I think my daughter is still wanting to go to school. She is 8 and I think she misses mostly the social part, though we do get out a lot and see lots of people, there are not a whole lot of girls in our homeschooling circles. I've tried to meet her needs by setting up a new homeschool arts club with an art teacher and by her attending school for gym and art for one morning a week. She has two brothers at home that she plays with a lot.
I feel like my whole unschooling philosophy revolves around my kids making their own choices about learning and living. So how do you balance your own beliefs with your kids? Once you've decided that unschooling is the way you want to go for your family, what do you do when your kid wants to go to school? We have already told them that at the high school level they can go or not, but that's mostly that for financial reasons. Any thoughts?
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My 8 year old daughter started school yesterday. She loves it. I'm still unschooling the boys. Last year, she wanted to do school and I homeschooled her and tried to make it work but it didn't, she wasn't happy or thriving and it made it difficult for the rest of us, she has a forceful personality. So, I'm ok with it, I've had lots of time to think about it and I feel good that she will really get to know what going to school is like and can make the decision as an informed student as we move ahead.
hi mary,
the answer is obvious: let them go!. it is their life! you are living in a country where homeschooling is legal so they can change their mind whenever they want to & return to their unschooling way of life if experiencing that school is not that great.
me and my children left our home country, germany, because they both wanted to unschool (homeschooling/unschooling is illegal in germany) and i did not want them to be forced into school.
my idea of an unschooling life is primarily based upon my strong belief that everybody should be free to decide how s/he wants her life to be. what, how and when s/he wants to learn. preventing a child from going to school if s/he wants to is just as restricting as forcing him to go if he does not want to.
remember, you don't send your kids to school because you want them to make their own choices. well then, let them make their own choices and respect them!