Because I went to the Doctor and he said I have Bronchitis (more on that in another post), I have declared this an Unschooling Week. For Unschooling, I require activities to be of educational merit. You want to watch TV all day? Okay, as long as you watch educational programs. Sorry, "Top Sniper" doesn't count. You want to sing folk songs while you research Roman insulae and then build one? That's good. You want to go outside and practice basketball? That's fine. Playing Army vs. Insurgents, however, does not count.
We also have unschooling sometimes during a normal school week. If a child has completed all of his or her due activities, he or she may work on "educational stuff" of his or her own choosing. The children learn a tremendous amount just by working on their own. Or they come to me with questions or ideas and we work on something together.
I'd love to go whole hog on Unschooling, but that would not be possible for my children. There are many things they would never do if I did not force them and then they would miss a lot. There have been hundreds of times I have made them study a topic which they eventually enjoyed or at least no longer viewed with disdain. It is unfortunate, but true, that my daughter would never write one iota or study Spanish. She'd probably skip Math, Spelling, and Language Arts, too. In fact, I think her days would be filled with nothing, save History and Art.
Now, my son is different. There isn't really a subject he doesn't at least like and most he enjoys greatly. However, if left to his own devises, his education would be built solely around Legos.
And that's why we don't Unschool all of the time.
Leave a comment