[fumbelinabumpkin]

Hi everybody
I started a thread called "If you could live anywhere in Florida???". Everyone was very helpful and friendly, so thank you very much. Now that it is decided that we are going to try to relocate to Melbourne in the next year, I have some questions for any Home/Unschoolers out there in Florida. Our son is 3 and will be homeschooled, Unschooled really if we can get away with it in Florida. We are from Montana, which is very liberal as far as homeschooling goes. All you have to do is register with the school board, but there is no standardized testing or portfolio keeping required. We really want to Unschool him and want to know how you Florida Unschoolers deal with the requirements set by the state as far as keeping a portfolio and it being judged by the public school system. I have researched the homeschooling laws and it also looks like we would have to subject him to standardized tests taken with a certified teacher. We hate conforming and don't want our son to have to conform to others standards, especially with the horrible "no child left behind" crap.
Any Unschoolers/Homeschoolers out there who could give me some hints as to how you deal with the seemingly "think inside the box" laws in Florida?

[compelled to reply]

Unschooling?

[sunrico90]

What Is Unschooling?


This is also known as interest driven, child-led, natural, organic, eclectic, or self-directed learning. Lately, the term "unschooling" has come to be associated with the type of homeschooling that doesn't use a fixed curriculum. When pressed, I define unschooling as allowing children as much freedom to learn in the world, as their parents can comfortably bear. The advantage of this method is that it doesn't require you, the parent, to become someone else, i.e. a professional teacher pouring knowledge into child-vessels on a planned basis. Instead you live and learn together, pursuing questions and interests as they arise and using conventional schooling on an "on demand" basis, if at all. This is the way we learn before going to school and the way we learn when we leave school and enter the world of work. So, for instance, a young child's interest in hot rods can lead him to a study of how the engine works (science), how and when the car was built (history and business), who built and designed the car (biography), etc. Certainly these interests can lead to reading texts, taking courses, or doing projects, but the important difference is that these activities were chosen and engaged in freely by the learner. They were not dictated to the learner through curricular mandate to be done at a specific time and place, though parents with a more hands-on approach to unschooling certainly can influence and guide their children's choices.

Unschooling, for lack of a better term (until people start to accept living as part and parcel of learning), is the natural way to learn. However, this does not mean unschoolers do not take traditional classes or use curricular materials when the student, or parents and children together, decide that this is how they want to do it. Learning to read or do quadratic equations are not "natural" processes, but unschoolers nonetheless learn them when it makes sense to them to do so, not because they have reached a certain age or are compelled to do so by arbitrary authority. Therefore it isn't unusual to find unschoolers who are barely eight-years-old studying astronomy or who are ten-years-old and just learning to read.

What is Unschooling?

[fumbelinabumpkin]

THANK YOU SUNRICO!!!
You're awesome, I'm so glad you posted this.
Absolutely right on the money.

[sunrico90]

More info: Florida Homeschool / Unschool E-Mail Lists & Free Newsletters (Page One) - LeapingFromTheBox.com

[blitzpooch]

We use Florida Unschoolers as an umbrella school for our younger kids. We're not really unschoolers but are very eclectic.

You do NOT have to take a standardized test...we never have. My oldest does a a standardized test but my two middle kids have always done portfolio reviews.

Go to this page for contact info on FL Unschoolers.

Florida Umbrella Schools - A to Z Home's Cool Homeschooling in Florida

And if you haven't found it already visit the FPEA site for more information about Florida requirements.

[Lilybeans]

Isn't "unschooling" what kids and parents should be doing anyway, when they are not in real school? When did it become fashionable to rely only on the government to tech your kids. When did it become acceptable to allow kids not to read on their own?

[tallrick]

Originally Posted by Lilybeans

Isn't "unschooling" what kids and parents should be doing anyway, when they are not in real school? When did it become fashionable to rely only on the government to tech your kids. When did it become acceptable to allow kids not to read on their own?

When the communist Government stole our tax money to create compulsory education. Public school is there to both educate and push propaganda to kids. It's also a great way to use the natural concern for the well-being of children to coerce taxpayers to not want tax relief.

From experience I learned more at home than in elementary school+junior high. Only in the last two years of high school did I learn something new. College was a lot better. A friend who was homeschooled ended up going to MIT so he didn't do so badly after all. Parents who are educated and well off seem to do the best job with home schooling. I know that from experience learning is best away from a formal classroom. The closest I ever got to that was in third grade when my teacher would conduct class inside and outside and we had basic science as well. The rest of the teachers were more for classroom order, and I did not learn anything other than how to shoot spit balls and capture roaches.

[Sunandsand]

Even the best schools can be tough places to send a kid. They pick up sloppy or rude habits so quickly, no matter how highly rated the school. There is a basic lack of common sense and manners the majority of parents transmit to their kids these days.

Homeschooling is a great option for those who can do it. Our daughter loves tennis, so we are setting things up so she can be homeschooled during the day and meet other tennis kids in the afternoon at the tennis club. She gets a better education yet still socializes with other kids.

I couldn't imagine her sitting behind a desk 5-6 hours a day like I had to do in school.

[fumbelinabumpkin]

Originally Posted by blitzpooch

We use Florida Unschoolers as an umbrella school for our younger kids. We're not really unschoolers but are very eclectic.

You do NOT have to take a standardized test...we never have. My oldest does a a standardized test but my two middle kids have always done portfolio reviews.

Go to this page for contact info on FL Unschoolers.

Florida Umbrella Schools - A to Z Home's Cool Homeschooling in Florida

And if you haven't found it already visit the FPEA site for more information about Florida requirements.

Thanks so much for the link. You don't even know how much this helps. I'm so excited that I can Unschool in Florida and have so much support in the way of record keeping with the umbrella schools. Florida Unschoolers sounds great. I'm glad I won't have to "test" my kid. The portfolio isn't really bothering me, I will want to keep a record of my child's growth and development anyway. I just thought it would be difficult to deal with others judging it. I must have misunderstood the requirements on standardized testing, I'm glad to hear we won't have to do that.
I'm off to continue my research.
Peace everybody