What is unschooling? That’s probably what you want to know and that’s why you’re here. We’ll I’m not going to tell you. It is a highly debated topic and I’m not up for the debate.
We’ll borrow Wikipedia’s definition: It’s an educational method and philosophy that advocates learner-chosen activities as a primary means for learning.
The term has been around since the 1970’s, but it has been going on even longer than that. Summerhill school has been letting children lead their own education since 1921. It is not a new philosophy, it has been around a long time and has been proven effective.
Many people will spend a lot of energy trying to define what unschooling is and what it isn’t. It doesn’t mean kids can do whatever they want and it doesn’t mean parents are too lazy to teach their child. It also cannot always be seen by outsiders. Learning happens all the time. It doesn’t need to come from a book, but it can. It doesn’t need to happen in a class, but it can. My children were unschooled but still attended classes because they wanted to learn something, I couldn’t teach them, but there was a teacher available. Some things they wanted to learn were available online, others were available through local clubs.
One example is woodworking. My son joined the local woodturners club. He went to the monthly meetings, they taught him how to use a lathe and knives, shared their supplies, tools and knowledge. He didn’t need to take a test to prove he was learning anything, I knew he was, I could see it. After several years of this and a few other woodworking activities, we were able to put woodworking on his homeschool transcript so he could go to college.
Our children that are still at home are active roadschoolers. They travel
our country and the ones nearby. They have been learning so much. They do Jr. Ranger programs, attend astronomy events, learn videography to document their journey, they have walked in the footsteps of famous people in our country’s history. They write a newsletter, letters to friends and grandparents and postcards. They are getting practice with reading and writing, history, science, home economics, etc. Every year they know more than they did the year before. They haven’t spent any time in a classroom, they are living in real life.
They don’t have tests or quizzes to prove what they have learned. It’s not
neccessary. They don’t need to prove anything to anyone, until they are older and want to get a job, but chances are, they won’t be working for someone else anyway.
Our family still has a schedule and a flow. The kids don’t rule the house.
They have rules and expectations. We help them and teach them what we
know. We offer them experiences and resources so they can continue learning. Some days they learn more than others, but they will continue learning forever. They have been learning since
they were born and will continue long after they are past school age. Years ago someone said to live as if school didn’t exist. That is what we do. We are always searching for more knowledge and information. We do it Monday morning at 8am, we do it Friday evening at 7pm and we do it Saturday afternoon. We learn all the time, not just during school hours.
