Un-schooling?
Okay, so I tweeted about this and posted this on my Facebook, but I just have to rant about it here.
Basically, I was on Google News and I found this article: Unschooling: Homeschooling with no tests, no books, no bedtime
To sum it up, these kids just go around and learn basically through osmosis-- or at least are meant to. Or, in reality, they spaz around all day and don't learn anything that people just need to know in general. The founding fathers, algebra, who Shakespeare is. And all of this is totally cool with their mom who questions if we really even need to know who George Washington, JFK or James Joyce are. Oh, and did I mention that they don't have bedtimes and are allowed to basically run the house? They made pasta with peanut butter sauce just because they can.
My opinion?
This is a bullshit way to get out of educating your kids. Not only are you creating kids who feel entitled to do nothing and feel like they should have their way 100% of the time, you are also creating children who are so far behind other kids their age it isn't even funny. There are just some things that as an American citizen -- hell, even just as a person -- you should know or be able to do. Know who founded out country? Pretty important. Doing simple math? Pretty important. How can you even work at a fast food joint if you can't do simple math? And how will these kids ever GET out of service sector jobs if they can't pass a GED test because they have never been made to learn any of the things they learn in a school?
And also, how will these kids every know what they want to learn/study if they aren't exposed to it? I would never have known that I wanted to study religion if I wasn't exposed to religion classes in college. How will these kids ever find an academic field they will want to study if they aren't exposed to literature, language, math, history, science, etc? About the only thing they can do with their piss poor education is cook and do music because those are the only two things I can think of that you don't really need an education for but can teach yourself. These kids are so disadvantaged in almost every aspect of their lives and they don't even know it. They have no idea what the real world is like and that's just sad.
I'd like to know what other people think about this "unschooling" idea. I know that some of your on my Flist are teaching or studying to be teachers, so your opinion would be very interesting.
Basically, I was on Google News and I found this article: Unschooling: Homeschooling with no tests, no books, no bedtime
To sum it up, these kids just go around and learn basically through osmosis-- or at least are meant to. Or, in reality, they spaz around all day and don't learn anything that people just need to know in general. The founding fathers, algebra, who Shakespeare is. And all of this is totally cool with their mom who questions if we really even need to know who George Washington, JFK or James Joyce are. Oh, and did I mention that they don't have bedtimes and are allowed to basically run the house? They made pasta with peanut butter sauce just because they can.
My opinion?
This is a bullshit way to get out of educating your kids. Not only are you creating kids who feel entitled to do nothing and feel like they should have their way 100% of the time, you are also creating children who are so far behind other kids their age it isn't even funny. There are just some things that as an American citizen -- hell, even just as a person -- you should know or be able to do. Know who founded out country? Pretty important. Doing simple math? Pretty important. How can you even work at a fast food joint if you can't do simple math? And how will these kids ever GET out of service sector jobs if they can't pass a GED test because they have never been made to learn any of the things they learn in a school?
And also, how will these kids every know what they want to learn/study if they aren't exposed to it? I would never have known that I wanted to study religion if I wasn't exposed to religion classes in college. How will these kids ever find an academic field they will want to study if they aren't exposed to literature, language, math, history, science, etc? About the only thing they can do with their piss poor education is cook and do music because those are the only two things I can think of that you don't really need an education for but can teach yourself. These kids are so disadvantaged in almost every aspect of their lives and they don't even know it. They have no idea what the real world is like and that's just sad.
I'd like to know what other people think about this "unschooling" idea. I know that some of your on my Flist are teaching or studying to be teachers, so your opinion would be very interesting.