What is Radical Unschooling?

[laura bowman]

I will continue to add different quotes to this section, but to get it started...

"Unschooling is trusting children can learn what they need from living rich, full lives. There's nothing in the definition that limits
unschooling to academics, but that's what John Holt wrote about and
most people begin unschooling as a substitute for school.

Some unschoolers didn't see a reason the philosophy should stop at
academics. They applied the trust, partnership, joyful outlook, respect
to all of family life, looking for ways to use those values to guide
their interactions with their families.

The original philosophy doesn't fit only one or the other, but people
have expanded the definition of unschooling into what feels like two
separate philosophies sharing one word. Using the term radical
unschooling helps eliminate the confusion over the definition. It lets
people know that the discussion will expand to living with kids not
just academics which means chore charts or limiting TV or non-organic
food will be dissected every time it's brought up." - Joyce Fetteroll

"So, is the radical unschooling label really subjective? Absolutely not!
There is still some core principles that need to be present for someone
to be a radical unschooler:

• Respect your child as a person
• Value the opinion & needs of everyone in the family
• Be present in your children's lives - help them explore when they are active, engaged & curious and to retreat into themselves when they
  need to cocoon
• Never shame, never hit!
• Value what they value - you don't have to play World of Warcraft but you should know what characters they play & what level they are at; you
  don't have to know all the constellations, but you should be engaged in
  helping them find out more about the cosmos.
• Use logic, not fear, to inform your decisions and behaviors
• Recognize that your value system, be it about religion, food, politics, or entertainment, is not your child's value system. If you disagree with anything
  your parents believe, then you should be able to recognize your child's
  right to disagree with you. Don't take it personally - just because
  they have their own opinions or values doesn't mean they don't love you.

So, when I see that I'm not living up to my radical unschooling principles what do I do? I learn from it - I think carefully about what got in the way & I resolve to handle things better. I don't act like a radical unschooler, I am a radical unschooler & the only way for that to be true is if I keep pushing myself to live a life that follows these principles. After all, I want to be the parent my children need so that they will be the parent their children will need." - Christine Yablonski

[Lauren Fisher]

Thanks so much for sharing this! There's so much baggage I have to let go of before we are completely free, and so we progress -- one step at a time -- for our children's sake!

[Meredith]

This isn't so much a definition of radical unschooling as some commentary on the "radical" value of saying yes more:

One parent wrote:
***I've been focusing on saying "yes" more often and while I'm certainly
not going to claim that we've had any sort of radical changes for the
better, I will say it felt very nice...and my children have noticed and
appreciated it. ***

And a seasoned unschooler replied:
That is the sort of radical change that will change everything. It will
permeate the house and shift people's thinking. If the answers become "yes",
then kids will start thinking in terms of how to go about doing something,
instead of in terms of how to go around your "no" or accept your "no" and move
no further. It's the sort of change that changes everything, even if it doesn't
feel radical. Probably better for it to not feel radical. It can seep into
their lives and their thoughts. That part is about attitude and how our
attitudes and thoughts affect actions.

[Meredith]

Here's a classic unschooling quotable on the subject of learning:

Learning can only happen when a child is interested. If he’s not interested, it’s like throwing marshmallows at his head and calling it eating. ~~Katrina Gutleben

[Meredith]

Marilyn Shannahan posted this in her blog recently:

As I meditate on some of their interests, I can honestly say that I never would've guessed that they would be interested in such things. Additionally, some of the things that they are really interested in I have no prior knowledge of or experience with. However, I really have benefitted from learning alongside them and it has helped me in my journey of unschooling.

This is how:

It is hard to "teach" someone something I know nothing about! Therefore, they learn and I learn.

There is no competitive edge---sometimes kids see that mommy and daddy can do things better than they can--mostly because mom and dad have been practicing their whole life. Because I've never ridden a horse, my daughter doesn't compare her abilities to mine. Also, this gives me a chance to grow as a person. I don't get her love of shoveling manure but that doesn't mean I can't ask about her lesson or the personality of the horses she cares for, or the kids at the barn that are soooo excited to see her.

Just because I am older does not mean that there isn't more to learn---So I get to show my kids that learning doesn't stop just because you have a diploma or diplomas.

The girls have gained confidence in themselves knowing that we seek knowledge from them too which creates a mutual admiration. (My kids have always looked up to me and their dad. I don't know if this is true of all kids but it seems like children come into the world admiring the people who take care of them and provide for them and have a natural desire to please us.)

