Why I Love The Idea Of "Unschooling"

Anyone heard of unschooling? Sometimes known as interest-led or delight-directed homeschooling? Call me crazy, but this is what I'm considering doing with my own children.

What is Unschooling?

The term "unschooling" can be misleading. It seems to imply "not schooling," "doing nothing," or even "lazy parenting." But nothing could be further from the truth!

Unschooling parents are extremely active in setting up a learning environment, by exposing their kids to a wide variety of subjects, and letting them dig into what truly interests them. They don't follow a curriculum, or someone else's idea of what their children should be learning at each age.

But how do parents expose their children to anything if they don't have a curriculum to follow?

By reading books, talking about things, doing things together. Using everything in daily life as a learning opportunity.

For example, if your child reads a book about a kid playing the guitar, and then you notice them pretending to play guitar, instead of just thinking "That's nice" (or not even noticing at all because you are too busy), you could watch a youtube guitar performance video, go to a music store and look at guitars, go hear a friend play guitar,  look up the history of guitar music and different types (acoustic, electric, etc), see a concert, write up a response paper about it, take lesson, and anything else to see how far your child wants to go in learning about this musical instrument, while learning other skills as well such as writing, reading, history, etc. (FYI: This is referred to as "unit studies"- exploring one topic, but covering more than one school "subject.")

Also, parents who unschool their children really have to know their child's learning style. If your child would rather be digging in the dirt, making "discoveries," versus sitting down doing worksheets, you will know NOT to buy lots of curricula, and instead provide experiential learning opportunities.

Experiential learning could mean that instead of doing math worksheets with pictures of coins where the child is asked to match which coins are needed to buy certain items (pictured on the other side of the page), your child could play "store" (pricing and selling little things they find around the house, to other family members), or save up money and go to the store to buy a toy, or help you do the grocery shopping. They will learn about the value of money and math, using REAL money. Genius. :)

Unschooling vs. buying a curriculum

I have to point out that some kids (and parents) actually love worksheets and having a curriculum with a planned out lesson to follow every day.

I, however, feel that if there is not a genuine interest in a subject, the person will not retain as much as they would if they were seeking out the knowledge themselves.

Additionally, forced learning can actually kill a child's desire to learn (which I believe happened to me, but thankfully, I regained that desire in my 20s). Thus, I tend to dislike curricula approaches, and favor an interest-led approach to homeschooling.

(Important to note: Curriculum and textbooks do have their place in unschooling environments. If a child is interested in learning about psychology, for example, they might love to read a textbook about it (as I did, in college). Again, it depends on the child, and that is why it is called "Interest-led.")

But what if my kids aren't interested in doing anything except playing?

First of all, that's impossible for most kids, unless their desire to learn has been killed by the public school system.

“Children are, by nature and from birth, very curious about the world around them, and very energetic, resourceful and competent in exploring it, finding out about it, and mastering it. In short, much more eager to learn, and much better at learning than most adults.”
~ John Holt, founder of unschooling - See more at: http://simplehomeschool.net/core-phase/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+SimpleHomeschool+(Simple+Homeschool)#sthash.JuA6I4aB.dpuf

“Children are, by nature and from birth, very curious about the world around them, and very energetic, resourceful and competent in exploring it, finding out about it, and mastering it. In short, much more eager to learn, and much better at learning than most adults.”
~ John Holt, founder of unschooling - See more at: http://simplehomeschool.net/core-phase/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+SimpleHomeschool+(Simple+Homeschool)#sthash.JuA6I4aB.dpuf

"Children are, by nature and from birth, very curious about the world around them, and very energetic, resourceful and competent in exploring it, finding out about it, and mastering it. In short, much more eager to learn, and much better at learning than most adults." John Holt, founder of unschooling

“Children are, by nature and from birth, very curious about the world around them, and very energetic, resourceful and competent in exploring it, finding out about it, and mastering it. In short, much more eager to learn, and much better at learning than most adults.”
~ John Holt, founder of unschooling - See more at: http://simplehomeschool.net/core-phase/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+SimpleHomeschool+(Simple+Homeschool)#sthash.JuA6I4aB.dpuf

Secondly, playing is the primary way that kids under 8 learn, so let them keep playing! (Although, I don't feel playing video games is really a good substitute for make-believe play. We don't do video games at all at our house.)

