My month as an unschooler

[Valerie in WA]

Remember about a month ago, I asked if anyone unschooled their young children? Well, I did it! Unschooling is a slippery subject to get solid information on. I did find a couple of books to read. One is The Unschooling Handbook by Mary Griffith. It's a good all-purpose guide. The other is Christian Unschooling by Teri J Brown. This book contains many essays shedding light on what the unschooling family 'does all day.'

Here is my summary of what we've been doing for the last month:

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Home education log September 24 – October 26, 2005.

We’ve spent this past month in a few different activities. We set aside our formal curriculum, and I spent time observing the children, educating myself regarding unschooling, and observing the children some more. Primarily I was interested in leaving behind our structured school activities and worksheets for the “3R’s” – reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmatic. I’ve found these subjects meet with a great deal of resistance from the children. I do not wish to spend our time fighting over this schoolwork, so I sought a different approach to these subjects, but it is my intention to – at some time – resume our curriculum for the other subjects.

For Rachel, I determined that she both reads and writes adequately on her own. She is a voracious reader, reading at approximately a 5th to 7th grade level. For example, she read Laura Ingalls Wilder’s By the Shores of Silver Lake in less than a week and demonstrated good retention of the material. She also has already read more than half of the Sonlight “Read Alouds” for the ‘Core K’ year, books that the adult is supposed to read to the child. Her writing is probably at the minimum of that which is desired, but she justifies it by engaging in many other tasks that promote development of fine motor skills. Examples are embroidery, sewing, and working with beads. She rarely engages in math activities involving operations, but she does devise projects using measurement and shape. An example is the quilt she designed with my fabric scraps. Just this week, I found, at the library, a book entitled Games for Math by Peggy Kaye. It seems to cover a wide variety of Kindergarten through 3rd grade math. As she is steadily learning money and time through real-life experiences, I will be using this book to encourage Rachel to work with operations, relative positions of numbers and estimation. Rachel expressed a desire to learn sign language, so I borrowed several books and videos from the library. Each day she learns two or three new signs.

Rebecca is under five years of age and therefore, not required to do schoolwork yet. She does occasionally work out of her Horizons K Math workbook. I also find her spontaneously counting objects. Today she enjoyed playing Fill the Spoon and Grasshopper from the math games book. She is gradually learning letters through teaching moments and I’ve started to introduce each letters’ sound. She frequently draws and is working on basic sewing skills and beadwork to improve her fine motor coordination.

For content-based areas such as science and social studies, we have found many real life opportunities to share information with the girls. Nature study comes very easily. Most recently the girls found and studied insect larvae. We also learn about anatomy and physiology when illnesses and injuries occur. Today, Rachel was observing a circle with pegs radiating out from its center. This lead to a discussion of geometric principles relating to circles and digressed from the radius of a circle to the radius bone in the arm, the ulna, and various veins and arteries. The girls are enjoying using educational television to increase their science and social skills knowledge. They particularly enjoy Cyberchase, which presents math principles. Other favorites are Magic School Bus (science) and Peep (spatial relationships and early science). We are gradually introducing documentaries, but the narrations are sometimes beyond the girls’ comprehension. Both girls have an excellent grasp of many roles in our society, including community helpers. They are learning civics, current events and US history. They often play historical games, based on books we have read or Bible stories.

Both girls frequently design and execute arts and crafts projects involving paper, tape, glue, popsicle sticks, markers, crayons and/or scissors. About twice a month, Randy formally offers drawing instruction. They also attend a weekly gymnastics class. Spiritual instruction occurs frequently in our lifestyle. The girls enjoy many varieties of music. In this past month they have chosen to listen to: classical, Christmas, worship, kids’ silly songs, and kids’ praise music. They experiment with making music with household objects, and occasionally on our piano.

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HTH somebody.

[homesteadmamma]

Sounds perfect to me.

[SHOPGIRL]

I've got quite a few questions about homeschooling.

First of all, have your children every attended preschool?

Did your oldest attend school: private or public?

What kind of curriculum do you use?

Do you align your teaching with the state benchmarks and standards?

How do you go about choosing a specific curriculum?

I have two neices that are being homeschooled, and I'm concerned they are behind grade level. It seems like some kids either do great with homeschooling or terrible.

[Early Bird]

Shannon,

Some homeschool kids are behind in grade level. But that doesn't mean that homeschooling is failing.

