Read the following article and then answer questions 1–20.

Write your answers in the

spaces provided. For multiple-choice questions, choose the best answer and blacken
ONE circle only. (20
marks)

Unschooling: Letting kids teach themselves

1 At nine o’clock on a Monday morning, while most other children are beginning
their week of school, ten-year-old Belinda Taylor and her eight-year-old brother,
James, are sitting in the living room at their home in Vancouver, Canada. Belinda is
making a scrapbook about dinosaurs and James is making a model aeroplane out of ice
5 lolly sticks. Their parents, Todd and Mary Taylor, know their children are not at
school. In fact, they deliberately keep them at home in order to follow a style of
relaxed, child-directed home schooling, known as ‘unschooling’.

2 Unschooling is an unconventional learning method, but it is becoming more and

more popular around the world. Unlike conventional schooling, unschooling does not
10 follow a curriculum or fixed lesson plans. Instead, the children are allowed to choose
how, when, why and what they learn, based upon what interests them. This is because
the philosophy of the method is that children are naturally curious and will seek out the
information they want to learn for themselves.

3 As with many other followers of unschooling, the Taylors think that formal
15 education, either in schools or at home, stifles children’s creativity and curiosity by
telling them what they need to learn and how to learn it. They believe that if children
are allowed to direct their own education, they will be more interested in learning.
‘You have to trust the kids,’ said Todd. ‘You can’t force them to learn. They will find
out what they need to know when they need to know it, but it must come from within.’

20 4 This does not mean that Todd and Mary are not involved in their children’s
education, but rather than taking the role of teachers, they prefer to act as guides. ‘We
still give them guidance and advice, and help them to set and achieve their goals — we
just don’t tell them what those goals are,’ explained Mary. ‘A single child can’t learn
everything there is to know,’ added Todd. ‘So, we simply provide our children with a
25 wide range of learning resources and support, and let them discover for themselves
what is truly important to them.’

5 Some people worry that unschooled children may take advantage of this lack of
structure and end up doing nothing all day, or that they will concentrate on things they
are good at and ignore their weaknesses. ‘If the child can choose what to learn about,
30 he or she may end up knowing an awful lot about basketball, but nothing at all about
mathematics,’ said Nigel Foster, an educational psychologist. ‘I think it’s possible for
parents to provide structure and supervision and still keep things interesting and
relevant to children.’

6 However, many families that unschool feel that the traditional methods do not
35 cater to students’ individual differences. Advanced learners may get bored waiting for
classmates to catch up, and slower learners could fall behind because they do not
receive enough attention from their teachers. This is not an issue with unschooling as
children are treated as responsible individuals who can work at their own pace, moving
on whenever they feel ready.

© Pearson Education Asia Limited 2007 PHOTOCOPIABLE

40 7 In addition, individual students have different interests. ‘If you try to teach a child
something they’re not interested in, you’ll teach them nothing,’ said Tessa Conway,
who lives in Toronto and has been unschooling her seventeen-year-old son, Jack, for a
year. Jack agrees with his mother. ‘If I don’t like a topic, I can skim through it quickly
and focus on things that are more interesting and useful to me. I’ve learnt more in the
45 last year than I ever did in school,’ he said. ‘Also, I don’t have to worry about things
like bullying, peer pressure, being scolded by strict teachers or exam stress. It’s a cool
way to learn.’

8 While unschooling is not for everyone, there are certainly advantages to this
unusual method. ‘Unschooling is about treating children with respect, trusting them to
50 want to learn about the world they live in and helping them to achieve that,’ said Todd
Taylor. ‘What other schooling provides that kind of education?’

© Pearson Education Asia Limited 2007 PHOTOCOPIABLE

1. The main point of paragraph 1 is that the Taylor children ......
A. are artistic and creative.
B. enjoy spending time at home. A B C D
C. do not go to school like other children.
D. always tell their parents where they are.    
2. According to paragraphs 1 and 2, unschooling ......
A. is very popular in Vancouver.
B. has carefully planned lessons. A B C D
C. is based on a traditional school curriculum.
D. allows children to control their own learning.    
3. Find a word in paragraph 2 that can be replaced by ‘normal’.

Decide whether the statements below are True, False or the information is Not Given.
Blacken ONE circle only for each statement. (6 marks)
Todd and Mary Taylor ......
True False Not
Given
4. used to send their children to a normal school.   
5. think formal home schooling is as good as unschooling.   
6. are the first people to try unschooling.   
7. think children from normal schools are less curious.   
8. tell their children what they need to know.   
9. help their children with their schooling.   
10. In paragraph 3, which word means ‘stops something from developing’?

11. In line 22, who does ‘them’ refer to?

12. According to paragraph 5, Nigel Foster thinks unschooling ……

A. is a terrible idea.
B. is interesting and relevant to children. A B C D
C. could give a child an incomplete education.
D. will make children only interested in sports.    
13. What two things does Nigel Foster think are important in children’s education?

© Pearson Education Asia Limited 2007 PHOTOCOPIABLE

14. According to paragraph 6, why do unschooled children not get bored or fall
behind?

15. According to paragraphs 6 and 7, which of the following statements are TRUE?
1. Traditional schooling is good for children of different levels.
2. Advanced learners are treated more responsibly than slower learners.
3. Unschooled children can concentrate on the subjects they like best.
4. Unschooling treats students as if they are all the same.
5. Bullying is not a problem for students who are unschooled.
A. 1 and 4
B. 3 and 5
C. 1, 2 and 3 A B C D
D. 2, 4 and 5    
16. From the information given in paragraph 7, how best would you describe Jack
Conway?
He is ……
A. lazy.
B. excited. A B C D
C. worried.
D. motivated.    
17. Copy a phrase or clause from paragraph 8 that indicates unschooling is
unsuitable for certain people.

18. In line 51, Todd Taylor says ‘What other schooling provides that kind of
education?’ because he thinks unschooling is ……
A. the best type of schooling.
B. a suitable type of schooling for everyone. A B C D
C. the most unusual type of schooling.
D. the only schooling that educates people.    
19. In which section of a newspaper would you find this article?
A. Business
B. Education A B C D
C. Technology
D. World news    
20. An alternative title for the article could be ......
A. A comparison of home schooling techniques.
B. The Taylors find a new way of schooling. A B C D
C. Why some people prefer unschooled to schooled.
D. The dangers of a child-directed education.    

© Pearson Education Asia Limited 2007 PHOTOCOPIABLE