Okay so I'm making up terms here. Recently i've been on a quest to learn more about unschooling. It has always intrigued me, and confused me, and interested me. Through reading various books on the subject I've come to the conclusion I couldn't possibly be an un-schooling parent 100% of the time. Though I think there are some very wonderful things about unschooling that I could (and will) adopt as part of my educational philosophy, there is no way I could drop everything and jump headlong into un-schooling.
The positive things I've learned about un-schooling, are that it's child led. This means so many things on so many levels. It could be that your child has a special interest in frogs, and you foster that interest the best you can through books, collecting tadpoles from a nearby pond, keeping records of the changes the tadpole goes through, etc. All the while your child is learning! I can so easily and happily apply this to my own style of teaching! My children have various interests and I love providing them with opportunities to take an interest and really get as much information until they are satisfied. Frogs don't have to be on the science list for you to do this! The best learning takes place when there are personal connections made between the learner and the content. Taking advantage of those interests is like doing half the work for twice the pay!
Learning is relaxed, not forced. Even studies show that when a student is forced to complete or "learn", the learning doesn't take place. The knowledge doesn't make an impact and therefore doesn't stay with the child. Children are allowed to learn concepts and knew knowledge at their own pace, not according to a chart or outline or "what your child should know by_____ grade". For me this means taking a seat sometimes and waiting for the concepts to sink in, the interest to flair and the facilitation door to be open. It doesn't mean I get stressed out if Jonah can't memorize his addition facts, or Ellie can't sound out the words! It means I take a deep breath, keep providing opportunities for learning without the pressure.
It's about drawing near to learning, not pushing away. There are so many kids that hate school by the time they get out of 1st grade! It's hard to make "lifelong learners" out of something that seems miserable! It doesn't mean everything has to be super exciting and fun. But learning should be a basic desire. If it's not there it's okay to take a break, not to push and tie the kid to the chair until he finishes his spelling! Maybe it does mean there is a different way to get him to learn spelling, through writing his own stories, or playing spelling games on the computer. It doesn't have to be the same worksheet/workbook every single time.
Un-schooling is about using the whole world as your classroom. This can be both easy and hard. It's about making real life connections with knowledge. Teaching Match concepts at the store, science on a hike, learning about your heart after a bike ride. It's about sharing knowledge as you take the journey! It's about making the most of every opportunity but not bogging down you children with endless lectures and speeches! It's about taking advantage of teachable moments when the conditions are right.
Un-schooling is providing resources for your child to learn through discovery and in their own way. I've seen Jonah teach himself both the add, subtract, divide and multiply with little help from me. I've seen Ellie take to reading and through providing her with the right books, games, etc. Children are natural learners if they are given the right opportunities!
What un-schooling is not:
It's not about letting your kids do nothing all day, leaving them never learn to read write or compute.
It's not about not caring what or when or how your kids learn.
It's not forcing your kids to do things they are not ready to, don't understand or have no interest in.
For my children and I, we are Hybrids, half-bloods, amalgams......call it what you want. I am learning along the way to step back, take it all in and listen to them. I am learning to quiet the voice that wants all the duckies to be in a row, to compare my children to others. I am learning to listen to their interests, to see them for who they are and how they learn, to help them with that. To stop when they have had too much, to keep going when they are interested. To try new things, change things up, re-do and start over. I can't quite jump into the unschooling waters, but I can surely paddle around in my little canoe!
Showing posts with label unschooling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label unschooling. Show all posts
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
A {LIFE} of Learning
Something I am discovering {and pondering } is the difference between school and learning. Education comes in many packages, homeschooling, unschooling, public schooling, private schooling, online schooling, charter schooling.....and then there are styles from Montessori, Waldorf, classical, traditional, progressive, eclectic....oh my I could go on.
The point is, there is learning involved. And creating a life of learning outside of what we call school, takes effort and intention. It requires an awareness to life and the world around us, how it interacts with all of the subject areas. It takes someone willing to incorporate learning into every possible moment, not just when the timer goes of and we "do school".
