Okay, okay... I'll answer your questions.
How long do you plan to homeschool? Are you going to keep them home even as teens? If they asked to go to school, would you let them?
I'm not sure. I take it year by year. If they asked to go to school, I would probably let them, depending on their age. I'm not sure what that age is yet.
Do you ever worry that 10-15 years from now your kids are going to feel like they missed out on things. If they decided as a pre-teen that they wanted to live a different lifestyle than you and Vernon would you let them go their own way or try to keep them on the path you chose for yourself.
No, I never really worry about anything. I think kids could feel like they missed out on something no matter what route you choose. Like, maybe, if they went the conventional route of schooling, they would feel like the missed out on family. Who knows? I expounded on the different lifestyle stuff in this blog post here.
You've written about unschooling your kids but, you obviously value an education since you just supported your husband during years of Chiropractic schooling. What is your plan for your kids as far as education is concerned? What if they want to become a teacher, lawyer, engineer or any other career that requires an education? How will they be able to go to college without any structured education or testing? How will they be able to get a job or earn a living?
I've been avoiding answering this homeschooling/unschooling questions because they are asked in kind of an accusatory tone. I'm pretty sure it's my mother, or someone else who is too lazy to do the research on what unschooling really is. Read Sandra Dodd's website, read some books by John Holt, read this Psychology Today guy. Believe me, I've put in more research in my decision to unschool than most people do into putting their kids in school.
That being said, I will attempt to answer your question.
First of all, of course I value education. And unschooling IS education. And if my kids want to become a teacher, lawyer, engineer or anything else, they can certainly do that. Kids LOVE to learn. They are always learning. They will continue to learn. They will grow in adults who LOVE to learn. That is the goal. And, with that LOVE of learning in place, anything is possible.
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5 comments:
I think it's natural that anything outside the societal "norm" like unschooling is going to raise questions ... I'm sure you are tired of hearing them and defending your choice, but it comes with the territory I suppose. You could interpret the questions as accusatory, but the questioner may not intend it that way.
I think the hardest thing for people who don't unschool to understand is how unschooling won't limit opportunity in the future, as the questioner said. Engineering for example requires advanced math, and advanced math (algebra, trigonometry, calculus) is just plain hard! It's hard to imagine a child naturally wanting to do that at first, but sometimes after being forced to do it in school it becomes interesting later. Just a thought.
I think people are extra nervous these days because jobs are hard to come by. It's unfortunate but many jobs require specific degrees and to get those degrees one needs specific education with specific content and/or testing. Maybe people are cynical nowadays but parents play the game because they feel they have to.
Best of luck!
Thank you, Anonymous... you espoused on that better than I did.
Nope,none of those questions were mine.
mom
so, i was homeschooled along with all my siblings and we have mostly all gone on to college and several have masters degrees but more importantly we are all good people who try to do "make a difference" in life...we werent unschooled but, kind of. ("uh, mom, i dont like this phsyics book. can i do more lit instead?" "uh, sure, okay fine.")
and we didnt feel like we "missed out" i had plenty of friends in regular high school and it seemed like a waste of time...
anyway. now that i have kids i have no idea what we are going to do....do you do a coop? i could homeschool with a coop, for awhile i think, but.... still trying to figure it out.
I loved your answer to the last question.
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