Go check out my unschooling group on flickr, look for discussion topic- "Share your opinion and Win!", leave a reply to the question- "What does unschooling mean to you?", and you are automatically entered to win an adorable magnet board like this one, or this one, or even this one,-handmade by me, custom designed for the winner!
Or you can just comment here!
Unschooling is all about allowing our children to learn rather than forcing them to learn. It is about following their God-given interests and allowing them to develop their talents and abilities. It is about the parent acting as a facilitator of true learning rather than as a teacher of fake knowledge. Unschooling is most-definitely child-directed, delight-driven learning.
ReplyDeleteKandy
Unschooling is allowing my daughter to explore learning in whatever way she will absorb "the lesson". It means allowing her to play ion the garden, ask questions about the plants growing and the bugs she finds. After that she will go online and research them or when we go to the library she will check out books about the topics and when she writes me this beautiful long essay about all that she has learned in her way and on her time......I LOVE it!!
ReplyDeleteUnschooled:-)
She begins her own projects, she reads and writes her own stories and she has even learned how to make webpages....this is what unschooling means to me.
One child minus school setting minus government restrictions plus caring parents times child's interest = unschooling
ReplyDeleteScott
To me unschooling is living a joyful life together following our passions. It is living as if school didn't exist. It is trusting that people want to learn, and learn best by living. It is living in partnership with your children...not in control of them. To me, unschooling is awesome!
ReplyDeleteUnschooling means having the freedom and power to learn. It means being able to follow your passions and dreams to become the person you want to be.
ReplyDeleteTo me unschooling is allowing your child to be just that a child. There should be no forcing a child to learn things that the government says they have to learn by a certain age. I mean Sex ed in 1st grade, COME ON! Unschooling is taking control of what is appropriate for your child. It is freedom to let your child learn what they want.
ReplyDeletewww.harvestmoonhomestead.blogspot.com
Unschooling for us has been such a meaningful lifestyle of allowing our children the freedom to live & learn in their own way. It's our children pursuing their interests and making decisions for themselves. It's us as a family, spending time together, getting to know eachother, creating, exploring & experiencing our Life with awareness, understanding & passion. It's conscious living!
ReplyDeleteWhen I unschool my kids, they are constructing their own knowledge.
ReplyDeleteHeart Rockin' Momma put it beautifully!
You know, for me, unschooling is trust. Trust that my kids know themselves and what they need in their lives better than I do. Trust in myself that this life is the right decision for us. That I am capable of following their lead and providing them with an environment that inspires and supports. And trusting even when I can't see clearly where we will all end up in the future.
ReplyDeleteFor me, unschooling has come to mean living an authentic life, and extending that sense of authenticity to my children (to the best of my ability). It is about being true to myself and honoring their truth. About dropping artitrary rules and false excuses and choosing instead truth and compassion and love.
ReplyDeleteWe are free in spirits, free in thinking, free in feeling.
There are lots of details and challenges in this lifestyle, but I really think it all comes down to being authentic.
Unschooling for us is a hands on whole life/whole family philosophy we live *together* - kids AND grownups - respect, freedom, love, support, understanding, fun, creativity, clarity, awareness, vision, peace. Unschooling is our life and permeates all we do - it rocks! :)
ReplyDeleteI meant to say "arbitrary", that is.
ReplyDeleteI think for me it means Freedom.
ReplyDeleteI should say upfront that my kids aren't in any kind of formal schooling yet so I don't think I qualify for the giveaway. I just wanted to say, all of these comments have been very helpful to one (namely me) who is researching what is the best way to homeschool my kids, but i still wonder...has anyone ever struggled with giving up the control of planned lessons? has any unschooling parent ever worried about their kids keeping pace with kids in the school system, being able to finish ahead or at the same level? it sounds wonderful though, all worries aside.
ReplyDeleteUnschooling to me is all about preserving A Sense of Wonder. I just saw this film about Rachel Carson, perhaps one of the first unschoolers....Here is a quote, "If I had influence with the good fairy who is supposed to preside over the christening of all children, I should ask that her gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life. "
ReplyDeleteI wept. I wish this for my children.
esther...
ReplyDeleteSure people have struggled. As one who lives this life, let me joyfully send you to google: Rue Kream's book Raising a Free Child, Sandra Dodds site, and the Radical Unschoolers Network...all so helpful. Giving up control makes all the difference!
Good luck.
Jean
Ooh I'm so glad I found this, but am I too late? Well, either way I will share what unschooling has come to mean to me. And I'm not sure if I'm really qualified to do so because I've only recently found that I identify most with this philosophy of education. But I'll give it a go.
ReplyDeleteUnschooling is just about living. My children live their lives just as I live mine--doing what is interesting and important to them.
Of course they learn through this, but that is not necessarily the goal. The goal is to enjoy life, to understand our world, to be fulfilled by it.
And it just happens naturally--because that is how we are made. Acquiring knowledge, learning, understanding, growing into more sophisticated and better people. These are innate human drives. No coercion necessary!
The Romans defined it for me two millenia ago: Nemo nisi per amicitiam cognoscitur.
ReplyDeleteAll other philosophies of eduction are coercive. Unschooling alone is genuinely autodidactic.