I don't subscribe to any of the homeschooling labels. First of all, there's just too friggin' many! It's like picking feminine hygiene products. Do you want light days or heavy flow? A multi-pack box or something that will fit in your purse? Plastic applicator or no applicator? Ahhhhhh! Someone just tell me what to do!!!There is one approach, however, that I think we should all give a taste when we have the occasion. That's the supposedly freakish world of unschooling. Even if you have a strict curriculum and a solid schedule each day, every other facet of your life and home can be (and should be) unschooling.
For instance, I utilize Sonlight curriculum. However, I take the approach that was always intended with Sonlight - very flexible and very fluid. They have added more worksheets and supplemental resources over the years to appease parents that want more structure. Yet, the original intent of Sonlight was to be a jumpstart into natural learning and interests.
Here is a little secret that I've uncovered: when your child starts to show resistance to what you're doing in school, you are facing the magic door to their gifts and abilities and interest buried just beneath the surface. That's when you take a step back. That's when you put down the questions or the excessive writing or the predetermined assignment ... and you just talk. Don't fight against it. Unlock the magic behind the resistance.
"Hmmmm ... you seem frustrated. What part started to frustrate you? What part of this do you like? You don't like any of this history assignment? Hmmmm ... two weeks ago, you loved it. So, what is different?"
Maybe it's a bad day. Maybe it's an assignment that works directly against their learning strengths. Maybe it really is as boring as a stick! I know you spent money on it, and I know you planned it all out, but the money was well spent if it was a jumping off place. It's okay if you don't do everything, and instead the planning and the expense brought light to your child's greatest passions and interests (which may be squelched by the current lesson plans). So, it really isn't a waste. It's a tool.
I still use a preprinted curriculum in some way every week. Yet, with each passing year, I notice more and more how my kids choose to read a bright and interesting encyclopedia, or build something, or create something, or coordinate something ... and well, I start to trust their desires much more. I trust life more, and the love of learning.
Those unschoolers really have something goin'.
(photo by José A. Warletta)
4 comments:
Doesn't it just make you wonder what kind of person you would have turned out to be if you had been unschooled as a child? These kinds of questions roll around my brain sometimes!
This was a great post. I started "unschooling" along with "schooling" this year, but phasing out of the strict "schooling" more and more, especially for one of my girls. She has a learning disability and the traditional method for her not only doesn't work, but she really resists it. She's not allowed to refuse to do any work or be disrespectful, but she has told us that she simply can't understand or process her math, mostly because it bores her to tears and she just shuts her brain off. We've learned the hard way with this one, but now that I know what I don't have to do or force any more, and now that I've gotten some better alternatives, she's a wee bit happier. It's less stressful for me too, although I don't want to appear lax about this or schooling them. We all do so much better when I work with some structure from the start and then let it work its way toward something more creative naturally. You were right. It does work, and they've been tested to prove that they are right on par with where they should be (according to these standardized and college readiness tests they give them). Even if they weren't, I don't compare the to the general population of students. With all of our efforts, I believe God will have them just where they need to be when the time comes.
Hi there I think we might have met this last year at HPU homecoming, that is if you're the lady I’m thinking of! :) I'm a senior at HPU from Mesquite and I was homeschooled, or "unschooled", all the way through(K-12).
I really enjoy all your posts but I really like what you have to say about homeschooling! My mom did what you're describing when it came to certain subjects that were just hard to wrap our minds around. I remember some days we'd take our school to the park or do fun out door experiments. Oh the looks and the comments my mom got... what they thought was us goofing off or skipping school were actually the more memorable and successful times! I know my mom wouldn't have had it any other way, I am glad she choose to homeschool us!
I hope you are encouraged to never give up!
~an 'unschooled' college senior
I TOTALLY remember you, b/c you told me you were homeschooled and said, "Now, see! You are perfectly normal!" ha! No third eye. Not a social outcast. Just a completely gorgeous, outgoing and fun college chic!
Thanks for the comment.
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