#un-schooling

[leonardodahomeschooler-blog-blog]

It Is Pretty Darn Hard Keeping Up Here!

It has been too long, far too long. I’ll need to do another photo-dump soon. 

The problem is we’re out and about so much and by the time we get home, we’re shattered, I’ve forgotten to take photos and if I’ve any energy to write, I should really be working once Leo’s asleep!

Anyway, I’ve thought of a way of keeping a note of some of the stuff he’s learning. I’m going to have a few extra blogs for things like documentaries we’ve watched or shows we’ve seen. Here is the one for the documentaries and educational films. I’ll do one about the shows we’ve seen later. It’ll be easier to just paste a link with a quick line when we watch a documentary, which we probably do about twice a week. 

We’re back into the swing after the (really long!) Easter break. 

Monday am - Baby-Boot-Camp 

Monday pm - Drama

Tuesday am - Mini-Movers

Tuesday pm - Visit Granny and Grandpa

Wednesday - Nothing at the moment, although I think we will start to go to the Christian group maybe once a month. 

Thursday - Either Nature Tots in Contin, or if diesel is low and money is tight, Leo and daddy do a similar thing here, we’ve several friends who are interested in joining us too. One of whom may well be home-educated too.

Friday am - Home-ed group in Dingwall

Friday pm - Baby-Boot-Camp

Saturday am - Family-Boot-Camp

We’re supposed to be fitting trampolining, athletics, little dragons and swimming in to the week too, but quite honestly, I’m not sure how we’ll manage or afford that. 

I’m thinking it might be a good idea to have a lazy summer term just hanging around, seeing friends, practising reading and typing, really focusing on learning to write, draw and colour in etc. 

We’ve got the social interactions sorted now, he’ll happily run up to kids of any age and ask to join in playing football and will happily dance and sing in front of people (AT LAST!) So, now, I think it is maybe time to concentrate on those important skills which he’s told me he is desperate to learn. (Or I assume the constant “What does that say?” “Read this to me Mummy” “When will I know what that says?” means he’s ready.) And those he’s not so keen on (like how to colour in) but which really are going to come in quite important if he still wants to be an engineer / plumber / Stig’s friend / farmer when he grows up. 

There was a new mum at drama today, we’d met before months ago when the kids started playing at The Hidden Gem but not seen each other since. Turns out her little one will be home-schooled too. So, I’ve told her about our home-ed meet-up group in Dingwall - not that we’ve actually met up yet, but this week we will! (Hopefully!)

Must dash, will make the “Plays We’ve Seen” blog another day.   

[potandparenting]

What is Unschooling?

Unschooling is trusting the learner to be in charge of his or her own learning. It is not a method of instruction we use on our children, but a process we adults go through to unlearn the lessons and undo the effects of our years of schooling. Schooling taught us that learning only happens in a certain place and time, under the direction and/or force of a teacher. Unschooling ourselves restores our child-like curiosity. It encourages us to trust that we are all learning all the time and that we are the experts when it comes to choosing what, when, how, where, how much and with whom we learn. Schooling taught us that our interests were unimportant, disruptive, a waste of time, just play, not “the real world.” Unschooling frees us to follow our interests wherever they lead. As John Holt said in Instead of Education: “We learn something from everything we do, and everything that happens to us or is done to us.... It is the quality of our experiences, the satisfaction, excitement, or joy that we get or fail to get from them, that will determine how those experiences change us--in short, what we learn... (O)ur most rapid, efficient, far-reaching, useful, and permanent learning comes from our doing things that we ourselves have decided to do, and ... in doing such things we often need very little help or none at all.” Schooling taught us that experts know when everyone should learn to read, write, do arithmetic. If we didn’t fit into their schedule, the experts labeled us slow or dyslexic, ADD or learning disabled. Unschooling reassures us that we all learn and grow in our own way, at our own pace, and there is no hurry. At the Sudbury Valley School in Massachusetts, no one is ever told to stop what they’re doing and learn to read (or anything else), yet all the students learn to read, write and calculate. Some ask for help, some teach themselves in mysterious ways. Some learn when they are four, some when they’re 12, but by the time they’re 16, nobody can tell who learned “early” and who learned “late. Schooling taught us that learning is sitting still, being quiet, obeying the rules no matter how stupid or harmful or unfair they are. And if we couldn’t or wouldn’t sit still we were coerced, punished, shamed, even drugged into submission. Unschooling allows coloring outside the lines. Learning is active, passionate, sometimes sociable, noisy and messy, sometimes lonely, silent and invisible. Schooling taught us that we could not be responsible for our own living and learning, but must rely on experts, authorities, rules and regulations to make us do the right thing. This is a tough one to unlearn because nobody ever says it in so many words -- it is simply the underlying assumption of the schooling process. Unschooling respects our intelligence and our virtue. We were all born with the desire and the ability to learn what we need to know in order to be contributing members of our family and our society. Unschooling is unleashing, unfurling, unbinding our innate ability to choose for ourselves the ideas and activities that foster lifelong learning and growth. John Taylor Gatto, New York City and State Teacher of the Year, said, “I don’t think the world can afford well-schooled children anymore, whether they come from the factories of government, of church, or of private industry. We need a different kind of man and woman to tackle the future, the kind of young people who accept the obligations of living joyfully and with responsibility.” Because most of us were so well schooled, we sometimes need a little help from our friends to unschool ourselves. Unschoolers Unlimited publishes a newsletter, mailing list, and learning exchange list so we can stay in touch and encourage each other. We hold family gatherings every other month so we can get together to play, socialize, share ideas, information, inspiration and good food. We hope you’ll join us. Request our free information packet and our latest newsletter. Courage! Luz Guilford CT [email protected] http://www.borntoexplore.org/unschool

