Christy Putnam

----- Original Message -----
From: Catherine Johnson
To: Laura Padberg
Sent: Wednesday, October 11, 2006 8:25 AM
Subject: Look

10.
Fw: [EduTalk] Unschooling Vote
Posted by: "Jill Manty" <mailto:jmanty%40sbcglobal.net>
jmanty@... jmanty
Tue Oct 10, 2006 6:10 pm (PST)
Thought some might be interested in this vote.

Jill

Subject: [EduTalk] Unschooling Vote

Speaking of unschooling....

MSNBC has been running a series of articles on Unschooling along with a
poll. So far people are voting that unschooling is nothing more than
"goofing off".

If you are an unschooler or know unschoolers and agree that it works, please
take a moment and vote:

The poll is located here:
<http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15051645/>
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15051645/

The articles are located here:

<http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15029646/>
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15029646/

<http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15148804/>
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15148804/

Thanks everyone!


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Michelle Leifur Reid

> MSNBC has been running a series of articles on Unschooling along with a
> poll. So far people are voting that unschooling is nothing more than
> "goofing off".
>

Actually if you look at the poll results there isn't an overwhelming
"F" grade on unschooling. While the "A" grade is certainly not in the
lead, the rest of the letter grades for unschooling are fairly evenly
divided.

A -- Kids should be free to learn where they want and how they want.
13%

That's probably coming from all us radical unschooling crazies :-)

B -- This sounds like a pretty good idea, as long as the parents are
committed to it.
21%

There are only 5% points seperating B from F. And in all seriousness
B should be the answer we are all voting for. A almost alludes to
unparenting (which we have talked at great lengths about since it is
often confused with unschooling.)

C -- I suppose this works for some kids, but I'm skeptical that most
are learning much this way.
18%

OK, very little middle ground. These are probably all the undecided.
I bet most of these people like the idea of unschooling, and wish that
they had been unschooled, but have a fear of shaking up the status
quo.

D -- I just don't see how youngsters are learning all they need to know.
23%

This is really based on misinformation. The idea of unschooling is so
far out there that they can't comprehend how it can possibly work.

F -- Learning? Sounds more like goofing around to me.
26%

Sounds like they don't know anything about unschooling :-)

This is "coming out week" in the glbt community (used to be just one
day somehow it evolved into a whole week, I'm betting in the next year
or two Hallmark will be in on the act LOL!) Anyway, one of the things
that is stated over and over in the coming out activities is that when
you come out and let people know your sexuality that it breaks down
barriers and makes people view homosexuality differently. It makes it
personal to them. It's hard to bad mouth something that a loved
relative or friend is. I think the same is true about unschooling.
How can someone see our kids and know tha twe unschool and think that
it is all wrong and bad and a disservice to our children. Maybe we
should declare a "coming out week" for unschooling. :-)

Michelle

[email protected]

-----Original Message-----
From: pamperedmichelle@...

Actually if you look at the poll results there isn't an overwhelming
"F" grade on unschooling. While the "A" grade is certainly not in the
lead, the rest of the letter grades for unschooling are fairly evenly
divided.

A -- Kids should be free to learn where they want and how they want.
13%

That's probably coming from all us radical unschooling crazies :-)

B -- This sounds like a pretty good idea, as long as the parents are
committed to it.
21%

C -- I suppose this works for some kids, but I'm skeptical that most
are learning much this way.
18%

D -- I just don't see how youngsters are learning all they need to
know.
23%

F -- Learning? Sounds more like goofing around to me.
26%

-=-=-=-

And actually, considering that unschoolers represent---what?---like
.0002 % of the population, 13% is HUGE!!! LOTS of "radical unschooling
crazies" out voting (I didn't.).

Twenty-one percent think it's a pretty good idea????

Only 26% think we're nuts? AMAZING!!!

~Kelly

________________________________________________________________________
Check out the new AOL. Most comprehensive set of free safety and
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Melissa

You know, I didn't even vote, I really dislike polls like that,
because I couldn't decide between A or B. And I totally agree with F,
because in our family it IS goofing off, and I want it to be that way
when my kids are learning. What does it have to be this puritan ideal
of sitting at a table for eight hours?
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 Oct 13, 2006, at 9:01 AM, kbcdlovejo@... wrote:

>
> A -- Kids should be free to learn where they want and how they want.
> 13%
>
> That's probably coming from all us radical unschooling crazies :-)
>
> B -- This sounds like a pretty good idea, as long as the parents are
> committed to it.
> 21%
>
> C -- I suppose this works for some kids, but I'm skeptical that most
> are learning much this way.
> 18%
>
> D -- I just don't see how youngsters are learning all they need to
> know.
> 23%
>
> F -- Learning? Sounds more like goofing around to me.
> 26%
>
> -=-=-=-



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Joanne O.

I read this response on another site but I thought her perspective was so well written that I
thought I would pass it on to this group as well :)

Joanne
ds: Kevin (6)
Lake Carmel, NY

________________________________________________________________

Hi group!

I have been watching this discussion ping pong back
and forth and I just want to say that both points are
valid.

On the one hand, surveys are crap. What do I care
about other people's misconceptions and so called
expert opinions?

On the other hand, publicity and politics are
important matters; much of the homeschooling movement
has indeed been a political struggle.

Just google the history of that homeschool legal
defense organization....

It is important to remember that the choices we make
in carving alternative educational niches for our
children is a political act and we are, whether we
like it or not, part of a movement that IS political
in nature.

I homeschool in protest of mainstream cultural values
that are amplified and exacerbated in a school
setting. I don't know that the call to homeschool
would be so strong if schools, in their current
incarnation, weren't so opposite of my philosophy,
including my political philosophy.

If public schools functioned as they ought to in a
true democracy-which is to ensure a well-educated
public that is capable and empowered enough to shape
government in the ways most beneficial to the greatest
number of people-then maybe we wouldn't be a nation
plagued as we are with rampant corruption and
corporate influenceon public policy. The fact that
schools produce more "schooled" people than "educated"
ones is a threat to the health of our country.

I homeschool to provide my daughter with an education
that I don't believe she would receive in a
traditional setting-that I could afford, anyway. For
me, homeschooling is a patriotic act.

It is worth considering the fact that what we do
safegaurds an important right-one to educate as one
sees fit-and to live by example for the sake of not
only our families, but other families as well. Many
people do not have this option on their radar-they
accept the inevitablity that school is the only choice
for their children whether or not the local public
school is good and whether or not they have the cash
to shell out to a more benign institution.

Many more might feel empowered enough to follow our
example if they knew more about what homeschooling is
all about. One sided perspectives in the media don't
help this situation.

I think, therefore, that public opinion is important,
even in the sensationalist guise of a silly on-line
survey and that perhaps our voice is one that should
be heard in the context of a vigorous national debate
on education and educational reform.


Jennifer Irizarry
Former public school teacher &
Unschooling mom