Getting Schooled on Unschooling

Several years ago a friend of mine introduced me to a term I had never heard before: unschooling. I was in the thick of grad school and completing my student teaching experience to become a certified PA teacher. So, when he told me what unschooling was, I was slightly offended. Fast forward to today? I am withdrawing my daughter from her public school, where she would be starting second grade, and spending this year as an unschooling family.

This isn't something I decided to do out of the blue. Before Charlotte even started kindergarten I was brainstorming how I could unschool her. At the time, we needed my substitute teacher income (still do, tbh!) and she was eager to make new friends. She is extremely social, very bright, and also as compliant as they come. I knew school wouldn't ruin her as easily as it does some children. So off she went to kindergarten, and then first grade. And then... coronavirus.

The pandemic has given us the push we needed to give unschooling a shot. Charlotte finished her school year online like everyone else in our state. We didn't love it. We also do not feel comfortable sending her into school each day. So, we are giving this a shot. We did give her the option to participate in her school's virtual academy, and she chose not to.

So, what is unschooling, anyway? Essentially, it is a form of homeschooling. The difference between the two is that unschooling doesn't involve any kind of curriculum. To put it simply, parents follow their child's passions. For example, a child might learn math by cooking, problem solving by playing video games, history by visiting a museum or going on a vacation to another state or country. Unschooling simply looks like living. It's trusting that your children will learn what they need to by doing things they enjoy. One of the primary beliefs in the unschooling community is that children are eager to learn and that school actually kills that desire for many.

At no point during unschooling should a parent sit their child down and force them to "learn" anything. Instead, parents are responsible for creating an environment in which their child can discover their passions. Parents are also responsible for assisting in furthering their child's knowledge of the things they are interested in. The belief is that children learn more

this way than they do in traditional classrooms because they are not memorizing facts or being threatened with grades.

There are two resources that I became glued to in the spring when I decided to get the full scoop on unschooling. One of them was Idzie Desmarais's blog, more specifically her Unschooling 101 page. If you want a more in depth explanation of what unschooling is, I highly recommend checking it out. The second resource is the Exploring Unschooling Podcast. I listened to just a few episodes (there are a lot!) and was given a better understanding of what it meant to unschool.

As someone who has been trying to practice positive parenting from the very beginning (emphasis on the trying because it's very hard and I mess up a lot), the idea of unschooling excited me. It sounded like an opportunity I wish I had been given as child. Now that I have the chance to give her the experience, I'm excited to see what this year will bring! She's recently shown interest in cooking and baking, so we are going to spend a lot of time trying new recipes. She loves snakes and reptiles, so we are going to learn more about them. She also loves to sing, play video games, and create. I am going to use this space to keep track of how we're doing.

I think under normal circumstances unschooling is a valid option. But, it feels especially necessary during a very stressful time. It feels like a good time to slow down and try our best to enjoy the little things. We are going to use this year to take care of ourselves, have a little fun, and learn through living. Stay tuned!