Jump to content

Menu

Unschooling


Recommended Posts

I know many of you lean more classical, but I’m beginning to think about unschooling/child-led for some or all of my kids.  I’m still early in the process of reading that I’m not sure if I completely understand how it works but from what I do know it could work beautifully for a couple of my kids. So I’d appreciate any insight, what others are doing, etc. 

Im particularly interested in hearing about it and learning to read, write and math as that’s what I can’t currently wrap my mind around.  And how it looks with multiple kids throughout the day. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, My4arrows said:

I know many of you lean more classical, but I’m beginning to think about unschooling/child-led for some or all of my kids.  I’m still early in the process of reading that I’m not sure if I completely understand how it works but from what I do know it could work beautifully for a couple of my kids. So I’d appreciate any insight, what others are doing, etc. 

Im particularly interested in hearing about it and learning to read, write and math as that’s what I can’t currently wrap my mind around.  And how it looks with multiple kids throughout the day. 

Why do you think that’d be preferable to a more classical education? And how do you visualize structuring this?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In a strict definition of unschooling/child-led learning, learning to read and write and do math would be done when the child asks for it. That means that some kids won't learn to do these things until they are much older than the traditional ages for learning these things. In a looser definition of unschooling/child-led learning, you would spend your day "strewing" things to pique your child's interest in learning to read and write and do math. You might introduce ideas or leave materials where your child would find them in hopes that they will bite and want to learn about it. In the loosest terms, unschooling/child-led learning is about listening to the child and catering their lessons around what they want and what they are ready for.

I have two children that I could almost say learned to read and write and do math by unschooling because I never directly taught them. They just absorbed the information from overhearing the lessons of their siblings. Both were the type of child that is very easy to homeschool because they love to learn for the thrill of learning. They always wanted to know more about everything. This is in stark contrast to some of their siblings who were "just the facts" types that don't find learning for the sake of learning all that thrilling. 

In my opinion, unschooling/child led learning works best in homes that already have an academic atmosphere. Where parents/care givers spend a lot of time connecting with the children over academic topics, watching documentaries and other educational television, read both for themselves and to the children from a variety of materials and have basically made lifelong learning a big part of their family culture.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

34 minutes ago, sweet2ndchance said:

In my opinion, unschooling/child led learning works best in homes that already have an academic atmosphere. Where parents/care givers spend a lot of time connecting with the children over academic topics, watching documentaries and other educational television, read both for themselves and to the children from a variety of materials and have basically made lifelong learning a big part of their family culture.

And this is very much is which is why I’m considering this approach.  We are very much doing educational things together in fun ways- trips to historical days nearby, discovering things together through our play, watching documentaries, lots of reading together and discussing. That’s just a natural part of our lives. My kids discovered a crayfish in our backyard earlier this year and decided to go to research on their own about it. We were reading about the universe and they went off and looked up more info on throngs they are interested in. 
 

I’m more cautious about the taking the enjoyment of writing (ie my kids write magazines, comics and books on their own, publish them for family and friends) and how to help guide them through those skills.  Perhaps I’m too anxious to try this approach since I want to make sure they have these skills needed (or at least I feel they need) even if they don’t feel the need.  Especially with a child who doesn’t want to be taught or done anything beyond the basic. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Not_a_Number said:

Why do you think that’d be preferable to a more classical education? And how do you visualize structuring this?

We are currently eclectic leaning more Charlotte mason of anything. 
I do see more joy in learning from my kids when it is purely interest led and self directed and less dread of schoolwork when we attempted a more classical education  I’m not sure if it’s more desirable but may work better for the rhythm of our family  

I already see my kids exploring their interests on their own through what they play, their library choices and what they talk about. I’m wondering if I should allow more of their education be like this especially as they grow older. I suppose we already do this for elementary are we explore interests through the books we read, take rabbit trials and learn skills. We also don’t do formal writing until older and they have explored that successfully on their own.  They have helped choose curriculum which they enjoy and topics they want to study but I still very much guide, Instruct as needed, assign and make sure they see things to completion. 
 

But I also know I have at least one who wouldn’t do much beyond history and trying to think how to structure this in a way that could work. So I’m not sure sure how of structure it and why I’m asking to get an idea of it would work.  

