I will readily admit that I do not subscribe to the method of home schooling known as “unschooling.” With that said, I will also readily admit that in homeschooling–all roads lead to Rome. Part of the beauty of homeschooling is that families are allowed to choose the methods that work best for them. Methods take into account personalities of parents, the learning style of children and even dad’s work schedule! So even though we don’t do the “unschooling” thing, I can readily see many families who do–and are doing it well!
Apparently though, not everyone thinks unschooling is acceptable. There are approximately 100,000 unschooling homes in the United States. It is definitely a movement on the rise.
Educators, and their organizations such as the NEA and others, point out these problems with unschooling:
*Parents may overestimate their competency thus leaving gaps in their child’s education.
*Children will not master basic skills.
*Students won’t receive a high school diploma and thus won’t make it into college, leaving them with, “virtually no options“.
*Young children don’t know what their peers do in traditional school.
To all this I say: ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Remember homeschooling moms, these are EDUCATORS publishing this. This is not the same as our friend Dave the custodian firing off his opinion about homeschooling. These are all people who have gone to school to study education and have degrees in how children learn best. They’ve studied learning theory and undoubtedly, they’ve all learned about intrinsic motivation being the most effective way to learn.
They’ve also all studied educational philosophy. They’ve learned about pioneers like Charlotte Mason & Dr. Montesorri–both of whom by the way, say that delayed learning and allowing a child to explore his or her own environment is the best way for early education (and by early I mean up through 3rd grade). In fact, Charlotte Mason says that you don’t even need to have your child start writing “narrations” until age 10! But apparently, despite their being given ample talk time in Educational Philosophy 101, they are completely way off base when it comes to methodology.
I know two families. We’ll call them Family A and Family B. Family A tends to be more classical and/or eclectic in their educational approach. They definitely follow some type of curriculum although I’m sure there is room for children to explore their own interests. Family B is definitely eclectic and does not really follow a curriculum. . .or a schedule. They “school” as it fits into their lives and while it might not be true in the strictest set of terms, I would consider them unschoolers.
Family’s A children who have graduated all went on to college and have done well. Family B has only graduated 1 child so far–but she’s doing well, making Dean’s list several of her semesters there. Family A has incredibly articulate children. So does Family B. Family A has several children who are musically talented and excel in this area. So does Family B. Family B even has a child who speaks Chinese. . .after she taught herself. As far as educational quality, I really cannot say that one set of children is better educated than the other.
My point being is that when parents are highly invested in their children’s education the results, in my opinion, are always good. (This includes even sending your kids to school by the way!) Method is not as relevant as parental involvement when determining the educational outcome of a child. Perhaps some day, educators will catch on.
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