micheller1 Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 Hi everyone! Thank you for the many kind comments you made about the segment about unschooling on the Today Show this morning. I'm thrilled to hear that so many of you were happy with how homeschooling and unschooling were represented. I'm Dr. Robyn Silverman-- the one who was interviewed on the segment. I see some of you are having trouble viewing the video so I thought I would post it here along with some of my notes. http://goo.gl/241YT As no type of education is perfect for all children, there are benefits and drawbacks to all forms. I think it's about finding the right match for every family and every child. I've worked with some children who have been unschooled, homeschooled, and traditionally schooled and have seen what worked and didn't work for each of them. There is no perfect recipe but it's good to know that people have choices. A combination of learning opportunities may be the answer for many children out there. Enjoy the segment and thanks again for your kind words. They mean a great deal to me as a Child Development Specialist and as a mom! Dr. Robyn I appreciate your comments and your value of the opinions of the wonderful homeschoolers of the Hive :) But if I had to walk away from the episode and say do I think the people involved in the interview supported homeschooling (besides the family who homeschools), I would have said no. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy22alyns Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 (edited) I didn't get to the see the segment. I'm glad it went well. I just wanted to say that I'm so tired of the media only showing unschoolers. Viewers see that and think ALL homeschoolers unschool. And since unschooling is soooo different from the norm, they make their snap judgements and end up being against homeschooling more than ever. The media picks out the one type of homeschooling that'll confuse most of their viewers just to get reactions to their "reporting." :iagree: The older girl is very well-spoken, but it seemed like there was a heavy dose of skepticism from the "experts." How will these kids ever be judged and compared? Gosh, why DO kids need to be judged and compared? :glare: ETA: Thanks for stopping by, Dr. Robyn! Edited October 14, 2011 by Mommy22alyns Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warneral Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 I thought it was pretty balanced and fair. I'd LOVE to see a classical homeschooler featured in a future segment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nd293 Posted October 15, 2011 Share Posted October 15, 2011 (edited) I happened to catch this interview on TV in Australia this morning - quite a coincidence, as I never even knew that we got the Today show here. I thought that Ms Silverman offered a very balanced perspective. Certainly, the usual things came up (tests! socialisation!), but I didn't walk away from the interview thinking that either homeschooling or unschooling was a bad idea. Did I think that Dr Silverman homeschooled or unschooled? No. I would say, though, that she thought unschooling was a valid option within certain parameters. In terms of presenting unschooling to the non-homeschooling population, that's probably the most convincing position to take. ETA: It really annoys me, though, that they assume that non unschooling homeschoolers are automatically steeped in tests and lesson plans. We're classical-ish, and lesson plans, such as they exist, are fluid, and tests do not happen at all. Edited October 15, 2011 by nd293 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest DrRobyn Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 Thanks for the blog link! You're so welcome! I'd love to encourage all of you to take a look at the comments made on the blog post too-- there are about 25 of them-- one of them being from the family interviewed in the segment (The Bentleys). It's these kinds of conversations that I think are vital so that everyone learns, grows and gets an honest opinion out there. I've learned so much from getting the chance to converse with you and many other families after the segment. Thank you so much! Comments are on the bottom of the post-- both from people's FB accounts and from the blog itself. http://goo.gl/241YT Additional comments about this topic are on my FB page, if people are curious, at http://www.Facebook.com/DrRobynSilverman Let's keep talking, growing and learning from one another! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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