'Unschooling' as an adult... - Page 2

[cheery]

TO be honest I think I have been a closet unschooler for a long time, maybe since middle school days - what I meanis though in younger days I recall enjoying school and waiting for it every day / week, at some point that enjoyment was replaced by dread - this dread peaked in middle school and then faded into the background but somehow it was still there and I remember in high school and especially in college always being more interested in reading books not on our syllabus and even being more interested in the required reading after the semester was over.  I would be int he library with exams & papers due and get utterly lost reading a book that was not required for myclass (but was nonetheless a scholarly book).    Something about being required just made me unable to focus on the reading, I still dont know why because I was certianly a fan of getting good grades and getting approval from the prof.

ANYWAY now that no reading is required of me, I too voraciously devour books on history, politics, health, birth and countless other topics.  My first stop in the library is the New Non Fiction shelf, and I often follow the numbers of an interesting book to get more books on the same topic from the stacks.  It's about as systematic as I get.  I browse through a few books and pick the one that hooks me and take it home.   Or just take them all ;-)

What I would really like to learn is to be more artistic.  I never did much art / craft all through childhood, being focussed on academics.  I do art with dd but I am very perfunctory.  I would love to learn to draw or paint, but can't overcome my feeling that I can't do it.  I keep drawing the same flowers and houses ... 

[PreggieUBA2C]

I am and have always been an autodidact. I do not know what a day without deliberate learning would be like, unless it's one in which I am so sick that I cannot even read, which has happened only a few times in my life, or in labour (5 times, and not even whole days). So, I've spent about two weeks of my life not actively learning. :)

[OnEarth]

Ha! I was just coming to ask a similar question- i.e. what, if anything, is anyone learning for themselves. I'm going to come back and read the responses later, but thanks for asking the question. Lately I've been lost in a see of "mothering" research, not really looking into things that don't in some way have to do with the kid. All well and good, except that I've lost sight of what interests ME. Looking forward to rediscovering what I want to learn!

[lookatreestar]

i love all of these answers! i feel like i learned quite a bit in traditional school (i was a bookworm/nerd/teachers pet) but i love to learn and read on my own. 

[Qalliope]

Hey Cheery, I found I didn't like formal classes for artistic pursuits, though I tried many times.  Best book ever for opening my eyes to the world around me and helping me draw better: Zen Seeing, Zen Drawing: Meditation in Action, by Frederick Franck.  Something about it just clicked for me.  Now if I could only find something like that for watercolors, I would be ecstatic.

Originally Posted by cheery 

What I would really like to learn is to be more artistic.  I never did much art / craft all through childhood, being focussed on academics.  I do art with dd but I am very perfunctory.  I would love to learn to draw or paint, but can't overcome my feeling that I can't do it.  I keep drawing the same flowers and houses ... 

[UnschoolnMa]

I am an unschooler for life, and my kids feel that way too. :) They are 19 and 17 years old now. Let's see, I've been learning about weaving, cheese making, the small house movement, and Northern Cheyenne lately! Unschooling is in the blood to stay for us.

[moominmamma]

Llike others said, it's just life to me. I don't think of it as unschooling. I've always lived like this.

Currently: distance running (hoping for a marathon in 2011), Japanese, economics, traditional bread-baking (built a cobb oven last fall), orchestration/music arranging, playing viola, and various science and social issues oriented threads of inquiry. I have a couple of dozen informational podcasts that I follow and am investigating time-banking for my community.

Miranda

[Greenmama2]

Originally Posted by OnEarth 

Ha! I was just coming to ask a similar question- i.e. what, if anything, is anyone learning for themselves. I'm going to come back and read the responses later, but thanks for asking the question. Lately I've been lost in a see of "mothering" research, not really looking into things that don't in some way have to do with the kid. All well and good, except that I've lost sight of what interests ME. Looking forward to rediscovering what I want to learn!

I have recently come to a place of acceptance about this. It's OK if mothering/homeschooling/RU is my main focus right now. It actually fits with my personality since I've always pursued my main interest with a slightly obsessive zeal. It used to be music, before that physics, now it's mothering. That's ok
I'm also never without a book on holistic nutrition, another on female Buddhist practitioners and currently my "extra" interest is Latin. Last week it was local history. Oh and I shouldn't forget learning more everyday about putting permaculture into practice.

[starface]

I didn't do particularly well in school.  I always skipped out on classes and struggled because I wasn't interested in school at all!  

Like a PP, I don't believe I learned much of value until I unschooled myself.  Of course I didn't know what unschooling was but it seems that what I do; I crave learning.  I follow my interests (pregnancy and birth was my unschooling Mecca!  Photography, knitting, cooking, baking, health and nutrition )  I feel like there aren't enough hours in a day to learn what I want to learn!  I somewhat feel like my ditching school to do my own thing back in the day has fostered that love of learning!  I suppose I managed to unschool myself much to the discord of my parents LOL

 

[CultivatingMyRoots]

http://www.marcandangel.com/2010/11/15/12-dozen-places-to-self-educate-yourself-online/

http://www.ztcollege.com/

(new, but looks promising!)

http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Wikiversity:Main_Page

I found these on the unjobbing thread, and wanted to share!! I am so excited for all these new materials; for myself and my kids. 

[NellieKatz]

I am a classic unschooling adult. I had a woeful education long ago, growing up, so long ago dinosaurs still roamed the earth (i.e. memorize things, get the good grades and pats on the back, retain nothing) and now I realize how VERY LITTLE I know about history, and (contrary to the way it was presented in school) I find it fascinating! So I soak up as much as I can now, because I want and need to. Which is just the way we always say that our unschooling kids do it. It's true!

My problem is finding the time. On Mothers Day I said "All I want for a gift is to have the whole day off so I can read and draw." So that's what I did. Read history and made art. But day to day, it's nearly impossible to find the amount of time I need, between being here with my son & meeting all his needs, and then my two jobs, and the household stuff. I do find that frustrating.