Unschooling Example
BevK October 29th, 2005
I think unschooling is best explained by using examples. This article has a really good sample unschooling family describing their experiences with unschooling.
All in the Family
Excerpts:
When the twins were born, Linda assumed she would resume her career in marketing to afford the best education money could buy. In Denver, when the boys were 3, she finagled them into a pre-kindergarten that fed into an exclusive private school.
On the first day, Austin went in with an astronomy book. But when he asked the teacher when they were going to study astronomy, she looked puzzled and said, “I think you study that in college.” Linda says Austin grabbed his brother by the hand and told the teacher, “Thank you very much, but we’re going home to study astronomy.”
“My job is to put things in their path in a way that can be engaging,” Linda says. “You have to be ahead and think of opportunities for them. We do read the ‘great books,’ but if they aren’t interested in one, I’ll go get the tape and we’ll listen in the car.” Also in the car: tapes from The Teaching Company on great battles of the ancient world, the theory of evolution and comparative religion. Right now they are listening to From Yao to Mao: 5,000 Years of Chinese History.
We use Teaching Company tapes at our home, too. Yes, they are expensive compared to some other curriculum, but I haven’t had a history series yet that didn’t keep my kids attention.
