Unschooling or Homeschooling?

[illinoismommy]

Hello, I am just beginning my journey here since all I have is one 18 month old. But I am starting to read and decide what kind of education we want to do and what would fit our "style" as a family..... and I am interested in understanding more about the difference between unschooling and homeschooling? Does anyone do anything near the middle?

[Piper2]

I consider "eclectic homeschooling" as somewhere in the middle. That's where you might use some set curriculum, some unit studies, some self-led learning.

I think of strict "school-at-home" (where they use a boxed curriculum -- all subjects from the same publisher -- sit at a desk, stick to a schedule) and complete unschooling (no intervention by the parent at all) as the 2 extremes of the homeschooling spectrum. I think most homeschoolers fall somewhere in the middle. :)

[slingmamaof4]

Well, according to that definition of eclectic hs'ing that is what category I would fall into. Desk? Hehe...my dd sits on the floor, couch, at the table. Yk, I bet my dd would actually like having a desk though. But I don't plan on getting her one...but if she really wants one at some point I would consider it. We do a lot of self-led learning, but I alway do encourage her to broaden her horizons. If she doesn't want to do something we don't do it right then. I, too, think that most hs'ers are somewhere between traditional classical hs'ing and solely unschooling. The middle makes since to me and works for our family!

[illinoismommy]

Oh.... I've never heard of eclectic.... I guess I should start reading :blush

[slingmamaof4]

Oh.... I've never heard of eclectic.... I guess I should start reading :blush


I never heard of it either until this post. But it sure does sound like me. So don't :blush.

[fourbygrace]

We are "relaxed homeschoolers", I think. I use a math curriculum, but we don't necessarily do it at a specific time or even every day. It has a lot of games so my dc love it. I am currently using Sonlight books for reading aloud. We have a time we call "kid school" which is about 9 - 11 am where we read together, ds 7 reads to me, and my two oldest work with me one on one on something for about 20 minutes. I let them choose what we are going to work on together. Then they choose an actvity, game or whatever to work on for the rest of the time. I also read aloud to them after lunch and before bed each night.

If you want more information about relaxed homeschooling you should try to find Mary Hood's books. Her first book is called The Relaxed Homeschool. Also The Joyful Homeschool and The Ethusiastic Homeschooler (?). I have found book and smaller booklets, which are harder to find, to be very encouraging and helpful.

Blessings,
Mary

[booboo]

We're sorta relaxed. I want to make sure they get the "important" stuff in: phonics, math, spelling, science, history. Okay not so much history for my little one. Reading to her is torture and I think I torture her enough. :giggle

Since my first grader finished history and science, we're reviewing. I don't want her to forget it plus we have the IOWA test at the end of April.

Art is more fun stuff. I'm hoping to make playdough with them next week, if the pain in my side lessens..I have to get back into music, which is fun for them but stressful to me. It's teaching them how to use the keyboard and I don't know how to! :scratch Just follow the directions..

I've also been reading to them "The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe" which we got for my oldest for her birthday a few weeks ago. She loves it.

I think it's great you're considering this so early. There's a lot you can do with kids at this age that's more fun. :tu

[ServantofGod]

There's a continuum in "unschooling" and in "homeschooling". At the farthest end of the unschooling spectrum (which some people call "radical unschooling"), there is no didactic lesson of any kind. Everything is learned from life, in the time of the child's interest. No tests are given, no assignments are required, nothing is seen as "need to learn", no matter the age of the child. There is considerable trust that the child will learn what they need when they need to, just as you would learn something if you needed (or wanted) to know it.

As you go towards the middle, you have "relaxed" or "eclectic" homeschoolers. I'm relaxed, and I'm aiming to relax more; I was getting a little uptight for a minute there. :giggle A relaxed homeschooler is not comfortable with a total laissez-faire approach to learning as a total unschooler might be, especially with the subjects that adapt well to systematic instruction. Math, reading, maybe handwriting. I use Math-U-See curriculum for Math and Alpha Phonics for reading and Handwriting Without Tears for handwriting. I am willing to stop and wait for a while (or practice using other materials) if they get stuck, and these curricula adapt well to that approach. I partially use Sonlight for Science and History, but I am working on relaxing this part more, and also relaxing more some of my Language Arts approach.

A relaxed homeschooler is not likely to show great concern for "grade levels" or "tests". In the MUS video, I loved what the program creator said in one place: "Please do NOT call us asking, 'Where should my child be at the end of first grade?' - He should be where he should be." This is a perfect example of relaxed philosophy. Why move ahead if they don't understand where they are? And why cause so much stress in them about being "behind" that they learn to hate math? Real learning rarely happens under stress and competition.

I do give my children "tests", but not in the sense that a school does. I give them the test to complete. They are welcome to ask me questions. If their question reveals to me that they don't understand the concept, I mentally note that that concept has not been learned yet. Thus, they do not need to feel "bad" about not understanding something; they are simply showing me that this area needs more practice (or sometimes, maybe just more maturity). They do like to make an "A" on a test, but they picked this up somewhere else besides from me; I doubt they know there is a "B, C, D, E" also and that the last two or three are in school regarded as "bad". So far, we haven't ever done a test that they would have "failed", because I most likely would have already realized that they didn't have the slightest understanding of the given concept and I wouldn't then have given them the test, I simply would have spent more time on it or else put it away for a while.

At the farthest end of the homeschooling spectrum, there is complete boxed curriculum, perhaps even with school oversight. So, you do the lessons according to your child's grade level, you test them and submit their grades to the oversight committee, they pass or fail, etc....everything just like school, but at home, which is why people call this the "school-at-home" approach.

[Joanne]

Don't decide. :yes Read, pray, research but don't decide. And even when you do, don't feel tied to the label. Follow your heart, your child and your life during that season.

[illinoismommy]

Don't decide. :yes Read, pray, research but don't decide. And even when you do, don't feel tied to the label. Follow your heart, your child and your life during that season.





:tu

I do believe we fall on this continuum almost exactly in the middle.... it will depend on the child if there is more or less structure... for now I only have my son and thus far he seems like hes a happy man with a lot of structure :-)

[Cindy]

Don't decide. :yes Read, pray, research but don't decide. And even when you do, don't feel tied to the label. Follow your heart, your child and your life during that season.


:amen