Isn’t it annoying to find that when homeschooling is mentioned in the media it tends to be horrific problems or “radical” unschooling. Media there is so much more out there! Here is an ABC morning news bit on unschooling ‘Defending Unschooling, “It’s not anything goes.” These parents not only unschool but they unparent.
To be honest I should separate the two issues. It is one thing to unschool. It is a totally different issue to unparent. That is to accept your children on your level in decision making if not above you. You can most likely tell I think a family is designed to have a structure to it with the father in charge. What do you think about the idea of unparenting?
Also I wonder what do you think about unschooling? Is unschooling a viable option for a child with special needs?
Here is the link to the first day of the story airing. http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Parenting/unschooling-homeschooling-book-tests-classes/story?id=10410867 It is clear to me this reporter didn’t like this method or the idea of homeschooling in general. She made several comments about how a child needs to be exposed to opportunities they may not know they like. That tells me she didn’t listen to the part of homeschooling that has us taking field trips to just about everywhere! And going to co-ops, service projects, church and their friends. Homeschooling is not something to be afraid of rather embraced as an educational option for a small percentage of families.
I “UNschool” my oldest with special needs. Un schooling does not mean I am not teaching her…in fact its quite the opposite. She is autistic and has ODD, ADD, ADHD, she is for sure no where near what a typical kid is. She was basically tortured while inutero as she is a twin and she was deprived of all prenatal care while also being exposed to drugs, alcohol and tobacco. My husband and I adopted her and her twin from birth, not knowing what God had in store for our futures..but we didnt care. We had two beautiful babies that we got to raise as our own children. “A” has had learning difficulties from the very beginning. She started school, just shy of 3 yrs old, in a special needs class…she ended up attending this class for two full years. Then we moved out of state due to my husbands job and I had to take her out of that wonderful school. We had no choice but to place her in our districts public school…what a mistake. She was placed in a class with 26 other “special needs” kids with one teacher and one helper. This was a disaster. “A” was “lost” on several occasions…they found her in bathrooms, in other classrooms, wandering hallways, in a janitors closet…its was insane! Then there were the notes home, how she would be hiding under desks, throwing fits, cutting her hair, cutting her clothing, hitting, and biting. She came home one day with a note saying she bit the teacher. When I sat down and talked to her about what was going on she explained to me (In her special way) that the teacher gave her a great big bear hug from behind and didnt let go. “A” got upset and started squriming and screaming and the teacher still didnt let go, so she turned her head around and bit her on the shoulder. I was IRATE. Never again did my child attend that school. I took her out and started working with her with a kindergarten curriculum and found out…she knew nothing of what was in this curriculum. She was hardly even past the first few lessons. This class had taught her nothing. The more I attempted to teach her, the more frustrated the both of us became. She couldnt do it. Not at all. She cant focus on the lesson, she cant sit still, she cant even watch a 5 min video lesson. So, I started teaching her my own way. We took a bunch of one dollar bills, quarters, nickles, dimes and pennies, a note book and a calculator and we went to the market…and we learned how to add. We learned how to read the price tags, write down the amounts and total it all up. Then she learned how to pay the cashier (thanks to some wonderful local farmers and their wives for putting up with our “classes”) We went outside with a camera and a notebook, took pictures of plants, animals, bugs..etc and wrote down their names, sounding out the words as we went…learning to write. We would then take those digital pictures in and load them onto the computer, and search online for other wildlife like them and learn all we could using every search engine available and lots of youtube. Another fun thing we do is collect prayer cards from missionaries around the world. Every week we take out another prayer card and learn about that family, the country they live in and how that country is different from out own. We sykpe with the families sometimes and talk to them about their needs and their challenges, and we pray for them and sometimes with them. My daughter is now 6yrs old and has “graduated” from kindergarten without tears. I also home school her twin now, we love exploring the world and letting the world teach us. I plan on UNschooling my next two kiddos too.
I am not a lazy parent who lets their kids watch tv every day. I am a hands on parent who gets dirty with her kids, who goes out in the world and explores. We let the world teach us…without text books and workbooks and score cards and tests. I know the ins and outs of each of my kids more than most other parents do. I spend every waking minute with them. I love them. I do have a conventional “curriculum” that I read through to know what they “should” be learning but to be honest…my “disabled” kid is more advanced than most neurotypical kids…thanks to UNschooling.
BRAVO!! Jamie!! Good for you. I have close friends that unschool their children and I have unschooled for periods through out our schooling. There is a rhythm and enriched method to their teaching that brings joy to watch.
No two families homeschooling should look alike. I have dabbled all across the spectrum of homeschooling and we are most comfortable with a relaxed eclectic style.
I will stand with ALL homeschoolers to defend their right to parent and teach their children as they see fit! Follow the Lord. Decide as a family and enjoy yourself!
God bless
Heather Laurie
It may work for some and not for others. I don’t think you can say for sure it will or will not work just based upon the fact that the child has a special need. I have read up on unschooling and know a family who practices it and they have very intelligent children. However, with my kiddo, it wouldn’t work so well. I mean we had to teach her to roll over, and crawl, things most kids do naturally. If I didn’t guide her studies she might not naturally catch on to that either! So while we do school and she enjoys it, I do not try to make it like traditional school. We make it as fun and as hands on as possible because that’s the way she learns best. I think each child is different and learns different. I can see different styles working for children of the same family too whether or not they have special needs.
My special son needs as much structure as I can possibly offer. Unschooling has never been an option for us.
I have 5 children. If I had to let certain labels stick, then you would find these attached to them: autism high functioning, ADD, ADHD, bi-polar, unidentified learning disability, dislexia, disgraphia, gifted, and low functioning, possibly a few more. After seeing my oldest daughter go through 5 years of public education, with a special ed assistant to barely squeak into 1st grade and then be told she was failing after 3 short months along with the fact she was growing increasingly violent towards her peers, we decided she was better off at home. At the same time her older brother was bored in his class and was slacking off on paperwork but was acing all of the tests. We were continually denied our repeated requests to change his learning environment. It was then that we decided that the public system was leaving our children behind. For the past 8 years we have been what most would consider unschooling. It was not a decision made lightly and continues to cause me some worry. Then again can you can show me a parent who doesn’t worry over some choice they have made regarding their child? It’s when you lose the worry that the trouble comes in. I can say that this form of homeschooling is a viable option for special needs children. It’s my belief like flowers, children are best left to bloom on their own timing. It’s up to us as a parents to provide the nuturing. And the view here is beautiful!
One thing I would like to add is unparenting, unstructured, and unschooling don’t automatically go hand in hand.
I wouldn’t call us unschoolers exactly, more delight-directed. Though this is the first year (3rd grade) that I’ve used a math curriculum, and I just purchased our first Language Arts curriculum. I’ve tried lots of different curricula, and we always end up delight-directed. My son has ADHD and it’s nearly impossible for us to stick with any kind of structured schedule. What has worked wonderfully for us is a delight-directed unit study approach. He chooses the subject and off we go! We don’t always finish each unit before he’s ready to move on to something else, but that’s ok. He’s learning….a lot!
Personally, I think unschooling or delight-directed learning are the only ways to successfully teach this child of mine.