When I first started homeschooling my children in Western Australia 20+ years ago, I strictly followed the ACE curriculum. Rather good for the first 3 years but after that I felt lost as a homeschool mum because the children got extremely bored with it all. So after much deliberation I tossed it all out and began exploring my greatest asset... my brain! After that the children and I excelled!
I realized by sticking to any pre-set or restrictive curriculum I was limiting my children's ability to progress in their learning adventure. I found it very restrictive and boring so no wonder my children became bored with it too. Once we started out on our own and using the big wide world to learn we all realized how much we had missed out on. Unschooling is not for everyone and not everyone can cope without a set curriculum to guide them step by step. If unschooling is not for you then simply send your children to school. Don't become a train wreck trying and feeling bad about it, just do what you can cope with.
What is Unschooling
Unschooling in my opinion is a way or method to teach your children that they can learn through life in general. By being outdoors, exploring, feeling nature with bare feet, getting dirty in the mud, socializing outside the classroom walls. Children are naturally curious so why not hone in on that wonderful curiosity they exhibit every day. Their questions of Why How When Where are your perfect curriculum material.
Unschooling for some goes a step further where the child chooses what they read about, write about, and learn about. It allows the child to be in charge. This can be beneficial but only if guided properly otherwise you might end up with an un- schooled child... one that hasn't learnt much. Unschooling requires the teaching parent to be non-criticizing and preferably engaging in encouragement and positivity on a daily basis.
Once my children and I decided that the set curriculum was not working for us as a family we changed to whatever they were interested in. They started exploring library books and taking their curious minds outside scrutinizing whether the information was correct. Are there really 4 stages in the metamorphosis of the butterfly and moth?
Right or Wrong
Home education comes in many shapes and forms and I believe there is no right or wrong, it's simply passing your knowledge on to your children. Proponents of traditional schooling will argue that you should follow a set curriculum or send your children to an institution because their mindset is made up... that's how it's always been in their opinion. Sadly they have forgotten or don't know about the many amazing great men and women who were homeschooled like ... Thomas Edison, Theodore Roosevelt, Agatha Christie, Alexander Graham Bell, or Sandra Day O'Connor just to name a few.
If your children have been to school and you've removed them for whatever reason you will need to learn to unschool them. Including yourself by the way! I certainly had to un-school myself first in order to understand the concept. We are all so brainwashed or programmed into this schooling system that it's hard to change. The only right or wrong I can see is how committed you are going to be. Unschooling requires 100% commitment from all parties involved... 50% - 75% - or even 99% is not good enough.
The Socialisation Factor
Some psychologists believe that homeschooling is damaging to children's socialisation skills. I believe the opposite... children taught at home seem to be different in how they communicate with the outside world. They might not be as streetwise in some cases but they seem far more matured in their approach to life in general. Polite, knowledgeable across many topics, studious, caring for others, and being able to communicate with any age group. The general public likes teenagers who are mature and knowledgeable when they talk to them until they discover they are homeschooled. Their entire demeanor changes. If this wasn't so sad it would be funny!
People who can't think outside their box are often affronted by home educated children or adults. Perhaps it's because they can't comprehend that a mother is willing to sacrifice her career. Mostly it is about qualifications though. Do homeschooling families have the correct qualifications to teach their children? So my question is... What qualification do you need to teach your child?
Are you Qualified
Parents are naturally capable of looking after their children... well, for most of us. A few exceptions might be those with physical or mental disabilities. Psychologists have studied long and hard, same goes for many people; doctors, surveyors, specialists, or teachers. I guess their question is valid, what qualification do we have as mere parents to assume we can do a better job than those who studied for this difficult task. Hmm! Let's see...
Love, dedication, attitude, determination, courage, patience, self-sacrifice, and more love. A mother's love is often so deep that once she has determined something you better watch out! Do not come between mother and child!
Believe it or not there are many very highly qualified homeschool mums out there. I personally know one who is a specialist doctor and another who is an anaesthetist. University qualifications are not always the most valuable though. I believe being supportive, understanding, ready to teach and learn yourself and help others, and willing to sacrifice part or all of your career is all that's needed as a qualification.
