An Interview For Homeschool and Unschool Folks

Candy Cook at Raising Explorers has posted an interview for homeschool and unschool parents to complete.
Q1: Have you home studied (whether unschool or home school) from the beginning or after removing your child from public or private school? If the latter, go to Q2. If always home study, go to Q3.
We homeschooled all of our children for preschool, but the older two went to public school after that.

Q2: Did you remove your child from public or private school during the school term, or during the summer break? Please describe the transition period. Did you and your child(ren) require a long transition before becoming comfortable in your decision and new lifestyle? We let them finish out the school year so that we could get all the legal stuff in order and make a decision about what type of curriculum to use. No, they did not require a long transition. Don't get me wrong, they did not ask to do summer school-they just did not make a big issue when time came to actually start.

Q3: Which method of home study has your family chosen to follow? Home school, unschool, or something completely different? We homeschool with a unit study approach. All three of our children are learning the same subjects (presidential history and electoral process) but learning on different levels. Example: we read from several books about George Washington. Kindergartner colors picture of Washington and tells me he was the first president. Second grader (who has recently lost several baby teeth) reads The Tooth Book by Dr Seuss. He focuses on taking good care of his teeth so that he never has to wear dentures like George Washington. Sixth grader reads in books and on Internet about George Washington's life. Discovers that even though Washington fought for freedom in Revolutionary War, he owned slaves. Leads to discussion on human rights which lead to talking about freedom and lack thereof in the world today. All of the boys together are working a book that will cover all the presidents. All of this fits under the category of wisdom, so we are also reading books like Petunia, Little Babaji, The Three Little Pigs, Peter Rabbit etc...to show other characters who either show wisdom or do not show wisdom, and what the consequences of their actions are.

Q4: I can see many benefits to making the change, though I am sure I am unaware of all of them. It’s more difficult for me to see possible negative effects this may have. Can you list any negative effects that removing the child(ren) from school has had on your family, in any way?
Has home study had any unexpected positive effects? If yes, please list a couple. Our only negative effects of homeschooling have so far been comments from people that can range from funny(are you smart enough to teach your kids?) to uninformed (can you just pull your kids out of school?) to rude(well I don't think homeschool is what kids should do. They need to be in school with other kids. Homeschool is wrong!!)
Positive effects have been that they do not get picked on and bullied by anyone other than their brothers. Yesterday one of the boys was having stomach problems. He did all of his schoolwork lying down. (had to take several bathroom breaks) This could not have happened at school. They would have sent him home for being sickly, yet would complain if he misses too much class time. My youngest child really likes to sing. All the time. That is yet another thing he would not be allowed to do during school, if he not homeschooled.

Q5: What is the most difficult aspect, in your opinion, of your home study method (home school or unschool). Knowing where to draw the line on a subject. Like I said, our unit is wisdom. Example: We read Petunia. (a book about a silly goose finding a book. She thinks having the book makes her wise.) In this book, there are several animals featured, each having their own problems. We could probably spend a week or more studying the animals, their problems and how to solve them. (For instance: the hen is worried she has lost some chicks. The farmer told her she had nine chicks, but she cannot count. She asked the "wise" goose to count for her. The goose says "there are 3 here, 3 there and 3 over there. 3x3=6. 6 is MORE than 9, she tells the hen. We have to decide to have the math lesson less and more, addition verses multiplication or not, in addition to studying about the live cycle of chickens)We can go over the top and school would never end.
Q6. Did you make the decision to home study with your child(ren)’s input about their schooling preference or did you decide to do this without your child(ren)’s opinion about public/private schooling? Why did you decide to include or exclude your child(ren)’s opinion in this matter? We made the decision without actually asking them, but we did talk to them about it. We did not want to just spring it on them, "Oh, by the way you are not going back to public school this year" We saw and heard tooo many things going on in their school to just sit by and let them go there day in and day out. Our middle son was coming home every day with a back pack full of homework, yet they were watching PG rated movies (in the first grade. Yes, we watch PG and PG-13 at home, but at home we can monitor what goes into the DVD player, we had no control what they were watching at school. The school had a cable subscription and some classes were allowed to watch Family Guy during school.)

Q7. Do you ever have the feeling that maybe you’re not living up to the standard, in education, you wish for your child? Why or why not? My children are very intelligent. They are capable of going above and beyond the "national standards" set by the Dept. of Ed. I feel like most kids are capable of going above and beyond those standards. However, in a school setting, most kids are not allowed to reach their potential because A.) they learn in a different way than the standard textbook approach. B.) they can get a teacher who is not fit to be around kids and it kills their love of learning (let me point out I am not saying all teachers are that way. Some are fantastic. Some aren't-you never know what you might get stuck with.)

Q8. How does your family supplement social interaction (with other children) in your home study method? We live next door to our church. We are active members of said church. So there are several opportunities for them to be around other kids there. (Especially since kids come here frequently-even during nonchurch times) There is a local co-op that meets weekly that has both academic time and playtime for friend-making opportunities.

Q9. Are there any subjects or topics, common in public school curriculum, that you either refuse to teach your child or believe and teach very differently from public school curriculum - or believe to be inappropriate for the age which it is introduced in public school? For example, first grade public school introduces slavery, which I believe to be inappropriate for the age of my son.
We do not teach evolution as fact. It is discussed, but only as one of the ways people think the world may have come into existence. We look at evidence that makes evolution hard to believe. Most of which can not be found in a school-approved textbooks. Last year at public school my fifth grader was shown a movie and given a pamphlet that talked about growing up and it was more mature than he is. (to put it mildly) We do not teach our children that abortion is a form of birth control. For us, looking at science books etc. we feel life begins at conception. School teaches if you do not want a baby it is your right to kill it.

Q10. Has your child ever shown interest in something that you just don’t know anything about - and would take a long time for you to learn? What was it and what was your solution for aiding them in learning about it? For example, if your child wanted to play an instrument that you do not know - it’s very expensive to get lessons (I would not be able to afford this), where as it is free, outside of instrument cost, in public school. So far we have not run into hey I learn an instrument, but there are books and dvd courses available for that. My oldest son is a space nerd. (I mean that in the nicest way possible) He owns several books about space. He gets books from the library about space. We have visited the US Space and Rocket Center. He actually got to go to Take Your Child To Work Day with a lady from church who works for NASA. He visits websites about space. He gets e-mails from Astronomy Magazine. I think you are getting my point. There are ways for your child to learn things that you do not know or just have no interest or experience with.
Thank you for your time, thoughtfulness and consideration in completing this interview. It will definitely help my family and I make the right decision for the education of our children.