Unschooling Discussion

[Danny]

Here we are, I finally decided to talk about this. Watch as I get a lot of shit thrown at me, I know a few of you would enjoy that. I will try to keep my cool regarding all of the negative comments towards this particular subject.

Hello everybody! Welcome to this thread where we will discuss my least favorite subject to discuss! UNSCHOOLING!

Now, if none of you were aware, or even cared enough to be aware, I am unschooled. This means I go to no public or private schools, I am entirely self-taught. Many of you will start bashing this fact, ask me where I will get a diploma (Which isn't need to get a job in the slightest. The only times I would need it was if I was becoming a doctor, but I'm not interested in any medical careers, I'd rather enter computer programming or culinary arts), question my education methods, etc.

First off, please note that the school systems in my city/town, maybe the whole state (though I doubt this, it's probably just my city/town), are absolute shit, and there are a lot of benefits I receive from being unschooled. One of these benefits would be the fact that I spend more time bonding with my family, which is a great thing. Another benefit would be receiving home cooked meals all the time (which has given me the benefit of learning how to cook myself). One of the few cons I can really think of right now would be not having as many friends in real life as opposed to on the Internet, but since I'm on the Internet about half the time anyway, I'm not worried about it.

I'm far too tired right now to give some actual base to this post, but for now just discuss the subject of Unschooling, please. I expect half of you to bash me anyway, but I don't care in the slightest about your opinions.

[silent_]

You probably expected me to bash you, but I won't, because it's people's decision whether they want to go to a public or private school. I will be frank, I do not like unschooling, though I know quite a few people in real life who do unschooling so hating it is disrespectful for them. Also, it's best NOT to mention that that a bunch of crap will get thrown at you and that users are going to bash you, that will just jinx it and make it ten times worse.

[aero]

I'm not going to lie, I totally agree that private and public schools are shit. I'm not entirely sure about unschooling, but if it works as well as you imply, more power to you!

When I switched from public school to online, I benefited greatly from the decision. I got away from a lot of my sources of anxiety/depression, useless education, time wasted, and this helped out greatly in my online run since my grades went up, and that's just the academic benefit. I don't know too much about unschooling, but from what I've read on your post and in articles, it seems like a respectable idea. What I'm curious about is what you would do if you suddenly did want to be a doctor, and needed a diploma, how would you transfer in with no formal academic history? Also, do you specifically have to prove any home education or keep a portfolio while being unschooled?

[Raster]

I'm not going to lie, I totally agree that private and public schools are shit. I'm not entirely sure about unschooling, but if it works as well as you imply, more power to you!

Why do you think private schools are shit?

[aero]

I'm not going to lie, I totally agree that private and public schools are shit. I'm not entirely sure about unschooling, but if it works as well as you imply, more power to you!

Why do you think private schools are shit?

They have some of the same core problems that public schools have, being one teacher educating a classroom of children. The traditional method doesn't work because, at adolescence individualism starts to set in among students causing them to learn at different rates as an example. They have the benefit of not having so much government input in the education process, but it's far from perfect. Also, nearly all of the private schools in my area are religious so it's not like there's many options unless you don't agree with the material presented in public school.

[Danny]

Also, it's best NOT to mention that that a bunch of crap will get thrown at you and that users are going to bash you, that will just jinx it and make it ten times worse.

It's better to have mentioned and and see that it was expected rather than having it been a surprise. I'd rather jinx it than anything else.

I don't know too much about unschooling, but from what I've read on your post and in articles, it seems like a respectable idea. What I'm curious about is what you would do if you suddenly did want to be a doctor, and needed a diploma, how would you transfer in with no formal academic history? Also, do you specifically have to prove any home education or keep a portfolio while being unschooled?

First off, I show absolutely no interest in the medical profession field, it's just not something I've ever been interested in, nor do I know enough about it. If I was on the off chance of requiring a diploma, I would take a test (I forget the exact name of it) to see whether I qualify for a diploma or not, and then I have to wait a few business days for it to get processed and accepted/declined. Also, answering both your question on transferring and to prove I have any home education, my mother sends a yearly report on a list of required subjects and how well I did on them to the school, and she can also input additional subjects, such as Culinary Arts and Computer Sciences. So far I've managed to succeed past a lot of the average scores for graders my age this year.

I'm not going to lie here, I had a lot of fall backs because of the self-taught curriculum, and sometimes it becomes a hassle, but I try my best. I'm extremely well in English and surprisingly good at History, but I can't do Math for shit. What really bums me out most of the time is the fact that when I do manage to tell someone I don't go to public or private school, they always instantly start questioning my education and how smart I am, this is where they start quizzing me, and it gets rather annoying. The questions they quiz me on are super complex Math calculations that they expect me to do in under five seconds. I kid you not that is all they try to quiz me on. Since I'm terrible at Math, and I fail to answer the question, they always bash me and claim I haven't learned anything from my education methods, and it gets fairly disappointing when trying to meet new people (This is mainly why most of my friends are on the Internet, I find they don't judge me as much).

