WFMW - Unschooling Journal
April 25th, 2007 by Toni
So we’ve started this path into unschooling. If you don’t know what that is, don’t feel bad. Six months ago I didn’t either. All I knew was that as the time approached for Sister to start school I felt in my heart that was not the right direction for us. For a while we sent her to a nearby private school. Excellent program. Outstanding teachers and facility. But parent/teacher conferences reavealed a startling fact. Sister was way ahead of the other students in many areas and exactly on level in the rest. At one point her teacher actually said to me, “Whatever you’re doing at home, keep doing it because it’s working.” I pondered that statement for a long while. What were we doing at home? Well, we asked a lot of questions and we searched out the answers together. We read … a lot and from all sorts of sources. We allowed Sister to lead the way on a lot of projects viewing our role more as discovery assistants rather than teachers. We provided a variety of puzzles, games, art supplies, etc. not with any particular task in mind but just in case creativity struck suddenly. All sorts of research on homeschooling attached a name to our style of learning: unschooling. The more I read, the more enamored I became. So now, even though Sister needn’t officially start school until next year, we are conducting an experiment. Actually we are just continuing to live our lives as we always have but now I am recording it. I started a new blog. You are welcome to visit of course but I think you will find it rather dull reading. At the end of each day, I jot down what we did that can be catagorized into school “subjects” and then I label my post with those subjects. For example if we read a book then the post will be labeled “reading”. If we read a history book then it will be labeled “reading” and “history”. I find it helpful to review the day and I see possible benefits if we ever move to a state where homeschooling is more regulated than in Oklahoma. It is also comforting to my husband who is my one and only feed subscriber. Not only can he see that unschooling works, he gets a glimpse of what we do while he is at work and shares in moments I might otherwise forget to mention.
True unschoolers will probably laugh at my methodology but keeping an unschooling journal works for me.
This is our learning path as well, and I’m interested in reading your “boring” blog.
We also do most of our learning at odd times, and it’s occasionally difficult to explain to someone who isn’t “in the know.”
I do something similar for recording, but I’ve just been sending an email to DH so I can sort things out. Maybe I’ll join in on the unschool blog idea!
This is a great idea. I am always interested in unschooling because that is what seems to work for my son. I feel pressure, however, to see “progress” via workbooks. I am in the middle of sorting out all the irrational or rational ideas I have about homeshchooling. I am sure I never will. The “joy is in the journey” though. So in the meantime I try to balance some unschooling philosophies with some others. Thanks for this idea.
This is a great idea for people who are on the computer a lot anyway. Love it.
Reminds me of someone else who has an unpublished page on their blog with their to-do list!
We’ve homeschooled until this year, when we put all three in a private school. If we return to homeschool for any of them, I’ll seriously consider this simple, easy, creative solution to keeping track of activities and recording them (with tags, too!).
I couldn’t find a way to e-mail you, but I wonder if you’ve heard of the Slow Movement or Compacting in your pursuit of Simplicity?
Also, I’d love to talk with you, as I’m working on a writing project that kind of relates to your life choices. I’m sorry to interject all of this here, but would you e-mail me?
ann@annkroeker.com
This sounds like a great way to stay organized and help to see the big picture.