I dropped out of high school and left home when I was 15. Long story. Never graduated. I eventually took a GED, took night classes at a community college for cheap, and went on to transfer to Rutgers which is the state university of New Jersey. From Rutgers I got a scholarship to study abroad in the UK. Being a teenaged flunky didn't stop me from going to university. Being homeschooled has to be ever better.
As the home-schooled mom here, my two did not get HS diplomas. In Michigan there is a GED program. Both went through that (because they chose not to keep good records of their achievements). My son has a double Bachelor degree in Philosophy and Communications. My daughter has a Masters in English. The positives they got from learning how to school themselves have been immeasurable. Thank you for being the intelligent proponent of homeschooling, permaculture, and a kinder society that you are!
I would love to see more unschooling videos, and getting away from the fear that it will leave your child without a 'proper' eduction! I particularly struggle with not doing maths formally, worrying that if my daughter needs it later in life she will have a lot to catch up to do. I'm really searching for answers to settle my fears and relax with our educational life. Thank you for all of the prevues videos you've created for those of us who would like to unschool, but fear it!
I had a rather different school experience. I was not unschooled. In fact, I attended public school through high school and did very well, grade wise, and never even questioned the public school system. When it came time to go to college, I enrolled in a public college. I had to work while going to school, as my parents did not support the idea of me going to college. I kept that up for two years but also got married and had 2 children. As it was the 60s, my husband and I adoped the "hippie" lifestyle and I decided that it was impossible for me to continue college. I had become frustrated with the structure and my lifestyle didn't support it. I dropped out or a couple of years, thinking that I would not go back. However, I met some students who were involved in an alternative program at the local state college and thought "I can do that". I had a wonderul experience at New College in San Jose State. It was very much like you describe unschooling, except with professors acting as mentors and giving ungraded units. New College no longer exists but many colleges now have such programs.. They do cost money, some of them quite a lot, but not necessarily. You can find a list of them online at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_alternative_universities. Some of them are even in Portland!
For many trade-schools there is also the ATB test (ability to benefit) basically your just proving you can read/write/understanding well enough to pass the classes and work in the given industry. That usually unlocks the related loans and grants offered for the school.
Thank you for this. I don't even have children yet (hopefully soon) but I think about their education constantly and unschooling has always been something I am interested in but this was the one thing I was confused about. I'm also realizing that you don't even really need to go to college anymore. I have a four year degree as well as a teaching cert. and now i'm doing something totally different that doesnt require me ever having to have gone to a university and it is something I could totally pass on to my kids if its something they are interested in. Its amazing that we were brought up believing that this is just the system and we just go through it without ever questioning if theres another way.
I have mostly unschooled both my kids. I let them choose. It has been such a loving, adventurous, wonderful experience. My oldest decided to transfer to an online public school to get his diploma. My youngest tried it but despised it. Our community college (Eugene, OR) has an amazing GED program that gives you college credit if you score high enough on the ged in that subject, and also gives you 12 credits free towards your education. My youngest aced all of the practice GED tests, but may choose to finish their classes so they can qualify for the credits. I was shocked that it was so easy for them. It is a huge relief and also has me questioning anew the state of public education.
This is amazing! I wish this had been me education path. I was homeschooled for grade 1 and 2, 4h a day, half with my mom, half with the neighbor (retired school teacher). Coming back to public school, it was not until grade 5 that I started to learn new things. It made me imagine how quickly I could have climbed to University level, and since I'm a web programmer with a Computer Engineering degree, who could have had my current carrier path but to have payed 1/10th as much time and money (debt) and loss of potential income if I went to a Bootcamp instead, I would not have wasted 5 years of my life getting that degree (1 forced transition year between Ontario and Québec). I even had bosses who had their job in the field straight from high school, because they had made websites and contracts on their own first. I had a 40 years old colleague that just graduated from their bootcamp. No one is ever too old to change direction in life.
Love this! My private school career was an absolute nightmare for me and I came out feeling the total opposite of self-assured and confident. This feels like a really beautiful option for my future kids. Thanks for this series!
I had a private school secondary education and I left at the end of year 10. With teachers that made sarcastic remarks like "Do you want work for yourself like your parents " because I was an independent thinker... I remember saying that my parents could afford this education because they work for themselves and the teacher rolled her eyes and walked away.
You are making me realize that a license in home schooling or possessing a fancy degree in anything has nothing to do with ones ability to inspire a child to keep on learning their true interests and passions… I’m happy to realize this, thanks.
Hi! My son is on the spectrum, and I’d love for you to do a video about teen with exceptionalities or neurodivergent teens navigating through standardized testing, getting a G.E.D., and the like. I’d love to hear about Ruth’s experience.
I just made my own diplomas for my three girls. Their transcripts were all true but arranged based on their choices. When they got an A in community college classes that we used for high school, the grades I gave them were validated.
