Need to understand
Flemming Academy
OK,
I just started homeschooling my 7 year old. He is responding well to it and getting used to not going to a traditional school every day.
What I am trying to understand though, is the whole "unschooling" or "deschooling" theory. As I do my own research and gain a better grasp, in the hope to implement this with my son, and to eventually bring my older son home, can any of you tell me want a typical day of unschooling/deschooling looks like? I mean, if there is a such thing as a typical day.
Thanks in advance for your help,
AL
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
I just started homeschooling my 7 year old. He is responding well to it and getting used to not going to a traditional school every day.
What I am trying to understand though, is the whole "unschooling" or "deschooling" theory. As I do my own research and gain a better grasp, in the hope to implement this with my son, and to eventually bring my older son home, can any of you tell me want a typical day of unschooling/deschooling looks like? I mean, if there is a such thing as a typical day.
Thanks in advance for your help,
AL
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
shari bergquist
For us so far it has been a lot of tv and video games. recently there has
been more creative play and my middle daughter actually went and did some
workbook pages(no one told her to do this) We've been deschooling for about
3 weeks or so. HTH, Shari
been more creative play and my middle daughter actually went and did some
workbook pages(no one told her to do this) We've been deschooling for about
3 weeks or so. HTH, Shari
On Dec 18, 2007 4:02 PM, Flemming Academy <academy@...> wrote:
> OK,
>
> I just started homeschooling my 7 year old. He is responding well to it
> and getting used to not going to a traditional school every day.
>
> What I am trying to understand though, is the whole "unschooling" or
> "deschooling" theory. As I do my own research and gain a better grasp, in
> the hope to implement this with my son, and to eventually bring my older son
> home, can any of you tell me want a typical day of unschooling/deschooling
> looks like? I mean, if there is a such thing as a typical day.
>
> Thanks in advance for your help,
>
> AL
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
--
Shari Bergquist
Independent Stampin' Up Demonstrator
www.sharibergquist.stampinup.net
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Deb
"Deschooling" and "unschooling" are not the same things. Deschooling
refers to "detoxifying" from the school setting, getting the toxic
ideas, beliefs, behaviors, sorted out and gone. This applies to ALL
schooled people who are looking at changing, not just children -
adults most of all, since we've had 12+ years of schooling/school
thinking. Rule of thumb is 1 month of 'deschooling' per year of
schooling, which means us grown ups can take over a year to shake
the schoolish thinking and ideas. Obviously, it can vary
individually - some kids who've only been in school for 1 year but
had a really toxic nasty time might need way more than a month to
detox while others who have been in school but not 'of' school for
years might be able to drop those fetters and be free fairly quickly.
Unschooling is living as if school wasn't there. A common idea is to
live as if it's summer vacation. Which is helpful some but even
summer vacation still has school hanging over it just over the
horizon. So, is there a 'typical' day in your household when you're
all on vacation? Yeah, probably, since most folks like some sense of
rhythm or pattern to their days. Will it look like my household? Not
likely, though there may be similarities.
At our house, typically, I'm up and out to work around 7:30 am (I
WOH fulltime, DH is at home fulltime with 9 1/2 yr old DS). My guys
get up when they choose (this morning DS was up around 5, other days
he sleeps until around 9, he just sleeps and wakes as he needs, not
by any kind of rule or 'bedtime' regulation). Somewhere in the
middle of the morning, they eat something. Mid day they eat
something. Snacks happen whenever. TV, videogames, computer games
and such, building with various sorts of materials (from knex to
legos to toilet paper tubes...) often happens, currently DS is into
sketching assorted aliens and monsters (often with lots of weapons
and armor and such), dishes and laundry get done, dinner gets
prepared, I get home and we have dinner, evenings include TV, games
(board, video, etc), and whatever else we might like to do - Monday
night, for instance, we went out after dinner to just drive around
and look at Christmas lights and ended up relaxing with warm
beverages at Starbucks. Currently, too, we've added in trips to the
hospital because FIL is in ICU (heart, lungs, kidneys) which has
also added discussion about various organs and systems and medical
things (what's a biopsy?). And, with the additional drive time,
we're playing lots of Geography in the car (that game where I say a
place name and you have to pick a place that starts with the last
letter of the place I said - for instance, I say Hartford, you say
Denmark, I say Kentucky, you say Ypsilanti...) There might also be
time playing in the snow, yard work, canoeing, hiking, etc as the
season permits. June/July is berry picking and jam making (we have
wild blackberries in the back yard). Holiday time usually means lots
of baking. Winter often includes a fire in the fireplace of an
evening and cocoa and a movie while summer often has campfires and
s'mores in the backyard. We've watched meteor showers and eclipses
and a fly over by the space shuttle and ISS. We've made soaps (from
pre-made glycerine base, not from scratch with lye and all) and
little magnet and copper wire motors and pored over maps and watched
the X Games and the Olympics and this Friday we're going to our
monthly hockey game (Hartford has a farm team of the NY Rangers - Go
Wolfpack!)
