I Could Go to School If I Wanted To

This is a key concept of unschooling—choice. Unschooling parents allow kids to decide if they’d like to go to school. Many do decide to go; some stay, some don’t, some attend part-time, and some go just for high school. Many others end up taking classes at community college as well, then transferring to a university. I think many parents have a problem relinquishing control and allowing their children to make such important decisions. But by trusting children, allowing them to discover and follow their own interests, and  helping them forage their own paths, parents can truly empower their children in able to be most prepared for life.

Shakespeare or Twain?

I would hope that Shakespeare isn’t still used as a metaphor for the essentials of learning! Though I’ve studied his writing, he hasn’t had much of an impact on me. Twain did, sure, but I read him outside of school because my parents bought me a set of his books. I also read many of the other classics in my home—as well as fiction and nonfiction that I preferred from the library. Becoming well read has nothing to do with school—and reading the classics isn’t essential for life, either. Like the opening of the segment, this part also ends on a judgmental note—“Details her children will never have a chance to forget.” That depends on how you look at it, though; they could just as well be details they never had to waste time on while they learned to care for rabbits, grow crops, repair a car, or create a new invention.

Going back to a concept I mentioned earlier—failure—I’d like to include something that unschooling does allow. It allows children to safely experiment, make mistakes, and even fail from them in order to grow and learn without the fear of ridicule or a bad grade. Most inventors we relied so heavily on—for everything from our phones to televisions to automobiles and more—failed repeatedly before getting it right. When people can really experience something, immerse themselves within it, and feel comfortable exploring without being judged, amazing things can happen.  Mistakes and failure are essential in the learning process—though they are typically not allowed in schools.

Some people are not moved by testimonies by experts or parents, studies, individual cases, or even logic; some want “results.” In this line of thinking, much of the logic behind unschooling is very successful in getting these “results.” Finland is considered to have the most successful school system in the world—and they do this within a relaxed atmosphere, following children’s natural cues and abilities rather than forcing them into a single mold. They also call for the least amount of hours in school of any developed nation, which could also be part of their success.

Like I stated before, I do not fully agree with this family’s method of unschooling; there is no such thing as a one size fits all education. In fact, I believe that education should grow and evolve with the person experiencing it, constantly changing and improving, challenging the learner and engaging him or her in exciting ways that will pave the way toward an incredible future. What incredible means, of course—farming? dancing? business? travel?—is up to the learner. In our home, we plan on using a curriculum when our daughter starts kindergarten this fall—though we won’t rigidly adhere to it. We also chose a Waldorf curriculum, since that is the one that most fits with our daughter’s interests. If that changes, we will evolve with it. We are “almost unschoolers,” parents who follow our child’s lead and center much of our time and activities around her interests while still maintaining some traditional methods of education. She enjoys this, as do I—I was going to be a teacher before I became a mother, after all. We are also focusing on humane education in order to teach our child about kindness, sustainability, and a humane lifestyle in general. Generally speaking, our approach would be called “eclectic homeschooling.” Though our choice may not be the best one for everyone, it is what we wish to do, the one we feel best serves us; each family should be able to fully research their own options and choose their own educational path as well.

My hope is that everyone who’s read this (and stuck with me throughout each segment—thank you!) has had a chance to mull over the concept of unschooling over and to fairly assess what it entails. Even if you don’t think it’s a good fit for your family—and it may not be!—that doesn’t necessarily mean that it isn’t for another. I hope that I’ve been able to clear a few things up—or to at least expand a few concepts and encourage people to explore unschooling further before casting judgment. Please, do use the links I’ve provided throughout this series of posts to explore unschooling even more if you like.

And even if you still don’t like the idea of unschooling—which is fine—I do hope that you might at least think about how it might work for others, as well as challenge your own view of the American public school paradigm. Branch out and explore other educational options—free schools, democratic schools, many different types of homeschooling, Waldorf or Montessori methods, and many others that exist—and see the world from another perspective. Perhaps you’ll find another method of schooling that interests you along the way.