True Learning and the Stinkin' Co-op
Long ago (last year) I wrote a post titled "We don't do no stinkin' co-ops"...beware of such pronouncements as they may come back to bite you!! My oldest son, the lifelong unschooler, decided last September he needed to try academics and through a surprising series of events (iow it was a God-thing), got himself enrolled in a highly academic co-op. As part of the deal, I got to teach World History to high schoolers at the co-op.
In my mind, it became the "the co-op that ate my life". It has been a major adjustment to arrange our lives around a school and homework schedule after 10 years of unschooling. He had to figure out how to organize his formerly laid back ways, where the biggest demand had been an hour of piano practice everyday. Now he had to fit in homework from 4 classes, algebra at home and, oh yeah, that hour of piano practice; plus, playing music in 2 bands, working on Saturdays and teaching piano lessons to a friend. On top of his schedule, I needed to prepare lessons for World History every week which led to competition for Word Processing time! It has taken us 6 months to finally get the hang of it all. Which is why I have not posted here for many a moon--the stinkin' co-op was kicking my butt!
So now I look back at that six months and see what has come of it.
One of my all time favorite quotes is from John Holt:
"True learning--learning that is permanent and useful, that leads to intelligent action and further learning--can arise only out of the experience, interests, and concerns of the learner."
So the interesting thing about it is, he is experiencing that true learning that I value so highly in a new setting that is the opposite of unschooling. His Writing and Literature class is his favorite! He is loving it, soaking up so much knowledge and learning to love writing. And because he chose the co-op and he wants to succeed at it, he is truly learning some valuable skills for organizing his life and making good choices with his time. The fact that this is his chosen path and so it is addressing his interests and concerns, makes all the difference for me.
It makes the whole stinkin' co-op that ate my life morethanfine after all!
posted by Barb @ 10:04 AM
5 Comments:
Nice to see that it turned out alright, and that your family can survive the "stinkin' co-op." Object lesson, yes...beware what you say!
What a great post! I am glad to hear that its turning out so well. And as to the Holt quote (which I love), the co-op is a great example of how unschooling doesn't actually demand unschooling! Unschooling can occur anywhere that the path is chosen.
A prime example of that saying "want to make the angels laugh? Talk about your plans"
So glad Andrew is experiencing "true learning" with his co-op! And no surprise that he is enjoying/excelling in "Writing and Lit".
Barb, is that co-op still "kicking your butt"? You've now taken almost two years to post a new blog entry! ;)
Yes, I am afraid my blog has languished. I have been doing most of my writing for the newsletter for The Organization of Virginia Homeschoolers (www.vahomeschoolers.org) instead of writing in my blog. I should post the articles I have written here too!
My oldest is actually getting ready to graduate from said co-op in May. He is planning to go to college to study Geology. My younger sons go to co-op but either we have adjusted or the younger grades are just lower key :o)
Thanks for asking!
Barb
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