School, homeschool, and unschool combos

[straighthaircurly]

Lately I've been wandering through all the different forums. Unschool...Homeschool...Learning at School...

They all seem to relate to our life with DS and his learning. He goes to a public school and has had a great experience so far. The teachers are really good at teaching handwriting and reading and basic math skills in a very logical order. However, it is slow and repetitive, DS can move much quicker through the info. So we supplement at home. The teacher sends home more challenging homework for DS in math, but she has no time in the classroom to actually teach the more advanced skills. So I do a mini lesson for him before he starts his homework as well as finding more advanced real life opportunities for him to advance his math and logic skills. Then on weekends, we do unschooling. DS is always finding interests...lately it has been digital photography, so we provide the time, space, and equipment for him. We suggest ways he can expand on what he is doing (studying famous photographers, creating a photo exhibit that he can display at the art and science fair at his school in the spring, etc.), but he chooses how to proceed with the interest (he may drop it and move on or get more involved).

I feel like a combo of these approaches has created the balance that he needs in his life and he is thriving because of it. I had thought of home schooling him at one point but found that even though I have been a tutor and a teacher, that the 2 of us didn't not click when it came to full time home school.

I am curious as to what other people have found. Does your child prefer one method over another? How have you incorporated balance into their lives, exposure to multiple methods of learning? I love hearing examples of how people facilitate their child's learning experiences.

[jeteaa]

This is how I feel about our families education. We hsed last year for K w/ dd1 and dd2 went along for the ride. At the end of the year I was worn out, my dc were just spending too much time together, our budget was pushed to the limit with funding all the fun classes. A reasonable solution in our area are parent partnership programs. Its a public school program which offers classes and a stipend to hs student who register w/ the district. In our state these PPP come in all shaped and sizes. The one closest to us is a decent fit BUT the one issue I have with it is that parent have to stay on campus while their kids are in the classes, which was not the best for me. I need some alone time during the week. So for now dd2 is in a co-op preschool LOVE IT, dd1 in ps 1st, which I doubt we will con't next year. So for now I'm shopping around the less expensive private schools and other PPP.

[kathymuggle]

I know many people who adopt from different paradigms. Some send their kids to school, but afterschool. Some have kids that go to school, but allow quite a bit of choice with regards to whether they do homework or even attend on certain days (which borrows from USing)


Likewise, some HS parents seek out homeschool classes for their kids - for structured learning, a teacher, etc.

In general, I think mix and matching is good.

People do not only apply a mixed approach on any given year - but over time. Some people have kids that use school, HS or US - depending on what their kids and family needs are at the moment.

[Dar]

Originally Posted by straighthaircurly

I feel like a combo of these approaches has created the balance that he needs in his life and he is thriving because of it.

To me, this sounds like what all of my friend who school their kids do - it's part of being a good parent. In general, parents who send their kids to school also teach them things at home and support their interests - that has nothing to do with homeschooling and even less to do with unschooling, IMO.

I'm glad school is working well for you!

[Linda on the move]

I think the word "unschooling" is meaningless because people disagree so much about what it means.

My kids attend a private school that was founded on the ideals of John Holt, who invented the word "unschooling". None the less, few would consider us unschoolers because they go to school, even though the education they are recieving is far more in lines with Holts ideal's than most homeschoolers who call themselves unschoolers.

We used to homeschool, and my kids attended a wonderful traditional public school for a while. I'm over labels and philosophies.

My children thrive in a group.

[sunnmama]

Originally Posted by Dar

In general, parents who send their kids to school also teach them things at home and support their interests - that has nothing to do with homeschooling and even less to do with unschooling, IMO.

Yep, that is my perspective as well.

IMO, parents are primarily responsible for their dc's education whether they send them to school or not. School children don't stop learning when they leave school for the day, week, or summer--not by a longshot!

Since my dd attends school, I don't consider our or her learning pursuits after school to be homeschooling or unschooling. I consider it family life

[lach]

Originally Posted by sunnmama

Yep, that is my perspective as well.

IMO, parents are primarily responsible for their dc's education whether they send them to school or not. School children don't stop learning when they leave school for the day, week, or summer--not by a longshot!

Since my dd attends school, I don't consider our or her learning pursuits after school to be homeschooling or unschooling. I consider it family life

I will probably homeschool after kindergarten, but right now DD is in a lovely Montessori school, and I plan on sending my other children there as well. I don't think that learning ends when the formal school day is, and I don't think that most people do tbh. We also read lots of books and go to museums and events that are educational in an age-appropriate way (she is only 3, but there are plenty of farm days and preschool nature walks and museum family days and that sort of thing in our area), and she can't get enough worksheets. I have to ration them, because the nice Kumon ones are so expensive!). When she has interests that pop up, I try to accommodate them. For example, she was really into bones and what's inside you so we went to the Museum of Natural History up here in Boston and then in New York.