And third, for kids over 8, I really like the idea of structuring time, but not content. Meaning, having a set number of hours that your kids must spend learning about something, but letting them choose what and how they learn. Learning during these designated hours doesn't mean they have to sit down at a desk and do worksheets, read textbooks, write assignments, etc. It could mean that they are outside observing nature, sketching a beautiful tree, looking up a critter in their bug encyclopedia, or baking and using multiplication to double the recipe.

But doesn't not following a curriculum = knowledge gaps?

Are you worried that if you "unschool" your children they won't have the "education" that all the other kids their age will have? Won't there be knowledge gaps?

For me, a public school education left me with huge knowledge gaps! I retained probably less than 20% of what my public school teachers "taught" me because I wasn't interested in it at that time in my life.

Who said every kid must learn about European History in 10th grade? Or learn how to read or do algebra at a certain age? There is a HUGE amount of knowledge out there. Who decided that Common Core, or any curriculum for that matter, contains the most important knowledge for MY children to learn, and the right time to teach it to them? 

If I had been able to learn what I was interested in, I think I would have retained close to 100% of it. To me, interest-led learning is much more effective, than a typical public education. 

Henry B. Eyring, 1st Counselor in the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (aka the Mormon church),  acknowledged the vast amount of knowledge available to us, and asserts that we must seek inspiration as we decide what to study:

"We will need the help of heaven to know which of the myriad things we could study we would most wisely learn. " (https://www.lds.org/youth/article/real-life-education?lang=eng)

How do we know exactly what our children need to learn?

Why do we all simply follow the standardized program taught in schools, instead of thinking for ourselves and seeking inspiration about what is really important for our children learn?

We are all born with unique strengths, abilities, talents, and gifts. I believe it is not only important, but necessary for kids to be allowed to learn about those things that naturally call to them, if they want to fulfill their potential and understand their unique purpose and mission on earth.

Henry B. Eyring has said this:

"Your life is carefully watched over, as was mine. The Lord knows both what He will need you to do and what you will need to know to do it. You can with confidence expect that He has prepared opportunities for you to learn. You will not recognize those opportunities perfectly, as I did not. But when you put the spiritual things first in your life, you will be blessed to feel directed toward certain learning, and you will be motivated to work harder. You will recognize later that your power to serve was increased, and you will be grateful." (Entire amazing article can be found here: https://www.lds.org/youth/article/real-life-education?lang=eng)

What If...

Thinking back to my childhood, I have a lot of memories of myself sitting at a desk in a classroom. On the outside, I looked like an excellent student: turning in assignments on time, passing tests, getting along well with my classmates. On the inside, I wasn't really learning anything besides how to be a good student, and the large class size was a big distraction to any actual learning that could have taken place for me.

What if I had been able to completely delve into Shakespeare, spend days working on creative writing projects? Or spend time making documentaries about different people and cultures, showing the world a different way to look at and understand our brothers and sisters of different races and social classes? Or write songs, maybe even perform in cafe's with a small band? Or become a serious actor? Or have the freedom to sketch for hours- nature, landscapes, and people?

These were all some of my passions growing up. Sadly, practically the only times I was able to spend exploring these fields was on my summer breaks. (Thankfully, my mom ran a performing & fine arts summer day camp which gave me amazing opportunities to work on these areas of interest while gaining great experience in many other areas as well. I am so grateful for all my parents did to give me the best education in the best way they knew how at the time).

Looking to the future...

I don't blame my parents for not homeschooling me. Instead, I view my childhood as a vital experience necessary to ignite this passion for homeschooling my own children. 

I am hopeful of the future. I am filled with a desire to learn, and to help my children learn, as I work on creating a home where learning is done continuously, passionately, every day, all day long. Not the boring learning that happened for me at school, but the exciting learning of exploring the world together!

Final Words:

A child could be at school all day long and learn the equivalent of what a homeschooler might learn in an hour (due to the wasted time in a classroom, busywork, lining up, and just plain boring teachers and unanswered questions).

But the homeschooler also has the whole rest of the day to pursue any other interests, special classes, playing with friends, going on field trips, etc, etc, etc.

This coupled with a mom who is truly excited about learning as well,  making discoveries right there with her kids, as well as following divine inspiration to guide her in providing the best educational, social, and spiritual opportunities for her children, seems to be an awesome mix for a pretty amazing childhood!

I know I am not perfect, but God has given me these children and I'm going to do my best to follow my heart in raising them.

Can you tell I'm excited??! Let the homeschooling begin!!