A place for friends to meet... with reflections on politics, history, art, music, books, morals, manners, and matters of faith.
A blog by Elena Maria Vidal.
I admire the principles of the unschooling movement. I think it sounds really neat, and I would have loved to learn that way. High school was sort of unschool-ish for me. However, I've seen a lot of things in unschooling families which I do not like. I've seen fourteen year olds who cannot read and sixteen year olds who need to use a pencil and paper when making change for small amounts of money, under $10. Then I've seen people who graduated cum laude from college and are highly successful adults. I think that if you have a child who is very curious and motivated to learn, unschooling works very well, but with some children, it cannot be relied on, because the child simply does not have any desire to learn.
I've seen all kinds of things, too, Emily. Thanks for offering your balanced assessment. It's not for every family or every child. And circumstances can change and adjustments have to be made~what works at certain times may not work at other times....
I agree. Unschooling is not for every child, and would not work at all for my two children. It's been years, but some of the message boards for radical homeschoolers can be a bit rough, lots of bullying for their way of thought. It's been my experience that there is a religious fervor for this homeschooling approach among some.
The point of homeschooling is to customize your approach to the child, and to your family values. I researched and dabbled with many different approaches until I hit on one that worked for us. I steer clear of anyone proposes there is only one way to school. God made us with differing gifts and abilities. Some of us thrive with more structure and tradition.
"The point of homeschooling is to customize your approach to the child, and to your family values. I researched and dabbled with many different approaches until I hit on one that worked for us. I steer clear of anyone proposes there is only one way to school. God made us with differing gifts and abilities. Some of us thrive with more structure and tradition."
You are so right, Alexandra. And I could write a book about odd experiences with overzealous homeschoolers. I actually stay clear of the local Catholic homeschool group just as I would stay clear of the plague. The gossip and intimidation that I experienced is as bad as anything anyone would experience in a badly run brick-and-mortar school.
A superior teacher in a contemporary school setting will use many of these techniques when she/he is trying to convey information to the child. It is just part of good teaching, but is sadly lacking in the average classroom.
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I admire the principles of the unschooling movement. I think it sounds really neat, and I would have loved to learn that way. High school was sort of unschool-ish for me. However, I've seen a lot of things in unschooling families which I do not like. I've seen fourteen year olds who cannot read and sixteen year olds who need to use a pencil and paper when making change for small amounts of money, under $10. Then I've seen people who graduated cum laude from college and are highly successful adults. I think that if you have a child who is very curious and motivated to learn, unschooling works very well, but with some children, it cannot be relied on, because the child simply does not have any desire to learn.
ReplyDeleteI've seen all kinds of things, too, Emily. Thanks for offering your balanced assessment. It's not for every family or every child. And circumstances can change and adjustments have to be made~what works at certain times may not work at other times....
ReplyDeleteI agree. Unschooling is not for every child, and would not work at all for my two children. It's been years, but some of the message boards for radical homeschoolers can be a bit rough, lots of bullying for their way of thought. It's been my experience that there is a religious fervor for this homeschooling approach among some.
ReplyDeleteThe point of homeschooling is to customize your approach to the child, and to your family values. I researched and dabbled with many different approaches until I hit on one that worked for us. I steer clear of anyone proposes there is only one way to school. God made us with differing gifts and abilities. Some of us thrive with more structure and tradition.
"The point of homeschooling is to customize your approach to the child, and to your family values. I researched and dabbled with many different approaches until I hit on one that worked for us. I steer clear of anyone proposes there is only one way to school. God made us with differing gifts and abilities. Some of us thrive with more structure and tradition."
ReplyDeleteYou are so right, Alexandra. And I could write a book about odd experiences with overzealous homeschoolers. I actually stay clear of the local Catholic homeschool group just as I would stay clear of the plague. The gossip and intimidation that I experienced is as bad as anything anyone would experience in a badly run brick-and-mortar school.
A superior teacher in a contemporary school setting will use many of these techniques when she/he is trying to convey information to the child. It is just part of good teaching, but is sadly lacking in the average classroom.
ReplyDelete