Unschooling…
Yes, once again I’m taking the lazy way out. It’s just that I keep finding this great stuff and naturally I know you guys would rather read something wonderful from someone else than read about my every day terrors.
Before I get started though, I’m going to issue a confession even though I said I wasn’t going to discuss this here. This is just the best forum for the information.
Walker went back to school on Tuesday and on Tuesday afternoon his folder was not in his backpack and the teacher nodded in agreement when Walker said, "we didn’t get our folders today but I still got a purple bee" as he was getting inside the car. So, I look in his backpack anyway. Lo and behold is a ziplock bag with homework in it. ARGH!
The boys played, had dinner, did baths and while the youngest was in the tub, Walker and my husband sat down to do the homework assignment. An assignment featuring words like did, dad, look, see. Now, I don’t know what’s relevant in other places for this age kid but my son is reading Thomas the Train books, this did, dad, look, see stuff is starting to become annoying.
Well, last night, I completely forgot that he even had work in his backpack. His folder made it home with the assignment ziploc bag but there was no pages indicating his behavior. I’m not too concerned about that anyway any more as he has made vast improvements in that area. But, this other stuff is starting to annoy me.
He also had a piece of paper in his bag where he had written to 100 and a note saying he was one of only a handful that was able to complete this project. Ok, wonderful, when he can count to 100 by 5’s and 10’s already and can count by 2’s and do some multiplication…I’m just not impressed.
Anyway, I’m being a pain it the arse again but here is the link and a tad of information about the article Unschooling - Brilliant or Lazy by Carrie at Divine Caroline.
She attempts to define unschooling and we all know from my attempt at that here, it is difficult at bet. Basically she says that the commonality between unschoolers is that they trust children. They believe the children can lead their own education. They look a themselves as facilitators, not taskmakers.
So, yea is that starting to sound familiar? I mean, I tried to do this way back when, but she really does a much better job…give it a read
January 10th, 2009 at 8:08 pm
Two different thoughts swirling in my head after your story.
The teacher in me says, “School, and particularly kindergarten, are not just about the academic subjects. Yes the work seems easy, but he is there for more than learning the alphabet. He is learning social interactions as well, which is why you are looking for the purple bee (or whatever it is). Sometimes it is easier for children to learn these things while “reviewing” the academic content they already know.”
The homeschooler in me says, “Yep. That’s one of the many good reasons why people homeschool. When you get a class of 20 kids, you have to teach to the middle, so the bright ones are bored and the lowest learners are lost. This is how it will be for the next 12 years of school, so get used to it. You can’t expect the teacher to be able to challenge 20 different kids each at their own place.”
January 11th, 2009 at 2:31 am
I am fully aware that a teacher with 18 to 20 kids in a room can’t cater to one child. I am a former public school teacher remember. But, this is where it get tricky. People want to judge and get all bent out of shape because we don’t do homework every night it is sent home. But, why would we?
Why would we sit and read books like “Dad did see the dog.” When he can read so much more advanced stuff. So, it isn’t that we aren’t doing anything, we just are not lulling him and boring him and making our life miserable.
As for homeschooling, I honestly don’t know if I could keep up with him. That’s been my debate from the very first post I put here…..I don’t trust myself to structure….really, that’s my problem though, not his.
January 11th, 2009 at 3:07 am
[...] it, many homeschoolers handle it differently. Thus far I’ve heard people discuss the unschooling method which I think they are very brave! Then, I’ve heard others talk about online [...]
January 18th, 2009 at 4:34 pm
[...] it, many homeschoolers handle it differently. Thus far I’ve heard people discuss the unschooling method which I think they are very brave! Then, I’ve heard others talk about online [...]