P.S. The best qualification you already have as a mum is... Motherhood
Being a mum and teacher is not easy and sometimes a little depression creeps in unannounced and before you know it WHAM! If you're a veteran home educator then you might know what I'm talking about. Remember when you first started? Great plans, excellent ideas... *no they were brilliant, wonderful resources, unlimited energy, new horizons to explore, exciting prospects and the list goes on. So what happened? I guess with everything we do in our own strength, there is a limit before we burn out, experience difficulties in implementing new ideas and gather the energy to tackle another day. In other words, we need help. Some need help every day, others from time to time.
Getting Positive Help
Where can we get positive help from? I will pen down 15 possibilities, (no doubt you could add many more to that list) let’s examine these quickly one by one and see if these possibilities are supportive and provide you with positive help.
- Colleagues – talk to colleagues, swap ideas, encourage one another.
- Husbands – a wealth of helpful information, life’s experiences, a different viewpoint.
- Wives – encouraging new ideas, a listening ear, different approaches.
- Friends – wind down and relax, mill over issues, solve problems together.
- Neighbors – enthusiastic about homeschool, interested in what you do.
- Parents – supporting, understanding, lend a hand when time is precious.
- Grandparents – been there done that, relate past experiences.
- In-laws – helpful opinions, kind-hearted, accommodating.
- Kids – willing to help, cooperative, fresh ideas, accepting.
- Library staff – long-suffering, sympathetic, thoughtful.
- Resource centers – a treasure of information, variety.
- Internet – information, guidance, homeschool resources.
- Books – suggestions, answers to questions, adequate supply.
- Strangers – outsider’s point of view, unconstrained, objective.
- Faith – trust, confidence, reliance, devotion, loyalty, commitment.
OK… these were the positives, now let’s look at the negative influences the above possibilities could have.
- Colleagues – bullying, jealous, un-supportive.
- Husbands – don’t care, not interested, too busy.
- Wives – don’t bother me, I’ve got better things to do, it’s your job not mine.
- Friends – intrusive, obstructive.
- Neighbors – hinder, disturb, distract.
- Parents – disregard, indifference.
- Grandparents – contempt, reject abilities.
- In-laws – meddlesome, interfering, distressing.
- Kids – resentful, disobedient, disrespectful.
- Library staff – impolite, inconsiderate, unhelpful.
- Resource centers – dinosaur stuff, overstocked, disorganized.
- Internet – difficult to find good stuff, dead links.
- Books – limited availability, expensive.
- Strangers – irritating, aggravating, frustrating.
- Faith – trying, upsetting, preventing, restraining.
The above negatives seem depressing but I’m trying to point out some people, issues or events that may cause you to feel listless and down-hearted after testing the waters of homeschooling. Be it for a few months or years. Why do we get the attitude of ‘why do I bother’ and can you do something about it. I believe if you tried to pinpoint the actual problem maybe you could get that enthusiasm back again, renew your energy and look over the horizon once more.
Sort out the bully by seeking the authority's help if necessary. Encourage the husband or wife to get involved. Seek friends who support, encourage and are like-minded and avoid upsetting neighbors. Tell parents, grandparents and in-laws to either be helpful or butt-out. Show kids respect if you want them to respect you. Learn how a library works to relief the burden on library staff. Avoid disorganized resource centres. Bookmark good web sites and financially support web site owners so they can continue to provide new resources. Establish your own library of research books at home. Don’t waste time talking to people unless they have something useful to say. Faith plays a major role in many people’s lives; seek the truth with all your heart and you will find it. So… if you get down the dumps and wonder why you do what you are doing, consider the points above and think about how you can change your attitude, the attitude of others and get on with what you set out to do.
Conclusion
Unschooling is a way or method to teach your children that they can learn through life in general. There is no right or wrong method of unschooling, it is simply passing your knowledge on to your children. Home educated children are generally well adjusted and socially accepted adults later in life.
I hope this has been an interesting read for you. Feel free to leave a comment or read my other posts. I look forward to writing my next unschooling post soon which will cover; "Outdoor education in a safe environment. Do you know who's teaching your child?"
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