Thursday, July 13, 2006
unschooling is a lifestyle....
All things taken from a list....
It takes a tremendous amount of confidence to stand in the face of naysayers who believe that children have to be taught, or they won't learn. That children need to be controlled, or they will never be able to conduct themselves in a civilized manner. That they are lumps of clay waiting to be molded, or empty vessels waiting to be filled.
It takes guts to say, "Piffle," when people say that you need to be authoritarian and
controlling because it's for their own good.
If you're living with your children joyfully, helping them when they
need help, being their partners and providing a stimulating and
nurturing environment, then you're already making unschooling a
lifestyle. :)
You have the advantage of never having sent them to school, so no
school damage to undo. Cool.
Just keep reading, keep nurturing whatever things they're interested
in (which may be dirt or bugs or water or sand) and trust that they
are learning from living a happy life.
Unschooling IS a lifestyle. One in which we continue giving our
children the freedom to simply BE, throughout their lives, not just as
babies and toddlers.
Unschooling requires a LOT of parental involvement - really more than
"schooling" would involve, albeit a very different kind.
Far from "keeping your face out of their business," you need to be
very aware and alert to each individual child's interests and talents
and you need to be closely "in touch" with what is going on in their
inner and outer lives. Your job isn't to try "direct" or "control"
what they learn - but you still have a HUGE role to play. If you
think of unschooling as "parents hands off" then you're confusing it
with neglect.
In some families, there might be lengthy periods of time where
parents and kids are happily and busily "doing their own thing," but
EVEN then, the parents are responsible for making sure kids'
interests are supported and expanded on and that the children have
PLENTY of chances to investigate the world and their lives are
filled with opportunities of all kinds.
Seven kids are a lot of kids to keep up with even just in terms of
physical necessities. Unschooling requires also staying in touch with
their "inner lives" and doing what you can to enrich their
environments in ways that are specifically suited to each child.
I find that unschooling requires that I always have, in the back of
my mind, an awareness of each child's interests - what they express
interest in, what they've been interested in before, things they
might not have ever known about but I think they might be interested
in. Whatever I'm doing, wherever I might be, I'm always constantly
aware of what's around me in terms of what might interest the kids.
For those who are tempted to "school" - I'm thinking that it would be
useful, instead, to put that energy toward creating a more
interesting, swirling, rich, stimulating life filled with
opportunities to experience and enjoy more of the world.
It takes a tremendous amount of confidence to stand in the face of naysayers who believe that children have to be taught, or they won't learn. That children need to be controlled, or they will never be able to conduct themselves in a civilized manner. That they are lumps of clay waiting to be molded, or empty vessels waiting to be filled.
It takes guts to say, "Piffle," when people say that you need to be authoritarian and
controlling because it's for their own good.
If you're living with your children joyfully, helping them when they
need help, being their partners and providing a stimulating and
nurturing environment, then you're already making unschooling a
lifestyle. :)
You have the advantage of never having sent them to school, so no
school damage to undo. Cool.
Just keep reading, keep nurturing whatever things they're interested
in (which may be dirt or bugs or water or sand) and trust that they
are learning from living a happy life.
Unschooling IS a lifestyle. One in which we continue giving our
children the freedom to simply BE, throughout their lives, not just as
babies and toddlers.
Unschooling requires a LOT of parental involvement - really more than
"schooling" would involve, albeit a very different kind.
Far from "keeping your face out of their business," you need to be
very aware and alert to each individual child's interests and talents
and you need to be closely "in touch" with what is going on in their
inner and outer lives. Your job isn't to try "direct" or "control"
what they learn - but you still have a HUGE role to play. If you
think of unschooling as "parents hands off" then you're confusing it
with neglect.
In some families, there might be lengthy periods of time where
parents and kids are happily and busily "doing their own thing," but
EVEN then, the parents are responsible for making sure kids'
interests are supported and expanded on and that the children have
PLENTY of chances to investigate the world and their lives are
filled with opportunities of all kinds.
Seven kids are a lot of kids to keep up with even just in terms of
physical necessities. Unschooling requires also staying in touch with
their "inner lives" and doing what you can to enrich their
environments in ways that are specifically suited to each child.
I find that unschooling requires that I always have, in the back of
my mind, an awareness of each child's interests - what they express
interest in, what they've been interested in before, things they
might not have ever known about but I think they might be interested
in. Whatever I'm doing, wherever I might be, I'm always constantly
aware of what's around me in terms of what might interest the kids.
For those who are tempted to "school" - I'm thinking that it would be
useful, instead, to put that energy toward creating a more
interesting, swirling, rich, stimulating life filled with
opportunities to experience and enjoy more of the world.
# posted by Anne @ 10:21 AM 
