One thing that people question about unschooling is reading, I suppose math is the other biggie. This post will focus mostly on learning to read as a natural part of living.
The latest feat is Jared, he has been sight reading many words for awhile now, mostly from video games, computer, and store logos.
He is always asking me how to spell something and what does this word say and he makes up his own words too. He does very well with sounds and also sight so he has learned from both.
He gets on the computer and types in words to hear the music he wants, we have iTunes so he plays that a lot. He just loves music and Weird Al and from that he wants to see the videos then he wants to hear the real songs.
Yesterday he called me over to tell me someting, he pointed to a sentence and read it to me. I said that is cool Jare you are reading. He then proceeded to get mad and tell me he isn't. Those of you who have an intense child know what I mean.
The natural progression is awesome, watching the learning process unfold before my eyes. Learning is natural, reading is natural, learning how to read by living with words is a natural extension.
Brennan turned 9 in May, he would be considered a late reader by society but he is starting to read in his time. He is finally getting it and putting it together. A big help for him is playing Runescape, he is reading more each day and typing and spelling and learning. He reads a lot of words and learns more each day, just like Jared is and Cassie too.
Cass has lots of sight word recognition, she knows how to spell many words and she also sounds them out. All of my kids read at various ages and stages, all from living, all from unschooling, no lessons, no tests, no curriculum. Real life learning!!
I didn't mention Kieran but he has been reading since 5 and reads any word that comes before him.
2 comments:
Why is it that the second we point out that learning is happening, it is suddenly rejected??? Especially by those intense offspring of ours!
Kullen is the first one that we ever "unschooled" for reading - he is almost 10 - and he has been asking me non-stop spelling questions for a year. It is so neat to see him think - or once he asks me he says, "that's what I thought". One thing he is doing a lote lately is to tell me what a word spells backwards. He just LOVES doing this - ad nauseum!
My 7yo Joseph is very much at the same place with reading as your youngest. I get the same response too, if I point out that he is reading something. He very adamantly states that he cannot read. I think he believes that it's not really reading until you can read anything, anytime, fluently. I've tried to reason with him, but he "knows" better than me! ;)
Post a Comment