Education: No School. No Books. No Tests. The Kids Decide Their Fate

[Obama 2012 1,714]

Your head will probably explode watching this news report, but yeah...

Video Report ABC News: http://widgets.clearspring.com/o/4ae8d36a3102598f/4bccf1883bc728ce/4ae8d36a3102598f/99c97b9d/-cpid/3e69266a91cdeec6

Summary: 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."

Full text: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Parenting/unschooling-homeschooling-book-tests-classes/story?id=10410867

[ValerieA 350]

What ever happened to parents making sure their kids were learning what they should, to make it through life as a good human being? We all need education, and we need to go to school to learn to socialize, to figure out how to be a part of society.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

I saw this film : Accepted http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0384793/

[Ali G. 37]

Yes that is exactly what teenagers need.

When are we going to start holding parents accountable? They can be the most detrimental and harmful yet are the only group in society that gets a free ride no matter what.

Edited April 20, 2010 by Ali G.

[Nagishkaw 510]

[Ali G. 37]

I saw this film : Accepted http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0384793/

I was thinking more of http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0387808/

[Calypso 464]

That method would work depending on those parents' perception of what education is. If somebody studies, gets a PhD or becomes a lawyer in order to earn money and be looked up to by the society, that's one purpose. However, if studying in a university is all about earning money someday and those kids' parents already have millions in the bank, then the kids might as well not have formal education anymore.

[Ali G. 37]

That method would work depending on those parents' perception of what education is. If somebody studies, gets a PhD or becomes a lawyer in order to earn money and be looked up to by the society, that's one purpose. However, if studying in a university is all about earning money someday and those kids' parents already have millions in the bank, then the kids might as well not have formal education anymore.

Anyone who is going to college for the money alone is going for the wrong reasons.

The problem with these faux parents is that they are teaching their kids to bludge (slack off). If this is something they are going to do on their own dime, then so be it. Personally, I strive for knowledge and progress, whereas, kids like these are not the people who will end up curing diseases or battle the multitude of problems facing society. Instead, they will most likely end up pot heads.

There is a difference between homeschooling and this ridiculous notion of unschooling.

Edited April 20, 2010 by Ali G.

[dakay ♥ 10]

It just seems a little irresponsible to me. There are so many experiences that they probably missed out on by virtue of these parents seemingly being almost completely uninvolved (I'm not even talking about the fact that they didn't go to school. You can homeschool your children and still be or even be more, involved in their lives.)

[milimelo 4,481]

There was a show on Discovery Health recently called Radical Parenting - unschooling was a part of it (alongside AP where they keep children next to them 24/7, then a family that was raising their son in gender neutral way - no military fatigue shirts, can play with dolls, can wear mommy's shoes, it's ok to cry when you're sad).

They had a family with 2 kids - younger than 6 I believe. Kids were allowed to do whatever they want - breakfast was what ever they wanted to have, they slept on the floor instead of their beds if they wanted to do that. The only learning exposure I saw was mom taking kids to a local produce seller and they were discussing different vegetables, how much would cost to get couple of potatoes or something similar.

Never saw any type of real learning in the house but parents did say that they will have their children go to college if they so choose. Now I am wondering how do you get someone in college who never spent a day in a classroom, has no grades to show yet they are fit for college?

[Anna C. 4]

While I find unschooling weird, I'm glad parents can decide freely what they want for their families. I know many homeschoolers and their kids are way ahead of public school kids. I can't imagine that I ever have the patience to homeschool though, so private school it is for us.

I bet that those unschooled kids learn WAY MORE than kids in public schools in California. My SIL and BIL (14 and 16) moved from CA to NC and suddenly, oh boy, they actually had to do something in school! Boy that was an adjustment! Then they moved back to San Diego and everything was easy peasy for them, they actually laughed how easy public school is in CA. And as far as socialization goes... No thanks to public schools. Bullying into drugs, sex and bullying in general... Great experience. My little SIL is being pressured by the rest to have sex too, it is crazy these days. I totally would never allow my kids to attend public school. Private school or if funds were low homeschooling.

