Un-academic Unschooling

You can not 'make' someone un-academic or 'non-academic' because you unschool and do not follow standardised curriculum. 
People who gravitate towards the academics do so whether or not they are following a curriculum. Just as following a curriculum does not make you academically inclined-as 'school-thinking' relentlessly proclaims. 
Just as ramming kids into day care does not prepare children to be more successful in school- that is 'improve school readiness.'  The notion currently being bandied about in the news that hammering kids with facts at earlier and earlier age will have the positive effect of making them more academic, and as a result, do better in school, and go on to earn more money and... happiness-I guess.

But what about preparedness for actual life- of which school severs kids from-cutting them off from the ebb and flow of the day to day world?

Take my poor little nephew. Did I say little? My mistake. He is four; twice as old as the school pushers say kids should start school. In his school, they get homework. Empty pitchers all, these children are ordered to comb through newspaper size print and circle every letter 'a' those unfortunates can find. 

Rather than being busy at their play, making little games up, drawing, painting, kicking a ball around, singing, dancing, doing nothing, they not only have to do tedious busy work at school, but they must take it into their homes and do more of it.

I am reminded of the wonderful book I am reading with my daughter-Charles Dickens' Hard Times. I can't help thinking that all we have gained about children and how they learn-and how they are people too with rights and wants- all that is slipping back into that era so well described with Gradgrind and the Bounderby in two simple words: "Never wonder." Not when you are two, nor when you are twelve. Not when you are five and seventy. Just don't do it.

Of course this type of thinking can't understand that unschooling can produce an academically minded person- if that is what the person wants. And if that person is growing up unschooled, it is likely that they are not even bothering with the distinctions between academics and non academics. They simply go where they are interested in going.

This means that you can develop an academic interest where you might never have had such an interest before. Just as you can develop a non-academic interest when you are more inclined towards academics. One is not better than the other.

We are creatures of learning and thankfully, we have more opportunities today to explore and to discover our interests like never before- in spite of all this craziness going on with respect to early childhood education.

I look forward to a time when what will matter will be the individual's interest and that, like unschooling already does, what will be fostered in children is their passion -and not a label assigned to them.

Quality over Quantity in Education

Schooling. It's quantity over quality isn't it? Like mass produced shoes, shirts, furniture, sheets, cups and saucers. Make it as cheap as you can and sell at maximum profit.

That's okay. Mass production has its place but does it have to be that way with education?  As for me, I am always going to aim to get the best made shoes, the best tailored coat, the most carefully crafted bowls. I prefer to have one pair of well made boots then 10 poorly made, 'slave' laboured ones any day. I prefer to seek out that well made jacket in a used clothing store. I prefer to go without. And so it is with education.

I will pick a kid who knows one subject in depth- whose love and attention to the subject matter is evident. Whose careful and caring research into the topic reflects a depth of understanding-linking this knowledge to the wider context of the world around her.

They are making connections and evolving relationships with that interest as a starting point- their authenticity can not be dismissed.

I would pick that kid over one who has no love for anything. Who has a smidgen of knowledge on this and on that but cares nothing about anything much. That's the kind of kid that schools churn out everyday-ruining natural ability regularly. 

Look at the comments from this article to the question (posed to 13 year old kids)  "would you want to homeschool?" 

http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/10/would-you-want-to-be-home-schooled/

Notice the similarity in response to the question.

This is mass thinking at its worse.

These kids have no experience with home schooled or unschooled persons. They have no context whatsoever and yet here they are, voicing ignorant and hasty opinions- worthless half thought out ideas, non truths.

It is shocking to see the way these kids respond.

There was only one kid who was honest enough to say: "I don't know. Let people just do what they want to do."

This is a kid who was not afraid to say that the emperor had no clothes on.

What We Gain: Empowering Unschooling

There's all this chatter about the academics  that are lost when kids unschool; "This kid can't write worth squat. He's 12!"  A valid concern for those who are worried that unschooling ways will drag the country back into the Dark Ages. I hope they are as worried for those kids that go in for 12 years of public education and still can't read. 

The chatterers have no idea of the context this child is growing up in. If they were to wait a few years and revisit the child they might see another picture all together.

In the mean time it might be worth reflecting on the following: Who is this child? How is he? What is he doing? What interests him? Is he happily pursuing his interests? Is he getting out there and growing that interest and taking time to nurture it?  And equally important, is he confident and giving and kind?

Take my friend's son. He is 11. He enjoys playing sock puppets and stuffed toy animals with his younger sisters (9 and 7). By the way, the sisters sew these well crafted toys entirely by hand.

The nine year old has just launched a little business of her own.

Together they have enlightening games and stories that they continiously develop. He then takes these to the computer and creates animation videos.

His sisters in turn draw constantly. They tell complicated stories through art. Their work is sophisticated and detailed and beautiful.

How many 11 nearly 12 year old boys do you know who enjoy playing with their younger sisters? 

Both sisters are at the stage where they are breaking the reading code.

So okay- they don't know grade 3 or grade 5 math. Yet.  And I am sure that with her business venture, the 9 year old will grow her math sense at lightening speed.

In fact, as with my own daughter (who is working on her piano pieces for an upcoming recital as I write this)- now that she has decided she wants to try out high school next year, we have started working on math together. It's going well because she is motivated.

Aside from a few workbooks here and there over the years, she has done very little formal math-there was very little interest. I have always been aware of this but have kept the 'mat' door' opened- be it in making sure there are math opportunities (yes- even flash cards), math games, chess which she loves, art that has a mathematical component and even literature and ideas that are math based.

So what do we gain when we unschool?

We gain and retain a strong sense of individuality. Our kids need not hide who they are nor what they are interested in.They are free to be. This is empowerment at its purest.