[Leslie]

Originally Posted by illinoismommy

Since CMM predates unschooling maybe I should describe it as unschooling being like the CMM. Its like 100(+) years ago she already saw that the kids were under extraordinary pressure and we need to chill out. I shudder to think what she thinks about us today.

In the first six years, they would look alike; "a full six years of passive receptive life" is preschool, up to age 6 or 7. But if you were to compare them at third grade, and then at seventh grade, they would look very different. Because, once CM starts "official" lessons, school is very focused, teacher-scheduled, with a pre-planned set of books.

If you look at CM's own curriculum (and I think it's fair and accurate to state that pure CM would be epitomized by how CM did it herself), what she was doing was very far removed from unschooling. These schedules were what she had home-bound students doing as well as her schools. Not to say that someone couldn't combine the two into their own very effective method of relaxed, child-centered learning - but then it wouldn't be purely CM or purely unschooling. It would be positive aspects of both.