Another typical unschooling-defamation piece makes its way into my Tweetstream. I was inspired to make a little something I will picture in my mind every time this happens. Call it my personal moment of Zen.
This little bit of Photoshoppery has nothing to do with unschooling. It has everything to do with being awesome. For instance how awesomely I LOL every time I read or hear some other persnickety, tired-out, anti-child, parent-dissing pearl-clutching screed recommending enforced child-class institutionalization.
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In other news: I wrote a new post at UB, but it’s kinda grouchy, fair warning. I had a good day today though, honestly.
I’ve just gotten to the point where I can’t even muster up the energy to get mad…I found the article you were talking about. All I can think is “Oh, you poor sad miserable bastard” when you are so entirely reliant on external motivation and rewards that you can’t even imagine someone doing something different. (Like my unschooled daughter’s 300 volunteer hours at the zoo this summer) I mean, really, it’s sad that someone would think so little of them self that they think they would do nothing worthwhile if they were not forced to, isn’t it?
I think you have a beautiful life, and wonderful children. I am no hater.
I do have a couple of questions though,
How do you unschool the multiplication tables? My daughter has gone to public school with near perfect attendance, and I found that I had to enroll her in MORE school (Mathnasium) to get her at grade level.
Similarly I went to public school and I never learned multiplication tables. I never bothered to teach myself them, so I never learned them. This was a pretty huge obstacle in my life.
also:
Do you think you will be able to unschool during the teen years? How will this affect the process of applying for colleges? Do your kids talk about college as though they expect to go?
Thank you so much for your question! You know, you asked a lot with those handful of sentences. So I wrote a lot, maybe more than you’d expected! I appreciate you giving me the opportunity to write on this, and I hope it helps anyone looking for some perspective on this stuff.
@DancinJules
“it’s sad that someone would think so little of them self that they think they would do nothing worthwhile if they were not forced to, isn’t it?”
It is sad. So many people operate under this though. For themselves yeah, it’s just mirrored in how they treat the child class.
I was recently reading ignorant comments on a pro-unschooling piece and had a similar reaction. I will keep your awesome Zen moment in mind.
@Lauren
Glad to help! But we have to remember it’s Bunk who gave us this beautiful tool. #LOL And yes, the comments… Ugh.