Welcome to the world of "unschooling" -- an educational movement where kids, not parents, not teachers, decide what they will learn that day.This is great... if you've got a Nailah. But, of course, your child is a Nailah? Right?
"I don't want to sound pompous, but I think I am learning a little bit more, because I can just do everything at my own pace," said Nailah Ellis, a 10-year-old from Marietta, Georgia, who has been unschooled for most of her life.
Nailah's day starts about 11 a.m., her typical wake-up time. She studies Chinese, reading, writing, piano and martial arts. But there's no set schedule. She works on what she wants, when she wants. She'll even watch some TV -- science documentaries are a favorite -- until her day comes to an end about 2 a.m.
An extension of home-schooling, "unschooling" is when parents give their children total freedom to learn and explore whatever they choose.
February 3, 2006
The "unschooling" movement.
CNN reports:
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
41 comments:
This is good because it prepares children for adult life where there are no "requirements," and you can do whatever you want and at your own pace. Oh. . .
This seems born out of the late 20th century idea that children really know best and just need room to blossom and grow more than they need guidance.
This is sort of a wild offshoot of the fundamental ideas of Montessori education, which allows children more freedom than conventional schools to learn for themselves rather than have knowledge thrust upon them. More freedom, but hardly total freedom as in this example.
I don't think there is any question that knowledge discovered by oneself sticks better, and can be used better, than knowledge forced upon one, though these are obviously questions of degree.
What kid wouldn't want this? It will help them get good jobs where they can do what they want, when they want at work, at their own speed of course. Lovely, lovely...
This is the dumbest thing I have ever heard.
You don't know squat when your 10 years old, and don't know much more by the time your 18.
I hated reading when I was 10. So I am glad someone forced me to do it.
I don't believe little Nailah--or, rather, what her parents told little Nailah to say. It reminds me of that potty-training story: another movement created to give certain parents a reason to feel superior.
What's next? "He's only twenty weeks old, but I'm teaching my fetus Spanish and tai chi..."
So I guess she'll grow up to be the piano player in a Chinese restaurant? If they allow her to stick to her own schedule, that is.
"There is nothing like the texture of kids having contact with each other, making friends and relating to different adults in a school setting," said David Tokofsky, a longtime educator and member of the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education.
That's more of a dig at homeschooling than at specifically unschooling.
One picky point: Tokofsky's quote regarding the "socialization" issue shows that he is lumping homeschooling and unschooling together, since it could apply to both forms. Generally speaking, though, I think the socialization objection is overstated, since whether that issue is one depends on a number of factors.
Here's a brief, overview FAQ on basic unschooling philosophy. Of particular interest might be the entry on "math" and the last entry on "structure."
I won't go into this at length here (and am supposed to be traveling this morning). But I will say I've looked rather deeply into the whole homeschool area, and it is not off the table regarding my own son, depending on how the next couple of years go.
Because my son is NOT Nialah, I would not "unschool" him in general, though there are key areas I'd consider it, when older, and there are subsets of areas I'd consider sooner.
I've researched this topic fairly heavily, btw, and first started doing so before I met my husband, much less had a child, much less THIS one.
This is nothing new. British educational theorist A.S. Neill did this on an institutional level with his Summerhill School back in the 1960s.
Rousseau must be laughing at us from the grave:
"You mean they still think I was serious?"
Generally speaking, though, I think the socialization objection is overstated, since whether that issue is one depends on a number of factors.
I agree. That's why I didn't like that quote from Tokofsky. I'm more a fan of the idea of classical education (or at least the more secular subset of it) than unschooling education.
Scott, that makes sense. It seems like a 1960's-ish thing.
"unwork"
That made me laugh out loud. I'm going to go tell my boss that I'm on the "unworking" plan now. I'm supposed to be launching a new website, updating some ad campaigns, and putting out a new catalog, but I think I'll paint a mural in the lobby instead. After that I'll head over to the breakroom to work on mastering Asian fusion cuisine. Then maybe this afternoon I'll lead the marketing department on a hike in the mountains.
Or I guess I could just read blogs. . .
Freeman Hunt: Sorry, you posted while I was trying to find the bookmarked faq link and writing my comment. I hadn't seen it yet.
The world of homeschooling curriculums is fascinating. The ones to which I am attracted are also those to which you alluding, I suspect.
More education ideas dealing with school "privatization" specifically, here.
One problem with this- that I suppose is a more general critique of homeschooling as well- is that those interests and educational prejudices of the parents almost certainly will be impressed upon the children. One advantage of going to a *good* school is that you have the chance to be exposed to a lot early in life and you get the chance to pick and choose.
I'm not sure that, at 10, I would have appreciated that freedom. Looking back, I would like to say that if given the chance, I would have gone to a conservatory in Vienna and learned how to conduct/play horn. But I know that at that age I would have half-assed just about anything presented to me.
