Unschooling "Course of Study"

I know I've read this before, and I may have even blogged it before. It came up on one of my email lists today, so I'm blogging it as a reminder of how unschooling can still be "organized" and well thought out.

Some good quotations

The important thing is not so much that every child should be taught, as that every child should be given the wish to learn. ~John Lubbock

My kids are happy. It's soo obvious. I just smile and wave my hand dismissively and say, "The proof is in the pudding, and I'm a patient cook." ~Kelly Lovejoy

"The only person you have any control over is yourself, and sometimes even that is in doubt." - Mother Mary.

Lifestyle of Learning

This link came from a discussion on Sonlight's discussion forum where someone asked for people to share "a day in the life of an unschooler". Many of the replies were more about what I would call relaxed homeschoolers because they weren't completely child-led, but there were some good responses, nonetheless. The gal who wrote about using The Filestyle of Learning also mentioned The Elijah Company.

Freedom In Education Newsletter

The November Newsletter of Freedom In Education has an interesting article about logic and education standards. It if the the UK, but still very relevant to those of us in the US. The more I read things like this, the more I want to unschool instead of "doing school at home".

In all of the searches I have found about homeschooling and education, I can't remember finding articles about why the structured school day is better. I do find historical reasons for why we have it, but nothing to support why it is a better way. I find things about learning styles and creativity and freedom that support less structure, but I don't find articles that support more structure. I can find structured curriculum, and I can even find people who like the curricula, but that's where it ends. Is it because I'm looking for support for my desired direction, or is it because support for structure is lacking?

Comments

I've been cleaning up the comments on my blog today. Several months ago I enabled them but didn't put any restrictions on them. There have been several "spam" comments recently, so I changed my settings and scanned all my entries for comments. I actually have had 2 real comments. One was a simple, "I like your blog, I'll be back." from another homeschooler. The other was from AHA Weblogs Blog. Kim reviews homeschool blogs. She found mine on May 4th and did a very nice review, and I just now noticed. Thanks Kim!

Bubbles

Since my boys both like blowing and popping bubbles, I followed a link in an email and found this site. The Bubblesphere

Roots and Shoots

DS1 and I went to a Roots and Shoots meeting last Saturday. WIHS has started an all boys group, an all girls group, and a co-ed group. It grew from someone's quest for a group similar to scouting for younger kids. The target age is 10 and under. We had 5 boys, ages 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. It was at the 2 yr old's house; he didn't really participate. The leader described it as an organized playgroup. Isaac was very shy at first, but he did warm up and play with the boys outside after the craft (which he did not do) was over. The theme was 'trees and leaves'. I think he will be interested in going again in the future.