Did you know that at least 100,000 kids in the US are considered “unschooled?” And after Good Morning America’s segment on unschooling last week, outraged educators and concerned grandparents are linking arms.
But what’s the truth? What’s it like to be unschooled? What are those parents thinking?!
As a mom of three unschooled kids, including one who became a National Merit Scholar, allow me to explain.
Unschooling is Built on Two Simple Observations:
1. Kids are born to learn.
How much instruction did your child need to learn to walk and talk? And given the right environment, he can effortlessly learn several languages before puberty.
An excellent book on the ideas behind unschooling is Learning All The Time
2. Forced learning kills the desire to learn.
Have you noticed that kindergartners usually love school? Then by second or third grade, your lively learner has started to drag his feet–either dreading, fighting, or ignoring school tasks.
I didn’t want school to ruin my children’s love of learning. I wanted each of them maintain the joy of childhood and the joy of learning–all the way into adulthood.
So when Peter, my first little guy, was old enough to start school, I said no. And while my homeschooling friends trudged through expensive curriculums, we … did other things.
In our home it was endless summer. We flowed from preschool into elementary school without dimming the wide-eyed approach to life.
I watched him. What excited him? What made him want to know more? Those were the things we focused on.
Common Concerns
Now Peter is almost 21 and attends the University of Chicago. One mom asked if he thought interest-led learning prepared him for college and if it gave him any advantage.
Here’s how he responded:
Definitely! Probably the biggest one is simply that I’m not burned out. I still have the energy and motivation to take school seriously, whereas many of my peers stopped doing that years ago. In addition, it’s given me the ability to be self-motivated and find opportunities for myself instead of just waiting for them to happen.
Another advantage is that I had the opportunity in high school to really start preparing for college, especially in the areas I’m interested in. I’m finding a lot of the introductory classes very easy, because I had already covered the basics on my own. There aren’t any philosophy classes at the local public school, but with my interest-led education I was able to get into some pretty advanced philosophical topics before I even went to college.
Another concern I hear is that unschooling is for lazy parents. But really, unschooling is for crafty, detective parents who teach without anyone realizing it. It’s for parents who are constantly searching out experts and opportunities to feed their little learning machines.
Some parents assume unschooling means no hygiene and no chores. Not necessarily. It’s your home, and as loving, respectful humans, we have to learn to live together and be healthy. Kids can understand that. Interest-led learning, in my opinion, is first a philosophy of education.
How it works in your family life is up to you.
I’m at the end of my unschooling journey, for now. One of my kids says I have to homeschool my yet-to-exist grandchildren. But until then, I’m basking in the rewards of being the mom of three very different young adults who love life and learning, and are still kids at heart.
What do you think of unschooling? Could you incorporate some interest-led elements into your homeschool?
What a great article! I really love your perspective as a mom who’s walked through this already. It’s interesting right now for me – my seven year old has taken off in his reading. So I’m finding a lot of my curriculum I’m sort of letting go of. I just watch him as he inhales book after book – he’s read all his science books for the year. He finished all his readers for this year and next year. Basically all I’m left to really do with him is his handwriting and math and half the time he does it on his own anyways, sometimes in the early morning before I’m even awake! This is all very new and surprising to me and I’m not quite sure what to make of it or what to do, but I guess just follow his lead and keep feeding that desire to learn????
.-= Leslie’s last blog: Life goes on… =-.
How fun! Yes, let him lead the way. A library card may be all he needs to conquer the world. 🙂
Great post!
I agree that “unschooling is for lazy parents” is a myth. Honestly, our curriculum is a crutch, and not one I’m willing to give up just yet, because I’m afraid that my laziness would make us unsuccessful unschoolers without it!
Great point! Curriculum can give you great ideas and have some fun elements to it.
.-= Jena’s last blog: Peter and His Friends Make the UChicago Website =-.