For example, DH and I both have family histories of late reading. DH was having trouble in 2nd grade, so his mother got a phonics program and gave him one-on-one tutoring until he finally got it.

One of DH's sisters was still struggling with reading in 5th grade.

I was right at grade-level w/ reading, I believe. My siblings also. Not early readers.

Now, DH and I both have gradulate degrees. So do all my siblings and 2 of DH's.

We think a good education is of the highest importance. DH and I have encouraged the children in many many ways: reading to them since they were infants; having bookCASES full of interesting books; weekly trips to the library; We spent the BIG BUCKS to send our children to Montessori preschool.

The kids had yearly physicals and eye exams. No problems noted, except for both needing speech therapy in their early years.

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You'd think our kids would be far above grade-level for reading, right?

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Nope.

DD#1 was almost eight when her 'switch clicked.' She went from reading "Pat the Fat Rat" to "The Boxcar Children" in a month.

DD#2 was NINE AND A HALF. I struggled through numerous approaches with her -- phonics, sight words, computer games, even audiblox. [spendy]

When 'her switch clicked,' she went from reading her required '2 pages each school day' to reading 783 pages ON HER FREE TIME that month. The kid who wouldn't read 2 pages of 'Courderoy' blazed through 'Dinosaurs Before Dark' in one day.

Now, lest you think I'm just a lousy teacher, DD#2 is above grade level in math. And has been for years.

So, don't worry excessively about your neices: Maybe they can't recite facts to pass a standardized test. Or maybe they can! But kids who develop at their own pace can get a highly successful education.

[Early Bird]

Valerie, in case you think I set out to hijack your thread:

I'll bet that month of unschooling will leave great memories for all of you! Sounds like it was fun.

[SHOPGIRL]

Early Bird,

Thanks for the detailed reply. The reading is what really concerns me about my oldest neice. She should be in 4th grade right now and probably can read at no higher than a second grade level. She hates reading because it is difficult for her.

My sil didn't start school with them till a few weeks ago. I'm very careful not to interfere with how they are educating their children.

I'm just wondering if there are better home school programs on the market than what they are using. My sil has a 9 year old, 6 year old, and a soon to be 2 year old. I'm sure it is difficult to educate the children when there is a very busy 2 yr old running around.

[Early Bird]

You might do a google search on 'late reading.' Or go to http://www.sonlight-forums.com/index.php , where there is a lot of intelligent discussion of homeschooling. And the discussion covers lots of topics -- from reluctant readers to different curricula to international homeschooling. And they have a pretty good 'homemaking' forum too -- some good frugal tips.

[Valerie in WA]

Earlybird, no sweat, I think it's great if we can give Shannon (and others reading) information about homeschooling.

To answer your questions:

Q: First of all, have your children ever attended preschool?
A: Nope.

Q: Did your oldest attend school: private or public?
A: No

Q: What kind of curriculum do you use?
A: See similar question below.

Q: Do you align your teaching with the state benchmarks and standards?
A: Yes, each state has different requirements. This link: www.hslda.org is a pro-homeschooling site, but they provide links to legal info in each state. You can look at your sil's state here and see what she is required to do. Select the "In Your State" link from the column all the way to the left. Then select "state laws" on the left. Then click on the map of your sil's state.

My state requires that I cover: "Occupational education, science, math, language, social studies, history, health, reading, writing, spelling, music and art appreciation"...and that I school "180 days or in grades 1-12 'an annual average total instructional hour offering of one thousand hours.'" There are also requirements for my qualification to teach, record-keeping, notifying the state and annual testing or evaluation.

Q: How do you go about choosing a specific curriculum?
A: This is a question that baffles all homeschoolers. There are HUGE amounts of curriculum available. Some are 'schoolish' with text books and worksheets. Some are all workbooks with no texts. Some are literature-based (using 'regular' books to teach history, etc). Some are in between. There are lots of approaches to math, lots of approaches to learning to read, lots of approaches to everything. There are websites to review, forums to discuss, catalogs to browse. Some curriculum focuses on tests, some on writing, some on just experiencing.

For me personally, I did a lot of reading. I literally read every homeschooling book that my library owns. The one that helped me the most was Things we wish we'd known (I think that's right). It has an essay from each of 50 homeschooling families, talking about what they learned the first few years, the mistakes they'd made, the hurdles they'd cleared and what the 'take-home message' was for each of them.

