I'm seeing a theme with math LOL I had this discussion elsewhere (might have been here or another forum) it's hard to make math fun, hands on, real life past the primary grades. Seems you can unschool/relax most anything but math. LOL I'd say we're eclectic LOL I know, I know I can't say that. But it seems EVERYONE is so, so I just wondered how you would identify yourself if you couldn't use that term. I would say we're def relaxed, bordering unschooling (though I personally prefer the term child-led learning) I'm going for mostly unit studies on things my son is into. We'll do lapbooks a lot too, just cause they are fun Of course, like everyone else, I bought a workbook for math LOL but I have lots of manipulatives as well since he is just in 1st grade So I guess I would have to say relaxed, child-led (unschooling) is our style. I hope to lean toward unschooling more and more as we continue this homeschooling journey. Following my child's lead is one of my main reasons for choosing homeschooling. Like someone else mentioned the hubby was holding me back....LOL or so I thought......I actually had a talk with him about unschooling just last night (he saw a book I was reading) and asked what unschooling was, I explained it and he was way more supportive/into it than I thought he would be!!! So we will stick with our plans for this semester then we may become even more 'unschoolish' come January. LOL
I am a reformed (or trying to be) school-at-homer. My intention is to be much more relaxed and let him explore his own interest and learn as much as he can through that. He is interested in weapons and history and I think we can fit a lot of "traditional" learning if we pursue his interests and really research and delve in deep. Heck, math, history, science, English, and PE are all things I think we can somehow relate to weapons. Sometimes I feel like I need a day-to-day mentor to help me realize that I can do things in a different way and still be OK.
I like the idea of unschooling, and if my boys were little (and had never known anything different), I'd probably do some version of it. With my oldest (going into grade 8) he has a specific career path he wants to follow (engineering in the military) which means he must be solid in maths and sciences. He'll need high grades in university-prep level high school courses, so everything I select curriculum-wise needs to be geared towards that. My younger son (entering grade 7) wants specific tasks scheduled so he knows what is expected of him when, what he should be doing at any point in the day, etc. (It helps that both of their leanings feeds into exactly what I think I'll need in order to effectively guide them.) There are topics I think would be fun to just "experience" vs. doing worksheets, so we'll have to see how that develops, but for now, both boys are keen on pencil to the paper get it done
But eclectic fits me so well! :lol: I'm ECLECTIC, I tell you! ECLECTIC! Oh, ok..... I'd say a little bit relaxed, but mostly classical and school at home. I like the classical approach (although I don't entirely agree with the placement of the 3 areas ... grammar, rhetoric, and logic, so I stray from that a bit). I have a PS teacher background, though, so unschooling is almost a foreign concept to me. (My OCD-ness doesn't allow for unschooling either. LOL!)
Eclectic is so nicely non-confrontational and you can relate to everyone else that way. LOL We lean toward classical subjects - Latin, classic lit, classic historical works, etc. We are child-led as dd helps choose subjects to study and curriculum or books or classes to use. She also has free time to pursue whatever strikes her fancy. I think we would unschool completely except that it would be so much harder to keep up with her interests. At least if we pick a curriculum, class, or book to fulfill an interest, she has stuff to do without me digging for resources on a constant basis. LOL I don't understand the concept of unschooling because you don't have time to do it another way - I don't have time to unschool completely. We do a lot of reading or watching dvd's together and discussing rather than workbook type work. I believe critical thinking and persistent problem solving are very important and that is reflected in our math choices. Fortunately, or maybe because of our choices previously, dd likes math presented as problem solving rather than a program that introduces a concept and follows with exercises using that concept with the numbers changed or other slight variation. We'll be starting year 7 this fall - hurray!
Hmm, no eclectic!!! I would say school-at-home with a twist. We are school at home because of the Calvert, but we are also hands on project based and child-led. I don't know what style all that would be other than "eclectic". I tried to just not use the Calvert but we definitely need structure or the kids would just play video games all day.
I would have to say that I am a relaxed unschooler with some school-at-home thrown in. When I started homeschooling (in 2007) I was a total school-at-home, follow a schedule type of mom but I really didn't like it and neither did the kids. A more relaxed approach works great for us.
we're as unschooler as dh will let us be,but when he gets that "what do you do all day" tone, I know I better have some work to show him! the kids actually prefer workbooks and computer time, and I love reading/cuddle time so we are...(gulp)dare I say it? eclectic? sorry, I just had to say it.
well I would love to do more unschooling but my other half gets that "tone" as well. Tuesday, wed and Thursday are school at home with unit studies counting as a class. Mondays and fridays are very relaxed and the dig in and make messes and experiment and do art days. the schedule seems to work for my family. keeps the other half from being a grouch yet it gives my 7 year old the schedule he needs and the freedom my 9year old craves.
I am probably more school at home. I love checklists and knowing I accomplished what I was meant to for the day. Though with science and history I am pretty relaxed and though we do use textbooks, my kids learn way more through just reading regular books that they picked out. Now that I am thinking about it, they have consistently tested much higher in the areas where I am relaxed and follow their interests than in the areas where I tend to be more strict. Hmmm, maybe it is time for a change
We're known as unschoolers, we've never schooled however so I don't know how we can "un"school. Natural learners is much a much better term. We explore together and inadvertently learn much along the way. No specific agenda here. No, not even for math!
Well, I guess I would consider myself relaxed. I would love to say unschooler with mom leading the way, but I lead the way more than an unschooler would consider acceptable I believe. I love the idea of unschooling, but feel that the kids need some guidance, after all, they could have a great love for ancient history, but if I dont' expose them to it, they will never know, right? I love living math, but also feel that they at least need a good solid understanding of how basic math works and why. So we do as much living math as we can using the Family Math books and some others, but then use some structured math (McRuffy and Funtastic Frogs for the littles and TT for Garrett). I encourage reading about anything and everything.. after all, if you can read and comprehend, then you can learn anything you want to no matter what or when or where. I love to use games, TV, videos, the computer, and life in our learning... and see that these are the ways my kids learn the best and retain the most, but I also have a general directional plan as to where we are going.
Well, since we can't pick eclectic....I would say that we're a relaxed school-at-home. We have to have the structure of the school-at-home, but we're relaxed in the sense that we do our work on the couch or spread out in the floor. lol. We're also very workbooky (I know, not a real word, lol).
I could have wrote that! I am leaning more and more toward unschooling but I'm not sure as far as I would go would be okay to claim the title "unschooling" for some actual unschoolers LOL I actually prefer the term child-led which some say is interchangable with the term unschooling but to me, they are two similar creatures but not the same thing. To me unschooling is no textbooks or worksheets but child led is you get textbooks and worksheets on things that interest your kids LOL
I know I already posted that we are relaxed. But the other posts got me thinking about what we really base our learning on. We would tend to be called child-led, but the truth behind that notion at the age my kids are tends to lean more towards being purpose driven. Our goal from the beginning was to figure out what each child was going to be/do/focus on as an adult and then help them get there. This lends itself to being mostly child-led; however, some things will have to be studied--much to a child's protest--if it is part of a requirement to reach the goal the child is working toward.
I would say child led with mom holding the flashlight. a bit CM, with living books being our jumping off point. Not unschooling because then it would be more of a video game technical institute without any technical stuff. Not school at home because then it would be a revolt.
