Unschooling

[Shrykull]

I just came across it today, and saw Cairber's thread on it was the only one.

But, this is insane. I thought even if you home school your child the government checks to see you are teaching them the essentials. I know someone who was home schooled, went to college and did very well. But, I didn't even think something like this was even legal, the option not to school at all!

Who seriously thinks this is a good idea, what if your child decides they don't like learning essential everyday skills in life like basic math and reading?!

[Superman]

Welcome to the world of fundamentalist shitheads.

[Junghalli]

I thought even if you home school your child the government checks to see you are teaching them the essentials.

I was homeschooled until the sixth grade and, at least in my state, there were no such checks. I still managed to do fairly well in public school, so my mom couldn't have done that bad a job, but quality control was pretty much nonexistant.

[Superman]

jung, what was her reasoning to homeschool you?

[Junghalli]

jung, what was her reasoning to homeschool you?

Basically, because she subscribed to the very negative stereotype of public schools bandied about by the media, and didn't want me in one. And she couldn't afford a private school.

Yes, I know it's dumb, what can I say...

[Cairber]

Unschooling is gaining in popularity! I did some research on it when I was writing a paper on alternative schooling and more when I was curious as to what it was (and we were looking into alternative schools at the time). Now it's been addressed on CNN, Fox news, Dr Phil... Here are some articles on it:

MSNBC article

CNN article


I also read a book called The Unprocessed Child which argues in favor of unschooling.

Interestingly enough, this area of homeschooling is very non religious. There truly is no curriculm. They argue that the child will spontaneously want to learn and seek out knowledge. Examples they use are learning through gardening, learning about mechanics on road trips...etc...except this is 24/7. All day every day the child follows their own interests.

The parent's role is to provide materials and stimulation (they talk a lot about having a lot of books and access to libraries, a garden, tools, etc).

I believe, if I remember correctly, the whole "idea" was first written about by John Holt.

[Cairber]

Who seriously thinks this is a good idea, what if your child decides they don't like learning essential everyday skills in life like basic math and reading?!

From everything I have read and everyone I have talked to about this, it's all about this "trust" they talk about.

They claim we cannot fathom it because we have been jaded by school. We have to let go of that and trust our children. IF we do, they will basically show natural inclination to learn all of these things. And they will seek out the knowledge.




It's all BS. They also like to talk about how 'reachable' it is for every family, yet they seem to forget that all of these materials can be expensive, not everyone owns their own house, etc.

[Ariphaos]

I generally consider much of the traditional curriculum to be BS... but this is taking it a bit far. A child needs solid communication, mathematical and logical skills, at the very least.

[Superman]

I generally consider much of the traditional curriculum to be BS...

Like what?

[Guardsman Bass]

I thought even if you home school your child the government checks to see you are teaching them the essentials.

I was homeschooled until the sixth grade and, at least in my state, there were no such checks. I still managed to do fairly well in public school, so my mom couldn't have done that bad a job, but quality control was pretty much nonexistant.

That actually sounds like the case of a guy I knew and kept contact with up until about two years ago. He was home-schooled up until he was eleven, but according to him, his mom didn't do much other than teach him some basics; he spent most of the days digging large holes in his sandbox.

[wautd]

Hey, the future needs people flipping our hamburgers and cleaning our toilets too youknow

[Junghalli]

That actually sounds like the case of a guy I knew and kept contact with up until about two years ago. He was home-schooled up until he was eleven, but according to him, his mom didn't do much other than teach him some basics; he spent most of the days digging large holes in his sandbox.

That's pretty similar to what happened in my case. I only remember having a couple of hours of instruction each day.

[Ariphaos]

Like what?

Nearly everything.

It's not necessarily the subjects themselves, but, from my sister: "We're not supposed to be learning long division yet."

As in, the teachers actually penalize students who use more advanced problem solving methods. It's insane.

