Danger: Unschooling rubs off on Kids

I have persisted under the myth that Unschooling is my son's learning style, but recently have discovered that it is really more my teaching style. Pursuit your interests, find out all you can, and I'll hold your hand and provide some basic infrastructure. But ask me to amble through a workbook for 45 minutes on stuff no one cares about and I pretty much shut down to (or worse head off on some tangential topic and still never get the "work" accomplished.

Nowhere has this been more evident to me than in Sunday School. Last summer I was asked to "teach" a break-off class of older elementary kids whose parents were complaining that they just weren't learning anything in the multi-age class. The pastor and I went through mounds of curriculum and finally decided on a very interactive (and expensive) curriculum where the children would have their own workbook/magazine. It was very comprehensive and though I had to buy some supplies here and there, everything I had to say was scripted and easy to follow. But I couldn't. I was bored, the kids were not engaged, and again we were right back to them not really learning anything. Oh sure, they memorized some verses and were able to spit back some information for a week or two - but genuine life integration simply was not happening.

At the end of the season, I placed the options in front of the students. Four choices - continue with the current curriculum, find a new curriculum, go back to the multi-age class, or vote on individual topics and research them. Not surprisingly, in a class where all but one child (mine) is a public-schooled student, the children were eager to be in control of their own spiritual education. Last week as we studied the parables, discussion turned to the necessary conviction to defy the law to do what you know in your heart is right. We discussed the Underground Railroad and the people who would risk their own lives and liberty to free others. Then discussion turned to the Holocaust, and only my son knew about the persecution of the Jews (he is fascinated by all things war). Another boy in the fifth grade said, "they don't teach us anything like that at our school. I feel like I never learn anything".

I looked into sad eyes, and said frankly, "Whose job is it to 'teach' you anything? It is not their job to 'teach' you - but it is your job to LEARN; just like it is not my job to 'tell' you what to believe. It is our job to read for ourselves, discuss, and make our own decisions. You have all the tools you need to learn whatever you want. Now you need to make a choice, to wait for someone to feed you or to go hunt for yourself!" The next week, I noticed a copy of "The Diary of Anne Frank" in his bag and smiled at him knowingly. He made a choice to be responsible for his own education.