Edited by My4arrows
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, My4arrows said:

And this is very much is which is why I’m considering this approach.  We are very much doing educational things together in fun ways- trips to historical days nearby, discovering things together through our play, watching documentaries, lots of reading together and discussing. That’s just a natural part of our lives. My kids discovered a crayfish in our backyard earlier this year and decided to go to research on their own about it. We were reading about the universe and they went off and looked up more info on throngs they are interested in. 

I can tell you what we do, given that we're almost as unschooly as it gets on this forum 😉 . (And that's not very unschooly.) 

First of all, we basically unschool science and history. This is the first year we've even done reading aloud for them, and that's because I thought that'd be a fun bonding time. But we spend LOTS of time talking about things, and I buy them lots of fun things to read about the topics. Both my kiddos are avid readers, so that works very well for them. 

However... I don't unschool the fundamentals. I feel like my job is to give them the basics that will allow them to succeed later. That means we do math and language arts at structured times. I wanted to make sure they were strong at math, strong readers, and strong writers. 

That being said, we do a lot of interest-led stuff for math and writing. That works for me because I'm a mathematician who's also published some translated books and who's always been strong at essay writing. Those are pursuits I feel very comfortable with. I don't know if this would work in another situation. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not necessarily unschooling related. “Child led learning” makes me think “follow the child.” Which is really not unschooling, but Montessori. A main principle of Montessori is “freedom within limits.” Probably not what you’re looking for here. But I do think it’s possible to do Child led learning within a scope and sequencing. 

 

Edited by AnneGG
  • Like 3
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We are former unschoolers who were part of a large group of unschooling families. It was delightful when the children were young -- lots of nature play, field trips, cozy afternoons cuddled up with picture books.

It felt like a perfect balance until my oldest was about 7 or 8. I looked ahead and saw that many (perhaps most) of the older unschooled kids were not reading at 10 or 11 years old. Parents would try to organize activities like books clubs, or board game days, or even field trips, but in an effort to be entirely child-led, these events always devolved into free play. We'd try have a book club with a group of 3rd to 5th graders, and nobody could/would say a sentence about a book that was read to them, and then the kids would end up playing rather than participating. I felt like the kids could do so much more -- and enjoy it! -- with some guidance. 

As the group got older, it also seemed that around 7/8/9 there was a clear shift when the children replaced free play with video games. The image of wild and free unschooled children playing in nature, falling in love with living books, learning math through baking was picturesque to me -- the image of unschooled kids playing video games for hours was not.

We felt a pull to switch to more academic, classical homeschooling at this time (around 2nd/3rd grade). I still think a play-based education is perfect for young children up to about second grade, as long as it includes tons of fantastic read alouds, fun math games, and instruction in phonics and handwriting. We did all of those things, gently. Maybe we never were unschoolers at all (ha!).

I think you can absolutely homeschool classically while finding tons of time for students to pursue their own interests and take initiative over their own learning. These days, we are classical homeschoolers until lunch time. After lunch, we are unschoolers! 

We wake, do morning chores, meet at the breakfast table for memory work. Then the kids do math, grammar (or reading, on alternating days), and writing while we are still at the table. We take a short break, then meet up for read aloud time (I read from our literature and history books). We then do a science experiment, map work, or art together (alternating days), and my oldest works on Latin as well. After lunch, the kids have the afternoons to play, read, build. We don't do TV during the school week or video games at all. They practice instruments later in the day, and we read aloud again before bed. They play a lot in the afternoons -- outside, with each other, with neighbors once they're home from school. 

There are so many hours to pursue their individual interests. I have found that we all like to keep their interests separate from lessons. I used to try to build units around their interests, but they would get irritated, like I was putting work into what had been a joy. Now, I'll get any book from the library on their hobbies, talk about their interests for hours, or help them connect with people/resources to teach then more -- but I won't turn their interests into lessons. They have the freedom and ability to direct that part of their learning as they wish, with my support (but not my lead). It has been a very nice balance. 

  • Like 10
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, AnneGG said:

Not necessarily unschooling related. “Child led learning” makes me think “follow the child.” Which is really not unschooling, but Montessori. A main principle of Montessori is “freedom within limits.” Probably not what you’re looking for here. But I do think it’s possible to do Child led learning within a scope and sequencing.

