What is Unschooling Part 3 - Myths and Misconceptions, Continued
Episode 59: What is Unschooling? Part 3: Myths and Misconceptions, Continued
We finally wrapped up Hayley’s What is Unschooling? blog post series in this conversation. Sue Elvis of Stories of an Unschooling Family joined us again as we had a second look at the Myths and Misconceptions related to unschooling.
While we do continue “busting myths,” ultimately we burrow deep into the beauty of living and learning curiously and respectfully with our children because, as we came to realize again through sharing our experiences, it’s so much more than just defending this remarkable way at life against the status quo.
We Discuss:
Concepts of the “real world” and where daily life and school fit within that
How many people attend years of school and have substantial difficulty with adult life
People experiencing burnout after having been told what to do for so many years
How sometimes getting a degree (or another degree) is something for people to do when they’re not sure what other path to take or aren’t ready work
The power of our young people’s self-motivation
Valuing a variety of choices
That when young people struggle, the system can be blamed whereas it feels vulnerable to forgo the most common path
Figuring out how to learn what the possibilities are
The important place for higher formal education
“Changing direction” or “pivoting” rather than “dropping out”
The “university experience” and whether it’s the only way to gain freedom and experience new places and people, and also … holding openness for kids wanting/choosing that experience
Realizing that just because we experienced something and didn’t think it was particularly special or worth the effort doesn’t mean our child might not still want to try it
Moving away from one paradigm and being intentional of not jumping to a strict sense of the opposite
Questioning the number of years that direct instruction is necessary to learn a skill
“Just in case” learning — the challenges with moving beyond this
The difficulty of waiting for our kids to be ready
The underestimated wonder of a child doing something on their own timeline
Questioning how ages connected to certain milestones come about when so many kids fall outside of them
The building up and accumulating of cognitive connections that are so individual to a child
How we can’t feed learning to a child; they are the learner and it’s an active process based on so many variables
The idea of unschooling as chaos
Ways of unschoolers living an ordered and rhythm-filled life
Play that involves world-building and longer term creation
Deep learning as a messy and scattered process whether for adults and children
The ideas, resourcefulness and problem-solving inherent in open-ended play
Whether we can find a way to raise unschooling up as an effective and wonderful way to learn rather than simply defending that it’s enough
What play might look like as kids get older
Facilitating the learning and interests of multiple children
How life isn’t perfect and when children know our intention is to do what we can, they are quite flexible with other people needing things as well
Our kids knowing they are considered and cared for on a felt level
The value of one-to-one time with children even once they’re adults
Slowing down and unplugging very intentionally in order to really see and hear our kids
That unschooling is imperfect
That our excitement and conviction of the way we live and learn isn’t necessarily our child’s at all times
The beauty in the imperfections of our days as they often lead to forgiveness and connection
Mentally preparing for the inevitable of some difficulties in our days
Resources:
What is Unschooling? Part 3: Myths and Misconceptions - Taking a Kinder Path
Stories of an Unschooling Family
8 Benefits of Learning to Read Later (and taking a more natural approach) - Taking a Kinder Path
Unschooling Math - What Does Learning Math/s Naturally Look Like? - Virtual Kitchen Table Podcast
The Rich Experience of Unschooling Science - Virtual Kitchen Table Podcast
The State of Flow in Learning - Virtual Kitchen Table Podcast
What Do Our Unschooling Days Look Like? - Virtual Kitchen Table Podcast