Waldorf, Montessori, Unschooling?

treehugginbride

Hi all- hooray for the new board! I'm a FTM still waiting on LO to get here, so we have a looong time before schooling will come into play, but I like to keep myself well-informed anyway- especially since learning starts at birth and doesn't end.

I've been looking into Waldorf homeschooling (the natural type toys, mostly), Montessori schooling, and Unschooling. The crazy thing to me is that even though I went to public schools, I've realized that my love for learning and most of my education actually happened at home in some crazy mixture of those methods- though I had loads of store-bought toys my favoriteswere always the ones my mom and I made (paper dolls, rag dolls, arts and crafts, the hugest bin of dress-up clothes and fabrics, blocks of wood leftover from building projects that i used as doll furniture), summers and afterschool were always spent doing chores, working on projects with my parents (I learned to sew at a young age, for instance) and I had access to an extensive set of WorldBook encyclopedias (including a few sets for children/young adults) which allowed me to learn whatever I wanted and answer all the questions I had- hands down the best investment my parents have ever made in my education, lol.

It seems my best education was received quite unintentionally and naturally, so let me ask this to those of you who are intentionally schooling your children this way- have you found that it comes naturally, or is it something you have to work very hard to accomplish what you want? What method of homeschooling are you using and why do you like it best? (Especially like to hear from those mentioned above.)

Thank you in advance!

wifeofadam

So far we've just been using the Charlotte Mason method - lots of time spent outside learning in nature, reading lots of books together, and very little time spent in formal lessons.  We have been doing formal phonics and math lessons with DS, but most of it is using manipulatives and the lessons are no longer than 20 minutes max. 

With my younger children I definitely do what you're describing - our house is full of "learning" toys and I have just thrown them into the mix and sat back to see how they benefit from them.  For example, we just bought a cash register toy and DS1 has taught himself the name of all of the coins and how much they are worth using it.  It isn't exactly a homemade toy, but it serves the same purpose.  Right now all of my kids are playing with blocks together and making a big city.  Even though it looks like they are just playing, the littler ones are learning fine motor skills and the older ones are learning concepts like patterns (they try to make their buildings out of specific colored blocks) and geometry as they try to fit certain shapes of blocks together into shapes.  Most importantly, they are learning how to play together and share with other children.

I love the idea of unschooling, but it's just too impractical for someone with my personality.  I need routine and structure.  I realize that my kids may be different, but for now we've decided to purchase some curriculum, especially for topics like math and language arts.  The rest of our subjects are taught in unit studies that don't feel like school at all - they are just fun projects.  It was also important that we found a curriculum that employed the Charlotte Mason method (My Father's World).

What I've learned in my first year of homeschooling is that sometimes it's impossible to stick to strictly to just one method of schooling.  Children are all different and will all need different delivery methods.  Some need structure and some need to be able to freely explore and teach themselves. It's important to take cues from your child and be flexible enough to change directions if what you're doing isn't working, even if you think it should be the ideal way for everyone to learn.

maginell

OP,  I am in your position. FTM due August 1st. I am also a trained elementary teacher, currently teaching ESL at the secondary level.

That said, going through grad school, I decided to homeschool. I used to think Montessori was great, but I have had bad experiences with Montessori parents and their college-level students who had only attended Montessori. Apathy, excuse-ridden, and entitled--made me ill. Granted, I know this an exception. Still, primarily Montessori is NOT for me. I will likely pull some from the style though.

I discovered Waldorf last summer and was smitten! It's everything I ever wanted in school and speaks to my, and DH's strengths. I cannot wait to begin, though I still have a few years. 

 I am not very familiar with unschooling, but I should think a blend of all the styles you're looking into will be beneficial! 

treehugginbride

Thank you ladies for such detailed answers! I feel that I'll probably use some (possibly older) curriculum as a guide, but I'll just have to play it all out as I go along- it is all about learning experience anyway!

I was super thrilled today when I saw my mom and before I could even mention that I'd been looking into homeschooling she begged me to 'please home school! i know you can do it!'  I discussed with her how I want the best education for my kids and how we benefited from learning at home and she just expressed deep concerns with the loss of innocence in public schools and all the horrible things her best friend's 5 year old is coming home from school and telling her that the older kids taught her.. yikes!

The biggest benefits that I could see coming from unschooling is that we are growing a farm- adding a little piece every year (this year bigger garden- next year raised beds and chickens)  and I think that much of the day will be spent taking care of chores and things. I'm sure we will find a balance of our own.