Life goes on and learning happens
--Deb
refers to "detoxifying" from the school setting, getting the toxic
ideas, beliefs, behaviors, sorted out and gone. This applies to ALL
schooled people who are looking at changing, not just children -
adults most of all, since we've had 12+ years of schooling/school
thinking. Rule of thumb is 1 month of 'deschooling' per year of
schooling, which means us grown ups can take over a year to shake
the schoolish thinking and ideas. Obviously, it can vary
individually - some kids who've only been in school for 1 year but
had a really toxic nasty time might need way more than a month to
detox while others who have been in school but not 'of' school for
years might be able to drop those fetters and be free fairly quickly.
Unschooling is living as if school wasn't there. A common idea is to
live as if it's summer vacation. Which is helpful some but even
summer vacation still has school hanging over it just over the
horizon. So, is there a 'typical' day in your household when you're
all on vacation? Yeah, probably, since most folks like some sense of
rhythm or pattern to their days. Will it look like my household? Not
likely, though there may be similarities.
At our house, typically, I'm up and out to work around 7:30 am (I
WOH fulltime, DH is at home fulltime with 9 1/2 yr old DS). My guys
get up when they choose (this morning DS was up around 5, other days
he sleeps until around 9, he just sleeps and wakes as he needs, not
by any kind of rule or 'bedtime' regulation). Somewhere in the
middle of the morning, they eat something. Mid day they eat
something. Snacks happen whenever. TV, videogames, computer games
and such, building with various sorts of materials (from knex to
legos to toilet paper tubes...) often happens, currently DS is into
sketching assorted aliens and monsters (often with lots of weapons
and armor and such), dishes and laundry get done, dinner gets
prepared, I get home and we have dinner, evenings include TV, games
(board, video, etc), and whatever else we might like to do - Monday
night, for instance, we went out after dinner to just drive around
and look at Christmas lights and ended up relaxing with warm
beverages at Starbucks. Currently, too, we've added in trips to the
hospital because FIL is in ICU (heart, lungs, kidneys) which has
also added discussion about various organs and systems and medical
things (what's a biopsy?). And, with the additional drive time,
we're playing lots of Geography in the car (that game where I say a
place name and you have to pick a place that starts with the last
letter of the place I said - for instance, I say Hartford, you say
Denmark, I say Kentucky, you say Ypsilanti...) There might also be
time playing in the snow, yard work, canoeing, hiking, etc as the
season permits. June/July is berry picking and jam making (we have
wild blackberries in the back yard). Holiday time usually means lots
of baking. Winter often includes a fire in the fireplace of an
evening and cocoa and a movie while summer often has campfires and
s'mores in the backyard. We've watched meteor showers and eclipses
and a fly over by the space shuttle and ISS. We've made soaps (from
pre-made glycerine base, not from scratch with lye and all) and
little magnet and copper wire motors and pored over maps and watched
the X Games and the Olympics and this Friday we're going to our
monthly hockey game (Hartford has a farm team of the NY Rangers - Go
Wolfpack!)
Life goes on and learning happens
--Deb
Nicole Willoughby
I pulled my daughter out before thanksgiving break. She was going to school by choice and came home by choice so i dont know if maybe the transition was easier for her.
Currently she has 2 or 3 different characters going on world of warcraft and spends a lot of time late at night playing. Last night she was up untill about 1:30 playing WoW. She got up about 9 and played me a couple games of chess......I have no idea where she learned to play...then I took her and a friend to a store and she decided how she wanted to spend her $5 while I got socks for her and little sister . Her friend found some headbands she likes so i got those for her. Then we went to mcdonalds and on home. She drew for a while and we had to leave to get her brother from the bus and go pick up dad. We got home and decided to order pizza for dinner and all the kids played outside a while. Right now she is back her with me watching mythbusters. i usualy go to bed around 11 and she usualy stays up a while after me. We have a few guidelines like ive asked her not to cook while mom and dad are asleep but all she has to do is wake me if she is hungry.
Yesterday she made cookies from a mix , read for a bit, told me about airplanes and how they will fall with the nose straight up, watched the history channel and came and asked who hitler was, watched her favorite Paula'shome cooking, blew bubbles while washing her hands, and more I cant remember right now.
We do things because she enjoys them not because she might learn something from them but its impossible to stop her from learning :)
---------------------------------
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Currently she has 2 or 3 different characters going on world of warcraft and spends a lot of time late at night playing. Last night she was up untill about 1:30 playing WoW. She got up about 9 and played me a couple games of chess......I have no idea where she learned to play...then I took her and a friend to a store and she decided how she wanted to spend her $5 while I got socks for her and little sister . Her friend found some headbands she likes so i got those for her. Then we went to mcdonalds and on home. She drew for a while and we had to leave to get her brother from the bus and go pick up dad. We got home and decided to order pizza for dinner and all the kids played outside a while. Right now she is back her with me watching mythbusters. i usualy go to bed around 11 and she usualy stays up a while after me. We have a few guidelines like ive asked her not to cook while mom and dad are asleep but all she has to do is wake me if she is hungry.
Yesterday she made cookies from a mix , read for a bit, told me about airplanes and how they will fall with the nose straight up, watched the history channel and came and asked who hitler was, watched her favorite Paula'shome cooking, blew bubbles while washing her hands, and more I cant remember right now.
We do things because she enjoys them not because she might learn something from them but its impossible to stop her from learning :)
---------------------------------
Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]