How Unschooling Can Work For You
A recent article in the UK Guardian cites successful unschoolers, but the overall tone is that children are being harmed or neglected because unschooling doesn’t work for some children. Of course, conventional schooling doesn’t work for many children as well, and that’s the point of having more than one place for children to learn. I won’t get into more detailed criticism of the piece here, though I’m happy to respond to your comments about it. Instead, I want to offer three different ways that unschooling can work for you. Unschooling isn’t just about leaving your child alone to figure things out. Here are three stories from GWS 69 to illustrate this.
HISTORY TURNS OUT TO BE FUN
From Diana Baseman (PA):
In our official curriculum for this year, I said that we were going to be studying American history, so I’ve been reading Olivia (11) some biographies of Americans, like Benjamin Franklin and George Washington. I decided to do this—it wasn’t Olivia’s decision—but she has really enjoyed hearing about these people’s lives, and we’ve had some good discussions.
Olivia Baseman adds:
When I first heard that my mother was going to read me that American history, I was excited, but then, a little later, when it was almost time to start, she told me about it again and I said, “Oh, I don’t want to do that.” I was really pessimistic about it. But then when we actually started reading, I really got into it, especially the historical novels. Johnny Tremain is my favorite of what we’ve read so far. I’ve often been pessimistic about something having to do with schoolwork, and then when we actually do it, it turns out to be fun.
VOLUNTEERING AT THE MUSEUM TOGETHER
From an article that homeschooler Luz Shosie (CT) wrote for The Natural Farmer:
. . . Jonathan (9) and I have been working as volunteers at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History. Last year we were behind the scenes in the entomology department. We counted, sorted, and helped prepare insects for the teaching collection. The entomologist we worked with truly appreciated Jonathan’s help and were eager to answer his questions. This year we are docents in the Great Hall of Dinosaurs. We sit with a cart with fossils that people can handle and ask questions about. The Museum’s Director of Public Education is experimenting with a new way of teaching—rather than the formal lectures they have been doing, she is encouraging staff and volunteers to use a more conversational way of conducting classes and tours. She is delighted to have a young person who can answer and engage children in discussion, and Jonathan is delighted to be doing real work in the real world.
USING ALTERNATIVE COOPERATIVE SCHOOL
Mika Perrine of Wisconsin writes:
I attend an alternative school called Pahokee Mountain Cooperative School once a week. We take certain months off though, so I’m still pretty much homeschooled. Pahokee has been around since 1980. It started out as a preschool and has evolved into a resource center for homeschoolers, with a microscope, games, books, tapes, and toys to check out. All the teachers are either parents of the kids enrolled or volunteers and they offer different classes. For example, this session we have writing genealogy and skiing. Most all the kids (about twenty of them) have known each other since they were 5 or 6, and we’re all pretty good friends. We’ve put on about one major play a year, which is a lot of fun. Our most recent play was about how the white people made treaties for the Indians to sign and tricked them into giving up their land in the process. My mom is teaching a class on writing, and I wrote a 2l-page story about a boy who meets a prisoner and finds out he’s not really mean. It’s going to be typed and I’m making it into a book.
I have been homeschooled all my life and I really like it. I take Suzuki violin lessons and I know how to read music (l might even join a quartet). I entered a Lego building contest this month and built a baseball game. I didn’t place, but it was lots of fun. I collect stamps and I’m also very interested in genealogy—I’ve gone back eleven generations on my family tree.
