Can you guys explain to me

[Zivic-Bubac]

...what is 'unschooling'?

I first met this term here and I *think* I might know what it means, but not sure....
Homeschooling, but no grades or competition or evaluating or....?

[rainbowflower]

I don't think this happens in the UK (that I know of), but my understanding of it is that it's home schooling but without actually making the child study particular subjects/curriculum and letting their interests and curiosity lead their learning

[Zivic-Bubac]

It's not happening here either. Child needs guidance esp in such important thing as education Imo.
If I had a chance, I would homeschool my children, but it's not an option here. I also would LOVE school without grades, but it's science-fiction here

When you 'unschool', do you deliberately have no structure in your 'lessons' or it has to be individualized or what?

[purplepoet20]

Unschooling has different meanings for everyone.... over all no grades/test/comparing/set schdule/labeling. It is a program that allows the child to decide when they are ready to learn something.... readin/math/plants/etc.

Some parents choose it but don't follow the rules 100% and allow the kids to watch tv and play video game all the time. Most of these kids take longer and end up being very behind... in the US the government is getting involved and making home visits to home schooling families to make sure that learning is going on.

Others don't allow anything electronic and fill their house with learning aids like posters and books and also they include outings everyday to the library, muesum, learning type places, and play groups with other homeschooled kids. They try to guide the child to pick something to learn. These parents will sometimes also have year round 24/7 school, a vacation can be used to teach, and no breaks means no rush to fit everything in 9mths and then nothing for the summer break.

And then there are some, like me, who choose a part unschooling... no grades, test, or labeling a child smart or behind. I have a schdule for teaching my kids based on a Waldorf program but it is a loose one. If one child is having a hard time with math I may put it off for a while and reintroduce it in a few months.

UNSCHOOLING over all was started because in the US right now (maybe just where I live) some schools are forcing reading on 3-4 year olds, 5 year olds are doing stuff that I didn't do until 1st or 2nd grade, kids receive anywhere from 30mins-2hrs of homework a night starting in preschool. The 9 year old girl accross the street spends 60-90 minutes everynight doing homework, she is a very start girl and does get great grades, this last year she had to stop Girl Scouts, Youth Bible Study, Karate, and has not been seen play outside at all for the either school year.

[purplepoet20]

Here is one of the websites...

http://www.naturalchild.org/guest/earl_stevens.html

[DoulaMama]

http://www.unschooling.com/

I will be unschooling my kids At first, like so many others I thought it was ridiculous! No tests! No homework! No textbooks!! WTH! And then I read a book by an a New York school teacher. It's called Dumbing us Down by John Taylor Gatto. VERY GOOD BOOK. I kept having "ah ha" moments and really stopped to think about the way the school system is set up, why it was set-up in the first place, and what it is we are trying to teach to 95% of our children out there. You would be shocked. So I knew after reading that book that I was going to look into homeschooling. Well, the thing is, there are so many different programs out there I was lost.....so I talked to a few friends about what they were doing in regards to HS and they invited me over on a typical day. It was really amazing We were out in the garden learning math-division/addition etc to get the beds set-up for planting...they were learning soil Ph and what that means, they were planting and learning about how things grow. We then went inside and the kids got a book and started reading to each other. Every once in awhile they would come over and ask what a word was, what it meant, etc. Halfway through the book they were interested in seeing what the human heart looked like so we got on the computer and took a look...this is the way that unschooler's typically learn in the early stages. It changes as the kids get older and specific interests(because they explored many avenues/interests and they've found what inspired them....what their passions are) fill their time. A family can travel when they want to, the kids can decide when they are in their teens if they want to complete the testing for University or not. Many kids that do homeschool/unschool are looked at by colleges and university very seriously because they bring something to the table that most conventionally schooled kids don't.

It's something that you have to look at with a different set of eyes. Homeschooling/unschooling is about teaching our kids what they want to learn in addition to the basics, knowing that they can learn something ALL day without changing subjects, having passion for learning, being the teacher for your children and knowing that out of everyone that could teach your kids, you have the greatest amount of love for them. I know it's not for everyone I feel blessed that I have the opportunity to do this and although I think I want to homeschool until college or Uni, I'm not 100% sure. I'm just going to take it one year at a time

[nuthinbutpink]

Depending on where you live here, some of our school systems are awful. There are some really good public(free) schools for sure but it depends where you live. Sometimes the elementary school(K-5) where you live is great but middle and or High School is terrible. You have to send your child to the school located in your district where I live so if you live in a bad school district, you can choose Private School which can be very expensive(5,000- $20,000 per year for kindergarten) or home school. Obviously, private is not for everyone- most are religious based where I live.

We all want the best for our kids and you choose what's best for them. I would not do well with homeschooling because I don't have the patience for it. We are not limited by what our school teaches though- as a parent, if I see a teaching opportunity in everyday life, I run with it. I LOVE our kids' school they love it and it works for us. We ate fortunate to have access to it though. I like them being pushed academically. We are behind other nations academically now. I also like the fact that they have to learn to cope/deal/mesh with all kinds of personalities everyday in their classes.

Homeschooling is a huge responsibility. I personally dislike the term 'unschooling' because it makes it sound like the kids are uneducated. I would not choose to use that term.

[Flava]

I still don't really get this...so the kids don't have to do any test? But then how do you prove they did learned?
Like you say they decide if they want to complete the testing for University or not.What if they don't do any testing? When they grow up and apply for work you have to prove education right? So how is this go?

[nuthinbutpink]

I still don't really get this...so the kids don't have to do any test? But then how do you prove they did learned?
Like you say they decide if they want to complete the testing for University or not.What if they don't do any testing? When they grow up and apply for work you have to prove education right? So how is this go?

I think it varies by state. Some states have a requirement for kids to be tested that are home schooled to make sure they are at a certain level for each age. Not sure what everyone else does. I imagine you have to pass something to say you have a High School degree- kind of like getting your GED? You would have to have a SAT/ACT test to apply to college, right?

[Flava]

Yeah I was thinking the same like you must have some proof of it or else you can say whatever you want, right?
I also don't like the name unschooling sound funny.