Are we the only ones????

[mamaofthree]

Whose children are homeschooled and DO NOT draw maps of the real world or do 50 pages of math a day (with out me asking them) or know all the presidents or capitals of the world?
We un-school, we have a house full of books, we go out to museums and the library. We read every night.
I am happy 99% of the time with this, but then you hear or read a story about some ones 4 year old discussing E=MC2 and a 10 year old building a rocket to the moon and I wonder, what am I doing wrong. And alot of the time they are un-schoolers. The have a map of the world in the bathroom with thumb tacks in it from all the places the 5 year old has read about and the 2 year old loves Poe and can recite poems, and the 15 year old is making computers in their spare time.
My kids do alot of great stuff, but it sometimes worries me. I mean they can do math (the older two) but it isn't their passion.
Ok. I am done.

H

[UnschoolnMa]

LOL! No you are are not the only ones. I think that every kid has his or her own passions...sometimes they look "educational" and sometimes they do not. As unschoolers we think all of it is educational.

My son (14) spends his days getting online where he reads Wikipedia articles about a variety of things from music to video games (company, voice actors, development etc) to war history. The only only part of history he has any real interest in is the war and weaponry aspect. That leads to looking up other things though, and occasionally some political discussions. He has been sketching some cool weapon ideas of his own too. He also loves video games and reading.

My daughter (12) watches some TV, loves to read (Currently into the Unfortunate Events and American Girl series), loves to dance and sing (she googles lyrics and copies them into her notebook), she is going through a scary movie phase currently , and she likes to spend time with her best friend.

We really don't do history timelines or maps, but one of them was really into maps for a time a few years back. Dd will sometimes work in a math workbook just because. Ds has declared that the next time he does a math worksheet will be in prep for his GED test in a couple of years. He figures he will have enough of it in college lol.

[MyLittleWonders]

My kids don't do those things either!

Ds#1 (4.5) is learning some phonics and beginning reading, mostly because I know he can and he's ready to start playing with letters. But mostly, he would rather that we read to him. He's also obsessed with Rescue Heroes, loves playing on the computer (K level games - nothing extraordinary), and running around being 4.5 years old! (He does have an extraordinary vocabulary and can carry on pretty advanced conversations, at least in comparrison to his peers, but other than being extra verbal, he's just a 4.5 year old.)

Ds#2 (2) loves just trying to do what his big brother does. He has picked up quite a few letters/sounds by watching Leap Frog and loves to pull the magnetic letters out (well, actually dump them out) and then find letters he knows and tells us the sound. Other than that, he is, well, 2 years old!

We watch more TV than probably most families here, though we only have PBS to pick from, so it's a pretty limited "menu". I also allow them to play learning games on the computer - and ds#2 is getting pretty good at self-regulating his time.

But as far as drawing their own maps, illustrating their own novels, or mapping out the universe on their ceilings, my children don't do those things (and my list is meant only to be humorous and not to offend anyone whose children actually do those things).

I do like reading what other children are doing, but sometimes feel the same ... my child isn't doing that ... should they be? Then I look at how cool my kids are and think, that's okay ... they are fine the way they are.

[eilonwy]

Originally Posted by mamaofthree

I am happy 99% of the time with this, but then you hear or read a story about some ones 4 year old discussing E=MC2 and a 10 year old building a rocket to the moon and I wonder, what am I doing wrong. And alot of the time they are un-schoolers. The have a map of the world in the bathroom with thumb tacks in it from all the places the 5 year old has read about and the 2 year old loves Poe and can recite poems, and the 15 year old is making computers in their spare time.

I've got a very bright 3 year old, and he happens to love maps so we spend a lot of time looking at them... but his sister, for example, isn't terribly interested in them and doesn't bother with them much. Different kids get fired up about different things at different times in their lives. I'd probably wonder if my kids had no interest in *anything* (and had never been in school-- school is very good at killing a child's interest in a topic, it took me a good 10 years to recover from my distaste for history ) by the time they were 9 or 10, and I might encourage them to try new things and break out of their comfortable shells a bit, but as long as they're interested in *something*, they'll find a way to run with it.. isn't that the point of unschooling, to let them discover their own interests on their own timetables?

[ShannonCC]

Mamaofthree you cracked me up Don't we all have days like that? I mean, us human moms at least?

[Sasha_girl]

Here we are! My kiddos are incredibly bright and inquisitive, but we don't spend our days working on astrophysics. Sometimes I feel a bit hollow when I read this board and all of the wonderfully advanced things that these great hs kids are doing, like I'm doing something wrong.

But we're not. We're just being us.

Right now my kids are up in the apple tree. They are having a blissfull time.

[darien]

I posted on another board a month ago, wondering if anyone else's kid spent half the day building legos and the other half re-reading Harry Potter. So many people chimed in, I started to think ds was a clone! Yup, nobody's won a Nobel yet at our house.

[mandib50]

this i can relate to i get a little down when i read sometimes how families are spending hours doing all kinds of incredible things while my kids are reading, playing, baking, puzzles, games and doing their thing. i tend to do what my kids are interested in learning.

no real advice, just that i can relate.

[UlrikeDG]

Originally Posted by Sasha_girl

Sometimes I feel a bit hollow when I read this board and all of the wonderfully advanced things that these great hs kids are doing, like I'm doing something wrong.

Hey, I only post when my kids are doing something fantabulous. Posts that say, "We really didn't do much today," tend to be rather boring.