To the PP: AP is always completely misrepresented on TV and in other the media. That is why I thought 3 years ago as well it is all weird. It has nothing to do with being around the kids 24/7. Many working parents practice AP, and obviously, they are not around their kids all the time. It is about gentle discipline (aka no spanking or shaming, but actually working with your child on behaviour - doing the right things for the right reasons, and no these are not kids who get what they want, quite contrary actually), a big goal is breastfeeding (for health and social reasons, great bonding with mom), it is about preparing for pregnancy birth and parenthood, respond to your children appropriately and timely (aka not leaving a 4 week old baby to cry) and so on. It is nothing weird, in fact my parents were just like that minus breastfeeding and had never heard of AP. It just got labeled as such recently. Read more here: http://www.attachmentparenting.org/

[Jenn! 918]

Thanks for addressing that misconception, Anna!

[Ali G. 37]

While I find unschooling weird, I'm glad parents can decide freely what they want for their families. I know many homeschoolers and their kids are way ahead of public school kids. I can't imagine that I ever have the patience to homeschool though, so private school it is for us.

I bet that those unschooled kids learn WAY MORE than kids in public schools in California. My SIL and BIL (14 and 16) moved from CA to NC and suddenly, oh boy, they actually had to do something in school! Boy that was an adjustment! Then they moved back to San Diego and everything was easy peasy for them, they actually laughed how easy public school is in CA. And as far as socialization goes... No thanks to public schools. Bullying into drugs, sex and bullying in general... Great experience. My little SIL is being pressured by the rest to have sex too, it is crazy these days. I totally would never allow my kids to attend public school. Private school or if funds were low homeschooling.

Private school and home-schooling are two totally different kettle of fish to this idiotic unschooling - AKA Hippy parenting 2.0. Private schools also work because the schools don't have to accommodate for everyone or be PC. Who do we have to thank for PC? You guess it, the type of parent that is now unschooling.

While I am not in the education field, it's quite obvious why the United states ranks so poorly in math, science and English scores. Rubbish like sex ed is pushed daily upon students in public schools here. It's only a matter of time before public schools are forced to start teaching pole dancing and the best BJ techniques. God forbid we try to teach teenagers morals, respect, community spirit, working as a team etc etc; that's just wrong and indoctrination.

This idiocy is why I strongly support school funds being allocated as they are in AUS; which is per student. Therefore, if a parent decides to send their child to a private school, even a religious one, x funds are paid per student to the school of their choice. How is this approach working? Australia is ranked first in the world by the Education Index.

[that_girl 9]

Private school and home-schooling are two totally different kettle of fish to this idiotic unschooling - AKA Hippy parenting 2.0. Private schools also work because the schools don't have to accommodate for everyone or be PC. Who do we have to thank for PC? You guess it, the type of parent that is now unschooling.

While I am not in the education field, it's quite obvious why the United states ranks so poorly in math, science and English scores. Rubbish like sex ed is pushed daily upon students in public schools here. It's only a matter of time before public schools are forced to start teaching pole dancing and the best BJ techniques. God forbid we try to teach teenagers morals, respect, community spirit, working as a team etc etc; that's just wrong and indoctrination.

This idiocy is why I strongly support school funds being allocated as they are in AUS; which is per student. Therefore, if a parent decides to send their child to a private school, even a religious one, x funds are paid per student to the school of their choice. How is this approach working? Australia is ranked first in the world by the Education Index.

I met folks in NZ who taught their kids with a mixture of Waldorf and unschooling (which makes me think there are likely some folks in Oz doing it, too). It's not that you don't teach your kids anything, but rather that you let them choose what they want to learn, and give them the tools and resources to do so, as opposed to having a set curriculum of "three R's". Now, the onus is on the parents to determine if this kind of education is right for their kids; whether they are motivated, etc. to learn skills and knowledge that will give them a chance in life, or whether they will ####### around learning to beat Pokemon or Halo (or whatever the kids play these days) faster and faster.

[Ali G. 37]

I met folks in NZ who taught their kids with a mixture of Waldorf and unschooling (which makes me think there are likely some folks in Oz doing it, too). It's not that you don't teach your kids anything, but rather that you let them choose what they want to learn, and give them the tools and resources to do so, as opposed to having a set curriculum of "three R's". Now, the onus is on the parents to determine if this kind of education is right for their kids; whether they are motivated, etc. to learn skills and knowledge that will give them a chance in life, or whether they will ####### around learning to beat Pokemon or Halo (or whatever the kids play these days) faster and faster.

Only issue with that is that college is ruled out, well at least over there it is.

The percentage of students home-schooled would probably be in the decimal figure in AUS, as parents have so many choices regarding where to send their child. The school of choice and most effective are private religious schools over there. There has been a massive push towards education and all of the nations schools (including private) are undergoing substantial physical renovations.

Edited April 20, 2010 by Ali G.