school age" we all knew that school would not work
for any of us. They were not ready to be apart from the loving,
nurturing environment they had, why would they. We were not at all
comfortable with the idea of sending a 4 or 5 year old off on their own
all day to "fight" their way through. So we began exploring all
alternatives. Homeschooling was the way, and unschooling just fit in
with our philosophy of self determination.
Now we have days filled with joy, and wonder as I get to see the world
a new, with my children exploring and learning all the time. So
unschooling is a choice we made, and that we continue to make on a
daily basis.
Pam G
<Superchick400@...> wrote:
>For our family we have always worked to live consensually with our
> Greetings all! I am relatively new here (this is my first post!),
> and had a question for you all. Forgive me if this has been answered
> ad naseum or in archives etc. But....
> What brought you to unschooling? <<<<<
children. Them being human beings, not less than as some parents see
their children, with thoughts, feeling, ideas, wants and needs all
their own. We have always believed that the individual is fully
capable of knowing what is best for himself. Having this foundation of
working together, talking, seeking, and exploring, has led us to
explore unschooling as one facet of our lives.
Our children became "school age" we all knew that school would not work
for any of us. They were not ready to be apart from the loving,
nurturing environment they had, why would they. We were not at all
comfortable with the idea of sending a 4 or 5 year old off on their own
all day to "fight" their way through. So we began exploring all
alternatives. Homeschooling was the way, and unschooling just fit in
with our philosophy of self determination.
Now we have days filled with joy, and wonder as I get to see the world
a new, with my children exploring and learning all the time. So
unschooling is a choice we made, and that we continue to make on a
daily basis.
Pam G
Melissa
We fell into unschooling. We always coslept, fed on demand, etc. We
started the traditional route with schooling, but I never really
liked being away from my kids. When we decided to pull them out of
school (due primarily to the use and abuse of my children with
difAbilities), I started with the school at home, but *I* was so
uncomfortable with it that we stopped. When I was put in bedrest, the
rest of it fell into place. Didn't know what it was til a sahd
pointed it out to me. I haven't read any of the books, just stuff
online, esp at sandradodd.com
Short and succinct. :-P
Melissa
Mom to Josh (11), Breanna (9), Emily (7), Rachel (6), Sam (5), Dan
(3), and Avari Rose
share our lives at
http://360.yahoo.com/multimomma
started the traditional route with schooling, but I never really
liked being away from my kids. When we decided to pull them out of
school (due primarily to the use and abuse of my children with
difAbilities), I started with the school at home, but *I* was so
uncomfortable with it that we stopped. When I was put in bedrest, the
rest of it fell into place. Didn't know what it was til a sahd
pointed it out to me. I haven't read any of the books, just stuff
online, esp at sandradodd.com
Short and succinct. :-P
Melissa
Mom to Josh (11), Breanna (9), Emily (7), Rachel (6), Sam (5), Dan
(3), and Avari Rose
share our lives at
http://360.yahoo.com/multimomma
On Aug 10, 2006, at 12:21 PM, sara_boheme wrote:
> Greetings all! I am relatively new here (this is my first post!),
> and had a question for you all. Forgive me if this has been answered
> ad naseum or in archives etc. But....
> What brought you to unschooling?
>
> Why did you choose it and what put you on the path? Was is a gradual
> transformation of the homeschooling journey? Did you read John Holt
> in college or while pregnant and just know you wanted to unchool?
> etc...
>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Deb
--- In [email protected], "sara_boheme"
<Superchick400@...> wrote:
do some research for her (we're good at it and way more computer
literate). She was having problems with the two youngest (DH has 3
sisters, one is 2 yrs younger and the other two are 15 and 17 yrs
younger respectively). They were diagnosed with anxiety disorders and
depression right around age 14ish (one right after the other). They
could NOT go to school - between the anxiety and the medication which
often had them awake all night and asleep all day and all like that.