I dropped out of school and took a GED in the early 70's. Best thing I did. HS diploma doesn't mean a thing. My son has aspburgers, SP - dyslexia again, can't do math, read above a 3rd grade, and has a high school diploma! I have a high IQ, so what. I can do really stupid things.
Not a homeschooler or homeschooled here, but diploma status is often a big letdown in the 30s, and the successful success/autonomy and happiness of entrepreneurial people and skilled tradespeople has really highlighted my own and my peers diploma elitism.
Thank you for this video Angela. I think this is something that people are scared to discuss because the system as we know it is so accepted as the only way to get an education. I'm a millennial who went through the conventional public school system in Canada. I was one of those kids you briefly mentioned who was CONSTANTLY frustrated at having to jump through the hoops in each grade even if I already knew a subject. I even got in trouble on a few occasions for getting "too far ahead" in subjects, or reading the entire novel study book in one night because I was a fast reader...and then sitting through three months of reading half a chapter every few days just completely destroyed me mentally. So then I would mentally check out and get in trouble for not paying attention. Lose lose. I wish that unschooling had been more prevalent when I was a kid. I also fit into the category of people you mentioned who became disillusioned with university during the pandemic. I was in my second year of engineering and once again was having to jump through ridiculous hoops and pay a ton of money for courses that I already knew the subject matter for (for instance, I was forced to take an AutoCAD drafting course that cost me $600 even though I have both a building technology diploma and an architecture degree, and worked as a designer for 2 years). So much of the conventional school system just makes no sense, and if, like me, you voice your frustrations to the schools and the professors, you wind up losing out on opportunities because it's tough to get prof recommendations if you ask too many questions. All in all, super frustrating. Sorry for the long comment but I'm super happy to see you talking about this subject openly. I'd love to see more content with Ruth talking about this if she's comfortable with it :)
We were unschoolers who flew below the radar. My daughter has a circadian rhythm sleep disorder, which has improved somewhat with her getting into her 20s. When she was school aged, it was a challenge to get her out of bed and doing anything before 3pm. Jumping through the state obligation hoops, isn't an option when the offices and resources you would need to satisfy these duties close around the time your child wakes up for the day.
homeschooled son with ASD after horrid public school. Kid wore out a Mandarin language program then started in chinese school, read the computer programming books then hooked computer up to do folding at home project took a mind numbing hour of explanation to me. In TX they flunk everyone on essay first go round of GED so you have to pay a second time to just do essay. smh. Because I was being pressured to "prove" he was educated he did do GED. At the same time he was auditing classes at Stanford on line and reading the textbooks for "fun" and building computers from scrap for low income people, making goat cheese and being on HAM radio. Wouldn't go to community college classes that were time fillers, looked at texas school of business and declared it a scam. He has taken jobs to learn something and taken another job to learn something more, still no idea what he will wind up being. I was public schooled, dutifully went to nursing school, read all the syllabus, immediately starting classes for BSN after graduating then deciding wasn't going to play with more hoops (stats,computer programming, creative writing, early american history) Wanted more education, less raw compost. Now a self taught, life long learner
Sure. I think we should go back to having a "Grand Tour" when we finish our "lower" education. Cheaper in the long run and more valuable, except where specific skill-sets for a profession are involved, and maybe even then.
I think it really depends on what you want to do, right? For my kid who maybe wants to be a lawyer, she needs a college degree to get into law school. But college and massive debt are not the right option for everyone.
Yes but no... yes they are overrated because the only reason that are what they are us because a group of people said you need this learn thus to be a doctor for example... Two of my best drs both said almost everything they learned at university was useless and that they learned most of what they considered important while doing placement in emergency departments. They both said that nothing they were taught really relates to the actual job.
I've mentioned it before on these chats... my son did a cert 3 in IT and CISCO courses and has a better international job than his friends that went to university. There are ways into almost any career where you don't need diplomas or degrees. Prior learning can also be a huge chunk of your degree if you manage to get a bottom level job in a field you love.
Georgia is similar to Florida with the testing requirement every few years. However, there IS a clause in there that says, “unless the student is physically unable to take the test.” Do you think a student on the autism spectrum would fall into this category (Just asking for your opinion)? Typical schoolwork and tests are incredibly mentally taxing on him. And, he gets anxiety over it. Just needing another parent’s perspective to help me navigate through that part. Lol
What about colleges like George Washington University in Washington where you pay a quarterly fee and can take as many classes as you want? You can graduate at your own speed.
I dropped out of high school and left home when I was 15. Long story. Never graduated. I eventually took a GED, took night classes at a community college for cheap, and went on to transfer to Rutgers which is the state university of New Jersey. From Rutgers I got a scholarship to study abroad in the UK. Being a teenaged flunky didn't stop me from going to university. Being homeschooled has to be ever better.
