Deb

>>>>I know someone who uses Calvert Curriculum. She is the teacher in that family
and is spending her summer trying to figure out what she's going to
teach her
son in the fall. She's sweet and joyful and loves her kids and interacts
really nicely with them and pays close attention to their interests and
does
her best to support them. They all are happy and content with how things
are
working. That doesn't make it unschooling. Why not? Well - because all
the
"teaching" - including the planning, carrying out, and assessment -- is
incompatible with unschooling, that's why. If someone comes here and
wants to
know about unschooling and she says, "Well, look at all the 'teaching
plans'
and pick out which kind of teacher you prefer to be and buy the
curriculum
and teach it to your child," it would be really wrong of us not to step
up
and say, "That isn't unschooling." If we want people to understand, they
need
to understand that traditional style "teaching" in the widest meaning of
the
word is not necessary then it would be more clear if we didn't confuse
the
issue so much..<<<<<<

Yes, I agree, it doesn't make it unschooling. There seems to be an angst
amongst some of the unschooling moms that is accepted as part of
unschooling - a noble suffering with the uncertainty, so to speak.
That's OK, if that's your bent, and it might be just what someone needs
and wants to experience - a boldness to throw away all guides and go on
your quest for living! I really am a believer that one size does not fit
all, and we don't all have to go the same route or need the same thing.

I, however, did it differently. I bought or at least looked at samples
of every program and curriculum out there. I got books on what your
child should know when, and how do you teach this and that. To this day,
my house is stuffed with these books and even textbooks for reference in
case I want to refer to them. I read lots of them, have zillions I
haven't read too. Did I use them with my daughter? Nope. If she asked me
what they were, I told her it was too boring to do. Or sometimes we
started with one and it WAS too boring or she already knew or could
figure out what was in it herself. Sometimes a book was an adventure
that gave us an interesting starting point for a few minutes and then we
went off on our own research from there. She had a little fun with some
thing or other that I had around if she was interested, but mainly we
read and played and explored the world around, made our own books (not
because of any suggestion from some curriculum, somehow I could never
get around to it when i set out to do it that way), but just because it
evolved naturally out of what we were doing and I was interested and she
was too at the same time.

What I used all those curriculums and how-to books for was to satisfy
myself that I KNEW what the system was doing supposedly at different
levels or grades even, that I knew all the steps clearly in how to
multiply and divide fractions or whatever it was I was reading about.
What X curriculum covered, and what Z curriculum covered and how they
compared. And nary a one did I make my daughter do. She was too smart or
not interested or I was not interested ands too smart.

BUT I KNEW and no one could tell me that I was missing anything or
should do anything. If someone asked me what she was supposed to be
learning in 4th grade science, I could sit back and say "oh, we already
covered that last year when we played Where in Space is Carmen San Diego
- and by the way my daughter and her friend had such fun "cheating" on
it by looking up all about the moons of every planet in the book "Moons
of the Solar System" from the library." No one could shake me, and I
knew what a paltry thing the school system's expectations were, and how
much richer was everything we did. This didn't take the majority of my
time, I spent most of my time living and unschooling happily.

But I did use those scope and sequences for myself and sorted out my own
past education actually. Saw what I had been almost taught in the
schools, or had heard of and never covered or understood. What I knew
far more of then they. It was highly profitable time spent for me, and I
think some of that rubbed off in a good way on my daughter. Actually,
probably the attention I did put on it left my daughter with free time
to go unbothered by me and my concerns or butt-in-ski tendencies. So you
see: a viable use for curriculums, scope and sequences! To take the
parents' time to read and figure out and keep them out of their
children's hair! Never thought of that one, did ya'? ;)

My life is richer, and now the fluff I hear or run across in this arena,
I can evaluate, ignore or toss off easily. (I didn't say I could throw
away a book...now that is a whole nother story. I am actually looking
for an abandoned library to renovate and move into; if anyone sees one
for sale, please let me know.)

Debbie Radstrom

Director, Live Oak Academy
Visit our website http://www.newhealth.net/liveoak/
~Flexible Alternative Schooling for Families~

[email protected]

In a message dated 8/6/2002 4:08:44 PM Pacific Daylight Time, herbtea@...
writes:


> But I did use those scope and sequences for myself and sorted out my own
> past education actually. Saw what I had been almost taught in the
> schools, or had heard of and never covered or understood. What I knew
> far more of then they. It was highly profitable time spent for me, and I
> think some of that rubbed off in a good way on my daughter. Actually,
> probably the attention I did put on it left my daughter with free time
> to go unbothered by me and my concerns or butt-in-ski tendencies. So you
> see: a viable use for curriculums, scope and sequences! To take the
> parents' time to read and figure out and keep them out of their
> children's hair! Never thought of that one, did ya'? ;)

Me too!!!! I educated MYSELF the same way you did - I enjoyed it the same way
I enjoyed going through the teaching credential program, in a weird warped
way <G>.

--pamS

National Home Education Network
http://www.NHEN.org
Changing the Way the World Sees Homeschooling!


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