Kindergarten Style Opinions

If kids are breathing, they are learning. It's inherent to being human. The question is "what are they learning?" The next question is "what do you want them to be learning?"

If you start doing large amounts of rote learning children are very young, for the most part what they learn is to memorize, recite, comply with schedules, and do what they are told. They are learning to perform on cue. For some parents, the ability to perform on cue is highly valued. It certainly leads to high test scores, especially in the younger grades.

If you do the more unstructured, whole child approach, they learn different things. They learn to think critically. They learn to make good judgments. They learn to connect information in novel ways. They learn how to live comfortably in their own skin, how to move smoothly and with control. They learn how to explore a complex subject and learn about it. They learn to be confident in themselves as learners. They learn to take responsibility for their own education, and study things independently.

The second approach tends to to lead to children who are less compliant and less capable of performing as expected on cue in the younger years. If you give them an instruction, they are more likely to ask "why?" than immediately comply. Their expertise may be in areas that are not tested on standarized tests, and thus have lower test scores. However, they are more likely to excel in advanced topics in high school and college.

To summarize, here's the basic sequence
Early-cram method:
1. learn to perform
2. learn to comprehend
3. learn to integrate knowledge from many sources
4. learn how to learn, become a self-educator

Unschooling approach:
1. learn how to learn, become a self-educator
2. learn to comprehend
3. learn to integrate knowledge from many sources
4. learn to perform

I will note that there are a very few areas where early exposure does make a genuine difference. There is a learning window for foreign languages. Earlier exposure is helpful, and most people who truly master a language learn it as children. Riding a bike is a lot easier as a kid. Learning to swim is a lot easier as a kid. Learning to move comfortably in your body is a lot easier as a kid. If there is any area of actual disorder, it is usually easier to fix it in younger children.

But in most areas, it doesn't make that big a difference. People have become very talented readers, mathematicians, musicians, athletes, etc, despite starting as older children, teens, or even as adults. The kids who start at age three may look more impressive at age 7, simply because they've had four years of practice. This doesn't mean the advantage will still be evident when they're 18.

This is not to say that flashcards and such are bad. We have them around the house. My four year old loves playing with them, as a toy. She's learning a lot. Unschooling doesn't mean you forbid flashcards, it just means you don't require them.

Explore your own values, know your kid, and make the decisions that are right for you.

Update: Do love the question. If you change your mind, can your re-write it?
Update II: My daughter is at a private school, an incredible progressive school that I pay huge for. I will not send her to public school. If we don't get financial aid next year-we most likely will because I volunteer like crazy and my daughter "makes the school look good", quote from her former teacher- I will keep her at home and use an eclectic approach. I want to preserve her intrinsic desire to learn rather than train her to be a Pavlovian dog responding to rewards that have nothing to do with the satisfaction of learning.
Update III: To answer SH, Stanford, Harvard, our UC system, reputable schools offer spots to not only formally trained homeschoolers but those who are "unschooled." Why? Because those who are applying often already have college credits, a clearly defined vision for themselves, a sense of independence and community. In short, a unique voice that will only contribute to the university community.

Can I write a dissertation? So much research, casual and otherwise this past year on this very topic. Do you want kids to be life-long learners? Do you want your children to be creative thinkers, innovaters, not necessarily artists? Do you want your kids to think multidimentionally about a given topic?
http://www.alfiekohn.org/index.php
http://sirkenrobinson.com/skr/watch

1. South Korea, 2. Finland 3. Canada, 4 New Zealand, 5. Japan 6. Austraila, 7. Netherlands, 8. Belguim, 9. Norway, 10. Estonia

But then look at the world's top companies, the world's most innovative companies. School does not equal education and best educated does not equal most innovative.

http://www.aneki.com/profitable_companies.html

Innovation, not facts is what its going to take to compete in this and the coming economic world. Innovation starts with play.

???????? Your question was an interesting one. Why not leave it?

