Yolanda Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 Anyone going more towards this route at this stage of the game? I'd love to hear what your plans are in doing this.Blake Boles has much to say on this subject, many inspiring podcasts, great links to keep one busy researching for days. His name is his site.he's written books like "college without high school" "better than high school", and my most recent fave podcast "the art of self directed learning". 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yolanda Posted July 8, 2015 Author Share Posted July 8, 2015 I'm not even sure if it's right/fair to post this question on a heavily directed learning style, classical :D but honestly I don't know where else to ask this where there are great thinkers and a board that actually has traffic.Where I'm coming from: I read/hear articles or podcasts like the ones on B. B. site, ideas of John Taylor Gatto, and of amazing young people like Laura Dekker and Celina Dill and my heart is at home. I think of school, tests, and daily grind of book work and I cringe. We've done h.s.ing the regular way for 7-8 years and we're both ready for something different and free, not in cost in being able to be creative. Anyone know what I'm talking about? I'd love to know your thoughts. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegs Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 Here's a conversation which might interest you: http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/537495-if-you-are-unschooly-so-from-2015-goals/ I'm looking forward to following the responses you receive on this here thread, also. :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 There are lots of homeschoolers whose homeschools are not school at home. Is that what you are thinking? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FriedClams Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 I agree with others that this is a great place where lots of differnet types meet up. We're not hard classical. We've used Sonlight the last couple of years. My kids are huge readers so it's a great fit for them. We follow the schedle but not the system exclusively - though it's the perfect starting point for us. Science and math I'm strict about daily routine. But, we also schedule so every Friday is light - allowing time for volunteer time, other activities, other interests. Our school days a generally done by 2-3, and no work after that, though we do school daily. The kids have ample free time for extra curricular activites, friends, exploring. We also travel a lot, and I schedule school times off so we can make the most of the trips we take. For my type A self it's about at relaxed as I can get. :laugh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.... Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 My oldest two kids are very much self-directed learners. I think they would be considered relaxed homeschoolers. My son (7th grader) will be doing about 2 hours of "school" each day this fall. The rest of the time is up to him. Right now, his day is usually filled with researching cars. He can look at any car and tell you the model, where it's built, the horsepower, how much it costs, how many days it takes to build that model, etc. Same with tanks. He sees a tank and can tell me what army uses that tank, what country it's built in, how many men fit inside, what wars that tank fought in... He did a bunch of science kits this year - a Knex Bridge-Building Kit, Thames & Kosmos Physics Pro (I had a wind tunnel in my kitchen for weeks - Lol). He also changed the oil on our lawnmower this spring (not bad for a 12 year-old). He's thinking about becoming a mechanical engineer. He is very - well - mechanical! :tongue_smilie: I have a thread about my daughter (13) in the classical unschoolers social group. I'm basically letting her do what she wants. She has been volunteering at a pit bull rescue for several months and has been teaching a class in the evening to preschoolers. For this fall, she chose what classes she wanted to take (like she asked to do Literary Lessons from Lord of the Rings). For most of the classes - like biology and history - I bought a "spine" and she is just filling in with projects/experiments she wants to do, books she wants to read, etc. Her goal is to be ready to take some college dual enrollment classes in about 2 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.... Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 but honestly I don't know where else to ask this where there are great thinkers and a board that actually has traffic. If you find a place, let us know! :001_unsure: I haven't seen anything. There is the classical unschoolers social group on this site. There are some great blogs out there, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yolanda Posted July 9, 2015 Author Share Posted July 9, 2015 8FTH: yes, in a nut shell. Not doing the same ol, same ol. Which to me is school at home. I've tried to figure out exactly what I'm trying to get to the heart of and it's difficult! There are many variables. Some are related to my daughter, some related to me. With her, it's that right now she is in a place of transition. Once adolescence fully hit she no longer had the interests that filled her time i.e. dolls, crafting etc. There isn't much that she's interested in so any 'self-directed learning' is going to be 'mom directed' for a while until she finds an interest. There are a few thin threads of interests so I'm doing what I can to find opportunities there. With me, I'm burnt out, I'm old :D (read menopause), and I'm having a hard time with the 'new' adolescent that lives in my house and calls herself my daughter. Yeah, don't we sound like a great bunch...one coming 'in' and the other going 'out'..... ACK! :D Not sure I needed to add in all that. I would just like to hear from anyone who is learning through living life. We aren't there yet as I've mentioned due to her not having deep interests in anything. Just the smell of something seeming like school is cause for rolling eyes and detached attitude. (I'm trying to stay balanced by not taking ALL the blame but......you know how that can go : / ) I have some ideas of classes to keep the creativity flowing, even if it's not in her direct scope of things. Just something new, interesting ( to me,anyway), and volunteer options. (We met this gal who is building a 'tiny house' not far from where we live. This might be a great opp. if the gal would welcome a newbie.) But I put all this out there so if someone else is living outside the curriculum box, I would love to hear what you do,for ideas and inspiration for me. I'm just not having fun anymore. She's