I’ve often been told dreams help us solve real world problems. I’m not sure last night’s dream had anything to do with my world except for helping me understand others. See, lately a lot of the blogs I read have been talking about home schooling and unschooling.
Home schooling I understand to be similar to regular schooling except the parents pick the curriculum. The students then sit at desks and read their textbooks and do assignments much as I did when I was in school.
But, unschooling had me puzzled. In that method of learning the child decides what interests him or her then studies that. How does that work, I wondered?
In last night’s dream I was a newly transferred student to a very different high school. In this school you picked a career track and your classes were based on that interest. My track had been picked for me–fashion design. Math classes would be about taking measurements, calculating sizes and making alterations. Science classes would be about handling characteristics of various fabrics. I pointed to my t-shirt and yoga pants and asked if they really thought I was interested in fashion design?
So we explored various fields to see what they offered.
In the cooking series math would be about measurements and science would be about the combining of ingredients.
In auto mechanics math would be about horsepower and torque and science would be about the efficacy of various fuels.
In woodworking math would be about determining the best cuts for a piece of wood and science would be about the suitability of various woods for various projects.
In medicine the math would be about calculating dosages and science would be about anatomy and about combining ingredients into compounds.
In journalism math would be about calculating column inches and science would be about characteristics of various types of ink and paper.
No one reading this blog will be surprised to learn I chose journalism.
But, I think I now understand how unschooling could work.
TTYL,
Linda
As a 30 year retired school teacher, there is nothing what so ever as unschooling.
the first i heard about ‘unschooling’ was from reading leo’s zen habits blog.
his younger children have all been raised that way. and apparently they speak two languages… they are very bright and able to do any problem solving they need. i think they had to be tested by the state and they excelled in every area. there has never been a curriculum even similar to home schooling!
i do think for it to work… your parents or parent has to be very intelligent and well rounded.
it’s a fascinating concept.
my major used to be journalism. a guidance counselor once told me i needed to change it.
asked why he would say that to me … his response was… ‘you’re not nearly hard enough.’
i was very offended then. now i know that he was absolutely right. still… he had no tact!
Your choice of journalism does not surprise me one little bit.