This post is a long time in coming. It's a concept I've been pondering and researching, for a long time. Unschooling. Most people go to school. Some people do school at home. I want to unschool.
I dislike many things about schools. I could list them all but we might be here all day. I guess my main beef is that they force every child to learn about a predetermined topic, at a specific time, in a specific method, and to a specific extent, none of which takes each child's abilites, learning differences, or interests in general into consideration! When I discuss this with friends I always use the example "if my child doesn't care about the planets in the sky, why should he be forced to learn them?" Who determined that he must know the planets? There's a WEALTH of information out there. Why can't he delve himself into something he enjoys, in a manner he enjoys, at a time that he's ready and willing to learn these things. And I think the worst part is, that if he fails to learn said thing which he didn't care about to begin with, he is now graded and basically, his worth determined by a mark on a paper. Everyone else's marks being better than his. How unfair. In their attempted to educate, they're killing a child's inate desire to learn. Fear of failing. Bordom with structure. So close to friends and yet so far, because talking lands you in the corner or the hallway....
A good example from my own life is the reproductive system. I didn't care much about it in high school. I didn't care about the details of how babies were made and grow in the womb. The information didn't stick with me at all even thogh I had a general interest in science. I subjected myself to the notion that I was learning to learn. How rediculous! A child is born willing and eager to learn. How quickly does a child learn speaking and counting without being taught. Just by listening copying. Trying without being afraid of failing. But I digress. 4 years later here's me, trying to start a family. How EXACTLY does that stuff work. How can I boost our chances? How incredibly fascinating this tiny cell grows into a full size baby in 9 months... I soaked up information like a sponge. I couldn't get enough. I found websites, videos, animations, pictures, studies, whatever I could get my hands on. And it was the center of my world for a while....
In school I stretched myself to the max. I was so desperate to cover all my bases, take as many classes as I could... I stressed myself out. I couldn't really focus on any one subject. I couldn't follow my dreams, which ever interested me the most. I had to keep all my options open. That was the best plan, I was told, for students who didn't really know what they wanted to be. I applied to a college for graphic design... kinda just happened. Wasn't my one love, I just did it becuase it was something sort of related to art. I was accepted but didn't go. Over the years my interests changed so much! I wish I'd been able to stick with one thing and study it extensively, rather than covering 7 different academics, plus other activities... One of which was lifeguarding which I almost dropped to focus on academics... I ended up lifeguarding for 3 years and it was a GREAT job. Not a carreer but it could pay the bills and I enjoyed it. And in the very end I wanted to be... a mom. One day I might go back to work... But if you were to ask me now I probably couldn't guess which field. Maybe a midwife... would be cool. Definitely not something I would have considered in high school .They don't talk about midwives in high school. They talk about doctors, teachers, trades, etc... And you're supposed to pick, with out even knowing most of what's involved... it's impossible.
And I digress again. I tend to ramble when I get on the topic of unschooling. I hope most of it still makes sense. I leave you with a quote.
"Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid."
–Albert Einstein
