I get this question a lot.....

[Trinity]

Unschooling? What is that? Interest led learning? What is that? How do your kids get an education?

For those of you wondering how are my boy's receiving an education if they are unschooled?

Well they pursue their own interests it is called interest led learning, and in pursuing those interests they are learning along the way. I just received their assessment forms back from the state certified teacher who reviews their portfolio and then signs the form I need to submit for the new school year.

Here are her comments she included with the forms....

Family - You have done an AMAZING job using interest led learning to cover all areas of the curriculum. The resources that you have utilized a variety of online resources that facilitate learning across the curriculum, and show a wide range of thoughts and opinions. This is one of the best lists of resources I have seen this year.

Jesse - Jesse has read a wonderful variety of literature this year. I am thrilled that his comprehension skills are on a college level. Jesse's interest in Minecraft has led him to computer code. How wonderful that he sees the relationship between mathematics and computer languages. He has made progress in line with his ability.

William - William has read a wonderful variety of literature this year. How wonderful that his reading has helped influence his song writing. I am thrilled that his musical and lyrical compositions have led him to become a more fluent reader, and increase the number of books that he is reading.
I enjoyed reading the lyrics to his song "Waking Up" and viewing the video. He did a great job writing the music, writing the lyrics, and producing the video. He has made progress in line with his ability.

:dance:

Here is the list of resources and books I submitted for her review. Keep in mind these are only resources we use for discussions. Most of their learning is done through discussions we have unless it is something they are pursuing on their own such as the coding and lyric writing.


Jesse reading list age 14
December – The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien,
January – The Diary of a young girl by Anne Frank
February – Holes by Louis Sachar
March – The boy who dared By Susan Campbell Bartoletti
April – The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
May – Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
June – Something wicked this way comes by Ray Bradbury



William reading list age 17
December – Of mice and men by John Steinbeck
January – Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin
February – Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
March – The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
April – The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
May – Something wicked this way comes by Ray Bradbury
June – The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien




Everything listed was studied with both boys’ unless otherwise notated for individual interests. All of their learning and interests are pursued online, including most of their reading material.
Creationism versus Evolution- This is a huge debate in our house and we have lots of fun seeing what kinds of information we can find on this subject and that usually leads us into other topics such as Government, History, and Science.
http://ncse.com/creationism
http://www.genesis-creation-proof.com/creationism.html
http://www.remnantofgod.org/creation.htm
https://www.evolutionthelie.com/Public/Home.aspx
http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/search/topicbrowse2.php?topic_id=46
http://www.evolutionfaq.com/articles/five-proofs-evolution
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1fGkFuHIu0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CvX_mD5weM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V_2r2n4b5c

American History
http://americanhistory.about.com/od/explorers/p/columbus.htm
http://www.history.com/topics/christopher-columbus
http://www.animatedatlas.com/timeline.html
http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/timeline/
http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/timeline/depwwii/
http://faculty.washington.edu/qtaylor/a_us_history/us_timeline_index_page.htm
http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/plaintexthistories.asp?historyid=ab05
http://americanindian.net/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YR2FgxalCU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qubUz25Uxj0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BVO4qnQtj8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28IAI6F0DZc
http://www.history.com/topics/pilgrims
Government
http://www.ushistory.org/gov/
http://www.ushistory.org/gov/10.asp
http://www.ushistory.org/gov/11.asp
http://www.ushistory.org/gov/12.asp
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/
http://www.reuters.com/politics
http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/
http://www.policymic.com/politics
http://www.mondostars.com/politics/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_current_United_States_Senators
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_transcript.html
http://constitutionus.com/
http://www.regulations.gov/#!home
http://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text
http://www.usa.gov/Topics/Reference-Shelf/Laws.shtml

Science
http://animal.discovery.com/
http://www.sciencenews.org/
http://science.discovery.com/
http://science.nasa.gov/
http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/
http://www.sciencedaily.com/
http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/features/biology2/
http://www.macroevolution.net/recent-biology-articles.html
http://www.newscientist.com/topic/genetics
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn9965-faq-genetics.html#.UdhOgPnUmSo
http://www.sparknotes.com/chemistry/
http://antoine.frostburg.edu/chem/senese/101/index.shtml
https://www.khanacademy.org/science/chemistry
https://www.khanacademy.org/science/cosmology-and-astronomy
https://www.khanacademy.org/science/organic-chemistry
http://news.softpedia.com/news/How-Did-the-Human-Speech-Appear-61895.shtml


