Homeschooling-9years, New to Unschooling
[email protected]
Hello,
I have been a member of your group for a bit, and have just been reading and
enjoying all your emails. So now I have some questions.
How does unschooling really work?
Do you do nothing unless the child initiates it?
I have been homeschooling for 9 years. We have 8 children, the oldest
graduating this past May. Do I still teach my little ones to read? How do
they pick up on it themselves?
After all these years of homeschooling I have decided I hate textbooks. I'm
tired of making out assignments for 5 children, making them do boring
meaningless work. I dislike so much about that, but I've always felt "Big
Brother" looming over me and just couldn't break free of it. If my family or
neighbors found out I was not "doing school" like it was done in the school
system, they would report me for neglect.
This year I have told my 17dd that she didn't have to do math anymore (she
hates math) unless she wanted to. We just have never been able to get through
a pre-algebra textbook (Saxon). We've tried 4 times! She is so happy. She
loves to read and work on crafts. Egypt and Atlantis are biggies for her
right now.
I am taking baby steps toward unschooling. I am a voracious reader and am
checking out large quantities of books about unschooling. I am a bit nervous.
If I went into the kitchen right now and told my kids they never had to have
school again, they would be thrilled and immediately veg out in front of the
tv or nintendo. How do you keep your kids from just doing nothing?
As you can see, I have many questions. This really seems to be what I want to
do, but I'm just plain old s-c-a-r-e-d to take the plunge. Please help me
with your advice.
Laura
Wife to David for 21 years
Mother to Ben, Rachel, Eli, Rebekah, Bethany, Sam, Josiah, and MaryGrace
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
I have been a member of your group for a bit, and have just been reading and
enjoying all your emails. So now I have some questions.
How does unschooling really work?
Do you do nothing unless the child initiates it?
I have been homeschooling for 9 years. We have 8 children, the oldest
graduating this past May. Do I still teach my little ones to read? How do
they pick up on it themselves?
After all these years of homeschooling I have decided I hate textbooks. I'm
tired of making out assignments for 5 children, making them do boring
meaningless work. I dislike so much about that, but I've always felt "Big
Brother" looming over me and just couldn't break free of it. If my family or
neighbors found out I was not "doing school" like it was done in the school
system, they would report me for neglect.
This year I have told my 17dd that she didn't have to do math anymore (she
hates math) unless she wanted to. We just have never been able to get through
a pre-algebra textbook (Saxon). We've tried 4 times! She is so happy. She
loves to read and work on crafts. Egypt and Atlantis are biggies for her
right now.
I am taking baby steps toward unschooling. I am a voracious reader and am
checking out large quantities of books about unschooling. I am a bit nervous.
If I went into the kitchen right now and told my kids they never had to have
school again, they would be thrilled and immediately veg out in front of the
tv or nintendo. How do you keep your kids from just doing nothing?
As you can see, I have many questions. This really seems to be what I want to
do, but I'm just plain old s-c-a-r-e-d to take the plunge. Please help me
with your advice.
Laura
Wife to David for 21 years
Mother to Ben, Rachel, Eli, Rebekah, Bethany, Sam, Josiah, and MaryGrace
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[email protected]
In a message dated 7/23/02 11:32:55 AM, lajoward@... writes:
<< If my family or neighbors found out I was not "doing school" like it was
done in the school system, they would report me for neglect. >>
Not if you're not being neglectful they won't.
Tell them you're doing unit studies if that will ease them into the idea. I
do the unit of everything. <g> "The Universal Unit!"
You can still keep a list of activities, movies you watched, books people
used/read/checked out, places you went, projects and hobbies people worked
on, if you're afraid of the friends and relatives.
<<This year I have told my 17dd that she didn't have to do math anymore (she
hates math) unless she wanted to. We just have never been able to get through
a pre-algebra textbook (Saxon). We've tried 4 times! >>
If she were in high school they might have told her that two years ago. If
they only required two math units to graduate...
<<She loves to read and work on crafts. Egypt and Atlantis are biggies for
her
right now. >>
If she even just talks to the other kids about what she's discovering about
those things you can "count it" for all of them.
And eventually you can stop counting anything.
<<If I went into the kitchen right now and told my kids they never had to
have
school again, they would be thrilled and immediately veg out in front of the
tv or nintendo. How do you keep your kids from just doing nothing?>>
I don't. They can watch all they want. And if you just LET them, they'll
play Nintendo (although I don't consider it vegging out at all) or watch TV
(where they'll see all kinds of things to think about and ask about and think
about and connect) and they might seem to be "doing nothing," but I seriously
doubt it will ever be "nothing." Even if it's waiting or resting or
daydreaming or thinking or meditating, it's not nothing.
They won't just do the same thing forever. Nobody does unless they're really
emotionally wounded.
<<This really seems to be what I want to do, but I'm just plain old
s-c-a-r-e-d to take the plunge. Please help me with your advice. >>
One good trick is to "Take a month off."