Hi I have 8th grader that wants to be homeschooled. We both agree its the best path to sucess. But now after reading this article and all the comments I want to join in in unschooling. Ive been mind boggled trying to find a homeschool program. So how do I put unschooling in action. We want to start immediAtely. What bout record keeping and gradebook. Would we have to turn those in to someone for proof of education. Workbooks cirriculum plan. Someone please point me In Direction to teach my son what he is imterested in learning. What about state testing.
The more I homeschool my four-year old (who literally BEGGED me to teach her math), the more I lean towards unschooling… or at least a very relaxed curriculum. Yes, I’ll make sure they learn math, reading and writing, but from there, it’s going to get fuzzy. Lead the way kids, you know what you want to learn! (And you’ll learn it better that way, too.)
teaching your child math when they’ve asked to learn it is definitely within the unschooling philosophy. sometimes there’s some confusion about unschooling where people think they’re not supposed to teach their kids things, or intervene in their lives. really, it’s just forgetting about all the schooly dogma you’ve internalized and living your life. if your child loves math and asks to learn it, there’s nothing schooly about that at all. they are living their life and discovering cool things!
I was not a fan of unschooling, the concept rather made me uncomfortable, when I first began homeschooling. I am at the end of my second year and beginning to see that it is not such a bad idea. These little gals (5 and 6) know what they want to learn about and do have a natural curiosity that keeps them learning. We’ve pretty much dropped the myriad of workbooks we were using and have developed a more relaxed approach. Could I relax it even further? Yes, and it’s posts like this that give me the courage to try it! Thanks!
When you have little ones like this, it’s easy to see the logic in unschooling. They already have that wide-eyed approach to learning. Why tamper with that?
.-= Jena’s last blog: Peter and His Friends Make the UChicago Website =-.
I’m SO thankful to have found out about unschooling/interest-led learning. It truly has revolutionized our home.
Yes, as someone raised in the traditional model, it can feel scary at times to let go of it. But the rewards have been so rich, for our entire family.
And listening to pro moms like Jena is what keeps me going! =)
.-= Jamie ~ Simple Homeschool’s last blog: Curious about Unschooling? =-.
What a fantastic post! Thank you so much for sharing. We are life-learners (unschoolers) and I find it so rewarding and imperative to hear from families with older children. Unschooling is cause for great judgement when you have littles and people try to scare you about how awful your children will turn out. Luckily we have a great unschooling support group in town and I get to see and interact with the *amazing* teens who come by.
I think life learning is one of the most exciting, expansive learning journey’s I can imagine and I feel so lucky to be on this journey with our children.
Thanks Jena!
.-= hillary’s last blog: flowers13: RT @OrganicWomBaby:ur power lies NOT in tolerating ‘discomforts’ of birth, but in choosing safe, effective rsources 2 support u & #baby. =-.
I really like title ” life learners” I feel that fits us better than unschoolers.
Thank you so much for addressing this topic. I’ve homeschooled for 10 years and never considered unschooling until this year. However, after years of “doing school” my 12 year old doesn’t seem to have any inclination to self direct his learning. If I don’t give an assignment, he plays video games or Legos. Do you think it’s possible to transition to unschooling, or has the damage already been done? For those just starting in the journey, I highly recommend giving unschooling a try before you force feed your kids. I wish I had!
I agree with Emily’s response below. A child may need to decompress after a traditional school experience. And after he gets his fill, he’ll be looking for something else to do. That’s when you swoop in with some suggestions! But like Emily said, find out why he likes those things and extend off of that into related things.
Every child has that spark of life, that desire to make something of himself. So be patient and convince him that he really can choose what he wants to learn. It just might inspire him to greatness!
.-= Jena’s last blog: Unschooling on SimpleHomeschool =-.
Great post Jena! You are so right about #2 forced learning kills the desire to learn. We are unschoolers here too. I started out doing school at home it went out the window because I was pushing to hard. Then I found unschooling and it has been such a joy to spend time with my kiddos watching them learn and grow on their own terms. The best is when they tell you something you had no clue they knew anything about a subject and you ask “How did you know that?” and they say” I just knew! or I found out on my own.”