Math
https://www.khanacademy.org/math/algebra
https://www.khanacademy.org/math/geometry
https://www.khanacademy.org/math/trigonometry
https://www.khanacademy.org/math/applied-math
http://www.math.com/
http://jc-schools.net/tutorials/tools/math-hs.html
http://www.homeworkspot.com/high/math/

Psychology/Sociology
http://www.upworthy.com/watch-a-teacher-make-her-3rd-grade-kids-hate-each-other-for-the-best-reason-imaginable-2 Brown eyes, blue eyes, the racism experiment
http://jfmueller.faculty.noctrl.edu/crow/activities.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiWZxOdXiUs The power of the situation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2-Re_Fl_L4 The Child of rage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=760lwYmpXbc The Stanford Prison Experiment
http://www.socialpsychology.org/teaching.htm#webperception
http://explorable.com/social-psychology-experiments
http://www.spring.org.uk/2007/11/10-piercing-insights-into-human-nature.php
http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/edumat/hreduseries/hereandnow/Part-5/8_udhr-abbr.htm
http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/


Computer Science
https://www.khanacademy.org/cs/tutorials/programming-basics Jesse
http://chortle.ccsu.edu/CS151/cs151java.html Jesse
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1B117272454FCD34 Jesse
http://www.computerscienceforeveryone.com/Course_1/Unit_1/Lesson_1/ Jesse
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqZI5wEmhLQ Jesse
http://www.mpgh.net/forum/32-java/417858-how-make-minecraft-plugin.html Jesse
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/10286213/minecraft-plugin-coding-1-not-working-how-it-should Jesse
http://notepad-plus-plus.org/ Jesse
http://www.emtech.net/tutorials_on_net.htm Jesse
http://www.adobe.com/products/audition/features.html William
http://www.steinberg.net/en/products/cubase/what_you_get.html William
http://www.beatlab.com/matrices/30426/compose William
http://www.jamstudio.com/Studio/index.htm William
http://www.jamrecorder.com/index.htm?A=2858205628 William
http://www.cprogramming.com/tutorial/c++-tutorial.html Jesse
http://www.cprogramming.com/game-programming.html Jesse


Writing
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/dec00/articles/lyric.asp William
http://www.ephpod.com/iphone-notes-backup.shtml William
http://blog.hostbaby.com/2010/04/8-cures-for-lyric-writers-block/ William
http://writingfix.com/left_brain.htm
http://www.thewritesource.com/books/textbooks/write_source_9/
http://quizlet.com/subject/writing-9th-grade/
http://teacher2b.com/creative/createwr.htm


English/Literature
http://jc-schools.net/tutorials/tools/english-hs.html
http://www.homeworkspot.com/high/english/
http://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/culture/literature-and-creative-writing/creative-writing/start-writing-fiction/content-section-0
http://hcusa2013.weebly.com/american-literature.html
http://hcusa2013.weebly.com/english-literature.html
http://hcusa2013.weebly.com/college-composition.html
http://www.history.com/topics/greek-mythology
http://www.squidoo.com/top-10-greekmyths
http://myths.e2bn.org/mythsandlegends/
http://www.zaneeducation.com/Videos/Literature/Myths_And_Legends/Greek-Mythology-1.php
http://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/english-literature
http://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/sites.htm


Life Skills
http://edhelper.com/life_skills.htm
http://www.parentmap.com/article/ten-life-skills-for-teens
http://familyconsumersciences.com/2010/06/life-skills-links/
http://cms.fightforthefuture.org/teenager/
http://www.transfer-sendmoney-payroll.com/banking-for-beginners/
http://www.survivalmonkey.com/threads/banking-for-beginners.6914/
http://www.econedlink.org/lessons/index.php?lid=326&type=student
http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-05-21/news/31801223_1_credit-limit-credit-card-cvv-number
http://www.cccsstl.org/tips-and-tools/articles-and-tips/life-changes-and-your-money/building-a-strong-credit-report-record-after-high-school/
http://www.myfico.com/crediteducation/creditscores.aspx
http://www.investorwords.com/2539/interest_rate.html
http://www.money-zine.com/financial-planning/debt-consolidation/household-budget-basics/


Elective
http://www.cincyunderground.com/home.cfm William
http://clermonthistory.webs.com/hauntings.htm William
http://www.minecraftwiki.net/wiki/Minecraft_in_education Jesse
https://minecraft.net/ Jesse
http://www.roblox.com/Games.aspx Jesse
http://www.runescape.com/ Jesse


William is currently pursuing song writing and singing.
I have included a finished video that was created, recorded, and edited by William. I have also included some of his lyrical writings for some of his songs he is working on.

