Are you thinking of Home-schooling this year ?
Or maybe you have heard that your child can learn naturally
by following a education philosophy called "Unschooling"
Unschooling, Self-directed learning and Natural learning all mean the same thing.Natural home schooling works with your childs curiosity .It follows the philosophy that it is in human nature that
we are naturally inclined to learn .
Unschooling is a form of education, unlike formal education where a child is ‘taught’ about subjects through lessons and workbooks usually at a school or a class like setting
,a child who is unschooled is self taught where the learning expectations and pressures are left behind.They do not go to school,or do "school" like at home.Unschooling is an idea that rejects the concept of traditional education.
They will learn through everyday living allowing their own curiosity’s and interests to guide them on their on academic path.Parents of unschooling children believe their child when given the opportunity to
follow the things that they find of interest and by allowing their child the freedom to encounter ideas in the real world instead of textbooks their child will learn NATURALLY
as every child is naturally curious and has the ability to learn from their environment as they did when they learned to walk & talk as toddlers.
The term "unschooling" was coined in the 1960s and used by educator John Holt, who is widely regarded as the father of unschooling,and a pioneer in the youth rights theory. He worked in many private schools and observed how the school system was failing childrens love of learning .Two of his books, namely "How Children Fail" and "Learning All the Time," became the foundational beliefs then and now to many homeschoolers.
He states:
"It's not that I feel that school is a good idea gone wrong, but a wrong idea from the word go.
It's a nutty notion that we can have a place where nothing but learning happens, cut off from the rest of life"
Being a Unschooling family does not mean you never teach your
child anything and solely rely on your child learning on their own ,through natural everyday living, and curiosity ,yes ! that is a big part on how a child interests form learning growth, - but unschooling parents are highly involved helping their child gather information and
providing them with the resources. Lets say if your child enjoys playing Roblox or Minecraft,as most kids do - the subjects and learning opportunities involve include maths- money,measurments,addition subtraction usingmental mathematical calculations, to name only a few ,also
English reading,writing and logic skills, various creative art skills,science & life skills,also of course they advance their technology skills with programming,
coding and overall learning computing abilities. If your childs passion is playing gaming software they might research tutorials on how-to videos
via youtube and web searches,they might want to create their own roblox games or even start a youtube gaming channel-like my son & daughter. You could help further their learning experiences and curiosity by listening and helping figure out problems if they come to you for assistance
,like finding available materials and resources to help them better find a solution, or you might even watch some how- to videos on that subject ,then you show your child and get them to apply those methods.Your child might be interested in something completely different like art, dinosaurs, geology, whatever their interests for now are ,the same applies they will absorb that subject, with research,questions,activites,and hands on time that themselves acquire, all that matters is know they are learning and are really enjoying it! Teaching your child life skills and letting them have hands on opportunities in the home and in the community are always high priorities for unschooling families. Unschoolers believe strongly that a child will gather information from their environment at there own pace and on their own account, just living each day, naturally as they come - with no planned learning lessons and no stress thinking they could fail as there are no tests or grades to measure competency.
There are no deadlines or goals set by a teacher,the child is given the freedom to explore their individual interests. Unschooling is the idea that children can direct their own learning, at their own pace.Just like a toddler learns to walk on their own and learns how to
talk their native language-the child did not need to finish workbooks or do lessons,they watched and listened to others around them ,they were shown encouragement and trust from their family's eco system - they were curious until they eventually were able to do it themselves
- some faster then others-but when they were ready they succeed in it.Most of us as grown adults really either don't remember what we were taught in school because we had no interest to remember the information, or we have never needed it as society has changed and advanced over the years
. We need to remember that if we are curious ourselves about something we as -adults study that subject by researching information and videos on the web,
we find and read books on that subject- to help us gain better knowledge, we even might enrol in a class on that subject .We teach ourselves how to do those new things, so what is stopping our own children from doing the same thing? NOTHING!
We need to stop telling ourselves that learning is only limited to workbooks and a formal learning approach. Learning shouldn't be described in curriculums and categorized into subjects. Learning has always been around before the "school system" was created. We need to remember we were all born as capable learning beings.
"Nothing could be more simple - or more difficult - difficult because to trust our children, we must trust ourselves and most of us were taught as children ,that we could not be trusted ". - john holt
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