One of the greatest experiences of our lives. My wife organized it all in an incredible way. Learning was fun, time together was lavish, travel was easy. Our kids are smart and doing OK in life. Nobody is rich. Big deal. But they're interesting adults who love to learn and love to talk about ideas. Best of all, they're unfailingly kind to everyone. I'll take that as win.
Whenever people used to ask me what I did all day w/ my son since we "homeschool," I would always answer - "We just live life."
True homeschooling is a mentality switch and lifestyle choice. For me, I can't imagine living life any other way.
He even complains that there's just not enough hours in a day to do all the things he wants to do. And these don't include TV or screens. They do include reading books for pleasure (not lessons), playing with friends, participating in team sports, attending random homeschool field trips, house chores, and day dreaming.
Individualized or personalize learning works well conceptually, but probably has too many syllables to stick though. Shall we invent a more concise word or phase like the Israelis have done with many new words in modern Hebrew?
Ha, good idea. And I agree with you about the too many syllables. Plus I don't really like the sound of words that end in "ized." But it'd be great to come up with a new term that fits. Who knows, maybe it'd eventually catch on.
Here is an excerpt on how I approached questions and misconceptions:
“So why do you homeschool?”
“When it was time to send our daughter to school we considered all the different educational choices —public, private, Montessori, French immersion, etc.— and we decided that home education is the one that fit best with our family.”
Don’t feel the need to defend yourself or explain your choice. Where possible, try to give a simple answer:
“The kids have more time to learn and more time to play.”
“The kids get better academics and better socialization”.
“Socialization happens around people of all ages, from babies to seniors, rather than children that are exactly their age.”
“The kids can learn subjects that are not taught in school (Latin, German, Chinese, Norse mythology, Astronomy, Arthurian Legend, Trial Law, Economics, etc.) and can proceed at their own pace.”
Most importantly, let time speak for you. Trust that skepticism among extended family or friends is often assuaged when they witness that your children are learning and developing well. We have had several family members, who were initially critical, but years later affirmed that they now think we made a great choice.
Part of an unconformed education is educating others about education! There is so much internet misinformation3 and misunderstanding that it’s up to us to show people—through our words and most importantly our lives—the benefits of learning outside the box.
So much good stuff, Ruth. I like "open source learning" and also your framing "unconformed education." This is great to hear as well, and I think we've also turned that corner: "Trust that skepticism among extended family or friends is often assuaged when they witness that your children are learning and developing well. We have had several family members, who were initially critical, but years later affirmed that they now think we made a great choice."
One of the greatest experiences of our lives. My wife organized it all in an incredible way. Learning was fun, time together was lavish, travel was easy. Our kids are smart and doing OK in life. Nobody is rich. Big deal. But they're interesting adults who love to learn and love to talk about ideas. Best of all, they're unfailingly kind to everyone. I'll take that as win.
I'd say that's a huge win, Edwin. Well done!
Whenever people used to ask me what I did all day w/ my son since we "homeschool," I would always answer - "We just live life."
True homeschooling is a mentality switch and lifestyle choice. For me, I can't imagine living life any other way.
He even complains that there's just not enough hours in a day to do all the things he wants to do. And these don't include TV or screens. They do include reading books for pleasure (not lessons), playing with friends, participating in team sports, attending random homeschool field trips, house chores, and day dreaming.
Individualized or personalize learning works well conceptually, but probably has too many syllables to stick though. Shall we invent a more concise word or phase like the Israelis have done with many new words in modern Hebrew?
Ha, good idea. And I agree with you about the too many syllables. Plus I don't really like the sound of words that end in "ized." But it'd be great to come up with a new term that fits. Who knows, maybe it'd eventually catch on.
John Taylor Gatto used the term "open source learning", which might capture what you are trying to get at.
I wrote a piece on "Unconformed Education" relating our family's experience. https://schooloftheunconformed.substack.com/p/unconformed-education-a-personal
Here is an excerpt on how I approached questions and misconceptions:
“So why do you homeschool?”
“When it was time to send our daughter to school we considered all the different educational choices —public, private, Montessori, French immersion, etc.— and we decided that home education is the one that fit best with our family.”
Don’t feel the need to defend yourself or explain your choice. Where possible, try to give a simple answer:
“The kids have more time to learn and more time to play.”
“The kids get better academics and better socialization”.
“Socialization happens around people of all ages, from babies to seniors, rather than children that are exactly their age.”
“The kids can learn subjects that are not taught in school (Latin, German, Chinese, Norse mythology, Astronomy, Arthurian Legend, Trial Law, Economics, etc.) and can proceed at their own pace.”
Most importantly, let time speak for you. Trust that skepticism among extended family or friends is often assuaged when they witness that your children are learning and developing well. We have had several family members, who were initially critical, but years later affirmed that they now think we made a great choice.
Part of an unconformed education is educating others about education! There is so much internet misinformation3 and misunderstanding that it’s up to us to show people—through our words and most importantly our lives—the benefits of learning outside the box.
So much good stuff, Ruth. I like "open source learning" and also your framing "unconformed education." This is great to hear as well, and I think we've also turned that corner: "Trust that skepticism among extended family or friends is often assuaged when they witness that your children are learning and developing well. We have had several family members, who were initially critical, but years later affirmed that they now think we made a great choice."
https://www.jta.org/2023/01/30/united-states/ohio-is-investigating-a-nazi-homeschooling-network-that-celebrates-hitler
Eesh. Just awful. I addressed something similar in the John Oliver piece I reference above.