Yes, exactly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you for all the thoughts.  The more I think about it, the more I'm realizing is I'd prefer child-led and it is already much of what we do. We aren't the types to throw all the curriculum away as I have a couple who request it.  There is still much we value is parts of a structured school morning and so I think I'll look into child-led more than unschooling.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 hours ago, valleyhillfamily said:

We are former unschoolers who were part of a large group of unschooling families. It was delightful when the children were young -- lots of nature play, field trips, cozy afternoons cuddled up with picture books.

It felt like a perfect balance until my oldest was about 7 or 8. I looked ahead and saw that many (perhaps most) of the older unschooled kids were not reading at 10 or 11 years old. Parents would try to organize activities like books clubs, or board game days, or even field trips, but in an effort to be entirely child-led, these events always devolved into free play. We'd try have a book club with a group of 3rd to 5th graders, and nobody could/would say a sentence about a book that was read to them, and then the kids would end up playing rather than participating. I felt like the kids could do so much more -- and enjoy it! -- with some guidance. 

As the group got older, it also seemed that around 7/8/9 there was a clear shift when the children replaced free play with video games. The image of wild and free unschooled children playing in nature, falling in love with living books, learning math through baking was picturesque to me -- the image of unschooled kids playing video games for hours was not.

We felt a pull to switch to more academic, classical homeschooling at this time (around 2nd/3rd grade). I still think a play-based education is perfect for young children up to about second grade, as long as it includes tons of fantastic read alouds, fun math games, and instruction in phonics and handwriting. We did all of those things, gently. Maybe we never were unschoolers at all (ha!).

I think you can absolutely homeschool classically while finding tons of time for students to pursue their own interests and take initiative over their own learning. These days, we are classical homeschoolers until lunch time. After lunch, we are unschoolers! 

We wake, do morning chores, meet at the breakfast table for memory work. Then the kids do math, grammar (or reading, on alternating days), and writing while we are still at the table. We take a short break, then meet up for read aloud time (I read from our literature and history books). We then do a science experiment, map work, or art together (alternating days), and my oldest works on Latin as well. After lunch, the kids have the afternoons to play, read, build. We don't do TV during the school week or video games at all. They practice instruments later in the day, and we read aloud again before bed. They play a lot in the afternoons -- outside, with each other, with neighbors once they're home from school. 

There are so many hours to pursue their individual interests. I have found that we all like to keep their interests separate from lessons. I used to try to build units around their interests, but they would get irritated, like I was putting work into what had been a joy. Now, I'll get any book from the library on their hobbies, talk about their interests for hours, or help them connect with people/resources to teach then more -- but I won't turn their interests into lessons. They have the freedom and ability to direct that part of their learning as they wish, with my support (but not my lead). It has been a very nice balance. 

This is very much what it currently looks like in our school day.  I was thinking of having the whole day look more like the second hald, but I do think there is value in instruction.  This is what I'm trying to sort through.  

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

@My4arrows I usually chime in on the unschooling threads. One of the best books I read to really understand the practicalities of it (including older children) is Lori Pickert's Project-Based Homeschooling (which isn't projects like school projects). It really gives you tools for helping kids take control of their own education. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would define myself more child-led than unschooling, though we’ve had periods where we fully unschooled. It has worked very well for my kid, who really enjoys and seeks out academic-type stuff but only when it is on her own terms. She has nearly full control over what she learns and how she learns it, but we have some boundaries that mean that choosing to do “nothing” isn’t a viable option.

When she was younger, I would choose one thing to require and usually changed it up every month or two so that I would rotate through some basics. Everything else was chosen by her, and I’d acquire materials for her to learn it and/or for me to teach it.

She has now hit middle grades (by age) and I’ve started requiring her to choose at least two core classes to commit to each school year, and to hit each of the core subjects at least twice over a four year period. She still gets most the choice over how to address those subjects, and she still fully chooses everything else.