.-= Rana’s last blog: Wordless Wednesday =-.
This is in response to Lynn’s comment. I know it can be scary to let your kids play video games all day! What I’ve found though is kids need some down time after a traditional model of schooling. Let him saturate himself in those two interest (in my opinion Legos all day is AWESOME) gradually it will lead to others. If he stays stuck on those two then play with him, find out what he likes about those two things. Then get some books from the library about video games design and leave them out. Take him on a field trip to a lego store. Above all, provide opportunities but let him lead. He will be just fine!
~source: I’m a grown homeschooler and life-learner
.-= Emily Krenzke’s last blog: painted =-.
Susan’s thoughts on unschooling/interest-led learning are also a wealth of beautiful information and encouragement…she has 4 adult children who were unschooled!
http://highdeserthome.blogspot.com/search/label/learning
.-= Aimee’s last blog: A Spring Break =-.
On the kid who just wants to play video games and legos:
First off, are you sure that’s what he’d do, even if he had no other responsibilities for a week or two (or ten)? Wouldn’t he get bored? That may be all that he does with his free time now, but I suspect that is at least partially because his free time is a limited commodity.
Second, those are honestly pretty productive hobbies; you could do a lot just by encouraging and building on them. Get him a Lego Mindstorms set, they are legos with a robot brain you can program on your computer. There are so many things he could learn from that: both at a general level (teaching him creativity and problem solving) and a specific level (teaching him programming skills). If he takes to that, then you could get him interested in more serious programming or robotics.
Or if he isn’t interested in that type of Legos, and just wants to build static things, then encourage that. Get him to start a major building project. (There are all sorts of websites that will give you Lego “blueprints”, you might not even have to buy any more pieces, depending on how much you already own.) Organizing and planning for a serious Lego sculpture would be extremely educational, and could lead to interest in other forms of creative activity.
Or maybe see if he wants to expand from just Legos to other things that are related. Maybe he’d be interested in architecture, or carpentry, or sculpting, or painting, or model building (model rockets might be fun, teach him some physics and chemistry at the same time!).
My final thought on Legos is that even all of the above isn’t strictly necessary. Maybe he just needs to exercise his creativity in this way for a while. My mom will tell you that I spent years doing little besides reading a rather silly children’s mystery series called “The Boxcar Children”. It seemed like a waste of time, but I was absorbing a lot about how writing and communication work. (And I later expanded to other books on my own, when the Boxcar children got too predictable for me.)
A great example of how hobbies can lead to unexpected outcomes is this guy:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_J._Lang
He was a professional physicist for a while, until he realized that he could make greater contributions as a professional origami artist. He more or less single-handedly revolutionized the origami world, and now he uses that knowledge to help with scientific projects. For example, he was hired to design an optimal way to fold a space telescope lens.
I think it’s counterproductive to think about how to keep your kid from doing what he wants to do. Instead, you should encourage his interests and help him see how he can pursue them further. Maybe he’ll get bored of Legos and move on to something else. Or maybe he’ll become one of the world’s greatest Lego builders, and someday leverage that knowledge into a career in architecture or sculpting or engineering.
I could go on a similar rant about video games, but a) I think it’s a little more obvious how to leverage video games into more “productive” (I use that word very loosely) activities, and b) my advice would differ greatly depending on what types of video games he enjoys, so I’ll keep it short. If he’s into MMOs, think about the social aspect. If he’s into games like Myst, think about the logic and problem solving aspects. If he’s into Super Smash Brothers, there’s a whole group of people (see: Sirlin.net) who study the theory of fighting games and fighting game design, and how it can be applied to other things. Even if you can’t find anything redeeming about the game itself, at least get him to invite friends over to play with him, and it’ll be useful social practice (learning to lose gracefully if it’s a competitive game, or learning to work together if it’s a co-op game.)
