Unschooling?

[steph.]

https://theconversation.com/unschooling-education-fad-or-real-alternative-12548

Its a form of home-schooling that doesnt follow any sort of curriculum, but rather lets the child choose what they want to learn.

Personally i would never home school in the first place because I loved going to school, having my school-friends, and having a life outside the house and would like my kids to do the same. But this just seems a bit extreme, if a child isnt taught some things how are they ever meant to know whether is would interest them or not Surely huge chunks of knowledge would be missing.

Thoughts?

 

[Dragonfly]

Home schooling I looked in to, I think its a great idea if you can do it. Or if you live in an area like me with religious schools and you arnt religious. Though my son wanted to go to school to try it so I let him. But if it came to it I would home school him. I done the research so cleared up ignored on it I had I see a lot also have on it. I know home school kids too all turned out great, own their own businesses. I am pretty sure questions will appear on socialising on this thread so I will say if I was to home school my child would socialise with every one all different ages just not forced in one class room all day. Nothing against schools I see advantages in both. More home school though.

 

[zanDark]

I wouldn't choose to home school, but it doesn't bother me when others choose to home school their kids...as long as they can do it properly and socialize their kids through other activities. What gets to me is when people home school their kids, but can't write or speak in coherent sentences or with proper spelling how are you going to teach your kids, when you're struggling with simple sentences?!

As far as the article goes...while I would have jumped at the opportunity as a kid who hated school, I wouldn't let my children choose what subjects they want to learn. Yes it's important to focus on the subjects they're good at and love, but it's also important to teach them things they might not like.

What if a kid doesn't like math or history? They would grow up and have no idea about history or other cultures or what if they grow up and decide they don't want to be a fireman or whatever they dreamed of as a kid...and want to do something that involves one of the subjects they didn't learn because they didn't like it as a child?

I think that people are losing the plot when it comes to keeping a child happy and allowing too much freedom. It's important to teach children that sometimes we have to do things we're not too fond of (like school or working later on in life) to get ahead and evolve our personalities and minds...school (and home schooling) is a good preparation for the rest of a child's life.

 

[Dragonfly]

I left school with nothing. I would have jumped to be home schooled too. I wanted to stay at home and read books instead of going to school and learning not very much. I learned more visiting a library when I left school and at home. It dosnt work for every one schools, same as home school. I see plenty of school kids who have trouble reading and writing that dont get help. I dont like when people bash either choice as parents do whats best for their child, every one is so different so you cant class them all the same.

 

[Tiff]

My little cousin was homeschooled, up until Grade 8 then she had to enter actual school. We all wondered if she'd be okay, how she'd react etc. My aunt is very religious, so when teaching her maths etc it'd be "If Noah had 10 arks and God took away 5, how many arks would Noah have?" etc.

But she did fine, she was enrolled in lots of sports and rec center activities so she had social aspects as well. So far transition to high school has been great!

As for unschooling, sounds kind of like the Waldorf Schools. I quite liked their approach, and if the one in my city hadn't closed down we probably would have had her attend it. As for doing it myself, there's no way. She struggles with socialization due to her Autism and needs to be with peers as much as she can.

 

[staralfur]

I think that it's important to have a foundation for a broad range of subjects, even if the child doesn't necessarily like them. I always hated math and swore I'd never use it, but I ended up doing quite a few research-based classes in university which required intermediate math skills. While a child knows what they like now, they don't know what they'll like in the future and had I not spent a decent amount of time begrudgingly sitting in math class as a child, I wouldn't have been able to pursue the degree which I wanted as an adult.

I watched an episode of Wife Swap where one of the families was practicing unschooling and one of the kids was probably around 10, and she could barely read. That really got to me, as reading/writing is such an important skill and I can't help but feel it's a bit irresponsible not to push your child to learn that simply because they don't want to.

 

[SerenityNow]

I can see this being good in limited quantities. If it is the whole of their education they could well end up with some serious gaps in what they know. But my friend is doing this with her 12 year old son right now. I've known him since he was about 4 and he is a very bright, very VERY "out-of-the-box" thinker. He started the year at a public middle school and it was a terrible experience for him. He's unschooling now just to reconnect with the pleasure of learning.

It would be nice for all kids to get some opportunities in their education to be led by what really interests them.

