Anyone unschooling?

[Girl Named Sandoz]

Hi everyone,

DS is 3 and we are a home ed (unschooling) family.

Just wondering if there are any other unschoolers here?

[Citymomx3]

<<Waving hand frantically>> Me! Me!

Welcome to the board! You will find a LOT of unschoolers here. My dd is 9 and we have been unschooling since last year. It's amazing and we love it.

[**guest**]

unschooling my 3 y 4 m dd!

[Girl Named Sandoz]

Hi mamas! :LOL

[UUMom]

It depends who you ask, and whether Lillian is here. To some, i am a rabid unschooler, but to me I am not, because sometimes I present ideas to my kids that they might not have seen/come to on their own. Plus, two of my children go to school by choice, and technically unschoolers would never do that...

So, I don't call us unschoolers, but in reality that's what it looks like, and it describes us better than any other 'label'.

It's also a reason i can't technically say we are TCS, since I have occassionally been known to tell my kids, 'hell, no". However, to the outside world we are a curious family.

[Girl Named Sandoz]

What are everyone's kids interested in right now?

DS is into dinosaurs, puzzles, lego, ballgames, trains/ cars/ trucks, nursery rhymes/ songs, yoga, arts & crafts and word/ counting games. He's learned how to read a few words, like his name, and STOP (on stop signs).

[Citymomx3]

To some, i am a rabid unschooler, but to me I am not, because sometimes I present ideas to my kids that they might not have seen/come to on their own. Plus, two of my children go to school by choice, and technically unschoolers would never do that...

I don't think you are breaking some unschooling law with this, lol! 2 of my kids go to school as well and I always present ideas to my unschooled dd. It's all about the child having a choice. My kids go to school because they want to be there. They know they have the option to homeschool. And I present ideas to my homeschooled child if I find it interesting and I think she might like it, too. I still consider myself an unschooler. Maybe not "radical", although I do try and incorporate unschooling into many other parts of our lives. So label away! LOL!

[Girl Named Sandoz]

:LOL Anyone can post here who considers themselves an unschooler - it's not about labels.

[UUMom]

Originally Posted by Citymomx3

I don't think you are breaking some unschooling law with this, lol! 2 of my kids go to school as well and I always present ideas to my unschooled dd. It's all about the child having a choice. My kids go to school because they want to be there. They know they have the option to homeschool. And I present ideas to my homeschooled child if I find it interesting and I think she might like it, too. I still consider myself an unschooler. Maybe not "radical", although I do try and incorporate unschooling into many other parts of our lives. So label away! LOL!

I hear ya. Like yours, my schooled kids know they have choices , and they are choosing school --and their reasonings are well- articulated. All my kids are thinkers and seekers and the schooled vs the hs'd are not all that much different. Sometimes i am *blown* away by their conversations, their various takes on issues, their absolute clarity regarding their needs. There isn't a day that goes by I don't, at some point, sit in amazement at their sheer brilliance. Which is of course, a biased mother's opinion.

They just blow me away. Again, last night, dh and I were listening to them at dinner, and later i said 'Aren't they incredible?" He was all over that..."Somehow, somewhere in all this fumbling, we must be doing some really right things, or maybe be are just incredibly lucky". It's not just intellect, in fact, that's not what it's about at all. It's more an aura of them trusting their own growth. How decent and open. How competent.

Anyway-- you know what I mean, and it's not about a learning style, or social needs, where they learn, what buildings they might be in-- it's the whole starting point of feeling secure and respected and emotionally grounded. That foundation was there way before any of them could even decide about school or not.

[UUMom]

My 13 yr old is absorbed in writing comics, drawing and she is working on a fantasy novel in the style of Eragon.

My 6 yr old is interested in horses, experimenting with various art materials. Each day she paints, works with various clays, pastels etc She is also very interested in work. She cooks, prepares smoothies, mashes potatoes--everything.

My 16 and 11 yr olds (the schooled ones) are very interested in music. My 16 yr old is very involved in reading history and literature, and is directing a play at his school. My 11 yr old has a lead role in a school play and the two of them engage in many talks about that shared interest.

[ShannonCC]

Unschoolers here 7 y/o DD and 3 y/o DS.

[UUMom]

Originally Posted by eternal_grace

:LOL Anyone can post here who considers themselves an unschooler - it's not about labels.

Very true. Yet I do not want to like the folks who claim they are AP, but spank 'sometimes'.

I love to talk about what we do, yet I do not think I am 'technically' an unschooler. Although when I think of unschoolers of the past, Nancy Wallace comes to my mind, I think I am. I wouldn't consider her an unschooler in the way I think of unschoolers today.

[Girl Named Sandoz]

I understand what you're saying.

Clarifying:

This thread is not about labels but about finding other unschoolers (=anyone who can identify with the principles).

