Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Unschooling the B69
An unschooling aside: We aren't "teaching" P his letters. After a lot of reading we concur completely with the unschooling philosophy of outside introduction. We answer all of his endless questions and let his fiery curiosity lead his learning. I believe in this wholeheartedly, I do. But hearing other kids recite their ABC's or 123's and be quizzed on letters can be a bit unnerving, square peg on a round globe and such. So, the other day when we were cooking P wanted to know how long before something would be ready. I told him 15 minutes. He went to our big clock in the playroom and asked me to show him where the clock's hand would be (a pretty common occurrence). So I showed him the spot and told him "When it reaches the 6, here, it will be ready." Then he pointed to the 9 and said "9. There's the 6 and 9, where's B for the B69?" I was positively tickled. Since we don't quiz him on his knowledge we have to patiently trust the learning that is happening - I don't know what numbers or letters he knows until he announces them like this. The B69 is our bus - we've never purposely showed him the numbers before and he's learned from his world in a way that matters to him. I love watching organic learning!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
I'm finding it so fascinating to read about your approach to life and learning, which Phoenix clearly thrives on.
This post raised a question for me, though: What do you do if your child wants to be quizzed on numbers and letters? (or anything else) Nini visibly stiffens if anyone quizzes her, but Desmond loves it -- he loves the feeling it gives him, I think, to answer, and especially to answer correctly. For him, it's exciting and empowering -- not nagging or diminishing.
At least in my experience, there's sometimes a tension between the principle of child-led learning and some of the established practices of unschooling. Like, what if your kid wants workbooks (Desmond loves them), which some unschoolers view as toxic? I'm not a full-fledged unschooler the way you are, I'm just heavily influenced by the philosophy, so I go with what works without feeling too conflicted. But I'm wondering if this issue has come up for you at all.
p.s. But I obviously feel a little conflicted, or else I wouldn't be asking ....
I totally hear you Leslie. I loved worksheets as a kid - and quizzing games. Busy work pissed me off when I was older, but that's a different story. For me, I guess, the key is the term "child-led." Right now Phoenix really dislikes being put on the spot, but if that changes, so will our approach. Unschoolers can unite and burn me at the stake - I love the philosophy but really just want to do whatever keeps my kid's fire alive. Ahhhh.... I so missed playgroop today!!!
I love your metaphor of keeping the fire alive -- it's a wonderful way to think about so many parenting issues. We really missed you guys yesterday ... maybe tomorrow at the Met if Phoenix is feeling up for it?
Post a Comment