 

[freckleonear]

I currently unschool and know lots of unschooled children. Home education doesn't have to be broken down into subjects like "maths" and "history", the same stuff can be learnt through relevant real life experience. Home educators put a lot of effort into providing stimulating educational opportunities for their children, and unschoolers use "strewing" to expose their children to new knowledge.

Children who are free to follow their interests are highly motivated and "gaps" in their knowledge aren't really a concern because the focus is on lifelong learning. It is widely acknowledged by educational specialists that the most important skills for the next generation are adaptability, collaboration, creativity and divergent thinking, not factual knowledge. It's not about unschooling, but Sir Ken Robinson's TED talk is well worth watching: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=zDZFcDGpL4U

 

[staralfur]

I love that video and have seen it several times, but I suppose I feel that there's a middle ground between current public education systems and unschooling that I personally would be more comfortable with.

 

[meli1981]

Structured home schooling following the curiculum is fine imo. But this unschooling sounds way to lax! Would never consider it!

 

[sandilion]

While i personally didn't have the best time at school due to being bullied a fair bit, i still would not make the choice to stop my son from going as i feel its very important that kids have ongoing socializing with other kids while they learn. Even if they are being picked on a bit, its good for their development and coping skills. I can pin point why i didn't cope well with the bullies. The issue wasn't with the bullies mostly - it was more to do with my home environment and the bullying i was exposed to at home. My son wont be exposed to any of the shit that I was, and i will be working on a lot more communication with him than what i ever had so in hope that will help him build confidence and learn to handle the bullies. And to do well in class.

Also i don't feel it's right to predict his school experience according to mine. My son is a very out spoken confident kid already, so i really don't feel his experience will be the same. He deserves a fair go. My issues don't need to be his too. (not that i have issues with it anymore, but you get what i mean.)

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

I would homeschool but not unschool....

 

[Feronia]

I used to know two lifelong unschoolers (siblings) and I have to say, they were the craziest people I've ever met. I'm talking about 16-year-olds having full-blown temper tantrums about not being allowed to have french fries for dinner. They knew a decent amount about a few things, but mostly spent the time memorizing video game manuals and writing fan fiction. They also never went to college, never got jobs, and just plan to live out their lives in their parents' house.

I know this is an extreme example and that they can't be representative of all unschoolers, but it's the only example I have. The insane lack of social skills these two had made me not consider it for my own child. However, I would consider homeschooling if it were possible in our situation.

 

[Eternal]

I think unschooling has merit, they do have some areas where they stop a child's behaviour etc like for safety. If you structure your life with interesting things a child will naturally want to explore and learn, a lot of home schooled children grow up very well rounded, they get educated at a rate that suits them not the curriculum.

Obviously no homeschool or unschooling would work if all you did was out your child in front of a tv all day.

Giving a child some freedom to explore and learn and having control over that learning is always a good thing.

I remember being bored at school when I finished a work book as way left the whole session as the teacher wasn't willing to teach me anything else until everyone else had caught up and I remember struggling to understand something and having unfinished work because the teacher was ready to move on. We all learn and develop differently so I can't understand why anyone would have something against an individual approach to learning.

School has clear advantages in social aspects and specialised subjects, but it doesn't mean it's right for everyone.

 

[jessicaR4bbit]

I have many gripes with our current standardized education system. I could go on about this for quite some time, but I'll try not to so as to avoid boring people with my meanderings. I think that the entire schooling system is a joke, and this includes universities and colleges. Granted, not all schools (higher educational systems included) are bad, and some are very good at what they do, but I just see so many faults with the system that I can't help but to feel compelled to homeschool/unschool my LO. I dislike how our entire school lives are basically set out to teach us how to learn, rather than learning anything of value. I felt totally bored at school and I feel that I wasted valuable years of my life sitting in a classroom being disinterested and forced to memorize facts and information that mean nothing to me now, and have only set me back further in life. I didn't even know that homeschooling was possible to do back then. We grow up with this belief that going to school is what is expected of you, but it hasn't always been this way. Literacy rates were actually better before state schools were introduced, believe it or not. But I digress.

The problem I have with the education system is that it dulls true creativity and independent thought. You must conform to the curriculum. You must not question. You must do as they say. Sure, there is the illusion of freedom peddled in schools, that you are free to choose what subjects you study (even this isn't a luxury until a certain point, for whatever reason, because apparently kids are unable to decide anything for themselves and their capacity for learning is not there until they hit a certain age. Right.) Schools are there because they were introduced to create workers for industrial business. They have evolved since then, to include a broader range of subjects and have adapted new modules for learning, but their core remains the same. Schools have become a necessity because we create the demand for skilled labour. As far as I'm aware, you don't need to sit in a classroom of 30 students and have a qualified teacher read from a textbook to know how to do maths. Or write an essay on themes in Shakespeares' "The Tempest" to have a grasp on English literature. Nor do you need to be a 'jack of all trades, and a master of fuck all', to be successful at life.