[UUMom]

Originally Posted by eternal_grace

I understand what you're saying.

Clarifying:

This thread is not about labels but about finding other unschoolers (=anyone who can identify with the principles).

Got it. So I'll stay. Nothing else defines us, anyway.

[ShannonCC]

UUMom, I totally get what you mean about the parents who say they are AP but spank. The difference is that no one seems to really know what the definition of unschooling is, :LOL At least with AP there is a set definition (even if no one wants to admit it - he didn't invent the concept, but Sears did coin the term and what he thinks it means). I've only read a few Holt books but, even though he coined the term unschooling, I haven't seen a set definition by him. More of a long, flowing description of unschooling in action. Very unschooling actually, :LOL But of course, that lends itself to interpretation.

As an aside, I remember reading one of the Holt books and being shocked at his description of one of the unschoolers using Calvert curriculum. My first thought was that pretty much everyone on unschooling.com would jump up and down and say that wasn't unschooling, yet there it was, in a book by HOLT, :LOL If I remember correctly, the kid was in a state that required a curriculum to homeschool and his parents left it up to him to work through it when he felt like it. Anyone else remember that? It was either How Kids Fail or the other How Kids (succeed?). I can never remember which one I read :LOL But then, I also read Teach Your Own so maybe it was that one.

For me, like someone else said, unschooling is about choice. I do not tell my dd she has to do math, or pressure her into vocabulary, but I have no problem *asking* her if she's interested in something. Humans are meant to communicate and share ideas I think it's very un-natural to *not* want to share things with someone you think would be interested. The very fine line in my head is that if she says no, I say ok and drop it, and that's what makes me an unschooler. I mean, even my radical unschooling friend asked her son if he was interested in the home ec curriculum our school at home friend brought to a playdate. Now, she knew he'd say no (and he did), but she saw him looking over her shoulder so she asked if he was interested. That doesn't mean she's suddenly not an unschooler right?

[LavenderMae]

Another unschooling family here!!! I have an 8 year old daughter and a 4 year old son.

[Dar]

FWIW, Holt's ideas about unschooling definitely evolved as he got older... his earlier books tend to be "schoolier" than his later ones.

I'm unschooling my daughter, who is 12 (13 in January). She's into dancing (jazz, ballet, hiphop, just learned salsa, and wants to start lyrical), singing, and acting (she assist in an acting class for younger kids, too), and anything related to Broadway-style musicals. She's just signed up to go on a trip to New York City with some of the kids at her dance school - three Broadway shows, including get-togethers with actresses from each show who are alumni of the dance school, plus some dance classes and just hanging out. She's very excited...

She's also into writing angsty fiction, reading novels (everything from current teen fare to sci fi to "classics" like To Kill a Mockingbird... whatever piques her interest), blogging heavily, downloading songs for the ipod she wants to get someday (she went a a Gogol Bordello concert Wednesday night and ended up getting lots of beer spilled all over her because she was close to the moshers, but she said it was fun), knitting (she designed and knit a great purple bag last month), her UU church group (great kids... she's with the 15-19 year olds but it works out for her), drawing, and probably more.

Dar

[mother culture]

We are an unschooling family. My son is SOL is 5 and he is into cutting up things with scissors. He can fold the paper and cut it and when he opens it up it is usually a monster with big teeth! Very intricate and there is paper everywhere! He learned his ABC's when he was 20 months and could recite tham by sight. We never did more than read books and point out letters here and there. He has become interested in writing letters recently. His letters are very ledgeable and he just asks me how to spell words and he writes! This confirmed for me that he was educating himself. I am impressed! My middle son Tolan is into dressing up and imaginary play with his big brother. We play with other kids once a week or so and don't take classes mostly because we can't afford the extra expense. They like to play with kids of all ages and never say I am BORED! I have a home buis that keeps me extra busy, so I think a part time program for the kids would give me a break and introduce them to new experiences. I love Waldorf and plan to take the teacher training next fall. Why does It have to cost so much! :

[Girl Named Sandoz]

It's so fun reading about all these great kids

[UUMom]

Originally Posted by Dar

FWIW, Holt's ideas about unschooling definitely evolved as he got older... his earlier books tend to be "schoolier" than his later ones.
Dar

even in his later ones, he's much more 'school-y" than even i am.

Learning Everywhere was published in 1985, i think and it's still pretty school-y.

It's an interesting evolution, for sure.

It's kinda cool that the term keeps changing.

I don't think Holt would recognize his coined term if he were alive. One of his dearest friends was Nancy Wallace, the mother of musicans Ishmael and Vita Wallace, and their home education did not look like any unschoolers I know! There was no TV, no 'junk' reading or music etc in that house -where Holt spent many, many hours. Holt was still a bit of a snob regarding what he thought was important for kids to learn 'on their own'.