To school or unschool

I am going to start homeschooling my 10 and 6 year old daughters this fall, I am trying to find a curriculum to teach. I like the idea of unschooling, but I am concerned that they will not be able to pass the required testing they still have to complete through the state. Maybe I just don't have enough knoweledge, when unschooling are you still sitting down to teach more specific things like synonyms, antonyms, or scientific method? I don't want my girls to be victims of the system, but I do want them to be intelligent in life. I want them to be able to choose college and not struggle. Any advice or clarification on this type of curriculum would be great. Thanks guys!

 

theres an excellent book about unschooling on amazon.com but i forget what its called. it got mixed reviews, most of the negative ones being about encouraging drug use and a lot of natural curiosity, natural patterns and a little more of a balanced life than a typical highshchool might offer them. it looked like a really good book, very unconventional. edit- and i see your chong quote now LOL so youll probably like it.

i think its a fantastic idea and concept since so much of our conditioning and the soul-killing weve recieved WAS at school and with others inside this commercial culture of ours i think. try googling it, im sure theres a lot of good information. if your really dedicated to it and you have the means(money, time, love), it will probably work out very nicely, though it might be a little late to condition some things out of them unfortunatley, even at the small age of 10. its hard to get young brains to look beyond themselves i think, and really understand a lot of the world or much anything we probably do at that stage. why would you want to though? their world is totally free of care and the only knowledge their concerned about(for the most part)) is how much play time they get during the day.

stick with it though, you can raise good people if you want to : )

 

Unschooling doesn't necessarily mean no books, or that the kids have to figure out everything for themselves. While i don't use a packaged curriculum or many textbooks, i still explain things, show them how something works, etc. What the kids do is lead me through their interests. I lead them with my wisdom, and my knowledge of what other kids their age are learning about. I think it's a good balance, and how unschooling "should" work. I want them to have an education that is suited for them, but also be able to understand what other kids are talking about. It's not always an easy balance to find, but that's the part the parents get to learn

 

Well, I have unschooled my children and they are "intelligent in life" and 2 of them have choosen college and graduated with honors!

I guess many people have the idea that unschooling means uneducating, and nothing could be further from the truth!! It makes me so sad to hear that people think this. The term unschooling means simply not to educate in the way schools do. You can unschool in a classroom, and many waldorf, montessori, and other alternative schools do just that! It is a mind set, a lifestyle, and a learner directed method of education.
I prefer the term self-directed education to unschooling for this very reason.

Anyway, you can choose to use a schooling method of education at home and I'm sure your children will benifit from it, but don't feel that by allowing them to direct thier own learning you are in any way stunting thier education, or preventing them from getting into college. As I said before, my sons went right from home where they had been unschooled, to college, one is still working on his bachlor degree and the other has his masters. My adult daughter continued to self educate (unschool) herself after marriage and having children. She is a birth doula and midwifery student, a yoga instructor and an amazing mother! My teenage daughter has been able to do amazing apprenticeship training that she would never have had the time to do if she were in school. She is planning to persue a buisness degree at the community college while continuing her apprenticeship as a dressage trainer and teacher. (mother's are allowed to brag, right?)

Just wanted to let you know that unschooled kids do grow up to be responsible, educated and intelligent people! It is all about protecting and encouraging that inate desire to learn.

Good luck to ya!

 

Congrats on your decision to homeschool! I don't know of the laws on HSing in CO, but here in NE its pretty lenient. If you go to http://www.worldbook.com/wc/browse?id=pa/tcs
and click on the grades you will be teaching, it will give you a basic idea of whats taught at what age and go from there. I don't follow a particular cirriculum, and thankfully we don't get tested by the state here so I'm able to put together my own cirriculum through library books and encyclopedia's etc.

Have fun with it! Its alot of work but so worth it in the long run! There's also plenty of support groups in your area for hs'ing parents, do a google search for your area, you'd be surprised!

Blessings,
Bee

 

While it is true that one can get a good education by being homeschooled, you seriously miss out on the social interaction of being in a school with other people your age. I would strongly recommend going to a school.