She is aware that when she hits high school age, this will change in some ways. She fully expects to go to college someday, and she knows that certain requirements will need to be met. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I feel like a lot of good stuff has already been said, but I will chime in because I also was drawn to child-led for a while. I wanted our days to be "delight-driven" rather than curriculum-driven. But in the end, I had two major problems:

1. In order to extract true learning from an interest and not have it be shallow, you have to promote the child's interest; i.e., if they are into Japan you strew books, maps, some language resources, documentaries, etc. My kids pretty quickly started to notice me co-opting and "schoolifying" their interests and they would immediately hate that subject. This is why people talk about "strewing" and stealth learning - because you need to trick them into thinking it's their idea, but you also can't NOT strew/push or else their learning will be shallow. So it's this constant stealthy chase/ruin/back off routine. And to be honest, my kids' biggest interests went away and never came back. 

2. It's a lot of work for mom if done well. If you are literally able to get in all the math, geography, language arts, etc your kids need and make it interest-led too, it means you are working your booty off. 

I ended up just doing a light manageable "regular school for the basics" to cover the bases, and then provide lots of time and space and books and enrichment and instruments (many!) for that rich unschooly lifestyle, where they are always learning. My son thanked me for it the other day -- he said "Mom, look, I'm learning Hangul! But don't put it in my school. Then it won't be fun anymore." Lol. But YMMV. That was just my experience. 

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Unschooling success really depends on the kids and what their ultimate path is going to be.

Lots of good thoughts here

One thing I haven't seen mentioned here is that many kids really need the structure that a school day provides.

My kids do so much better in life if they have some sort of routine in place. Otherwise, they fight, feel out of sorts, and complain incessantly about life. They're just not good at figuring out what to do with themselves in long unstructured blocks of life. School provides that structure. We do take summers off, and about 2 months is all we can stand of unstructured life. 

I can provide that structure with chores and activities and such, but then that kind of defeats the purpose of the kids having big blocks of time in which they can pursue their interests, doesn't it?

  • Like 4
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, fairfarmhand said:

I can provide that structure with chores and activities and such, but then that kind of defeats the purpose of the kids having big blocks of time in which they can pursue their interests, doesn't it?

No.

Unschooling isn't just giving the children time to pursue their interests. Then we'd have, IDK, Lord of the Flies or something. 🙂 Unschooling is recognizing the fact that children learn all the time, even when it doesn't look anything like school. As parents, it is our responsibility to teach our children to be responsible and to participate in society by working and also your mother is not your servant (i.e., chores). We plan outside activities to provide exposure to things for enjoyment 🙂 and for the experience, and because who knows--that activity might be the thing that will reach deep into our children's souls and inspire them?

We unschooled. We also had a routine. They are not mutually exclusive.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Ellie said:

Unschooling is recognizing the fact that children learn all the time, even when it doesn't look anything like school.

I feel like lots of people recognize that fact without unschooling. I think my kiddo learns both when she does academics (that's when she learns academics) and when she doesn't (that's when she learns other stuff.) She learns a ton during her lessons -- for example, she learns math, and Russian, and how to play the piano, and how to write coherently. But she also learns a ton not during her lessons -- she reads to herself, and she plays with her sister, and she builds things, and she learns to do things around the house. 

I don't think recognizing that kids learn all the time necessarily leads to unschooling. 

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 hours ago, Not_a_Number said:

I feel like lots of people recognize that fact without unschooling. I think my kiddo learns both when she does academics (that's when she learns academics) and when she doesn't (that's when she learns other stuff.) She learns a ton during her lessons -- for example, she learns math, and Russian, and how to play the piano, and how to write coherently. But she also learns a ton not during her lessons -- she reads to herself, and she plays with her sister, and she builds things, and she learns to do things around the house. 

I don't think recognizing that kids learn all the time necessarily leads to unschooling. 

Well, ok. Whatever.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Not_a_Number said:

... not what I think of as a thoughtful, respectful response but like you say: ok. Whatever. 

I don't think that "respectful" needs to come into it, but I just thought we were talking in circles and there was no more point in discussing with you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, Ellie said:

I don't think that "respectful" needs to come into it, but I just thought we were talking in circles and there was no more point in discussing with you.

Well, you can take this as you wish, but yes, I do find it unpleasant when people shut down conversation in their response to my very first post on the subject. And there are more gracious ways to say "I don't think we're going to agree, so let's move on." 

Anyway, it doesn't matter much. That was my gut reaction, and it was a while ago. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...