Unschooling Is More Than An Alternative To Schooling

The term "unschooling" literally means "not schooling." While I might prefer to leave the rest of the definition up to the imagination, people tend to want more of an explanatory picture.

In her article, "Unschooling Defined" (ncunschoolers.com), unschooling mother of four, Teresa Blalock, made the statement that 58 percent of Americans of all ages are unschooling according to the "not schooling" definition simply by living without school. Living without school, of course, could look a million and more different ways, so the same is true of an unschooling lifestyle.

The definition of unschooling might elaborate to include adjectives such as hands-on, experienced-based, child-led, interest-driven, etc., to describe the unschool-like, informal way unschoolers tend to learn and do things.

However, these adjectives sometimes give the impression that unschooling leaves learning up to the kids without help and guidance from the parents and that unschooling necessarily excludes formal school-like ways of learning. In her article, "Some Call it Unschooling, I Call it Educational Neglect," (examiner.com) Norfolk Homeschooling Examiner, Sherene Silverberg wondered "How can [John] Holt, and unschoolers, say that if the child doesn't initiate the learning, then it is coerced learning?"

This common misperception of the term "child-led" is why I don't use it. Initiation does not imply coercion, which unschooling parents do take issue with. Unschooling parents do introduce, share, participate, and guide their children, just not against their children's wills. Unschoolers don't view learning things as an unpleasant task, so they don't perceive a need for coercion. Nor do unschoolers believe that children must learn any particular skill at a specific time. Unschooling children learn things as they need them in the course of their daily activities, as well as in pursuit of particular goals.

On a day-to-day basis, I focus on living a happy life together with my children. We have a lot of shared experiences and a lot of conversations. I don't have to worry about standard learning requirements or learning disabilities, because those are school concerns. I help my children when they ask for help and I introduce all kinds of things, sometimes on purpose and sometimes spontaneously because it makes sense in the moment.

Unschooling means so much more than a hands-on, child-directed, experience-based, etc., way of learning. It doesn’t really describe a specific alternative to schooling. It just gets schooling out of the way so various unique dynamic personal creative ways of growing up, living, participating, and contributing to communities can develop.

By: Sara McGrath

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Sara McGrath , author of Unschooling: A Lifestyle of Learning, lives near Seattle with her husband and three daughters. You can find out more about unschooling here.