That isn't easy! It takes a creative and open mind to find ways to help our children explore and engage with the world. It takes extra energy and flexibility at times. But as you open yourself to learning during life and not just "school", finding opportunities to grow and expand are everywhere. Here are some examples I've found just in the last few days.....
Good:
J: "Mom what Time is it?"
Me: "It's 3:35"
It's great that you've asnwered your child's question, but can we make this a learning opportunity?? YOU BET!
Better:
Me: "What do you think kiddo, is it AM or PM?"
J: "I don't know."
Me: "AM in time is used when it's still morning, PM is used after lunch and into night time. Is it still morning or afternoon?"
J: "Well we ate lunch already so.....it's PM!"
Even Better:
You can go on to do a variety of things, if your child is still interested. Pushing learning past the point of interest doesn't actually get the results you want. But if your child is still engaged you can do a variety of different things. Ask them to find a digital and an analog clock around the house. Inquire about each of these. As about the numbers before the dots and after. What the hands of the clock mean. Count the numbers, count by fives. Your goal here is not to give a full lesson on telling time, but to connect something you have taught with real life.
I find my kids are very open in these times to gathering new information in a very relaxed way. And these opportunities are everywhere.
Recently Ellie and I took a trip to the Outdoor Garden center at our Walmart. We could have looked through the pretty flowers and went on our way. But instead we took time to look at different plants, we studied the flowering Eggplant plants and talked about how each flower would grow into an Eggplant. We looked at carnivorous Pitcher plants (yes they had some by the way!) and talked about how they ate bugs! And why! We looked at different seeds, talked about what they needed to grow. Read the backs of plant tags and talked about which plants needed a lot of sunlight and which needed less and why.
Yes, this took some time. And yes, my little girl is a talker so we could go on and on about plants. But we had a full lesson on horticulture right here in Walmart with no worksheets,fancy websites or crafts (all of which I love by the way) I simply took an opportunity to be with her, and talk and explore. And if we find questions I can't answer, we can extend learning to websites and book when we get home! We bought some seeds she picked out and took 5 minutes to plant them so we could watch them grow! There are so many ways you can continue to expand that one opportunity into a whole host of learning! Create a plant journal with drawings, observations, writing, measuring and science all rolled into one.
My point is, learning doesn't have to be during the hours of 9am to 12pm, it doesn't have to revolve around textbooks and workbooks and worksheets. It can grow out of the simplest times in life and really make an impact on your child! If you are willing to look for those opportunities and grab hold of them!
The point is, there is learning involved. And creating a life of learning outside of what we call school, takes effort and intention. It requires an awareness to life and the world around us, how it interacts with all of the subject areas. It takes someone willing to incorporate learning into every possible moment, not just when the timer goes of and we "do school".
That isn't easy! It takes a creative and open mind to find ways to help our children explore and engage with the world. It takes extra energy and flexibility at times. But as you open yourself to learning during life and not just "school", finding opportunities to grow and expand are everywhere. Here are some examples I've found just in the last few days.....
Good:
J: "Mom what Time is it?"
Me: "It's 3:35"
It's great that you've asnwered your child's question, but can we make this a learning opportunity?? YOU BET!
Better:
Me: "What do you think kiddo, is it AM or PM?"
J: "I don't know."
Me: "AM in time is used when it's still morning, PM is used after lunch and into night time. Is it still morning or afternoon?"
J: "Well we ate lunch already so.....it's PM!"
Even Better:
You can go on to do a variety of things, if your child is still interested. Pushing learning past the point of interest doesn't actually get the results you want. But if your child is still engaged you can do a variety of different things. Ask them to find a digital and an analog clock around the house. Inquire about each of these. As about the numbers before the dots and after. What the hands of the clock mean. Count the numbers, count by fives. Your goal here is not to give a full lesson on telling time, but to connect something you have taught with real life.
I find my kids are very open in these times to gathering new information in a very relaxed way. And these opportunities are everywhere.
