What is Unschooling?
Unschooling, at its very basic, is a lifestyle where families live alongside one another and children learn as a side effect of living. Unschooling is life without barriers. There are no coerced lessons. Kids are free to explore what they are interested in. As parents and caregivers, this often looks like a lot of messes (boundaries are a very necessary part of unschooling) and a lot of beauty. It looks like putting yourself in the shoes of your inner child and thinking what you would have wanted at that age. It is attachment and gentle parenting continued. It is trust. Unschooling is life without school. There is no curriculum, no worksheets, no sit down lessons unless the child desires those things. The child leads and the parent follows right behind as a guiding hand and a support. It’s like walking through the door with a gentle hand on the small of your back. A hand held tightly in yours. An “I got you.”
Living life in this way allows children the freedom to nurture their own interests. Learning is a side affect of living. Many people believe that unschooling is letting kids do whatever they want to do but that is not accurate. Children are taught emotional regulation skills through empathy and understanding. Children are taught about math by cooking in the kitchen. You can often find families of unschoolers living in what often looks like a chaotic mess to many, but we know that it is creativity at work. Boundaries are essential and in the community of learners we are growing, our self-governing system will help them be maintained, which will also give them a healthy portion of democracy in action.
Parents, caregivers, and other adults as well as older kids and teens will be essential role models in the life of an unschooler. Unschooled kids learn from everyone around them. Even as adults, it is quite evident that we are often in situations where learning is happening, and this is true of children as well.
We are here as a guide, a helping hand, and available for the never ending interests.
We are nurturing growth, creativity, and a life long love of learning.
Ultimately, it is very difficult to describe unschooling. It is a trust in the process. It is going back to our ancient instincts that are lying dormant in our long forgotten set of skills. It is allowing our children freedom when our conditioning says that it isn’t the right way. Unschooling is a relationship with our children. Unschooling often looks different for every family, as it should. The main thing is that it works for our children and gives them a sense of peace, understanding, and a deep feeling of knowing their true self. It is freedom to be, freedom to learn, freedom to explore, freedom to believe, freedom to research, freedom to conclude, freedom to question, freedom to grow, to soar, to dive deep. Unschooling is encouraging that early life love of learning to continue forever.
