Unschooling: Taking Homeschooling to the Next Level

My children don't go to school. They don't have text books, they aren't in grades, and they don't take tests. Each morning, they wake up and decide how they want to spend their day. They are part of a growing minority of children who are unschooled, living their lives as if school didn't exist.

The philosophy behind unschooling is simple. Babies are born with a desire to learn. They work hard to learn about the world, how to control their bodies, how to communicate their needs and desires. This striving to learn continues until it is stifled. There are many ways that the desire to learn can be stifled. A child can be made to feel stupid so that he or she no longer trusts his or her ability to learn. Children might be turned away while asking questions or be told that they are too young to learn something they are asking about. In school, children are often coerced to try to learn things that they are not interested in or mature enough to understand. This leads to them thinking that learning is a chore to be avoided. Unschooling parents do their best to make sure that those things don't happen. They answer questions and accept their children for who they are without force feeding them lessons that a school would feel age appropriate and necessary.

The majority of teachers and school administrators are opposed to unschooling. Their careers are based on the idea that children need trained professionals to help them learn. Schools teach things incrementally, in tiny steps, with much repetition and review to make sure that everyone gets it. In the real world that isn't how it usually works. Babies might learn lots of words one day and none for the next few months. I might teach myself to knit in an evening, but then spend a couple of hours a day for the next few days researching a new interest on the computer. People remember knowledge that they are interested in or need. If there is no need or interest, why learn it?

Others argue against unschooling by attacking the parents for being neglectful. The theory is that the parents are just lazy and don't want to make their kids do anything. In reality, that is not how unschooling looks at all. Unschooling parents need to be very active in their kids' lives. They need to make sure that they have an environment where they will be exposed to lots of different things so that they will be able to explore and discover where their passions lie. They need to answer questions and find resources when the child's needs and wants go beyond what they can personally provide. They need to be willing to stop when the child is ready to stop and to go when the child wants to go.

Unschooling has numerous advantages beyond having free kids who love to learn. Unschooled kids grow up without judgment. In general, they have high self-esteem and are able to express their own opinions free from the constant peer pressure and desire to either please or torment the teacher so often found in public schools. Unschooling kids learn to trust that they can learn what they need to when they need or want to. They know how to find information and seek out resources. Perhaps the best part about unschooling though is that it is just so much fun! My children don't have to wait until they grow up to live! They are living their lives to the fullest right now.