Pay for Play

As SagePixie commented on one of my posts, kids can "learn a lot through TV and video games." I realize this when my son's reading abilities continue to grow if the only things he reads for 3 days are the names of the power ups earned while playing LEGO Star Wars. Hand/Eye coordination is developed. Memory is tested. Cooperative play skills are built as he usually plays these games with his little brother.

I know that there is a large variance in the way that people homeschool their children. Even in the unschool community, people's philosophies vary greatly. Some welcome different technologies into their "school day," while others shun video game systems and television that is not PBS. In our house, we tend to straddle the middle line. I did turn off the cable, but I bought the Penguins of Madagascar Christmas DVD. My Netflix queue has both Birds, Birds, Birds! and Santa Buddies. Watching the movie Up began a new obsession for my 7 year old that includes searching for blimp videos on You Tube, and looking in Venezuela for Paradise Falls. (It isn't real, but check out some of the landscape that inspired the movie The Real World Behind Up's Paradise Falls)

I also know that in January, I am going to have to sit down and talk to a nice lady at the board of education and show her what I've done to teach my boys. Lists of activities are all well and good, but she is going to want some "proof." And this makes me nervous. So a month or so ago, I instated a "pay for play" rule. If you want to play video game, you have to perform an activity on the cork board in the living room. There are math sheets with addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. There are lists to record books read and Weekly Readers (subscribed to before unschooling).

Surprisingly, this idea has gone over quite well. I don't have to remind the boys to do their math or reading before playing games. Some days, they choose not to do any, and instead choose to draw, play with LEGO or work on the laptop. There are never complaints when it comes to doing the activities. My 5 year old searches out the division problems because he likes to manipulate the counting bears that way. New books are being read, and critical thinking activities are being performed. They like the Weekly Readers.

We don't stop this rule because it is the weekend or a holiday. They read on Thanksgiving so that they could play Wii. However, if on Christmas they get a new game, they won't have to do an activity to dive into it.

So now my boys are doing activites that would have began crying battles of will before taking on a less traditional approach to schooling. The kids are happy and I'm less nervous. And we'll see how the BOE likes it in the new year.

Unschooling: A working dad's perspective

With traditional school and homeschooling I missed out my children's education.  When I got done working and made it home, with a traditional 8am-3pm school day, I missed it all.  The math.  The reading.  The geography.  The philosophy.  The science.  The robotics.  The computer programming.  The carpentry.  The human performance studies.  Oh they don't do all that stuff in public school do they?  Anyway, I missed out on the "golden opportunity" to participate in my kids education.

That's when you school children -- when parents are at work; right?  If the kids have been completing worksheets all day, being handed work to do and told what is of interest, they will be more than ready to stop listening to me, and anything I tried to teach, by the time I get home from work.  Last year, when we were more traditional homeschoolers, the kids were not as eager to listen to one of my heartfelt explanations of nuclear fission.

Stop the press!  With unschooling kids aren't overloaded all day.  They are trusted with being inquisitive humans who will stop at nothing to understand the world in which they live.  With that schooling pattern our kids seem to stay open to learning and asking questions all day.  They don't say "No.  I really don't want you to explain that now."  Instead they approach me with questions like "How do you spell screech owl?" or "How can Betelgeuse be as large as our entire solar system!?"

What's most important?

• The kids are happier (fewer arguments with parents over what to focus on)
• We're happier (fewer arguments with kids over what to focus on)
• They're interested and engaged in what they're learning (their interests, us showing our excitement in helping them when they can use it)

Am I sold on unschooling?  Not completely.  We both have our eyes on wether our kids will be able to happen upon an interest in all the things they need to know to succeed in the 21st century.  So far I'm optimistic.  I'm happy with the changes we've experienced so far.

5 Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me When I Started Homeschooling

Recent events have inspired me to blog more. Blogging about my October experiment was an excellent way to reflect on how I really felt about unschooling. Now, with a good friend starting to homeschool, I have been thinking about my own beginnings with HS, and what I wish someone had told me as I was starting out.

1) You don't need to school 7 hours a day just because that is how long they would be in public school. Seven hours of one on one (or two on one, or even three on one) time is a lot. If you have a really large family, perhaps as a teacher you would be spending 7 hours homeschooling, but not each child. My kids were young, but I found that most days I was finished with our school day by lunch time. After lunch we might do a project or experiment, but some days I let them watch SpongeBob. So much time in school is spent waiting: for other kids to finish; for the teacher to answer your question; in line for lunch. With homeschool, we cut the wait, and get down to the "nitty-gritty."

