Deschool Yourself: Unschooling

Written by Australian unschooling advocate Chaley Ann Scott. Chaley is an author, activist, sociologist and an unschooling mom to four children. Check out here website.

It’s 11:00 a.m. on a school day. My ten-year-old son and eleven-year old daughter have only been up for an hour and are respectively playing with Legos and making a necklace. They are focused and happy and I am trying not to interfere—because in our house this is education. For Jack and Molly, there is no early rising, no one telling them what to do, and no restrictions—just freedom to play and follow their interests, whilst I provide support and resources if required. It’s every child’s dream. Welcome to the world of "unschooling," an approach to education that lets children decide what, when and how they will learn each day.

Unschooling is a popular method of homeschooling, a legal and fast-growing trend in many countries in the world including the USA, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the UK. In the US, over 1.5 million children were registered as homeschooled in 2007, reflecting a 74 per cent increase in eight years.

Parents cite numerous reasons for choosing to homeschool their children—from the wish to avoid bullying at school to the desire to prioritise instruction in the family’s religious beliefs. My reasons for choosing this path were reactionary—Molly had a huge thirst for knowledge but after a year of school that was all but gone. She was miserable, so in desperation we pulled her out of school and began our journey from homeschooling into unschooling.

Like us many homeschoolers start off following a curriculum, but most end up following, at least in part, the unschooling philosophy. The term “unschooling” was coined in 1977 by American education reformer John Holt, who believed that parents should not attempt to duplicate conventional schooling in their homes. Therefore, in unschooling there are no mandatory books, no curriculum, no tests and no grades. Unschoolers believe these trappings of traditional education are unnecessary because, as author and unschooling advocate Sandra Dodd explains, “Learning cannot be turned off…Given a rich environment, learning becomes like the air—it's in and around us." It's radical stuff I know. How can a child left to direct their own education possibly knuckle down to hard work and fulfill their potential?

Many traditional homeschoolers believe they can’t. Gail Paquette, a homeschooling mother of two and founder of the web site Hometaught.com, is one of unschooling’s most vocal critics. “A child-led approach may develop the child’s strengths but does nothing to develop his weaknesses and broaden his horizons,” she writes. “I [mostly] disagree with the premise that children can teach themselves what they want to learn, when (and if) they want to learn it. Certainly children do learn some things on their own, but their often roundabout way of going at learning is not necessarily the best way.”

Unschoolers, however, strongly disagree that children don’t learn naturally in the “right” way and therefore need to be shown how to learn. They claim that children really do know best when it comes to their learning, and we should put our trust in them. When children are pushed and cajoled into learning something they aren’t interested in or aren’t quite ready for, the teacher commonly meets with resistance or stress. Unschooling author John Taylor-Gatto, in his infamous acceptance speech for New York Teacher of the Year said: “It is absurd and anti-life to be part of a system that compels you to listen to a stranger reading poetry when you want to learn to construct buildings, or to sit with a stranger discussing the construction of buildings when you want to read poetry.” On the other hand, when children are free to do things they have chosen to do—in their own way, on their own timetables—then the learning thrives. Unschoolers believe that their approach fosters a love of learning, whereas conventional schooling or school-at-home does the exact opposite.

Holt wrote: “All I am saying is … trust children. Nothing could be more simple — or more difficult. Difficult, because to trust children we must trust ourselves — and most of us were taught as children that we could not be trusted.” Thirty years later, the belief that children are essentially capable, curious, independent and self-disciplined is hard for conventional parents to swallow. With the wealth of parenting manuals on the shelves, we are encouraged that our instincts should make way for structure and planning to be ‘successful’ parents.

In our house I noticed that when I stopped poking and prodding the kids to do things that looked like learning to me (from my schooled perspective) – bookwork, projects, science experiments etc - then the real learning really took off. I just had to have faith in my children that they were learning all the time – even when it didn’t look like it to me. Not surprisingly, the approach is becoming increasingly popular with attachment parents, due to its emphasis on placing trust in children to know what they need and when they need it. The natural extension of trusting that our babies and toddlers know when they are ready to wean, sleep alone, or use the toilet, is trusting that children know what, when, and how they should learn as they grow.

So how do unschoolers learn? For them, learning happens simply while living life, as they engage in activities such as listening to stories, cooking, gardening, doing puzzles, building, doing artwork, experimenting, watching movies, playing video games, having conversations, and using money. When children have an interest in more advanced concepts that their parents don’t understand, they can seek outside resources that teach the material, such as books, computer games, DVDs, classes, or tutors. When people ask my children if they do ‘school-at-home’, with no coaching from me my son has always responded with, ‘No, we learn through fun'. It’s true, we are learning through fun—all of us, all the time. That’s how adults learn, so why not kids? It’s hard for people to understand this concept because school teaches us that we aren’t there to have fun, but to learn—as if they are completely separate entities.

Sandra Dodd explains, “Learning isn't in fancy books or computer games; it all happens in the ideas children have, in the trivial facts they fit together to come up with their view of the world—past, present, and future. You don't need a lesson or a unit to show a child what's wonderful about woodgrain, ice crystals on the windshield, or birdsongs. Five seconds’ worth of pointing and saying, ‘Look, these trees were not native to North America’ might possibly lead to an hour-long discussion, or a lifelong fascination. Bringing something interesting home, browsing in an antique shop, listening to new music on instruments you've never heard—all those build neural pathways and give you a chance to be together in a special place.”