Robi1

fredalina:

I'm a Montessori mom because homseschooling isn't right for our family right now for financial reasons.  I do not like Waldorf because of the anthroposophy and the lying to children when they want information.  I do like certain elements of it.  Another style to look into is Reggio Emilia; unfortunately there is only one Reggio innspired option here.  I LOVED the school, but unfortunately they don't have aftercare so it wasn't an option for us.

Montessori at home is not very practical. A primary classroom costs about $50,000 to set up! Of course you can buy or even make Montessori style learning toys and puzzles, and we have several of them at home as well as some Waldorf and Reggio toys, but we could never homeschool with full equipment Montessori-style.  A great Reggio blog is playathome3.blogspot.com.

In defense of Montessori:  I am surprised to read what PP wrote about Montessori.  In my experience, the method works really well at teaching kids about their community and environment.  Empathy seems to be naturally fostered, along with a natural love of learning.  I've only known a few people who were Montessori-educated past K, and then only through 6th grade, but they were all lifelong learners and nice people to be around, not bully types nor bullied types, just the type who had the natural confidence that isn't arrogance.  I have toured a few Montessori schools here, and there is one that I could definitely see putting out students like PP described.  Oy!  But IMO the best Montessori classroom is quiet and calm without feeling cold or sterile. 

I agree with you about Montessori. Unfortunately, Montessori is not a copyrighted name, and therefore many schools can call themselves "Montessori" or "Montessori-inspired" without actually following all or most of the philosophy. It's possible the PP encountered students who had been in an uncertified or alternate Montessori environment.

I have known MANY adults who went through Montessori school. I'm also a certified, AMI Montessori directress, and when done properly, the method has a profound lifelong effect on students that is very genuine and impressive to me!

I disagree about Montessori at home being too expensive. I think you could outfit a Montessori primary classroom in your home for under $5K fairly easily, and all of the materials have a very high resale value, especially if they're in good condition. Elementary materials are actually even less numerous, because by that age they are doing so much more work through research and exploring the world rather than with hands-on materials you need to buy. 

You can also make a lot of the materials yourself, or use substitutes. It's definitely not easy to do a very authentic Montessori program at home if you're not trained, but I think reading about the philosophy and following its ideas in your parenting interactions is incredibly valuable no matter what sort of schooling your children are receiving. 

Stillharbor

I'm an advocate of Abeka.  Kids learn phonics and it enables them to sound out virtually any word.

ObLaDi

We are unschooling our son.

I was unschooled in the 80s and 90s and it was awesome. It was such a privilege to be able to learn naturally, explore my own interests, and have a childhood filled with play. I'm so, so excited to be able to relive the experience with DS.

It's such an organic way of learning, because really, he is unschooling now. We play, explore, and he learns through living. It makes perfect sense to just keep going, whether he is 3 months old, 3 years, or 30.

I recommend John Holt's book, Growing Without Schooling. The edition I have was my parents' and is somewhat dated (it includes sections on defending your right to unschool, as it was not yet officially legal at the time), but there is a new edition edited by Pat Farenga which I'm sure is great.

Some of the frequent questions I get about my experience:

Q: How do you learn math?

A: There is a lot of math in life. Money, cooking, card games, sewing, building, etc. In terms of the math you don't encounter in day to day life--if you don't encounter it, you don't necessarily need to know it. If you need it (say, as a prerequisite for attending a certain class, or to do engineering, or to do coding), you get a book and you learn it. 

Q: How do you get socialized?

A: Being out living life is so much BETTER for socializing than sitting in a classroom with 30 other people born in the same year. I interacted with kids of all ages, adults, and have always been more at ease with a wide variety of age groups than the majority of my peers. It's always struck me as ludicrous that some people believe children need to attend school in order to be able to function in the world, when they could  instead be out, well, functioning in the world!

Q: Won't the kid play video games all day long?

A: Kids make better choices for themselves than we give them credit for. Think how curious toddlers are--that doesn't go away naturally. I certainly played some video games, but I also chose to read a ton, to play outside, to cook and sew and garden and write stories. I think my brother may have spent a few solid years doing little else than playing computer games--he graduated college in 3 years and is now in dental school.

I'm sure there's lots more, but in any case, yay unschooling  

 ETA: I named the wrong book in my OP. Whoops. Fixed it! 

BoneOwl

Wow, this whole thread has been super informative. I've known for a while that I wanted to homeschool my future child, but I'd no idea that there were different methods and schools of thought! Way cool.