Meeting Taylor Swift, Earning $2,000, and more: How Nicole Olson’s Family Does Unschooling
Today, we're sharing our first slice in a series chosen #HowWeOutschool. In this serial, you'll larn the stories of parents in the Outschool community. In each interview, y'all'll get the details of these parents' approach to learning at home with their children. These brave parents will share the struggles, the wins, and the stories they've nerveless along the fashion.
To kick-off the series we spoke to Outschool parent and mother Nicole Olson. Nicole and her family unit practice "Unschooling," which she explains is sometimes used interchangeably with the term "self-directed learning."
Cocky-directed learning is i a core tenet of Outschool'southward philosophy, which make Nicole's story and Outschool a perfect match!
We think y'all'll love Nicole'southward story of navigating the challenges and wonders of working with each of her kids equally they truly hop in the driver's seat of their ain learning.
Hi Nicole, tell the states most yourself!
Hi! I'g Nicole and I have four kids ages 17, twins who are fifteen, and then my youngest just turned 11. None of them take ever been to school. Nosotros alive in Massachusetts.
We happily "Unschool" in our firm. We have used self-directed learning since the kids became schoolhouse age. I'm an author of several children's books that talk about Unschooling. Before I had kids, I was a teacher at a brick and mortar school. Once I started homeschooling, I started teaching other homeschool kids and have besides taught on Outschool. I've been a speaker at Unschooling conferences and have been a featured guest on many podcasts articles on the topic. I also web log near Unschooling.
And so, I've been thinking about Unschooling and reading most it and practicing information technology for a long fourth dimension.
What is Unschooling?
If you ask six people what Unschooling is, you'll probably become six unlike answers considering information technology's a big umbrella. But there I'd say there are four things that everybody agrees on.
The commencement is the children are hardwired to learn. And we see this when every bit babies come up into the world. They're constantly exploring and testing things and making theories and learning.
The 2d is that when y'all're interested in something, learning takes place. When something captures our fancy, nosotros are primed to learn.
The 3rd, and probably biggest ane, is that learning is a side outcome of playing, pursuing interests and developing passions. Rather than requite content to children, people who practice Unschooling closely observe what a child is already interested in, what they're passionate about, or what they're playing, and and then bring more than of that into their world. That might exist through books, toys, or equipment, or it might exist through connecting them with other people who share that interest.
The fourth shared belief is that learning is centered within the learner and is non a straight issue of external didactics. As a teacher, we think almost the content we want to deliver. The expectation is, you've received it. Yous have it. The truth is that if I give the aforementioned content to a form of v kids, and if I were able to open their brains and take a snapshot of what learning took place, it would look entirely different for each one of those five kids. They're coming with different background knowledge and unlike interests.
What was information technology like to begin Unschooling?
We did i twelvemonth of formal homeschooling. I ready a little classroom, and I proceeded to deliver kindergarten at home to a class of one.It was a very traditional approach, and the reason that nosotros shifted was considering my son refused to do it. He was similar, This is ridiculous. I don't know why you're making me count spider's legs. Why can't we simply play?
That was the thing he said to me every mean solar day and it took me until February to hear information technology. And then it took me the rest of the schoolhouse year to explore what that might look like.
By the post-obit September, I had been introduced to the Unschooling philosophy and had gotten comfortable enough thinking nearly it that I was like, Well, it's only first class. How bad can information technology be if I mess information technology up? So we tried information technology, and we never looked back because it was just such a perfect fit for him and for my other kids when they came along.
What are some common misconceptions or things you'd similar others to know about self-directed learning or Unschooling?
People who practice self-directed educational activity or Unschooling don't all autumn into one groovy little category. At that place is a spectrum.
On one side of the spectrum, information technology'south almost similar relaxed homeschooling. On the other side of the spectrum, we have what'south sometimes known equally "radical Unschooling" or "free range parenting," where the philosophy is also practical to other aspects of children's lives, such as bedtime, food choices, screen time, etc.
