A short commentary on our day to day life.
When we started the journey we were very new to the homeschooling
philosophy but looking back I believe what we did, in our first two years, can be
categorized as unschooling.
It was scary in some ways but also simple and straight forward.
Basically we did not ‘school’ but that does not mean that learning did not take
place. We did many things that we found interesting and let them guide us. It is
almost impossible to explain unless one is willing to let go of all the notions
that children have to be taken by hand, and led through accepted body of
knowledge that they need, or need not master, at a certain time.
If we planted a garden, we studied about gardening from books we
took from the library. While we cooked we performed scientific experiments,
reading and writing were means of communication and enjoyment not a seperate
subject that stands on its own.
Two years in, we made some changes and introduced more structure
by joining ‘a school’. The school – NARHS (North Atlantic Regional High-school)
supplied us with the formal umbrella that we felt we needed. We got all the
information regarding the required subjects needed to graduate high-school, plus
a contact person. In essence though, we kept most of our freedom.
The formal aspect of the program constituted of two, yearly meetings,
in which we presented a plan (at the beginning of the year) and a
documented summary (at the end of the year). In between we were on our own. We
were free to choose the learning materials and how to incorporate them into a
set of activities that when completed presented sufficient knowledge in the subject matter.
For example, If the goal was a certain level of math (a subject I
did not feel I could teach her) Keren could study on her own (from textbooks or
computer programs) she could join a class in the local high-school; she could
join an adult education class, or convince someone else to teach her.
We did not have a set schedule of classes but rather several meetings
during the week in which we went over what was done, what needed to be
done and in the case of the few subjects that I did took upon myself (Hebrew,
History) we actually worked together.
When we started the journey we were very new to the homeschooling
philosophy but looking back I believe what we did, in our first two years, can be
categorized as unschooling.
It was scary in some ways but also simple and straight forward.
Basically we did not ‘school’ but that does not mean that learning did not take
place. We did many things that we found interesting and let them guide us. It is
almost impossible to explain unless one is willing to let go of all the notions
that children have to be taken by hand, and led through accepted body of
knowledge that they need, or need not master, at a certain time.
If we planted a garden, we studied about gardening from books we
took from the library. While we cooked we performed scientific experiments,
reading and writing were means of communication and enjoyment not a seperate
subject that stands on its own.
Two years in, we made some changes and introduced more structure
by joining ‘a school’. The school – NARHS (North Atlantic Regional High-school)
supplied us with the formal umbrella that we felt we needed. We got all the
information regarding the required subjects needed to graduate high-school, plus
a contact person. In essence though, we kept most of our freedom.
The formal aspect of the program constituted of two, yearly meetings,
in which we presented a plan (at the beginning of the year) and a
documented summary (at the end of the year). In between we were on our own. We
were free to choose the learning materials and how to incorporate them into a
set of activities that when completed presented sufficient knowledge in the subject matter.
For example, If the goal was a certain level of math (a subject I
did not feel I could teach her) Keren could study on her own (from textbooks or
computer programs) she could join a class in the local high-school; she could
join an adult education class, or convince someone else to teach her.
We did not have a set schedule of classes but rather several meetings
during the week in which we went over what was done, what needed to be
done and in the case of the few subjects that I did took upon myself (Hebrew,
History) we actually worked together.