Jesse is currently pursuing C++ and Java programming.
I have included screen shots of some of the world’s Jesse has created in minecraft with his coding.

[tailfins]

That's an outstanding approach! The term unschooling makes perfect sense: You don't want your kids to be conformist drones. It seems you're clearing the path for them to develop a world-class talent and resist society stifling their pursuit of excellence. You are one-in-a-million amongst American females!

[jimnyc]

I suppose congrats are in order, for both Mom and the kiddos. Sounds like they are doing better than many kids in public schools! I'm stealing your set of links, if you don't mind. They may come in handy for me over the next 5 years.

Let me ask this, in a home environment, how do you get them to sit still, put down the games and electronics, and actually apply themselves to the work? I need tips!!

[tailfins]

Any idea how to pursue this with ZERO support? We tried online school and it was a failure; it was 100% on my shoulders. My wife is an "obedient little Indian", but won't even learn how to multiply and divide because she feels like she will become part of the "white man's world". She goes on to ask if me, being a white man who lives with so much unhappiness from the white man's world, why would she want any part of it?

[Trinity]

I suppose congrats are in order, for both Mom and the kiddos. Sounds like they are doing better than many kids in public schools! I'm stealing your set of links, if you don't mind. They may come in handy for me over the next 5 years.

Let me ask this, in a home environment, how do you get them to sit still, put down the games and electronics, and actually apply themselves to the work? I need tips!!

Please feel free to use my links they will come in handy for you and your son.

Ok Jim, stop right there....you don't

There is a period of what we call de-schooling which means for every year they have attended school it will take 1 month to de-school.

They need this period to break away from what they have been taught school is, and to discover their own interests, and parent's need it too.

Or you will be thinking exactly how you are right now. How do you get them to sit still and not play games etc. etc.

If I remember correctly your son is 7th or 8th grade? So he would need about 7 to 8 months to play video games or just veg out in front of the TV or read, whatever he wants to do. I promise you he will not turn into a zombie ;) It may not even take him 7 or 8 months, he may surprise you in a couple of months. Because when they realize they are no longer being forced fed information they have no interest in, they start pursuing things they do have an interest in. They best advice I can give you is when he shows an interest in something make it a point to leave links, books, magazines about the interest, where he can discover them.

And just chat about anything you will be surprised at how a topic of anything can turn into a 2 hour discussion, covering all the areas required when attending public school. And because you are allowing him to continue this discussion instead of oh the bell rang onto the next class you can cover 3 months worth of public school material in a two hour discussion.

Trust me when I say if you let them lead the way and supply the things they need to pursue it, they will. :thumb:

[Trinity]

Any idea how to pursue this with ZERO support? We tried online school and it was a failure; it was 100% on my shoulders. My wife is an "obedient little Indian", but won't even learn how to multiply and divide because she feels like she will become part of the "white man's world". She goes on to ask if me, being a white man who lives with so much unhappiness from the white man's world, why would she want any part of it?


Read my response to Jim.

And does your wife cook? Does she pay the bills? Does she handle putting together food for guests for a party you are having? Then she already knows how to multiple and divide, why does she need to learn it on paper. :cool:

Unless of course she wants to become an accountant, then it might come in handy. :thumb:

[tailfins]

Read my response to Jim.

And does your wife cook? Does she pay the bills? Does she handle putting together food for guests for a party you are having? Then she already knows how to multiple and divide, why does she need to learn it on paper. :cool:

Unless of course she wants to become an accountant, then it might come in handy. :thumb:

That's a food for thought. My wife doesn't pay bills because they are in English.

[aboutime]

Unschooling? What is that? Interest led learning? What is that? How do your kids get an education?

For those of you wondering how are my boy's receiving an education if they are unschooled?