Lots of people tell their kids this when they first take them out of school.
And in a way you're taking yours out of school, but it won't be so obvious
to them. You could tell them you want to JUST take a break.
But during the break you could be doing things you think you'd like to be
doing if you keep on having that break for years. And you can see their
reaction to things which are "just for fun" and not intended to be
educational.
Because even you yourself have divided the world into "learning" and "not
learning" and "work" and "nothing" for so long, it might be harder for you
than it will be for them. The next issue of Home Education Magazine is going
to have at least two articles on deschooling. If you haven't yet subscribed
to HEM, this might be the perfect time to do that!
http://www.home-ed-magazine.com/
I did not teach my children to read. Holly surprised me by being slow to
read even though she's VERY verbal, has a big vocabulary and has liked to
write since she was very young. Today she was reading Harry Potter cards,
though, and only missed a few words. Usually a long word with lots of vowels
but only one or two syllable will stump her.
I have something I think you should definitely read. Go to
www.unschooling.com and click on "library" at the left. It's an article by
my friend and my former La Leche League leader Carol Rice. I know her four
kids REALLY very well. The girls are at my house at least once a week. We
were in a babysitting co-op together. Our families have known each other
since Kirby was four months old and her kids were all pre-readers, so I can
vouch for all she says.
Sandra
<< If my family or neighbors found out I was not "doing school" like it was
done in the school system, they would report me for neglect. >>
Not if you're not being neglectful they won't.
Tell them you're doing unit studies if that will ease them into the idea. I
do the unit of everything. <g> "The Universal Unit!"
You can still keep a list of activities, movies you watched, books people
used/read/checked out, places you went, projects and hobbies people worked
on, if you're afraid of the friends and relatives.
<<This year I have told my 17dd that she didn't have to do math anymore (she
hates math) unless she wanted to. We just have never been able to get through
a pre-algebra textbook (Saxon). We've tried 4 times! >>
If she were in high school they might have told her that two years ago. If
they only required two math units to graduate...
<<She loves to read and work on crafts. Egypt and Atlantis are biggies for
her
right now. >>
If she even just talks to the other kids about what she's discovering about
those things you can "count it" for all of them.
And eventually you can stop counting anything.
<<If I went into the kitchen right now and told my kids they never had to
have
school again, they would be thrilled and immediately veg out in front of the
tv or nintendo. How do you keep your kids from just doing nothing?>>
I don't. They can watch all they want. And if you just LET them, they'll
play Nintendo (although I don't consider it vegging out at all) or watch TV
(where they'll see all kinds of things to think about and ask about and think
about and connect) and they might seem to be "doing nothing," but I seriously
doubt it will ever be "nothing." Even if it's waiting or resting or
daydreaming or thinking or meditating, it's not nothing.
They won't just do the same thing forever. Nobody does unless they're really
emotionally wounded.
<<This really seems to be what I want to do, but I'm just plain old
s-c-a-r-e-d to take the plunge. Please help me with your advice. >>
One good trick is to "Take a month off."
Lots of people tell their kids this when they first take them out of school.
And in a way you're taking yours out of school, but it won't be so obvious
to them. You could tell them you want to JUST take a break.
But during the break you could be doing things you think you'd like to be
doing if you keep on having that break for years. And you can see their
reaction to things which are "just for fun" and not intended to be
educational.
Because even you yourself have divided the world into "learning" and "not
learning" and "work" and "nothing" for so long, it might be harder for you
than it will be for them. The next issue of Home Education Magazine is going
to have at least two articles on deschooling. If you haven't yet subscribed
to HEM, this might be the perfect time to do that!
http://www.home-ed-magazine.com/
I did not teach my children to read. Holly surprised me by being slow to
read even though she's VERY verbal, has a big vocabulary and has liked to
write since she was very young. Today she was reading Harry Potter cards,
though, and only missed a few words. Usually a long word with lots of vowels
but only one or two syllable will stump her.
I have something I think you should definitely read. Go to
www.unschooling.com and click on "library" at the left. It's an article by
my friend and my former La Leche League leader Carol Rice. I know her four
kids REALLY very well. The girls are at my house at least once a week. We
were in a babysitting co-op together. Our families have known each other
since Kirby was four months old and her kids were all pre-readers, so I can
vouch for all she says.
Sandra
[email protected]
In a message dated 7/23/02 12:32:45 PM Central Daylight Time,
lajoward@... writes:
I apologize to anyone who has read this, I wrote something similar on another
list.
The other day Moly was vegging on the couch, watching a video on apes but,
while watching, what really interested her was the jungle, and how cool all
the plants are. So she got some books and fliped channels between the
National Geographic, history, and discovery channels. She found things on
tropical plants, she learned about the rain forests, logging practices,
endangered species, poaching, illegal capture and sale of exotic birds and
other wild life, the medicinal values of certain plants, the tribes of people
and their cultures, how they make their huts, whether they are
hunter/gatherers or farmers, why they decorate their bodies the way they do,
why do people all around the world use piercing and tattoos as expression,
why has this become such a fad in America... All this from vegging on the
couch! Jack got in on the discussion too, and we called their Uncle in
Georgia who is a tattoo artist, and he told the kids some interesting things.
