Posted on 11/27/2006 11:31:32 AM PST by kiriath_jearim
CHICAGO, Nov. 23 — On weekdays, during what are normal school hours for most students, the Billings children do what they want. One recent afternoon, time passed loudly, and without order or lessons, in their home in a North Side neighborhood here.
Hayden Billings, 4, put a box over his head and had fun marching into things. His sister Gaby, 9, told stories about medieval warrior women, while Sydney, 6, drank hot chocolate and played with Dylan, the baby of the family.
In a traditional school setting, such free time would probably be called recess. But for Juli Walter, the children’s mother, it is “child-led learning,” something she considers the best in home schooling.
“I learned early on that when I do things I’m interested in,” Ms. Walter said, “I learn so much more.”
As the number of children who are home-schooled grows — an estimated 1.1 million nationwide — some parents like Ms. Walter are opting for what is perhaps the most extreme application of the movement’s ideas. They are “unschooling” their children, a philosophy that is broadly defined by its rejection of the basic foundations of conventional education, including not only the schoolhouse but also classes, curriculums and textbooks.
In some ways it is as ancient a pedagogy as time itself, and in its modern American incarnation, is among the oldest home-schooling methods. But it is also the most elusive, a cause of growing concern among some education officials and social scientists.
“It is not clear to me how they will transition to a structured world and meet the most basic requirements for reading, writing and math,” said Luis Huerta, a professor of public policy and education at Teachers College of Columbia University, whose national research includes a focus on home schooling.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
UH OH, I OPENED THAT CAN OR WORMS EARLIER. BE PREPARED. AND NO IT WASN'T A JOKE. LOL
The two young boys for whom the educational authorities professed such great concern were just left AT THE HOUSE -- ALONE! Patty was later told that the bureaucrats from Children Services who were SUPPOSED to accompany the cops were late and, in their haste to get this dangerous miscreant behind bars, the cops just missed the fact that the Children Services people were, well, missing.
Isn't it illegal to leave such young children alone? The cops and the CS personell should do time for this.
Plenty of NYC public schools provide a less structured experience than this "unschooling" family, though with quite a bit more exposure to violence and drugs, and much less academic achievement. I refuse to worry about the shortcomings of particular homeschooling approaches until AFTER the public schools, which are spending about $20K/year/student of taxpayers money, are consistently delivering a decent education. It would be misdirected worry.
Having attempted to be the spelling cop, and, just like you, having misspellings in my spelling cop post, cured me almost immediately.
If your child does not have an interest in the science or engineering, I still believe a decent math education through at least Advanced Algebra must be required. Even if "they'll never use it..." We use Algebra on a daily basis, however, we (at least I) can do it so fast in my head I don't have to write out equations to solve for unknowns or what not. Basic Algebra is essential for daily living....
I am not surprised to read that and agree that it is entirely plausible.
It depends on which unschoolers you're talking about. I knew one family who were "unschooling" their children (about ages 5 and 7 at the time), and it was clearly not a good idea. The mother and father both seemed to be suffering from clinical depression (the father eventually went on permanent disability leave from what had been a very good job in banking). Their devotion to "unschooling" seemed to rooted in their own inability to cope with real-world structure, and a desire to spare their children from the misery that they blamed on such structure. Unfortunately, from what I saw of the children's behavior on the few occasions I was around them, the program seemed to be putting them on the road to the same sort of depression and disfunctionality that their parents had.
There are very few school subjects that provide an opportunity for utilizing logic based problem solving techniques better than math.
That is how I have always answered my kids when they complain that they'll never use math later on. They may not use the math, but the tools will be used constantly. I still encounter quite a few adults who cannot creatively problem solve their way out of a wet paper bag.
I think this could work well for some kids. My oldest, for example, is highly curious about the world. He's taught himself a lot about mythology, Egypt and Ancient Rome.
But I don't know how you get correct spelling and punctuation out of them without insisting that writing has rules which MUST be followed.
Kids *want* to learn. They are by nature inquisitive. It's often the formal setting of the government classroom that stifles that desire to learn.
Un-schooling may work just fine in some situations. My sister-in-law (15), for example, is somewhat un-schooled. She's learning several languages and reads voraciously (War and Peace in a week, for example). She also does video editing and doll-making and other fun things. All out of her own initiative.
I didn't say they shouldn't learn Algebra. I taught it. It wasn't my favorite topic. I tried to make it interesting though and my son learned and made As and Bs but it wasn't something he was really excited about. Bible, Literature and Science were his favorites. He will graduate from nursing school in four days.
But I think you are probably making an effort to be 'cute' -- it's just not working for me.
I apologize for confusing you. I misread the post completely.
Well I won't defend a situation I am not personally familiar with so you win that one. Keep in mind that there are many unruly 5 and 7 year-olds attending public schools too. The parents are still the parents after all. Discipline problems, which it sounds like they were the main issues with those young kids, are not solved by plopping them in a desk and saying "sit" in a room filled with 30 kids to 1 adult anyway. Perhaps the public schools are being saved from two more problem children. The influence of bad parenting is a favorite excuse given by public school bereaucrats for their need for more and more and more money. Apparently bad parents are a problem for all kinds of schooling. Fortunately lousy parents don't usually choose to home school.
Know fuling?
(U'r gowing to bee embarissed when yu prufe-reed yu'r post.)
I caught that we are in agreement as to the ultimate goal of a complete education. Yet, I can't resist point out that the pronound should be changed from "his" to "her." J
pronound= pronoun Where in the world did that "d" come from?
Got it:')
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