Living in a small town who LOVES it's schools

[Mama Ame]

Kind of sucks for an unschooling family.

People are constantly telling my kids they should go to school stressed  

[wolf_with_a_dragon]

unschooling? like, they're home schooled?  

[Mama Ame]

Unschooling is a type of homeschooling. We just don't do "school". Our day isn't divided between "educational school stuff" and "fun" stuff. Every moment is a learning opportunity and we follow their passions and interests and try to provide them with the means to learn about those subjects  

[Mama Ame]

Example: Yesterday was Saturday. Both my girls ended up wanting to do a few worksheets in their workbooks. Olivia did a few phonics and Alex wanted to do some math ones. Then we played outside and our neighbor who has pet snakes came out and they got to hold and pet them and learned about snakes. We came inside and they did a science experiment from their science kit. They helped us cook dinner and got to do the measuring. We decorated the Christmas tree. They played on their Kindles which has a lot of reading and things involved. They also colored, played dolls, built with blocks, and played with the play kitchen. We read a few books and watched some movies too.  

[Mama Ame]

It's basically just a more organic natural approach to learning rather than dividing the day by subjects and schedules  

[wolf_with_a_dragon]

Wow, that sounds like a really good approach to learning. It seems like you would have way more fun learning everything and it would actually be more likely to teach your kids actual life skills instead of just a bunch of 1+1=2 type of dealies. Shame on your neighborhood for shaming the way you teach your children.  

[Mama Ame]

wolf_with_a_dragon

Wow, that sounds like a really good approach to learning. It seems like you would have way more fun learning everything and it would actually be more likely to teach your kids actual life skills instead of just a bunch of 1+1=2 type of dealies. Shame on your neighborhood for shaming the way you teach your children.

They don't shame us at all. But if we're at the store a cashier will as what grade they are in, and they'll say that they are not in school. "But don't you want to go to school to learn stuff?"

Olivia usually says, "I do learn things. I don't need to sit in a desk to do it"

Also if they decide they DO want to go to school that's cool. It's their choice  

[wolf_with_a_dragon]

Mama Ame

wolf_with_a_dragon

Wow, that sounds like a really good approach to learning. It seems like you would have way more fun learning everything and it would actually be more likely to teach your kids actual life skills instead of just a bunch of 1+1=2 type of dealies. Shame on your neighborhood for shaming the way you teach your children.

They don't shame us at all. But if we're at the store a cashier will as what grade they are in, and they'll say that they are not in school. "But don't you want to go to school to learn stuff?"

Olivia usually says, "I do learn things. I don't need to sit in a desk to do it"

Also if they decide they DO want to go to school that's cool. It's their choice

Ah, okay. I read that they say your kids should be in school and I pictured them shaming you and them. But that's still cool the way you teach them and even cooler that it's their choice whether or not they go to school.  

[beaulolais]

i was homeschooled for a year but in our state u had to take standardized tests to prove i was keeping up with my grade level and that was not fun

especially when it came to math rolleyes  

[Mama Ame]

That sucks. Some states are really hard to homeschool in. My state is super super easy though.  

[Mama Ame]

Standardized testing is just for schools to get better funding. It in no way shows what a kid actually knows. Other than math I was a good student. I made As and Bs. Taking a standardized test? I always did awful because half of the test I was nervous and the other half I was bored.

Standardized testing here is encouraged but not required. Unless for some reason they want to take them they won't be.  

[beaulolais]

Mama Ame

Standardized testing is just for schools to get better funding. It in no way shows what a kid actually knows. Other than math I was a good student. I made As and Bs. Taking a standardized test? I always did awful because half of the test I was nervous and the other half I was bored.

Standardized testing here is encouraged but not required. Unless for some reason they want to take them they won't be.

absolutely! math anxiety is a very real thing. once i am away from the classroom i can handle daily challenges of quantities, ratios and progressions quite easily, but once i sit down at that desk....no way! @@;;