MIL requested the school send a homebound tutor (DH had had a tutor
for a bit around age 11 when he was literally bedridden after hip
surgery). The school district wouldn't help an inch. MIL was about in
tears about what to do, truant officers, DCF, etc. We found that CT
(where they live, we were in OK at the time) has really great
homeschooling laws, or rather lack thereof. MIL and FIL both worked
fulltime but the girls were old enough to be home by themselves. In
the process, DH and I started discussing the idea of homeschooling.
Then lo and behold I was pregnant! According to MIL I called and
said "You're going to be a grandma and we're homeschooling" Now, MIL
had texts and left assignments for the girls to do and all like that
(relaxedly schoolish). DH and I fell onto the topic "unschooling" and
I read a bunch at various places and we started on the path - it made
perfect sense to DH, I still kind of looked at scope & sequence stuff
a bit until DS was maybe 4 or 5 - then it was so apparent that
learning was happening in all sorts of ways, I just stopped bothering
about it. Over time, things have changed and grown or refined - for
instance, we did smack his butt on occasion when he was really young
(that ended by the time he was about 3) and he did have a bedtime
(which ended when he was about 5). Food and electronics (TV, video,
computer, videogames) were never big issues - though we did avoid
videogame systems for a bit because of DH's history with them. But
when DS was about 5, we got him a gameboy and that has progressed to a
PlayStation 2 and his own laptop at this point (he's 8 now).
--Deb
<Superchick400@...> wrote:
>Just before I was pregnant with DS, my MIL called us and asked us to
> What brought you to unschooling?
>
> Why did you choose it and what put you on the path? Was is a gradual
> transformation of the homeschooling journey? Did you read John Holt
> in college or while pregnant and just know you wanted to unchool?
> etc...
do some research for her (we're good at it and way more computer
literate). She was having problems with the two youngest (DH has 3
sisters, one is 2 yrs younger and the other two are 15 and 17 yrs
younger respectively). They were diagnosed with anxiety disorders and
depression right around age 14ish (one right after the other). They
could NOT go to school - between the anxiety and the medication which
often had them awake all night and asleep all day and all like that.
MIL requested the school send a homebound tutor (DH had had a tutor
for a bit around age 11 when he was literally bedridden after hip
surgery). The school district wouldn't help an inch. MIL was about in
tears about what to do, truant officers, DCF, etc. We found that CT
(where they live, we were in OK at the time) has really great
homeschooling laws, or rather lack thereof. MIL and FIL both worked
fulltime but the girls were old enough to be home by themselves. In
the process, DH and I started discussing the idea of homeschooling.
Then lo and behold I was pregnant! According to MIL I called and
said "You're going to be a grandma and we're homeschooling" Now, MIL
had texts and left assignments for the girls to do and all like that
(relaxedly schoolish). DH and I fell onto the topic "unschooling" and
I read a bunch at various places and we started on the path - it made
perfect sense to DH, I still kind of looked at scope & sequence stuff
a bit until DS was maybe 4 or 5 - then it was so apparent that
learning was happening in all sorts of ways, I just stopped bothering
about it. Over time, things have changed and grown or refined - for
instance, we did smack his butt on occasion when he was really young
(that ended by the time he was about 3) and he did have a bedtime
(which ended when he was about 5). Food and electronics (TV, video,
computer, videogames) were never big issues - though we did avoid
videogame systems for a bit because of DH's history with them. But
when DS was about 5, we got him a gameboy and that has progressed to a
PlayStation 2 and his own laptop at this point (he's 8 now).
--Deb
Nicole Willoughby
due primarily to the use and abuse of my children with
difAbilities>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Do you feel like sharing any details on this? So far Nate has been all smiles at school and tried to pull me out the door on Saturdays.....................but I always worry esp being nonverbal.
Nicole
---------------------------------
Stay in the know. Pulse on the new Yahoo.com. Check it out.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
difAbilities>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Do you feel like sharing any details on this? So far Nate has been all smiles at school and tried to pull me out the door on Saturdays.....................but I always worry esp being nonverbal.
