By Ura Kondo Rinaldi, M.A.

I have a 15-month-old who is fascinated by the moon.  He first learned about the moon when he saw a bright light in the sky.  Ever since, whenever he came across a book that contains a picture of moon, he would bring it to us and demand that we read it.  This happens 4 or 5 times throughout the day.  He looks at each page and points at pictures of animals to ask us to name them. After a book, he may go to find other toys to play for a while. Then he finds a laminated place mat with solar system and points at each planets to have us name them again and again, going back and forth between earth and Jupiter. Then he drops everything and goes to play with a ball. Then he would go take a glow-in-the-dark plastic galaxy off his older brother's wall and come out to say, "Galaxy!"

This is a good example that demonstrates how even at a young age, every child has a natural curiosity and ability to learn.  We never sat down and said, "Today, we'll learn about planets." or "OK, now it is reading time." with our 15-month-old.  Why couldn't we be the same way with our older child?  This is where unschooling comes from.

What is unschooling?

Unschooling is a way of learning without a traditional "schooling" structure.  Natural learning takes place in many difference shapes and forms, through curiosity, experiences, investigation and experimentation.  Unschooling is a name given in such natural process.  Rather than putting a child in a scheduled, curriculum based, "being taught" environment, a child is "freed" and relied upon to make his own way around the discovering process called learning.  Parents and resources are made available, and he is exposed to learning opportunities, not by parents' choice and influences, but on his own.

 

Many families consider homeschooling when they are unsatisfied with the available schooling options.  Unschooling parents would say, "If you are not happy with schools, why would you copy the same format and repeat it at home?  Just because parents are the teachers or your child is not with other kids at school does not change the learning experience for the child.  If the process is not working, start from scratch!"

 

Just because the child is being unschooled does not mean that the child is running wild unsupervised.  Parents are responsible to create a loving, caring and supportive environment that encourages learning.  The child may read, create, grow, sing, dance and play.  (You cannot let the child watch TV or play video games all day long!)  If the child decides to take a walk, your conversation may involve nature, weather, geography, biology, math, etc. and you will be there to bounce ideas or answer questions.  (You will probably not let your young child take a walk on his own.)  The child will have appropriate responsibilities as a member of your family to follow your guidance.

 

The learning will take place at his own pace and in his own style.  The subject matter may be "out of order" or may seem "out of context" but would eventually come together.  The good thing about this is that your child is not forced to learn something he is not ready or willing to learn.  So he is less likely to dislike or refuse certain subjects.  For example, your child may not like doing math on worksheets, but he may enjoy building with blocks or making cookies.  There are many different ways to learn math and your child would guide you to the right method.

 

What is the most challenging for parents is to trust the child.  Because the child is dictating the direction and the speed of his own learning process, he may not present the same "knowledge" as "schooled" children.  Reading is fundamentally a fun activity and the child will enjoy learning to read, once he finds the subject matter that he would like to read about.  It may be later in his life than schooled children who are forced and tested in reading skills.  The benefit for not being forced to read, is again, that once he learns, he would be eager to read. Eventually, unschooled children would learn as much or more than traditionally schooled children.  With patience, you will observe the child blossoming into an individual with the ability to think and express his true self.