Ramblings...

I saw THIS on a thread over at Secular Homeschool and I really feel like it is meant to be shared with all.
Enjoy *tissues will be needed*.

**Disclaimer: All information on homeschooling methods will be just a generalized and very brief *if I can help it* overview of the method. Every family who uses these methods will of course work them to fit their needs. After each overview I will discuss some of the things I do and don’t like about the method in relation to our family. **

Unschooling is a simple concept, it is completely non-school in any traditional sense. No classrooms, no dictating what will be learned and when, it is child-led 99.99% of the time. Unschoolers believe in learning in the moment, they follow the child’s desires with the aim of sparking a continuous love of learning. There is a lot of real world applications in unschooling. Instead of learning money from a textbook unschoolers may opt to go on a grocery shopping trip and allow the child to handle the money.

When an unschooling parent wants to teach a certain subject they may rely on unit studies. Unit studies offer unschoolers a way to bring structure into their day if they *and most importantly their children* desire *or need* it.

Unschooling will be different for every family taking part in it *some families are more “radical“ in their approach and others dance the line between traditional school at home and unschooling*. Just as homeschooling is different in every family, even those who use the same method. Unschooling especially is different in every family because each child is different. Being child led one child may be into robotics and another may be into nature. So even among the kids in the family one child may be learning the ins and outs of robotics while another is learning how nature works.

Now would this method work for us? No. I’m sure you all already had that answer figured out from my previous posts. While I’m all fine and dandy with letting my kids follow what sparks their interest *and will allow for time in our day where they can study whatever floats their boats*, there are still core things I expect to be learned. Due to the fact that I expect them to learn these things, I expect myself to ensure they are taught. This means using textbooks and most importantly a schedule. Our days are way more affective with a schedule. While we do have days where it gets thrown out the window, all in all if we are attempting to meet learning objectives we need our schedule.

I can see the unschooling concept being great for small children or even as a last year of schooling before the boys embark on college, as a way to unwind before the work of paving ones future career really starts.

But during the main schooling years, I don’t see it working for our family. Alas nothing seems like a perfect fit, but there is still one more method to go over! Until then enjoy your summer ladies and gentlemen!

Unschooling Disclaimer: Everyone has seen unschooling in the media at some point in time, all I have to say is this, television is television and should be taken with a grain of salt. Yes they will hunt out the ones who prove their point so they can fill their hour long show with their thoughts and opinions. The same can be said for homeschooling, if you look at the media 9 times out of 10 homeschooling families are religious fanatics who shelter their children from anything they deem filled with "evil". Is this the whole homeschooling community? No it's not, is that how we are shown though, yes. While unschooling isn't for our family, there are families who make it work. Just like with any other method out there.

Upon digging into homeschooling I discovered that there are various ways in which to instruct your child/children. Every family, in fact every child, is different. Even if two families are using the same method it will still vary based on what best fit’s the needs of the family implementing it. That is the beauty of homeschooling, no need for a one size fits all approach, this also invites frustration in locating the method(s) that work best for your family. As we come to a close on our first full year of schooling, I’m still working out what method(s) we will use and what we won’t. So as I work my way through it all I will be posting one post a week for the next eight weeks that will give a brief overview of the featured method, a list of books or other resources that relate to that method, and a list of pros and cons of the method in relation to our family’s needs.