Radical "Unparenting?"

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Homeschoolers so often get a bad rap (especially from those who have never met a homeschooled student). It isn't because homeschooling is inherently bad or substandard. It's because of people who misuse the privilege of educating their children, instead promoting laziness, illiteracy, and isolation.

Did I just say that? Why, yes. Yes, I did. This story provides an excellent example of what I mean.

I have nothing at all against so-called "unschooling." In fact, I have known a few homeschoolers who have used it successfully with their children. The idea of teaching children what they're most interested in is a wonderful way to excite those "hard to reach" students about learning/school. In fact, Montessori schools utilize the same principle. But the woman in the linked story is, to put it plainly, off her rocker.

She suggests not only that children should have zero structure in their school day at home, but zero discipline and zero limits on what is acceptable behavior, as well. She also freely admits that she doesn't even think about their future (high school or college) or how ill-prepared they might be. Her response is simply to turn philosophical and rhetorical: "Well, do YOU know what career your child will choose?" This is not education or proper parenting. This is a surefire way to raise children who don't function well in society; who don't learn accountability toward other human beings; who are wholly self-focused. Have we learned nothing from the permissive parenting that so permeated the past? (Excuse the extreme alliteration.)

As I sit here, praying and agonizing over which curricula and techniques might better educate my own homeschooled students this next school year, my jaw drops at the lack of common sense utilized by this woman, and the fact that people actually LISTEN to her (and invite her into their homes) as if she is an educational guru. (The video at the link is a must-watch.)

Writing a book doesn't make you magically qualified. Anyone with a thousand bucks can have a book self-published. (I'm sure with no educational materials purchased for her children, she had no trouble forking over that cash.) Don't throw out your God-given parental instincts just because you're desperate for answers, and don't waste your time or money on THIS woman's version of "radical unschooling." It's really just "radical unparenting" in disguise.