Carnival of Unschooling #3
A very small carnival this month, but some excellent reading therein.
First up, we have David, making the case for unschooling, which he does quite well, I might add. Loads of good stuff in the many comments as well.
This, and the events going on in our own lives, lead me to thinking about how wonderfully adaptive unschooling is. Just looking at a typical day from Joanne at A Day in our Lives you can see how unschooling doesn’t necessarily mean a day full of disorganized chaos. Even for a family of younger children, like at Patch of Puddles, you can see how their typical day (in pictures even) is at once similar but distinctly different, geared just for them.
Topic can be grabbed on the fly, as they occur, delved into with the child’s interests, with life. See specifically how Homeschooling Mami explores Black history month with her child, and how it is just a part of their lives, appreciating all their friends year round.
I admit, though, there is often a steep learning curve for the parents, as we navigate the uncharted waters. Over at Tricotomania, she talks about our need to plan for things and how sometimes we need to just let go.
The hard parts that go along with that are noted by Janine, on a day where she’s had to wear too many hats.
This gives me pause for reflection, and an urge to dig out an older post of mine from two whole years ago, Homeschooling and the ADD Mom, where I bemoan my sorry state and declare we just can’t unschool. But just look at how far we can come, what our children can do, if only we adapt our thinking and get out of their way.
Note: The Carnival of Unschooling has move to Unschooling Voices.
Thank you so much for putting this together. I’m going to read it right now.
Joanne
A Day in Our Lives
Comment by Joanne — February 9, 2006 @ 10:07 am
Great collection of posts. thanks for putting it together.
Comment by JoVE — February 9, 2006 @ 10:58 am
Nicely done! I look forward to the next one.
Comment by Homeschool Mami — February 9, 2006 @ 1:49 pm
Wow, this is going to be a good read. Thanks!
Comment by Kim c — February 10, 2006 @ 9:53 am
Hi,
I have a general unschooling question. If both parents are working full-time, how do you make it work if the kids aren’t old enough to take care of themselves?
Comment by Basejaxx — February 12, 2006 @ 7:03 pm
If they are both working full time on regular office hours, it would be difficult. Unfortunately (or fortunately), that isn’t a problem we’ve had to solve. Can either parent work from home at least part of the week?
Comment by Ron — February 13, 2006 @ 9:55 pm
If they can work from home it would be much easier, yeah.
I have another question. Or rather, David Friedman’s son Patri seems to land some good arguments against unschooling that I myself am not able to refute: http://patrissimo.livejournal.com/312574.html
What do you think? Personally, I was firmly convinced unschooling was the way, and I think I still is, but this critique makes me uncertain.
Comment by Basejaxx — February 13, 2006 @ 10:49 pm
“If both parents are working full-time, how do you make it work if the kids aren’t old enough to take care of themselves?”
I forgot to comment on this earlier. Sorry! The answer I’ve seen most often (and one I’d do if I really had to) would be really good personal child care. And then I would work towards changing that.
Comment by Andrea — February 14, 2006 @ 9:26 am
[...] First Carnival of Children’s Literature at Melissa Wiley’s Here in the Bonny Glen. The Second Carnival of Children’s Literature will be held at Chicken Spaghetti on March 5. Submissions are solicited now through March 3rd. Carnival of UnSchooling at ATypical Homeschool. [...]
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