Unschooling?

Okay so i am watching Wife Swap and this father unschools his kids. Basically his kids choose what they want to learn. Does anyone else feel like this could hurt children like I do? I mean how will they learn things that are needed for college and stuff?

Thats stupid.

If they wouldv'e let me learn when I wanted to in school I would've known alot about.....glitter? lol

 
That's a given. Why would he do that? Now his kid is going to grow up with useless information in his head.

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?”

Did you honestly learn stuff for college? I don't use anything I learned in school, and everything I have learned living in the real world I use daily. I mean, I wouldnt unschool my kids, but still.

I think it can hurt children. Why not "unschool" them after school. Let them have fun and learn what they want at home while still learning things they will need at school. 

i think it definintely could effect them in school.
idk why anyone would want to do that to their child.

i've seen that one he was a douche.

And pp who said you use nothing you learned in school, you do, you just don't realize it. Reading, grammer, basic math...

I agree. Children need to learn that they are not able to make EVERY choice in life. I can understand maybe one day a week letting them choose between a couple of different topics, but all the time?

Quoting kristenxxdanielle:“ Did you honestly learn stuff for college? I don't use anything I learned in school, and everything I have learned living in the real world I use daily. I mean, I wouldnt unschool my kids, but still.”

oh yeah, i used a lot of what i learned in high school in college.

actually i used high school by doing super-advanced math to avoid ever doing it in college, although i still had to do statistics.

but as far as skills learned in high school, absolutely-- my writing skills, critical analysis, basic knowledge of western civilization and english literature, all very very useful while in college.

I think there should be a balance between teaching them useful skills like english/writing, reading, and math skills and letting them learn about things that interest them. Given subjects they are interested in, I think children will be more apt to learn about the subject and get a good grasp of it. I know as far as college goes, a good deal of what I learned in high school didn't matter, and I had to teach myself how to do a number of other things that teachers I had failed to teach me (paper writing, etc.). Basically, I think you could find a balance that would work far better than the public school system.

Quoting Isla's Mom:“ I think there should be a balance between teaching them useful skills like english/writing, reading, ... [snip!] ... me (paper writing, etc.). Basically, I think you could find a balance that would work far better than the public school system.”

I agree with this.

The thing is most people don't get unschooling. It's basically child led learning. You "influence" what they get interested in and teach them from there. It isn't No-schooling. But you let them think it's their idea to learn something and you teach that. If they decide they want to learn about mermaids....you turn that into a science lesson, writing lesson, math lesson, etc.... It's not what alot of people think.

I think it's a great idea.
I do think the basics should be taught, regardless.
But I think children should be able to learn whatever they show an interest in learning. I think this is where the parents should step up, however, and not the schools.

I think the basics should be learned early on. Math, science, English, Social Studies and the like, but I also can see where the father is coming from. I would love to see more parents encourage their children to learn more about what interests them. It may encourage them to excell in other areas of school as well.

Quoting psikrieg:“ I think it's a great idea. I do think the basics should be taught, regardless. But I think children ... [snip!] ... whatever they show an interest in learning. I think this is where the parents should step up, however, and not the schools.”

i'd like to see it be a mix-- where the schools have a part of the curriculum "open" to definition and guidance by the child.

the basics need a reevaluation anyway... the way public schools teach doesn't necessarily reflect what children are developmentally prepared to learn-- or how best to learn what they're being taught.

Quoting Mara:“ i'd like to see it be a mix-- where the schools have a part of the curriculum "open" to definition and ... [snip!] ... necessarily reflect what children are developmentally prepared to learn-- or how best to learn what they're being taught.”

Yes, exactly! I would love to see that happen, as well.
I agree that the basics need to be reevaluated, also. That is one of my issues with public schools; what is taught and how it is taught is not "just right" for every child in a classroom. The problem is, there are so many children to a class that a teacher can only teach one way - the way they were taught to teach. I've known a few teachers who went above and beyond and actually made an effort to help each person in the class learn, however they could. But for the most part, I think the teachers are swamped and that they are generally stuck in the idea of teaching as they were taught to teach...with little or no room left for open thinking or individuality.