 

Well in my case Jabbaway, I live in a very rural area. My boys were going to a country school which consisted of 9 kids in total. My boys are 12, 12 and 10, the rest of the kids were Kindergardener's and first graders. My kids get their socializing through our family, friends and their children.

My boys were enrolled in mainstream elementary school a few years back, trust me, they're not missing out on a thing.

 

Who's to say that my children wouldn't get social interaction from outside recreation like soccer and dance? They also have plenty of friends in the neighborhood. We also have a local group of homeschooling families that sponser mini classes for children to learn things in a group and work together.

 

socialization in schools is not all it is cracked up to be. For the most part, kids that are socialized outside of school tend to get along better with people of all ages and are more excepting of people with differences from the socialization group. Afterall, when was the last time you were in a room with 30 people all the same age as you? I bet it was in highschool, or in the armed services. Outside of highschool and the milatary it just doesn't happen, which leads me to wonder what we are "socializing" them for?

 

There is already a thread on socialization. Do you guys think I should make this topic into its own folder? It seems to be popping up a lot.
Had

 

Socialization is intrinsic to the home education debate, it will always pop up in any discussion of home education vs. school/classroom education. If you make a seperate folder for it, it will still pop up in discussions. Just my experience.

Peace to you!

 

every time homeschooling comes up someone brings up the socialization issue. i just don't get how the 'socialization' in schools is seen as the only way kids can learn to be social. it's not a natural social environment... how does it help prepare kids for the 'real world'?

and besides that, it irritates me how 'school socialization' is always brought up because i distinctly remember being told a gazillion times while in school that 'you're not here to socialize, you're here to learn'. and when my daughter was in public school i had complaints from her teachers that she was 'too social (i guess that meant she talked too much?). she should be concentrating on her school work, not socializing.'

we're lucky in the sense that we live in a housing complex that is full of people of all ages. my kids 'socialize' with kids of different ages, abilities, and backgrounds every day. they've become more comfortable 'socializing' with adults. i think this will prepare them for the 'real world' better than being herded into a classroom of kids all the same age as they are. where the only adults in the room aren't there to share their experiences/ideas or socialize with the kids, but rather to keep the class on track with the set curriculum they have no choice but to teach.

-z

 

Real life socialization does seem to make for more well rounded adults and age segrated socialization, as found in schools, seems to make for more peer dependent teens. Both have advantages and disadvantages.

I wish you well with your choice of educational persuit. whichever path you choose, I'm sure you will find it to be a wonderful journey in learning for yourself, as well as your children.

peace
m

 

I have a good book called "Homeschool Your Child For Free". it has lots of sources where to find good curriculum to print out. One of them is www.freeworksheets.com I can't remember more off the top of my head right now! I've been homeschooling my daughter for a few months and she is doing pretty damn good. She just turned 5 this past June and is already reading! (Well, short words/phrases but its still something) Technically she would have barely been starting kindergarten this past week if she were in public school. I don't like to pressure her, but there's really no need to anyway. I think every child has the potential to be "really smart" if they are educated the best way for them. Anyway, if anyone needs or has any advice, comments, etc feel free to email me. As for curriculum, we use a mix of workbooks (purchasable @ Eraser Dust & even most grocery stores) and LOTS of internet sources whether print-outs or interactive websites for kids. My daughter is fond of sesamestreet.com We also use the LeapPad Learning System. And lots of fun hands-on learning games and such. Also, make sure to check the laws in your state www.hslda.org and it doesn't hurt to join a homeschool network in your area, you get teacher discounts on learning materials & your kids get to meet other homeschooled kids. Most of the families I have met are Christian, but they haven't discriminated or pushed anything on us. Mutual respect is good. In case anyone lives in Texas as we do, homeschooling is EASY here. Homeschools in Texas are considered private schools, and private schools are NOT regulated by the state of Texas...therefore you can teach by any means you see fit without getting "checked up" on all the time. There's no need to inform anyone, get anyone's "approval", you just start homeschooling. You do have to include "good citizenship" in your curriculum, however THAT can mean SO many things

hope this helped.

 

Yeah, I think so too.

 

Saving the Children by Ned Vare

It is sometimes said, by public school supporters, that if some children are taken out of the system to go to other schools, the public schools will deteriorate. And so, the thinking goes, parents have a "duty to society" to keep their kids in the public schools, even though they have already deteriorated almost beyond recognition. How absurd that the government schools think of the children as serving the schools' or society's needs instead of the other way around.

