So what is unschooling?

Unschooling is a word that was termed by educator, John Holt in the 1970s. It can mean somewhat different things to different people. I understand it to mean an approach to education where a student is always learning by being immersed in life, their environment and passionately pursuing their interests. There is no standard curriculum or grading (unless that is what the student desires). Some people prefer the term "Life Learning", to me both words mean the same thing. I have found that the term "unschooling" does have a tendency to frighten some people, especially husbands at the beginning.

The next question is usually "What's to stop them from playing video games all day?"

Well I confess there was a week one January about 5 years ago when the whole family was struck with a nasty flu and that is what we did. The four of us sat on the couch and took turns playing Fable while we all gave directions for where the character should go. Was it our most educational time? Probably not. But whenever we remember that week we all smile and laugh. Doesn't that hold it's own value?

Most of the time however everyone has several different things they are interested in. Sometimes the problem is finding the time to do it all. I have found that the job of an unschooling parent is of a facilitator; to help provide the resources they need to pursue their interests and to introduce them to things that maybe they hadn't thought of yet.