Is 'no school' an option when raising children?

[Luvyourlife]

This is a completely new concept to me. I'm so brainwashed by the system that I actually believed going to school or being home schooled where the only options.

But I find this really interesting and I want to learn more about it. I was watching a recent episode of the 'Raw Food World TV Show' where Matt Monarch was mainly talking about the unassisted birth of his daughther but he briefly mentioned this no schooling thing. He made these comparisons between the mainstream way of life and that which is closest to nature -

standard diet= birth in hospital= public school
whole food diet= birth with midwife= homeschool
raw food diet= unassisted birth= no school

So I'm interested in learning more about this. It interests me more so because I had such a horrific experience at school and it actually seriously damaged my development as a child. I didn't fit into the box they try to put you in at school despite trying for so many years. This destroyed my self confidence and I'm still going through the very difficult process of gaining it back and realising my worthiness and potential.

I realise that not all children go through this at school but for some people our mainstream methods of education just don't work. It is too rigid and there doesn't seem to be any room for discovering your own personal strengths and talents.

Obviously basic skills in English, maths etc are essential in life. But as for the rest of the crap I was taught at school, I have had no use for it in my life whatsoever. I know I have got where I am in life (in terms of my job for example) because of my education and the grades that I barely scraped by with but part of me wonders whether I could have achieved more if I was left to learn and discover things for myself without the pressure of trying to fit in to something that just wasn't for me.

Sorry for rambling but anyway, what does everyone think of this?

I love the idea in theory but I need to know more about it.

[CroMagna]

In "Apt Pupil", Noam Chomsky says that the purpose of a K-12 is to learn one word: "obey". He says that's why teachers give children rote, repetitive work. I recall in my biology class in high school, we never learned about natural selection! We only memorized the names of various hominids. I remember in my AP French class, we didn't learn how to carry on a conversation in French. Instead, we read Les Miserables and analyzed the text. I have a lot of experience with languages and that's the most useless way to learn a language. That's why Spanish, self-taught, is my best language, Portuguese, partly self-taught, partly school, is my second best, and French, all school, is my weakest and rustiest.

Chomsky says that everything learned in K-12 can be learned in 2 years. I totally agree.

But no school seems dangerous. Children have short attention spans and love to play outside. They abandon their studies to go play with toys or watch TV. They're not disciplined enough to teach themselves anything. I'm also not sure if that's even legal.

I think homeschooling is the best option. You can teach your children useful things like computers (which they don't teach in K-12) and instill in them certain values, for example, by having them read biographies of inspirational people.

[Brutha]

The proper word for the thing you are talking about is unschooling.

In some jurisdictions it's legal in others it isn't.

[Curtis2011]

Originally Posted by Luvyourlife

Obviously basic skills in English, maths etc are essential in life. But as for the rest of the crap I was taught at school, I have had no use for it in my life whatsoever.

If your kids don't go to school, and you don't homeschool them, how are they going to learn these English and math skills?

Another question of importance is what is your kid going to do when he grows up if he is never educated? I highly doubt there are companies out there that view "unschooled" as something positive on a resume.

[aelle]

We have/had forum members who were homeschooled, and some who were unschooled. We also have members who homeschool/unschool their children.

Another term for unschooling is "child-led education". I think under that term it is easier to understand that plenty if not most unschoolers do attend classes, learn with teachers and professors, receive grades and sometimes even attend conventional schools. The defining element is that it is the child's choice and initiative.

I'm not completely anti-school at all, I think plenty of kids do great in school and I was one of them. I suspect I would have done even better out of school, though, as I kind of systematically maxed out the resources the school had to offer me and then had to sit there while the rest of the class caught up. Eventually school taught me to be lazy (optimizing my efforts for an easy A, rather than for maximal learning and enjoyment), which is dumb.

Anyway, my point is that as far as I'm concerned, it makes sense to give your child a voice in this choice and to consider what's best for their personality and their particular situation, not what's best in general.

[aelle]

Originally Posted by Curtis2011

If your kids don't go to school, and you don't homeschool them, how are they going to learn these English and math skills?

From the world. Plenty of kids can learn intuitively the maths needed to increase the yield of a cooking recipe by 50%, for example. (And plenty of adults who went through 20+ years of standard schooling are incapable of it even though it's grade school maths).

Originally Posted by Curtis2011

Another question of importance is what is your kid going to do when he grows up if he is never educated? I highly doubt there are companies out there that view "unschooled" as something positive on a resume.

A lot of colleges actively look for unschooled students, actually. They tend to have an equally valid but different set of experience, knowledge and mindset, which is enriching for the student body as a whole.

[Acting Like Godot]

Originally Posted by Luvyourlife

I realise that not all children go through this at school but for some people our mainstream methods of education just don't work. It is too rigid and there doesn't seem to be any room for discovering your own personal strengths and talents.

I don't know what the education system in your school is like ...

In my country, for the past 15 years or so, the system has been seeking to evolve itself into one where there is a fairly wide range of different types of schools, catering to different types of individuals with different strengths and talents.

"Mainstream" has become a rather complex gamut of different options ... Quite a maze actually.

[Prinie]

I LOVED school! I have always been independent minded and I asked lots of questions and did my own research. Advanced Placement worked wonderfully for me because I wasn't doing "busy work". I spent most of my time diving into the things I wanted! I did web development in 7th grade, computer programming in 10th grade, etc etc etc and it was great! And anything that gripped me (because I did my own research) I allowed myself to dive deeper into. I went to public school and it was THE best thing ever! Because I got to meet people from all walks of life and I feel like it just completely opened up my world because you get to see that not everyone thinks like you, feels like you, believes what you do, etc. Loved it.

There's also private schools and those work for people as well. I've never heard of unschooling so I'm definitely learning about it from reading your posts. I don't think I would've enjoyed it. But imagine. Sometimes kids think the grass is greener on the other side. They might want to go to "traditional" school once they get older.

[RonSouther]

Look into Waldorf type schools....