I'm a radical unschooler AMA

[OutOfControlSpirals]

I'm a radical unschooling mum, which basically means I've taken the principals of unschooling, where a child is free to learn what they want, when they want, and applied it to every aspect of our lives. So my children have the same freedoms that I do when it comes to eating/sleeping/learning etc.

[AssassinatedBeauty]

What age did the children start to have a say in what food etc was bought? Did they put different things on the shopping list then, and how long did it take for them to learn what was healthy for them to eat?

[SuburbanRhonda]

soy

I was typing my question before that reply was posted!

Yes, I thought it would be the case that the husband worked full time. What a surprise.

[overmydeadbody]

How do you fund homeschooling? Presumably you stay at home and your dh ford out to work?

I've never said "because I said so" to my children, but I am a strong believer in routine, structure, rules and boundaries.

[Hangingaroundtheportal]

Sorry I cross posted there a bit, you answered about funding it all which is what I was interested in.

What do you do for a living, what sort of contracts?

Do they socialise with conventionally educated kids?

Can you give a routine of a typical day, get up times etc?

[NerrSnerr]

Do you have a blog? There seems to be a huge influx of home ed blogs at the moment,

[QueenOfMyWorld]

Is it legal? I've never heard of this

[Tabathatwitchett]

What level of education do you have OP and how did you obtain it?

[AssassinatedBeauty]

Whilst working full time, does your DH have any input into the home educating that goes on? How did you decide who went out to work and who facilitates the children? Do you intend to swap at any point?

[adaline]

. I just asked my 12 year old why he doesn't insist on spending the grocery budget on junk food for a month. He looked at me like I was an idiot and said "because I'd feel like shit, thats why!

But he's 12. What about when he was 2/3/6/8?

And like a PP said you do have boundaries otherwise why wouldn't you let your child tantrum in the supermarket?

[adaline]

Is it legal? I've never heard of this

There's no legal obligation to send your child to school in the UK. So long as you're providing them with an education you can essentially do what you want.

[NerrSnerr]

@QueenOfMyWorld there's a whole home ed section of Mumsnet. It's very legal. People can educate their kids or not as they see fit.

[Tabathatwitchett]

. I just asked my 12 year old why he doesn't insist on spending the grocery budget on junk food for a month. He looked at me like I was an idiot and said "because I'd feel like shit, thats why!

Lovely way for your son to speak to you at 12 OP. Clearly no boundaries there either.

[BendydickCuminsnatch]

Can you break down a typical day please? I get they’ll probably all be quite different, what with all that freedom, but for example what did you do yesterday?

[OutOfControlSpirals]

I don't sit and teach them to a curriculum. They learn what they are interested in and we do out best to either find away to put them in an environment that supports their interests or we pay tutors. One child wanted to learn violin. I don't play violin, so I found a local teen who does who was keen to earn a bit of money

They largely learned through play in their early years, and from about age 10 upwards, they become more aware of the world and what role they would like to play i it. As that has happened we have provided them with what they needed, in the case of the older 2 they attend weekly STEAM sessions, run by a home educating dad who teaches at the local university, and the one who wants to be a pilot has recently joined the air cadets. Just because I not an expert in a particular area, doesn't mean my child can not learn about it.

[PamsterWheel]

Isn't this just home schooling with no set bedtimes?

Other than not attending a school and not going to bed and getting up at X o'clock what is the difference between this and 'normal' parenting where kids are given guidance, opportunities to make choices, allowed to explore areas they are interested in and have conversations about all sorts?

[CurlyhairedAssassin]

I’m not sure I’m getting the shopping list thing. My kids (mid teens) help with ours ie suggestions for meal plan for a few days, or now they are off school for the summer they tell me what kind of lunches they fancy. They have just made cookies after we went to the supermarket and they went round getting the ingredients for them. Their choice.

I think a lot of families do this, so I am wondering exactly how your way is radically different. I am imagining chaos at meal times with people turning their nose up at what is offered and demanding a different meal to be cooked for them.

[Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]

Does your 10yo who stays up to midnight or later sleep in very late? If not, I'd be worried she isn't getting enough sleep. Also, it must be very constraining to have everyone on a different time schedule.

I'd also be most interested to know why you chose to do this.

[SuburbanRhonda]

Isn't this just home schooling with no set bedtimes?

In a nutshell

[CurlyhairedAssassin]

I don’t think air cadets and violin lessons are radical. Kids who are schooled conventionally also do these activities. There are advantages to doing things like that via school too, eg getting involved in school orchestra and school shoes.

[Slippersandacuppa]

There are some very high profile universities actively encouraging home educated children to apply, stating that they value the skills they’ve seen so far.

Our issue is that my husband works away and I work part time. Can’t find a solution yet...

And home schooling is totally legal - there’s a very active community around us!

[CurlyhairedAssassin]

Shows!

[Clionba]

You have a child in the Air Cadets?? Uniform, drill, strict rules??
This is very different to what you were saying!

[hibeat]

Where do you see them in 10 years ? Did they already express a wish in terms of career ?
Do you work ?
What did you study ? At what point did you make this decision ?
Where your children ever in a traditional school ?
Where do you see yourself in 10 years ? ( When do you formal teaching end ?
Do you have a support group of parents who do the same thing as you ?How do you find respite ? Do you have a partner ? Does he play a part in their education ?
Has any of this to do with religion ? Are you in the UK ?

[NerrSnerr]

I'm still interested to hear your views on formal qualifications. Would you persuade them to do GCSE level English and maths if they didn't want to, knowing they'd struggle to find work without them?

[overmydeadbody]

I think it all sounds very appealing and I am seriously considering it for my younger two ( but I would have structure and routine, like I do at the moment).


I think what you have to accept is a lot of patents parent on the same ways as you while sending their kids to school.