The Best Idea I’ve Ever Heard

I’ve recently read a couple of articles. One by a woman named Laurie A. Couture and another by her son Brycen R. R. Couture. (I wonder if he’s for real or just a Tolkien fan?). Here’s another one from Good Morning America. All of the articles are about “unschooling”. No, not homeschooling, unschooling. Why is there a red squiggly line under the word unschooling every time I type it? It’s totally a word.

The basic premise of unschooling is this: no assignments, homework or otherwise, no grades, no desks, no schedule, no routines, no rules, no chores. The students (is it still okay to call them that?) learn whatever they want, whenever they feel like it based on their interests and passions. I wish unschooling had been around when I was a kid, it would have been awesome.

If you read the articles (and I hope you do, don’t just take my word for it) you’ll find that Miz Couture hates everything about public education, especially the teachers. And for good reason. I have to agree with her, standardized tests aren’t helping anyone, desks are confining, and grades are a pain. Her basic reasons for revolting against the system are sound.

I think that unschooling is a great idea. I think life in America would be better for everyone if parents took their kids out of school and unschooled them at home. I’m just not sure how a single mother working two jobs is going to manage to find the time. I’m not sure that the children of parents who like to parent with television and video games would fare as well as the kids of parents who like to read and do crafts. I’m not sure household’s that require two incomes would be able to manage life on just a single income so that one parent, probably mom, can stay home with the little ones.




Because if everyone unschooled we would see a lot of things changing. Women would basically have to make a choice, do you want a family or a career? You have to pick now because you can’t have both. I’m sorry if you’re really passionate about something or need to support your family. Either have kids and stay with them or don’t have kids at all. Choose now. If you don’t want to give up your career don’t worry, it won’t make you a bad mother as long as you’re not a mother at all. Oh and the other parent (we’re all coming from 2 parent households right?) must find a job that pays a salary. Minimum wage is not an option because it’s not livable.

I was bullied as a kid. As a pale, thin, shy kid with bottle cap glasses, I’ve had my share of teasing. Oddly enough though, it never came from the teachers. I loved all my teachers. I never felt abused or mistreated when they asked me to work on a project. I never felt put upon because I had homework. Yes, some teachers were a joke but that usually wasn’t until high school. But back to the bullying, you know…I think it was always other kids that did the bullying. Kids whose parents either didn’t tell them it was mean to hurt other people or showed them how to be mean first hand. I don’t remember any lessons in “How to torture other kids”. But I was probably sick that day.

I know it’s always a traumatizing event for families when the school bus comes to pick the kids up. The screaming and crying as the armed guards come off the bus and pry the wailing child from it’s parent’s protective arms, onto the bus and then march them into the school and to their classrooms. Why would America, the Greatest Nation on Earth, allow such torture against it’s citizens? They take our children away from us. The brutes. How awful that they should be given an education, regardless of their race, religion, gender, disability, attitude, or especially their feelings on the subject.

But…if we shut down all the public schools and everyone unschools at home, then some kids are going to run around outside unsupervised because their parents aren’t home. What about the kids who don’t have books at home, only televisions? Won’t their education (uneducation?) be unequal to that of children who have books and materials and parents who are there? Will they lower the legal working age again so poorer families can make ends meet? Things would have been so much easier if we had stayed where we were in 1950, we could’ve skipped all this injustice.

But let’s move onto the Perpetraitors of the injustice. The teachers, who so blindly and devotedly subjugate children to the horrors of the established system. They do not know our children, they do not care about their welfare. They are ignorant, cruel and calculating Spirit Crushers. They abuse children, dehumanize them, and they lie to the parents to make themselves look good. Why can’t an adult with a classroom of 25 (sometimes 30) manage to gently guide each student towards their personal interests? Why can’t children in a classroom of 25 (sometimes 30) go to the bathroom, eat, go outside, play, or sleep when they feel like it? Why should they all have to learn long division or memorize spelling lists? Why do teachers take such pleasure in destroying lives?

I don’t like the way public education is going any more than Lady Couture and her son. I agree that it needs to have a major overhaul. However, I have a hard time seeing unschooling as The Great Fix All to the problems we face. Public education is there for a reason. Don’t tell me that unschooling will work for every family. It won’t. (To be fair, at it’s heart unschooling means well.)

If you want to homeschool your children that’s great, if you want to unschool them please do so, by all means, I don’t have a problem with you. If you attack the only people who are fighting to give each and every child a chance, when at every step of the way they are being incriminated, defecated, and spit upon by the very people they are trying to help, we will have words.

For those who strongly feel that the public education system is not the best option for their family may I suggest Montessori as a better alternative to hate and ignorance? It allows the children to learn at their own pace, in multi-grade classrooms, doesn’t use standardized tests, and is a much more structured environment. There are even several resources for Montessori homeschooling as well. Montessori is also based on over 100 years of research and success.