RE: Unschooling 101 Part 2: Freedom of Activity
I think the ever-expanding library of videos and practice questions at Khan Academy is a great example of how traditional k-12 educational institutions can be supplemented or even replaced by the internet. A lot of information is available just a quick search away now!
I like to remind myself, half-jokingly, that we are living in the future. If one watched Star Trek, we have so many devices that they foresaw, and sometimes more advanced—my iPad is loads better than the little pads they had for reading on Next Generation! We have bluetooth headsets, and our cars can talk to us. Technology has opened whole horizons, and the children growing up today have access to unprecedented amounts of information.
I also think that K-12 was a big source of problems I face today. I never felt the freedom to fail as a child, I think, and as a result, I suffer from terrible anxiety and depression, resulting from perfectionism. My mental health was definitely damaged by trying to fit the mold of a standardized education, of being told (as an undiagnosed autistic/ADHD child) that I am obviously smart but I don't apply myself hard enough. I internalized that shame, and I still struggle with it today.
I really appreciate this series of posts on unschooling—it's a very good and very important conversation you're stirring!
I like Khan too. My older kids didn't, but I haven't shown the younger ones yet. They might like it. I think the older ones didn't like it because they were introduced to it during their short stint in public schools. It's true. We have all kinds of crazy devices now. It's weird trying to write fiction based in the future because we can't really have a clue what we're gonna have even 5 years from now.
Just 2 years in public school did terrible things to my older daughter. Her self esteem got totally shot. She has told me that she is pretty sure she wouldn't have made it through if I had kept her in there. As an artist she just had very different priorities of what was most important in life, and as an unschooler she was totally unaccustomed to being told what to think and do all day. Not to mention the social train wreck. For me and my older son, I think it was more about associating our worth with our good grades.
I'm so glad you're enjoying these. These are the comments that keep me going.
Khan academy is great, our kids love it.
Can you include a link here to Khan Academy? It can help me & others go to it faster from here without the need to search for it.
Here you go! https://www.khanacademy.org/