Give Unschooling A Try

Please welcome my very good friend Joanne Greco, who is not only a terrific writer, but a wonderful advocate for unschooling and adoption.  Her experience and strength are a great resource to me and I’m thrilled to be able to share her with you!  She has a wonderful website dealing with all things “unschooling” at AnUnschoolingLife and a very popular adoption forum at ForeverParents.

Unschooling. Just the word alone can make some homeschooling parents sweat. I’ve seen it. But then again, I live in Florida so anything can make us sweat.

In it’s simplest terms, unschooling is homeschooling without a formal curriculum, and the tests and grading that usually goes along with it.

The term “unschooling” was coined by former teacher, John Holt. He became a fierce advocate for education reform, but eventually became disillusioned and decided that schools could never be reformed because they were so flawed. He then became a supporter of homeschooling but urged parents not to recreate school at home. Holt believed that children didn’t have to be coerced into learning. He said that given the freedom to follow their own interests, along with having access to a rich variety of resources, children will naturally learn.

For those of us that unschool, it’s more than not following a curriculum. It’s about how we, the parent, view learning and it requires a shift in your own thinking first. What are your personal views on learning? Are they based on your own school experience? When I removed my children from school and began homeschooling, I went through a deschooling process (which still goes on in some form or another to this day, five years later). During that time I read a lot of blogs and sites by unschooling families about how their kids were learning, and it interested me.

I started to see learning in things I hadn’t before. I realized that:

Real learning is not being able to memorize or regurgitate facts and meaningless information.

Real learning requires interest and meaning to the person learning.

Real learning requires access to the real world (something school can not offer a child).

If you’re thinking of relaxing your homeschooling methods and giving unschooling a try, here’s some tips for you to help make the transition smoother.

1. Mahatma Gandhi said “Be the change you want to see in the world”. Apply that to your homeschooling. Be the change you want to see in your kids. If you want children that are interested in life and learning, be that kind of parent. Wonder about things outloud, ask questions, learn new skills and invite them into your world.

2. Be interested in what your child is interested in. If your child likes cars, taking him to the library to borrow books on cars is fine, but don’t stop there. Go to antique car shows, rent movies about cars and visit a local race track.

3. Look for learning in things your child does. If you’re having a hard time seeing the value in their interests (such as a video game), look for it. It’s there. Keep a notebook to help you remember it all.

Unschooling can be a wonderfully rewarding experience for you and your family. It has been for us. It’s not as scary as you might think.

Joanne Greco has been unschooling her kids since 2004 and writes about it at An Unschooling Life.