how do i convince my parents to unschool me?
i need some help! i’m really interested in the way that unschoolling works (and other homeschooling ways) and i want to do them, just not sure how my parents will react. i’ve talked to my mom before, she didn’t think it was a good idea because ‘i wont be motivated’ to do my work if i was homeschooled, or online schooled. even though im a good student, and read at a higher level than my class, (im entering 10th) and i’ve exceeded in reading since i was in elementary. i’m sick of the traditional school. i learn way more in the summer when it’s things i want and not just things that i’m forced to memorize and soon forget. i just got done watching dr. phil’s great school debate episode, on youtube, and i saw some good pointers about it. i have some info. that i can give my parents, but my dad’s harder to convince. i’m closer to my mom and tell her everything first. i don’t know how to break it to them that i dont want schooling, because the term UNSCHOOLING is basically as its called. how can i word it so that they dont think im just ‘dropping out’ of high school, and becoming a failure? because I personally know it isnt’, because ive spent my entire day since yesterday studying, since about noon about the entire homeschool/unschool concept.
what are some good pointers i can point out when taking to my mom about it.
btw, my parents work full time, my mom even has 2 jobs that she rotates in, and they dont get home unti late afternoon
can i still do unschooling without them there with me? or what type of home education what fit this schedule? where i can teach myself things i want to learn like foreign language so that one day i can become a translator. and what to tell them about state testing, does unschooling require tests like other types of home school? and STATS and stuff about college
btw the reason we figured online schooling wouldnt work out was because id be lonely and because my grades (in math) were low, in my 9th grade year(last) i got an F in the first sememster than the 2nd i got a D, but ive struggled with that my whole life. i dont like the way we learn and what we're introduced to in trad. schools. besides, i can just get a tutor or books or something just to help me in the subject i need which is math right?

stay in school, get a degree so you dont end up in retail… or worse
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Tell your parents that you want friends and you cant be unsocial all your life. Tell them that you’ll be fine in regular school. And that if they really loved you, they would let you go to a regular school. Trust me, the last idea gets parents everytime,
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aka you have no friends and you will make that up by home schooling
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Stay in School!!! There’s no other way.
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i encourage you to stay in the regular school system for these reasons:
interacting with peers prepares you for interacting with coworkers later in life. it’s great to practice your social skills, and also work with people as well. even if you plan on a solo career, it’s still good to have the ability to talk to people.

your parents have enough to worry about, i wouldn’t put the pressure on them to figure out how to homeschool you. and it just wouldn’t work out if you haven’t been homeschooled from the start.

it’s much better for your future to have all your grades registered in a school system.

online courses are hard to follow, you really need a trained teacher to help you understand.
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Home school can be really good, I grew up on it. Basically I feel it is better than main stream school because you learn “how” to learn not just be fed stuff.
If you can get on a good system they have all the tests that normal schools have and so will still give you the same scores etc as other places, well they do here in Australia.
Also main schools put all kids in the same box and hope it works for them and I know that my daughter just can’t learn that way.
You may need to do what we call here “everyday” maths which is just living maths like so you can go shopping and pay bills and stuff instead of all that intense stuff.
One thing I know…It won’t hurt you…you have your whole life to take up as many careers as you want… you don’t stop learning and studying until you die. Well you shouldn’t anyway…lol
Good luck with it all.
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I was unschooled my entire life, and I graduated high school early and started at a community college with no previous conventional schooling experience. I’m now a sophomore, and I’m getting really good grades, and doing very well.

You seem like you’re approaching this very intelligently. Unschooling should only be taken on if everyone is ready for it, though. It’s not something to be taken lightly, because even though it’s called “un”schooling, that’s not completely the case, or it shouldn’t be. If your parents are apprehensive about the idea, I don’t think it’s going to work out unless they reach a point where they feel they can take it on. It’s a totally collaborative process, and if both of them are working full-time they may not feel they have as much time to devote to your schooling as they feel you should have. That’s no insult to your intelligence, it’s just your parents wanting what’s best for you.

The idea behind unschooling is following the interests of the child, because human beings are naturally curious, and children will choose to learn if they’re given the choice. I also feel that traditional schooling is ineffective, and it’s a proven fact that anyone learns things more effectively if they’re interested in them, and if it’s on their own schedule. You should only stop going to high school, though, if you’ve talked to your parents and you all feel that you would have a more complete education learning at home. Every lifestyle comes with its challenges, and unschooling, however appealing it may sound, is not without its own.

I did lack social development when I started school, and I didn’t have many friends growing up, so that’s something to take into account, especially if you’re an only child. I have three siblings, and they were my best friends.

