So, you know, tell me about it.
Just askin’.
Update:
Thanks for the responses so far. We’re rolling here. I’m interested in what everyone has to say. I’ll have more to say about why I’m asking later. Maybe tonight, maybe tomorrow. I’m usually pretty reticent about stuff like this until it actually happens, but I’m feeling the need for input, and it’s just not fair to make Dorian Speed do all the work.
It is an approach to education that supports self-directed learning through natural day to day living. Is this want you are looking for or do you have specific questions that one might be able to help you with? I personally am more of a wannabe unschooler rather then one with good answers but I would happily help where I can.
Nothing specific yet…I’m really interested in hearing about the “wannabe unschooler” part…anything you have to say!
I like the Flannery O’Conner quote on your blog a while back: “Total non-retention has kept my education from being a burden to me.”
Yes, I have that above my desk. It gives me hope.
I consider our family unschoolers….my kids are 15, 14, 12, and 11. Is there something specific you’re interested in?
I meant to ask if you’d read either of Suzie Andres’ books on the topic of Catholic unschooling?
I wrote this several years ago….maybe it’ll help?
http://tater-tots-and-ladybug-love.blogspot.com/2007/06/how-our-family-came-to-unschool.html
We do what I call If-Then-Unschooling. I require a minimal amount of seatwork/formal schooling, and then the rest of the day is theirs to pursue their interests. http://lotsalaundry.blogspot.com/2010/09/homeschool.html
It’s worked well for us; I don’t view myself as a teacher, but as a facilitator. So I gather good materials to have at home to explore/play with/learn from, and try to find interesting classes, and arrange trips to places of interest.
Thank you Julia. That’s sort of what I’m seeing, and your “what I want from them” are almost identical to mine. what grammar material do you use?
I hope it is learning at your own pace about things that interest you. I hope it means being outside a lot. I hope it means learning another language while you are young in a country where it is the predominate language. I hope evev though your adults are well educated themselves that they will recognize that sometimes they will need to get someone who knows more than they to help you in some disciplines. I hope it includes lots of art, museums, music, and travel. I hope it includes many opportunities tor interacting with other children in learning and play, especially individual and team sports.
3/4 in college after lifelong unschooling (though one went to traditional boys’ Cath high school after unschooling k-8). Oldest starting Masters in the fall at one of the most selective colleges, one great books sophomore, one beginning archaeology coursework. Youngest in Sea Cadets; maybe a military career? Each child very different from the others, but each free to pursue his own interests. I do sometimes feel guilty when folks suggest my “homeschooling” life must be quite difficult, but facilitating life-long learners is my favorite endeavor.
From Holt- This is also known as interest driven, child-led, natural, organic, eclectic, or self-directed learning. Lately, the term “unschooling” has come to be associated with the type of homeschooling that doesn’t use a fixed curriculum.
http://www.toeuropewithkids.com/2011/04/nice-hotel-in-nice.html?m=1
Related? I hope so.
I always say that if I could start over, I’d be much more unschoolish. The tension for me has always been between student-led learning as the most efficient form on the one hand and the reality that none of mine would ever have chosen to learn math were it a mere option on the other. We’ve straddled the unschool fence with eclectic text-based homeschooling, which mainly means that I don’t have to come up with lesson plans or unit studies on my own, but that we feel free to discard books that bog down in favor of texts that don’t, and to stray off course whenever necessary. If our homeschool had a motto, it would be this: “Don’t color outside the lines–but don’t color inside them, either. Make your own lines.”
I hate to sound discordant, but there is life for those who use more scheduled homeschooling. You do not have to be stuck to a program to organize what your kids study. We have tended to be pretty directive for smaller children around my house, because I don’t think math lends itself well to doing it just when you feel like it, and because I wouldn’t have a clue about how to instill a love of science without science-in-a-box (which has been VERY hands-on). But my kids do the work – I just do the organizing. And we do tend to collaborate more as the kids get older. And we are pretty flexible on timing, as in what gets done when in the day. I do wish I had been better at dumping organized school for trips and the like.
The beauty of homeschooling is that we can use what works for our families. Or we can use different styles for each child (which is what I do).
We have unschooled because practically speaking it has been the best way to follow interests and passions, to enjoy being together as a family, to keep the spark of learning alive, to foster academics, to share faith. It’s a practical way of living.
We straddle the fence, too, though I find that with my youngest two (8 and 9, currently), structure in our day matters more than it did to the two olders, who began homeschooling at 9 and 5 after some time in institutional school. What we do is largely literature-based, because there’s just not much better than reading good books together, and set up so that most of their day is free for play and exploration, with or without me. And we definitely follow people’s interests, though I also view my role as one of suggesting possible interests that they might not have thought of on their own.
Hi Amy, I wrote a post recently that might give you an idea about what my kind of unschooling looks like – http://homeschoolingmiddleeast.wordpress.com/2012/06/20/learning-is-take-off-in-this-household-month-5-of-learning-at-home/ I’ve only been doing it for 4 months but I’ve been researching A LOT so I have some idea what my style is and I’d say it’s on the unschooling spectrum if you like. I used to call myself a wannabe unschooler but now I’d say I’m definitely an unschooler but not towards the radical end which isn’t just child-led but child-100%-decided – although I have a lot of respect for those guys. Loving finding other people unschooling blogs through all the comments here!! Thanks for the question! I am wondering why you’re asking though. Interested in doing it? Best wishes, Penny