For Rosie
If you don’t go to school, how will you be able to live in the real
world? Actually, after I stopped going to school, everything felt a lot simpler. Learning comes naturally, and when you're not pressured to do stupid tests and stuff, you can actually live. I think the whole institute of school, having what you're going to learn, who will teach you, who you'll spend your time with, where you'll sit, what you'll take, stifles human creativity.
What do you “do” all day if you don’t go to school? What do you "do" all day when you're in school? You're just sitting around in a classroom, as opposed to sitting around at your home, where you can relax and not raise your hand to go to the bathroom.
How do you know what you need to learn? If you're a normal functioning human being, you'll want to understand things.
How do you learn things without a teacher? Teachers are just hired to drill things into kids' minds. I don't think that's teaching. I think you teach by example and interaction, not by stuffing a bunch of facts into someone's head.
Do you have assignments, tests, and grades? No.
How did you learn to read without instruction? I went to school until 5th grade, so that was covered.
How do you know what grade you’re in? I don't. I do 9th grade math, and that's really the only thing that might identify what 'level' I'm at. Otherwise we just read a lot of history and I write.
Don’t you think it is parents’ responsibility to make sure their
children are educated? Aren’t your parents shirking their
responsibilities by just leaving you alone? Yes. It's parents' responsibility to make sure their children are educated. However, it is up to them how they want to educate their children.
Don’t you miss having friends? Don’t you wish you could see your
friends every day at school? Well, let's look at this a little more carefully. At school, you see your friends:
5-10 minutes before school starts, unless you're late
5 minutes total small exchange in class
15 minutes at recess
30 minutes at lunch
5 minutes after school
for a total of: 1 hour and 10 minutes daily. Times five is five hourse fifty minutes. That's about the time we spend at park day.
Isn’t it hard having your mom be your teacher? She's not my 'teacher'. She doesn't teach the way conventional teachers do. She kind of... encourages and supports.
Do you have homework? No
How do you know what to study? I don't. I study what interests me. I swear, the Black Death epidemic was so cool. No, I'm not a phsycopath, but seriously.
What do you do about subjects you aren’t interested in learning? Discard them. The way you might with a gum wrapper, if you get my drift.
How will you learn to do things you don’t like to do? Um, I won't.
Do you plan to go to college? CAN unschoolers go to college? I do/can indeed!
How do you learn math? Math can be cool. I use a book.
Do you get punished when you don’t learn? Lol. No.
Do your parents give you grades? No.
Do you think unschooling is better than going to school or school-at-
home? Cheah!
How will you ever know how to follow directions? Yes, if they are reasonable directions, and they make sense, I will follow them. It's commonly referred to as logical thinking.
Don’t you miss out on having contact with the diversity of other
children you would meet in school? I think not. It may be hard to believe, but there are homo sapiens living outside of the school system. Plus, you're always with kids your same age. That can be annoying.
How can your parents teach you as much as you would learn in school? I've heard this a lot, and I think it's totally underminding and degrading parents. They are your PARENTS. It is their JOB to raise you, without a salary. It is up to them how they will raise you, not up to a 'teacher'.
Doesn’t unschooling make you feel a little weird and not like other
children?How will you fit in to regular society? I won't fit in and I'm glad. Those people freak me out.
If you follow your own interests, how do you find out what there is
out there in which to BE interested? Example 1. I saw a movie, Phantom of the Opera. I liked it. I read a bunch of other versions. Spent days reading articles online about the Victorian era and the arts, and about gothic novels and the elements, etc. Wasn't that a lovely lesson children?
It seems like unschoolers just play all the time. Is that true? What, may I ask, is wrong with playing? I think what people need to realize is this: Maybe you don't agree with it, maybe it's not something you would do, butif it makes the people happy, let them have fun. That's all we can hope for. If it's not hurting you, tolerate it.
Aren’t you afraid you won’t learn what you need to learn? What do I need to learn?
What motivates you to learn if you’re not getting graded? It is very sad that society has stifled human spirit so much that you need to have grades motivate you to learn. Very sad.
Do your parents have requirements for you like reading so much every
day or writing a certain amount every week? No.
What do your parents expect from you? If they expect something, they haven't yet made it known to me.
What do your parents do to help you learn? They love me. Awwww.
What is your relationship with your parents like? We're civil (murmur). We're polite (gasp). We talk (faint). Can you imagine? Being nice to the people that put up with your ungrateful ass every day?
What does a typical day look like for you? There's no such thing as typical.
Do you get to do whatever you want? What if you want to do things
that aren’t safe or aren’t appropriate for your age? One thing that I think some unschooling families do is confuse unschooling with unparenting. You need guidance, if something isn't safe or age-appropriate, you shouldn't be doing it. And for all the things your parents do for you, I think you should be willing to listen to what they ask of you.
Do you have rules like bedtimes and limits on tv or videogames? No.
How do you learn to get along with other people your own age? I don't think it's necessary to get along with other people just because they're your age. If you don't get along with people your own age, so what? I find a lot of fourtteen year olds kind of petty. Every single one of my friends is older than me. So what?
Aren’t you afraid there will be gaps in your learning? Um, no.
