Unschooling...

{ Let me start by saying that I am in no way well-versed in the art of unschooling, so my "out-loud" and public thoughts should be considered as nothing more than thoughts from an uneducated mind in the matter.=) }




 

What is "Unschooling"?  

First I found this definition: “Unschooling is a unique opportunity for each family to do whatever makes sense for the growth and development of their children...Natural Child.”

 That was not a very clear defintion to me, so I kept searching and found this one:  

“Unschooling is a type of homeschooling that promotes organic, self-directed learning without the structure of traditional education...”Lee Stranhan


Are you asking, “Is she seriously thinking about school for Katelyn already?” Eh, Yes and No. It is on my mind, but this particular post was not driven by schooling options for her. A local mom has been recruiting parents to Unschool their children like she does. Yesterday, she made a post that really got me interested in taking a closer look, because I was just so dumbfounded by what she said…  

Here is her post:  

“For those curious about how unschooling works: [Name], our 10 yo has suddenly in the last week or so clicked with numbers. He is counting everything, dots on boxes, lines on the digital clock. He asked me to print him some math worksheets. He's been whipping through them. All of a sudden, it's important to him. We are getting out of his way and letting him go.”

 I'm sure this can be open to our own interpretations, and at first I thought there is no way that this 10 year old is just learning to count...but then.... to show off how proud she is of her son and her unschooling method, she posted a picture of him working on a worksheet, in which you can clearly see that this 10 year old boy is just learning single/double digit addition. I called my sister and asked her what type of math her 10 year old is working on just for comparison....Multiplication. (He loves Math too!)  

Now, I attended public school, private school, and was homeschooled. I guess in a sense I was "unschooled" during some of that time since my mother was a full-time teacher at a public school, but not to the extent that I wasn't expected to study anything unless I wanted to. I love English... so I worked my way through the English program without paying much attention to other subjects, but once my English was completed, I was expected and encouraged to also study the other subjects such as Science, Algebra, and History. (I also wrote A LOT of essays about N'SYNC because I was in love with them...and I'm glad my mom forced me to write about other topics, because you can see how useful my knowledge of Justin Timberlake’s favorite things is.)
 

I guess I don't understand how a parent does not have that instinctual drive to at least prepare their child with basic knowledge before saying, "learn what you want when you want." I can see the benefits of it after the child has basic skills, but letting them decide when to learn those basic skills sort of seems like neglect to me. However,  I wouldn't mind doing a combination of Homeschool/Unschooling with Katelyn when she is older and if that is a benefitting learning style for her in the future.  

I think a passion for learning most be instilled in children at a young age, (Not to say traditional school children get this, because no one gets it if the parents don't give it,) but in the case of the mom above... 10 is a little old to just be learning to count (assuming he is mentally capable, which she does not mention). I'm glad that he is excited, and interested enough to ask to learn about it, but counting....at 10....really??  

I whole-heartedly agree with what Lee Stranhan describes in his article about Long Division "not being so tricky when it is not being force fed to children". With the right application and support, and when used with the right child...I think that "unschooling" would be an amazing learning tool for some families. I don't think it is right for every child, and I think that there should be some degree of educational goals to be achieved. (But, I have to wonder- would his son have ever been interested in learning long division had he not returned to public school, and been forced to do so to catch up with the class?)

SO, there is my two-cents. I think Unschooling has both pros and cons for parents to consider, but I think it has to come after basic skills are learned. How far after? I'm not sure.  Maybe as young as 8, maybe as high schoolers. For me, it depends on the child.

Thoughts?
 

www.unschooling.org
ABC News; Unschooling
Huffington Post (To counter the ABC Post)