I would love some more insight about this topic.

I'm not sure exactly what you're asking, but I'm chime in with what US means to me.

It means child-led learning. It means giving the child a rich environment in which to find learning opportunities. It means allowing the child to decide when and how and why to learn something.

:)
Tara

I guess I am asking cause I am reading "Teach your own" by John Holt. I'm alittle confused about the "technique." Do you use a curriculum? How do you know what your child wants to learn? I've asked my DS and his reply is "I don't know."

So... I was hoping to get feedback about what your unschooling day looks like, your thoughts on what unschooling means to you, and how you put this all together. I hope this makes sense.

Our version of unschooling is creating a rich environment with lots of books and opportunities for branching off into different interests. We go lots of places and do lots of things and if I come across things that the kids might be interested in, I get some more books and see where it goes from there. Much of our learning has been sparked by museum visits or exploring nature. Sometimes they seem like they'll really get into something and after answering a few questions, they're satisfied and other times they dig much deeper and delve into things that I thought they'd have no interest in.

Sandra Dodd has a few articles on the concept of *strewing* which is basically leaving things out that may spark some interest in your kids. I'll try to find one of the articles.

ETA article... strewing (http://sandradodd.com/strewing)

Okay, now I understand a little better about what you are asking. (I heart John Holt!)

Curriculum doesn't play a major role in unschooling...unless it's something the CHILD wants. Unschooling is all about letting the child guide his or her education.

Radical unschoolers give their children complete freedom over their time. I know some people who don't care if their child spends every waking moment playing video games, because "they are still learning something."

I'm not a radical unschooler. We don't do TV and aren't big on other types of electronic media. As I said in my previous post, I do believe in providing a rich environment for my unschooling child. If he sees learning opportunities all around him, he is bound to learn. :)

I never ask him, "what do you want to learn," because he doesn't think about it that way. I wait and watch and see what his interests are, and then keep feeding those interests. Example: he loves ancient history. So I say things like, "hey, did you know there is a GREAT museum at Penn with all kinds of ancient artifacts? Wanna go?" or "do you want to see what kinds of books the library has on ancient Greece?" or whatever.

People ask, "so how do you teach math?" Answer: I don't 'teach' math. He chooses when and how and why to learn math.

If I noticed a major gap in his learning, I would try to provide more 'stuff' around the house or involve him in activities that sparked an interest in the gap of knowledge. For instance, if he wasn't learning math very well, I'd involve him in cooking (measuring out ingredients, calculating time to cook, etc.), money-related activities, trip planning, etc.

When children decide when and how and why to learn things, their education is much more meaningful than if they are told when and how and why to learn things.
:)
Tara

ps: If you like John Holt, try to find Nancy Wallace's "Better Than School" - it's a slice of life of an unschooling family back in the 1970s. Her family became good friends with Mr. Holt.

Thanks for the Strewing website Brandy. I will take a look at it.

Tara, thanks for the tips. There are lots of musuems and places to go around here, so maybe I will start with a field trip and see what sparks DS's interest.

I use a curriculm for math and language arts (I don't know how to teach those) but other than that our version of unschooling means lots and lots of books and answering all the "why" and "how" and "when" questions as thourghly as possible. It's not always easy and I'm not always good at it, but the idea is that if the child is asking about something they are interested in it and if you answer with more than "that's just the way it is" they'll learn something.

Thanks for that article on "strewing" Brandy.

We do "school-like" homeschooling most of the time -- and I really am trying to figure out how to be more child-led, and still feel like he's getting what he needs and is thriving. Our son is so bright, so intuitive, caring, and funny -- I want to encourage all of the above. You know?

So, thanks again.

Becca

We are leaning towards radical unschooling--its a natural fit for us. To me the goal is to preserve love of learning, to let learning be a joy, by never coercing?) ready for/passionate about. We mostly play, read, and yes, watch TV (PBS--its actually one of the few channels our rabbit ears pick up!).