I remember when I was 14, I had a problem with how our history teacher taught us. His version of a good education was being able to memorize facts, whereas I thought that it was more important to understand the context of the battles we studied, the consequences of certain historical military campaigns. I wanted to know more about Hannibal, Alexander the Great, Joan of Arc. My outspokenness and unwillingness to agree that being able to cite dates off the top of my head was a true sign of learning and intelligence landed me in the school counselor's office to discuss what was causing my disdain with the school system, and surely I was being bullied or suffering with some kind of depression or learning difficulty. That is just my experience, but it taught me that schools could care less about the individual student, and are more concerned with adhering to the curriculum so they can get paid.

Clearly I'm bitter about the whole thing but I've also read up many books that discuss the pros and cons of schooling and I think that unschooling sounds wonderful. I wish the option had been made clear to me. Maybe I'd be a published author by now, rather than feeling like I had to slog it out studying Journalism at college to get a degree so I could feel that I was worthy of getting a well paying job.

I should add, that many of our greatest thinkers throughout history and some of our brightest innovators (Salvadore Dali, Einstein, *Gates* just as examples) were 'masters' in their respective skills, but they were not all put through school like we are, yet they achieved so much in their lifetimes. Knowing a broad range of subjects and having basic knowledge should never be a requirement for anybody. Sorry. I also strongly disagree with this notion given that we live in the information age. Anything that you need to learn, can be learnt, with very little effort. All it takes is a trip to the library or a search online. There are so many resources for learning now and we have the world at our fingertips, yet we still need to go to school to learn about history, maths, geography, religion and culture? Forgive me but I have learned more than I did while I was at school by doing a damned Google search.

 

[staralfur]

So what happens if your kid turns 18 and decides they want to be a doctor? Or any other occupation that requires extensive post-secondary education? Wouldn't they be at quite a disadvantage not having any formal schooling?

I personally am quite thankful that a lot of careers require someone to attend years and years of schooling. You may not agree with it, but I doubt there will ever be a time when someone goes in for surgery and the surgeon says "Don't worry, I've spent 10 years Googling this stuff."

 

[freckleonear]

There's absolutely nothing to stop an unschooled child going on to study successfully at college or university. By the time they are teenagers many of them decide to do the relevant GCSEs or A levels to help them on their chosen career path, but equally many home educated children are accepted into university without any formal qualifications because they are able to demonstrate their skills in other ways (in fact universities in the UK are really keen to accept home educators because they tend to have a unique ability to think outside the box).

People seem to have the impression that unschooling = no work, because why would children choose to learn if they don't have to? Yet unschoolers believe the opposite, that children have a natural desire to learn. Both unschooling children and parents put a huge amount of effort into their education and learning, they just do it in a very different way to normal. Formal schooling is not the only way to learn.

 

[jessicaR4bbit]

They go to college and get the highers (or whatever qualifications are required depending on location) that are relevant to the job. People do this anyway. It's also not unheard of for unschooled kids to seek out higher education sooner, as in at a younger age, because they tend to be more driven than their schooled counterparts. Not implying that this is the case 100% of the time, but the point still stands. There is nothing that school teaches you that can't be learned at home or otherwise.

 

[staralfur]

I wasn't trying to suggest that they don't do any work but from what I gathered unschooling isn't recognized as 'proper' school by the school system (whereas I realize home schooling with structure is).

I've never heard of a university accepting someone without credentials but perhaps that comes down to location.

 

[Feronia]

Freckleonear and jessicaR4bbit, it's been great to hear your perspectives on this. I honestly don't know many unschoolers or homeschoolers so my experience was admittedly very limited so I can see how I was biased. I can see what you're saying about the problems with standardized education and how a system like that wouldn't work for everyone. I had a horrible time going through public schooling (elementary, middle, and high school -- my one saving grace about the whole thing was that I met my husband in middle school) but I really flourished in university and grad school. (Although I have my own issues with the way these are run, too.)

It's good to know that many unschoolers go on to higher education and are able to get the careers they want without going through standard curriculum.