Posts tagged with "unschooling" - page 2
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The Gift Of Free Play
School has become an abnormal setting for children. Instead of admitting that, we say children are abnormal and that we need to correct the children. Of course as an unschooler I would certainly like to believe that. Whether it is really true or not is in the eye of the beholder. I am not here to argue about the merits or demerits of school but to point out that play is an important part of a child's development. Most of what I am about to say in this post is pretty much what is covered in the excellent TED talk linked below. You can skip this article if you watch that video.
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Ability To Learn By Yourself Is Fundamental
Some people ask us if we are worried that our kid may not learn much because she is not going to school. Their primary worry is that she may not be able to find a job without education. Our worry on the other hand is that kids these days are spending so much energy on learning things that may not even interest them. And worst of all, they may end up with a job that they don't like to do because they have a degree in an education that wasn't of their own interest.
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Are Unschoolers Missing Out On Social Skills Development
When ever some one learns that our kid is being unschooled, this is one of those questions that I invariably get asked. Are unschooled or home schooled kids missing out on social skills. I am certainly not an expert on the subject, but how does one assess whether a kid has developed social skills. Is shyness an indication of under development? Does participating in debates and winning them mean good development? I am really not sure. As far as I am concerned, if a kid can socialize with other kids, they have enough skills. Or may be I am being naive in thinking that way.
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Some Useful Educational Resources
In the most recently concluded Virtual Meet-up, there was a lot of discussion about children's education. My colleague and a reader of my blog Naveen B shared a bunch of useful resources. I thought it will help other readers as well so here they are
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How Do Unschooled Children Learn?
The question that we often get asked when someone learns that we are unschooling is "How does your kid learn?". You see, in the case of home schooling there is at least a curriculum and everyone expects some teaching. They intuitively understand that home schooling means teaching subjects like Math, Science etc. What craziness is this unschooling where the kid is completely left to learn on their own?
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Higher Education for Homeschooled Kids
Friends, family, and readers of my blog alike have all asked us this question -- what about your kid's higher education? Interestingly, given the COVID situation, several people have suddenly started showing interest in home schooling. More people have asked us about our experience or advice than before COVID. I am glad that more people are now interested in the topic. While unschooling or homeschooling sounds like a nice idea, there are so many questions in one's mind. One among them is about going back to traditional school/college or university if and when the kid chooses. But before going too far with the subject, lets understand legality of homeschooling or unschooling.
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Building A Disk Drop Game Board
In one of my previous posts, I was left wondering if toys have a place in unschooling. The argument was that the toys help develop creativity in the kid. On the other hand, why should we buy any toys if the kid is creative? They can build their own toys with nature. Well, I got a mild taste of the latter when my daughter proposed and help build a disk drop game board. For those unaware of a disk drop game, here is a picture of it.
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Should You Save For Kids Higher Education
You know my stance on saving for kid's education. Those who have read my blog or know me, understand that we are unschooling our kid. Most already know that I retired early. I guess early retirement and unschooled kid is probably not a common combination? Or may be it is just my feeling. Because, in this combination, one rarely plans to setup a corpus for kid's higher education. And yet many people ask why I haven't set aside a corpus for the kid.
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Do Kids Need Toys and Books in Unschooling
While unschooling is already the extreme end of the spectrum, it is not a thin line. There is a lot of variance. What seems like unschooling for one may still feel like home schooling for another. So it's all relative. How deep you want to go is all up to you. Consider this for example, some unschooling parents find any kind of books or toys to be a hindrance to creativity and learning. They prefer a fertile playground for children that is devoid of any man-made objects so children can learn the natural way. They prefer nature with trees and river and all the natural things one would find before the inventions and technology. While others may say books give knowledge while toys help in creativity. It is extremely hard to clearly demarcate where home schooling ends and unschooling begins in these cases.
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Is Unschooling for Everyone?
While we jumped ship and joined the unschooling camp, it may not be for everyone. Just like how early retirement is not applicable to everyone, so too is homeschooling or unschooling. While we still consider that we are at the early stage of our unschooling journey (although we have been unschooling for a couple of years now), I can already see a few "disadvantages" and "risks". I had to put those words in quotes because we don't see it as a disadvantage, or risk, but for some others it looks that way.
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