Well they pursue their own interests it is called interest led learning, and in pursuing those interests they are learning along the way. I just received their assessment forms back from the state certified teacher who reviews their portfolio and then signs the form I need to submit for the new school year.

Here are her comments she included with the forms....

Family - You have done an AMAZING job using interest led learning to cover all areas of the curriculum. The resources that you have utilized a variety of online resources that facilitate learning across the curriculum, and show a wide range of thoughts and opinions. This is one of the best lists of resources I have seen this year.

Jesse - Jesse has read a wonderful variety of literature this year. I am thrilled that his comprehension skills are on a college level. Jesse's interest in Minecraft has led him to computer code. How wonderful that he sees the relationship between mathematics and computer languages. He has made progress in line with his ability.

William - William has read a wonderful variety of literature this year. How wonderful that his reading has helped influence his song writing. I am thrilled that his musical and lyrical compositions have led him to become a more fluent reader, and increase the number of books that he is reading.
I enjoyed reading the lyrics to his song "Waking Up" and viewing the video. He did a great job writing the music, writing the lyrics, and producing the video. He has made progress in line with his ability.

:dance:

Here is the list of resources and books I submitted for her review. Keep in mind these are only resources we use for discussions. Most of their learning is done through discussions we have unless it is something they are pursuing on their own such as the coding and lyric writing.


Jesse reading list age 14
December – The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien,
January – The Diary of a young girl by Anne Frank
February – Holes by Louis Sachar
March – The boy who dared By Susan Campbell Bartoletti
April – The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
May – Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
June – Something wicked this way comes by Ray Bradbury



William reading list age 17
December – Of mice and men by John Steinbeck
January – Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin
February – Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
March – The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
April – The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
May – Something wicked this way comes by Ray Bradbury
June – The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien




Everything listed was studied with both boys’ unless otherwise notated for individual interests. All of their learning and interests are pursued online, including most of their reading material.
Creationism versus Evolution- This is a huge debate in our house and we have lots of fun seeing what kinds of information we can find on this subject and that usually leads us into other topics such as Government, History, and Science.
http://ncse.com/creationism
http://www.genesis-creation-proof.com/creationism.html
http://www.remnantofgod.org/creation.htm
https://www.evolutionthelie.com/Public/Home.aspx
http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/search/topicbrowse2.php?topic_id=46
http://www.evolutionfaq.com/articles/five-proofs-evolution
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1fGkFuHIu0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CvX_mD5weM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V_2r2n4b5c

American History
http://americanhistory.about.com/od/explorers/p/columbus.htm
http://www.history.com/topics/christopher-columbus
http://www.animatedatlas.com/timeline.html
http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/timeline/
http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/timeline/depwwii/
http://faculty.washington.edu/qtaylor/a_us_history/us_timeline_index_page.htm
http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/plaintexthistories.asp?historyid=ab05
http://americanindian.net/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YR2FgxalCU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qubUz25Uxj0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BVO4qnQtj8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28IAI6F0DZc
http://www.history.com/topics/pilgrims
Government
http://www.ushistory.org/gov/
http://www.ushistory.org/gov/10.asp
http://www.ushistory.org/gov/11.asp
http://www.ushistory.org/gov/12.asp
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/
http://www.reuters.com/politics
http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/
http://www.policymic.com/politics
http://www.mondostars.com/politics/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_current_United_States_Senators
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_transcript.html
http://constitutionus.com/
http://www.regulations.gov/#!home
http://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text
http://www.usa.gov/Topics/Reference-Shelf/Laws.shtml

Science
http://animal.discovery.com/
http://www.sciencenews.org/
http://science.discovery.com/
http://science.nasa.gov/
http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/
http://www.sciencedaily.com/
http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/features/biology2/
http://www.macroevolution.net/recent-biology-articles.html
http://www.newscientist.com/topic/genetics
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn9965-faq-genetics.html#.UdhOgPnUmSo
http://www.sparknotes.com/chemistry/
http://antoine.frostburg.edu/chem/senese/101/index.shtml
https://www.khanacademy.org/science/chemistry
https://www.khanacademy.org/science/cosmology-and-astronomy
https://www.khanacademy.org/science/organic-chemistry
http://news.softpedia.com/news/How-Did-the-Human-Speech-Appear-61895.shtml


