Is it ok to unschool your child? Yes, it is perfectly fine to unschool your child. It is legal in all 50 states. Check State laws to make sure you are in compliance! HSLDA is my favorite site to learn more about this!
What is unschool?
Unschool is about fostering a natural interest in learning! It’s about letting your child take the lead in their education. Your child might not wanna sit in front of a computer watching videos or with a handful of textbooks at a desk.
Children in unschool are also able to not learn things they have no interest in. That could be adding, reading, or boring history! Truth be told I hated that subject in school, but now that I am older I find it fascinating! Unschool has many variations and many different degrees! Some parents are called extreme unschoolers, and others like me incorporate unschool in my homeschool.
What is an extreme unschooler?
An extreme unschooling parent, really takes the term “Let your child take the lead in their education” very seriously! If your child says I don’t wanna learn to read, you literally do not let them. If they say mom I love algebra can you please buy me some books the parent HAS to buy them those books. The child is truly the boss.
I have read tons of articles and watched many youtube videos. I still cannot personally get behind this myself. BUT! The children do learn a ton, they have varied hobbies and interests and while they might not wanna learn to read at age 6, at age 12, or whenever they will. The parents say that children who learn to read late in life learn it very well and are exceptional at it.
How can my child learn without a curriculum?
They learn through life. Let’s battle a few subjects here.
Math: Instead of sitting them down and countlessly having them add math problems one after another, you would simply do something in real life that involves math. You would of course alter your approach some, depending on your child’s age. Say you are going grocery shopping and you have 3 bags of frozen veggies in your freezer.
Well, in your house you use 1 bag per
day and you need a week’s worth. Hey Johnny, I need 7 bags of frozen veggies how many do we have? Mom: we have 3. Ok Johnny how many more do I need so we have enough for a week?
When it is a real life problem and children can “see” the math they tend to understand it way better than sitting at a desk doing endless problems. Baking and Construction are other great ways to get math in. Fractions too.
English: I am gonna try to stick with the food shopping theme. Have Johnny, write out your food list. Check for spelling and grammar. 2 dosen egg. Then you can use an appropriate approach to explain plurals and the misspelling of words.
Have them read a recipe. Let them figure out what items you are missing that you will need to be able to bake that item later that day! (you just gave them a math, reading, and critical thinking problem to solve).
Science: When grocery shopping and at checkout, you can explain things like mass, gravity, engineering, and structure. Are you going to put the bread down first, eggs on top of that, followed by a case of water on the very top? I know that seems like common sense to us, but does it to a 4,5, or 6-year-old?
History: You can do research on the history of the supermarket. You can do a fun activity of trying to make your recipe as if you lived in the 1400s. Or just learn about how difficult it was to cook without technology.
Moral of the story, by creating a shopping list, shopping, and baking a cake you can cover all the core subjects. I personally, do not unschool, so more experienced parents could have probably added 10 more learning things to my list above!
Will my child be able to pass state tests?
Of course, just as long as you are teaching your child. In the shopping scenario above, if your child puts a case of water on the bread. It is your job to explain why that is a bad idea! You do not need to have a Science Degree to explain that heavy water has a much greater mass and volume than bread. It will squish the bread. If you are the type of parent that would just yell at your child with 0 explanation, unschool is not for you! If you are encouraging your child to soak up knowledge from everyday interactions, your child has the potential to be way smarter than most kids out there!
Is unschool right for me?
Some parents just have this natural ability to teach their children naturally without even thinking about it. I am not one of those parents! I’m the parent that sees someone putting a case of water on bread, and going why would you do that, and I never think to maybe explain why! I will say after 2 years of homeschooling, those moments come way more naturally to me than they did before.
Another thing to think of is your child’s personality. Starting out with school, my daughter never ever wanted to do anything other than watch tv or talk to her barbies. My personal thought was if I had to wait for her to wanna do any type of learning I might be waiting 15 years lol.
Now that she is 6, she constantly asks to do school, or asks questions to learn things. She is interested in doing art projects and learning about music. She finds Science fascinating. If I handed her a math workbook, she would sit there the entire day trying to complete an entire workbook in one sitting.
Will my child be able to go to college with unschool?
Yes! Typically unschool and homeschooled children are highly desired by college admissions. They typically have a natural desire to learn. They are great problem solvers who know how to find the answers to whatever question they need to be answered. They have a great work ethic. They have the responsibility to learn on their own without a public school teacher standing over their shoulder.
How do I know if I am doing this right?
If your child has a general interest in learning and you are supporting their goals and interests then you are doing this right. Are you seeing your child grow and evolve? Then you are on the path to excellence!
Conclusion
Unschool is child-led learning and is typically done by learning in unconventional ways. They will still learn most of the same things that children learn in public school. Also, in some respects, they will know a lot more!
Unschooled children soak up knowledge from the world around them and can learn so much from even a simple food shopping trip. They can still pass state tests and get admitted into colleges. It is upto you and your family to decide if this is right for you!