I can't really consider any of that homeschooling or unschooling, though. To me, it's just living life as a parent.

[lauren]

I have 3 kids in public school and we are ALL learning all the time--in structured settings and unstructured time-- we are just a very curious bunch, so it doesn't really matter where they/we are. They love their public schools, we've been happy with them. We learn though, 24/7, and don't really call it anything.

[choli]

That sounds like just normal life. So I guess everyone is "unschooling" in their kids' nonschool time.

[kathymuggle]

Originally Posted by choli

That sounds like just normal life. So I guess everyone is "unschooling" in their kids' nonschool time.

Not really. There is a certain amount of child choice that is associated with USing that not all kids have. I know people who insist their kids do their homework at xyz time, insist their kid read for certain number of minutes, take this extra-curriculuar activity, and go to bed at this exact time. Little of this is USy.

I have met people who set out to afterschool, for various reasons, and those who never would for one reason or another.

I think schooling choices are defined, for the most part, by location. I would never say a schooled child was HSed. I do, however, think reading about other paradigms and consciously adopting parts that work for you is a good thing. Diversity is a good thing.

[lauren]

Originally Posted by straighthaircurly

I am curious as to what other people have found. Does your child prefer one method over another? How have you incorporated balance into their lives, exposure to multiple methods of learning? I love hearing examples of how people facilitate their child's learning experiences.

So let's return to the OP's central question. What is working for your family and your child/ren?

[whatsnextmom]

No one really "unschools" on the weekend. Unschooling is 24/7 choice and it effects the entire family dynamics. It's more than just unstructured time, it's a belief system in how children should be raised on all levels. You can't really homeschool or send your child to school and claim to unschool and any time of the day. That would sort of like saying you are a vegetarian because you didn't eat meat today (and yes, I've heard that lol.)

My kids used to "afterschool" when they were little but that didn't qualify them as homeschoolers. Kids learn... that is what they do. Because they continue to learn outside of school, doesn't make them homeschoolers. Homeschooling is an active choice.

No, we're schoolers and happy. My kids want to be in school... they always have. Yes, they have unstructured time where they explore areas of their own interests. Yes, they have times when they want to do their own research and projects outside of school. They've even occasionally adopted and followed through on homeschooling curriculum outside of school. We support it all but we are a schooling family and that works for us. Anything outside of school is just life.

[lauren]

Reminder not to get into any sort of debate regarding home school vs. learning at school vs. unschooling and splitting hairs on terminology.

Keep it focused on the OP's needs. Thanks!

[Aaronridge]

It sounds like you have found a wonderful balance for meeting all of your son's needs. That's wonderful. I don't really think it matters what you call it. It sounds a lot like what my family does, except we do the basics (reading, writing, math etc.) at home (we homeschool), but the rest of what you have described is almost exactly like we do.

Originally Posted by straighthaircurly

Lately I've been wandering through all the different forums. Unschool...Homeschool...Learning at School...

They all seem to relate to our life with DS and his learning. He goes to a public school and has had a great experience so far. The teachers are really good at teaching handwriting and reading and basic math skills in a very logical order. However, it is slow and repetitive, DS can move much quicker through the info. So we supplement at home. The teacher sends home more challenging homework for DS in math, but she has no time in the classroom to actually teach the more advanced skills. So I do a mini lesson for him before he starts his homework as well as finding more advanced real life opportunities for him to advance his math and logic skills. Then on weekends, we do unschooling. DS is always finding interests...lately it has been digital photography, so we provide the time, space, and equipment for him. We suggest ways he can expand on what he is doing (studying famous photographers, creating a photo exhibit that he can display at the art and science fair at his school in the spring, etc.), but he chooses how to proceed with the interest (he may drop it and move on or get more involved).

I feel like a combo of these approaches has created the balance that he needs in his life and he is thriving because of it. I had thought of home schooling him at one point but found that even though I have been a tutor and a teacher, that the 2 of us didn't not click when it came to full time home school.

I am curious as to what other people have found. Does your child prefer one method over another? How have you incorporated balance into their lives, exposure to multiple methods of learning? I love hearing examples of how people facilitate their child's learning experiences.

[straighthaircurly]

Originally Posted by Linda on the move

I think the word "unschooling" is meaningless because people disagree so much about what it means.

My kids attend a private school that was founded on the ideals of John Holt, who invented the word "unschooling". None the less, few would consider us unschoolers because they go to school, even though the education they are recieving is far more in lines with Holts ideal's than most homeschoolers who call themselves unschoolers.

We used to homeschool, and my kids attended a wonderful traditional public school for a while. I'm over labels and philosophies.

My children thrive in a group.

This is kind of where I am coming from. It seems when I visit the various forums, people are getting hung up on calling things by certain names and identifying themselves in a certain way. I read stuff and think, well, we are doing that too. I have never been a black and white thinker. I think in gray areas because I find that very few things in life stand alone as a concept. Ideas and philosophies tend to mix together to make a combo that works for each person.

