some thoughts on unschooling...

unschooling is living and learning without school.

the concept of teaching a set, predetermined curricula, is a schooling mindset which may or may not work for educating the masses, however, in the home we have the unique opportunity to allow our children to follow their interests without encumbering them with rote learning that is geared toward classroom teaching.

By releasing ourselves, and our children, from the traditional classroom style of learning, we can allow them to grow and learn in a natural way from the environment, the enriched home and community, and the world.

So much of what children need to learn, they will learn when they need the knowledge for real life. You see this as an adult when you want to know more about something, like unschooling for example, you seek out information and experience on the subject you are curious to learn about. We all learn more quickly when we are learning something that is relevant to our lives, rather than something that a teacher says is important, or what is needed for a test. So the learner internalizes the information and uses it in their life, which makes sense and therefore is not quickly forgotten when the test, or class is over.

The problem is that we, as parents, don't trust that our children will learn all that society deems important for life in modern society. Therefore we put our trust in a system of education that we feel will do the job better than the natural curiosity of our child. If we can let go of these preconceived ideas of education and really let our children explore their natural curiosity, we will find that they are equipped to meet the challenges of modern society, and more. After all the great thinkers and artists of every age are the ones that think outside of the box, not the ones that depend on others to tell them what to think.