2) Workbooks are only so good. When I started homeschooling, I bought LOTS of workbooks that were going to help me teach my son everything first graders need to know. Now the problem was, I was homeschooling my son because he was an outside the box thinker would would not be a good fit for public school. Why in the world did I think he would want to do worksheets? Work sheets are helpful in that they give you "proof" when you meet with the board of education, if like me, you are in an area that makes you check in. But if your son doesn't want to do them, they're not going to help.

3) Just because you are a teacher, doesn't mean your child will listen to you. These people you are homeschooling are still your children. You will still have good days and bad days. Some days they will just want to ignore you. You will have clashes of will. And sometimes no matter how hard you've planned for a topic or a day, they will not listen. Which leads to......

4) Things will go wrong. The lesson won't always go like you planned. You thought they would really enjoy a certain story, then take an hour to think and draw a picture to go with the story, and that you would share and talk about the drawings and ceremoniously hang them on the refrigerator..... But instead, the kids got bored halfway through and now while you are trying to read they are chasing the cat around the room with light sabers. There will be days like this. If you are lucky, only one or two. But I can assure you that it will happen. And when it does......

5) It's OK to take a "personal business day." If you or the kids are burnt out, take a day (or two) off. Find someway to change the sceanery. Take the kids to the zoo, a movie, a Burger King with an indoor playground. Stay home and read while the kids play LEGO Star Wars all day. It's OK. "Real" teachers get PBDs, why not you? If you are lucky enough to have a supportive significant other, go to the zoo, movies, or bookstore (Borders is my equivalent of a BK with indoor playground) by yourself. Just because you signed on to be a parent and to homeschool doesn't mean you have to be there every moment of every day.

Of course, with unschooling, some of these things are less likely to go wrong. Your children still might not listen to everything you want them to, but you'll be "teaching" them a lot less, so they most likely will listen to a larger percentage. And even for unschoolers it's OK to take a personal business day, but you won't need so many, because you will be giving your kids, and yourself more freedom everyday.

The End of Unschool October

The trees on our mountain have passed their peak, and dried brown oak leaves fill our yard. My mom's birthday has been celebrated. Halloween has come and gone. My little owl and the "cuter bird" went trick or treating and acquired their fill of candy. All of these events herald the end of October, and for me, the end of our trial unschool period. I have to say, that life is better with unschooling. No more crying because we have to do things. No more whining, no more frustration.

I went into the month with the vague notion that unschooling would work for my family. My boys are "do-ers." They want to experience life, not just have it taught to them. October was filled with Scratch programming, trips to aviaries, reading books, and conversations about everything. As I said before, this is what our life is like on the weekends, during breaks, in the summer. It was a change in my perception that led me to understand that my boys are always learning, and now they are enjoying life-- even during school times.

Unschooling seems to be a benefit for the entire family. I am no longer as stressed and grumpy. Instead of planning for the formal schooling and teaching while trying to get some time in for me and work around the house completed, I work the kids into the things I need to do. They help make lunch and have taken on the tasks such as feeding and watering the cats. While they are schooling themselves, I can read or work on a sewing project. I'm less stressed about their schooling, so my husband has a bit less stress as well.

That isn't to say that our first month of unschooling went perfectly. I was happy that I followed through with my plan to cancel the cable (thank goodness Project Runway is on the 'net). I also took away the Wii and Playstation. The change is not necessarily permanent, but the games are away while the boys break their addiction cycle and remember how to play with other things. I am happy to add that when they discovered that the game systems were gone, they merely started playing LEGO and reading a book. No one complained.

I still worry about how I'm going to prove to the BOE that I am teaching them. My portfolio last year was large and filled with "things." This year I think it will have more pictures-- more of a scrapbook feel-- along with samples of work they have wanted to pursue on their own.

Now I plan to unschool for the entire school year, and then reevaluate it. I know that for now it is the plan for us, and I beleive that we will remain unschoolers until the boys go off on their own.

Hmmmm...... I think this could lead them to their Mamma's alma mater. COA, here they come.

New Recruit

I spent the first day of November with a good friend who has decided to homeschool her older son. Her family had considered homeschooling starting with first grade, but her son wanted to remain with his friends, so they decided that the best thing would be to follow his lead. He is now leading them to homeschool, and we spent some time at the not-so-local Barnes and Noble while she picked out books to help her on their journey.

They will not be unschooling, as every family is different, and the style does not feel right for them. I look forward to meeting with them for crafts, science experiments, and other fun things. Good Luck!


(I do feel a bit like I recruited them. Where's my toaster oven?)