And also this factor- let's say that I was truly interested in learning the cello and wanted to take it up at 6. One of my parents had better be pretty proficient at the cello in order to be teaching me, because 1 hour a week for lessons isn't going to cut it, and it's going to cost a lot to hire a professional musician to live with you as a tutor.
effin' hippies
(that is all)
Of course as someone who was indifferent towards actual assignments for much of elementary school and pursued my own interests most of the time, I sort of created my own 'unschooled' bubble within the structure of the public school I attended.
just wrote an essay on his unschooled children.
I think that it probably takes a special child - or special parents - to successfully pull it off. But if it works for those people then I don't see what the hullabaloo is all about.
Steve Donohue wrote: And also this factor- let's say that I was truly interested in learning the cello and wanted to take it up at 6. One of my parents had better be pretty proficient at the cello in order to be teaching me, because 1 hour a week for lessons isn't going to cut it, and it's going to cost a lot to hire a professional musician to live with you as a tutor.
How many schools in the USA have intensive cello programs for 6 year-olds?
I think that this unschooling idea is somewhat silly for the main reason that kids don't know what subjects might be interesting and don't know what books to read in the subjects in which they are interested. If all children were unschooled, then most girls probably wouldn't know how to add and boys would probably only know how to build giant bridges since young girls generally hate math and young boys generally love playing with Legos and other kinds of construction-y things. Of course, it depends on the parents and the children.
On the other hand, most modern schooling in the public schools (and some private schools) is an utter waste of time, especially for even somewhat precocious children. Seriously, why would someone need to spend months on addition?
At most colleges, what is taught in freshman year really should be taught in high school. There's no excuse for basic algebra to be taught on the college level or that people who do not know how to add fractions are allowed to even go to college.
I looked into unschooling. Decided not even to try. Instead we follow a fairly structured curriculum --- but it only takes up the morning, most days.
Unschooling is a reasonable approach to preschool and kindergarten, and it is a reasonable approach to high school (imo --- I have no high schoolers yet) provided that the student is self-motivated and understands what academic requirements s/he will be faced with when s/he applies to college/apprenticeships/jobs/etc. upon finishing.
I don't think I buy it for elementary school.
On the other hand: You could easily require certain subjects but allow great freedom in how to study them. "This year you will study several topics in American History. Here is a list of subjects. You pick which ones and together we'll choose books and projects you can do." Or: "This year you will need to do some Phys Ed or else go out for a team sport. You pick. Will you join the swim team at the Y? Take tennis lessons? Or will we just go to the gym twice a week to run around the track?"
I mean, one of the great benefits of homeschooling is that you can design your own program. Why not let the student do part of the designing?
So, I guess she won't know any math by the time she's 18, at this rate?
That's okay. It's not like it's important or anything; even if you don't happen to want to learn it when you're 10.
"There is nothing like the texture of kids having contact with each other, making friends and relating to different adults in a school setting," said David Tokofsky, a longtime educator and member of the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education.
This speaks volumes to me, LAUSD school board member is against it, then I'm for it.
In general... kids aren't the best source to explain what they do "at school" and often parents aren't either because some of the things that they do they don't think to mention. For many "unschoolers" it's not that they don't do school, it's that they do school every single moment of every day. There are not requirements, but there is definately approval showered upon the child anytime she is engaged in "educational" activities.
As for future workplace situations or college... we don't really have to guess about this. Children brought up in self-directed learning environments tend toward self-employment. And if anyone thinks this enables laziness you've never been your own boss. Those students who go to college tend to do very well because they have always been responsible for their own learning and do not expect to have their hand held.
School is not the only place to learn good work place skills, but learning to work when you don't have to seems a better thing than someone who only works when they are forced to.
Voluntarily read a book that wasn't assigned by a teacher? Are you out of your mind?
Have they alreddy forgoten the hole english / math debakle??? Jeez, when wil they evr lern!
I unschooled both my kids for junior high and high school. They are both in college now and doing fine; if fact they are much more disciplined and goal-oriented than I was at that age (ah, the seventies...)
The public schools are really bad where I live (SF east bay), and private schools cost $15k - $25k a year. I didn't have many choices.
Oh yeah, shoulda said:
In California 49% of kids entering college have to re-take english and/or math classes because of their poor performance on entrance assessments tests. One of my kids had to take a math class and the other one didn't have to take anything.
So I guess it helps to to grow up in a house with lots of books and maps and computers and fairly well-educated parents.
I wouldn't recommend unschooling, or even home schooling for families that lack those things. And unschooling for elementary school would surely be a disaster.