Math
https://www.khanacademy.org/math/algebra
https://www.khanacademy.org/math/geometry
https://www.khanacademy.org/math/trigonometry
https://www.khanacademy.org/math/applied-math
http://www.math.com/
http://jc-schools.net/tutorials/tools/math-hs.html
http://www.homeworkspot.com/high/math/

Psychology/Sociology
http://www.upworthy.com/watch-a-teacher-make-her-3rd-grade-kids-hate-each-other-for-the-best-reason-imaginable-2 Brown eyes, blue eyes, the racism experiment
http://jfmueller.faculty.noctrl.edu/crow/activities.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiWZxOdXiUs The power of the situation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2-Re_Fl_L4 The Child of rage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=760lwYmpXbc The Stanford Prison Experiment
http://www.socialpsychology.org/teaching.htm#webperception
http://explorable.com/social-psychology-experiments
http://www.spring.org.uk/2007/11/10-piercing-insights-into-human-nature.php
http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/edumat/hreduseries/hereandnow/Part-5/8_udhr-abbr.htm
http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/


Computer Science
https://www.khanacademy.org/cs/tutorials/programming-basics Jesse
http://chortle.ccsu.edu/CS151/cs151java.html Jesse
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1B117272454FCD34 Jesse
http://www.computerscienceforeveryone.com/Course_1/Unit_1/Lesson_1/ Jesse
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqZI5wEmhLQ Jesse
http://www.mpgh.net/forum/32-java/417858-how-make-minecraft-plugin.html Jesse
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/10286213/minecraft-plugin-coding-1-not-working-how-it-should Jesse
http://notepad-plus-plus.org/ Jesse
http://www.emtech.net/tutorials_on_net.htm Jesse
http://www.adobe.com/products/audition/features.html William
http://www.steinberg.net/en/products/cubase/what_you_get.html William
http://www.beatlab.com/matrices/30426/compose William
http://www.jamstudio.com/Studio/index.htm William
http://www.jamrecorder.com/index.htm?A=2858205628 William
http://www.cprogramming.com/tutorial/c++-tutorial.html Jesse
http://www.cprogramming.com/game-programming.html Jesse


Writing
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/dec00/articles/lyric.asp William
http://www.ephpod.com/iphone-notes-backup.shtml William
http://blog.hostbaby.com/2010/04/8-cures-for-lyric-writers-block/ William
http://writingfix.com/left_brain.htm
http://www.thewritesource.com/books/textbooks/write_source_9/
http://quizlet.com/subject/writing-9th-grade/
http://teacher2b.com/creative/createwr.htm


English/Literature
http://jc-schools.net/tutorials/tools/english-hs.html
http://www.homeworkspot.com/high/english/
http://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/culture/literature-and-creative-writing/creative-writing/start-writing-fiction/content-section-0
http://hcusa2013.weebly.com/american-literature.html
http://hcusa2013.weebly.com/english-literature.html
http://hcusa2013.weebly.com/college-composition.html
http://www.history.com/topics/greek-mythology
http://www.squidoo.com/top-10-greekmyths
http://myths.e2bn.org/mythsandlegends/
http://www.zaneeducation.com/Videos/Literature/Myths_And_Legends/Greek-Mythology-1.php
http://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/english-literature
http://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/sites.htm


Life Skills
http://edhelper.com/life_skills.htm
http://www.parentmap.com/article/ten-life-skills-for-teens
http://familyconsumersciences.com/2010/06/life-skills-links/
http://cms.fightforthefuture.org/teenager/
http://www.transfer-sendmoney-payroll.com/banking-for-beginners/
http://www.survivalmonkey.com/threads/banking-for-beginners.6914/
http://www.econedlink.org/lessons/index.php?lid=326&type=student
http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-05-21/news/31801223_1_credit-limit-credit-card-cvv-number
http://www.cccsstl.org/tips-and-tools/articles-and-tips/life-changes-and-your-money/building-a-strong-credit-report-record-after-high-school/
http://www.myfico.com/crediteducation/creditscores.aspx
http://www.investorwords.com/2539/interest_rate.html
http://www.money-zine.com/financial-planning/debt-consolidation/household-budget-basics/


Elective
http://www.cincyunderground.com/home.cfm William
http://clermonthistory.webs.com/hauntings.htm William
http://www.minecraftwiki.net/wiki/Minecraft_in_education Jesse
https://minecraft.net/ Jesse
http://www.roblox.com/Games.aspx Jesse
http://www.runescape.com/ Jesse


William is currently pursuing song writing and singing.
I have included a finished video that was created, recorded, and edited by William. I have also included some of his lyrical writings for some of his songs he is working on.

