[purslaine]

I Have been struggling in the last few weeks to define myself.

I like a lot of what US is about but in the final analysis, I do not think I am one.

I read threads on HS, and even among relaxed HSers, I seem more relaxed, lol.

sometimes it is tricky asking for advice and researching things, because the spectrum of HS is so wide.... That is the only downside I can see to not having a niche.

so...I yam what I yam.

Down with boxing yourself in with labels.

Kathy

 

[zeldamomma]

I think that's where we are.

We look like unschoolers, but I have goals for my kids that don't really mesh with US.

But we like what we're doing.

:

ZM

 

[alegna]

That would probably be me.

I have a lot of US philosophy, but underlying goals.

-Angela

 

[AngelBee]

I think you are thinking too hard!

 

[may babies]

This is where I see us in the future. We're very unschooly since the kids are only 3 and 1

, but I see us moving into very relaxed territory as they get older.

 

[lotusdebi]

May be me. May not be me. I really don't know. I won't read all the books and articles and stuff because I don't want for unschooling to be my goal or anything. My goal is to do my best to meet my children's needs. Right now, that's unschooling (or similar enough that I use the term in homeschooling circles). There may be things here and there that some people wouldn't consider unschooling. I don't care. I'm meeting my kids' needs, and that's what matters to me. Not fitting into some cool club or something.

 

[LeftField]

This is us. From what I can tell, we are presently unschooling but it's not a philosophy that I love for its own sake. If it weren't for my kids' insistence, I can tell you that I wouldn't 'us'. I won't tell them what to do or create goals for them but in my mind, I do have skills that I want them to eventually achieve...things that will make it easier for them to go into their field or profession of choice. I have no problem with having these hopes.

I have no problem with introducing things to them and I don't ponder if I'm truly unschooling by doing it. Of course, my kids will automatically let me know if they are receptive or not. They are very strong autonomous learners, to make an understatement.

When I realized that we were unschooling and probably would be for a while, I used to get concerned about the philosophy and the label and its constraints. I bought a chemistry curriculum for my son because I thought he would love (he really really loved it) but I freaked out a bit because it might not be in the spirit of unschooling. What happened is that my son did chemistry for as long as interested him and when it did not interest him, he was very clear about expressing it. When he was not interested, I dropped it. I wasn't going to prod or encourage or anything like that. But I freaked because it was curric, because he was young and because he did not expressly ask for it.

I realized that it was very unhealthy and unproductive for me to dwell on the unschooling philosophy and evaluate whether or not we were acting in accordance. When I stopped trying to label us, things became much more relaxed and we were all happier. I still identify us as unschoolers for clarification purposes but I do not relate to the unschooling movement. We are just us: incredibly overwhelmingly relaxed and doing what looks like unschooling but not using a label. Using the label made me stress about what we did and didn't do and what other people thought of us.

 

[happilyloved]

We're doing what works for us, which seems to fall about the same place you are. We have a math and phonics curriculum, but we do them when she asks. Of course she usually asks on the days that I set them out on the coffee table the night before. I am completely comfortable with this at the moment because she is working at least a full grade level above her peers. I think I would feel less relaxed about it if she was struggling more, which isn't very un-schooly of me

 

[chfriend]

I think we're unrelaxed unschoolers.

 

[BeccaSue1029]

I"m pretty relaxed, we do use a few textbooks, but not for everything, and usually the kids pick what we do when (like we usually do math first to get it over with

)

 

[purslaine]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AngelBee I think you are thinking too hard!

I am. I am prone to it. Most of the time...I kind of enjoy it

:

But there reaches a point where I have to tell myself "enough!"

 

[AngelBee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kathymuggle I am. I am prone to it. Most of the time...I kind of enjoy it : But there reaches a point where I have to tell myself "enough!"

Honestly....I do this too.

Probably why I think it is cute.

I just think we all try so hard sometimes to find where we fit, that we loose the beauty of right where we are.

I do this myself.

: I need to regularly remind myself taht this is a journey, not a final destination. And it is up to me and me alone to describe my journey as "I" (and only me and my family) see fit.

It has taken A LOT of pressure off of me.

:

 

[mackysmama]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chfriend I think we're unrelaxed unschoolers.

laughup

Quote:

Originally Posted by BeccaSue1029 I"m pretty relaxed, we do use a few textbooks, but not for everything, and usually the kids pick what we do when (like we usually do math first to get it over with )

:

I actually just wrote a big piece on this on my blog. It's called "Am I an Unschooler with a Math Book?" It talks a lot about my path to self-definition and the end being that the labels don't matter.

 

[library lady]

I think this is a good description of us. Not completely unschool but not a lot of structure. I definitely have goals in mind.

 

[rbeaufoy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chfriend I think we're unrelaxed unschoolers.

I had a good laugh over this one

 

[Ruthla]

I'm a "relaxed eclectic, leaning towards unschooling." I won't pretend to be 100% unschooly, nor do I aspire to be. There are certain subjects that I want DD to learn- especially the Hebrew language and more about Judaism in general. She's got options about how she goes about learning, but IMO, learning Hebrew isn't optional for her.

Me teaching her through textbooks and flash cards didn't go so well. I purchased
the Rosetta Stone Hebrew for her, and she quickly got frustrated with it, so we put that aside for a while. Now, she uses Rosetta Stone all on her own, with the added incentive of a small candy every time she gets something wrong (she's a perfectionist, and hearing the "you got it wrong" sound on the program is enough to turn her off learning for the night. A treat for getting it wrong helps her move past that.)

I also like having a math textbook. For next year, we already have a "study guide" that will cover the basics she'll need for the end-of-year test (thanks NYS requirments

) and then we'll do any other kind of math that interests her, if it interests her.

 

[Mommy&Will]

Funny - its been running thru my mind the past few days that I have decided that we are:

Uncategorically Homeschoolers.

 

[Callimom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zeldamomma I think that's where we are. We look like unschoolers, but I have goals for my kids that don't really mesh with US. But we like what we're doing. : ZM

This is us too.

 

[PGTlatte]

Yes, me !

I decided the term US means different things to different people. And unfortunately not everyone is nice about it when what it means to me is different than what it means to them.

I privately think of myself as a "moderate US" but just calling myself that can start arguments ! So, sheeeeeeeesh....

I like "relaxed eclectic".

There are absolutely no rules or written philosophies associated with it.

There is nobody who can tell me I'm not "really" a relaxed eclectic HSer, or that I've obviously misunderstood it, or that I shouldn't call myself that because I'm doing it wrong.

 

[Princess ConsuelaB]

Ummm...I thought I was just "lazy"