I have been blown away by how much learning comes out of our day-to-day conversations. Over breakfast today we began idly chatting about dinosaurs which organically led (somehow!) to Italian food and then to Islamic fundamentalism! The connections between different subjects is amazing to me, and I can see clearly they are absorbing so much information all the time. I didn’t always feel this way however. I had fears and anxiety around learning the basics, particularly when it came to reading, and I am not alone. Dodd says this is a common area of concern amongst parents but, after twenty years of involvement with the unschooling movement, she claims unschooled children always learn to read. “I know of not one single unschooler who didn't learn to read,” she says. “I've seen a dozen unschooled kids close-up learn to read...and have accounts of hundreds of others. They read. Some suddenly, some gradually, but every single one of them reads."

My own children can read fluently and had no formal instruction whatsoever. They aren’t child geniuses but just normal children. Molly decided she wanted to learn at six years old and would ask to be read to, and would ask me what certain words said, and over a year she eventually just picked it up. My son’s journey was more interesting. I will admit it caused me great angst when, by aged eight, he had showed no interest whatsoever in books or reading in general, and I started to panic and question our path. Stories from unschoolers whose children learnt to read late, but still read eventually with no ill effects reassured me a little and I managed to keep my fears away from him. Then one day he started fluently reading a newsbrief off the computer to me. “How did you know what that said?”, I asked, gobsmacked, “I dunno. Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you that I can read now,” he off-handedly replied. No big deal. I really don’t know how he learnt but I think it had to do with computer games. He was motivated to learn how to play more strategically so he started looking at the instruction booklets—he must have been ready and he worked it out by himself almost overnight. No fuss or stress.

I am often asked how my children will cope in the real world that requires qualifications to “succeed”? They can take any test they want to if they require it to reach a further goal, and university is one of many options available to them. There are no separate statistics available on unschoolers at present, but numerous studies have been undertaken on all forms of homeschooling, including unschooling—most notably by an independent agency, the National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI), which has conducted and collected research for two decades. Their findings in 2009 report that the home-educated typically score up to 30 percentile points above public-school students on standardized academic achievement tests, and that they are increasingly being actively recruited by universities.

The NHERI research also supports the view that the home-educated are not in fact the social misfits that many would expect. “The home-educated are doing well, typically above average, on measures of social, emotional, and psychological development. Research measures include peer interaction, self-concept, leadership skills, family cohesion, participation in community service, and self-esteem,” the research reveals. My own children certainly aren’t missing out socially – every day they are busy with a club, a sleepover, or a playdate, and mix with both schooled and unschooled children.

A number of adults who were educated this way as children have overwhelmingly positive things to say about their educations. Armed only with open university courses, driving ambition, and Grade 8 harp, Helen Thompson, 18, isstudying to be a doctor. "My experience has taught me to follow my passions without restraint.” She adds, "University is a shock to everyone, but being unschooled probably helped me settle in more quickly than some people, who felt uncomfortable initially with the change from more directed learning. Every week we attend a tutorial. At the end, we are given a list of 20 books to read for the next week, which you have to get on with. My peers are struggling because they have been taught that learning is a chore—something to endure—whereas I see it as fun. I love to read and increase my knowledge so uni to me is just like unschooling but with tutorials."

Unschooling alumna—now unschooling mum—Vanessa Wilson, 31, testifies, "As a kid the world is full of so much that school cannot give... I credit my education for my insatiable love of learning".

And what of those who don't choose to pursue advanced formal education? "Instead of college,” says Tara Wagner, 29, “I chose massage school and self-education for entrepreneurship. To me that is the best thing about [unschooling]: the freedom to create your own life, to heal, to grow unhindered, to explore without imposed limitations. Amazing things happen inside of freedom."

The unschooling philosophy is clearly a complete reversal of the educational wisdom millions of us have accepted and followed for decades about learning. Unschooling will undoubtedly appeal to those parents who are fed up with the micromanagement of their children’s lives, because it disregards conventional wisdom about giftedness, age-appropriate learning, and competition. Ironically, though, it appears that despite not being groomed for top university admission, these kids often end up there anyway.

Jane Dobson, 18, struggled through her early school years due to so-called ‘learning difficulties'. In desperation, her mother pulled her out of school when she was 10 and started unschooling her, convinced that her daughter didn’t have a deficiency at all – just that her learning style wasn’t being catered for at school. Free of labels, and given the freedom to pursue her own interests, she discovered she had a big talent for design.

She has now turned her life around from the days when thought she was ‘stupid’ in school, and has been accepted at QUT university to study Landscape Architecture. Her brother, Steven,16, has no plans for university, but is working already as a concert pianist, attracting work around the country. These kids know they are smart and are busy carving out careers for themselves. “As we get older, I think things are going to get less complicated and we won’t be judged so much,” says Steven, “I mean, when you can say ‘hey look I am doing great and I am happy’, people start thinking well {it} can’t be that bad”. It seems, in the case for unschooling, the proof is in the pudding.

I feel liberated that I am no longer focused on the destination when it comes to my children, but on the journey, and have faith in them that they will reach their potential in their own way on their own clock. I find it tremendously rewarding, and a real privelege, to spend so much time with my children watching them learn in amazing and unexpected ways. This is why my kids can spend as much time gazing into space as they like. They are currently absorbed in their activities and I wonder what they are thinking – are they in the midst of developing advanced theories? Solving world peace? Considering deep philosophical arguments?