sharonia628 on wed 15 jun 11
The Npr segment I was speaking about can be read here:
www.npr.org/2011/06/06/137009154/unschooled-how-one-kid-is-grateful-he-stay=
ed-home
or you can google npr and search for "unschooled". The segment aired 6 June=
.
I have known and taught kids who were home schooled. They were invariably
intelligent, motivated and well educated, and well rounded. They studied al=
l
the usual subjects and more, and were regularly evaluated in some way or
other. This ("unschooled") sounds vastly different to me.
Speaking as a music teacher, I know some subjects need to be introduced at
early ages when children's minds are malleable and receptive - many subject=
s
actually, not just music. It's often watchful parents who can see
indications of talent and get their kids into preschool classes and
instrumental instruction (and who likely understand that they aren't going
to be able to teach them. )
I don't understand the idea that one can let a child "discover" what he
needs to know and when. I can tell you I would never have "discovered" math=
,
no matter how much I wanted an allowance or to buy something.
Whatever happened to adults guiding and opening their children's minds to
the world, offering a variety of subjects and experiences, teaching
discipline and work habits. How can you let a child wait until he decides h=
e
needs to learn to read at age 10? Of course maybe he can "catch up", but
isn't he missing a big part of a wonderful world?
I'm quite aware of the problems of the school system, I thought a lot about
home schooling our children, their experience in public schools was not
great. This, though, sounds to me like just abandoning all responsibility,
quite unfair to the kid, imo.
This kid's mother said:
"When you force someone to do something, especially when they're a child an=
d
there's an imbalance and a power relationship anyway, they lose part of
their will and their confidence that they know what's right for them," she
says. "And I think that's a pretty high cost for being a good speller."
How do you expect a child to know what is right for themselves and what the
world of education has to offer? What kind of confidence do they get from
NOT knowing how to read or spell when their peers do? Maybe there are high
costs to unschooling as well.
Sharon
--
Sharon La Rocca Miranda
www.sharonmiranda.com
David Hendley on wed 15 jun 11
All I can tell you Sharon, from experience, is you are just plain wrong
about unschooling.
When my unschooled daughter decided she wanted to learn to read at
age 8, she pretty much learned it in one week, on her own.
ONE WEEK.
Compare that to agonizing, boring, spirit-killing drills that we subject
small children to "to give them a head-start". Just think of all that extra
time
she enjoyed, with time to play, learn other things, and interact with
others.
Twenty years later, she is still an avid reader.
Compare that to myself, a casualty of a 'normal' public school education:
It took me to about, I'd say, to age 40, to get over my hatred of reading
and actually to read because I wanted to. All thanks to the despised hours
I was forced to sit and read before I was ready or interested.
There is quite a bit of scientific evidence that children's brains are not
even ready to start reading until age 8 or older.
How about music? I was forced to take piano lessons at age 6 or 7.
I hated it as much as I hated reading. The truth is, most 6-year-old boys
don't want to sit still to read or play the piano.
A few years later, when I wanted to learn to play the guitar, I taught
myself, loved it, and it became my primary hobby and source of a
sense of identity through high school. I still perform professionally
(for payment) today, and have never had a lesson in my life. Thank
goodness I was able to get over the lame, hated, too-young piano
lessons.
Unschooling is not about abandoning responsibility. It is a gift that gives
a child time for real, honest, true learning instead of wasting their time
with rote "learning" that they will forget at the first opportunity.
Children do not want to be ignorant. They will learn, really learn, when
they are ready. They really do know what is right for them, and when -
one size does not fit all.
David Hendley
david@farmpots.com
http://www.farmpots.com
http://www.thewahooligans.com
----- Original Message -----
> The Npr segment I was speaking about can be read here:
>
> www.npr.org/2011/06/06/137009154/unschooled-how-one-kid-is-grateful-he-st=
ayed-home
> or you can google npr and search for "unschooled". The segment aired 6
> June.
>
> I have known and taught kids who were home schooled. They were invariably
> intelligent, motivated and well educated, and well rounded. They studied
> all
> the usual subjects and more, and were regularly evaluated in some way or
> other. This ("unschooled") sounds vastly different to me.