[straighthaircurly]

Originally Posted by whatsnextmom

No one really "unschools" on the weekend. Unschooling is 24/7 choice and it effects the entire family dynamics. It's more than just unstructured time, it's a belief system in how children should be raised on all levels. You can't really homeschool or send your child to school and claim to unschool and any time of the day. That would sort of like saying you are a vegetarian because you didn't eat meat today (and yes, I've heard that lol.)

This is where we differ in phrasing. I would agree that you are not an "unschooler" just because you do "unschooly" types of things on the weekend and your vegetarian analogy stands up. But I can eat vegetarian meals 4 days a week (or even 1) and have a positive effect on my life. You can still build unschool philosophy into your life even if that is not 24/7. Being able to "switch gears" from a structured learning environment to a self-led learning environment is valuable in my world. Both environments play a role in learning how to live and get along in the greater world.

And yes, I would like to get away from the debate of what constitutes a pure form of each schooling philosophy. I knew that debate might arise but it isn't what I am looking at. If I go back to the food analogy used above, I would phrase my question as "How do you incorporate traditional foods/meals, vegetarian foods/meals, and your cultural foods/meals into your weekly meal diet?"

[sunnmama]

Originally Posted by straighthaircurly

This is kind of where I am coming from. It seems when I visit the various forums, people are getting hung up on calling things by certain names and identifying themselves in a certain way. I read stuff and think, well, we are doing that too. I have never been a black and white thinker. I think in gray areas because I find that very few things in life stand alone as a concept. Ideas and philosophies tend to mix together to make a combo that works for each person.

I've spent time in all the education forums, because we were homeschoolers/unschoolers, and now we use the public schools. I agree that labels can be limiting, or promote false assumptions.

An analogy might be "vegetarian". Just because I am not vegetarian doesn't mean I don't eat a whole lot of vegetarian foods! But vegetarian still has meaning, and I am not a vegetarian. Furthermore, an outsider can't make accurate judgments about the quality of my diet simply by knowing that I am, or am not, a vegetarian. There is just too much unknown.

eta...oops, missed the veggie analogy above. Sorry!

[lauren]

Waldorf education has a very similar dilemma--there are educators in the Waldorf tradition that would argue that you have to be Waldorf all the way. Waldorf as I understand it is a whole life philosophy built on anthroposophy, just as unschooling is it's own whole life philosophy. But there are those that feel it's o.k. to incorporate just some aspects of Waldorf into a child's curriculum/life and there is still some benefit. There are schools that are just Waldorf inspired. Purist "Waldorfians" would argue that this is not good enough. And so it goes, with most philosophies---purism vs. an eclectic approach.

The OP seems to be seeking an eclectic approach that takes pieces of different philosophies and integrates them to the benefit of her son.

[mom2ponygirl]

I've decided to try and dodge any and all educational labels and just call our philosophy, whatever works schooling! Our daughter attending full-time preschool/K, homeschooled exclusively for 5 years, did half-time high school and homeschooling, and now is back to homeschooling. Although we homeschool, she does a mixture of online courses and self-directed learning/exploring. Next year she's going to throw a dual enrollment course at the university into the mix. She has found that some subjects/areas of interest are more easily explored in the structured environment of a class. Some classes just offer great interaction with other motivated learners. Some topics are best explored at her own pace in the depth(or lack of depth) that she wants.

So I feel we homeschool because I oversee her education and prepare her transcript for college. She spends a great deal of time exploring things on her own and in her own way - but we don't fit the unschool label as far as I can tell.

[Needle in the Hay]

Originally Posted by straighthaircurly

I read stuff and think, well, we are doing that too. I have never been a black and white thinker. I think in gray areas because I find that very few things in life stand alone as a concept. Ideas and philosophies tend to mix together to make a combo that works for each person.

Whenever there is an article on unschooling posted somewhere, there will always be comments along the lines of: Hey, we unschool too, only we do it AND send our kids to school. Or something like: Yeah, it's called summer vacation! I would say those people are the black-and-white thinkers and comments like those show they do not get what unschooling is at all.

This isn't to debate the idea of taking certain unschooling ideas and incorportating them into your life though.

I agree that ideas and philosophies can certainly mix well. I say do whatever works for your family. I think a lot of people are drawn to the idea of unschooling at least somewhat and I see many posts asking about ways of combining unschooling with Waldorf, Charlotte Mason or other literature based studies, and even classical education, etc.

As for us, when I sign my son up for a class or workshop I don't think, OK now we'll get a little schooling in and that will be good for him. I do think the workshops are good for him and he enjoys them, but I'm not looking to integrate schooling philosophies into his life. I'm looking for cool opportunties for him that I think he'll like.