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(This is a repost from my blog last summer. But it's so appropriate to what I'm hearing from others and where I'm at lately, that I wanted to repost it. Be encouraged and hopefully I will add to it tomorrow)
My kids are UnSchooled, not UnDisciplined...or UnRuly, or UnMotivated, or..... I could go on.
Many people, both inside and outside the homeschool circle, seem to think that unschooling is about letting the child lead and direct everything within the house, not just their education. Sometime I think the general stereotype has something to do with loud, chaotic households where everyone is doing nothing but watching cartoons and sleeping until noon. Or where an 8 year can discover the principles of aerodynamics by using a cape and a ceiling fan. And well that's not quite how it is....at least not in our home.
I like to say that we unschool, although a "really relaxed", or "Go look it up I'm burnt out" approach is a more appropriate term. Breaking it down, the word "unschooling" just means a form of education without traditional schooling methods (i.e. textbooks, tests, teacher taught). It is an approach to education, not family dynamics and discipline. We are an "unschooling" family, but we are not "uneducated", "undisciplined", "uncontrolled", "unorganized" (well this one's iffy), "unmotivated" or un-anything. Our children get to decide when they'll learn about rocks, but I decide when they need to learn about integrity, honesty, obedience, and kindness. I decide when they will learn to scrub toilets, make beds, chop wood, or do the dishes. I enroll them in activities (such as 4H) that force them to write, meet deadlines, and hone their skills and I use them as opportunities to teach the basics of diligence, hard work, and striving for excellence. These are the things I actively teach, with everything else I just facilitate the learning process.
As I said, uschooled just means not school and we don't have school at home. There are no desks or chalkboards, no written exams (except math) or research papers. The kids are allowed to determine what is studied, but I do have input. There is a list of subjects that should be studied that they can choose from. The general rule is they have to be doing something that I count as educational. And while I like to use life to teach and tend to take advantage of teachable moments whenever possible (read my post about graphing); textbooks are not banned from the house. They tend to be a good resource for information, or scope and sequence. But I'd much rather they learn as much about US History as they can touring Washington DC, rather than just reading what's on pp. 42-49 of a textbook.
And it's so much more rewarding. Do not stifle them or strap them to a desk and chair. But don't let them run the house either. Like everything else in life, the secret to success and harmony is balance. |
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