My philosophy on home education is what is called Unschooling. What is unschooling you ask? Well if you ask 40 different unchoolers you're going to get 40 different answers, the key binding element in all the answers will be this though: we are concerned with learning and becoming educated, not "being schooled." The focus is on the individual learner and their learning style. Unschooling is following your child's lead, allowing them to learn from a wide variety of experiences and resources and not limiting them to the "approved curriculm."
In response to the question, "Wouldn't the term 'natural learning' be more affirming than the use of the negative in the term 'unschooling'?" Suzanne Carter, a poet and homeschooling mom, wrote:
In response to the question, "Wouldn't the term 'natural learning' be more affirming than the use of the negative in the term 'unschooling'?" Suzanne Carter, a poet and homeschooling mom, wrote:
"Lots of people make this point, but I never see the negation as negative in a value-judgment sense when I use the word--to me unschooling is as positive as unchaining, unbinding, unleashing, unfolding, unfurling, unlimiting...."
"All mean freedom and growth and vast possibilities to me."
Now when I say that I believe in allowing our children to lead in their learning, I am in no way promoting "self-regulation" for children (another topic for another post but you can read a wonderful article about it here). What I am saying is allow your child to choose how they want to learn. Not every child can learn straight from a text (I would argue most kids have issues with this style of learning). When given the option of sitting for 30 minutes repeating vocabulary from a list of words or learning from a fun game, which do you think your child will choose. And more importantly which do you think will stick with them longer? Definitely not the "by rote" memorization. Kids tend to learn how to retain the information just long enough to pass a test and then loose it in order to move on to the next list of words. If there is a lack of connection then there will be a lack of understanding. Encouraging your child to play a game, such as Scrabble, Word Searches, or online spelling games - defining words that come up in conversation and giving alternate words that mean the same thing - these are the connections that will bridge the gap of memorization and learning.
Just one more thought to leave you with (or a series of thoughts). Why do I choose to home educate?
I do it because the idea of school is not normal.
School sucks. Period.
I do it because there is nothing more important to me than MY child.
My child is my responsibility. Mine. Including her intellectual challenges, not society's, not school's, and definitely not the government's; It is mine. And I refuse to be afraid of that.
It has nothing to do with religion. Even if my state forces me to use a "Church School."
It's not that I think school is wrong. I just don't care.
School is irrelevant. I am a parent. Period.
I am a mother and my child's education is included in my responsibilities as such. Every day we wake up, we live, and we learn. It is my job to help my child learn and provide the opportunities to discover and grow. Giving up that responsibility to a "school" is unnatural.
This is why I choose to home educate, plain and simple.
