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| UnSchool |
| Is it easier to unschool? Easier for whom? I suppose the fact that you don't have to adhere to a "school schedule" is somewhat easier, or more likely freeing. But I don't think that being an unschool mom is easier. It would be very easy for me to have the workbooks here, to know what to teach, to have a scale to "grade" my children so that I know that they are "learning" what they should, when they should. But instead I have to watch them, pick up on thier interests and help them find the answers they seek, provide opportunities for learning, and trust that they WILL learn. |
| At the moment of writing this my oldest child is not yet three. So I have very little experiene with child led learning. But he has shown great interest in things like letters and numbers, learning how to count to 10 by 18 mo., 20 by 2 (yes actually "counting" items) and know all of his ABC's by 2 1/2. I don't even remember teaching him these things. So I have already seen how his interests lead him to learn. His sister may be quite different and I will have to respect that. But so far things seem to be going great. |
| "It is, in fact, nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction have not yet entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry; for this delicate little plant, aside from stimulation, stands mainly in need of freedom; without this it goes to wreck and ruin without fail. It is a very grave mistake to think that the enjoyment of seeing and searching can be promoted by means of coercion and a sense of duty." Albert Einstein |
| "I never teach my pupils; I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn." Albert Einstein |
| "Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." William Butler Yeats |
| "Learning is not a product of teaching ... kids are born learning. They learn how to walk, how to talk. They're basically little scientists. If we don't stop that process, it will continue." Grace Llewellyn, author of The Teenage Liberation Handbook |
| "If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in." Rachel Carson, The Sense of Wonder |
| "Self-education is, I firmly believe, the only kind of education there is." Isaac Asimov |
| "I am beginning to suspect all elaborate and special systems of education. They seem to me to be built upon the supposition that every child is a kind of idiot who must be taught to think." Anne Sullivan |
| Unschool Links |
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| I know that term sounds funny . . . "unschool" . . . what exactly does that mean. Well basically it is "child led learning". It is based on the idea that children are born learners, they strive to learn, it comes naturally, and by forcing a child to learn by placing them in school, with strict rules and curriculum, you stifle their natural desire to learn. If we facilitate their own desires when it comes to learning, if we follow their lead and provide for them the means to learn, then they will love to learn and remember more of what they learn. Unschoolers are homeschoolers who do not use workbooks (unless the children choose to on their own) nor follow a curriculum. The world is their classroom, and I do not teach as much as I help them teach themselves. |
| John Holt - Growing Without Schooling Family Unschoolers Network Unschoolers Unlimited Unschooling.com Libritarian Unschooling Page Learn in Freedom |
| While I do believe that unschool is best (otherwise I would not be doing it) I will admit that it is not for everyone. I believe that *most* children WILL learn on their own if we provide them with resources, but I am also willing to admit that there may be that one rare exception where a child needs more structure. I also believe that for some parents unschool would never work, simply because the parents need more structure. I am sure for those families they can work something out where both the parents and the children can get the most out of homeschool. |
| Homeschool Links |
| Magazines (online and off) |
| Life Learning Magazine Home Education Magazine Homeschool World - practical homeschooling magazine Homeschooling Parent Homeschooling Today Home Education Family Times Homefires - online Homeschool Fun - online |
| Homeschool in VA |