For those of you who homeschool, why do you homeschool?
And for those thinking about homeschooling, what's leading you in that direction?
I am strongly thinking about homeschooling and interested in your replies.
Oh! And lastly, is there really a difference between homeschooling and unschooling?!?!
7 comments:
There is and isn't a difference...homeschooling and unschooling are the same in that they take place in the home, but the difference is in the philosophies of the two. Homeschooling tends to aim to follow a curriculum (sometimes similar to the public school system) and devotes a good deal of time to aiding children in learning the "basics" that they'd be learning if they were in fact attending school (in general... not all homeschoolers follow this course).
Unschooling is completely child-directed learning. The parent is more of a facilitator than a teacher...guiding the child to the resources they need to learn whatever it is they're interested in at that time. They have complete trust in their child's desire to learn and believe they don't have to force information on them...the child will learn what he needs to learn when he is most ready and receptive to learning it. For example, many unschooling children tend to learn how to read and write later on than children who have it taught to them when adults feel they should learn it. But they always realize the importance of those skills and choose to learn them out of their own desire to be able to read and write on their own. The idea is simply that you tend to learn new information much more easily and quickly when you are actually interested in the subject...not based on some arbitrary schedule of when learning SHOULD occur.
Anyway, you can probably guess that I'm in favor of UNschooling our children...it just feels right to me to allow the natural course of things to play out...whether it's weaning from breastfeeding, toilet learning, or learning to read and write. When you are open to allowing the natural progression of things, there is significantly less stress and frustration on everyone's part...and I've learned that he always learns new skills in his own time.
I have two boys, ages 8 and 14. We began our homeschooling adventure last year. Our decision was really based on the negative social aspects of our local public school system.
I have to say, this has been the best decision we have ever made. I am so grateful to have the opportunity to be with my children full time.
Besides the improvement in their academic abilities I have noticed an incredible change in their attitudes.
I was homeschooled for a year and loved it, I learned a lot that year and it worked great for me. We followed a mail order curriculum but I was able to work at my own pace and for the most part I taught myself. It worked great for me because I was the only one, I didn’t have to worry about getting things wrong in front of a class so I was more likely to take a gamble on something I thought was correct and it helped me step out of my comfort zone and realize my capabilities. My sister on the other hand hated being homschooled, she was miserable. She needed the structure and for her it was more important to have the classroom social aspect.
To each his own I guess but had my physically handicapped mother been able to handle the 3 kids at home all day I would have much preferred homeschool to regular school. As for which method though, that is a good question, but I lean towards the un-school provided that kids are still held to a certain level. A level to a degree, say you start to read later then traditional standards, but if you haven’t expressed a desire to learn by a certain time, the parents should be stepping in to facilitate a desire and educate reasons why the child should pick this one up by now. Does that make sense? Ultimately it depends on the child, but from personal experience I have always been more receptive to learning when it is something I am able to figure out on my own, that sense of accomplishment is a huge confidence booster which helps keep the knowledge gained much longer then test taking ever did.
Thank you all for your feedback!
You know, of everyone I know that's been homeschooled, there's only one person that didn't prefer it. And I know many homeschooled kids! That says a lot.
Kim-thanks for explaining the difference between homeschool and unschool.
In theory, I feel more inclined to "un"school. As a teacher, though, that theory lies more in what I opt to practice, anyway.
For instance, if a student was interested in airplanes, I would gather as much as I could about airplanes. We'd have clay and play-dough to make airplanes. We'd color airplanes. We'd read books about airplanes- you get the idea. So it was just my understanding that if we surround children with what they are interested in, they will naturally gravitate towrds it and be inclined to pick up the reading, etc. Sort of like themed-units, I guess, only the student chooses the theme according to interest at the time.
Camyden-thanks for stopping by! I apprecciate your input. I find it reassuring to hear a homeschooling parent say it's been one of the best decisions they've made for their children. Again, I hear that more than the opposite. :)
PB-thanks for sharing your experience. Your sister sounds like the person I know. Too much of a social butterfly to be happy w/ homeschooling! lol. I am glad it was positive for you. And I think what you said about taking more chances makes sense-as a student myself, I was hesitant to raise my hand and participate because I was intimidtaed by the other students. I felt inferior, sort of. It definitely infringed on my participation.
You've all given me a lot to think about it. If I had to decide today, I think I would opt to try it. We could always change as needed, but I want what's best for my boy, and I think that would be it.
Interesting...I think "homeschooling" is too broad a topic to so easily contrast to unschooling in this manner. The contrast seems to be more between unschooling and traditional homeschooling, which does look a lot like school at home in that the parent uses text books and curriculum similar to the public school, whether Christian or secular (although I think that is more Christian...things are changing quickly, but historically the secular homeschoolers have been more organized in their approach to homeschooling than Christian homeschoolers have been."
I don't think that approaches like Charlotte Mason, the Principle Approach or Classical have much of a comparison with the public school. Traditional methods emphasize the teacher/parent as the one who delivers instruction. Unschooling, from my understanding, is more child-lead. Other approaches, such as the ones mentioned above, attempt more to guide the child. They go deeper into the foundations of the subject, exploring more than just the facts of the subject in order to develop a true understanding.
I use the Principle Approach, but that does not negate learning directed by my child's interest. I don't consider what we do "child lead" in any way, even though she selects some of the materials we will be studying, because I view myslef as a leader or model (not delivering, but guiding).
Now I'm way off topic and I didn't mean to be. But to shove everyone into those two categories doesn't really work for most of us, I don't think. I homeschool predominantly for religious reasons, but also because our public schools only succeed at instilling a very basic knowledge of skills and facts with no depth of understanding.
Over the years I've homeschooled for different reasons at different times. This is year 6 or 7 for me, and I'm currently homeschooling my teen daughter partly because she got behind on credits in high school and partly because she asked me to. Mostly, I was willing because I think she needs the Mom time. It's psychologically very important.
I wish I could go with closer to an unschooling approach, but I don't know how I could do it and still have a transcript that would get her into her choice of colleges. Also, unschooling is much more difficult when the rest of the household is attending school.
As my son was approaching school age, my husband and I started to really get interested in homeschooling as we witnessed what goes on in schools and truly began to picture our son in that environment. He is such a "sponge" right now and LOVES LEARNING. We don't want him to have to dumb down and then lose the desire to learn. We lean toward homeschooling as we like a slightly structured school week, but we love the flexibility we now have. We like the Mother of Divine Grace concept. Laura Berquist is the director of the school and the author of amazing homeschool references. Check that out! We are homeschooling novices, so thanks for opening this up for comment.
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