I see a variety of children between the ages of 5 and 10 come through my home on the nights and weekends. These are usually older siblings of children I have during the day or they are children I never had when younger. It's amazing at the range in abilities that I see. I am not certain that it has much to do with the actual curriculum the children are exposed to as much as the individual child's abilities and interests. What I believe is that it takes a great deal of personal desire to achieve much of anything in this world. I have never figured out how to foster this individual desire. But that is the place to focus most attention.

Ok home over public. I personally do not like public schools. But I really do not like straight homeschooling. I'm not sure how well it prepares them for the real world. I do like the montessori style of teaching. My daughter at kindergarden knew her alphabet, could count. She was actually bored the first two months of kindergarden at the local public school because it was all repeat refresh where she was far beyond it. I think you do need structure. I'd have a set time for reading and math. I'd have a small garden where she can learn science. I'd get that magazine zoolife so she can learn about animals. I'd sign her up for something like gymnastics, swimming, peewee baseball, soccer or dance. Something to help her intergrate with other kids and learn how to deal with social situations. I'd also expose her to music, either in a class structure or on your own with different instruments and style of music.

I had a child in public kindergarten and she didn't really learn anything. I homeschooled but had to put my kids in school for a year while my husband and I finished our schooling. But otherwise, I'm in my 13th year of homeschooling. I really don't understand the idea behind unschooling. I know some people who do it but I haven't really looked into it or anything. I use Sonlight curriculum and only do about an hour or two with my little ones. They get more accomplished in such a short amount of time than they ever did in public school. I think you're doing a great job. You know your kids and you know yourself and what's best for your family. Your unschooling friends may love that approach but I don't think it's right for everyone. Good luck to you!

I do not like the label "unschool" because it is misleading! From what you describe it sounds like an "unschooling" education is similar to Montessori and I believe there are many benefits to that teaching approach. Kids learn by doing and very young children learn best when all of their senses are engaged. So learning activities through play allows them to manipulate or mimic what they see others around them doing. I totally disagree about not exposing children to rich literature at a young age. I think immersion can be very powerful. Reading to kids, listening and singing all kinds of music and doing art activities, etc. cannot hinder a child's learning ability later in life if they are allowed to explore in a way that is appropriate for them. (for example, letting them scribble with a crayon instead of expecting them to stay inside the lines or hold a pencil and expecting them to write letters if they are not developmentally ready for that.)
My concern with the unschool label is people take that to mean learning is a free for all and parents don't need to provide any structure which is not true at all. Kids thrive best when they have structure and someone to guide them. It sounds like you have a good grasp on that. Overall, I think a balance of play and exposure to academic skills at this age is key.
A.

In my opinion [as a homeschooling parent who has researched both styles, classical and child-led ("unschooling") learning], I don't really believe that one is necessarily better than the other. I have read about people who have thrived off of the unschooling approach, and others who have thrived using the classical schooling approach. I think it really depends on your own personal values; for me, I like to balance both. I like to encourage a lot of imaginative play, but also like them to occasionally sit down and have them work on a structured learning activity (like math problems). You will have unschoolers who argue completely against that kind of structure, but the best thing about the freedom of homeschooling is that you can incorporate all different kinds of approaches to your home education. We are "eclectic" homeschoolers, meaning that we don't follow one specific approach all the time, but we do what works for us. We have times where they have unstructured free time to choose what they want to study, and other times when we sit them down and have them work on math problems or handwriting or read a specific book. I think homeschooling is beneficial for kids regardless of which specific method is used; just do what feels right for you and your child.

If you haven't read them already, there are two books I can recommend that are very interesting. One is called The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home by Susan Wise Bauer. The other is called The Unschooling Handbook: How to Use the Whole World as Your Child's Classroom by Mary Griffith. For me, the complete classical approach is a little too structured for me (I also don't emphasize memorization as much as is suggested), but the unschooling method is not structured enough for me. :) But I try my best to strike a balance between the two. Also, every child is different; there are some who thrive better using one approach over another. But I think that the most important thing is that they learn how to think critically and that they retain their love for learning, and I think homeschooling does this regardless of what approach is taken. I hope my rambling helped in some way. :-) Good luck, and have fun homeschooling!

