Transitioning from unschooling to school
Rachelle Marsden
Hi Everyone
I work with unschooling and passion-led families on their journeys and a
question has come up a few times lately and I don't have many experiences to
go off of for an answer...
Something along the lines of "I do want to stay more or less in the general
learning area for her age, if I can, so that if she decides to go to public
school (which she might, at any time) the transition will be smooth.
I'm wondering if people could give input on fully unschooled children who
choose to try out public school - what have you seen happen? From other
families i work with whose children have asked to try school here and there
- there has been a generally smooth transition, if the child is fully
wanting to be there.
Thanks for your input.
--
Lovingly,
Rachelle
"Love is the only emotion that expands intelligence." - Humberto Maturano
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
I work with unschooling and passion-led families on their journeys and a
question has come up a few times lately and I don't have many experiences to
go off of for an answer...
Something along the lines of "I do want to stay more or less in the general
learning area for her age, if I can, so that if she decides to go to public
school (which she might, at any time) the transition will be smooth.
I'm wondering if people could give input on fully unschooled children who
choose to try out public school - what have you seen happen? From other
families i work with whose children have asked to try school here and there
- there has been a generally smooth transition, if the child is fully
wanting to be there.
Thanks for your input.
--
Lovingly,
Rachelle
"Love is the only emotion that expands intelligence." - Humberto Maturano
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Joyce Fetteroll
On May 2, 2010, at 3:35 PM, Rachelle Marsden wrote:
limiting exploration to the school yard just incase they want to return.
When people first start homeschooling, they picture homeschooling as
absorbing what school offers but in different ways and on a different
schedule. It's like school is at the center, contained in a building
and textbooks, but homeschooling reaches beyond the building for
better materials.
Unschooling throws away that model. It's living as though school
didn't exist.
School is like a diorama of the (supposed) important parts of the
forest. Unschooling is the real forest for kids to explore in any
direction and any order they want. They can focus on one area. They
can dabble throughout the forest.
If someone wants to unschool in the school yard, it would be better to
see that as eclectic homeschooling. They would have much better advice.
If someone wants reassurance that unschooled kids can do fine in
school, my daughter had no problems with the college math and one
writing classes she took starting at 14. She said she had problems
with arithmetic since she didn't have all the facts memorized but the
rest of it she did fine on with basically only video games and real
life math (and parents who talk about math occasionally). By the end
of the first class she had practiced enough to get speedier at
arithmetic.
Probably the biggest reassurance is that it only takes weeks or months
to catch on to what they need to know for the classroom.
Joyce
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> I do want to stay more or less in the generalIt's like freeing a child from school to explore the world, but then
> learning area for her age, if I can, so that if she decides to go to
> public
> school (which she might, at any time) the transition will be smooth.
limiting exploration to the school yard just incase they want to return.
When people first start homeschooling, they picture homeschooling as
absorbing what school offers but in different ways and on a different
schedule. It's like school is at the center, contained in a building
and textbooks, but homeschooling reaches beyond the building for
better materials.
Unschooling throws away that model. It's living as though school
didn't exist.
School is like a diorama of the (supposed) important parts of the
forest. Unschooling is the real forest for kids to explore in any
direction and any order they want. They can focus on one area. They
can dabble throughout the forest.
If someone wants to unschool in the school yard, it would be better to
see that as eclectic homeschooling. They would have much better advice.
If someone wants reassurance that unschooled kids can do fine in
school, my daughter had no problems with the college math and one
writing classes she took starting at 14. She said she had problems
with arithmetic since she didn't have all the facts memorized but the
rest of it she did fine on with basically only video games and real
life math (and parents who talk about math occasionally). By the end
of the first class she had practiced enough to get speedier at
arithmetic.
Probably the biggest reassurance is that it only takes weeks or months
to catch on to what they need to know for the classroom.
Joyce
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[email protected]
I have seen my DD tackle school and do extremely well. It was entirely her choice. (It sure as hell wasn't mine! :) )
She took some 8th grade online courses to get comfortable with a schoolish routine and get an idea about subject content. Then she started high school with the 9th grade.
She is looking to transfer to a more challenging/interesting charter school next year. When you have spent the better part of 15 years reading your way through the library, high school classes, even the honors classes she is in,have little or no new content.
So her experience has been positive for what she wanted -- to have the experience and see what the social scene was like. But not great on the learning front. But she's working on that. :)
Nance
She took some 8th grade online courses to get comfortable with a schoolish routine and get an idea about subject content. Then she started high school with the 9th grade.
She is looking to transfer to a more challenging/interesting charter school next year. When you have spent the better part of 15 years reading your way through the library, high school classes, even the honors classes she is in,have little or no new content.
So her experience has been positive for what she wanted -- to have the experience and see what the social scene was like. But not great on the learning front. But she's working on that. :)
Nance
> I'm wondering if people could give input on fully unschooled children who
> choose to try out public school - what have you seen happen?