The fundamental belief of unschoolers is that humans have an innate desire to learn, and that left to their own devices, will do so willingly and with fervor. If we apply this philosophy to children, unschoolers believe that when you take away the tests, assignments, and requirements to learn, kids will learn because they want to, and they will be excited to do it.
So, if we take it to the simplest level, unschooling means that instead of following a set curriculum, children are free to pursue their interests, follow their passions, figure out who they are, explore their world, play, grow, live. Unschooling doesn't mean that a child will never take a class, or never read a textbook, or that parents will never teach anything. All it means is that the child is directing the learning. When a child is interested in reading, the parent can provide books, read to the child, help sound out words, and listen as the child reads book after book after book. The difference between unschooling and schooling is that the parent will wait until the child is ready to read. In school, if a child can't read by age 7 or 8, they fall behind their peers and can be labeled with a learning disability. However, an unschooled child, allowed to learn at their own pace, will have a much more relaxed experience learning to read, and will often enjoy reading much more than a schooled child. Many unschooled children take classes at community colleges, often while still in their teenage years, because they are interested in the subject. Unschoolers also have more time to take "extra-curricular" classes like ballet, karate, art, or piano.
Because an unschooler's learning does not have to come from textbooks and teachers (unless they chose that route), they have the freedom to learn from many different sources, both inside and outside the home: books, documentaries, the grocery store, the backyard, a farm, professionals working in a field that interests the child, the park, relatives, friends, games, museums, festivals, volunteering, working, and so much more. An unschooler learns all the time, wherever they are, by participating in real life.
The philosophy sounded great to me, but the major question I had was, "Without tests and assignments, how will I know my child is learning?" The only answer I have is, you just will. Because here's the thing: when you're with your kids all the time, you are having conversations all day, you are seeing what they are doing, and you can tell when they "get" something. They will suddenly bring up a concept they learned weeks before, and you know it has stuck. You see the joy when they finally accomplish something they have worked so hard at. You hear the questions they ask and you know they are thinking at a deeper level.
The other major concern I had with homeschooling in general was, "Does homeschooling work? Is it good for kids?" I read a number of studies, both from the US and Canada, about homeschooling. One study by Lawrence M. Rudner gave a good overview of the demographics and test scores of homeschool families (it is from the US but Canadian studies show very similar results). What it showed was that parents of homeschoolers are more highly educated than the general population, homeschooling families tend to have a higher income, homeschooled kids watch far less TV, homeschoolers score better in every subject area at every age than kids in both public and private schools, it makes no difference to test scores if a homeschooled kid has a parent who is a certified teacher, students homeschooled their entire life have higher test scores than those who also spent some time in school, and (most importantly to me) these benefits of homeschooling were true for kids enrolled in a set curriculum as well as those who did not use a curriculum. I think these results speak for themselves.
One last concern I needed to research before we made the decision to home educate was that of post-secondary education. What would happen if my kids wanted to go to university but didn't have a high school diploma or transcript? As it turns out, there is more than one way to get into university: GED, challenging the Provincial Exams, taking the high school classes that are required, or taking community college classes and then transferring. Not only that, but many universities are specifically admitting home educated kids based on portfolios (and I'm even talking about places like Harvard and Yale), because they know that a student who is self-motivated with some life experience will be a good addition to their school. But this is far off for us, so I will do more research if and when the time comes.
As I stated above, I have read so much and it is hard to put into so few words everything that I have learned. And this post hasn't even begun to discuss the many benefits of unschooling (more to come on that later). But if I have piqued your interest even a little, I encourage you to read more about home education. A good place to start is my "unschooling resources" page.
So, if we take it to the simplest level, unschooling means that instead of following a set curriculum, children are free to pursue their interests, follow their passions, figure out who they are, explore their world, play, grow, live. Unschooling doesn't mean that a child will never take a class, or never read a textbook, or that parents will never teach anything. All it means is that the child is directing the learning. When a child is interested in reading, the parent can provide books, read to the child, help sound out words, and listen as the child reads book after book after book. The difference between unschooling and schooling is that the parent will wait until the child is ready to read. In school, if a child can't read by age 7 or 8, they fall behind their peers and can be labeled with a learning disability. However, an unschooled child, allowed to learn at their own pace, will have a much more relaxed experience learning to read, and will often enjoy reading much more than a schooled child. Many unschooled children take classes at community colleges, often while still in their teenage years, because they are interested in the subject. Unschoolers also have more time to take "extra-curricular" classes like ballet, karate, art, or piano.
Because an unschooler's learning does not have to come from textbooks and teachers (unless they chose that route), they have the freedom to learn from many different sources, both inside and outside the home: books, documentaries, the grocery store, the backyard, a farm, professionals working in a field that interests the child, the park, relatives, friends, games, museums, festivals, volunteering, working, and so much more. An unschooler learns all the time, wherever they are, by participating in real life.
The philosophy sounded great to me, but the major question I had was, "Without tests and assignments, how will I know my child is learning?" The only answer I have is, you just will. Because here's the thing: when you're with your kids all the time, you are having conversations all day, you are seeing what they are doing, and you can tell when they "get" something. They will suddenly bring up a concept they learned weeks before, and you know it has stuck. You see the joy when they finally accomplish something they have worked so hard at. You hear the questions they ask and you know they are thinking at a deeper level.
The other major concern I had with homeschooling in general was, "Does homeschooling work? Is it good for kids?" I read a number of studies, both from the US and Canada, about homeschooling. One study by Lawrence M. Rudner gave a good overview of the demographics and test scores of homeschool families (it is from the US but Canadian studies show very similar results). What it showed was that parents of homeschoolers are more highly educated than the general population, homeschooling families tend to have a higher income, homeschooled kids watch far less TV, homeschoolers score better in every subject area at every age than kids in both public and private schools, it makes no difference to test scores if a homeschooled kid has a parent who is a certified teacher, students homeschooled their entire life have higher test scores than those who also spent some time in school, and (most importantly to me) these benefits of homeschooling were true for kids enrolled in a set curriculum as well as those who did not use a curriculum. I think these results speak for themselves.
One last concern I needed to research before we made the decision to home educate was that of post-secondary education. What would happen if my kids wanted to go to university but didn't have a high school diploma or transcript? As it turns out, there is more than one way to get into university: GED, challenging the Provincial Exams, taking the high school classes that are required, or taking community college classes and then transferring. Not only that, but many universities are specifically admitting home educated kids based on portfolios (and I'm even talking about places like Harvard and Yale), because they know that a student who is self-motivated with some life experience will be a good addition to their school. But this is far off for us, so I will do more research if and when the time comes.
As I stated above, I have read so much and it is hard to put into so few words everything that I have learned. And this post hasn't even begun to discuss the many benefits of unschooling (more to come on that later). But if I have piqued your interest even a little, I encourage you to read more about home education. A good place to start is my "unschooling resources" page.
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