Then we had a discussion of how to run a business. That is unschooling, (to
me anyway) and Moly spent a good part of the day on the couch. To the casual
observer, I am sure it would have looked like we sat around and did nothing
all day.
When I was a child, we traveled a lot because of my Dad's job. We also got to
live in some real exotic places, so many times when my kids are just sitting
around, they are going through all my things. It amazes me what they learn
just by doing that. My Mom just gave me all the National Geographic Magazines
they have collected over the years. My grandparents started the collection
back in the 30's. I really hope my kids find some time to *veg out* with some
of those. Vegging out can be a good thing.
~Nancy
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
lajoward@... writes:
> How do you keep your kids from just doing nothing?I call this, *What Moly Really Did That Day She Spent 'Vegging' on the Couch*
>
I apologize to anyone who has read this, I wrote something similar on another
list.
The other day Moly was vegging on the couch, watching a video on apes but,
while watching, what really interested her was the jungle, and how cool all
the plants are. So she got some books and fliped channels between the
National Geographic, history, and discovery channels. She found things on
tropical plants, she learned about the rain forests, logging practices,
endangered species, poaching, illegal capture and sale of exotic birds and
other wild life, the medicinal values of certain plants, the tribes of people
and their cultures, how they make their huts, whether they are
hunter/gatherers or farmers, why they decorate their bodies the way they do,
why do people all around the world use piercing and tattoos as expression,
why has this become such a fad in America... All this from vegging on the
couch! Jack got in on the discussion too, and we called their Uncle in
Georgia who is a tattoo artist, and he told the kids some interesting things.
Then we had a discussion of how to run a business. That is unschooling, (to
me anyway) and Moly spent a good part of the day on the couch. To the casual
observer, I am sure it would have looked like we sat around and did nothing
all day.
When I was a child, we traveled a lot because of my Dad's job. We also got to
live in some real exotic places, so many times when my kids are just sitting
around, they are going through all my things. It amazes me what they learn
just by doing that. My Mom just gave me all the National Geographic Magazines
they have collected over the years. My grandparents started the collection
back in the 30's. I really hope my kids find some time to *veg out* with some
of those. Vegging out can be a good thing.
~Nancy
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
zenmomma *
>>How does unschooling really work?>>Very well!!
>>Do you do nothing unless the child initiates it?>>Well no, I still have a life to live. ;-) If you mean do I do no
"schoolwork" unless my child initiates it, then I 'd have to say we do no
schoolwork at all! What we do is look at the world as one big interesting
place that is fun and interesting to learn about. We explore it together.
Sometimes I suggest an activity, sometimes they do. There's just no hidden
requirement that every activity have a "learning goal" or that it must even
be completed in a certain way.
>>I have been homeschooling for 9 years. We have 8 children, the oldestI think it's counterproductive to sit little children down with lessons. It
>>graduating this past May. Do I still teach my little ones to read? How do
>>they pick up on it themselves?>>
takes all the joy and exploration out of the process. Your little ones will
learn to read because it's a fun and useful life skill. They'll pick up on
it by being surrounded with the printed word, by being read to, by having
their questions answered right as they think of them, by trying to figure
out roadsigns and t-shirt sayings, by playing with games, by playing around
with words with you. Unschooling does NOT mean ignore them. I'm sure you'll
be doing all sorts of activities with them that involve reading. They'll
learn!
>>After all these years of homeschooling I have decided I hate textbooks.Hurray for you and hurray for your kids!
>>I'm tired of making out assignments for 5 children, making them do boring
>>meaningless work.>>
>>If I went into the kitchen right now and told my kids they never had toMaybe for awhile, but not forever. I myself have been know to veg out on
>>have school again, they would be thrilled and immediately veg out in front
>>of the tv or nintendo.>>
occassion. :o) Sometimes we need that time to recharge, relax and regroup.
They most especially will need time to deschool. Even school-at-home is
school. Give them time to get out of that mindset. Give them time to get
used to making their own choices about how they'll spend their time. For
awhile it may very well be TV or Nintendo, but they'll get tired of it
eventually. And they'll have had time to think about what other things
they'd really like to do.
>>How do you keep your kids from just doing nothing?>>We all need our down times. And even when a kid looks like they're doing
nothing, they're doing something. It's just not a something that looks like
schoolwork.
>>As you can see, I have many questions. This really seems to be what I wantGo for it! You've given the school-at-home thing a try and you're feeling
>>to do, but I'm just plain old s-c-a-r-e-d to take the plunge. Please help
>>me with your advice.>>
burned out and disillusioned by it. Go ahead and give real life a try
without textbooks and curriculums. Your kids will amaze you with what they
will learn by just being a part of this world. We're all learning all the
time.
Life is good.
~Mary
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