Unschooling, Homeschooling, or Both
Which is Best for Your Family?
Unschooling uses the world as the classroom. Math lessons take place in supermarkets, gas stations, and movie theaters. Reading takes place in the library, the car, and anywhere there is a sign, menu, or pamphlet. Learning, while once confined to "age appropriate" texts is now ability and interest based instead.
Children will learn what they are interested in, and they will learn the subject by any means possible. If a child wants to learn about horses, but does not yet know how to read, he may take a beginners book that has easy to read text and teach himself how to read. That same child will teach himself, or find ways for his parents to educate him on everything he wants to know about the subject. Children tend to devour books and activities when it holds there interest. Unschooling allows children to lead the way.
Traditional homeschooling tends to use textbooks, workbooks, and other traditional teaching materials to educate the students. Some children do very well with this method, but others need to have their interest spiked to want to participate. When this occurs, Unschooling steps in, and the child learns.
A compromise between the two is also possible. A parent-teacher may let the child decide what they are going to learn about, and tailor the texts, workbooks, and other materials to that topic. An example of this would be a student wants to learn more about cooking. A parent can use a cookbook as a text, teaching the child reading, and arithmetic out of one "text." The parent can also create worksheets using recipes that are missing ingredients, or have the wrong measurements to reinforce what she has learned. If old enough, the student could also cook a complete dinner for the family as a lesson in home economics.
There are many reasons why people choose to homeschool, unschool or a combination of both. The majority of homeschoolers I have talked to homeschool for academic reasons. The parents were not happy with the way their children were learning (or not learning in some cases) and decided to homeschool. Religious beliefs and safety are also top reasons for parents to decide to homeschool or unschool their children.
The line between the homeschoolers and unschoolers is fading. Many families have found that a middle ground is the best way to go for their family. I feel that this is the best option for my family as well, at least in the beginning while we see how our boys learn, then decide from there how to approach their learning.
Published by T. Chiniewicz
33 year old mother of two boys and a girl. We homeschool, breastfeed, babywear, and when we needed it, we made our own babyfood. I enjoy reading, writing, crime dramas, action movie, and the occasional "ch... View profile
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6 Comments
Post a CommentThis year we are using Core KNowledge for our curriculum. I am using Teach your CHild to read in 100 easy lessons for reading, and a combination of math worksheets and hands on lessons for math. Some days we just "are" other days we "do school". IT kind of depends on what Z wants.
We do both. I insist on traditional reading work. I sometimes have them do math worksheets. Everything else is open to learning.
Thanks Amy!
I totally agree with you. I am still struggling with the decision myself. I am leaning more toward child-led parent directed. Right now my oldest (almost 5) is very interested in dinosaurs, so we do things using those. Counting, adding/subtracting (although this is still above his head), science, reading, history, etc. all rolled into one main theme.
Thank you for your comments.
My only concerns about unschooling are these: doing it properly and ensuring that your child has an adequate education. First of all, I could see some parents deciding to "unschool" simply to avoid doing any work for their child's education. I would expect that making sure your child has access to resources, etc. for unschooling could well be more work than simply homeschooling. Furthermore, the reality is that there are things your child may not WANT to learn, but that he or she MUST learn (an example would be simple math operations). In addition, there are some things a child may not be interested in simply because he or she is not aware that these topics exist. If you unschool, how does your child receive exposure to these topics? Just some things to think about.
I really loved this. It makes so much sense. Keep writing.