It really depends on where you’re living if schooling at home would work with both your parents being gone most of the day. In some places that’s not legal. My mother stayed home with me and my siblings all the time we were growing up, so that was never an issue for us.

Also, depending on where you live, homeschoolers may be required to take evaluation tests so that the state is assured that they are getting the education they need. I’m a Texan, and in Texas, we didn’t have to deal with that, because homeschooling is considered a private school, and we were allowed to create our own curriculum. That’s different in most places, though.

So, in short, there are many factors to take into account, but I would encourage anyone to consider homeschooling or unschooling.
Sorry for making this so long, lol! I didn’t mean it to be.

Feel free to e-mail me if you have any other questions. Or, if you’d like, you could have your mother get in touch with me. I love talking about unschooling.

I hope everything works out for you!
Good luck!
Mignon
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My brain, and my past experiences.

I can see the problem with the term Unschooling, over here we call it autonomous education but people still seem to have a problem getting their heads around the concept. You’ve studied the subject so you know how it works

Unschooling doesn’t have to mean that you don’t take any pre-made courses, just that you pick which ones interest you, so you could be doing work on-line while your parents are out which will produce obvious results and grade that will make them feel better. You probably need to focus your argument on having the flexibility to choose the subjects you want to study and being able to work at your own pace but point out where you’ll be taking exams and getting qualifications.

Look at the HSLDA page for your state to see what the testing and reporting requirements are for your state.

As for Maths, in real life there’s only so much of it you need. How many people use algebra after they leave school, or geometry? What maths do you need to be a translator? I’m not saying don’t try to learn it, just don’t get hung up on it.

Your parents want what’s best for you and probably think that’s school because society generally tells them that. The challenge is to convince them that there is a better option and that you have the maturity and motivation to make it work.
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http://www.hslda.org/hs/state/default.asp

Get yourself a copy of The Teenage Liberation Handbook. It's all about teens unschooling and even includes a part on how to convince your parents, at least part way. I don't remember if it's in there or Guerilla Learning where they mention the idea of making an agreement along the lines of "I agree to study these subject areas and keep you fully informed of what I'm doing and if I don't, I'll go back to school." It's a fantastic book and a great guide for teens who are wanting to be in charge of their education.

Now to your questions:

Can you unschool without your parents there? Yes.

What type of homeschooling? Unschooling would work. You can also have homeschooling where your parents are in charge of what you learn, even if they aren't there, but they assign you stuff and mark it and everything when they are there. It could also be a purchased program. It doesn't sound like that's what you really want, though.

Where can you teach yourself things like foreign language? Get yourself a program, take out things from the library, see if there are classes where you live, an association for your target language (like a Spanish Cultural Association or whatever for your target language).

State testing depends on your state. You'll have to check the laws where you live.

Colleges in the US typically require SATs or ACTs regardless of where you were educated. Depends on the college what they want specifically, so you'd have to check with them.

Going your own pace for math is ideal. You can backtrack and master the stuff that's causing you problems, which will make new learning easier. There are lots of resources out there for math that you can do on your own or get help with on your own, and yes, of course, there are tutors if the resources out there aren't enough. Check into Teaching Textbooks.

If you do end up doing this, you've already indicated that you'd be lonely doing online. You need to think about how you will prevent yourself from being lonely: homeschool groups? work? volunteering? classes?
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I would propose a modified version of homeschooling rather than unschooling. Most people have seen too many wacky people portrayed as unschoolers.

What many high schoolers do is record hours. It works like this. Take one sheet of paper for each subject that you want class credit for.

example…math, science, computer technology, etc
Then over the months, record on whichever page is applicable to the work you are doing, a general description of what you did and how many hours you spent on the “work”. Keep recording on all the sheets until your time adds up to 150 hours.

When a course page reaches 150 hours it’s done. Start another ledger sheet for another course or more. Then , just continue to fit your activities into the courses you want credit for.

I think this will work very well for you and your parents. Also look at this article about talking to your parents about homeschooling http://virtualonlineschool.blogspot.com/

For math use aleks math-or at least try the one month trial. It will place you right where you need to be and fill in the gaps for you very quickly http://www.aleks.com/webform/homeschool_request

Best of Luck!
Jana
http://www.purehomeschooling.com/

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I second the recommendation of “The Teenage Liberation Handbook” (by Grace Llwellyn), and I also recommend, for any skeptics and adherents to the public school system, John Holt’s “Dumbing Us Down.” It’s a short, easy read by a former school teacher (who even won the Teacher of the Year award), detailing the reasons why the public school system is so detrimental to learning. And guess what? Poor socialization is one of the reasons.