not having fun anymore. No, it doesn't have to be a barrel of laughs 24/7; just take my word for it that we are at a definite crossroads. I feel like I need to shake things up and see where it all lands and start fresh. What that looks like and how long it's going to take, me no know :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted July 10, 2015 Share Posted July 10, 2015 We did a more classically influenced grammar stage with a four year history and science cycle. But we ditched it to do more interest-led learning for the logic stage. I'm glad we did the foundations of stuff - they have some basic conceptual knowledge across many subjects now and that has enabled them to make connections, ask questions, etc. We're not really just learning through life. I am still structuring things for them, we're pushing toward them doing more on their own and what I'm structuring is much more responsive to stuff they're interested in doing and learning about than before, when we were just happily following a path. Math is pretty unchanged though. There's a wide spectrum of what moving away from "school at home" might look like. But I think the logic stage is a good time to be more focused on helping a child hone their own interests and love of learning. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albeto. Posted July 10, 2015 Share Posted July 10, 2015 We're unschoolers here ("radical" if you want, ;-)). I'm not familiar with the podcasts you're mentioning, but have you read the Teenage Liberation Handbook? I think that offers a nice introduction to what learning outside conventional academic lessons can look like. I've written about my experiences a bit here, more at the secular homeschool forum, but I'm happy to talk more about our experiences. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted July 10, 2015 Share Posted July 10, 2015 I am not an unschooler by any stretch, but my kids do control a lot of their academics and what they study. By high school they are starting to "specialize" their courses to explore possible future interests for careers. Does she really have no interests? What does she do with her free time? Is there absolutely nothing she would like to learn? What does she see herself wanting to do in the future? Does she have a dream? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted July 10, 2015 Share Posted July 10, 2015 Here are a few threads you might enjoy reading: http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/359457-how-does-one-provide-a-classical-education-circe-institute-lovers/ http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/173293-interest-driven-education-and-real-tea-time/ http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/193372-the-breadth-vs-depth-question/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runningmom80 Posted July 10, 2015 Share Posted July 10, 2015 We're unschoolers here ("radical" if you want, ;-)). I'm not familiar with the podcasts you're mentioning, but have you read the Teenage Liberation Handbook? I think that offers a nice introduction to what learning outside conventional academic lessons can look like. I've written about my experiences a bit here, more at the secular homeschool forum, but I'm happy to talk more about our experiences. Thank you for the book rec! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yolanda Posted July 10, 2015 Author Share Posted July 10, 2015 I've read the Grace Llewellyn book and loved it. She does have interests but they aren't deep. Meaning it's not strong enough for her to go and check out blogs or books or even videos on it. Occasionally I bring home books that might interest her, she flips through them, and it ends there. Extra time is spent talking to friends, making videos for her blog but that's getting less and less, she's writing a story these days. As far as stories she writes goes, any comments from me, even very mild ones, can stop the desire to write. Funny you should ask those questions (8fth) about her dreams etc. I just asked her those and more yesterday while in the car. She had a hard time finding her answers. That was invaluable to me, to learn more about her and how she thinks. But she was open to me asking. She's not a depressed girl, not by any stretch. Loves her friends, likes walking with me, likes her animals, she is not a closed off person. I think she just doesn't know where her path is going or that she can make a path of her own. In fact, I don't think she thinks there is any issue....but as a mom I'm constantly looking weeks/months/years/ down the road. What is coming down the road that we need to address, prepare for, or just ponder about. What I want for her is going to take some effort on my part. Kind of like doing unit studies...yeah, it's fun and creative with a great possibility to gain much but it takes time to gather the supplies, order them, prep them, get the best price, maybe do one in advance to make sure it works etc. I want to find places where she can get real life learning but that is going to be with people I don't know yet. Got to figure out what I want then find out how to get there. It's definitely not the easy route but it's one worth the effort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted July 11, 2015 Share Posted July 11, 2015 But she clearly does have interests! She has a blog and makes videos and is writing! Those are all excellent pursuits. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yolanda Posted July 15, 2015 Author Share Posted July 15, 2015 Ever hear or read Alison McKee? She's written a blog post I really appreciate. In this post she does a great job of breaking down the concept of mentoring and how it happens so naturally. I was encouraged by her words. Nice to be reminded I've been on the right track. Amy Milstein has a neat blog. I can't wait to read more of it. She also joined Blake Boles on his podcast. Scroll down to the 5th podcast and there she is. But, if you have time, listen to all of them! They're very inspiring! And definitely check out Ken Robinson and Logan LaPlante They've been around a while but maybe someone reading this hasn't had the joy of being inspired by them. These are YT videos but Ken Robinson has written books that I've enjoyed as well. The Element and Out of Our Minds were two I would love to have for all the resources they contain in the index and end notes. These were just some of the inspirations for me on this journey so I thought I'd share them with others who might be on the journey as well. I could listen/read these often for a 'pick me up' whenever I need it! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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