zenmomma *

>>I don't mean to offend anyone, but unschooling sounds alot like Montessori
>>schools. The perpared environment approach, allows chldren to serve and
>>learn on their own. Let the children follow their own
interests. They will learn when they are ready.>>

I think the difference lies in the idea of the prepared environment. A child
in a Montessori program is first and foremost in a program. They are in a
classroom that has been carefully stocked with whatever information the
program has decided a child needs to progress through in order to receive an
"education".

In an unschooling lifestyle, there is no program and there is no classroom.
To me, it would be very limiting for my kids to have only a certain set of
materials to choose from. The entire world is their classroom and from that,
they are able to follow their own interests. This leaves the door wide open
to explore topics and ideas that I may never have even thought of. It also
leaves them open to approach more traditional areas throuh play, even if the
materials they play with aren't considered traditionally "educational".

I try to keep my children's lives well stocked with interesting things to
do, see, touch, smell, taste, hear and read. I don't limit those things to
educational, grade level appropriate, or those things designed to progress
them to some desired level of learning. We may have some of the same
materials as a Montessori classroom, but are in no way limited by those
materials. They are just one more cool and interesting thing that we have to
explore. I try to give my kids as much access to the world as I can and join
them on their journey of exploration and discovery.

>>I also get the impression that he tried changing the school systems, and
>>he didn't succeed. That is when all the homeschooling ,
unschooling term began. I am not sure if I am even close.>>

I believe that John Holt realized that it was impossible to change such a
huge system from within. His writings changed over time from changing the
system to abandoning it entirely. He initially coined the term unschooling
because those uncola commercials were popular at the time. The "un" phrase
was being thrown about a lot at the time and it helped to identify what he
was trying to propose with taking children out of school to learn at home.
Over time, the term unschooling has evolved to become a distinct entity from
traditional homeschooling.

Hope this helps.

Life is good.
~Mary


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zenmomma *

>>What was the "uncola"? Was it Tab?>>

Oops! My age is really showing now. ;-) The uncola was 7-Up. It was being
touted as a refreshing, light, completely different taste than traditional
colas.

Life is good.
~Mary


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What was the "uncola"? Was it Tab?
~Elissa Cleaveland
"It is nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction
have
not yet entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry." A. Einstein

[email protected]

That's right! I remember those commercials! I was too young to buy it myself
though! <beg>
~Elissa Cleaveland
"It is nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction
have
not yet entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry." A. Einstein

Vicki A. Dennis

Tab was a cola. 7-up is the uncola.
----- Original Message -----
From: ElissaJC@...
To: [email protected]
Sent: Monday, March 18, 2002 8:08 AM
Subject: Re: [Unschooling-dotcom] Montessori vs. Unschooling


What was the "uncola"? Was it Tab?
~Elissa Cleaveland
"It is nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction
have
not yet entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry." A. Einstein




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

Kara Bauer

I think the difference lies in the idea of the prepared environment. A child
in a Montessori program is first and foremost in a program. They are in a
classroom that has been carefully stocked with whatever information the
program has decided a child needs to progress through in order to receive an
"education".>>

I think Montessori & unschooling are actually nothing alike. Montessori has 'goals' in mind, whether they take a year or a day, there is an end goal. I believe if any school was going to be compared to unschooling it would be Free School (Sudbury Education).

KaraGet more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com


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

Karin

<<What was the "uncola"? Was it Tab?
~Elissa Cleaveland
"It is nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction
have
not yet entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry." A. Einstein >>



Wasn't it 7-up?
Remember? 7-up ~ the uncola.
I think.

Karin

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