[dinnerbeforezombies-blog]

Un-Schooling vs Traditional Education

Un-schooling is a new term to me but I was instantly in love with the idea. Homeschooling children without standardizing them is basically what I get from it. Un-schooled.net is where I discovered this fabulous term.

Con-man might not even be a year old yet but I am already trying to decide how I want him to be educated. I informed my fiance before he was even born that he was not going to public school if I had to work three jobs to make that possible. Of course, now that is not realistic. I would never have time to spend with him!

I have already started researching various private schools in my area. Some are fairly inexpensive, while others seems outrageous. (We're talking 20 grand for a year of schooling.) One thing almost all of them are religiously affiliated. This is not so much a problem but I want to teach my son a variety of religious principles and I want him to have the freedom to choose what he believes. Some things I do not feel comfortable with at religiously affiliated schools, and of course there is something of a stigma for me surrounding religion, especially Christianity. I associate myself with Judaism, but I respect other peoples beliefs. The problem is they sometimes don't respect mine, and therefore my son's future beliefs or disbelief, or whatever he chooses to believe.

So my new idea is to work from home and to home school my child/children. I have been looking into how it would actually work, what things I would have to do, and if I would even be able to handle it. I'm not an organized person and I'm pretty darn lazy too. Sending Con-man off to school gives me an eight hour break, five days a week, for the majority of the year. I have seen people who are jealous of school because it takes their children away from them. I definitely do not think that if I choose to send him to a traditional school that I will be jealous. Pfft. I know I won't. I will miss him I'm sure, but it will be some small freedom to work, or get things done around the house, or get coffee with a friend without chasing him around the shop. Why would you be jealous!? Plus he would be getting an education, learning and loving it I hope.

I am concerned what my family will say, what my fiance's family will say, what my fiance will say. I would definitely need support and I am not sure that my family will be as gung ho as I am. They'll probably look at me like I'm crazy. Still, that is not a good enough reason NOT to do something. I have received that look many times over.

Schools focus too much on standardized testing, on learning this material by this time and being able to spout it back without even comprehending it. I was lucky in school; I had teachers who taught me to think for myself. Most students do not understand that concept. It makes me intensely sad because they will never reach their full potential. I do not want that for Connor. I want him to be an individual. I don't think he should have to live up to a standardized test and if he fails it he has fallen behind. That's just ignorance! Children learn differently, each child is unique in his or her needs. One test is not enough to tell you what the child really needs. What is they have test anxiety? What if they fail the math section because they don't have the reading comprehension skills they need?

I mean all these things and more make me dislike a standard education. Who would be better suited to teach my child but me and his father? Really, I am personally invested in him already. (Duh.) I want what is best for him. The question I have to ask myself is what exactly is that? Can I handle it? Is it feasible as far as money goes? The list just goes on and on.

I still feel as though un-schooling is the greatest idea ever however, and that is basically what it boils down to. I'm undecided but I'd love to hear from other people who chose to homeschool or un-school, who chose public school, who chose private schooling. I want life experiences people! =D