A fellow unschooler I happen to know personally was recently interviewed with her children for a public radio broadcast. They did a great job. It was a pretty balanced piece; you can check it out here. At the end though, the reporter mused whether children will be able to "find their way" without the structure of a more traditional educational setting.
This is one of the things I value most about unschooling, that my children are "finding their own way" now, rather than being told which way to go. I have so many friends who followed the conventional wisdom of school, college, work, family leading to this day. Today they are questioning what they really want, what will make them happy, what their true desires are. For some of us, our true desires and passions have been buried so deep below what we felt were our obligations to meet, we don't know anymore. There's alot of excavating to do.
What a gift it is to honor a child's interests and desires from the beginning! To let a child know that their thoughts are worthy of consideration only fuels the fire of a healthy, active mind. How this could not be a good thing, I don't know. I believe that children whose ideas are respected and whose pursuits are supported as they grow, will be less likely to have the so-called "mid-life crises" that plague so many caught in the rat race. These children will also be more willing to take a stand, and pursue something independently, not just because it is what is expected of them. That sure gives me hope for their future, and all of ours as well.
2 comments:
Hear, hear! I'll try to listen to that interview later.
Good interview!
And don't we all know a lot of adults still trying to "find their way?" We need to get over the notion that a certain type of schooling will guarantee future certainty and happiness.
Thanks for the great find, Deanne! :)
Nance
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