At the end of my previous post, I asked the question:
Are you accepting something for what it promises, or rejecting something for what it fails at?
I have been fascinated by the responses, both here and on the blog's Facebook page. Some of you indicated that, with respect to homeschooling, you are completely accepting, others passionately rejecting, and others neither accepting nor rejecting.
This leads me to another similarly provocative question related specifically to homeschooling:
How do you think your homeschooling perspectives and approaches might vary if your children were once enrolled in a traditional school compared to if your children were always home-schooled?
If your children were enrolled in traditional school, for example, do you feel more comfortable following an established curriculum to retain the rhythms of a traditional school-day, or do you reject the traditional school rhythms and seek something completely different? I am curious to hear your responses, here and on Facebook.
My children have never attended traditional school and we committed to homeschooling when my oldest was only two-years-old, so my perspectives on life learning and unschooling have blossomed naturally from watching how my children learn. Beginning in toddlerhood, we became active in our local homeschooling community, particularly young homeschooler playgroups, and my kids have developed friendships with other similar-aged homeschoolers that have endured over the past several years. We feel completely free to follow our own learning path, uncovering the children's passions and gifts as we go, and see homeschooling as a natural extension of our family rhythms and child-rearing philosophy.
I wonder how different my perspectives on homeschooling would be if my children had attended traditional school at some point, and, again, how the discourse would change if I were removing my children from traditional school to home-school, whether out of rejection of a broken system or acceptance of a new way of living and learning.
You?
We removed our son from public school because we were not happy with the social influences and the teaching to the test led my once curious little guy to not enjoy learning. We went through a process of "de-schooling" for a few months before returning to a curriculum, but it is nothing like a regular school day. He has lots of freedom and loves learning again!
ReplyDeleteHi Nancy, thanks so much for visiting and commenting! I am glad you brought up "de-schooling" because it seems like such a great approach when making the transition from traditional schooling to homeschooling. Glad to hear that it's working it out for you and your son has regained his love of learning!
Delete-Kerry
Good point. I think the leap to homeschooling is harder for me because one, I had a good public school experience myself. And two, my kids are currently enrolled in a Montessori preschool. They love it, I love it, and so we're not actively looking to change that. I'm always awed by the amazing things they do at their preschool. Perhaps that scares me a bit: could I possibly keep up that rhythm at home? Am I creative enough? Energetic enough? Do I have the right knowledge to think up these amazing projects that my kids do at school?
ReplyDeleteA friend of mine and I are often engaged in the homeschool debate. She, too, is so close to taking that jump and has even commented on this blog on occasion. Yesterday, in fact, she suggested I get in contact with the homeschooling community where I live (Montreal). I've been thinking about this for a while. For me, to whom the social aspect of it is as important if not more than the academic aspect, this would be vital. I'm sure it will be the tipping point of the scale. Because as it stands now, there's NO reason why I would take them out of their current preschool/kindergarten situation. It's so perfect.
The resources we have at our disposal, our past and current experiences, without a doubt shape the schooling decision. As they do everything else about raising children, n'est-ce pas? :)
I think the awesome freedom makes up for my lack of creativity. We follow a curriculum, but spend a fraction of the time on it compared to other things. Hands-on science I am up for sometimes, and learning by getting out and about, but arts and crafts are too much for me, so I outsource:
Deletehttp://homeschoolinginbuffalo.blogspot.com/2012/03/outsourcing-my-teaching-weaknesses.html
You bring up some great points, especially about Montessori education which has such a wonderful reputation for fostering child-led learning and imaginative play. I can see how it would be difficult to make the leap from that positive schooling experience to home-schooling. You and your friend are right though: becoming actively involved in your local homeschooling community in Montreal will be crucial if you are to make the leap. As always, I look forward to hearing more about your journey...
Delete-Kerry
Liz, I really liked this post of yours! I too am not crafty. It's like those neurons don't work for me ;) So I "outsource" much of arts and crafts by taking advantage of the variety of drop-in art studio classes for kids in my city, as well as other arts classes. I think it's important as homeschooling parents to recognize our "weaknesses" -- or just those things that we don't really like doing-- and find other ways to meet our children's needs using the vast resources of our communities.
DeleteThanks for sharing!
-Kerry