Homeschooling: the "rural vs. urban" debate

The debate about which is the best environment for homeschooled children – rural or urban – has come up on the homeschooling forum at MDC. I like perusing the blogs of homeschooling families and I’d have to say that many of them, particularly among the unschooling crowd, hail from rural areas. I just assumed that the desire to unschool goes along with other crunchy tastes like growing one’s own veggies, living off the grid, sustainable living, etc. But I’ve come to appreciate that unschooled kids spend much more time at home than schooled children (notwithstanding the usual socialization questions posed by the ignorant masses). So perhaps their home environment matters more, in that sense.

On the MDC debate there does not seem to be a consensus. But I wonder: does the fact that one is homeschooling add any further weight to the issue beyond personal preference? I believe it does, but not in the way one might think.

Those of you who read my other blog will know that our family has been trying to decide where to live in order to provide ourselves and our homeschooled children with a lifestyle that suits our needs. Our 950 sq ft downtown apartment in a dense, yet green, urban neighbourhood has served us well for the past 3 years. But my kids need more space now, both inside and out. They don’t really need access to homeschooling programs because they are still young. They also don’t need much socialization due to temperament and behaviour issues. So a rural house seems a good choice for us.

But in just two years I will have 5 and 7 year old. What will they need? And what about when they are teenagers? What programs will they want to pursue, what resources will they need, and how readily will those resources be available if we are living in a rural area? Whereas schooled kids’ needs don’t really change from K to grade 12, those of homeschooled children do (from what I can tell so far).

So I think that the “rural vs. urban” debate depends not just on a family’s general preference, but also on the age and stage of the children. And of course, their temperament. Some kids thrive on social interactions with their peers, are “friend-oriented”, and get lonely and bored without other companions. Other kids, like my daughter, enjoy solitary play and are not overly concerned with “hanging with friends”. Additionally, what are the children’s interests? My daughter is totally into nature and natural science, so obviously a place where she can explore the outdoors is optimal. Other kids may be more into role-playing or organized sports – their need to be closer to urban centres may be greater. My son seems to be very kinesthetic in his energy expenditures. That’s fancy talk for “he’s destroying our apartment”. The child needs a yard. But my friend’s boys can handle a day indoors without mayhem.

The point of this post is that, for homeschooled kids, these needs have to be met more in the home environment than for schooled kids whose needs are met in the classroom (or not, as the case often is with school). Thus our considerations are a bit different, and I think it ends up being more than whether you consider yourself a City Mouse or a Country Mouse.

Hooked on Workbooks

DD has shown an interest in worksheets and workbooks. She particularly enjoys Word Search puzzles. The other day I was browsing through Costco (the Canadian equivalent of Sam’s Club) and came across this book. It is filled with all sorts of word games and puzzles you can play with a pen, and I wondered if DD might find it interesting. She is crazy about it.

An unexpected result of having this book is that I discovered DD can read. I mean, really read. I know she can read many words, but she so far has refused to read a book to me, or out loud to herself (although she has memorized many of her books and will read those ones aloud). When I’ve asked her if she can read a book to me she says no. But with this workbook she needed to read some words out loud and then there were some short stories, etc. And what do you know, she read them!

And then last night, while we were in bed reading stories, she actually asked to read certain parts of the book, and then she offered to read the whole book! She does know the story fairly well, but there were parts where I could see and hear her sounding out the words. It was very cool!

Workbooks can be a contentious issue among unschoolers, but if the child has a genuine interest in them and enjoys them, then the child should have them. That is what unschooling is all about, IMHO. Besides, I well recall enjoying doing workbooks when I was a child. Before I started “having” to do them in school, that is.

How Math Happens

A couple of weeks ago I was sipping my morning cup o’ tea and checking my email when DD approached me. She said “mama, what does 5 and 3 make?” while she held up five fingers on one hand, and three on the other. I told her to count the fingers, which she did. Her face lit up with that beautiful expression of pride and wonder as she realized she could figure this out just by counting…recognizing a learning opportunity when I saw it, we went and got a peice of paper.

“Here”, I said, “let me show you something”. I told her than one way to add numbers was to draw the number of objects on the paper and then count them. So to add 3 and 2, first you can draw 3 little circles, then 2 little circles, then count them together to get 5. I also showed her how we write this as 3 + 2 = 5.

She was delighted and proceeded to do a number of equations using small circles to add, and with me helping her to write the corresponding equations. She focussed on this task for a solid 20 minutes or so before moving on to drawing pictures.

It was one of those perfect homelearning moments…