My youngest came to me a few weeks ago wanting to know if she could use my credit card. She wanted to buy Dolly Parton's greatest hits for piano. She is 10. I do not listen nor own any Dolly Parton cds. Awhile back, she was on a road trip with my in-laws and one of their stops was going to be Dollywood. They may have played her some songs or talked about who she was, I'm not sure. However, my MIL's rheumatoid was causing her a lot of pain and they never made it to Dollywood. Instead of pitching a fit, she googled Dolly Parton and found her on Youtube. She listened to a few of her songs and just loved the song Jolene. I know this is a popular Dolly song but I honestly had never heard of it before. Since then, I have purchased the songbook for her, bought her a membership as a Dollyite and we are planning a trip to Dollywood. She practices Jolene on the piano and has written me a note telling me why she likes Dolly Parton. I didn't ask her to write it to me. I don't make her practice piano. I simply responded to her interest. I've gotten quite a kick out of it!

By the way, none of my daughters expect me to like what they like nor do I suddenly have my days filled by their specific interests. Just because we show interest in their interests does not mean we are plagued with days of begrudgingly doing what they are doing. Quite the opposite. They will do unto you what you have done to them. Respect begets respect. To value our children and be interested in their interests has been gain, not loss.

Finding value, looking for meaning, and seeking the good seems like a more positive way of living than judging (making up your mind) that someone or something has no value, no meaning and is no good.

[Meredith]

http://sandradodd.com/pam/principles

 

Principles of Unschooling
By Pam Sorooshian

Learning happens all the time. The brain never stops working and it is not possible to divide time up into "learning periods" versus "non-learning periods." Everything that goes on around a person, everything they hear, see, touch, smell, and taste, results in learning of some kind.

Learning does not require coercion. In fact, learning cannot really be forced against someone's will. Coercion feels bad and creates resistance.

Learning feels good. It is satisfying and intrinsically rewarding. Irrelevant rewards can have unintended side effects that do not support learning.

Learning stops when a person is confused. All learning must build on what is already known.

Learning becomes difficult when a person is convinced that learning is difficult. Unfortunately, most teaching methods assume learning is difficult and that lesson is the one that is really "taught" to the students.

Learning must be meaningful. When a person doesn't see the point, when they don't know how the information relates or is useful in "the real world," then the learning is superficial and temporary - not "real" learning.

Learning is often incidental. This means that we learn while engaged in activities that we enjoy for their own sakes and the learning happens as a sort of "side benefit."

Learning is often a social activity, not something that happens in isolation from others. We learn from other people who have the skills and knowledge we're interested in and who let us learn from them in a variety of ways.

We don't have to be tested to find out what we've learned. The learning will be demonstrated as we use new skills and talk knowledgeably about a topic,

Feelings and intellect are not in opposition and not even separate things. All learning involves the emotions, as well as the intellect.

Learning requires a sense of safety. Fear blocks learning. Shame and embarrassment, stress and anxiety—these block learning.

 

 

© Pam Sorooshian

[Sarah Briand]

:I dont' act like a radical unschooler, I am a radical unschooler."

 

LOVE LOVE LOVE that. Thank you!

[Amy Jackson]

I don't act like a radical unschooler, I AM a radical unschooler.>>>>

 

Thank you for that. I've been feeling like I'm just not doing it right a lot (we started unschooling in October). This really helped me to understand how it works. I'm changing my mindset and slowly my change in thinking is changing the way I act.

 

Again, thank you. :)

[Meredith]

Katherine, from one of the yahoo unschooling lists, just posted this as part of a longer post and I thought it would be a great addition:

 

"Maybe one very loose starting principle could be in the neighborhood of
"not-knowingness." Of wonder and wondering.... How often is it that people have no idea about the things they think they know? Maybe unschooling is one big Learn Nothing Day when people realize how
much indeed there is to know."

[Meredith]

Turn and softly look at your child to see what is fresh and new. Look at your child with awe. See your child with curiosity. Admire your child. You will be amazed. Learn to be content with your own puzzlement, and to nurture the puzzlement around you. It's okay not to have all the answers, but to let the questions confuse you for a while as you move in new directions. Let new ideas and experiences astonish you. Find delight in small, everyday things.

Turn and softly look at the world to see what is fresh and new. Look at the world with awe. See the world with curiosity. Admire the world. You will be amazed.

---Sandra Dodd

http://justaddlightandstir.blogspot.com/

[Jon Gold]

This essay may shed some light:

 

The Cult of Unschooling

[Meredith]

Jon, is that your blog? I get a "security error" for that post  - do you have another or a pertinent quote? I had fun scrolling through your old posts looking for the entry by other means though... er, maybe need to warn off some of our more sensitive readers - got that, y'all? Jon's not for everyone!

[Jon Gold]

 

Yes, that is my blog. What is a 'security error'? I've never heard of such a thing.

Meredith said:

Jon, is that your blog? I get a "security error" for that post  - do you have another or a pertinent quote? I had fun scrolling through your old posts looking for the entry by other means though... er, maybe need to warn off some of our more sensitive readers - got that, y'all? Jon's not for everyone!