The following link offers a decent and fair look at unschooling. Being part of a family of relatively modest means, I do strongly disagree with the stated idea that you must be wealthy to successfully unschool. Unschooling requires resourcefulness, time, creativity, and innovation, which may take hard work but comes pretty cheap.http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/44902003#44902003
October 14, 2011 1:01pm
I liked that piece. I really didn't know there was a difference in unschooling and homeschooling. While I'm not totally on board with it I do really admire that it will create a person who always wants to learn, not because getting a degree means getting a good job or whatever, but because they're genuinely interested people. Thanks for sharing Amy!
October 14, 2011 2:15pm
The one guy mentioned something like ... "we don't know if they are learning what they need to master". I mean, what do you NEED to know? It depends on what your goals are, and what you are interested in learning. Kids should learn how to read and write well, and basic math, etc etc, but it doesn't necessarily have to be a state-determined curriculum to be "well rounded". I do think there are some common sense things that must be taught by parents, as well as basic skills for life. And they said you have to determine if you child is self-motivated, but I think that is something that can be cultivated from a young age, and not really an excuse not to homeschool or unschool. I think it is just hard for people to get out of the mindset that it is best or should be normative to be in a structured school environment, because that's all they know. I thought the interview was pretty well presented. I think Matt was asking about the "wealthy" thing because that family showed photos of themselves in France, lol.
October 14, 2011 2:42pm
That was a really interesting story! While the idea appeals to me because of all the issues with our public school system, I am not sure if I could do it. Personally, I would want a little structure so I was sure to have a well-rounded child. It takes WAY more effort to unschool or homeschool your children than it does to ship them off to someone else to do it. Thanks for sharing that Amy!
October 25, 2011 4:07pm
I love how one of the first questions that arises when a discussion of unschooling comes up is how these children will be assessed to see if they are learning what they are suppose to, how will we be able to compare them with their peers? It always makes be wonder...Why do they need to be assessed? Won't everyday life activities and their careers assess their learning? How and why is it decided what they are suppose to learn? I'm not sending them to school for many reasons but one would be so they aren't compared to their peers. What is so great about being like everyone else? It might be easier but it is more interesting, is it the path Jesus took? And then I wonder how so many people have forgotten the history of institutionalized learning as we know it. It is only a few generations old yet people have a hard time seeing the other side of things, how things actually use to be...working on family farms, one room school houses with no set curriculum just whatever books children brought, apprenticeships, etc. These all seem to fall in line with a more hands on, unschooling approach. But, hey, it's just my opinion :)
