Henry Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 Wow. http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Parenting/unschooling-homeschooling-book-tests-classes/story?id=10410867&page=1 Extreme Homeschooling: No Tests, No Books, No Classes, No CurriculumsIn a Movement of Unschooling, Parents Let Kids Set Their Educational Pace The Biegler children live as though school doesn't exist. Hands-off approach to education allows kids to make their own decisions. They're at home all day, but they're not being homeschooled. They're being "unschooled." There are no textbooks, no tests and no formal education at all in their world. What's more, that hands-off approach extends to other areas of the children's lives: They make their own decisions, and don't have chores or rules. Christine Yablonski and Phil Biegler of Westford, Mass., are self-described "radical unschoolers." They allow their teen daughter and son to decide what they want to learn, and when they want to learn it. "They key there is that you've got to trust your kids to … find their own interests," Yablonski told "Good Morning America." Yablonski described unschooling as "living your life as if the school system didn't exist." When asked how their children learn things like math, she said, "If they need formal algebra understanding, then they will, they'll find that information." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjah Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 Seems like a totally foolproof plan to me. Teenagers are good at prioritizing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kilmer17 Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 I thought that was called "summer"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosher Ham Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 I saw a family that did this on the wife swap tv show. Needless to say it didn't seemingly work very well. If this is your plan and your childs plan. Send them to school until they are old enough to get a work permit and start specialized schools or vocational programs at that point for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaxBuddy21 Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 Isnt this illegal? Dont they have to have formal education? I thought that was the law of the land. I know home schooling is ok but the parents need to prove they can teach and the children are still assessed to see if they are learning what they are supposed to as far as I was aware. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Godfather Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 "Extreme" is the key word. Nuts hide in every group... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zguy28 Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 I'm all for kids being kids and enjoying their childhood, but kids also need discipline and boundaries. Strict boundaries. In fact from my own experience, they thrive with relatively strict boundaries. We home-school and I think these folks are stupid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zguy28 Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 Isnt this illegal? Dont they have to have formal education? I thought that was the law of the land. I know home schooling is ok but the parents need to prove they can teach and the children are still assessed to see if they are learning what they are supposed to as far as I was aware.Yep. Mine are at least. Matter of fact we just went through it. Of course its not that big of a deal when your wife is a certified teacher. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TD_washingtonredskins Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 I'm all for kids being kids and enjoying their childhood, but kids also need discipline and boundaries. Strict boundaries. In fact from my own experience, they thrive with relatively strict boundaries.We home-school and I think these folks are stupid. Very cool. How has your experience been with home-schooling? Do the kids enjoy it? Do you guys like it? Do your kids have extracurricular activities that just aren't school-sponsored? Sorry for all the questions...just curious! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blitzpackage Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 This is just irresponsible. These teens aren't going to even attempt stuff like solving for variables or balancing chemical equations. Yeah some of that stuff you learn is useless but I print friggin t-shirts for a living and I need to solve for variables and use some geometry in my layouts. Unbelievable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GibbsFactor Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 Home Schooling X "Letting them do whatever the **** they want" At least they are consistent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zguy28 Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 Very cool. How has your experience been with home-schooling? Do the kids enjoy it? Do you guys like it? Do your kids have extracurricular activities that just aren't school-sponsored? Sorry for all the questions...just curious! My kids love it. My son was so bored in school because he would learn and finish his work faster than the other kids. Then the teacher would tell him to doodle on paper while waiting for other kids to catch up. He hated it. The teacher even tried to get him moved up one grade from 2nd to 3rd in just his Math but the school said no. They said "what happens when he gets to 5th grade?" as the reason. So we homeschool. The kids do recreational sports like football or upwards basketball and also do church activities throughout the week for socialization. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mooka Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 Um. Do they actually teach anything? Sounds like they just do nothing and call it homeschooling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TD_washingtonredskins Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 My kids love it. My son was so bored in school because he would learn and finish his work faster than the other kids. Then the teacher would tell him to doodle on paper while waiting for other kids to catch up. He hated it. The teacher even tried to get him moved up one grade from 2nd to 3rd in just his Math but the school said no. They said "what happens when he gets to 5th grade?" as the reason. So we homeschool. The kids do recreational sports like football or upwards basketball and also do church activities throughout the week for socialization. Nice. I'm glad it works out for everyone. Sounds like you guys are doing a great job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
China Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 Letting the kids make all the decisions?! No tests, curriculum? Sounds like they're not teaching anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
endzone_dave Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 The question I have for homeschoolers is how do you teach your kids calculus and physics when the time comes. I can't believe that every house wife out there can magically pick up a math book and start teaching derivatives, integrals, and kepler's laws of motion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heidenreich Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 I saw this on the news this morning before work. I lost it when the mom said "We just started to set boundaries on hygene." I can only imagine what these kids looked like before they "cleaned up" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Godfather Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 I can't believe that every house wife out there can magically pick up a math book and start teaching derivatives, integrals, and kepler's laws of motion. That's because they were taught in a public school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mojobo Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 "They key there is that you've got to trust your kids to … find their own interests" Kind of funny that they have a grammatical error (or typo I guess) while doing a piece on unorthodox schooling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bang Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 People that treat their children as if they are adults end up with adults who behave like children. I boldly predict these people won't be any exception to the rule. ~Bang Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosher Ham Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 The teacher even tried to get him moved up one grade from 2nd to 3rd in just his Math but the school said no. That seems absurd. I was reading on a sixth grade level in second grade, I was immediately moved into fourth grade english and math (based on my test scores). By the time I got to fifth grade though, I was bored to death. My brother and I both skipped grades. People that treat their children as if they are adults end up with adults who behave like children.I boldly predict these people won't be any exception to the rule. ~Bang Agreed. It's kind of like the Catholic School Girl thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hubbs Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 China, that post is scary as hell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burgundy Burner Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 In a few years, two more doooofisssses will enter the adult world. Home schooling is fine. This junk needs to be outlawed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
techboy Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 This actually sounds a lot like Alfie Kohn, an educational theorist that advocates doing this in the schools. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsNut73 Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 Isnt this illegal? Dont they have to have formal education? I thought that was the law of the land. I know home schooling is ok but the parents need to prove they can teach and the children are still assessed to see if they are learning what they are supposed to as far as I was aware. Each state is different. I know of folks in PA and CT (where I live) who homeschool. From what I've heard from the folks in PA, the state is pretty strict and you can expect the local school district to follow up on you and verify that your children are receiving the proper education. However, just about everyone I know in CT says this state is pretty laid back when it comes to homeschoolers. They usually do not follow up with anyone. In fact, neighbors of ours who homeschool tried contacting the local board of ed at the end of the year to set up an appointment for them to review the records from the year they completed...and she was basically told - lady, we have enough problems worrying about the kids we have in our public schools, not really interested in looking at your records. The question I have for homeschoolers is how do you teach your kids calculus and physics when the time comes. I can't believe that every house wife out there can magically pick up a math book and start teaching derivatives, integrals, and kepler's laws of motion. The families I know of usually switch over to video classes/internet classes once their kids reach the junior high age group. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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