I'm not going to lie, I totally agree that private and public schools are shit. I'm not entirely sure about unschooling, but if it works as well as you imply, more power to you!

Why do you think private schools are shit?

You can't really blame the entirety of private schools. There are some pretty bad ones here and there, so I won't blame him for calling them shit, but I couldn't imagine he's been to at least more than two. You might have a better private school that you attend to, but that doesn't necessarily mean that every private school will be just as good as yours.

[Fuyu]

Many times I have thought about being unschooled instead of going to any public/private school. Fact is that since I have a near-earth-center willpower and I rarely do anything in the house or for my education I end up giving up since I wouldn't learn anything that I wouldn't in school, not just that, I'd end up not learning as much as in any school. I won't question the results of being unschooled since what you learn depends on your willpower, besides from that nothing else matters (of course you'd need some sources to get the info you'd like to learn), but I don't see why people shouldn't go to public/private schools. People can go to all of them and then fill any holes that were left while attending to school, it'd be the same as being unschooled, I think.

About your difficulty at maths, well, that can't be helped. That's the disadvantage of being unschooled I assume, you don't have someone experienced on the matter to explain some stuff. If that's not the problem I really don't get why's so difficult to you. Math, along with Geometry, depends on how many exercises you solve. Sure it might be hard at times, but that's what makes it more simple than any other subject. Having Math and Geometry gives you (considering your willpower I'm sure you shouldn't have problem to) could solve many exercises, meaning you gather experience, and so it should be easier to relate your learning with any exercises that you come across.

I'm actually happy to see there are some people that are unschooled, meaning that what I see and what I know are not the completion of things you could possibly know about the world and society. Also, if anyone else would question you, you shouldn't bother so much about them. If anything, I'd bet they are just joking, and if they aren't, you could just ask them the same question. Sure there might be people that might not even try to, but that's no the point. The point is that you shouldn't care too much about them, specially when they have no idea of what they could learn doing what you do.

[WindyDelcarlo]

Since I'm terrible at Math, and I fail to answer the question, they always bash me and claim I haven't learned anything from my education methods, and it gets fairly disappointing when trying to meet new people (This is mainly why most of my friends are on the Internet, I find they don't judge me as much).

I absolutely agree here. In my experience, people in real life are less willing to give you a chance if you mess something up.
On the topic of math, if you need help at all, I can do some teaching myself. I'm fairly advanced in the subject.

[Shadow Yoshi]

The main reason why I can't agree with most of the stuff presented in this thread is because I've never had any major problems with the public school system, and it's provided me with so many opportunities I wouldn't get elsewhere. However, I live in a place that has the best public schools in the state, and I understand that some people don't have that luxury.

My question with unschooling is how does it prepare you for the real world socially? The majority of the friends I've made have come from school, so it sounds like you may be missing out on some of that. It's great if you can talk to people online, but those skills might not translate to the real world.

[aero]

My question with unschooling is how does it prepare you for the real world socially? The majority of the friends I've made have come from school, so it sounds like you may be missing out on some of that. It's great if you can talk to people online, but those skills might not translate to the real world.

To be fair, public schools don't focus on social development much either. It's actually a common belief that people who get their education at home are anti-social and socially immature, which can sometimes be the case; however, this is not true for everyone. You could ask how public school prepares you for the real world socially, and you gave your answer about your friends, but that doesn't mean everyone else is socially prepared for the world in the same way or at all. It's arguable that public schools get you to interact with other people, and home education and unschooling lets you interact with the family and community more, but it really comes down to how social of a person you are. This would also be something to consider when making the choice between public, private, and home since it will be up to how you will learn best in a particular environment.

[Julia Pseudo]

If this has worked well for you, Syndril, that's great. It makes a lot of sense for you to do this if all the schools around you are terrible, I suppose.

I don't think I know enough about this practice to comment on it in detail, but it's a really interesting concept.

[FallingSnow]

The downside of not being publicly schooled:

- not being able to come up with a better term than "unschooled"

Anyways, uh...

If you live in the United States, you need a degree for professions other than those in the medical field. It is also much more difficult to secure a job if you're without a degree unless said job is in a creative field (such as art or writing) or one where you're self-employed.

In my opinion, it's much easier to learn fun facts on the internet and common knowledge than the more advanced concepts tested in schools (such as geometry and algebra as well as literary analysis).

