Tag Archives: home equipment

Homeschool Word of the Day: Strewing

Strewing means scattering, or dispersing haphazardly. In homeschooling, to strew is to leave education books, materials, and games lying about in the child’s path. Strewing is a word used by unschoolers. While unschoolers allow their children to follow their own paths, many do manage to direct the kids a bit with strategic placement of learning materials. Sandra Dodd, who coined the term, explains this practice well on her website. She explains, “Some of our most successful items have been toys or objects for playing with (sometimes not purely a toy) like pattern blocks, castle blocks, magnets (or some new magnet … Continue reading →

Unschooling, Homeschooling, Classroom: Choose the Method that Meets the Needs of the Child

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One of my previous articles gave you some insight into unshcooling. Andrea has already addressed many questions about unschooling in Homeschool. However I thought that it might be interesting to throw in an article from a public educator’s point of view. As you know unschooling involves letting children learn on their own in a natural environment instead of in a structured learning setting such as a classroom. It is more relaxed with less “bookwork”. So does this work? It can. I think that unschooling and typical homeschooling and schooling in general all basically follow the same rule. That rule is … Continue reading →

Lessons From Unschooling Families: The Smiths

I had asked last week in the forums for suggestions on blog topics. Mary Ann Romans wanted to know about unschooling and essentially how kids will learn everything they need to know if there is no plan in place. Yesterday I talked about unschooling as a philosophy, our own experience leaning towards unschooling with our son (although we are definitely not unschoolers) and I gave an example of one family I knew, and how they incorporated unschooling into their learning environment. Today, I am going to talk about the Smiths, another unschooling family I know with a slightly more radical … Continue reading →

Homeschool Glossary (words homeschoolers should know) – C

Charlotte Mason Method– The Charlotte Mason Method of homeschooling is a books based approach to learning. Children learn to love reading good books and original sources of information. They also spend a lot of time in nature. Classical Education – (also called trivium-based education) is a history-based approach to education with three developmental phases. In the early or primary years, the children are taught facts. In the middle school years, children learn logic and reasoning. In the final high school period, children learn persuasion and abstraction. College admission: Once your child is in middle school, you will want to start … Continue reading →

Do You Like Vintage?

What do you think of vintage décor? Do you like the look of hand-sewn quilts and crocheted Afghans? Do you like the colors reminiscent of another time? Maybe you picture a vintage theme room filled with old Coca-Cola collectibles and memorabilia. Can you see a black and white checkerboard tile floor, white walls, and one of those adorable black wrought iron bistro sets or ice cream parlor table and chairs? I know, it’s been done, but I’ve always liked the stark contrast of black against white. A splash of red injected by the Coke items would warm it up and … Continue reading →

The “unschooling” in our homeschool

In my last post, I said that we’re “Charlotte Mason-Unschooling-Touch-of-Classical-Unit-Study-Book-Loving-Learners.” Since I’ve already covered much of the Charlotte Mason aspect of our homeschool, I’d like to touch on what we do that could be called “unschooling.” What, exactly, is unschooling? Well, it may just depend on who you’re talking to. One of the problems with homeschooling lingo is that it’s not really standardized. A lot of terms, such as “unschooling,” are used differently by different groups, and that can lead to misconceptions and confusion. But, I’ll try to touch on some general definitions. “Radical” unschoolers generally advocate a hands-off approach, … Continue reading →

Dr. Phil Doesn’t Get Homeschooling

I never watch daytime television. I’m just too busy. . .home schooling. So I have to admit that I never watch the Dr. Phil show. But I attempted to tune in yesterday to watch the “Great School Debate” in which Dr. Phil, homeschooling families, and the audience debated the merits of unschooling, homeschooling, and public schooling. Yet again, he concluded with the idea that it’s fine to homeschool until 8th grade. . .but then you better put your kids in school because once kids start puberty–they need to socialize. In fact one father pointed to the importance of “. . … Continue reading →

Dr. Phil to Explore Homeschooling

This Friday, Dr. Phil will weigh in on homeschooling on a show entitled “The Great School Debate”. I have only seen one tiny bit of the trailer, which seemed to imply that perhaps if you’re unschooling, you’re not really learning. But that was only a 2 minutes segment of an hour long show–so perhaps what I got out of it was just dead wrong. Dr. Phil stirred up the homeschooling community a few years ago when he touted on his national TV show that there was no social damage done to kids who were homeschooled. . .up through the 8th … Continue reading →

Resources for the Unschooler

Unschooling, also known as natural learning, or child-led learning, is a means to educate children that allows them to investigate what they’re interested in. While opponents say that it could produce children who don’t understand how the real world works–research shows the opposite is true. Some of you have asked me to put together a list of resources for unschooling. Even if you are not an unschooled, I guarantee you that you will find something on this list that you’ll be able to use. Unschooling.com This is a comprehensive resource containing everything. This is a great place to visit for … Continue reading →

Uneducated Unschoolers on the Loose

I will readily admit that I do not subscribe to the method of home schooling known as “unschooling.” With that said, I will also readily admit that in homeschooling–all roads lead to Rome. Part of the beauty of homeschooling is that families are allowed to choose the methods that work best for them. Methods take into account personalities of parents, the learning style of children and even dad’s work schedule! So even though we don’t do the “unschooling” thing, I can readily see many families who do–and are doing it well! Apparently though, not everyone thinks unschooling is acceptable. There … Continue reading →