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My 79yo mother-in-law passed away in August. As she anticipated her death, she said that her only regret was that she would not live long enough to cast her vote for Obama. I know she's smiling tonight.

posted 4 years, 6 months ago
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Unschoolers have the opportunity to find their passions and develop the self-motivation and self-discipline to pursue these passions. The homeschoolers (and particularly unschoolers) that I've had the pleasure of working with are the best employees you could imagine -- responsible, diligent, self-directed. Unschoolers are more likely to be innovators and self-employed. They are less well-suited to working at McDonalds or being military grunts.

posted 4 years, 9 months ago
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Spending even a little time in a classroom shows very quickly that you can lead a child to learning, but you can't make them learn. Unschooling, or, more accurately, child-initiated learning, leverages the child's interest and enthusiasm for exploration and learning.

Our family tried many approaches to learning during our homeschool adventure. I found that child-initiated learning, especially in the elementary years, was far more effective than parent-directed learning. My children immediately and entirely owned the knowledge and understanding that they acquired through their own exploration and discovery.

At the appropriate times (with their participation and consent) we incorporated some structured learning to master skills that they did not develop on their own (reading for my son, math for my daughter). Because they participated in the decision of learning approaches and timing, they took responsibility for their learning, whether it came from their own investigations or from instruction.

My son has had the additional benefit of interest-led classes for homeschoolers at Village Home Education Resource Center. Village Home provides a learning environment for homeschoolers that is closer to the real world than to any school that I attended. The children choose what classes interest them; there are no grades or tests. They do the work because they are interested in learning, not out of coercion (do the work or you'll FAIL!) or competition (what grade did YOU get?).

Did it work? My 20yo daughter is spending 4 months as a field technician (the youngest of the group) doing field research on wolf predation as part of her undergraduate work, and is already looking forward to graduate school. The project leader has complemented her maturity, willingness to take on any task that is asked of her, and her ability to work well with the rest of the team.

My 16yo son is confident, independent, and a voracious reader (in spite of a learning disability), who is in his 10th year of volunteering at the library. He is looking forward to combining community college classes with Village Home classes and independent study.

When I think of how insecure and full of self-doubt I was at their age, I KNOW that their unschooled education has served them far better than my schooled education served me.

posted 4 years, 9 months ago
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