[WordsAplenty]

Hey, home schoolers! Just curious... what method or curriculum are y'all using?
Misty

[wishbonedawn]

Well, I'm a newbie but I'll post here...We're unschoolers so there's no curricullum.

[WordsAplenty]

Wishbone... I've always been curious about unschooling, but I'm too afraid to try it! What are your days like? Do the kids really seek out knowledge and learning opportunities? I've always been afraid my kids would become total couch potatoes if we tried unschooling. Do you also unschool the younger kids? Do they learn to read and do basic math on their own?

[wishbonedawn]

Originally Posted by WordsAplenty

Wishbone... I've always been curious about unschooling, but I'm too afraid to try it! What are your days like? Do the kids really seek out knowledge and learning opportunities? I've always been afraid my kids would become total couch potatoes if we tried unschooling. Do you also unschool the younger kids? Do they learn to read and do basic math on their own?

My kids (daughter 7, son 4) ARE couch potatoes at times. Harry generally loses interest in laying around after an hour or so but Catherine can go for days doing nothing else. but in my experience it's usually followed by boredom then an interest in something that she pursues.

And yes, they seek out their own learning opportunites...But then, I see them picking stuff up even when they're in couch potato mode. Catherine explores her interests (currently Greek myths, ancient Egyptians and Snow Leopards) at the library, on the internet, through TV and such. I'm generally right beside her in this so far since she's 7. But some things, like reading, she's completely taken the lead on. Harry's major interest is anything Thomas the Tank engine related. He's got his own idea of developmental priorities so I suspect he'll be awhile before reading and doing much math but he's got a tremendous sense of humour that I think he'll be working on.

We do read to both all the time and I've brought home a some 'Educational' software and showed Catherine some phonics websites but we've never really done any lessons or sit down work. She goes to Starfall.com or plugs away with her books before bedtime, sounding things out. Six months ago she made a huge leap into reading simple books and, to me, it seemed to happen overnight (I didn't know about her bedtime work). And just recently she made another leap (after putting aside reading for those interveneing months), working through books several grade levels above what I thought she could read...Again because she decided to put more work into it. Math progresses the same way. She learned to add and subtract during a 20 minutes dice game when she was four. She was happy with that for a couple of years then started asking about negative numbers. Recently she conquered multiplication and multiple number addition because she simply decided she should know it.

I think that's the pattern with unschooling for my kids. Instead of the constant work I remember from school to reinforce what I was taught, my kids wait until they see a need, ask a few questions and just get it. They just take the fact that learning is easy and fast for granted. But it's not exactly 'on their own'. I don't sit down and teach them but I'm there to answer questions, play games, surf the internet with, wander through museums and libraries with. I'm more a facilitator then teacher figure.

[WordsAplenty]

How do you keep from worrying that they might be behind? My daughter is 6 and she still struggles with reading. She has to sound every word out, no matter how many times she's seen it. I am okay with it taking her awhile, but I feel a bit embarassed when people are "comparing notes" on their children's progress. I know that's awful, but I do. So many homeschoolers seem competitive about how far advanced their kids are. I try not to buy in to that, but it's hard sometimes. My daughter is in Girl Scouts, and she feels bad that the other girls can read without sounding out. Any tips? I'm trying to be relaxed, but sometimes I fall into panic mode, where I feel like I need to push her until she gets it.

[wishbonedawn]

I still worry about that but I feel I have to realize that's my issue. I have felt nervous at times about specific things but try to look at ways where my kids are doing well. My daughter took her time with reading too and had friends who were reading chapter books when she was struggling with board books (in fact she's still behind those friends) but at the same time my daughter is a fantastic story teller. Who knows if she would have developed that skill if she'd been reading earlier?

I know what you mean about when some homeschoolers compare notes. It's the same darn attitude I wanted to avoid by not sending my kids to school. Oh well! Suggestions might be to find another community that will balance out those voices. There are lots of email lists for unschoolers and more relaxed methods. You could also do some reading related to child led learning so you're more comfortable with her pace and you have solid thoughts in your mind to refute the competitive sillyness that goes on. Try some books by John Holt, www.lifelearningmagazine.com (free pdf downloads of past issues!) and www.sandradodd.com. Even if you're not interested in unschooling there's still a lot of value in the ideas behind it.

For your daughter, maybe let up on the reading? It sounds counter intuitive but I find it's when I let up and give the kids space in some area that they make their leaps. Replace reading lessons with lots of reading to her? Myths, legends, wildlife guides, websites, recipes and whatever she likes.Also, a website that my daughter enjoyed and really helped was www.starfall.com. It has lots of phonics practice.

It may just be that she's not ready to read yet. Maybe there's some developmental piece that hasn't fallen into place yet related to how she hears sounds or put concepts together. Really, we expect kids to read very early these days. I've also read suggestions that kids, left to learn to read on their own will read several years later then their schooled peers (personally I think they have better things to do ). The catch however is they learn very quickly, often surpass their peers and have a real sense of the value of reading.

I have no idea if this helps but I tend to just throw out stuff and if it helps, fine. If it seems unworkable, no problem.

[wishbonedawn]

Here's a specific page at sandradodd.com with lots of stuff on learning to read that you might enjoy...

http://sandradodd.com/reading

[WordsAplenty]

Thanks wishbone. You bring up lots of interesting points. For one, my daughter is hearing impaired. She can hear and she wears hearing aids, but she has trouble with certain sounds. I'm sure that contributes to the problems w/ reading.

We visited starfall.com today. Both my 5 year old and my 6 year old enjoyed it. They would've stayed on the computer all day if I had let them! Thanks so much for the great link.

I'll check out the other sites you mentioned, too. Keep posting! You've been a great help already.

[wishbonedawn]

I knew the Starfall site would be a hit.