Has anybody heard of unschooling in homeschooling. I was wondering what it was. A parent in the homeschool group I belong to mentioned it but I didn't catch what it was.

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Homeschool mom

Unschooling is basically child-led learning. There is no lesson-plan or planned curriculum. The child learns solely based on his/her own interests that arise from day to day interactions. It is based on the theory that children have an innate curiousity that will drive them to learn. The parent/teacher's role is strictly to facilitate the child in making sense of the world around them. I hope this helps.

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Homeschooling Mom to Daniel (12 Years), Andrew (8 Years), Stephen (6 Years) and Emily (3 Years)

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Unschooling is very relaxed, no set plan or time frame. If the child is interested in something you help them learn about it. As they get older you can find mentors and programs for things they are interested in. For example: your child is interested in zoology, you can help fine a zoologist for them to work with to learn more.

I love the idea of unschooling but my dh wants much more stucture so we compromise!

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I am only one, but I am one. I can not do everything, but I can do something. I must not fail to do the something that I can do. -Edward Hale

So if they are not interested in reading you just don't teach them? Wow my older sons would have loved that. I have a relaxed homeschool as far as time is not as structured but my 12 year old has a lesson plan book that she has her work for each day written in and she has to do it. My 6 yr old also has certain subjects I teach him like reading and spelling he is in kindergarten but he is doing 1st grade work now. He likes it and math. I hate doing math and so does my daughter I would love not to have to teach her that. But, in NC we have to do a End of Grade test every year. Math is one of the subjects but they don't have to do Social Studies or Science. So I don't know how you could do that type schooling in NC. It sounds very interesting though.

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Homeschool mom

I hope I dont offend anybody but that sounds very unresponsable.

Dr. Phil recently had some unschooling homeschooling familys on his show. Right around Christmas, I believe. He was comparing regular school, homeschooling, and unschooling. I am not sure that unschooling homeschooling when done as these families did it is healthy. They had absolutely no structure at all. I was homeschooled and you have to have some structure. It is not okay to decide that my child has decided to learn from cartoons today so I will just let them. What does that teach?? You have to have some structure to even learn. I like the idea of a lesson plan book and you have to complete everything written from that day done before you go to bed that night. I don't believe that you do need some much structure that you can't breathe. That takes a lot for me to say because I have to admit that I tend to be very obsessive compulsive!!!

I don't mean to offend, but I don't see how anyone could learn in that kind of environment and certainly not the things that you need to know to graduate and go on to college.

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Just to defend the unschooling movement, when done right it is an extremely advanced educational environment! The children learn through real life knowledge, for reading instead of formal "lessons" they learn through actually reading. Homeschoolers READ ALOT more than most people and way more than schooled kids. Their reading levels are higher than the average student. Writing is taught by writing letters, pen pals, that sort of thing. Science is taught by real life trials, etc Plus, alot of hs don't watch tv, so they aren't wasting their day watching cartoons, I'm sure some are, but I'm defending those who do it right not the minority that the media portrays! Alot of unschoolers own their own businesses by the time they "graduate" high-school, or take college courses in their high school years and are done with college by the time they are 20. Unschooling isn't sitting around doing nothing, it's just not scheduled with lists to check off!

Alot of people seem concerned about college, the truth is that most colleges now are actively recruiting hs, because they have a natural love of learning and have proven to excell in college.

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I am only one, but I am one. I can not do everything, but I can do something. I must not fail to do the something that I can do. -Edward Hale

Thanks for giving the info. We kinda do that as well as the traditional way for some subjects. My daughter reads all the time and I do know that teaches children a lot. She even reads labels on products. She loves to read. Anything done responsibly will produce good results. The scripture comes to mind a child let on the loose. So as long as there is a lot of parental input it can be successful I am sure.

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Homeschool mom

I have a friend who does "unschooling" and it seems to work really well for her children. I don't know much about it so don't know if its true "unschooling' or what as its not a free for all at all and she spends lots of time planning lessons. But, this is what she outlined to me when i was questioning her because it sounds interesting and I personally think her kids are socially adjusted and very intelligent so i pick her brain when I think about homeschooling.

She has 2 kids- a 7 year old boy and 5 year old girl. The boy is really interested in computer games (of course), bugs, trucks. The girl - princesses, flowers, animals.

On Monday- they introduce the weeks lesson theme. ie- Bug Overview for ds. She went over all sorts of tings with boy on bugs- science of them, bug life cycles, diet, habitat, etc. Reading was bug stories- both fiction and non. Math was multiplication with bug cut-outs, fractions using some sort of bug skeleton thingy,

Tuesday is home activity day - looking for collection of bugs for identification (they have 2 acres of wooded property so that helps). More reading/math practice

Wednesday- Cooking day. ?? Kitchen concepts- what do bugs eat, making a recipe that allows ds to use cups, teaspoons, etc

Thursday- field trip to zoo - special emphasis on bugs. take along identification guide and id as much as possible. Geographical locations -find habitat locations using world map they bring with them

friday- "book report" day. Summarize what you learned from reading and zoo trip in poster, written report, etc (varies from week to week)

She spends hours researching, finding activities to match up with "theme" that encompass all areas of learning. Sounds really hard to me, but her kids soak it up.

So, if that is what unschooling is- it seems to work for them. If it doesn't encompass areas the kids don't want- like reading, or English - then it is irresponsible and will hurt the kids in the long run.

I don't know. . . .

The previous post seems to describe homeschooling to me, rather than unschooling. The unschooling family I know does not plan any type of activity. Everything is learned through what happens during their day. I know them through my son's Suzuki violin group, so they do have to plan for that. But I do hear the mom always explaining things, even everyday stuff, in detail. And they are some of the smartest kids I know. You won't know how successful that method is until they're older, I guess.