As the home-schooled mom here, my two did not get HS diplomas. In Michigan there is a GED program. Both went through that (because they chose not to keep good records of their achievements). My son has a double Bachelor degree in Philosophy and Communications. My daughter has a Masters in English. The positives they got from learning how to school themselves have been immeasurable. Thank you for being the intelligent proponent of homeschooling, permaculture, and a kinder society that you are!
I would love to see more unschooling videos, and getting away from the fear that it will leave your child without a 'proper' eduction! I particularly struggle with not doing maths formally, worrying that if my daughter needs it later in life she will have a lot to catch up to do. I'm really searching for answers to settle my fears and relax with our educational life. Thank you for all of the prevues videos you've created for those of us who would like to unschool, but fear it!
I had a rather different school experience. I was not unschooled. In fact, I attended public school through high school and did very well, grade wise, and never even questioned the public school system. When it came time to go to college, I enrolled in a public college. I had to work while going to school, as my parents did not support the idea of me going to college. I kept that up for two years but also got married and had 2 children. As it was the 60s, my husband and I adoped the "hippie" lifestyle and I decided that it was impossible for me to continue college. I had become frustrated with the structure and my lifestyle didn't support it. I dropped out or a couple of years, thinking that I would not go back. However, I met some students who were involved in an alternative program at the local state college and thought "I can do that". I had a wonderul experience at New College in San Jose State. It was very much like you describe unschooling, except with professors acting as mentors and giving ungraded units. New College no longer exists but many colleges now have such programs.. They do cost money, some of them quite a lot, but not necessarily. You can find a list of them online at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_alternative_universities. Some of them are even in Portland!
I’m not familiar with this college and will check them out! Thank you!
I thought that hippies were college educated.
I was homeschooled and have 3 college degrees, but no highschool diploma or equivalent. It's a fun story I tell at parties.
For many trade-schools there is also the ATB test (ability to benefit) basically your just proving you can read/write/understanding well enough to pass the classes and work in the given industry. That usually unlocks the related loans and grants offered for the school.
Thank you for this. I don't even have children yet (hopefully soon) but I think about their education constantly and unschooling has always been something I am interested in but this was the one thing I was confused about. I'm also realizing that you don't even really need to go to college anymore. I have a four year degree as well as a teaching cert. and now i'm doing something totally different that doesnt require me ever having to have gone to a university and it is something I could totally pass on to my kids if its something they are interested in. Its amazing that we were brought up believing that this is just the system and we just go through it without ever questioning if theres another way.
I have mostly unschooled both my kids. I let them choose. It has been such a loving, adventurous, wonderful experience. My oldest decided to transfer to an online public school to get his diploma. My youngest tried it but despised it. Our community college (Eugene, OR) has an amazing GED program that gives you college credit if you score high enough on the ged in that subject, and also gives you 12 credits free towards your education. My youngest aced all of the practice GED tests, but may choose to finish their classes so they can qualify for the credits. I was shocked that it was so easy for them. It is a huge relief and also has me questioning anew the state of public education.
This is amazing! I wish this had been me education path. I was homeschooled for grade 1 and 2, 4h a day, half with my mom, half with the neighbor (retired school teacher). Coming back to public school, it was not until grade 5 that I started to learn new things. It made me imagine how quickly I could have climbed to University level, and since I'm a web programmer with a Computer Engineering degree, who could have had my current carrier path but to have payed 1/10th as much time and money (debt) and loss of potential income if I went to a Bootcamp instead, I would not have wasted 5 years of my life getting that degree (1 forced transition year between Ontario and Québec). I even had bosses who had their job in the field straight from high school, because they had made websites and contracts on their own first. I had a 40 years old colleague that just graduated from their bootcamp. No one is ever too old to change direction in life.
Love this! My private school career was an absolute nightmare for me and I came out feeling the total opposite of self-assured and confident. This feels like a really beautiful option for my future kids. Thanks for this series!
I had a private school secondary education and I left at the end of year 10. With teachers that made sarcastic remarks like "Do you want work for yourself like your parents " because I was an independent thinker... I remember saying that my parents could afford this education because they work for themselves and the teacher rolled her eyes and walked away.
You are making me realize that a license in home schooling or possessing a fancy degree in anything has nothing to do with ones ability to inspire a child to keep on learning their true interests and passions… I’m happy to realize this, thanks.
Hi! My son is on the spectrum, and I’d love for you to do a video about teen with exceptionalities or neurodivergent teens navigating through standardized testing, getting a G.E.D., and the like. I’d love to hear about Ruth’s experience.
I wish I’d had access to this information a decade ago. Thank you for sharing, Angela.
ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC, detailed, informative video !!! Thanks sooo much for your time and attention. 👍💯
I would love to hear more about the GED process for unschooled. Thank you for your information. I find it very helpful.