Jesse is currently pursuing C++ and Java programming.
I have included screen shots of some of the world’s Jesse has created in minecraft with his coding.

As the grandfather of five, soon to be six grand children. That is probably one of the greatest kinds of wishes I could have for all of them; knowing, and seeing how the educational system in our nation has been slowly, and deliberately destroying the minds, abilities, and moral character of our children with Selfishness directed by Politics.
Thank you for posting that information.
In a perfect world that is impossible to think of today.
At least for some. There still is Hope.

[gabosaurus]

That is all good and well, but I have a few questions for you.
How are your kids' social interaction skills? Do they have a parent assimilated and controlled peer group, or have they developed their own friends?
Do your kids participate in any sports? Can they play any musical instruments? How often do they go outside? Can either run a mile without stopping? Can either climb a tree?
Reading all those wonderful books is good. Has anyone tested them over the contents? Has either parents also read all those selections? How often do you discuss the lessons with your kids?
If one of your kids writes me a report or lesson plan and I tell him that it sucks, how will they react? Are they prepared for negative interaction? Will they exchange in debate, or challenge me to a fight?

I notice that many of your reading selections and lesson plans lean to the far right point of view. Doesn't this defeat the viewpoint of many home school parents who believe that schools are "too liberal?"
My daughter can recite the Biblical story of Creation. She can also tell you about evolution. Are your kids familiar with both points of view?

Reading is wonderful. Studying is wonderful. But none of that will do you any good if you haven't mastered social interaction skills. Some of the best life lessons you can get do not come from book. They come from having a girl (or a boy) breaking your heart, having a supposedly close friend cheat or betray you or just learn to react when someone tells you that you suck.

[logroller]

That is all good and well, but I have a few questions for you.
How are your kids' social interaction skills? Do they have a parent assimilated and controlled peer group, or have they developed their own friends?
Do your kids participate in any sports? Can they play any musical instruments? How often do they go outside? Can either run a mile without stopping? Can either climb a tree?
Reading all those wonderful books is good. Has anyone tested them over the contents? Has either parents also read all those selections? How often do you discuss the lessons with your kids?
If one of your kids writes me a report or lesson plan and I tell him that it sucks, how will they react? Are they prepared for negative interaction? Will they exchange in debate, or challenge me to a fight?

I notice that many of your reading selections and lesson plans lean to the far right point of view. Doesn't this defeat the viewpoint of many home school parents who believe that schools are "too liberal?"
My daughter can recite the Biblical story of Creation. She can also tell you about evolution. Are your kids familiar with both points of view?

Reading is wonderful. Studying is wonderful. But none of that will do you any good if you haven't mastered social interaction skills. Some of the best life lessons you can get do not come from book. They come from having a girl (or a boy) breaking your heart, having a supposedly close friend cheat or betray you or just learn to react when someone tells you that you suck.
How are the social skills of kids in public schools? I assure you they aren't all perfectly well-adjusted, and many of these kids are outcastes; made to feel inferior by their 'peers'. Is this what 'socialization' is all about? Clearly not.
What you define as conservative may very well be; I'll submit such is true for the sake of argument, but what I think you fail to ascertain is that this conservative upbringing is rooted in the very essence of freedom being borne of the individual, not society. That what you bill as socialization is nothing more than an elitist rouse to enforce conformity and subjugate the masses.

For example, you seem like a well-vetted citizen by social standards, yet do you negotiate your own terms of employment or is there a select group that does for you?

I know the answer is the latter-- So why hasn't your social upbringing adequately prepared you to negotiate your own terms respective of your social value and professional abilities?

