Unschooling - when it works/when it doesn't

This blog, thus far, has focused on teaching facts and concepts to children.  Unschooling families would argue that this type of learning is unnecessary.  Unschooling has its merits and this article will lay out the pros and cons of unschooling, and signs that unschooling is not working for a family.

Unschooling, what is it?
Unschooling is a broad homeschooling term to mean that most or all of the child's education is interest led.  The child will learn what they want to learn when they want to learn it.  Some families gently guide their children by setting some goals (reading by age 8, basic math at age 10, for example).  Most families try to expose their children to a wide variety of different topics, in hopes that a few might catch fire in the curiousity of their child.  Life experience gives all of the necessary background information which serves as the building blocks for learning.  Library trips and visits to museums and nature centers are some ways that children are exposed to new ideas.  This may not sound like anything new to you, and may sound like something you implement in your own home.  All loving families that care about their children's educations use unschooling tools to a certain extent.  Most unschooling families do not use textbooks (unless that is what the child himself chooses to learn from), or use workbooks in a very limited way (i.e., one unschooling family may "traditional school" for math, while using unschooling methods for everything else). 

When is unschooling a good option?

• when a child is naturally driven to learn
• when a parent is comfortable with a child learning at his own pace
• when a parent offers ample opportunities for learning and exposure to ideas (i.e., offering a lot of books, kits, paints, supplies, field trips, and life experiences)
• when a child shows an interest and the parent is able to spontaneously feed that interest with supplies (books, field trips, building supplies, etc.)
• when a parent is able to trust the process and can believe that the child will have had a well-rounded education by graduation.
• when a child leaves the public/private school system and needs some time to de-school (recommended time to deschool: 1 month per every year in the school system)
• when the child's confidence in his own abilities to learn have been destroyed by formal learning and he emotionally shuts down when formal education is attempted.

When is unschooling a bad idea?

• when a child is not driven to learn on his own
• when a child is reluctant or resistant to learning basic skills (ex: learning how to read)
• when there is a learning disability (although, this depends on the LD and the family)
• when a parent is unable to offer a variety of different experiences, materials, or spontaneously go with the child's interest
• when a child needs structure and organization in order to flourish: some children are frustrated or struggle without some sort of structure

When has unschooling "failed"?

• when a parent's expectations for what they want their child to learn has not been met (ex: parent hoped child would learn to read by age 10, but they still do not show any interest in learning to read)
• when the parent is uncomfortable waiting until age 18 to see that everything balanced out in the child's own timeframe
• when the parent does not see any growth in the child's learning development, either due to suspected LDs or the child does not seem to show a drive to learn anything.
• when there is no structure at all within the family (children do not help with chores, are unwilling to pitch in to help out, or are unwilling to listen and show respect to the parent)
• when the parent, child, or both need some sort of structure, and structure is lacking in this particular family.
• when a parent's own educational philosophy differs from unschooling, and the parent is unable to give up that original vision