Unschooling

Not sure if this topic has been brought up around here, but it's very primal-related around the topic of education. I just watched this great interview about the idea of unschooling. It sounds radical on the surface, but after watching this, I'm sold! What do you guys think?

[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRk_sfkBCJ8&feature=g-all-u]Schooools Out For Evah! Unschooling with Dayna Martin - YouTube[/url]

We tried it, but it don't work for aspie kids. However we are carrying on with as much self directed learing as possible and the younger one does fine with an unschooling aproach. I think there are quite a few home-edders on this board too, the type of person who questions conventional wisdom and looks for a differnt way finds it in educations as much as they find it in diet (and many other life choices too)

[QUOTE=Tribal Rob;970781]We tried it, but it don't work for aspie kids. However we are carrying on with as much self directed learing as possible and the younger one does fine with an unschooling aproach. I think there are quite a few home-edders on this board too, the type of person who questions conventional wisdom and looks for a differnt way finds it in educations as much as they find it in diet (and many other life choices too)[/QUOTE]

Nice Rob! What is an aspie kid?

And I totally agree about people who question conventional wisdom. I wish we could start are own country, devoid of authoritarianism and top-down hierarchies. :)

My preference is unschooling with a stiener inspiration, which is what we do when DS is not in school, and then he goes to steiner schools. The focus there is on the whole person and developmentally appropriate (often nonacademic) learning -- no grades and no standardized tests (until high school. then they do standardized tests.).

Aspie = Aspergers - oh how he loves his timetables and following of the rules.

We are basically unschoolers. Not radical unschoolers like some but unschoolers in a more let the child lead we provide the materials, opportunities, etc... We know a lot of homeschoolers on this or similar paths.

[QUOTE=Primal123;970954]We are basically unschoolers. Not radical unschoolers like some but unschoolers in a more let the child lead we provide the materials, opportunities, etc... We know a lot of homeschoolers on this or similar paths.[/QUOTE]

Same.

MonkeGuy, that was awesome! She's like the coolest mom/teacher ever. :)

[QUOTE=Tribal Rob;970797]Aspie = Aspergers - oh how he loves his timetables and following of the rules.[/QUOTE]

We aren't all like that. And I never did my work the way they wanted it done. I didn't show my work for math questions (I did them without consciously thinking of the question anyway so showing the work would've been imposssible) and I never wrote in a paragraph what I could write in a sentence.

Homeschoolers, here, too - eclectic homeschooling, with a decent stripe of unschooling.

If you want more information, google "John Holt", one of the godfathers of unschooling, or "Pat Ferenga", his protege. "Sandra Dodd" is another unschooling mom with lots to read from on the internet. If you want to hate your high school education, read "The Teenage Liberation Handbook" by Grace Llewellyn. There are, of course, more, but this will keep you busy for the nonce.

There are unschoolers gatherings around the country every year. We go to the Unschoolers Waterpark Gathering (called the "UWG" for short) in Sandusky OH every year.

Word of warning - if you are enamored of this type of education, please be sure to have repeated heart-to-heart talks and shared research with your SO, BEFORE the kids enter your life. There are few things more contentious than having a radical vision of freedom and then warring with a true traditional-school believer.