I also spent a lot of time on forums, lurking, asking questions, getting a feel for things.

And I prayed about what to do.

My first year was my older daughters 'pre-K' year. I started with the 'letter of the week' and unit studies that I put together (topics like Community helpers, or ducks, or prairie living). I didn't use any curriculum. By the end of the year, she was reading two years above grade level.

The next year we began with a curriculum that used children's picture books to teach social studies, science, art/art appreciation, some language arts (but not how-to-read), and some applied math (but not a complete math program). I liked this curriculum because everything was intertwined. For instance the child might practice handwriting on a sentence related to the history lesson, related to the story. In addition to this curriculum, we had a math program and we were supposed to have a learn-to-read program, but I taught her myself (without curriculum)

That curriculum required a lot of planning on my part and I found myself trapped between perfectionism and burnout.

So this year (our 3rd) I was using a literature-based curriculum that is very well planned out for the parent. Everything you need is at your fingertips. It uses 'real' books not textbooks to teach: bible, literature, history and science. They use a lot of Usborne books for science and some ancient history. They also have worksheet-type Language arts program that includes learning to read.

Now, I'm sliding into the unschooling approach that started this thread. In a nutshell, unschooling is child-led. We do still use our literature-based curriculum, but what I've really backed off from is forcing my 6yo to do handwriting and math worksheets (she reads at a 5th-7th grade level). She hates it and I'm learning that there are other ways for her to learn these subjects.

As for your sil's kids: reading 2yrs behind doesn't concern me. Grade levels are pretty arbitrary and everyone develops at a different pace. Some kids get their first tooth at 3 months, some at a year. I walked at 9 months, my dh at 17 months, but you know what? We both walk the same today.

Hopefully your neice is learning that learning can be fun. Hopefully her mom reads aloud to her a lot so that she can experience all that books contain even though her eye muscles and gray matter aren't ready for reading. Is there a better curriculum than the one they're using? Who knows? There is no 'best' curriculum. There is only what works well for the child/family at this time.

Let me know if you have other questions.

[SHOPGIRL]

Thanks for all the info!

Just curious. What made you decide to homeschool?

[homesteadmamma]

Shopgirl, I think all of us have different reasons for homeschooling. I've homeschooled now for 10 years and wouldn't have it any other way.

We decided to homeschool because all 3 of our kids have special needs and we also wanted to give them strong Christian values. We wanted the freedom for them to learn at their own pace and to develop in areas they were really strong in. We've watched them grow and mature into fine young adults who have a strong faith, who have developed beyond our wildest dreams and who have astounded the professionals they've been involved with.

I noticed in a post you had mentioned you were concerned because a niece of yours wasn't reading. Our dd struggled with reading until she was almost 12. Then one day a light bulb went on and she always has a book in her hand. She reads encyclopedias, books that are advanced in her fields of interest and now remembers all she reads. Some kids learn slower than others. Dd hated reading too. We didn't push her, however we read to her constantly. I agree with Valerie in that reading 2 or 3 grade levels doesn't concern me at her age either as long has her mom is reading to her from various types of books and at all ages and that your niece has lots of opportunities to read what she so chooses. Some of the best books on homeschooling are books written by Raymond and Dorothy Moore, pioneers in homeschooling. Mrs. Moore has much to say on children who read late. Home Style Teaching , The Successful Homeschool Family Handbook and the Moore's website http://www.moorefoundation.com/about.html

As to curriculum, Valerie has said it well.

As to following a set of standards, again Valerie is right. In our province, we have to send in reports twice a year and we have to also give a written review of what is being taught during our school year.

HTH

[Early Bird]

Yo, Valerie! I know what you mean by burnout from trying to devise your own curriculum!

It sounds as if we might be using the same literature-based program (Sonlight, right?), but I stretch out a 'Core' to 2 years. And I add and delete books according to how I feel will best serve our family.

[Chea]

I've always been curious what this unschooling was. I feel alittle bit more informed now thank you!

[canadian gardener]

unschooling is great, but can be hard on the nerves at times. I credit the fact that we did a very relaxed unschooling crossed with hm unit studies with our two, for their success.

At times it takes a bit more work and planning than something that comes along all in a package, and I've done those too, and they are great in their own way. I credit the package deal with keeping me going that first year before we flew on our own.

to comment on reading difficulty and hs kids.
My sister has 6 kids, all of whom read late. And all at different ages which made it even harder.

