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What kind of a word is "unschooling", anyway?

According to www.unschooler.com, "Unschoolers are concerned with learning or becoming educated, not with doing school.'"

Galileo, a definite unschooling proponent, said "You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him to find it within himself." That's the idea.

Unschooling is a branch of the homeschooling community that strives to educate their children by allowing them to choose their own course of learning. Instead of sitting down and saying, today we're going to learn about Egypt, the parent listens to the child to become aware of where their inherent interests and talents lie, and nurture them in their education. There is no set curriculum.

But how do they learn anything?

John Holt, the widely accepted founder of the unschooling movement, said "Living is learning and when kids are living fully and energetically and happily they are learning a lot, even if we don't always know what it is."

* Unschoolers can learn fractions by ordering a pizza. How many slices does each person get if the pizza is divided into 10? Into 8? What if there is more than one pizza?

* Unschoolers can learn reading by, well, reading. If your kids like dolphins, get them books on dolphins.

* Unschoolers can learn history by investigating the things in which they have a natural curiosity and researching the history behind them. A little child fascinated by dinosaurs can tell you a whole lot about the Mesozoic Era, much more than I know about World War II or the fall of the Romans.

Holt, in addition to coining the phrase wrote numerous books, including How Children Learn, How Children Fail, Teach Your Own, and Learning All The Time. He felt that the basic premise of unschooling is that all of us, especially children, have an innate desire to learn and grow. If that desire is cultivated, they will become more well-rounded and educated individuals because they did not have the chance to become jaded by the learning process.

Learn more about this author, Naomi Dunford.
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