Also, for all of these things, perhaps the most important thing is to see if you can help him find other people who share his interests. (Either online or, if you live in a bigger area, in real life.) Any serious community of hobbyists is going to teach him a lot about social organization and cooperation, researching skills, and communication. A lot of my writing ability (such as it is) comes from spending a lot of time composing rants on various internet forums. These ranged in topic from unicycling to Harry Potter to speech and debate, but I would argue that they were all incredibly formative.
Finally, sometimes it’s necessary to just accept that humans “waste” a lot of time. I currently am spending a good deal of time playing a really silly Rogue-like game. I could make an argument that it teaches something about persistence or resource management, but really it’s mostly just silly and fun. However, having that mental decompression is incredibly important. If I tried to keep myself from “wasting time” it would backfire. For one, I would go crazy and not be able to handle the stress. For another, I wouldn’t have time to really mull over the ideas I have and the things we’re talking about in my classes. There’s a reason all the best ideas happen in the shower; we need time to let our brains wander.
Phew, that was a really long rant. I hope something in there was helpful! Good luck. 🙂
-Peter Borah (Former unschooler, currently a second year at the University of Chicago)
Hi Peter! Thanks for chiming in. 🙂
.-= Jena’s last blog: Unschooling on SimpleHomeschool =-.
Somehow in that whole long rant I forgot the most important point, I guess because it’s second nature now.
If you think your kids aren’t making the most of their time, then the best solution is to show them how to do better. I would be pretty surprised if your son didn’t find something fun to do beyond legos and video games if he had the opportunity to explore a lot of other options. I talked about this in a post on my Mom’s blog a month or two ago. I suggested then that a “drifting” kid should “Act in a play, take a woodworking class, write for a local publication, work at a soup kitchen, get a ham radio license, take up boxing, learn how to make websites, or study ancient Asian religions. Something will eventually keep his interest.” Based on the opportunities available in your area and the interests that your kid already has, I’m sure you can add many more things to that list. Discouraging current interests is counter-productive, but encouraging future interests is wonderful.
I’ve really been appreciating your posts as it’s rare to read about unschoolers who are college age. I also love the term ‘interest-led learning’ as I think it says much more about the learning philosophy.
Great post as usual, Jena. I appreciate the way you address the myths and popular perceptions head-on instead of being defensive about them.
Your point about them being wide-eyed learners when they’re little makes me realize that I’m so much more relaxed internally about my 4 year old’s learning than I was (and am) about my firstborn, who’s now 9. Just today, she had a bee in her bonnet about wanting a caterpillar to raise, and we couldn’t find any in our yard. So, we piled everyone in the car and took her to the local nursery so she could pick out a milkweed plant, which we planted as soon as we got home (“full sun, Mom”). Another customer at the store gave her more details about why the monarchs like that plant, and she listened eagerly. I feel like I have a front-row seat to full-throttle learning all the time!
.-= Hannah’s last blog: Three Wishes =-.
P.S. I love Peter. 🙂
.-= Hannah’s last blog: Three Wishes =-.
This is so encouraging and validating. Thank you!
.-= Misha@ beautyandjoy’s last blog: One For The Rabbit, One For The Mouse, One For The Blackbird, One For The House =-.
Jena, great article. You continue to write such great stuff…so true. Thank you so much!!!
So how does this work when you live in a state that has testing and portfolio review? I have always thought intrest led learning would be a great fit for my son, but I can’t see how when he must be take a standardized test every year.
.-= Bekki’s last blog: Planning for a big cook =-.
This is a great question. I’d research what the tests are like and what proficiency level he has to make every year. You could also search for homeschool groups in your state and find out how they do it. I’ve heard that state requirements can be pretty low, so you might not have much to worry about.
Chances are, you could spend a couple weeks a year on test prep, just to make sure he knows what to do. The rest of the time could be devoted to his interests.
Portfolios are merely proof that you’ve covered mandated subject areas. Keep those subjects in mind as you go through the school year, keeping records and translating your child’s learning experiences into public school language. See my post on how I keep records here: http://simplehomeschl.wpengine.com/record-keeping-for-interest-led-learners/
A portfolio can be a like a scrapbook of memories of his school year. But like I said earlier, check with other homeschoolers in your state to see what they do.
