re: Unschooling?

Quoting Lindsey!EBFB:“ Okay so i am watching Wife Swap and this father unschools his kids. Basically his kids choose what they ... [snip!] ... else feel like this could hurt children like I do? I mean how will they learn things that are needed for college and stuff?”

if i was a kid, i would like that! but now my hubby and i are already thinking about school for our 3 month old. he will be going to preschool at 4 yrs, if not before that, and private school for his entire education. school is not a matter of just learning subjects but social, being responsible, managing your time, work ethic, etc... i definitely wasnt the smartest kid in high school but my work ethic enabled me to further my education. those other smart kids? well they got accepted to fancy colleges, and couldnt cut it.

Quoting Angelica+Alfonso=Christia:“ if i was a kid, i would like that! but now my hubby and i are already thinking about school for our ... [snip!] ... ethic enabled me to further my education. those other smart kids? well they got accepted to fancy colleges, and couldnt cut it.”

I enjoyed it when I was being homeschooled. My father pulled me out of the 5th grade and began homeschooling me. This lasted until the 7th grade, at which point he started getting bored with it. It got to the point where he would get upset with me when I came to him for help and didn't understand after his first try. I eventually stopped trying to get him to help me when I needed it. By the beginning of my freshman year of high school, I was completely schooling myself and taking care of an entire house full of chores. When I decided I was ready to begin learning fractions and algebra, I found books at the library and second-hand bookstores. I did the work from any particular books over and over until I felt that I understood the subject well enough. I made tests for myself on any subject I wanted to - mainly math, english and science. After teaching myself about mean, median and mode, I, one hot summer day, decided to take that knowledge and apply it. For one month, I measured the morning, noon, and nighttime temperatures for our place in Arizona. I got the idea from the local news, who talked about "record temperatures" from different days in the past. I started a watermelon garden, and grew watermelon in Arizona in the middle of summer. During this time, I found a love of drawing, sculpting, writing poetry, gardening, english literature, geometry, grammar, teaching and self-teaching.
Through my father's boredom and ignorance at properly homeschooling me, I was able to lead an entirely selfish or selfless life...however one chooses to see it. I did only those things which made me happy (well, except for the household chores I was forced to do...dishes and sweeping and such...hehe), I went swimming whenever I wanted to, went fishing when I wanted to, went hiking if I chose to, gave the dogs a bath, watered the trees, went for a walk to the store, went for a bikeride, hung out with my father, studied, ate, wrote a story, played on my computer, practiced sewing, drew pictures, read a book.....I studied because I wanted to learn, because I wanted to know, because I wanted to do something. Shortly after my sophomore year began, I realized I wanted to fly F-16's in the AF, and that I didn't just want to join the AF, I wanted to go AFA (Air Force Academy). Man, I worked my ass off. I wanted to be good enough and smart enough to qualify. I was already an exercise-aholic, and I became even more of one. It sucked when, at the beginning of my junior year, I found out that to qualify for the AFA, one has to have a 4 year record with an accredited school. That was the year I chose to go back to public school. To graduate, I had to complete 2 years worth of work in just one year. I did it, and graduated on time, with the rest of my class.
There is a lot to be said for homeschooling and, IMO and experience, child-led schooling or "free schooling". I know that I suffered socially, though. I feel that every single day of my life. But, I would not be the same person I am now if not for my particular schooling experiences. Had my father stuck with it, I feel that he would have had the experience and insight to bring me into more social settings with other people my age. As it was, I was a semi-shy and sensitive child to begin with, and it stayed that way and probably got worse when I had no interaction with others anywhere near my age for several years. So I definitely feel that, even if the child is self-led and self-taught, as I was, the parent should step in when they feel there is a necessity to do so. Social interaction with others is a necessity, IMO.
Anyway, I got placement tested, and tested above my grade at every level but math. I was just at my grade level for that one.
So - long story, I know. But I was illustrating a point. I don't think that every child would do what I did, if put in that same situation. But, I think every child has a desire to succeed at their dreams. And they can probably do so better by truly being able to follow their dreams than by being forced to learn what is considered necessary to achieve their dreams.