Eschweing the usage of a term.
This is just a little personal freewrite, on a blog I keep for my own purposes, but let others read because some find that interesting.
I will no longer use the word “unschooling” to define anything my family does. Why?
It’s not because I don’t think we don’t do it. It’s not because I don’t think we haven’t been changed for the better for having implemented what we could from it. It’s not because I think it’s a “bad” word. It’s not because I”m not strong enough to deal with such a loaded word.
It’s because the Unschooling Dominatrix uses it as a baton to bash other people with. I don’t want to be associated with that.
It’s because her cronies, other purists, think I’m not valid as an unschooler. Why give another fodder for judgment on something that is not their business? It’s the equivalent of casting pearls before swine.
It’s because even though my children LIKE to read stories from old textbooks like McGuffey and work through certain workbooks, I’ve been told that having these things in my home mean I “don’t get it”.
It’s because rather than seen as a way to equip and empower my children for their future goals, the way I “unschool” is seen as phony, fake, damaging, and neglectful.
It’s because militant unschoolers are unwilling to explore ideas that may be different than the ones they’ve experienced. For instance: some children NEED, not just want, 3 healthy meals a day that didn’t come from a cardboard box. some children NEED an orderly environment so that they can concentrate best. some children NEED time on their own without Mommy playing with them every gosh-blessed moment of the day. But to these militants? If I’m washing dishes, cooking food, cleaning the house, or doing anything but sit on the floor and playing, I’m not only not unschooling, I’m neglecting my children’s “needs”.
So if all of that is unschooling, then I am not it. If it’s superior to be kind to others, listen to different ways things work for different people, be patient while others work out places in their journeys just as we all have to, then I value that, and if that means I’m “acting superior” then sobeit. I’d take that rather than the alternative they offer.
Do I sound burned? Yes. It’s smarts. Curious term, “it smarts”. It both has hurt and has taught at the same time. There is no need to wish thinkers like that should “take” me.
