This was really thoughtfully written. I homeschool my youngest aged 15. We don’t have a heavy schedule as he’s a little behind and immature with a few health/learning challenges, but - we do still follow a basic (albeit adjusted/slow version) college prep path because I don’t want his wings clipped and hopes dashed once he starts to fly and spread his wings and realize what he should’ve done. I feel it’s our responsibility to prepare them for success to their own ability, and while they need to take ownership of that (just like any high schooler - up to them how hard they work on what’s set before them) they also don’t know what hoops they will need to jump through. When my son mentions potentially being a roller coaster engineer or a computer programmer, he doesn’t know what those careers entail. I know that it likely would be fulfilling for him to do that as a career, but also quite hard to reach these goals. It’s really a failure of me as a parent to not teach him traditional subjects out of a sort of rebellion against the failing school system. Math is math. And it’s required in physics and science careers. And one day he will mature and want an intellectually fulfilling career to match his abilities as an adult, and it’s not right for me to hinder him in such a way as to make it near impossible. That being said, we aren’t slaving away for hours daily. But my oldest who attends private school does have very specific goals and college plans for his career and he is working very very hard on them and we support that (while leaving class choice up to him). He chose 3 AP classes on his own. My youngest might appear to “want” to watch YouTube all day but deep down he has core needs that won’t be fulfilled in that way long term. He loves to travel and that’s how I found you guys. So we try to learn as much as we can hands on. Anyway I guess this is rambling now. What really pushed me to not be a full “unschooler” is the documentary I saw on young adults leaving the Amish community and struggling to attain their GED and gainful employment after leaving their family and community. Like you said, their adulthood was very unfulfilling . That’s essentially what will happen to many “unschoolers” and it’s sad to see. Too many are really not pursuing any real learning activities at all. But like you said, it’s very difficult. I didn’t necessarily want to teach high school science and chemistry. But here I am in a humid hotel room in a swamp going on day 5 bc we are here near the coast on a learning trip for our self led AP environmental science class! We will figure it out and I appreciate the thought provoking article.
Thanks for your kind thoughts and for sharing your children's learning!!! Yes, don't clip those wings or dash those hopes, so with you. Also love that you are educating to each child individually and to their needs. My biggest take away from what you wrote...you are thinking about them, their needs, their dreams and this is fabulous! This homeschooling, parenting, etc is hardworking and takes a lot of thought. Good job mama. Our readers will definitely find value in what you are sharing. xoxo Jess
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this topic Jessica! It's interesting, I don't think homeschooling would have ever occurred to me were it not for a) the pandemic and then b) watching you guys and your endeavours with Avalon and Largo. You showed me that it was possible to do this well. We're now a year into homeschooling after a really difficult first year of traditional high school. It was a tough first year of no-school, we tried lots of different things! Textbooks, online courses, online programmes, group tuition, some elements of unschooling. What I've learnt so far is that there's no right answers! Many times I have felt like I was failing over this last year - failing my daughter and failing all the 'shoulds' of traditional education. Now heading into our second year of 'no-school' my daughter and I have a much better idea of what works and what doesn't for her and I'm learning to do the research, learn from others' experiences AND then go with my gut and listen to my daughter. We will continue to make mistakes, lots of them, and I'm hopeful though that every 'term' we get closer to a recipe that works for us! Always inspiring, and thought provoking, thank you for all that you share! x
Awh, thanks Louise. Yes, there is no right answer for everyone, you are correct. Finding what works for your child is the right answer and that takes time and testing out a lot of different ways. You are on the right track. You are asking the questions, willing to pivot and committed to finding what works. Good job mama! You got this.
This was really thoughtfully written. I homeschool my youngest aged 15. We don’t have a heavy schedule as he’s a little behind and immature with a few health/learning challenges, but - we do still follow a basic (albeit adjusted/slow version) college prep path because I don’t want his wings clipped and hopes dashed once he starts to fly and spread his wings and realize what he should’ve done. I feel it’s our responsibility to prepare them for success to their own ability, and while they need to take ownership of that (just like any high schooler - up to them how hard they work on what’s set before them) they also don’t know what hoops they will need to jump through. When my son mentions potentially being a roller coaster engineer or a computer programmer, he doesn’t know what those careers entail. I know that it likely would be fulfilling for him to do that as a career, but also quite hard to reach these goals. It’s really a failure of me as a parent to not teach him traditional subjects out of a sort of rebellion against the failing school system. Math is math. And it’s required in physics and science careers. And one day he will mature and want an intellectually fulfilling career to match his abilities as an adult, and it’s not right for me to hinder him in such a way as to make it near impossible. That being said, we aren’t slaving away for hours daily. But my oldest who attends private school does have very specific goals and college plans for his career and he is working very very hard on them and we support that (while leaving class choice up to him). He chose 3 AP classes on his own. My youngest might appear to “want” to watch YouTube all day but deep down he has core needs that won’t be fulfilled in that way long term. He loves to travel and that’s how I found you guys. So we try to learn as much as we can hands on. Anyway I guess this is rambling now. What really pushed me to not be a full “unschooler” is the documentary I saw on young adults leaving the Amish community and struggling to attain their GED and gainful employment after leaving their family and community. Like you said, their adulthood was very unfulfilling . That’s essentially what will happen to many “unschoolers” and it’s sad to see. Too many are really not pursuing any real learning activities at all. But like you said, it’s very difficult. I didn’t necessarily want to teach high school science and chemistry. But here I am in a humid hotel room in a swamp going on day 5 bc we are here near the coast on a learning trip for our self led AP environmental science class! We will figure it out and I appreciate the thought provoking article.
Thanks for your kind thoughts and for sharing your children's learning!!! Yes, don't clip those wings or dash those hopes, so with you. Also love that you are educating to each child individually and to their needs. My biggest take away from what you wrote...you are thinking about them, their needs, their dreams and this is fabulous! This homeschooling, parenting, etc is hardworking and takes a lot of thought. Good job mama. Our readers will definitely find value in what you are sharing. xoxo Jess
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this topic Jessica! It's interesting, I don't think homeschooling would have ever occurred to me were it not for a) the pandemic and then b) watching you guys and your endeavours with Avalon and Largo. You showed me that it was possible to do this well. We're now a year into homeschooling after a really difficult first year of traditional high school. It was a tough first year of no-school, we tried lots of different things! Textbooks, online courses, online programmes, group tuition, some elements of unschooling. What I've learnt so far is that there's no right answers! Many times I have felt like I was failing over this last year - failing my daughter and failing all the 'shoulds' of traditional education. Now heading into our second year of 'no-school' my daughter and I have a much better idea of what works and what doesn't for her and I'm learning to do the research, learn from others' experiences AND then go with my gut and listen to my daughter. We will continue to make mistakes, lots of them, and I'm hopeful though that every 'term' we get closer to a recipe that works for us! Always inspiring, and thought provoking, thank you for all that you share! x
Awh, thanks Louise. Yes, there is no right answer for everyone, you are correct. Finding what works for your child is the right answer and that takes time and testing out a lot of different ways. You are on the right track. You are asking the questions, willing to pivot and committed to finding what works. Good job mama! You got this.