If Rousseau is laughing from his grave, what is Dewey doing? :-)
I realize that many schools don't have music programs at that age, but many do. Yes, it's good to get lessons, but it's even better to get a musical training, and going to music classes and such with people who are trained in that helps quite a bit. I tutor at a public school in Champaign that both has music lessons for the youngsters and music-appreciation classes. I think that that is an area of particularity (it could be art or something else as well) that you lose with homeschooling. Besides from the fact that you don't know what you like until you see it presented to you.
That's not a knock on homeschooling or even unschooling. Parents who homeschool just must beware to surround the children with a lot of different things to see which ones stick. I know that I would never have gotten my love of music from my mother, God bless her, because I never would have realized it even existed in a form outside of Phil Collins and Paula Abdul (I am, after all, a child of the 80s and 90s.)
Steve:
Kindermusik, ages 0 to 7.
Music ed is not that impressive these days, and is in many cases essentially non-existent in schools.
Even in my day, it was pretty superficial until you got to higher grades. It's generally degraded since.
My parents were musicians, so none of that mattered in terms of my brother and me. But I don't recall most of my friends getting all that terrific of a background through formal schooling. (I could--but won't--recite my parents' rant about the state of Music Ed as far back as the mid '70s.)
I mention Kindermusik because where it's available, it really covers a lot of basis. My kindergartner has been in it since 18 months (the infant classes weren't available here yet at the time) and will "graduate" this spring (the teacher accelerated him a couple of times).
When we met with his music teacher at his private school last fall, she said he had basically already covered the entire curriculum through grade 4 or 5, except for actually taking music lessons, which we would, and will, pay for privately, anyway, since I want to pick the teacher.
For serious music ed, I can't see relying on the schools (public or private) anyway. But I concede that I come at it from a different perspective.
"Basis" = "bases"
reader_iam--I'm a music educator, and I can tell you that, at least in some parts of the country, there are plenty of good things going on. (I'm in Texas, which is known as a state with strong school music programs.) I can't speak for anything that goes on before sixth grade, as I'm a private saxophone instructor at the middle- and high school levels, but I do know that any kid who comes to me with an elementary school choir background is almost always well-prepared to start an instrument; that goes double for those who have had piano beforehand.
We have a pretty good setup in my area of the state; the private instructors can teach the students during their band, orchestra or choir class once a week, which is good for a number of reasons: There are almost no attendance problems (save for the occasional field trip or assembly), since the students are already at school; being there during the day allows for great lines of communication between the private instructors and the directors; and it's actually possible to make a full-time job out of private instruction (I teach about 70 students a week and a couple of college classes elsewhere). That also means that teachers tend to stick around a while; we have a number of 20+-year veterans in my district, whereas in the place where I grew up (which didn't allow lessons during the day), I had a different teacher every year in high school.
My area is obviously band, so I haven't seen as many choir or orchestra performances, but everything that I've witnessed at our state music educators' convention was of very high quality. Sometimes it seems a little high on the competitive side (during state competition years, which only happen biennially, people have been known to joke that music has become a full-contact sport), but the competition seems to breed excellence more than anything.
I know that music ed isn't as strong in many other parts of the country, so I'm sorry to hear that your parents' experience may not have been so good.
RIA
'All your basis are belong to us'?
(and who says Wiki isn't worthwhile?)
(I'm practicing advanced combinatorial commentography, they don't teach that in any classrooms!)
I don't see unschooling working that well for a lot of kids, and it definately wouldn't have worked for me. For one thing, I would have had an excellent science and math background, and not literature or history whatsoever. It isn't that I didn't (or don't) read, but rather that I never like standard literature. Rather, I consumed massive amounts of fantasy and science fiction, with some action stories and historical biographies.
My big problem has always been too much focus, instead of too little. So, whenever I was given any real freedom, I jumped in totally, to the exclusion of everything else, for weeks, if not months, on end.
One thing that I do like about home schooling is that kids can proceed at their own speed. For some, including I think many here (from the comments over time), that probably meant at a much higher speed than is found at most, if not all, public schools. For many others, it may be slower. In any case though, hopefully it means teaching at the optimal rate for a given student, instead of at some arbitrary rate set by, for example, a school district.
Finally, the good private schools that I know tend to do a very good job at forcing the kids to learn a broad range of things - much broader than you will typically find at a public school. And, not surprisingly, they don't really teach to exams, but rather try to impart a broad "liberal arts" education.
What must be remembered about private schools is that if they fail at teaching what the parents expect to be taught, and fail to get their kids into the colleges they expect, they will go out of business.
Contrast this with public schools, where there are many other pressures, and, as a result, learning what should be learned is often not accomplished.
(I was reminded today of this structural problem with public education when I attended the funeral today of Dr. Cal Frasier, longtime Commissioner of Education for the State of CO. One of his prouder moments was when he convinced president Reagan to point out in a major education speech that it isn't the teachers themselves, but the system that is at fault for failing to educate our kids).
wv: tpona - "The Politics of Nonviolent Action" (TPONA) by Gene Sharp.