My sister also had to do fractions in a really weird way too, I don't remember how.

[Hillary]

They may not be religious, but they sure argue like they are

They claim we cannot fathom it because we have been jaded by school.

This really isn't much different from "You don't understand because you have been lied to by the devil"

This is the first time I've ever heard of this - it's bloody terrifying.

[Cairber]

Apparently there is a period of time, if you happen to take your child from traditional school and want to change to unschooling, where the child must go through "de-schooling." This process could take up to a few months, and you are just suppose to basically accept that all they might want to do in that time is watch TV. You just have to let them "do what they want" without worrying. That's how you begin to build up the 'trust' necessary to continue and how the child is able to be deprogrammed.

[Davis 51]

Apparently there is a period of time, if you happen to take your child from traditional school and want to change to unschooling, where the child must go through "de-schooling." This process could take up to a few months, and you are just suppose to basically accept that all they might want to do in that time is watch TV. You just have to let them "do what they want" without worrying. That's how you begin to build up the 'trust' necessary to continue and how the child is able to be deprogrammed.

Does the law not state that if a child is not in a public or private school, he/she must be receiving some form of homeschooling? I'm pretty sure letting your child do what he wants (i.e. plop himself in front of a TV for 8 hours a day) would not be considered a valid form of education. I'm not too familiar with education laws, but something inside me tells me that if this is not already illegal, it damn well should be.

[Cairber]

It varies by state. Some have no requirements (not even notification). Some require portfolios and testing. See this map for more details on which states require what:

map

[Hillary]

Apparently there is a period of time, if you happen to take your child from traditional school and want to change to unschooling, where the child must go through "de-schooling." This process could take up to a few months, and you are just suppose to basically accept that all they might want to do in that time is watch TV. You just have to let them "do what they want" without worrying. That's how you begin to build up the 'trust' necessary to continue and how the child is able to be deprogrammed.

My brain hurts. This is sooooo unbelievably moronic. Of course, the TV has absolutely no effect on children at all. It's only the nasty teachers that influence children's thinking.

[Junghalli]

You just have to let them "do what they want" without worrying. That's how you begin to build up the 'trust' necessary to continue and how the child is able to be deprogrammed.

The trouble with that idea is that children, like human beings in general, tend to be lazy. Let them do whatever they want and most of them are likely to just goof off most of the time.

Unschooling is sort of like Communism or Anarchism. It can work in theory, but human nature can be relied upon to usually turn it into a disaster.

[Duckie]

Unschooling sound exactly like what it is- lack of schooling.

For smart people who are mostly constrained by the system rather than learning from it, this can be a boon. For instance, I or other people who would actually enjoy it would not be wasting my time in bullshit classes when I could buy a few grammar texts and a good math book and be spending 4 hours a day learning 3 languages and an hour to puzzle over Calculus. That is, assuming I weren't too lazy to actually do so and played video games for hours.

The 90% or so people lacking such curiosity and drive, perhaps including me, wouldn't benefit at all.

[Einhander Sn0m4n]

Oh barf, unschooling doesn't work. Case in point: me. I tend to look at pretty pictures of hypersonic airplanes to see what works and what doesn't, but I don't know one iota of the calculus or Navier-Stokes equations (much less how to work a CFD application) required to actually design something whose curves fit a mathematical equation. Nor do I know about 'real' drafting (computer-aided or no), or about engineering a design that fits materials and economic constraints.

I'm somewhat sure my designs may actually fly, but I wouldn't bet my life on it!

Another thing: while researching random shit on Google or Wikipedia is my idea of shitloads of fun, and I may absorb knowledge like a sponge, it does NOT teach me a thing about application of the knowledge gained! Therefore, unschooling fails.

[Battlehymn Republic]

There truly is no curriculm. They argue that the child will spontaneously want to learn and seek out knowledge.

Sounds a lot like the free-wheeling philosophy behind standards-based math and open classrooms.