"Unschooling" - This SHOCKS Me!!!

[Ally]

This morning on good morning America, they had a piece on Unschooling.  I had never heard of this and was very curious, but turns out, I am shocked!  Unschooling is where children stay home, and unlike homeschooling, they aren't taught ANYTHING, but are allowed to learn from their "life experiences"!!!  There is no curriculum or much if any adult guidance. "A fundamental premise of unschooling is that curiosity is innate and that children want to learn."  Yeah, right...what 10 yr old is so curious that they want to learn grammar and fractions and are willing to pass up watching Nickelodeon all day to teach themselves!!!

 

 The two kids on the show either played video games, watched tv, or played on the computer day in a day out.  The kids had been doing this since 1st grade and are now teenagers and think "it's great!"  OF COURSE THEY DO!!!  They are in their teens!  The interviewer asked the parents about needed some type of math skills in their adult life and the parents said "if they need to know how to do algebra, then they can go get a book and learn it"!  Seriously!  As a teacher, this shocks me, but as a parent, this outrages me!!!  I cannot imagine letting my children sit at home and "teach" themselves and not give them any guidance to how to live in the adult world.  What will these kids do when they get to adulthood??  I know not all people go to college after hs, but people with a hs diploma or a GED certainly can get a good job and learn to support their own family one day.  These kids have learned how to beat Playstation and sleep in til noon!  Do these parents really think their children will go out and be a useful person in society!  Oh I could go on for hours!!!!  And I wonder what type of schooling the parents had so they could work and support their family, put food on the table, and pay for all the computer games that their kids sit at home and play?? 

 

For more info on this crazy idea go here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unschooling

 

Ally

[August's Momma]

I saw an episode of wife swap or trading spouses (one of those), and one of the families took this approach with their girls. The thing that was crazy to me: the mom was a Dr. That's right...an MD. What on earth? The other mom had the girls tested (which the father was against), and they were way behind where society would expect them to be at their ages. I was shocked at the idea of it, too. I just don't see any way that it would be good for any child.

[Kristi]

Shocking. And neglectful, I think.
Here's the story on GMA.
These kids parent themselves too. No rules.
According to this story, these families register as homeschoolers and Alabama has low regulation of homeschoolers.
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Parenting/video/extreme-parenting-radical...

[Sarah M]

I agree. I think it is irresponsible and lazy parenting. I have also been shocked when I've seen stories about kids whose parents used his method. I also so a family on wife swap who did this, but it wasn't the same episode as what August's Mom saw. The children were SEVERAL years bellow where they should have been for their ages. The little boy could barely write. And the parents could see no problem with it.

However, I wounder if there are different "less extreme" versions of unschooling? I just wounder because I've heard of people on online forums, etc that call themselves "unschoolers" but they still have some structure and make sure their kids are actually learning all the regular school subjects. From what I understand they let their child choose or influence HOW they learn but not so much WHAT they learn, like through doing lots of different hands on activities.... instead of mostly learning from books, lectures, and discussions like in schools. I think that it is defiantly good to tailor the way you teach to the way your child learns best, make it fun for them, and let them discover things on their own too. But, I cannot imagine letting them have all the control over their education (or lack of!). If my parents had done this I'm sure i would have played and watched tv all day too and learned nothing. I mean who really WANTS to learn Algebra, etc? Not me!

[Jana Avellana]

I didn't see the episode but from what I heard these parents seem like really bad unschooling parents. I could never do unschooling myself because I live to much in todays world and I believe as most of us do that our children should meet "requirements" by a certain age (heck my 9 month old isn't walking yet and I am freaking out lol).
I happen to know a couple parents who homeschool/unschool and I gaurentee had they seen this episode they would flip out and say that the news station was stereotyping. Ya know it's kinda like when some thing big happens in Alabama the news seems to make it a point to find the most uneducated person to interview that they can, which further feeds in to the whole "Alabama is full of nothing but inbred hicks" stereotype.
Unschooling is defined as child led learning. Or the philosophy that children want to learn but they don't want to learn on a schedule. Which is true. Aren't we as moms appalled when our children are forced in to a one size fits all learning program? And if our child, by chance starts to fall behind, its too bad so sad. As for a 10 year old not wanting to do fractions? Of course they don't! But thats the point in unschooling, they don't learn that stuff, at least not the same way. They would learn it by cooking a pizza or by measuring ingredients, through life experiences. Wouldn't you had rather baked a cake than taken 10 different tests? Really I can count on one hand alone how many times I have used algebra since highschool... They don't teach what you don't use. Why should you learn something useless? Just to prove you can learn it?
How Unschooling is supposed to work is you find your childs interest and you learn with them through that. For example my son LOVES Thomas the tank engine (he is 4) so for his age I would teach him numbers, colors, and shapes using something he loves. Thomas and friends are numbered so it helps him identify them. They are all different colors, so there that is, and the windows are squares and the wheels are round... So on and so on... For older children lets say they decided they wanted to go to 6- flags. You could do a study on georgia (or atlanta to get more specific) which covers geography, and history... You could also learn about rollercoasters and how they work which could tie in math, science and other random things... I think this is a very pleasant way to think about educating a child.
Again its hard to accomplish because you are constantly teaching your child (if you do it the right way, if not then you let you child sit and watch tv all day long, which is not what unschooling is supposed to be about). Children enjoy this kind of learning way more than sitting behind a desk all day long.
As for college all they have to do is take placement tests. Actually colleges like Princeton are taking a very good amount of home and unschool children because they like their ability to think outside the box. Children who go to public schools are taught one size fits all where as children taught at home are taught to learn in a totally different way so they express themselves in different ways. And when it comes to getting a job, thats easy. They have been taught all their lives that it is ok to do what you love and thats what they do, so when they get older they do what they like. One of the ladies I know who did unschooling has a son that is a video game designer that helped with designing the World of Warcraft games. Her daughter is a realtor.
If I could unschool in a way that would benefit my children then I would NEVER send them to school. But my kids would more than likely be the kids that watch tv all day... Think of unschooling like this.... Not many years ago this is how people were taught. Kids didn't have to "perform" like they do now. They learned on their own schedule and they did learn as long as they had parents who cared enough to teach. To me schools now a days are lacking. I think they should be more like a structured unschooling process.

[Jana Avellana]

Also one thing I forgot to comment on is the statement that "if they want to learn algebra they will get a book and learn it". I don't think there is anything wrong with that statement. That is EXACTLY how adults learn. Think about it, you didn't come of of highschool (or college for that matter) knowing everything you need/want to know for life, when you need to learn something new you go get a book or jump online. As for the kids making their own rules. I think thats a good idea also (given you have some kind of structure for their life). Kids shouldn't rely on mommy and daddy to guide them through everything. If they do then when they get out on their own they are lost. Kids should be expected to make "rules" for themselves and follow them. It's what we do as adults. So I guess it other light instead of unschool not preparing them to become adults you could assume that it is showing them adult life before their time.