School and Education aren’t the Same Thing
Unschooling doesn’t mean no education; it just means no school. The unschoolers I know put in significant time and effort providing education by asking and answering questions, finding resources, connecting kids with mentors, traveling, supporting passions, etc. Despite all this great parenting, it can be hard to justify unschooling to family and friends, or even school officials in some instances.
Use Big Words
Names can make a huge difference. For example, if my neighbor asked how my kids learn math without going to school, I have a choice. I can say, “we’re unschooling so they’ll learn it when they need it,” which is true. Or I can say, “we started with fractions in the kitchen, doubling recipes. Now we’re using geometry and physics to build a tree fort.”
Unschooling Subjects
Pondering this, I compared a standard curriculum, with it’s impressive educational targets, to what unschool students do. I found a surprisingly high correlation. The difference was vocabulary.
Unschooling About Town
Taking a trip to the library means practicing Research Skills. We’ll probably do a lot of SSR (Sustained Silent Reading). Also, we answer questions using Resource Identification!
After the library we may need to stop at the grocery and hardware store. This presents the perfect opportunity for Consumer Math, Map Reading (how do we get there), and time/money instruction.
Unschooling Happens at Home, Too
Back home, the kids head outside for Physical Education and Imaginative Play. Some other kids show up so now we are developing Socialization, Cooperative Team Work, and Conflict Resolution. Bugs, rocks, and trees lead to some fascinating forays into biology, botany, and geology.
Before dinner the kids have to do their chores. It turns out that they are also learning Home Economics and Sustained Attention, all while practicing following directions and developing organizational skills.
Learning Things Doesn’t Have to Feel Hard or Be Graded
With the chores done, the Legos and video games cause a surge in critical thinking, small motor skills, design, cognitive skills, engineering, and reading.
One of the kids decides to help make dinner, becoming immersed in practical mathematics as he follows instructions in a cookbook. Some chemistry questions come up and get answered along the way. Then the family gathers to enjoy the food, causing even more social skills development and oral language development.
Unschooling Happens Any Time of Day
When I read a story out loud we all get to enjoy the vocabulary enrichment as well as literature appreciation. One kids wants to write a letter to Grandma, so of course we delve into a bit of Writing and Spelling.
Let’s end the evening by watching a documentary about dinosaurs since the six year old can’t get enough of them. The discussion afterwards sounds an awful lot like Science, especially Paleontology.
I could go on, but you get the picture. Using educational jargon to describe what you do during unschooling can help others accept that your children are not actually missing out on education; they are just missing out on school.
Yvonna Graham, M.Ed.
DYSLEXIA TOOL KIT
www.dyslexiakit.net
@GrahamYvonna
yvonnagraham@gmail.com
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