We are a homeschool family. My daughter is 12 and son is 7. My daughter was in public kindergarten, my son was homeschooled from the beginning. I want my children to have a love for learning. If they develop a love for learning they will probably be life long learners. I love the Charlotte Mason approach to learning and invite you to take a look at it. You can find a lot of great information at www.simplycharlottemason.com There are also several books available or feel free to pm me.

I didn't "formally" start with my son until kindergarten. It was amazing what he picked up by just being in the room playing while I taught my daughter. Example, my daughter was in 1st grade and learning the books of the Bible. She was saying them from memory when she paused to think of the next one and my son (who was 2) told her what the next one was. My husband and I were stunned. We thought it was a fluke, but it wasn't. He had absorbed the information on his own. Same with Science. We were studying birds and had taken a nature walk. My daughter and I were discussing some of the birds we had studied because we were seeing them on our walk in Florida. There was one in particular that we studied who would toss the eggs of a host mother bird out and lay her own in that nest and leave. The host bird would return and raise those babies as her own even though they were a different species. I couldn't recall the name of the bird, neither could my daughter and my son pipes up and tells us which one it was (he was 3). Children have incredible minds and mine never cease to amaze me in what they learn.

Blessings to you in your schooling adventure.

L.

So complicated isn't it, nowadays?
In my days as a child, it was not like this.

Its hard trying not to compare, and to go by your child's cues and doing what is good for YOUR child and family. BUT at the same time, preparing them for college and adult life/education/learning/getting a job, when they are at that stage in life.

Then, if kids are 'unschooled'.... can they even enter college? Sure, they may be well prepared and advanced etc., but... What will the education requirements be, that Universities want? Will Universities, accommodate the nontraditional/unschooled 'educational' backgrounds of kids, nowadays? Can it be, quantified? And ie: jobs and Universities "still" want to see test scores/transcripts of a person... when they apply.

Then there is the flavor of the month... type approaches/theories to educating our kids. And what we do as Parents, to 'educate' our kids.

Even if my kids are in school, (public school, a good public school), I always home school them anyway, outside of that. I see that as my role. And for helping my kids learn all kinds of things. Life learning as well. Anything is learning.
My kids are multilingual. Learned from us and per our culture, and from in school. In school they learn Japanese and Madarin and Hawaiian. Too.
Their school system, teaches them all kinds of things. Then what we teach them at home, is just giving them other avenues of learning.

There is no 1 way.
But kids can learn, many things, not only per their age.
My Husband for example, teaches my daughter what he learns at his University. Really amazing, that she understood that. But anything can be a 'lesson' for kids.

Whatever a parent is able to do or has the means for or is inherently able to teach their kids too.... is valuable. Not all parents, can do that. And we all have different backgrounds... and references in our own lives, as to what we teach our kids.

The point is for me: there are MANY ways to teach a child. Not being 'boxed in' by any one single method. We as adults, learn that way too, right? That is, life.
And there are many types of schools: Montessori, Waldorf, traditional schools etc.

But I do not avoid academics.
At a certain point, there is the concept, for a child, that you do need to do, what you need to do. Learning. Studying. Doing 'homework'. Via whatever venue that is. In other words, with any learning, there is 'discipline' for it and the want, to learn and get ahead. And the application for it.... now and later... when the person wants to get advanced education. ie: College or further. Or to advance their careers.
A kid needs to learn how to think. And there are many ways to do that. And depending on how a child is, and grows up.
AND the culture/region, of where a child and family grows up.
Because, cultural differences, are key, as well. In the formation/education of a child.
We have many 'foreign' friends as well and have traveled. My Husband is a product of the European educational system. I am of the US system.
It is comparing apples and oranges.
It is a paradigm, difference.