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Why Some Parents are Unschooling Their Kids

Unschooling is a form of homeschooling that involves less structure and more child-centered learning. Parents who are unhappy with the way that learning is presented at schools have been turning to the unschooling movement as their solution for what their child’s education should be like. Unschooling has some similarities with homeschooling. In both cases, a child stays home and receives his or her education there (instead of in a classroom at a school). Each educational style allows parents to be very involved in what their child is taught. Parents can set the speed that information is presented in order to … Continue reading →

Learning the Lingo – Unschooling

When I first heard the term “unschooling,” I thought it meant to take knowledge from the things around you without necessarily sitting down to study. As I have looked more into various ways of homeschooling, I’ve come to understand this term a bit more. According to The Unschooling Handbook by Mary Griffith, “Unschooling… means learning what one wants, when one wants, in the way one wants, where one wants, for one’s own reasons.” This was an eye-opener for me—to learn what you want to learn, when and how you want to learn it. Is this possible? Can you really do … Continue reading →

Unschooling, Homeschooling, Classroom: Choose the Method that Meets the Needs of the Child

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One of my previous articles gave you some insight into unshcooling. Andrea has already addressed many questions about unschooling in Homeschool. However I thought that it might be interesting to throw in an article from a public educator’s point of view. As you know unschooling involves letting children learn on their own in a natural environment instead of in a structured learning setting such as a classroom. It is more relaxed with less “bookwork”. So does this work? It can. I think that unschooling and typical homeschooling and schooling in general all basically follow the same rule. That rule is … Continue reading →

What is Unschooling?

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One new hot educational term that some of you may be hearing lately is the word unschooling. There are several different ideas about the meaning of the term unschooling. The most common concept derived from the term unschooling is the idea of educating without school. Some would consider this to be homeschooling. However, unschooling is a little different. The concept is even further from the typical school setting than homeschool. Unschooling takes into consider more of the process of learning rather than teaching content. The learner is more in control and learns based on individual styles, personalities, and choices. The … Continue reading →

The Most Talked About Homeschooling Blogs in 2007

This is my annual list of the most talked about blogs in 2007. We love comments, and the more the better! If you have been wanting to peruse the homeschooling blog but weren’t sure where to start. . .this is the place to be! My Top 5 Math Curriculum Picks In Defense of Teaching Creation Too Much Information Homeschooling or Housekeeping? Why We Are Not Testing Our Gifted Son Reason #2 Why Tax Credits Are Wrong for Homeschoolers You Call That Homeschooling? The National Lunch Association Takes Aim at Those Who Dare to Eat at Home It Has Been a … Continue reading →

Lessons from Unschooling Families: The Greens

If you haven’t been following the series, I’ve written several articles on unschooling, our experiences with it and how it can work. But just like not all of the 2 million home schooling families in the United States have phenomenally educated children so do some unschoolers give unschooling a bad name. You’ll notice that the majority of my experiences with unschooling have been very positive but I have met one family in my years as a support group leader that I think might make anyone question the validity of an unschooling method. They begin their day whenever they want. The … Continue reading →

Lessons From Unschooling Families: The Smiths

I had asked last week in the forums for suggestions on blog topics. Mary Ann Romans wanted to know about unschooling and essentially how kids will learn everything they need to know if there is no plan in place. Yesterday I talked about unschooling as a philosophy, our own experience leaning towards unschooling with our son (although we are definitely not unschoolers) and I gave an example of one family I knew, and how they incorporated unschooling into their learning environment. Today, I am going to talk about the Smiths, another unschooling family I know with a slightly more radical … Continue reading →

Lessons from Unschooling Families: The Jones

In my last two blogs I have covered the basics of what an unschooling philosophy is and I’ve also talked about our own experiences with our own son. But we are not really unschoolers by any stretch of the imagination. In this blog, I will look at some of the elements of successful and unsuccessful unschooling. Children Deciding What to Learn When The Jones are unschoolers that I know who live in Connecticut. At the beginning of every month they ask their kids what they want to learn about. They have four children and as a group they sit down … Continue reading →

Does Unschooling Really Work?

Mary Ann Romans, asked me in the forums about unschooling and what it was exactly that children learn. How is it that kids will get to being the brilliant and capable people that they can be–if there’s no curriculum? Our Experience With Unschooling The longer I homeschool, the more towards unschooling I lean. Unschooling is not practical where we live and I’ve mentioned before that I in fact have yet to meet someone who lives in this state and unschools. The regulations are simply too demanding and not even creative wording can sneak in true unschooling. However, I’ve written before … Continue reading →

Some Unschooling Questions Answered

In my search for blog ideas, I turned to the forums to ask readers for topic suggestions. Mary Ann Romans asked about unschooling. She says she’s a little worried about unschoolers and how they get educated without an educational plan in place. I have a few answers to that, but first I must confess that we are not unschoolers. One reason is that our state’s laws are prohibitive towards true unschooling. However, I’ve watched a few successful unschooling families and one very unsuccessful unschooling family so I’ll share some of my insights from those experiences. The Unschooling Philosophy Explored The … Continue reading →