is unschooling giving homsechooling a bad name?

first of all, none of us would be homeschooling if one size fit all. Soooo it makes sense that some things within homeschooling will work better for some than for others.

I love LOVE the idea of unschooling...I count most of my education as homeschooled as a young adult I started reading books in the library and then would go almost shelf by shelf...pregnancy books led to parenting and herbal medicine led to psychology. A few travelogs thrown in. etc.

If it were not for video games I would unschool. I am not sure I trust the boys not to just play video games for ever.
But...many kids do and can learn on thier own.

I think parenting problems are more damaging to "homeschooling" than actual facets of homeschooling.

 

As do all caring and dedicated unschooling parents!

Yes, they are structured. It just isn't your idea of structure. Unschooling requires far more diligence on the parents part than homeschooling. It takes a whole lot of dedication.
This is why unschooling isn't for everybody. The same goes for homeschooling; it isn't for everybody.

 

I just plain wish people would stop worrying about what is going on in our homes with regards to home & unschooling and pay more attention to (1) what is going on in the homes of child abusers & the like, (2) how public schools are failing our children, and (3) how truly important music & art are to a growing child's mind and stop cutting those programs in favor of sports.

 

A simple google search would bring up most of what's been mentioned here. If a person is truly curious about unschooling or wants to see if their impression is a fair one it's easy enough to do without stirring the pot here.

 

I think that, as homeschoolers, we can do better then rely on anecdotes to form our opinions. Isn't that what so many who oppose homeschooling do? They happen to know of one homeschooling family that was weird/strict/lax/abusive and so tar us all with the same brush?

The only good thing about one anecdote is that it's easily conquered by another. My daughter didn't read until she was 9. In Sunday school, Girl Guides or whatever it never occured to her that should be a source of embarrassment. There, anecdote countered and all is right with the world again.

 

just a thought here: if homeshooling or unschooling is "bad" as some say in the public, than why are we see more and more distance learning programs out there!!! Is that not the same thing, you are working at your own pace and all, you learn when you want to. How can they say unschooling is wrong and all when the colleges and all have started to offer the same thing.

 

I agree!

 

There are good and bad in all groups. Unfortunately, what gets the attention is something negative. You won't hear on the news about a homeschool or unschool family doing well. You will only see the far out radicals getting all of the attention. Then, everyone thinks all homeschoolers or unschoolers are bad!

 

Distance learning classes from universities aren't the same thing as unschooling. Online classes from actual universities are not 'learn at your own pace' or 'learn when you want to.' They have deadlines for assignments, sometimes expect you to get together in person with other classmates, have specific times for the class to meet online, etc.
Also, unschooling isn't just about working at your own pace, and working at your own pace isn't specific to unschooling. Allowing your child to work at their own pace is one of the best benefits of homeschooling in general. It's not specific to any homeschool method.
Unschooling is not only allowing your child the freedom to follow their interests, but also allowing them to choose how they learn, and for how long they study each topic. It's about trusting that they will learn the things they need, as well as the things want, without being forced to learn them. It's about trusting in the natural desire to learn that children are born with. It involves providing them with plenty of educational opportunities & facilitating them in their learning journey.

 

This is such an interesting topic for me. When our family got involved with homeschool, I had such rigid ideas about what "school" meant. My grandkids did, too. The first few months, my 1st grade granddaughter insisted on taking roll, taking lunch count, doing the Pledge of Allegiance and having "bathroom passes" because THAT is what "real school" was to her. My other granddaughter HAD to have an actual school classroom with her own desk with her name on it! My grandson absolutely NEEDED a locker to store his books in. And, my daughter and SIL set it up just that way. In my mind at the time THAT's what homeschoolers were SUPPOSED to do! We ALL had to be "de-schooled". Heading into our 4th year of homeschool, we have come to realize that whatever works for a specific child/family at a given moment in time is the "right" way! Though, in fact, who am *I to determine "right"?

The first time my then 1st grade granddaughter became frustrated with reading at her desk and I suggested we go lay across her bed and read was a real AHA moment for us all! She LOVED it and since we've read together in some of the most interesting places...one day she read while taking a bubble bath!

My reason for sharing this is that I used to think there was ONE way to "do school". I used to think that people who did it differently from us were "wrong" or doing their children a disservice. BUT, it came to this homeschool-helping grandma that children are individuals...that the wonder of educating our own children is that we can do it in a way that works best for THEM. I'm MUCH more accepting of differences in teaching methodology...and accept that most families who school their children at home are doing it because they truly care about their children. Sure there are some who don't do it well (at least by my standards) but I no longer think UNSCHOOLERS are NON-SCHOOLERS. I no longer believe that EVERY child needs a structured program or a strict schedule. I LOVE the fact that my 3 grandchildren are each very different kinds of learners and that I have to keep on my toes to keep up with their learning styles if I'm going to be helping with their educational journey.

