An unschool entry
Dec 10, 2004 Homeschooling
I hadn’t written about our homeschooling lately so I thought I’d write a catch up entry today.
Last night, on a whim, I gave Noah a simple reading assessment test online. About a year and a half ago, I wrote about my fears involving Noah and reading. He was 6 1/2 and just making it through Bob Books. My decision was to lay off of him and quit trying to teach him to read since I sensed that my pressure was making him uncomfortable and also sapping his confidence. I also felt that probably Noah — being the stubborn, independent person that he is — would do better if I left him alone. So I did, which wasn’t easy. You can read a bit past that entry and see how I was feeling about that.
Well, Noah has become a true-blue reader in the past six months. It really took off during the summer and since then every morning I find him in his pajamas sitting on the couch where he reads for an hour or two. He reads to Madison, he reads to me, he reads to Peanut, he reads to Brett. He no longer blanches when he sees a book with big, fat paragraphs. He guesses at words he doesn’t know by looking at the context. He reads with feeling — minding the punctuation and dialogue — and he comprehends what he reads.
I started getting curious about his reading level even though I think it’s unimportant, blah blah blah, but what the heck. I gave into my baser instincts and tested him. He’s reading well above his grade level and even though I know it doesn’t really matter, I’m tickled pink. (As is his grandmother, who raised the three of us to be readers.)
Now that he can read, I feel much less tense about our unschooling because I see him taking charge of his learning. Not only does he enjoy books, he values them, too. If he wants to know something, he wants to find a book about it.
He’s also gained a lot of confidence in the past couple of years. He likes going to the library and asking the librarian to help him find books. If you knew him when he was small — a tiny boy with extra-huge eyes who had trouble speaking out loud to strangers — you would know what an accomplishment this is. He has blossomed and I’m very, very proud.
When people ask what he does at his “home school,” he invariably tells them that he plays all day, which is a bit awkward for me, his supposed teacher. But he’s telling the truth; he does play all day. He wakes up and he reads for an hour or two, then he eats breakfast and either reads some more or plays. He listens to story tapes. He watches some PBS in the afternoon. He has some classes, some playdates (more playing), some field trips but mostly he plays. When I’m asking him what he’s playing, he doesn’t know how to answer. If I peek at him, it doesn’t always look like he’s playing; it looks like he’s watching. This is because much of his play is happening up inside his head.
His interests right now are: lizards, spying, robots, chemistry, writing comic books, making animated flip books, reading Calvin & Hobbes, and making signs. He is in love with his own mind.
“Madison and I, we’re fast learners,” he tells me. He takes on every new task with gusto. When something is hard, he breaks down in frustration, then gets up and tries again. He loves to share the things he knows with other people. My father took him and his 4-year old cousin to the zoo and Noah kept them entertained with animal factoids.
“This homeschooling thing must be working,” my dad said when he delivered him back to us. “This kid is pretty smart.”
But it’s not the random trivia he knows that proves to me that he’s doing great and it’s not the fine score on his reading assessment. No, it’s the hunger for learning that I witness every day. The excitement when he gets a new book on a subject that interests him. His fascination with questions he can’t yet answer. It’s his ability to make connections between different subjects. It’s his interest in vocabulary.
Our goal as unschoolers was to foster of love of thought, books and learning. So far, it’s been a success. I wonder if it will be the same way for Madison?
December 10th, 2004 at 12:10 pm
I loved these last two homeschool/unschool entries. I’m not a mom yet but I think and read a lot about parenting, because it’s something I look forward to with equal parts trepidation and joy. Thanks for sharing Noah’s unfolding experience. Your posts have really swayed me toward the idea of homeschooling, just as some of your other posts have swayed me toward the idea of domestic and open adoption. Not that your goal was to convert anyone! And not that I was on the opposite side of the fence. But I really appreciate your perspective and your writing.
December 10th, 2004 at 8:57 pm
Hi. Found your site through a comment you left on my sis-in-law’s site. Our daughter is 3 and we’re doing a lot of thinking about her schooling, and your site is phenomenal for learning about how unschooling works in a practical sense. Not to mention it’s fun to read your writing. Thanks!