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Unschooling by default
By ella | August 9, 2007
When homeschooling days didn’t quite go according to plan or when we had playdates or errands to run, I took heart from the fact that we could homeschool throughout the year, including the long summer vacation, and still keep up with Harry’s school work so that he wouldn’t fall behind his friends.
Amount of homeschooling done in the last three weeks? Approximately 42 minutes.
I cannot teach him while I am feeling like this.
I still take heart from the fact that he learns all the time anyway. ‘Tomorrow, can we learn about how engines work?’ he asks earnestly. I can tell him stuff like that without resorting to formal lessons. (Just.) (OK so maybe I have to skip off to the computer and check first before I teach him a bunch of misinformation.)
I also take heart from the fact that the average school child has 23 minutes of one on one contact teaching time with their teacher each week in UK schools. Harry has, until the sickness struck, been getting several hours a day.
But I still can’t get over this feeling that I’m failing him just a little bit.
Of course, he doesn’t care. While the sun shines and his best buddy-brother, William, is available to play with and beat up on a regular basis, while there are fields to explore and dens to make, while there is mud to race his cars through and things around the garden to build, he is as happy as any five year old could possibly be.
So while I am sick I have formally adopted the unschooling method. And it’s working for us. Maybe a bit too well. Because those curriculum books on the shelves? Well I’m wondering if they will ever be opened again.
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Read More:
- Giving up homeschooling: starting school
- Homeschooling worries
- Why homeschooling did and didn’t work for us
- More reasons I regret giving up homeschooling
- Starting homeschooling: the first weeks
Categories: Homeschooling and School
Embrace it! It is only for a season and if you do decide to scrap the curriculum there are loads of unschooling blogs out there to give brilliant ideas and moral support. Think too of all the studies and articles about how formal academics at an early age might not actually be the best thing for children.
He’s five? That’s Kindergarten - if you’re dealing with lessons about “How an engine works” when you are able to teach - then I truly think he’s getting what he needs - and more.
Hang in there. you are a saint. i would never get pregnant if I had the kind of pregnancies that you have to endure.
I was homeschooling my 10 & 7 year old, with a 2 year old in the mix. It was a bit of a struggle, but still better than our bout of public school.
But then, I got mono that put me down for all of last year. Unschooling happened ‘by default’ and we love it so much! Even though I feel much better, it’s become our way of life now.
Good luck to you, I hope you love it as much as we do!
I wouldn’t sweat it, Ella. Kindergarten really need not be a time of “formal” schooling, anyway. I heard a quote from a first grade teacher who said, “I can always tell the kids who went to Kindergarten vs. the ones who didn’t” and then she was asked if they were that much farther ahead academically and she said, “No, the ones who went to kindergarten knew how to stand in line.” That’s time well spent!
I think if you just spend the time reading with him and learning whatever he is interested in right now, you will do great. I understand that fear of not following a schedule, though. Our eldest begins kindergarten this year and we are homeschooling him and I feel weird not having a set program. My goal for the year is to teach him to read as well as possible. If he’s able to do that, then teaching, using whichever method, will become that much easier.
You are doing great…don’t be too hard on yourself!
Hi! Stumbled across your blog and thought I’d comment. I’m an unschooler and love it! Don’t sweat it, find the educational value in everything and there is a good chance you won’t need to pick up those curriculum books again! Go with the flow and see where it takes you. If you are interested in some unschooling blogs, I have a few listed on my blog, and Life, the Universe and Unschooling has a ton more on hers!
Best wishes and have fun!! (Or watch him have fun since you’re feeling too well
Popped in via Home Ec 101..
I think, as a home schooling mom, I am my worst critic.. we are naturally hard on ourselves to do “better” than the public/private alternatives..
Our days started smoother, when I eased more and we started learning differently. When my son was younger, he lived on brainpop.com and I still have days that I live on edhelper.com.. so spend more brainpower getting better.. you’ll be back in the full swing of things before you know it..
I hope you feel better soon..
~Heidi