[aboutime]

That is all good and well, but I have a few questions for you.
How are your kids' social interaction skills? Do they have a parent assimilated and controlled peer group, or have they developed their own friends?
Do your kids participate in any sports? Can they play any musical instruments? How often do they go outside? Can either run a mile without stopping? Can either climb a tree?
Reading all those wonderful books is good. Has anyone tested them over the contents? Has either parents also read all those selections? How often do you discuss the lessons with your kids?
If one of your kids writes me a report or lesson plan and I tell him that it sucks, how will they react? Are they prepared for negative interaction? Will they exchange in debate, or challenge me to a fight?

I notice that many of your reading selections and lesson plans lean to the far right point of view. Doesn't this defeat the viewpoint of many home school parents who believe that schools are "too liberal?"
My daughter can recite the Biblical story of Creation. She can also tell you about evolution. Are your kids familiar with both points of view?

Reading is wonderful. Studying is wonderful. But none of that will do you any good if you haven't mastered social interaction skills. Some of the best life lessons you can get do not come from book. They come from having a girl (or a boy) breaking your heart, having a supposedly close friend cheat or betray you or just learn to react when someone tells you that you suck.

Let's put your theory to the test Gabby. YOU SUCK! So. How's that make you feel, using your words?

[Trinity]

That is all good and well, but I have a few questions for you.
How are your kids' social interaction skills? Do they have a parent assimilated and controlled peer group, or have they developed their own friends?
Do your kids participate in any sports? Can they play any musical instruments? How often do they go outside? Can either run a mile without stopping? Can either climb a tree?
Reading all those wonderful books is good. Has anyone tested them over the contents? Has either parents also read all those selections? How often do you discuss the lessons with your kids?
If one of your kids writes me a report or lesson plan and I tell him that it sucks, how will they react? Are they prepared for negative interaction? Will they exchange in debate, or challenge me to a fight?

I notice that many of your reading selections and lesson plans lean to the far right point of view. Doesn't this defeat the viewpoint of many home school parents who believe that schools are "too liberal?"
My daughter can recite the Biblical story of Creation. She can also tell you about evolution. Are your kids familiar with both points of view?

Reading is wonderful. Studying is wonderful. But none of that will do you any good if you haven't mastered social interaction skills. Some of the best life lessons you can get do not come from book. They come from having a girl (or a boy) breaking your heart, having a supposedly close friend cheat or betray you or just learn to react when someone tells you that you suck.

Ok first....my boy's response to your questions.....let's just say their was a big 5457 and my 17 year old said debate? Give me your number.... all day long.... let's go.... Both boy's were laughing quite a lot as I was reading your questions in a serious tone to them....my 17 year old asked me "Is she serious what cave does she live in?" My almost 15 year old asked "is she a blonde?"

answers to your questions...

Socializing another question that gets asked all the time....my kids can socialize with any age from infant to 80 year old...they are not being raised to only know how to socialize with their peers. And actually my youngest son who is about to be 15 was socially awkward while in school but has actually developed social skills since leaving the public education system.

Friends....both boys have a large group of friends they hang out with regularly my kids choose their own friends I don't do controlled peer groups.

Sports....both boys have their own interests, they both played soccer and football when they were younger up till the age of 11 and 13 at this point they don't want to play sports....their choice.

Musical instruments.... My 17 year old plays lead and bass guitar and my almost 15 year old plays drums.

Running.... both boys can run a mile without breaking a sweat.

Outside....everyday we live in the country they love exploring the creek and fields and just being boys.

Tree climbing...yep they do that too....my youngest is athletically gifted and a monkey and would make most kids his age look silly in anything that requires physical abilities and my 17 year old can climb a tree.

Books... I have read every single book they have and question them on what they have read, yep they get it.

tell either of my kids what they wrote sucks and they will straight up tell you why it doesn't suck and then they will probably tell you to stick your opinion where the sun don't shine.

My boys are both atheists at this point in their lives, their choosing. I allow my children to be exposed to many different religions and read as much as they can on everything. Not my place to preach to them and tell them something is right when I have no facts to back it up...it's called critical thinking skills, most kids don't learn those in school.

Yep I think all of those topics including heartbreak and betrayal have been experienced by my boys....and guess what they bounced back... way better then kids I know that attend school.

[Arbo]

Socializing another question that gets asked all the time....my kids can socialize with any age from infant to 80 year old...they are not being raised to only know how to socialize with their peers. And actually my youngest son who is about to be 15 was socially awkward while in school but has actually developed social skills since leaving the public education system.