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That was fun! I hope you find it useful =)
world? Actually, after I stopped going to school, everything felt a lot simpler. Learning comes naturally, and when you're not pressured to do stupid tests and stuff, you can actually live. I think the whole institute of school, having what you're going to learn, who will teach you, who you'll spend your time with, where you'll sit, what you'll take, stifles human creativity.
What do you “do” all day if you don’t go to school? What do you "do" all day when you're in school? You're just sitting around in a classroom, as opposed to sitting around at your home, where you can relax and not raise your hand to go to the bathroom.
How do you know what you need to learn? If you're a normal functioning human being, you'll want to understand things.
How do you learn things without a teacher? Teachers are just hired to drill things into kids' minds. I don't think that's teaching. I think you teach by example and interaction, not by stuffing a bunch of facts into someone's head.
Do you have assignments, tests, and grades? No.
How did you learn to read without instruction? I went to school until 5th grade, so that was covered.
How do you know what grade you’re in? I don't. I do 9th grade math, and that's really the only thing that might identify what 'level' I'm at. Otherwise we just read a lot of history and I write.
Don’t you think it is parents’ responsibility to make sure their
children are educated? Aren’t your parents shirking their
responsibilities by just leaving you alone? Yes. It's parents' responsibility to make sure their children are educated. However, it is up to them how they want to educate their children.
Don’t you miss having friends? Don’t you wish you could see your
friends every day at school? Well, let's look at this a little more carefully. At school, you see your friends:
5-10 minutes before school starts, unless you're late
5 minutes total small exchange in class
15 minutes at recess
30 minutes at lunch
5 minutes after school
for a total of: 1 hour and 10 minutes daily. Times five is five hourse fifty minutes. That's about the time we spend at park day.
Isn’t it hard having your mom be your teacher? She's not my 'teacher'. She doesn't teach the way conventional teachers do. She kind of... encourages and supports.
Do you have homework? No
How do you know what to study? I don't. I study what interests me. I swear, the Black Death epidemic was so cool. No, I'm not a phsycopath, but seriously.
What do you do about subjects you aren’t interested in learning? Discard them. The way you might with a gum wrapper, if you get my drift.
How will you learn to do things you don’t like to do? Um, I won't.
Do you plan to go to college? CAN unschoolers go to college? I do/can indeed!
How do you learn math? Math can be cool. I use a book.
Do you get punished when you don’t learn? Lol. No.
Do your parents give you grades? No.
Do you think unschooling is better than going to school or school-at-
home? Cheah!
How will you ever know how to follow directions? Yes, if they are reasonable directions, and they make sense, I will follow them. It's commonly referred to as logical thinking.
Don’t you miss out on having contact with the diversity of other
children you would meet in school? I think not. It may be hard to believe, but there are homo sapiens living outside of the school system. Plus, you're always with kids your same age. That can be annoying.
How can your parents teach you as much as you would learn in school? I've heard this a lot, and I think it's totally underminding and degrading parents. They are your PARENTS. It is their JOB to raise you, without a salary. It is up to them how they will raise you, not up to a 'teacher'.
Doesn’t unschooling make you feel a little weird and not like other
children?How will you fit in to regular society? I won't fit in and I'm glad. Those people freak me out.
If you follow your own interests, how do you find out what there is
out there in which to BE interested? Example 1. I saw a movie, Phantom of the Opera. I liked it. I read a bunch of other versions. Spent days reading articles online about the Victorian era and the arts, and about gothic novels and the elements, etc. Wasn't that a lovely lesson children?
It seems like unschoolers just play all the time. Is that true? What, may I ask, is wrong with playing? I think what people need to realize is this: Maybe you don't agree with it, maybe it's not something you would do, butif it makes the people happy, let them have fun. That's all we can hope for. If it's not hurting you, tolerate it.
Aren’t you afraid you won’t learn what you need to learn? What do I need to learn?
What motivates you to learn if you’re not getting graded? It is very sad that society has stifled human spirit so much that you need to have grades motivate you to learn. Very sad.
Do your parents have requirements for you like reading so much every
day or writing a certain amount every week? No.
What do your parents expect from you? If they expect something, they haven't yet made it known to me.
What do your parents do to help you learn? They love me. Awwww.
What is your relationship with your parents like? We're civil (murmur). We're polite (gasp). We talk (faint). Can you imagine? Being nice to the people that put up with your ungrateful ass every day?
What does a typical day look like for you? There's no such thing as typical.
Do you get to do whatever you want? What if you want to do things
that aren’t safe or aren’t appropriate for your age? One thing that I think some unschooling families do is confuse unschooling with unparenting. You need guidance, if something isn't safe or age-appropriate, you shouldn't be doing it. And for all the things your parents do for you, I think you should be willing to listen to what they ask of you.
Do you have rules like bedtimes and limits on tv or videogames? No.
How do you learn to get along with other people your own age? I don't think it's necessary to get along with other people just because they're your age. If you don't get along with people your own age, so what? I find a lot of fourtteen year olds kind of petty. Every single one of my friends is older than me. So what?
Aren’t you afraid there will be gaps in your learning? Um, no.
---------
That was fun! I hope you find it useful =)