Recently Ellie and I took a trip to the Outdoor Garden center at our Walmart. We could have looked through the pretty flowers and went on our way. But instead we took time to look at different plants, we studied the flowering Eggplant plants and talked about how each flower would grow into an Eggplant. We looked at carnivorous Pitcher plants (yes they had some by the way!) and talked about how they ate bugs! And why! We looked at different seeds, talked about what they needed to grow. Read the backs of plant tags and talked about which plants needed a lot of sunlight and which needed less and why.
Yes, this took some time. And yes, my little girl is a talker so we could go on and on about plants. But we had a full lesson on horticulture right here in Walmart with no worksheets,fancy websites or crafts (all of which I love by the way) I simply took an opportunity to be with her, and talk and explore. And if we find questions I can't answer, we can extend learning to websites and book when we get home! We bought some seeds she picked out and took 5 minutes to plant them so we could watch them grow! There are so many ways you can continue to expand that one opportunity into a whole host of learning! Create a plant journal with drawings, observations, writing, measuring and science all rolled into one.
My point is, learning doesn't have to be during the hours of 9am to 12pm, it doesn't have to revolve around textbooks and workbooks and worksheets. It can grow out of the simplest times in life and really make an impact on your child! If you are willing to look for those opportunities and grab hold of them!
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Unschooling {un}defined
Still here reading, pondering, searching......
and I came across this link to many many great articles on unschooling. SO here you go. Just bookmark it so you can come back to it. There is so much goodness you won't get to it all in one sitting!
I'm taking the kids to their class today on Dr. Suess Science....should be fun! It's only an hour long today so I don't even know what I'll have time to do with the other 2 kiddos! Ususally we stroll around Ala Moana and get a snack or have storytime in Boarders.....we'll have to find an adventure somewhere tomorrow!
My favorite definition of {unschooling} up until this point is this
A peace, a harmony and a love of learning that does not get squelched over time.
That is what I want for my kids. I want a life and a love of learning. Not just schooling and rote memorization of facts with no connection to them or their lives. I want learning to be their lives.....and I want to be a part of that.
and I came across this link to many many great articles on unschooling. SO here you go. Just bookmark it so you can come back to it. There is so much goodness you won't get to it all in one sitting!
I'm taking the kids to their class today on Dr. Suess Science....should be fun! It's only an hour long today so I don't even know what I'll have time to do with the other 2 kiddos! Ususally we stroll around Ala Moana and get a snack or have storytime in Boarders.....we'll have to find an adventure somewhere tomorrow!
My favorite definition of {unschooling} up until this point is this
A peace, a harmony and a love of learning that does not get squelched over time.
That is what I want for my kids. I want a life and a love of learning. Not just schooling and rote memorization of facts with no connection to them or their lives. I want learning to be their lives.....and I want to be a part of that.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Unschooling Experiment {Observation 1}
Okay so it wasn't planned as such, but I had a lot to do one Friday {affectionately names our Science-History-Art Day} and so I sat back and let the kids do what they wanted. The following is a list of learning and exploring on a day I did nothing to foster it, I only allowed it.
So learning and curiosity are there.....and they do have interests in learning even when I'm not forcing it on them......this is something interesting. Very interesting....
- The kids all watched some Brain Pop videos on animal Camoflage and Vincent Van Gogh. (science and art history)
- They wanted to paint, all of them experimented with color mixing, line and shapes. Ellie made a self portrait and a landscape and then some abstract art. Gracia did a self portrait that looked like abstract art. (art)
- Jonah played with his Batman computer, Math games dealing with addition, subtraction, division and multiplication (which we haven't even covered yet) (math)
- Jonah read a book on Greek Myths to the girls (history and reading)
- Ellie read some pages from her Hooked On Phonics book, only a page away from reading book 2 on her own! (reading)
- Ellie did some coloring and "map drawing", a little crafting as well. (fine motor skills/ geography)
- All the kids played outside trying to build traps and forts like Bear Grylls. (PE/engineering/life skills)
- Jonah and Ellie scoped out the Science experiment book and tried to make a soda can float like a submarine.(science)
- They had some social interaction with kids from Church (socializing)
- Worked on fine motor skills while coloring after a Bible lesson. (fine motor skills)
- Jonah read his Bible reader after lights out (reading)
So learning and curiosity are there.....and they do have interests in learning even when I'm not forcing it on them......this is something interesting. Very interesting....