It's not the school system that needs saving, or even reforming. It's the children who need to escape from the failing government schools and be allowed to home school or attend successful private schools, without the penalty of paying twice -- once with taxes and again for tuition.

The real question is, do we want the best education we can get for our children, or do we merely want to maintain the government school monopoly, no matter how bad it gets or how much it costs? Contrary to the argument that's sometimes heard, saving some children from bad schools does not doom the rest of them; it simply saves some. And that is obviously better, by whatever means is available, than saving none. As long as schools are under the control of politicians and government bureaucrats, hand in hand with the teachers' unions, the education will not be "healthy" because politics kills education. Government incentives prevent the needed reforms and innovations. Think of all the instruction in government schools that's mandated by politicians because of pressure from various interest groups and campaign contributors. It takes up about half of every school day at the expense of what most parents expect from the schools -- core academics.

What's wrong is that the government is not a proper agency for education. It thrives on its own failure -- the worse it does, the more money politicians give it. While state-run schools fail at high cost, private parent-directed and funded schools succeed at half the per-student cost. The problem is that government schools do not seek the same things that parents seek for their children. Government wants compliant predictable citizens; parents want independent thinking creative individuals. The two goals are not compatible. Parents need the freedom to choose where their children will go to school, and that choice must include private and religious schools. No child should be forced to attend a bad school, and no one should be forced to pay ever-higher taxes to prop up a failing system.

Government is the problem in education, just as it is in other areas (medicine, welfare, etc.) and the private sector is the solution. State-run schools will not reform themselves, ever. Education, and the money that pays for it, needs to be put back into the hands of parents and removed from politics. Parents must have the right to spend their own money for the schooling they choose. End the failure. End the monopoly, End the corruption. End the blame game. Save the children.

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead

 

There are some good teachers out there in public schools, I know a few myself. It's not those teachers' fault educaton levels are dropping, they are just trying to make a difference in the world doing their job. I still remember some of the good teachers I had in public school, as well as the bad ones. But sometimes the best way to learn the that the system is corrupt is from the "inside"...with that said it's still hard to think about placing MY own child into it uneccessarily.

You made some very good points squawkers!

"No child should be forced to attend a bad school, and no one should be forced to pay ever-higher taxes to prop up a failing system."

"the worse it does, the more money politicians give it"

"Government wants compliant predictable citizens; parents want independent thinking creative individuals."

Just to state a few.


-iSiS

 

I came across a family of 5 children on Abe Yonders hippie farm in 99,living there for 3 mths.and again in 00 for 11 mths.daughters 5,10,12,13,and a son 7.Beautiful parents on the surface.As i came to know them,mom even though registered locally thru the school board to teach homeschool,was not herself qualified to teach,nor with earnest.Ga.requires children to attend till age 16,she quit at age 12,she also fasified attendance records.She led me to believe that parents who wish to homeschool their children,do so cause they are anti government,or do not wish governmental prying eyes into their private lives thru their school activities.The 10 yr.old could not even tell time on an analog watch.She quit teaching them when they got 12.As a result of her,i met with the local school superintendant to stiffen the rules/law,but was informed that it had to come from the Ga.House Of representatives in the form of laws.So i met with the speaker pro-tem of the house-Dubose Porter in 03 to get him to introduce legislation making parents more accountable for their teaching,and mandatory accounting by the local school boards of the parents.As our laws stood,the local superintendant could request documents,but the parents were not bound by law to turn them over.I do not know if my actions resulted in any changes in our ststem,but i am suspect of any parent who wishes to homeschool. borgpad@yahoo.com

 

odd that you would think it your responsibility to interfer to the extent of going to the officials and working to tighten the establishment rules. btw a 10 year old that can't tell time on an analog watch is not an oddity in the public schools!

 

When considering curriculum options for your daughters you'll find amazing resources on the Internet, but don't overlook your state department of education. They should have lots of free material that you can use and modify to fit your needs. Most states offer good support for folks that are homeschooling.

I hope your daughters thrive in whatever course you choose for them.