Unschooling

spark&echo

Hey ladies,

 I rarely post here but wanted to get some opinions/ideas on unschooling.  I'd never heard of this until recently, and it's definitely piqued my interest.  Do you know anything about it?  Any good links?  I've done google searches but just want to see if there's anything I'm missing.

Thanks.  

PlainandTall

Hi Sparks-  I was shocked recently when the radical parenting show was broadcast (I haven't seen it) by the number of people who posted who had never even heard of unschooling!  This floored me!  

I think that like AP, unschooling is something that is going to spring from a flexible awareness of your child and their needs. 

If you have done some research, I'm sure that you have encountered the writing of John Taylor Gatto.  If people ask me about homeschooling, rather than open myself up to trying to explain it- I usually direct them to Gatto's writing (as an AP parent would Sears) to give them an idea of the core ideas behind what we are doing.  By no means are we "followers" of Gatto- I just like to refer to his ideas as they do such a nice job of articulating many of the intangible things I wish to preserve.

https://www.newciv.org/whole/schoolteacher.txt

Cityplanner

I'm fascinated by the concept.  Mothering.com has a pretty active unschooling message board that I lurk on occasionally.   In the end, I don't think it is for us.  I'm not fully on board with the underlying theory, but I find it intriguing. 

Ail731

I do plan to homeschool my children, although I haven't really decided what approach I will try, and ultimately what will work best for our family.  Unschooling is something I first came across in the book "So You're Thinking About Homeschooling?" by Lisa Whelchel (LOVE this book!) It was just one of the many styles that was presented in the book, and it was given as a great fit for parents with children who have any type of autism, ADHD, or other learning disabilities, but I really liked how this style focuses on your child's interests at whatever age they're at, instead of cherry-picking from the THOUSANDS of topics or lesson plans out there in their "grade".  I might incorporate this "theory" when I do start homeschooling (my oldest is only 3)!  Good luck finding the answers to any questions you still have!

sweet1600s

I was unschooled, but also spent a few years here and there in public schools... so if you have any questions or anything, for someone who has experienced it from the child's perspective, and has public school experiences to compare it to... I'd be happy to help!

I think it's great that you're exploring unschooling! Even if you don't end up going that route, just the act of really thinking about your education choices is fantastic for your kids.