Friends....both boys have a large group of friends they hang out with regularly my kids choose their own friends I don't do controlled peer groups.

Sports....both boys have their own interests, they both played soccer and football when they were younger up till the age of 11 and 13 at this point they don't want to play sports....their choice.

Musical instruments.... My 17 year old plays lead and bass guitar and my almost 15 year old plays drums.

Running.... both boys can run a mile without breaking a sweat.

Outside....everyday we live in the country they love exploring the creek and fields and just being boys.

Tree climbing...yep they do that too....my youngest is athletically gifted and a monkey and would make most kids his age look silly in anything that requires physical abilities and my 17 year old can climb a tree.

Books... I have read every single book they have and question them on what they have read, yep they get it.

tell either of my kids what they wrote sucks and they will straight up tell you why it doesn't suck and then they will probably tell you to stick your opinion where the sun don't shine.

My boys are both atheists at this point in their lives, their choosing. I allow my children to be exposed to many different religions and read as much as they can on everything. Not my place to preach to them and tell them something is right when I have no facts to back it up...it's called critical thinking skills, most kids don't learn those in school.

Yep I think all of those topics including heartbreak and betrayal have been experienced by my boys....and guess what they bounced back... way better then kids I know that attend school.

You are doing it right. 110%. If only the majority of parents were like the above.

Mine are not home schooled, but we live in a small town/city (> 15k), and I have found the schools to be far better than those that most complain about. My only complaint (and it matches my son's complaint) is that they teach down to the dumbest in the class. He complains that even in his AP classes, things move too slow. But he does enough reading he could teach most of them.

[gabosaurus]

Trinity, thank you for your answers. You must be doing something (or perhaps a lot of things) right. :beer:

The first set questions I posed are actually from a list asked by a group that investigates families who the state believe are not following the principles of home schooling. As you probably know, there are guidelines set up for home schooling.
When I was in my freshman year at Cal, I was in a basic biology class with a woman who couldn't deal with the subject matter. She had a genius level IQ and tested out of many freshman level classes, but was clueless about human reproduction and couldn't deal with the fact that God wasn't given credit for creating all life forms.

I also met homeschooled kids who could drink you under the table while reciting Proust and Shakespeare, so go figure. :laugh:

[PostmodernProphet]

I get this question a lot..... (http://www.debatepolicy.com/showthread.php?42732-I-get-this-question-a-lot)

I thought this thread was going to be about whether your avatar is really you.....

[Trinity]

Here is a really great article on the deschooling process....




Deschooling is not just the child recovering from school damage. It's also the parents exploring their own school and childhood damage and proactively changing their thinking until the paradigm shift happens.—Robyn Coburn
Robyn expanded on that in October, 2012:
Deschooling works differently for adults than for kids. For kids, it is an automatic process once school and schooly pressures (including from parents) are removed, and they are allowed and supported to make their own choices about how they will spend their time and discover or rediscover their interests. However for parents it is more active and intentional - directing energy to deschooling, not just being out of the school building. It means examining your own choices and reactions, asking

"Why did I want to say no to that just then?"
"Why does this [kid's activity or interest] make me feel uncomfortable?"
"What do I fear? Where is it coming from?"
"Whose mental tapes are those running in my head?"
"Why do I feel the urge to control my child's experience of thus-and-such today?"

It means consciously examining what happened emotionally in our school years.My daughter has no deschooling to do, since she never went to school. But I am a recovering valedictorian.I had some unhelpful ideas because of what and how I was rewarded at school. It was not until unschooling that I realized how extremely stressful my school years were, and how extremely focused on external validation I was/am. My husband and I often talk over different insights we have gained as our process unfolds. Discussions on Always Learning often help a lot - even just reading there without posting. Very useful for pinning down the irrational basis of fears.


Don't expect right now to feel smooth. The days spent in school are like living with a broken leg. The days when unschooling runs smoothly are like living with two strong legs. But the deschooling phase between them is like living with a cast while the leg heals. It won't be as bad as school but won't be as smooth as unschooling.—Joyce Fetteroll

Quick Installation for Unschooling: Just stop.


Stop thinking schoolishly. Stop acting teacherishly. Stop talking about learning as though it’s separate from life.



More info at link.....
http://sandradodd.com/deschooling (http://sandradodd.com/deschooling)