>
> Speaking as a music teacher, I know some subjects need to be introduced a=
t
> early ages when children's minds are malleable and receptive - many
> subjects
> actually, not just music. It's often watchful parents who can see
> indications of talent and get their kids into preschool classes and
> instrumental instruction (and who likely understand that they aren't goin=
g
> to be able to teach them. )
>
> I don't understand the idea that one can let a child "discover" what he
> needs to know and when. I can tell you I would never have "discovered"
> math,
> no matter how much I wanted an allowance or to buy something.
> Whatever happened to adults guiding and opening their children's minds to
> the world, offering a variety of subjects and experiences, teaching
Kelly Savino on thu 16 jun 11
My three were unschooled in the primary grades.
It meant we didn't believe there was one official food pyramid of learning,=
where we fed them the premeasured, predigested bits of this subject and th=
at. Babies WANT to learn to grasp with their hands, stand, walk, hold a spo=
on. They don't need to be bribed with gold stars or taught those things -- =
they see us do it, want to do it, work hard until they can and are full of =
joy at their successes. Some do it sooner, some later, but as adults we pre=
tty much can all walk, talk and use the big potty, regardless of what age w=
e started.
A child's curiosity and drive are precious things, and there is no need to =
divert them into something they do on schedule, or for adults.
We kinda forgot to send our little ones to school. Instead we turned them l=
oose in a rich world full of old people and babies, real jobs and different=
cultures, camping trips and historic reenactments, fossils parks, zoos, aq=
uariums, concerts, scout troops, robotics teams, fencing, archery, science =
and history museums, caves and rafting rivers, renfaires, DC trips, communi=
ty service organizations like the urban gardens project, plays, homeschool =
co-ops and park days, contra dances, swim lessons, cooking classes, riding =
lessons, kindermusik, piano, saxophone, clarinet, weekly library trips, UU =
sunday school and whatever summer camps they chose to pursue.
Our house is full of books and books, microscope, telescope, maps, fishing =
gear, electronics, computers, documentaries, pets, aquaria, musical instrum=
ents, homemade hallway timelines charting the age of the planet, the fall o=
f Rome and the last hundred years. There's a map of the moon, a big globe, =
mobiles of space shuttles and the solar system. They helped us frame in an =
addition, care for small children, deliver meals to the elderly, test soil =
and plant a garden. They know how to cook, do laundry, care for animals, kn=
it, throw, catch and clean a fish, preserve the harvest, butcher out and se=
al venison, light and tend a fire, and use a compass.
In the real world subjects overlap. History and art and science and math al=
l happened and evolved together and can be learned that way, in context. Yo=
u can't build a back yard trebuchet without geometry, physics, history, car=
pentry and budgeting.) When you clean fish with grandpa and want to know wh=
at the guts are for, mom will google and print and you can teach each other=
anatomy. Life happens.
None of this is curriculum. There were no tests, no grades, none of the mea=
suring-tracking-crowd control measures we have to use in a classroom. (Yes,=
I was/am a teacher -- many unschoolers are.) We tested one year out of cur=
iosity using a national placement test, and all three unschoolers tested at=
double their grade level (ie: 6th grader scored in the 12th grade range.) =
It was reassuring, but we take no credit for their accomplishments.
In later grades we added Singapore math and Rosetta Stone Spanish, in case =
they chose school at some point (it was always up to them.) As teens, my bo=
ys chose school, for that fine academic reason, "to meet more girls". They =
are thriving at a quirky, highly rated downtown charter school for the arts=
. One is a thespian, one is a musician, and they have friends and dates and=
overscheduled lives just like any teen. They have a better sense of who th=
ey are and where they came from than I did at that age. When Jeff lost his =
job in 08 my littlest started at a small Montessori where I lead a girl sco=
ut troop, and is thriving there as well.
They have an unexpected advantage when they meet new academic material: the=
y know how to learn it, and approach it with confidence. they don't see edu=
cation as something that is done to them, but as something they do for them=
selves. Kids in the information age don't need to memorize facts, they need=
to know the right questions to ask and need the critical thinking skills t=
o sort the answers.
Yours
Kelly in Ohio... just home from four days at a michigan lake camping with m=
y girl scouts, who kayak-stalked and photographed nesting sandhill cranes, =
built and cooked on campfires, journalled, tied knots, hiked miles, and ear=
ned badges. Jeff and the boys are out of cell range for 2 weeks in Philmont=
, NM, hiking 70 miles at the boy scout reservation.
Life is short, but it's wide...
http://www.primalpotter.com
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