(Couldn't resist.)

[ShannonCC]

Originally Posted by UlrikeDG

Hey, I only post when my kids are doing something fantabulous. Posts that say, "We really didn't do much today," tend to be rather boring.

(Couldn't resist.)

: That is a very good point you know

[Slabobbin]

I don't exactly un-school but I don't classical school either. But yes I have my moments of worry.

[luv my 2 sweeties]

Originally Posted by UlrikeDG

Hey, I only post when my kids are doing something fantabulous. Posts that say, "We really didn't do much today," tend to be rather boring.

(Couldn't resist.)

:

I wondered if the OP was in response to the thread "you know your kids are homeschooled when"? It's fun to read all that stuff, but do keep in mind that we generally post the highlights. If you (the OP) had posted on that thread that you know your kids are homeschooled because your 2 y.o. recites Poe and your 15 y.o. built his own computer, I would have been *impressed*!! I might have even become nervous that my 5 y.o. (she with the Presidents placemat) doesn't have a single poem by anyone committed to memory and has never heard of E. A. Poe!

After all, you also know your kids are homeschooled when they spend an entire day in their underwear, doing "nothing", and the thought of such a day makes you smile.

[cottonwood]

It's perfectly possible to live a good, happy life without doing anything that most people would consider academically impressive. We all know that, really. But for whatever reason a lot of us are still (though not willingly or even necessarily consciously) buying the party line that school sells us, that certain (academic) things are inherently more valuable than other (non-academic) things.

So was it the "You know you're homeschoolers when..." thread that prompted this? It seemed like a lot of people were basically saying, "You know you're homeschoolers when your kids are little scholars." I posted with an example that was meant to point out that unschooled kids don't see a dichotomy between what school has deemed "academic subjects" and their other interests. But my kids aren't scholars. They like Pokemon and Xbox and jumping on the trampoline. They watch "Malcolm in the Middle" and laugh at the potty humor. They don't do in-depth studies into Mayan architecture and the structure of DNA. Maybe we should do a thread called, "You know you're unschoolers when..." and I could say, "...your kids spend all day in their jammies watching Land of the Lost and eating ice cream," and be smug and proud about it.

ETA: lol, Stephanie, we cross-posted, sorry to look like I'm repeating so many of your points.

[mamaofthree]

First off I just want to stress this was thread was made mostly in humor. (And a bit of worry. )
The other thread did get me thinking, but also I wonder about it after I read "Life Learning" magazine. There is always a family in there doing impressive things and it gets me wondering what am I doing wrong that my kids are not inspired to recite poems, or know the capitals of the 50 states, or whatever.
My kids totally rock, but I worry! I don't want them to "fall behind" their piers. I wonder if I am smart enough to be there "teacher"... I don't spell well, and I don't push them. (I mentioned we "un-school"). We have loads of stuff here, and the kids use it SOMETIMES, but mostly they/we do our own thing.
I just worry ....

H

[USAmma]

I don't unschool, I do classical education. However I don't push my kids either. Most homeschoolers I know don't do the heavy bookwork and endless drilling, even those who choose a more traditional path than unschooling. My dd does only 10 minutes per subject per day. Sometimes we don't cover all the subjects and oh well, she's probably more interested in doing something else that day and she's learning from it.

I find the workbooks helpful, and she enjoys the so far. When I say it's time for lessons she eagerly comes. We spent about 30 minutes on lessons, and then I read some Magic Tree House to her, and some Greek Mythology. Later today we plan to make a bug trap in the back yard to see if we can lure some critters to it overnight. This afternoon we will walk to the Y for her ballet class. She spents very little time each day actually sitting down at her desk or the table-- unless it's drawing. She will draw all day long.

[oliversmum2000]

wow

you are all such cool parents - i want to be cool like you guys!

(ds is at school but i dont think for much longer)

[DigitalSuze]

LOL! You're not the only one! Even though my 10 y.o. is going the classical route, we don't get to every subject every day and I'm always open to dropping everything for reading. DS loves video and computer games and imaginary play, and I'd have to say that he spends a lot more time on those pursuits than "lessons." On the other hand, I was recently impressed with his knowledge of mythology across different ancient cultures. I asked him which of his books he'd learned about them from. The answer? Neither -- he learned from many hours playing Age of Mythology!

[Lillian J]

Originally Posted by DigitalSuze

On the other hand, I was recently impressed with his knowledge of mythology across different ancient cultures. I asked him which of his books he'd learned about them from. The answer? Neither -- he learned from many hours playing Age of Mythology!

YES!!! That was my experience all along - my son would learn the most from his own pursuits. And I think that kind of learning goes a lot deeper and lasts longer - so it's good to provide access to as much as possible. I remember once when I was reading aloud to him from The History of US, and he suddenly jumped up, startled, and practically shouted, "The Canary Islands?! That's a real place?..." And he started exitedly spouting off names of other places that had been important trading ports. He said in astonishment, "I've been learning GEOGRAPHY!" He had been playing
High Seas Trader, but didn't realize it was based on historical places. I loved that kind of thing. Lillian

[DigitalSuze]

Thanks for the link, Lillian. I'm sending it to my son right now!

[Wolfmeis]

What are your passions?? The things my children currently excel in are things that my husband and I love to do.

The Age of Mythology game story makes an excellent point-- you can unschool and still guide at the same time. If the child gets it in their head they want to learn, they will do it. Sometimes it's accidental! wink wink.