The worst reader of the lot didn't successfully take to reading till around 12. Now if you tested him any year before age 12, you would have seen a terrible lag in development of reading skill. He would have tested at about a grade 2 level by Gr 5 and above, Gr 1 before that.

She did various phonics programs, and by the time he came along she was pretty good at tailoring the program to fit the kids.

Dyslexia runs in our family, and her dh's side. Most of her kids would be considered dyslexic, and this one would be the worst.

In fact her dh's neices and nephews who were school schooled, as it were-- well they had an even harder time, and some are still functionally illiterate, and behind in every subject since so much depends on reading.

If that middle boy of my sister had been in school he would have been labelled, and put in program after program like his cousins. He wouldn't have learnt to read well at all, and would have been behind in all other class work.

Because he was homeschooled, my sister kept him on track with math, social studies, and science, and he has now successfully made the jump into Gr. 11 at the local high school.

He wants to be a heavy duty mechanic like his dad, and there is every reason to think he will do fine at that, or college if he wanted.

You see he is not only at grade level in the other subjects, he is ABOVE in reading ability now.

Because he was at home, and because my sister didn't quit and think the school might do better, he was able to take the time to learn to read without learning that he was disabled in any way shape or form.

He was able to keep up in every other subject (gifted in math) and is a happy well adjusted teenager who fits into the high school crowd a little too well for my sister's liking.

party animal!

I remember once when I was just learning about homeschooling myself, one homeschooler said something I've always remembered and this is what she said.

"If the child is learning disabled or delayed as a homeschooler, people always ask why we don't put that one in school, where they can "help" him.

BUT if a child is learning disabled or delayed in school, WHY DON'T WE ASK "SHOULDN'T HE BE HOME SCHOOLED INSTEAD????"

When the shoe is on the other foot so to speak, it quickly points out, that the problem with learning disability, is not whether a child is in school, or in homeschool but what you are doing for that child in either learning environment.

Schools have an equal number (actually the stats show a greater number) of learning disabled or delayed children than homeschools do.

We mustn't critique the schools in either the home or the public schools as being "at fault" but accept that some kids no matter where they go to school, have learning challenges and that good educators address those challenges and help their little learners do their personal best, whatever that might be.

Hope that helps

[hollyhill]

Bravo, Margey, that was fantastic!!!!!

I have been in the hotseat on this issue too!
Dd's are doing very well and the older they get the more "amazed" onlookers are.
My Ds however is visually impaired. Reading has come very slowly and he will always be prone to eyestrain and headaches so he will never be able to read for "hours" at a time like Dd's. But he is gifted at music (he could read music before he could read books), and science. We all read to him and he listens to books on tape. He is reading just below grade level now and still struggles with writing.
I have had so many critical comments reguarding him. He needs to have a "proffesional" help him on and on.
Perhaps it looks that way especially when compared to his sisters but I know how well he is doing and how he is improving!
I even went to a coloboma help forum on the net. I was critiqued there too!!!They all went to school and didn't think I could meet his needs at home.
And you know what! This child is doing so well that he would never use the term VI for himself!!!! There are so few things that he can't do. Like play baseball LOL. But listening to those other parents on the coloboma forum go on about all the Issues and difficulties their children have in school, I know he would be a different person if he attended school.

Like Margery said homeschooling works well for those who are 'delayed', or 'advanced' or even dead average (whatever that is).
Sorry about the rant. This topic is my 'button', if you push it, beware.

[tea4two321]

Hey Valerie!! It's me, Tina in MD from you know where. I am happy to "see" you here. Thanks for re-posting your unschooling message, I had read it "over there" and enjoyed re-reading it today.

Just to chime in...I have a special needs child at home, she's dyslexic. She knows she is dyslexic, but has no idea at what "grade Level" she reads at, she just knows that we are using a special reading program, one-on-one to help her read better. No one ridicules her, she's not labeled, and she doesn't have to leave a classroom full of her peers to go to "special class". I have no doubt in my mind that homeschooling is what's best for her. Will it always be right for her? I have no idea, I take one year at a time and pray for guidance. I just know that as of right now, no one can be as interested in her development as her family, and no one could possibly spend as much time with just one "student" every day. Everyone has their own decisions to make regarding their childrens education, there is no one size fits all sort of thing out there. But homeschooling is right for our family. cheers! Tina