Educational Issues

» Barbara Pytel - Question about Games

I am very familiar with homeschooling but not unschooling. With homeschooling, I hear that 4 hours of schooling a day is about par. And, actually, probably equal to a full-day at a traditional school but you have eliminated waiting in line for recess/lunch, waiting for other children to finish, walking down the hall for an activity, waiting for the teacher to answer a question, and waiting for others to catch up. The homeschool parents I know have a room set up for a mock school. Students work in there and there are no video games or TVs. They assure me that their children work 4 or more hours on school work. Children need exercise. Watching TV is probably not the intent of an unschooling program. I would guess that leading themselves would mean within the boundaries you have set and materials presented before them. Leading themselves may refer more to proceeding at a mastery pace rather than choosing between TV, video games or math/reading. Learning could include doing laundry, cooking, and becoming a responsible member of the household. Is there a workchart posted with daily work that needs to be done? I would take a second look at why schooling is such a small part of the day.