Homeschool Mother's Journal - 1
In my life this week~
I struggled with motivation to get things done. Some weeks are just like that. It seems one week I'm superwoman and another....I'm just me! I read a lot of encouraging blogs and different aspects of Homeschooling which was inspiring!
Dave and I were able to attend a Marriage conference at our church which as also so encouraging and eye opening!
In my Homeschooling week~
I started doing a little research about unschooing and different educational philosophies, which at some point I will discuss further. I am very interested in the ideas behind some of these philosophies! I even did a little observation of my own and was honestly astounded at what I found! That is for tomorrow!
Places we are going and People we are seeing~
We are praying about a possible missions trip this summer to Wyumi. It's a missions camp in VA designed to give High Schoolers exposure to the missions field!
My favorite thing this week~
Was sitting in sessions with my husband at the marriage conference! And having conversations with people I normally don't get a chance to! (I'm a talker!) With a Momma's girl 9 month Old, I haven't been able to sit through many church services so I was blessed this weekend to be able to attend nearly ALL of them!!!!
Also we did a whole week on LOVE instead of just celebrating on Monday. We made heart shaped pink pancakes and sandwiches and talked about John 3:16 as well as 1 Corinthians 13....what a great week!
What's working/not working for us~
Our Friday schedule of doing Science.History.Art is the BOMB. We all look forward to Fridays for many reasons. It's a day of true exploration, it's a day to start us relaxing for the weekend! And the kids are learning so much on their own time and interests!
Homeschool thoughts/questions~
I am really looking into the idea of unschooling. I'm not sure at all where it will lead, but I love learning and this is an area I know little about! Requested about 100 books from the public library!
A video,link or quote~
I found this great article on Homeschooling, it's humorous but so true. I see so much truth in it as well!
Homeschooling Conversations
I struggled with motivation to get things done. Some weeks are just like that. It seems one week I'm superwoman and another....I'm just me! I read a lot of encouraging blogs and different aspects of Homeschooling which was inspiring!
Dave and I were able to attend a Marriage conference at our church which as also so encouraging and eye opening!
In my Homeschooling week~
I started doing a little research about unschooing and different educational philosophies, which at some point I will discuss further. I am very interested in the ideas behind some of these philosophies! I even did a little observation of my own and was honestly astounded at what I found! That is for tomorrow!
Places we are going and People we are seeing~
We are praying about a possible missions trip this summer to Wyumi. It's a missions camp in VA designed to give High Schoolers exposure to the missions field!
My favorite thing this week~
Was sitting in sessions with my husband at the marriage conference! And having conversations with people I normally don't get a chance to! (I'm a talker!) With a Momma's girl 9 month Old, I haven't been able to sit through many church services so I was blessed this weekend to be able to attend nearly ALL of them!!!!
Also we did a whole week on LOVE instead of just celebrating on Monday. We made heart shaped pink pancakes and sandwiches and talked about John 3:16 as well as 1 Corinthians 13....what a great week!
What's working/not working for us~
Our Friday schedule of doing Science.History.Art is the BOMB. We all look forward to Fridays for many reasons. It's a day of true exploration, it's a day to start us relaxing for the weekend! And the kids are learning so much on their own time and interests!
Homeschool thoughts/questions~
I am really looking into the idea of unschooling. I'm not sure at all where it will lead, but I love learning and this is an area I know little about! Requested about 100 books from the public library!
A video,link or quote~
I found this great article on Homeschooling, it's humorous but so true. I see so much truth in it as well!
Homeschooling Conversations
Friday, February 18, 2011
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