the network for radical unschooling families

Question

We were homeschooling for three years. Now our 9 year old is in school and he likes the social aspect. That was his only
complaint About homeschooling. We want to start unschooling but when we offered it to him he said flat out No. I'll miss my friends. We said we were going to do a lot of things to make sure he makes friends but he said no way. He then said anyway homeschooling was like school except for the friend part.

We will respect his choice of course but want to make sure he's got all the info. How do we explain to him what unschooling is? Ion a way that a 9 yr old will understand? We told him its about being his partner that it will be a different kind of homeschooling. But he says what does that mean. We need words.

This summer we plan on unschooling full time but he may think it's just summer vacation.

0 members like this

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Joyce Fetteroll on April 29, 2011 at 12:50pm

Making summer grand and then telling him it can continue just like that in September will be better than any explanation. Experience is better than being told about it :-) Being told about the world is what schools try to substitute for experiencing the world and it doesn't work so well!

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Sandra Dodd on April 29, 2011 at 2:42pm

-=-This summer we plan on unschooling full time but he may think it's just summer vacation.-=-

He's earned summer vacation by going to school. You might want to think of making your summer fun and interesting, whether he goes back to school or not. Don't think of it as "unschooling."

If school is fun for him, let him go to school. When and if it stops being fun, let him come home. It doesn't need to be, and shouldn't be, decided by other people anyway. If he has no choice, that's one of the worst aspects of school. Powerlessness. Let him be powerful, even if he uses that power to choose to go to school.

BE his partner, don't talk about being his partner.

Sandra

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Nance Confer on April 29, 2011 at 6:51pm

And stop needing to know his answer. Easy, huh? :)

Next fall is a long way away for him and he doesn't know what unschooling is and you are asking him to choose.

Have a nice, normal, fun summer and see if continuing that has any appeal. Or if he wants to go to school, make sure he knows he can quit at any time. He may well reach a point where the daily crap outweighs the access to other kids. Or he may have established enough friendships by then to continue them outside of school.

Or not. Be OK with that answer too. :)

Nance