Comments on: Way Leads on to Way

By: Kathryn H

Kathryn H — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 20:23:17 +0000

I just wanted to reply to Ana Betty who asked how you deal with those voices in your head telling you that you need to get serious as the kids grow older, and that they won’t learn anyhting if you leave them to choose……I can’t say I have a solution to all that, but I certainly empathise with the feeling
Funnily enough, though, for me it was the pressure I was coming under to ‘get more structured’(more ’schooly’) with my older boys that really made me finally confront those voices. I’ve alwasy tried to be as little ’schooly’ as possible, though of course it creeps in. But when I had people telling me that now I had no choice but to ‘get serious’ and stop messing about, I was annoyed! I said to myself, look, I hate the whole school approach, I know it doesn’t work, so there is no way I am suddenly going to get all schooly!’ But what was the alternative? I felt I was staring into a black hole…..and that’s when I ended up here. I was fighting for the right- for the chance- to be with my kids and ENJOY being with them, but I needed some justification for that, to answer all those ‘voices’. I’m still working through all that, and these discussions are a great help!
Oh, and do not feel guilty about taking a day off to try to work all this out- it is so important that you do, and you need space to do that. If it’s any consolation, I have essentially taken the last 6 months off I couldn’t carry with status quo, but neither could I let go and happily unschool. I’ve been in a no man’s land for so long, and am trying to climb out of it! Hope this is of some small help
PS My boys LOVE Zoo Tycoon too!

By: Meredith

Meredith — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 14:27:07 +0000

Michele, this is SO good to read, I can imagine how proud you must be I’m not afraid of home education for high school anymore, not that I ever was, but when they’re so little, it seems so far away and untouchable, but examples such as yours make it all so much easier to work towards, thank you!

By: Michele Quigley

Michele Quigley — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 01:11:21 +0000

In my experience it prepares them well for college. My “unschooled” son is finishing up his second year of trade school/college (it’s a trade school that became a college) doing exactly what he wants to do - cabinet making - and doing it very well. I am so proud of him because he has worked hard and now has a valuable skill that will serve him well. Because the school he attends is now a college and not a trade school he was required to take many other classes (literature, math, science and history classes) and he has worked hard and done very well (top grades!) in all of them. His plan is to go on and get a business degree because he wants to own his own business.

He was unschooled through high school. He followed his interests and much to my disdain did very little writing (though always liked math). But he writes well now because he has to if he wants to get good grades and he does want that. He’s doing what he loves and he’s doing well because it was his choice and his way - the way that worked best for him. He’s turned into a very confident, reliable, mature young man. Can you tell I’m proud?

All that to say yes I think you CAN pursue this style of learning and still prepare your children for college. But it a lot of ways I feel it was more like he was preparing himself and because he had freedom to explore it gave him confidence to look at other options and think about what he truly wanted to do. I have to be honest though and tell you that he didn’t pursue this at first but instead went in the direction of the military. But things there fell apart (for which he is glad now) and it forced him to look at something else and when he did he found his joy.

By: Elaine

Elaine — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 23:47:52 +0000

I agree with much of what you’ve written, but have to ask about how it will impact future options. Is there a way to pursue this style of learning and still prepare your children for college, if that’s where their purpose takes them? How far do you “look ahead,” which I realize is the antithesis of living in the moment, but perhaps something parents will always do…

By: Melissa Wiley » Blog Archive » Is Knowledge Relative?

Melissa Wiley » Blog Archive » Is Knowledge Relative? — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 04:11:56 +0000

[...] year or test date. We don’t have to squeeze knowledge into someone else’s boxes. Way leads on to way! Leave a Comment [...]

By: Marsha

Marsha — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 03:08:43 +0000

I am definitely a schedule, check-the-box type of person… and I have seen that it does somewhat inhibit our learning. Yikes. I think I’ll see if my library has that book.

I now see the connection to your post on patience, too!

Thanks for giving me much food for though!
-Marsha

By: Sandra Dodd

Sandra Dodd — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 19:12:31 +0000

-=-At the top is a quote from Heraclitus, circa 500 B.C.:-=-
Kelly Lovejoy sent me that quote.

Sometimes I think of my site as a prairie dog metropolis. Each tunnel leads to a few more.

Sometimes I think of it as a bunch of quilts made from donated pieces of wonderful material.

I have a connections blog now, too:
ThinkingSticks.blogspot.com