is unschooling giving homsechooling a bad name?

While unschooling parents may find it perfectly OK to let their children decide when they're ready to learn to read and write, I would be appalled if my children were unable to read or write by the age of 9 or 10 or older. To my mind, unschooling is incompatible with mainstream homsechooling. Sadly, it only takes a couple of negative news stories about unschooling for all homeschooling families to be tarred with the same brush. Apologies to any unschooling parents, but I don't agree with unschooling at all.

 

No..unschooling does not. I do not think the inability to read or write are really related to unschooling. I see plenty of children in the public schools struggling to read, write, and do basic math, even in middle school. Unparenting gives parents a bad name...but that has nothing to do with homeschooling. Lots of children are unparented in the public schools.

I think it would be good to read up more on unschooling. When I was new to homeschooling, I really thought I had to sit sit sit, all day long, working from textbooks, or my children would not learn. In the end, I have cut most of the curriculum and my children's scores have sky rocketed. My oldest children are a public schooler and a homeschooler. My homeschooler has a very relaxed curriculum, almost to the point of unschooling at this time (we do math). My public school is in all the advanced and gifted classes possible at the local public school. The public school is 1.5 yrs older than my homeschooler. I signed them both up to take the ITBS last year. My homeschooler/unschooler far outperformed him. How can that be? She even used to be hearing impaired so she had a reading disability due to it (auditory processing disorder).

I can tell you why..children do not learn well from the format of sit and read a textbook, answer questions, move on. They do not learn well from rote learning. You can "teach at" a child al day long, but being "taught at" and actually learning are not the same things. Learning means that the child takes it in and processes it. Being taught at simply means someone made you read something or told you something, possibly had you reiterate it in some way, and then you moved on and forgot about it, and you likely never processed it so you will forget for sure.

 

Oh, and I have never seen any negative news stories about unschoolers. Ever.

 

No disrespect meant, but clearly you are ignorant when it comes to unschooling. Many people are. Once upon a time I was too.

If you regard unschooling as incompatible with mainstream homeschooling, it is because it isn't compatible in a learning stance. Yet the reason a parent unschools is compatible with the reasons a parent chooses to homeschool, utilize a public school, charter, or private school. They are all in the best interest of the student.

Unschooling is a viable method for families who take the time to do it right or at least their best. The same applies to public school and so on. Homeschooling and unschooling are also completely different. I will dare to say they do not resemble each other remotely.

Yes, you are correct in saying that it is sad that it only takes a couple of negative news stories about unschooling for all homeschooling families to be tarred with the brush. Although I believe it is sad, I do not blame the families as much as the ignorance of those who judge us as a group rather than educating themselves about the truth.

If unschooling was useless all the way around, then unschoolers wouldn't be accepted by universities. A university isn't going to waste their time with an uneducated student.

 

I am curious and I hope you take the time to answer this question.
What do you base your opinion on?

 

Hmm... I would say the three complaints that I hear and/or read about homeschooling is:

1) That they are raising ignorant children by brainwashing them to their own beliefs and

2) they have overzealous controlling mother's that want the smartest kid irregardless of social stigma etc.

3)they are sheltering their children too much


For people who believe these things then Unschooling is probably considered a breath of fresh air.



I would also say that you seem to be confusing Unschooling with the adherents of "Better Late then Early". Not to mention that many children that are homeschooled by all different methods do not read until later and many Unschoolers have early readers.

 

We allow our daughter to move at her own pace but as soon as she is bored or frustrated we move to something differen. Currently we are teaching head start so we are unstructured but plan on introducing more and more structure as she gets older.


Do those of you who unschool really let your child go at their own pace and at their own time or do still introduce subjects to them? Explain to me your process on this. Don't children need structure? Please explain to me.

 

This is perhaps the key point for me. As parents, shouldn't we be guiding and structuring each child's education, with specific milestones and objectives - rather than letting the child pick and choose in an unstructured way? For example, the ability to read and understand is critical for learning in other subjects. Isn't it therefore rather unwise to allow a child to put off reading until they are almost middle school age?

Yes, I do understand that different children have different strengths and preferences, and I do believe in encouraging children when they fall in love with a subject, but not at the expense of the basics.

 

I could well be ignorant on the subject, which in part is why I raised it. What I really don't get is allowing the child to dictate schedule. Taken to the extreme, it could mean a child never grasp the basics. Flexibility is one thing, but ignoring the basics is something else.

We can go back to almost any culture or time to see how parents direct their child's teaching and masters direct their apprentice's learning. The bible, for example, encouraged parents over 3,000 years ago to teach their children details of the law. If, instead, children were allowed greater control over the process, history would have been different, and I suspect the influence of surrounding cultures would have played a greater role.

 

Two sources, really.

1) A friend of mine who is a Sunday School teacher mentioned to me how embarrassing it was for a 10 year old in his class because he really struggled to read in class. (At least half the other children in the class were homeschooled and they could read very well.) This got me looking into the issue.

2) What I've since learned about 'unschooling' online - which admittedly may not be a fair representation.

 

Ok I dont think it's "unschooling" that gives homeschooling a bad name... its people who "homeschool" who aren't doing anything and calling it "unschooling". Sadly -I have known a family like this - where the kids were "unschooled" but they weren't being guided in any fashion and honestly just plain "non-schooled". Child-led learning is NOT no learning.

