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UK Mum
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| Posted: Dec 09 2008 at 11:22am | IP Logged
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thie idea of this approach is growing on me...
I have some questions. The idea of project, child lead learning is very appealing. Would anyone be willing to share how they changed over from more stuctured learning to unschooling? Also, maths...do you *really* not follow a set plan of learning for maths? How about history? would it not be too higgledy piggledy to go with child lead learning on this?
Help! my brain is fried!
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Lynn
“I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.”
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Milehimama
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| Posted: Dec 09 2008 at 10:26pm | IP Logged
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I do unschooling for science, but not for maths.
Can you transition with a basic workbook or whatever, and also do child-led projects as well?
I'm curious to see how unschooling math and grammar works! Can't wait to see the responses to this!
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Milehimama in Houston
Mother of 11 - 8 Church Militant and 3 Church Triumphant
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UK Mum
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| Posted: Dec 10 2008 at 12:25am | IP Logged
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thanks for your reply! We use AO, & maths etc tend to be games & activities etc, but are chosen & lead by me. The idea of child lead is scary, but intriguing at the same time 
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Lynn
“I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.”
Michelangelo
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Willa
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| Posted: Dec 10 2008 at 10:02am | IP Logged
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I transitioned by first letting go with everything but Maths and Latin. I figured that everything else was easy to learn from just creative living. I kept these two "requires" both low-key and short. Everything else, I tried to observe the kids and their interests, strew or collect things I thought they would like, be a supportive interested mom, and just talk. We did a lot of talking and it turned out to be somewhat of a family engine for our unschooling.
I kept reading and trying new things myself and trying to invite the kids to share my interest, without "pushing" the invitation if you know what I mean. Rather, just being open, sharing "I learned this..." or letting the little ones help with my housework or cooking or crafts rather than telling them to let me work as I tend to do otherwise : ).
I think this helped me "deschool" enough to see how learning took place all the time. For instance, my then 10 year old learned a lot of math by (1) calculating prices of things in toy catalogs, at the store etc and (2) playing games that involved math.
In my case, I'm not a total unschooler -- I guess we are seasonal or as Melissa Wiley says, tidal homeschoolers
Hope other people will speak up! Seems to me there are as many kinds of unschoolers as there are families!
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Willa
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Willa
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| Posted: Dec 10 2008 at 10:09am | IP Logged
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Oh, and I meant to say that there are ways to deal with the "higgledy-piggedly" element. For one thing, children who are unschooling make their own connections when they are ready to make them. Because the learning is real, it sticks better in their minds.
You can share "survey" books for history and science. Mine loved Usborne and Dorling Kindersley -- those helped them to fit the bits and pieces they learned into a bigger whole.
Maths -- I know it's said to be sequential but more and more it seems to me to be about one thing -- numbers and their patterns. So when my little ones started learning about the "teen" numbers just because they loved numbers, it was easy to show them how they are "teens" because they combine a ten with the unit, and so on.
If your kids like projects (mine don't so much ) you can do really nice math-related projects -- starting with any book or topic that interests your family. Living Math has lots of neat math books and ideas.
My kids like computer games so they get a lot of math mileage from games you can find on the internet. BBC has lots and lots of these for different Key Stages.
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Willa
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Barbara C.
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| Posted: Dec 12 2008 at 12:28pm | IP Logged
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I think you really have to let go of what you think it is absolutely necessary for EVERY child to learn. To me the necessities are math and reading. While I want my child to learn about history, I don't feel that it is necessary for them to learn every little factoid. Unless they become a historian, they won't necessarily need that. Most of the things that people need to know about American History can be learned just by observing national holidays.
The biggest thing I see is having lots of resources handy for learning: educational shows, books, computer games, activities. And see the educational value of what some people would consider "fluff" or "goofing off". And encouraging your child's ideas as much as reasonably possible.
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Barbara
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Leonie
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| Posted: Dec 12 2008 at 2:12pm | IP Logged
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I started my homeschooling adventure years ago as an unschooler, added in structure a few years later, then went back to pure unschooling and now we unschool and occasionaly do maths and Latin. 
I think it helps to see learning everywhere and to truly believe thst everything counts. Everything. Even watching film clips on YouTube.
I wrote at the Unschooling Catholics blog about how to start unschooling and this may help. I also found it very helpful at first to keep a journal and more specifically a maths journal - noting the learning in every day life.
beginning unschooling
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Leonie in Sydney
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4Real Forums : Philosophy of Education
Topic: can we talk unschooling?
