Re: [Unschooling-dotcom] Out of Hiding
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In a message dated 4/1/00 1:33:08 PM Eastern Standard Time, HPaulson5@...
writes:
<< arcie, After reading your post, I want to share that I ,too, was a
teacher.
I know exactly what you are saying about being able to change. I want to
be
able to trust the kids,too, but it is very difficult. It is as if we, the
ex-teachers , need the de-schooling. All the yrs as children in schools,
then college, then teaching in the schools adds up to alot to shut out of a
person's mind, no matter how much other philophies make sense. I have read
Holt, and agree with most everything I have read. He,too, was a teacher;
however, I don't think he was a parent. My point is that living with
children 24hrs a day, 7 days a week, is different than being with them for
prescribed hours each day. When I taught, I was not a parent. >>
Karen, what a great post! I am so glad that we can share our challenges
here.
I was also the one in my family who needed deschooling, along with my oldest
daughter, who had a very traumatic 4th grade year in our highly rated public
school system. I still deal with my own parents (who moved south this year,
fortunately) who were both educators and strongly oppose our home schooling.
The distance has helped, as has John and I gaining confidence in what we're
doing.
We knew over a year ago that we were going to home school, because we needed
something better for our oldest. The funny thing is that our middle daughter
would have had big problems in school this year, I think. She is a born
unschooler if there ever was one. Very self-directed, very much a homebody,
yet a leader and very independent in social situations. And I think that's
because she is comfortable with herself and doesn't need friends to feel
complete. Of course, she is the one that people are drawn to and she has
many friends. But she simply cannot be forced to do anything she doesn't
want to do. She'll say "sure" or "yes, ma'am" and blow it off. And, at 6,
she is reading (can you believe this??) at a 6th or 7th grade level. No one
taught her phonics, no one knows how she learned to read, she won't do the
spelling workbooks I have for her, but her reading, vocabulary, and writing
(when she wants it to be), are amazing. John and I catch ourselves all the
time, because it's very hard to remember that she is only 6.
What an incredible time this has become for me. I think that I am the one
who is benefiting most from our unschooling adventure!
Marcie
writes:
<< arcie, After reading your post, I want to share that I ,too, was a
teacher.
I know exactly what you are saying about being able to change. I want to
be
able to trust the kids,too, but it is very difficult. It is as if we, the
ex-teachers , need the de-schooling. All the yrs as children in schools,
then college, then teaching in the schools adds up to alot to shut out of a
person's mind, no matter how much other philophies make sense. I have read
Holt, and agree with most everything I have read. He,too, was a teacher;
however, I don't think he was a parent. My point is that living with
children 24hrs a day, 7 days a week, is different than being with them for
prescribed hours each day. When I taught, I was not a parent. >>
Karen, what a great post! I am so glad that we can share our challenges
here.
I was also the one in my family who needed deschooling, along with my oldest
daughter, who had a very traumatic 4th grade year in our highly rated public
school system. I still deal with my own parents (who moved south this year,
fortunately) who were both educators and strongly oppose our home schooling.
The distance has helped, as has John and I gaining confidence in what we're
doing.
We knew over a year ago that we were going to home school, because we needed
something better for our oldest. The funny thing is that our middle daughter
would have had big problems in school this year, I think. She is a born
unschooler if there ever was one. Very self-directed, very much a homebody,
yet a leader and very independent in social situations. And I think that's
because she is comfortable with herself and doesn't need friends to feel
complete. Of course, she is the one that people are drawn to and she has
many friends. But she simply cannot be forced to do anything she doesn't
want to do. She'll say "sure" or "yes, ma'am" and blow it off. And, at 6,
she is reading (can you believe this??) at a 6th or 7th grade level. No one
taught her phonics, no one knows how she learned to read, she won't do the
spelling workbooks I have for her, but her reading, vocabulary, and writing
(when she wants it to be), are amazing. John and I catch ourselves all the
time, because it's very hard to remember that she is only 6.
What an incredible time this has become for me. I think that I am the one
who is benefiting most from our unschooling adventure!
Marcie