As far as social-ness (I forget the term), I'm not sure exactly how not going to a public school affects this if it does at all. I just know that a lot of the people I talk to on the internet haven't been to public school.
Which reminds me - this discussion will inevitably favor the side of unschooling due to the number of people here who don't go to public schools for whatever reason.
aka #bias


For the record, my boyfriend didn't attend public schooling, and I will be upset with that until he's working.

[Magician]

The list bbcode is cooler than the center bbcode B)

• - Being able to teach yourself requires a lot of willpower, but it's not impossible. The internet contains a vast supply of information and it's definitely not just fun facts, as it may seem on the surface.
  
  - Getting a degree can be just as useless and rack up piles of debt that you can't pay back. We live in an age where lots of people get degrees, when it used to be that the high school diploma was the certificate of competence. Since more people have started finishing high school, and even more yet have been getting post-secondary education, the value that employers hold towards people who have degrees is significantly lower than it used to be. It's become a bare minimum expectation in a lot of jobs that shouldn't require it. It may still, strictly speaking, be better to have a diploma, but it's really not as simple as getting a job in the field that you want as soon as you have one, and if you don't get a job in your field, the best possible measure is a drastic one: Get the fuck out of the US. That debt's just going to compound upon itself.
  
  - Being able to integrate yourself into any social setting can have entirely nothing to do with public schooling when plenty of extracurricular activities exist outside of the home.
  
  - Becoming a doctor requires a lot of in-depth studying in the field of medicine. I highly doubt very many people would have transferrable skills for the profession, such that suddenly deciding to become a doctor is a viable situation that doesn't require a lot of effort. If you suddenly wanna be a doctor, you're going back to school, whether you were schooled previously or not. The only way the argument about this might be viable is if you assume the person will decide that they want to do everything that everyone else does (re: conform to an arbitrary set of societal expectations), like get married and have kids. Such a thing would be an obstacle towards getting a new education, not that it would stop anyone who really wanted to do it, but it's weird in the first place to assume that someone who would reject the requirement of schooling would not also reject some other way more pointless things that society attempts to propagate.

Also there's just a lot of crap that school doesn't prepare you for, and sometimes, perhaps often, parenting doesn't pick up the slack.

I've been to public school and graduated; I don't feel particularly better off for it. Getting my first job was still a kick in the face.

[Danny]

To me, the only useful information for a normal person that any school teaches you would be Math. It shames me that they don't teach anything regarding Culinary Arts or Computer Sciences until you go to tech/high school, and even then it's not as great as it should be around here. What they need to start teaching is real-world things, such as how to do taxes and pay bills. It would also be wise if they taught skills such as babysitting, which comes in handy in emergency situations. I'm glad I took the week of babysitting classes that I did, because recently it's been a godsend.

A lot of child labor laws have come up in my state recently, so there are no more paper boys because there is now a legal age to be able to do merchandising, and you can't run a lemonade stall because the government can't legally tax children, such fun! I'm going to be lucky if I can even manage to scrounge up some form of Summer job that I'm hoping to get this year, seeing as how they've been putting up laws, it's like they almost want to lose jobs.

[Fuyu]

Well, in their minds, those subjects such as Culinary Arts or Computer Sciences are reserved for such grade because of its supposed "complexity" to understand, so they make you go all the way through school and highschool before anything else, at least here, in my suckass country. Besides, the government usually doesn't consider unschooled people to be worth of having those classes if they did not go all the way through those institutes, or mostly, I dare to say they don't care.

But that's beside the point. Usually, I would recommend unschooled people to have a little help such as asking a personal teacher for some doubts, in this case Maths. I wouldn't be surprised you need help with some subjects having in mind that studying by yourself is hard as hell.

[aero]

I'm going to necro-bump this because Common Core is now phased in everywhere, and alternatives to public education really need to be in the spotlight.

[SomeRandomGuy]

The main reason why I can't agree with most of the stuff presented in this thread is because I've never had any major problems with the public school system, and it's provided me with so many opportunities I wouldn't get elsewhere. However, I live in a place that has the best public schools in the state, and I understand that some people don't have that luxury.

My question with unschooling is how does it prepare you for the real world socially? The majority of the friends I've made have come from school, so it sounds like you may be missing out on some of that. It's great if you can talk to people online, but those skills might not translate to the real world.

I'm preety sure growing up socially, means learning how to grow up in a acceptable way. Yeah. Highschool.

[mechamind]

Sometimes the accepted way is the incorrect way. I haven't seen the video, but this applies in all areas.

[aero]

Growing up socially isn't learned at school, it's learned at home. It's actually kind of bizarre that until adulthood children are away from their parents and family and pumped full of information that they will forget, or never use. To be honest, the whole system should just be privatized and localized so it can enter the 21st century.

[MistakesWereMade]

privatizing schools is a horrendous idea because the dumb parents will go like "duh i can teach my kid on my own i dont need to pay money for that" and will fuck their children up even further