Is there anyone here unschooling a child with learning difficulties or differences? If so, are you providing any special services? How are things going for you and your child? And, how much do you worry whether you are doing the right thing?
Thanks,
Jess
Jess,
I initially used an unschooling approach with my older son who was “at risk” for reading problems. The good thing about unschooling is the emphasis on the child’s needs and interests rather than an emphasis on meeting grade level requirements. The downside of unschooling is the expectation that ALL kids will learn the things they need to know without any systematic instruction.
We delayed formal instruction until my son was about 6 1/2. At that time, I decided that he was becoming frustrated because he wanted to learn the alphabet and learn to read, but he really needed systematic instruction to figure it out. Unschooling helped me refrain from rushing him into learning abc’s and 123’s when he clearly wasn’t ready, but systematic instruction enabled him to learn to read. He’s 10 now and reading ahead of grade level, so we’re back to a more unschooling approach for reading- our literature program is simply reading for pleasure.
I think unschooling has become associated with learning without curriculum, without special services, without assignments, etc., but the real issue is meeting the child’s needs rather than imposing a set of expectations upon the child.
Jean