Homeschooling and Unschooling
Methods to Consider When Deciding to Teach Your Child at Home
There are two types of homeschoolers. Those who teach school at home using various curriculum products, and those who allow their children to direct their learning themselves. One is generally known as doing school at home, and the other method is called unschooling. What's the difference?
School At Home
There are benefits to both. When signing up for a complete curriculum, much of the pressure is taken off the shoulders of the parent that is homeschooling. There is often a tutor provided, contactable by mail, phone or email. You can be sure that your child is not missing out on anything, and will be able to graduate if he wants to.
On the other hand, times for study are more rigid and strict. Parts of the curriculum can be above or below your child's abilities, or not necessarily suited to his particular learning needs. It can also be expensive.
More and more families now are choosing to home school for various reasons, whether it be safety, health or dissatisfaction with a particular school system. Many choose to home school through the high school years. This may be a good case for a definite curriculum, as the child will already have been in school mode for many years.
What Is Unschooling?
For many homeschooling families, especially the ones who have never sent their children to school, there is the unschooling road. Highly criticised by many as being an irresponsible way to teach [Dr. Phil, Great School Debate shown on TV, Nov 2006], it has many followers who would not live any other way.
The term unschooling was coined in the 1960's by John Holt, a teacher, and home education advocate. This is a way of life more than anything, as it is child directed learning through play, reading, and everyday living. Learn maths by going to the supermarket and balancing the books, learn biology and science through gardening, and music through listening.
The idea of teaching your children through every day events can be time consuming and fraught with self doubt as there is no way to test what they are learning, unlike more orthodox methods of home education.
Teens and Homeschooling
Unschooling can become more challenging as children get older, as learning through play is not usually an option anymore. It is necessary for the parent to find other learning avenues for their curious child and encourage any interests, such as cooking, crafts, music, and more. The list is endless.
The fact is that most homeschoolers think that their way of learning is the best, and it could be, because it is the parents who know their own children best. They have time for one on one contact, which is sometimes impossible for a teacher in school to provide due to the amount of children she may have to supervise.
Whatever you decide, there are many resources to help either on the web, at a book store or at the library. You may eventually settle on a blend of traditional school at home and unschooling, mixing and matching various resources to suit your own child's needs.
