Many of us tend to shy away from the idea that children can learn without any sort of assigned curriculum. How will they stay on task? How will they know what to do? Children require structure.
Let’s crack open that nut shell!
Many families and individuals use the term “unschooling” but still others prefer to call it free schooling, life learning, autonomous learning, or child-led learning. The philosophy is the same, so I will refer to them all as unschooling.
Approximately ten percent of home educating families take the unschooling approach to learning. Yes, it is 100% legal in Canada, and yes, you can even attend university with an unschooled education!
Unschooling is a child-led lifestyle that prioritizes exploration and learning based on personal interests. It moves away from traditional schooling, allowing kids to naturally learn by pursuing what intrigues them, fostering a more individualized and hands-on education.
Have you ever tried to read something that didn’t interest you and found yourself re-reading the same paragraph two or three times because you kept zoning out or daydreaming? We all have. Not everything we need to know is fun or exciting, but that doesn’t mean the information needs to be delivered in a way that doesn’t inspire learning.
The most important thing to understand about unschooling is that it offers total freedom of methods, resources, goals, and assessment.
There is no formal curriculum used (like textbooks) unless a child chooses to explore those. The most important thing to understand about unschooling is that it offers total freedom of methods, resources, goals, and assessment.
Not convinced? Consider these famous names who were unschooled: Isadora Duncan, Charlie Chaplin, Thomas Edison, Claude Monet, and Henry M. Stanley.
As with other styles of education, unschooling won’t work for everyone. A successful unschooler usually possess qualities such as:
- Independent
- Goal-oriented
- Spontaneous
- Problem-solver
- A desire to build community
- Has a supportive adult to facilitate learning
Interested in learning more? Check out Unschooling Canada and their Giant List of Online Activities for this year!