The 183rd Carnival of Homeschooling - part 2, 'To unschool or not?'

June 29, 9:07 PMNorfolk Homeschooling ExaminerSherene Silverberg

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    A Pupil Learning His Lesson, by Jean-Baptiste Greuze

There are few topics that inflame passions more quickly than educational methodologies.  Whilst the vast majority of homeschoolers fall into the "eclectic" category in that they use a mix and match of different methodologies in their homeschools, there are camps on opposite ends of the spectrum that vehemently defend their choices.   On one end you have the "unschoolers" and at the opposite end you have classical schoolers  and objectivists.

Linda Martin  writes passionately on unschooling is her favorite type of education. 

Who ever decided that schooling was best for kids? Schooling forces unwanted and often, unnecessary information into them as if they were cups waiting to be filled with facts and figures. As soon as they tire of the topic the information washes over the sides and runs onto the floor.

Children may be cups, but they should be filled with the information their hearts tell them is needed for their own unique development. Why should children be subjected to someone else’s ideas of what they should learn when they are quite naturally learners who are curious about the world and how to do things?

I found it to be an interesting read even though I vehemently disagree with her on unschooling being a good form of education.    I am strictly in the camp of learning needing to be hierarchical and structured.  It's not to say that I don't believe that children should not be allowed to follow their passions, I just believe that there is time for child led passion following and a time for hierarchical education. Lisa VanDamme, in describing the philosophy of her school, The VanDamme Academy, describes my family's educational philosophy i.e. an Objectivist education

Education, in our view, is the systematic training of the minds of children. This requires the right presentation of the right material over a period of many years. A proper curriculum supplies each student with the essential content of knowledge, and teaches him to be a logical thinker. The result is a mature adult who knows what he thinks and can think on his own.

To achieve this result, the curriculum must be presented in a specific way. At our school, each subject is taught in a careful, step-by-step manner that ensures the child will advance with full understanding.

Students are taught to make connections within and between subjects--and also between school and life. Our teachers motivate the students, by showing them the importance of the knowledge they are working to acquire. Every child is challenged to achieve, and is allowed to progress at his own pace. The proper content taught by the right method engenders real enthusiasm for learning.

Our families educational philosophy perfectly matches that of Scott Powell's from History at Our House..  Scott writes about what it means to be "historically minded" 

To be historically-minded means not just to know many facts about the past, but to see how the past is connected to the present, and to be able to use the past as an intellectual resource for living more productively in the present.

Given the state of history education today, fewer and fewer people are developing this trait.  Kids aren’t taught history when they are young.  Then most learn to hate it in high school.  The few who bother with it in college find it to be a completely esoteric subject–which a handful embrace, and the vast majority discard for good.

The only way to reverse this cultural trend is to re-instate systematic history education in the curriculum–for children.  As I discuss in my article “Kids Need History Early,” young minds are ready for history by age seven. To deny them the unique intellectual stimulus that history can provide at that age is to sabotage their chance of ever becoming historically-minded.  (It prevents them from developing the “history habit” early in life, which significantly lessens their chance of ever developing it.) 

He goes on to present the curriculum for the European history course  he is teaching this coming school year.  My children (and I) studied ancient history with Scott this year and are looking forward to studying with him again next year. He brings history alive.  Both my children consider their daily history lesson with him to be the highlight of their days.  That's no mean feat with such young children.  

Another topic that creates as much excited discussion between homeschoolers as educational philosophies is reading instruction.  The two primary camps are "whole word" and phonics instruction.

Misty asks you to share your tips on reading curricula and see what other homeschooling parents suggest. 

I am a phonics advocate.   I taught both my children to read using phonics.   My husband was delighted when our, then 5 year old, daughter read, "plasmapheresis" on a door in the local hospital.  She had no idea what the word meant, but was able to successfully decode it.  Hopefully she will soon be able to decode its meaning as we're embarking on a rigorous Greek and Latin roots program.

My vote for an exceedingly effective phonics based reading program is "Reading Horizons at Home".

MiaZagora's Homeschooling Minutes reminds us that Progressive Phonics, her favorite phonics program is free once again.

Join in the discussion on the merits of different educational methods by posting to the next Carnival of Homeschooling.  Submission details can be found here.

For more info: Submit an entry to the Carnival of Homeschooling.
183rd Carnival of Homeschooling - Part 1,  "The lazy days of summer"
183rd Carnival of Homeschooling - Part 3,  "This is the homeschool life"
183rd Carnival of Homeschooling - Part 4,  "Books, books and more books"
183rd Carnival of Homeschooling - Part 5,  "Crafty homeschoolers"
183rd Carnival of Homeschooling - Part 6,  "Online resources"