It's besides really important to retrieve that somebody may characterization themselves every bit an Unschooler and not really be 1. Sometimes I retrieve this philosophy has gotten a bad reputation because people who have gone way past radical Unschooling to almost like unparenting or neglect, say they're practicing Unschooling, only they're not.
And so it's important for us to kind of know the boundaries around Unschooling and where it ends.
What are those boundaries of Unschooling, in your view?
In that location is a critically of import distinction we must make between Unschooling and neglectful parenting. The difference is shared power, intentionality and involvement. Unschoolers share power to best run into the needs of anybody. This means giving children a wide degree of command within an overall construction or rhythm that is intentionally put into place by parents.
What are some of the challenges of Unschooling?
The starting time concern is about the subjects that kids need, but might non be automatically interested in. Math is the subject field that always comes upwardly. The reason for that, at least partly, is because we define math rather narrowly.
So we recall, Well, they need their times tables. They need their fractions. What about Algebra? What about the higher forms of math?
Information technology'south helpful to know that the research shows that kids quickly selection upward those kinds of subjects once they either perceive a need to learn those subjects or when they see learning math equally a ways to something else.
So, how did your kids learn math?
My girl, Katy [15] has never been one to take formal classes.
She decided a couple years ago that she really wanted to start a canis familiaris walking concern, but she didn't know how to go about it. We went on Outschool, and nosotros found a grade chosen How to Start Your Own Business organization. The form required writing upwards a business plan and a budget -- stuff that she wasn't previously interested in.
She chop-chop became interested in these subjects and was able to speedily practise information technology considering it was going to get her where she wanted to go. If I had sat her down and said, permit's larn how to figure out percentages. She would've said no, thank you!
But when her teacher said, you need to effigy out the percentage of earnings you're going to put back into your business, suddenly, there was a reason for her to larn that math.
What practice you do about potential asymmetric learning in children who are really interested in some topics and not others?
I think information technology'southward proficient for us to call back that asymmetric learning is non necessarily a negative.
Information technology'southward often the natural way that we learned based on our developmental readiness and our goals. And again, if you think of babies, some like my son, his goal was to exist mobile, and he spent a lot of fourth dimension on that. He walked early, merely he talked later. My daughter was the opposite. It's a natural matter for us to learn asymmetrically. My life is certainly asymmetric. I'm heavy in linguistic communication arts and weaker in the sciences. Simply that'south okay.
I think some other affair that'due south important for us to remember is that symmetric teaching doesn't equal symmetric learning. We could nowadays a curriculum where everything is every bit covered, but that doesn't mean a child is going to assimilate that in a symmetric way.
What happens if Unschoolers desire to get a loftier schoolhouse diploma and/or go to college?
Unschooled kids tend to be very attractive to colleges because they've had such unique experiences and are self-motivated learners. Some Unschoolers besides choose to become through their land's process to earn a formal credential at the finish of high school.
My older three kids are having to document the hours that they put in then that they can accept a certificate at the cease of high schoolhouse. They need to take a sure amount of hours.
I tin share many interesting stories of how my kids accept followed their interests, created awesome projects, and learned a ton along the way. Here are a few brief examples:
- My son Thomas created a popular fan folio for Taylor Swift, which eventually led him to earning an invite to a private run across and greet with Taylor!
- My daughter Katy (a twin) has launched her own pet care business, earning over $2,000 to date
- Faith, Katy's twin sister, launched our boondocks's kickoff ever Christmas tree lighting, which however runs to this day
- My girl Maggie has created her own scientific discipline curriculum, and fifty-fifty led my husband through the curriculum - he's currently in fourth class!
And so that'southward kind of what our house looks like from day to day.
To acquire more than about Unschooling:
- Visit Unschoolers.org
- Check out Nicole'due south book: Ippie Unschooled
- Read The Beginner'south Guide to Unschooling
Interested in sharing your #HowWeOutschool story? Email cara@outschool.com with #HowWeOutschool in the discipline line and tell united states about yourself.
Source: https://blog.outschool.com/nicole-olson-unschooling/
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