Nicole
---------------------------------
Stay in the know. Pulse on the new Yahoo.com. Check it out.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Melissa
Well, to share with everyone, then we can take details offlist, for
much the same reason that any child shouldn't be at school. They are
incapable of honoring differences. Even if your child is disabled,
and they are servicing them in a disability program, once those
differences make your child the wrong shape to fit in their cookie
cutter program, then they get difficult, everyone gets stressed. I
know I said this before, I cannot emphasize enough, that kids who
appreciate scheduling will put themselves through hell to maintain
that schedule. It's a far greater service to put some sort of
schedule up at home. It's not difficult and worth it to boost their
self-esteem.
Breanna was all smiles through kindergarden. She had a few incidents,
but nothing major. They 'taught' her how to cut out shapes, how to
trace letters, how to stand in line. all stuff that I'm very aware
now that she's older were things that she would have done when
developmentally ready. But it was very obvious that they were
teaching her nothing academic, and not so much as far as social
skills go. In fact, she learned how to hit and scream and cuss at
school, in the first grade.
One thing I've learned is that the schools are great at hiding
problems, and kids with disabilities often are not aware that what's
going on is wrong. So even unpleasant, harmful things like being
called names, being pulled around by the arm, being put in time out
are things that they accept willingly. And being nonverbal is worse,
because at least Josh, who has aspergers and never once realized that
it was wrong to be treated that way, could tell me what happened and
*I* could say something. But with Bre it was a matter of catching
them. I was up there all the time. An hour after I dropped her off,
an hour at lunch, an hour before school let out. I dropped into
music, pe, lunch, recess, at different times of the day. I made them
very aware that I was a consumer, and that I very much expected them
to accept my input.
I'd probably
Melissa
Mom to Josh (11), Breanna (9), Emily (7), Rachel (6), Sam (5), Dan
(3), and Avari Rose
share our lives at
http://360.yahoo.com/multimomma
much the same reason that any child shouldn't be at school. They are
incapable of honoring differences. Even if your child is disabled,
and they are servicing them in a disability program, once those
differences make your child the wrong shape to fit in their cookie
cutter program, then they get difficult, everyone gets stressed. I
know I said this before, I cannot emphasize enough, that kids who
appreciate scheduling will put themselves through hell to maintain
that schedule. It's a far greater service to put some sort of
schedule up at home. It's not difficult and worth it to boost their
self-esteem.
Breanna was all smiles through kindergarden. She had a few incidents,
but nothing major. They 'taught' her how to cut out shapes, how to
trace letters, how to stand in line. all stuff that I'm very aware
now that she's older were things that she would have done when
developmentally ready. But it was very obvious that they were
teaching her nothing academic, and not so much as far as social
skills go. In fact, she learned how to hit and scream and cuss at
school, in the first grade.
One thing I've learned is that the schools are great at hiding
problems, and kids with disabilities often are not aware that what's
going on is wrong. So even unpleasant, harmful things like being
called names, being pulled around by the arm, being put in time out
are things that they accept willingly. And being nonverbal is worse,
because at least Josh, who has aspergers and never once realized that
it was wrong to be treated that way, could tell me what happened and
*I* could say something. But with Bre it was a matter of catching
them. I was up there all the time. An hour after I dropped her off,
an hour at lunch, an hour before school let out. I dropped into
music, pe, lunch, recess, at different times of the day. I made them
very aware that I was a consumer, and that I very much expected them
to accept my input.
I'd probably
Melissa
Mom to Josh (11), Breanna (9), Emily (7), Rachel (6), Sam (5), Dan
(3), and Avari Rose
share our lives at
http://360.yahoo.com/multimomma
On Aug 10, 2006, at 2:52 PM, Nicole Willoughby wrote:
> due primarily to the use and abuse of my children with
> difAbilities>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>
> Do you feel like sharing any details on this? So far Nate has been
> all smiles at school and tried to pull me out the door on
> Saturdays.....................but I always worry esp being nonverbal.
>
> Nicole
>
>
> ---------------------------------
> Stay in the know. Pulse on the new Yahoo.com. Check it out.
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]