I just made my own diplomas for my three girls. Their transcripts were all true but arranged based on their choices. When they got an A in community college classes that we used for high school, the grades I gave them were validated.
I dropped out of school and took a GED in the early 70's. Best thing I did. HS diploma doesn't mean a thing. My son has aspburgers, SP - dyslexia again, can't do math, read above a 3rd grade, and has a high school diploma! I have a high IQ, so what. I can do really stupid things.
Not a homeschooler or homeschooled here, but diploma status is often a big letdown in the 30s, and the successful success/autonomy and happiness of entrepreneurial people and skilled tradespeople has really highlighted my own and my peers diploma elitism.
Thank you for this video Angela. I think this is something that people are scared to discuss because the system as we know it is so accepted as the only way to get an education. I'm a millennial who went through the conventional public school system in Canada. I was one of those kids you briefly mentioned who was CONSTANTLY frustrated at having to jump through the hoops in each grade even if I already knew a subject. I even got in trouble on a few occasions for getting "too far ahead" in subjects, or reading the entire novel study book in one night because I was a fast reader...and then sitting through three months of reading half a chapter every few days just completely destroyed me mentally. So then I would mentally check out and get in trouble for not paying attention. Lose lose. I wish that unschooling had been more prevalent when I was a kid.
I also fit into the category of people you mentioned who became disillusioned with university during the pandemic. I was in my second year of engineering and once again was having to jump through ridiculous hoops and pay a ton of money for courses that I already knew the subject matter for (for instance, I was forced to take an AutoCAD drafting course that cost me $600 even though I have both a building technology diploma and an architecture degree, and worked as a designer for 2 years). So much of the conventional school system just makes no sense, and if, like me, you voice your frustrations to the schools and the professors, you wind up losing out on opportunities because it's tough to get prof recommendations if you ask too many questions.
All in all, super frustrating. Sorry for the long comment but I'm super happy to see you talking about this subject openly. I'd love to see more content with Ruth talking about this if she's comfortable with it :)
We were unschoolers who flew below the radar. My daughter has a circadian rhythm sleep disorder, which has improved somewhat with her getting into her 20s. When she was school aged, it was a challenge to get her out of bed and doing anything before 3pm. Jumping through the state obligation hoops, isn't an option when the offices and resources you would need to satisfy these duties close around the time your child wakes up for the day.
homeschooled son with ASD after horrid public school. Kid wore out a Mandarin language program then started in chinese school, read the computer programming books then hooked computer up to do folding at home project took a mind numbing hour of explanation to me. In TX they flunk everyone on essay first go round of GED so you have to pay a second time to just do essay. smh. Because I was being pressured to "prove" he was educated he did do GED. At the same time he was auditing classes at Stanford on line and reading the textbooks for "fun" and building computers from scrap for low income people, making goat cheese and being on HAM radio. Wouldn't go to community college classes that were time fillers, looked at texas school of business and declared it a scam. He has taken jobs to learn something and taken another job to learn something more, still no idea what he will wind up being. I was public schooled, dutifully went to nursing school, read all the syllabus, immediately starting classes for BSN after graduating then deciding wasn't going to play with more hoops (stats,computer programming, creative writing, early american history) Wanted more education, less raw compost. Now a self taught, life long learner
more importantly, are college degrees overrated?
Sure. I think we should go back to having a "Grand Tour" when we finish our "lower" education. Cheaper in the long run and more valuable, except where specific skill-sets for a profession are involved, and maybe even then.
I think it really depends on what you want to do, right? For my kid who maybe wants to be a lawyer, she needs a college degree to get into law school. But college and massive debt are not the right option for everyone.
Yes but no... yes they are overrated because the only reason that are what they are us because a group of people said you need this learn thus to be a doctor for example...
Two of my best drs both said almost everything they learned at university was useless and that they learned most of what they considered important while doing placement in emergency departments. They both said that nothing they were taught really relates to the actual job.
I've mentioned it before on these chats... my son did a cert 3 in IT and CISCO courses and has a better international job than his friends that went to university.
There are ways into almost any career where you don't need diplomas or degrees.
Prior learning can also be a huge chunk of your degree if you manage to get a bottom level job in a field you love.
Georgia is similar to Florida with the testing requirement every few years. However, there IS a clause in there that says, “unless the student is physically unable to take the test.” Do you think a student on the autism spectrum would fall into this category (Just asking for your opinion)? Typical schoolwork and tests are incredibly mentally taxing on him. And, he gets anxiety over it. Just needing another parent’s perspective to help me navigate through that part. Lol
What about colleges like George Washington University in Washington where you pay a quarterly fee and can take as many classes as you want? You can graduate at your own speed.
Chances are higher you will lose them once they enter fascist higher learning.
College: School of higher indoctrination.