The process of learning, whether it's the potty or long division, is an elusive one. And it differs from child to child. That's why I'm interested in the idea of "unschooling" - the most radical form of homeschooling. Unschoolers toss out all formal methods of teaching in favor of a child-led approach to learning. For example, you're in the supermarket with your kid and he notices a starfruit, so you might take that starfruit home and do some research together and find out that it's native to Sri Lanka. And then your child might want to learn about Sri Lanka or botany or fruit cultivation. Etcetera and so on. A lesson unfolds. Sort of like life.
I have a lot of respect for people who unschool. It's like cooking without recipes or performing improv theater. It has a creative and free-spirited feeling to it. It's about surrender and trust. But I wonder about the lack of structure. Would it work for Amelie, for me, for her daddy? Without structure, I feel unmoored. I'm not sure that we will become card-carrying Unschoolers. Instead, I'd rather see unschooling as just one tool in a big grab bag of homeschooling tools. A fun one, at that.
homeschooling
unschooling
4 comments:
Unschooling with structure is possible. Think about it: What you are doing right now with your daughter is unschooling...allowing her at her pace to find what works. The structure part hppens naturally through habits, routines that every familt naturally has. The difference is that in unschooling, the child is not forced into the routine but rather is encouraged to help design the routine.
I was rather nervous about structure also but after about 8 months, and seeing it working to our advantage, I've realized structure doesn't need to look like the school's standards. Like education, it needs to be ours.
I think unschooling is great. It's how I taught myself things when I wasn't wasting my life in public school. I didn't know it at the time, though. I just knew I was passionate about things that they wouldn't teach me at school, so I learned it on my own.
The problem with structure is that it may force the student to learn at a time or in a way that isn't going to get the best results (or any results at all). If the student is excited and inspired, that's the best time to learn.
I took my son out of school this year to remove him from the rigid structure of it and give him the power of choosing what to learn as his interests evolve. He's already getting the hang of it and designing his own curriculum without me shoving textbooks and schedules at him. :)
I so appreciate your comments, OrganicSister and Jason. You're inspiring me to re-think the whole structure question. Sounds like you're doing great by your kids, too. I'll be looking at your blogs...
Hey, thank you for the kind unschooling words. Kind words are such a balm! It is sometimes scary to buck the system soooo hard. So thanks.
Plus, that is one wicked cute picture!
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