Hope that helps!
.-= Jena’s last blog: Unschooling on SimpleHomeschool =-.
Lovely! Thanks for sharing your story. It carries extra weight because your kids are grown and excelling.
.-= Jennifer Jo’s last blog: Something strange =-.
I have sort of dipped into this method on accident. My daughter is very bright and began teaching herself to read at just barely three years old. I wanted to homeshool, but it is almost impossible to find a curriculum that matches her age and intellectual ability at the same time. Plus, I don’t think it is temperate to do as much school work as is required by pretty much all the curriclums out there. So I have been teaching my daughter as life leads and God gives creative ideas and she is thriving.
.-= Annie’s last blog: Home Controlled by Emotions? =-.
Thank you for sharing this informational post. I’m surrounded by homeschoolers & would love to do this for my children. Your post will do me good to prepare my discussions with my husband. My poor daughter just went through almost 2 months of standards testing and all the pressure it provided and she’s only in 3rd grade. What’s wrong with that picture? I’m switching her from a school of 370 kids in 3rd-5th grade to a school of 170 kids k-5th grades. I’m hoping the smaller atmosphere will help her continue to love learning. Thank you again for all the inspiration 🙂
.-= Sarah @ Mum In Bloom’s last blog: Recipe: French Country Bread (Bread Machine) =-.
I only recently found out what unschooling actually was. To be honest, my initial thought when I heard the term was ‘oh, here we go, a bunch of hippies rejecting society blah blah blah’. Which is grossly unfair and not like me really. But I get jaded with hearing how everything is bad and/or good at one time or another. It is hard to find the truth in so much of the information we are bombarded with. Anyway, to cut a long story short, once I investigated further I think it is brilliant and natural and I want to look more and more into it. Especially as I have a 7 yr old who has always loved learning so much but is now in the 3rd grade and is bored already. Bored in 3rd grade!! That is great when there are at least another 9 yrs to go! I just hate seeing her light dimming. Plus I have a 4 yr old with the most fantastical thought process and I can’t bear the thought of him having to curb that tendency in a traditional school environment (which I have absolutely no doubt he would have to do). I just love this post because, like others, it is so refreshing to hear from an adult who has grown up in this way. The main things stopping me from doing it right now are that I lack confidence in my ability to support them at home and I worry that things would descend into chaos plus I haven’t ironed out the thoughts about social interaction and so on. Also, I am a very introverted person and I worry about losing patience with having them with me all the time. But I need to read more obviously. In the meantime, I read your blog and found a reference to a school that basically follows unschooling in Boston (Sudbury Valley) and was soooo happy as we might be moving there in 4 weeks!
.-= Catherine’s last blog: Free printable – Pink Butterfly Party Invitations =-.
Catherine, I’m introverted too. But this works out well because the kids are often doing their own thing and you can be doing your thing, like reading or having a cup of tea on the back porch. 🙂
One way to feel organized is to meet all together in the morning for some together time–like reading or talking through the plans of the day. Then they’d be off on their own, or with me if I was a part of what they were doing. They had workbooks and textbooks to fall back on if they couldn’t think of something to do. Sometimes we had checklists of things to accomplish before they could go to a friend’s house, etc.
Unschooling can be as structured as everyone wants. The key is that the kids like it and stay motivated to learn.
.-= Jena’s last blog: Unschooling on SimpleHomeschool =-.
loving these comments!!
I can testify as to the benefits of online gaming. My 7 year old discovered Roblox and is now a solid reader. Before gaming, he had his phonics instruction, but I wouldn’t have call him a reader. Now, he reads Warriors (you know, cats and clans, juvenile fiction) thanks to following the Roblox chat and learning how to play an online game.
.-= monica @ educating magpies’s last blog: The real action starts at 1:25 =-.