Just read the post by someone who was unschooled. Either it is a joke, or this poor person does not realise how riddled with errors their reply is.
Not a good example if she is trying to sell the concept.

Neither of my parents attended university or had any other qualification in teaching, however, they have helped me and my sibling find the resources if we wish – it sounds like this is what the woman is looking for. Personally I feel that if she really wished to wash her hands of her childrens education she would have simple sent them to school, although by law responsibility for their education would still rest on her. I personally don’t understand your problem and I suspect their are many considerable more irresponsible parents you could judge instead. In regards to the comment that the majority of unschooler/home educater/otherwise educater being libertarians I would disagree.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teMlv3ripSM

I appreciate what you’re going for here, I really do, but I remain unswayed on the virtue of unschooling for the vast majority of families.

From my own experience I have more clearly come to understand what I am striving for and no there is no cookie cutter way of reaching those goals.

I would imagine we can agree that people, no matter their age, have different styles of learning. I don’t think you are saying there is a cookie cutter way of formal education that works for everyone and anyone plugged into it. That was not my experience in public education

We are all free to make our own choices. I am not sure who you are looking at, so I choose not to agree or disagree with your statement regarding “difficulty and even ignorance”. I would imagine that you could apply the same statement to other types of education including homeschoolers and public school. I choose to be in community with people who are growing and learning themselves.

I can agree to disagree. I disagree that we have no ground for a meeting of the minds. I am not blind to the pitfalls of unschooling and that is why I am part of a thought provoking community. People are people, you can take a cross section of any group and find examples of excellence and examples of failings.

I believe that if people are willing to challenge themselves and continue forward movement and growth, they are on the right path.

Thank you

You write in one sentence of what “unschoolers are striving for,” yet in another talk about there being no “cookie cutter.” Perhaps you understand what you are striving for as a radical unschooler, but if you think you are speaking for the unschooling community as a whole, and that your experiences should be used to judge their actions, perhaps you need to take a more honest look at the many unschoolers whose children have ongoing areas of difficulty and even ignorance due to the lack of formal instruction. If you can’t acknowledge that they’re out there, we have no ground for a meeting of the minds, and I’ll bid you good day.

I spent 13 years in the education field, teaching, writing curriculum, consulting, and doing staff development. I was requested by numerous parents year after year. My knowledge, educational background and experience are far more than adequate.

IMO it is not helpful to name call and be condescending when defending your view or making your point. I also think that it is poor form to take someone’s public posts and expose them in this way on a personal blog. Again, we have differing views.

I can appreciate that you have read varying literature on unschooling. I am not convinced that you fully understand what unschoolers are striving for. There is a philosophy driving a radical unschooling lifestyle. What that looks like in each family is different. There is no cookie cutter recipe to follow.

I can only speak for myself when I say that the only way I have come to understand radical unschooling is through experiencing it and seeing all of the learning that happens throughout our lives.

My children are young and possess basic skills in areas never touched upon in formal schooling, from my experience. They are learning everyday, all of the time. This happens because parents in RU families do something called strewing where they provide and facilitate opportunities for their children.

The idea that we do nothing to “educate” our children is absurd. We just follow the natural learning that occurs much like you do when children are learning to roll over, sit, crawl, walk, talk, etc. In our family children are reading and writing (they are 7 and 2) and if they weren’t yet, that would be fine with me.

I have seen the growth, trust, self confidence, and learning that occurs in a radical unschooling lifestyle in my family. Is this life for everyone? Absolutely not. Each family does what is right for them, or at least what they believe to be right for them. We all grow, learn and change with the tides.

I am not sure what you mean by “radical unschooling apologist” it seems negative, forgive me if it was not meant that way.

I truly believe people do what they feel is the best for them. I am not attacking your way of educating even though I don’t share your philosophies. I also do not bash public/private or any form of public schooling even though I choose not to send my children there. People have differences. IMO it is helpful to question ourselves and each other to further discover our own truths. Challenging ourselves and our ideologies can help us grow.

I understand your concerns about folks researching their education choices for their young children. Perhaps it would be helpful to direct them to sites like http://www.joyfullyrejoicing.com, or http://www.sandradodd.com for more information from experienced mamas with grown children who were radically unschooled.

These sites have a ton of information and links to forums for further discussion. The radical unschooling community are far from “yes men”. We challenge ideas, have interesting discussions, without patting backs. That is not what we are after.

IMO your readers would be served better by being pointed to authors and websites with information that would allow them to make their own decisions about radical unschooling or any other type of alternative schooling. Giving one example that is poor, in your opinion, is the same idea you put forth about brushing things under the rug. Folks are not being given all of the info necessary to make an informed decision.

As in the unschooling forums, I hope my post provokes though and brings us all closer to our own truth.

All the best to you,
Amy