With the family I mentioned - the kids would come over here sometimes and since my kids were "doing school" almost all of them wanted to participate and were DYING to do SOMETHING (even just practicing writing their names over and over!) The only one who didn't participate was the then 10 year old boy and I think it was because he was not able to read well. The issue with this family was that the parents would get so wrapped up in their issues they wouldn't work with the kids or provide avenues for them TO LEARN.

I have other friends who "unschool" and their kids are very intelligent! She doesn't use any curriculum but provides them with situations that will cause learning - even if it's just the grocery store. I constantly hear her asking questions and such and the kids respond - even if it's "I don't know - let's find out!"

So it's back in the parent's court..... not the style of learning they choose - but that they choose to have their children learn in some fashion....

 

I just don't understand so is unschooling not picking a curriculum and just "teaching" them based on real world experience or is unschooling letting your child choose and do what interest them? Because if it is the first then that sounds just like regular homeschooling to me.

Those of you that unschool please explain it so I can better understand what you do or don't do? Thanks

 

http://www.unschooling.com/library/faq/definitions.shtml

Here are a bunch of different definitions of unschooling.

 

Thanks. This deffinately doesn't sound like something I would do. Sounds like it would end disasterously. All my child would want to learn about is fruit loops...lol.

Sounds like there has to be a common ground in the middle. I believe that structure is the foundation of a good education.


Thanks for the website. I will exscuse my self from the topic now.

 

LOL - my kids would major in video games

But I know families on both ends of the spectrum with unschooling - the good & the bad....and the one family (bad end) I knew first and it gave me a terrible taste in my mouth of unschooling..... then this past year I saw my other friend who has these 2 little kids who are super chatter boxes and just reaching out for more learning experiences and trying to do stuff...

 

When I was subbing, I subbed in a kindergarten/first grade classroom that was "informal". It drove me up the wall!!! There were no structured reading/math times that I could see. The teacher had lots of dittos for math, and the kids picked and chose what they wanted. Afternoon was spent with the kids doing "silent reading", with the teacher calling them up one by one and asking them to read aloud to her from whatever book they were reading from. To me, it was total chaos.

BUT the kids were thriving. They were learning, and they were ENJOYING learning. There was obviously an organization below the surface that wasn't visable to me. So how can I "judge" it's "rightness"?

Unschooling is like that to me. Yes, you will find some parents that are lazy and not doing much. But guess what! I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR KIDS!!! So why would I try and tell them how they should (or should not) be teaching their students? What's the difference between homeschoolers fussing about unschoolers who are not our responsibility, and public school authorities fussing about homeschoolers who are not THIER responsibility?

Leave the unschoolers alone! Those that do it well will end up with motivated, bright learners. Those that are lazy won't. Those that use any OTHER method well will ALSO end up with motivated, bright learners. And again, the lazy ones won't. BTW, I think it takes MORE organization to unschool well, which is one of the reasons I don't do it. There IS a structure to it, but it's hard to recognize.

As far as a 10yo who can't read, my understanding is that there's a real point of readiness for reading. By pushing before they're "there", we make kids feel stupid and destroy their self-esteem. Once they reach that point, whether at age four or ten, they "take off", and those that take off later quickly catch up with those that have had an early start. In the mean time, I wouldn't put an older non-reader (or poor reader) in a position during Sunday School where I would expect him to be reading beyond his ability.

 

There is good and bad in everything. Some do well unschooling and some do not. There's always a sad story out there. However, I think those who unschool well have children who are motivated, bright and creative. Unschoolling does not give homeschooling a bad name. That's like saying one rotten macintosh gives all apples a bad name.

 

Children who are homeschooled are held to a much higher standard than children in public schools. There is an attitude with the public schools that as long as the child shows up, enough has been done. There is a complete lack of accountability. The fact is, you do not know that this 10 yr old simply did not know how to read. The teacher could easily and most likely was exaggerating. Additionally, lots of 10 yr olds in the public school struggle with reading and reading learning disabilities and can't read, can't read at grade level, or will refuse to read due to hating reading. If the rest of the children could read very well and 1 had a hard time with it, then that group of children has the typical public school classroom beat. And why was the Sunday school teacher gossiping and being so dramatic? Now THAT I would question. That is the exact sort of behavior to avoid public schools over. I think it is horrid that she was gossiping about that child like that. No child deserves that. And she was "embarrassed." Uuggghh...I hope they remove her from working in there. Poor child, to be stuck with someone like her.

 

Actually, the Sunday School teacher was a 'he' (ah - that explains it, I hear you say ).

I tend to agree with most of the sentiments expressed in this thread. It largely comes down to how seriously parents consider their child's education. We tend to get out of things what we put into them. If someone strives very hard to make an approach work, it usually will. On the other hand, even the best methods of teaching are limited if the parent doesn't put in any effort. And, of course, the examples that find their way into the news always come from the latter category.

(By the way, sorry to start this thread with a headline that was controversial. It's a bad habit of mine that, in a supportive forum of this type, is probably inappropriate. Let me think more before I click 'Send'.)