thank you meghan for giving me heads up based on what you guys went thru during your "deschooling" time. so far, for us, my 3girls are liking deschool/unschool. i let them read whenever and whatever(of course appropriate to their age books), do fieldtrip and activities, or just running around the house playing pretend the whole day. during this whole summer i have only did "schooling" as they requested 3times(i'm myself not ready to do more than that), just enough for their curiousity sake. i'm sure they are curious how "our homeschool" is going to be like, what they will learn and am i able to teach them? lol! and ended up they're wanting more which can consider a sign they do not need deschooling as i do - lol! but, seriously it could have been "honeymoon" period thing too. let's see in a few week when our hs officially start, how my two older ones will react since they were in the system for few years too. especially my oldest one who had a very bad experience for the past two years. good health and happiness.
I too dream about a perfect world where I felt comfortable letting my kids direct their own education.My hubby is a perfect role model for this since he is constantly making an effort to seek out and learn new job skills. He simply loves to learn and grow and be challenged. I try to purposely point this out to my kids. I think I'm like a lot of moms here who make the 3 R's more structured, then let imaginations run wild with other subjects. Just yesterday, ds8, armed with swords and a shield, conquered several nations and utilized ancient warfare techniques to defeat foreign emperors. We haven't had any formal lessons on this, just lots of curiosity about ancient civilizations. I figure this covers history, storytelling, engineering(designing ancient weapons),art, and research skills since he wanted to look up specifics so it would be "realistic". I can live with that!LOL
I'm in New Zealand. We have to apply for an exemption to be able to HS and once we have an exemption certificate we can choose to apply for a 6monthly allowance. Some people choose not to apply for the allowance but for others its the only way they can afford to HS. Per year its $743 for the first child $632 for second child $541 for the third child $372 for subsequent children Miss 5 is the kind of person who places a lot of unrealistic expections upon herself as well as a lot of pressure to keep up with what other kids can do. I want to relieve some of that pressure and make education fun for her but I'm struggling to let go to be able to trust in unschooling. Sometimes I think "Right, it time to learn _______!" And then make her sit down and do worksheets or memorise sight words. We have worksheets for math and writing practice but they're collecting dust at the moment. My inlaws gave her lots of leapfrog phonics toys last christmas. She loves talking and asking endless questions and discussing a myriad of topics. She finds arts and crafts very cathartic, so she has an area set up where she can go to draw, away from the preschoolers, almost whenever she likes. We just brought some paints and cheap A3 paper yesterday, DH donated an old flannel shirt for an art smock. She likes creating with her duplo (a bigger version of lego), mobilo and marble run. We're aiming to (over time) increase the resources available to her.
As I mentioned before, I'll be having my youngest (age 11) unschool this year because she wants to give it a try and seems motivated to pull it off. But I won't allow unschooling mean that she does nothing all day. There will be a math book. We've also talked about library visits more often, and visiting various library branches. It will also mean that I'll have more expectations around the house in terms of learning to cook and bake and do laundry. To me, unschooling doesn't mean she can do whatever she wants. I'm still her mother and I'll have requirements of her, and she knows that the state has requirements too. But her schooling will be more child-led this year, and instead of me telling her what to do every day, she'll have to log what she did after the fact. The schedule sheets that I use will be the same as last year, but they'll be blank until she fills them in. I explained that there needs to be some balance but it doesn't have to be on a weekly basis. If she really gets into a science project one week or one month that's fine if history takes a back seat, but over the course of a year, there needs to be a (roughly) balanced amount of history.
We have a curriculum but I also tend to lean a little to the unschooling. We just do whatever we want. There are some days when we just go outside and see what we can find. We have had some great talks and lessons over the last few weeks with the Great Dismal Swamp on fire. They want to know about everything from nature to fires and smoke and clouds. It has been a wonderful learning environment. Although I much prefer not to be stuck inside because the smoke is so bad I am like others though where I just can not seem to let go. I feel like I need something to have a little structure. One day I am sure that I will just tire of the routine and just let them be in charge of what they want to learn completely. Until then, we just add that into what we already do.
I don't mean to burst any bubbles, but this would not be true unschooling (at least from what I have read). True unschooling is not having any "requirements". I don't think I could ever be a true unschooler, but I do like what you are thinking of doing- having parameters and letting her design her education within that framework. I think this is more delight directed learning.
DH fractured his hand and chose to get a white cast so that Miss 5 could paint it. So now he has a purple cast with pink and green spots and a lady bug and a rose. I think unschooling aka natural learning is anything but natural for those of us who were schooled whether in ps or hs. It is hard to let go of all we've ever known and the unknown can be intimidating. I think slowly adding a bit of unschooling here and there along the hs journey can make it less daunting. It's just trial and error to find what works for each person. Unschooling (like any method) just isn't the right method for some people. I don't think I could handle radical unschooling. We don't do lessons, now I just try to provide a 'rich environment' and answer her questions (strike while the iron is hot attitude). So far so good.
Yesterday morning we spent about two hours at the park (which reopened on sunday after an extreme makeover). Went home for lunch and Miss 1 to have a nap. Then we went to the river for almost three hours. Its the end of winter here so too cold to swim but Miss 5 paddled and explored, made mud pies and mud angels, watched wildlife and studied animal tracks in the mud, asked lots of questions and skipped stones, watched ducks ride the rapids and trout jump and pidgeons nesting under the bridge. It was lovely. Miss 5 wants to live there.
I guess we're like most in this thread. We're relaxed homeschoolers, but not completely unschoolers. It seems to be how my children learn best, and they really embrace this style of homeschooling. In fact, today we participated in a "science in the garden" program. After the workshop, the kids wanted to stop at a plaza to throw pennies in the fountain. And DD11 wanted to brush up on her Roman numeral skills by reading the date that the building was built (MCMLXXXVII). They also just so happened to be handing out free Rita's water ice and Philadelphia pretzels on the plaza, so of course, we indulged! While sitting on a bench next to a fountain eating his snack, DS8 turned to me and said, "thanks Mom. Homeschooling...this is the life!"