The longer one homeschools, the more one comes to realize that what *I think really has very little value with regards to how others do it. AND, in the same vein, what people who dislike homeschooling in general think has very little value with regards to how OUR family's children are educated. We've simply learned to do what works for US and stop worrying about the cranky lady in the store who shakes her head at us for "ruining our children by not LETTING them go to public school". I agree that unPARENTING is actually the problem in problematic situations!

 

Great point!

Even if homeschooling isn't the same as unschooling, distant learners are still picking a means of education that suits them and even if a distant learner has set requirements, so do many homeschoolers. This is why we purchase curriculum in the first place because we have a goal to meet. As for unschoolers, why is it odd for them to pave a road that works for them, in their time? Public school, distant learning, and many homeschoolers plan their path in advance; before the school year starts. Unschoolers cross that path when it comes. As long as they cross that path, who cares if it is preplanned or spontaneous?

 

No, Shelby, it's NOT the same thing. I don't have a problem with people who do Distant Learning; how can I feel I should have the choice homeschool, and NOT give them the choice to do distant learning if they feel it's best for their child? But distant learning makes you go at the SCHOOL'S pace. You have to learn what THEY want you to learn WHEN they want you to learn it. My SIL did it this past year with her two, and was very frustrated. Her son was dyslexic, plus they were dealing with some health issues with the older one. She got a week behind, and they were telling her she would need to "double up" lessons to get caught up. I would invite her to go apple picking or something, and always the answer was no, because her child "had" to be on doing a certain lesson or test at a certain time. Very little flexibility to it. That's one of the main reasons I am against distant learning for most people. (But I still support a person's right to chose it!)

 

Talk about coming full circle, MamaBear! It only took one bad impression to create this thread. :wink:

I practically unschooled my daughter for nearly a year. It was not planned--just lots of family related circumstances that seem to get in our way--and I probably did not do it the way a true unschooler would do it, but I have have to say that I learned some things and, even though true unschooling is not for us, I can see advantages to it and have made some changes in my approach to incorporate times for unschooling, which is probably a gross distortion of what true unschooling really is.

• One, my daughter had been struggling with subtraction for nearly two years and I tutored math at one time so I am very familiar of various approaches, but while we were unschooling, she started multiplying on her own. Now, she does not only do subtraction with regrouping without a struggle, but she is racing through math and now she is nearly where I hoped she would be. By the way, she could tell time to the minute and count money just fine. I guess she was just not ready for subtraction, but plenty ready for multiplication and other math concepts.
• Two, she learned during that time--lots of things!--but not much of it fit my "schedule" and it was difficult to "track," so I learned that I might have some issues with proving myself to whoever would question my ability to homeschool--but mostly I have issues with proving myself to myself and just trusting the Lord on guiding her education.
• Three, everyday my daughter draws or paints or does some kind of artistic expression just because she wants to do it. She often draws whatever is on her mind, which ranges from WALL-E to making a sign for a pet daycare to some event in history to making cards to give out to people, so she still in learning spelling and she often jumps ahead of my schedule on that as well. Basically, she started jorrnaling, before I thought she was ready, because of her spelling, but she is teaching herself how to spell because of her journaling.

 

Unfortunatly many people equate homeschooling with child abuse and the "like".
Public school is at least failing all of the children, so it is "fair".
Music and Art are for sissy children who can't handle sports...they need to be toughened up. (plus football coaches make excellent history teachers...didn't you know that!!)

Sigh. I think it is very important to remember that just because some idiot says they homeschool because they are too lazy to get their kids to school or they haven't woken up from their hangover...that doesn't make them unschoolers.

 

I think the unschoolers I know are amazingly organized people! As well as their kids are brilliant....

i've been on a board that claimed to be "unschoolers", but in reality they were "unparenters". It was scary and THAT approach gives HUMANKIND a bad name!

It is a shame that we live in a culture where the abnormal, horrid, and awful is celebrated and watched on the news; where the amazing go largely unnoticed. So sad this world we live in!

 

As the OP, and someone who wishes in retrospect he'd not come across so negatively in that post, let me thank everyone for a very informative discussion. I've really gotten a lot out of this:

1) Unschooling is not the same as unparenting
2) Unschooling means different things to different people
3) The learning method should meet the needs of the child, not vice versa

In my defense, let me say that I do have the annoying habit of sometimes making unduly stark statements as a way to foster a discussion (I would have probably fit right in with Socrates' students). Still, I apologize for not thinking a little more before posting - and thank you for your restraint in not jumping all over me.

 

I think you and my husband would get along famously! LOL

 

There are many forms of distance learning, and they really map to the various forms of on-site or in-person learning. As someone else mentioned, they can be as strict as a traditional school class, with set activities and deadlines (the structure of time is important when there are team activities, for example), or they can be based on self-study activities with no time limit.

Recently, I've begun to appreciate the value of instructor-led classes with no time limit, whereby students can register at any time, complete activities at any time, and the instructor moves them from one lesson to the next when they are ready. The only downside to this is that it precludes the possibility of class discussions, for which students need to be reasonably in sync.