It's for people who are self-reliant (as in they can support themselves later on), I don't see why no (although many say that is the problem).
We "unschool" our son after the public schools completely destroyed him to the point he needed psychological counseling to get over the trauma they caused. He has Asperger's Syndrome and in public school, he was tortured by both students and STAFF for not being "normal." The teacher routinely called him "stupid" when he's brilliant. He was just afraid of her because she was mean to him every day. She made him stand up and announce his bad grades (he has a math disability but is gifted in everything else. several grades ahead of his peers) and made fun of him all the time in class. She also told lies about him when he would turn her in to the principal for her behavior. This teacher also verbally assaulted me when I went to the school to confront her about her behavior.
Since unschooling, our son has stopped the daily destructive rages he used to have when he came home from school and has stopped trying to kill himself for not being "normal." He recently scored 98th percentile on the private school entrance test called the ERB CTP4 in everything but the math which he failed because of his math disability. Not every child needs a power-monger children-hating burnt out teacher telling them what they SHOULD learn. Kids are natural born LEARNERS and it is the SCHOOLS that beat that out of them trying to make them "good little future worker bees and tax payers." Watch a child sometime when they discover something new or want to know more about something they see. They will LEARN, on their own, naturally....and we as adults can help facilitate that by guiding them toward resources on what they want to know. Everyone who meets my son is so impressed with his maturity, his verbal acuity, his knowledge for his age. When compared with kids his own age, they are night and day worlds apart. Unschooling is NOT for every child or every family.....but for ours, it was a saving grace. I believe my son would be dead now if we had not pulled him out of public school and let him school himself. He is doing high school level work, on his own, finding his own resources (with our physical help) and he is 12 yrs old. He even taught HIMSELF multiple languages. He sings in a professional choir, has won writing awards, makes money trading stock options, and more. He is flourishing by not being in "government enforced institutional brainwashing & babysitting." What a shame that children are born with such great spirits....and then our "schooling" crushes these spirits, destroys their inherent curiosity, ingenuity, creativity, and heart and turns them all into little unquestioning, taxpaying automatons.
For "Cat"
Actually, homeschooled nad many unschooled kids adjust to college MUCH BETTER than their peers because they have already lived a life of self-discipline and personal responsibility. In fact, many colleges are now actively recruiting homeschoolers because they state that these kids are better prepared for college and often do not require the remedial courses often required for nearly ALL incoming freshman.
Thanks for writing, Omnium. My heart goes out to you and your son.
re: the six-year-old saying she doesn't "learn anything" -- this is also a result of "socialization" -- that is, she has already "learned" that "learning" has to do with teachers, desks, ABC's etc. Eventually she'll learn a wider definition of learning (we hope) that is consistent with the ideology of unschooling.
re: socialization and homeschooling. So often there is a conflation of the concept of "socialization" (learning how to be a person in society) and "socializing" (having friends).
Often people say homeschooled kids have a problem with "socialization" and in the next sentence, when they talk about loneliness and isolation, it becomes clear that they're actually talking about socializing.
Children may become more "socialized" when they attend school, but to many homeschoolers this is a BAD thing! It implies conformity, ability to lose onesself in a rules- and authority-driven environment by creating a "false self."
However, having been well-socialized can be very useful when one is trying to get through one's life sitting in a cubicle.
-- but it's not necessarily what all of us desire for our children.
Homeschoolers are generally more idealistic, and are interested in developing more possibilities, more interesting lives, for themselves and their kids.
As for socializing, most homeschoolers will point to the kind of socializing that is typical of a school environment -- including rigid cliques, social hierarchies, and bullying -- and report that they don't think this is so great!
You can then say, well how is a kid going to function in society if she doesn't learn all this stuff? The unschooling philosophy says that there are many roads and a kid will do best when she is exposed to a community of people of all ages (instead of just those in her "grade"), gets a lot of her education from real-life exploration, develops her life's path by following her own interests and temperamental proclivities, etc., in a context where "Get in line", "You must obey," "Say the pledge," "BE QUIET!!! I said, BE QUIET!!!" are not the predominant messages.
In sum, many unschoolers say that learning what somebody else has decided is the "right" thing to learn, and under duress (whether obvious or well-hidden thanks to "socialization") is not so great.
As for the poster with the son with Asperger's, I really relate, as my own son had major problems in publc middle school and we homeschooled for a short time, until he began to attend a special education school that is wonderful.
(we don't pay, either, because of federal law concerning equal education for the handicapped).In my son's school he's not just thrown in to fend for himself with a bunch of ignoramuses, but he is getting instruction from people who "get" him, and the environment is gentle and nurturing. Just saying, it's another option (except obviously I don't know what's available in your community.) Best of luck with your son's education!
Post a Comment