[SandB0x]

Wait wait wait. I don't understand this. Unschooling simply seems to mean "being a good parent". Can someone explain the distinction? The Unschooling website doesn't help me either:

"Unschooling is following your children's lead...Unschooling isn't a method of instruction, it's a different way of looking at learning..."

Outside of school, my parents encouraged and helped me to learn interesting subjects, play musical instruments, paint, build things with Lego, play sports. When I asked my dad about computers he taught me Pascal. They did all this not because school was bad (it was great actually), but because they wanted to support me. I thought that's just what good parents are meant to do. What do the Unschooler people think parents do by default?

[joshkaufman]

I think many parents think of schools as a form of outsourcing - sending their kids to school means educating their child is no longer their responsibility. (It's also "free" daycare, as PG mentioned in one of his essays)

My parents sound a lot like yours - learning was a major part of life, and they did many things to support learning more about my interests.

We're the lucky ones. Many parents do not - they assume that their child's education is "taken care of" and abdicate responsibility.

[tptacek]

Doesn't "unschooling" mean "unstructured homeschooling"? People who believe in unschooling generally aren't sending their kids to school at all.

I think this might get tricky because "unschooling" is a new-ish term, and is pretty overtly trying to pick up steam as a "movement" or a "sensibility" or an "ethic" and is deliberately being inclusive; no doubt someone on HN is going to chime in and say they're an unschooler who sends their kids to public K12.

[joshkaufman]

I think most people use "homeschooling" in the sense of re-creating a school environment at home - assignments, textbooks, tests, etc. At least one of the parents is expected to take on the role of the teacher, with all that implies.

"Unschooling" does away with most of the conventions of traditional schooling, and tries to give kids as much freedom as possible to explore and learn on their own, under the assumption that kids learn better that way.

There may be more or less structure involved, at the discretion of the parents, but the parent is more of a facilitator and less of an teacher. The theory is that the trappings of school get in the way of actual learning, so unschooling tries to remove as many unnecessary obstacles as possible.

[tptacek]

Yeah I believe you and I'm sure this is all great (as a parent of 2 school-aged handfulls, "good luck with that", as they say).

My point is just that unschoolers aren't sending their kids to a big brick building full of professional teachers.

[j_baker]

I think you're thinking about the parents when you should be thinking about the kids. Let me explain.

As a kid, I spent all my free time reading the encyclopedia. I'm naturally curious, and could probably have learned more researching on my own than going to school. Of course, I'm atypical, but the point is that I didn't so much need instruction as I needed guidance. There are many kids who are like that and will even be held back by traditional methods of education. These kinds of kids deserve a different approach that our current educational system simply doesn't provide.

[Retric]

Yep, I was "homeschooled" from 4th through 8th grade. I don’t think the term “unschooled” really applied to me, but I was under minimal direction.

From what I can remember, I generally read the required textbooks, fill out the workbooks, and by mid December and was left to my own devices the rest of the time. I suspect things where slightly more structured than that, but my mother has a double doctorate in education and was more than willing to let me be most of the time.

I suspect the second half of the year was probably more productive, I generally watched MPT (Maryland Public Television) all day until cartoons started at 3pm. After that I would read books or do some computer programming. Toss in some trips to DC area museums / area historical sites and I learned a lot while having fun.

PS: The other option would have been to accelerate things and finish HS by 14 etc, but I don't think there is much value in that path. So, once a homeschooled child is ahead of the curve, letting them explore their interests seems like a perfectly reasonable thing to do.

[pbhjpbhj]

>From what I can remember, I generally read the required textbooks, fill out the workbooks, and by mid December and was left to my own devices the rest of the time.

Required by whom?

[Retric]

The state, we got a free copy of the same textbooks used in each grade level. The only real limitation on homeschooler was continuing to score at or above grade level on the standardized tests at the end of the year. So it was recommended that I read them in order to cover the "appropriate" material. As this only took 2-3 hours a day for 3 months there was little reason to fight it. Afterward I found out that most students never finished these textbooks and reading 2/3 of them would have been plenty, which is just sad IMO.

Edit: I also had the teacher’s editions so it was easy to self test on most of the material. I don't think most students would have been as successful with a minimally structured environment, but the standard approach is incredibly inefficient for the top 1%. I can easily see those more capable and motivated benefitting from even less structure, also for the less capable or motivated there is still plenty of room before you hit the standard top down classroom.

PS: Apparently it is fairly common for above average homeschoolers to finish by January, and for those behind the curve to spend all year "in school".

[bugsy]

SandB0x, what you describe with your father, his encouraging you to follow your interests and providing materials and support as requested, is indeed what the most common sort of unschooling is like.

Now imagine that you are doing that rather than attending an institution, and also your father is not worried about you having to cover any particular subjects at all because he knows that eventually your natural interests will branch effortlessly into all needed fields of knowledge and skills.

And then imagine, that after 10 years of this you apply to the college of your choice, get in easily, and ace all your classes because you already know what it is to be a self directed learner. Or perhaps rather than go to college, you start your own business, or maybe you move to China to teach English. One thing you probably aren't interested in though is working for a corporation and being told what to do every day without questioning, which is what traditional schooling would have tried to indoctrinate you to accept.

[SomeCallMeTim]

You have great parents. Not all parents are so supportive, but many are.

The difference is that Unschooling parents do that without sending their kids off to school. I'm glad you had a good school experience, though mine was pretty poor, so for me Unschooling is tempting, at least in theory.

A metaphor I've read is that schools force-feed information into kids that they're not interested in, so they frequently come home feeling "stuffed." Not a lot of room is left over for natural, self-directed learning and creative exploration. It doesn't matter if it's the most interesting thing in the world--if school has been torturing you with trivia you don't care about, you aren't as likely to pursue it on your own.