Unschooling

Unschooling (or "Relaxed")

On the one hand, the Unschooling Approach has been defined by John Holt, a 20th century American educator. He concluded that children have an innate desire to learn and a curiosity that drives them to learn what they need to know, when they need to know it. Holt believed that both desire and curiosity are destroyed by the usual methods of teaching. In his book Teach your Own, Holt wrote: "What children need is not new and better curricula, but access to more and more of the real world; plenty of time and space to think over their experiences, and to use fantasy and play to make meaning out of them; and advice, road maps, guidebooks, to make it easier for them to get where they want to go (not where we think they ought to go); and to find out what they want to find out."

On the other hand, unschooling refers to any less structured learning approach that allows children to pursue their own interests with parental support and guidance, and lets children learn by being included in the life of adults. The child is surrounded by a rich environment of books, learning resources, and adults who model a lifestyle of learning and are willing to interact with him. Formal academics, if pursued at all, are pursued when the need arises. In this approach, children are apprenticed or "discipled" by adults who include them in what they are doing. In the process, the child learns everything the adult knows, and possibly a great deal more. Parents who favor less structured schooling, but with definite goals, prefer to be called "relaxed home educators."

Strengths of the Unschooling Approach:

• Takes little planning

• Captures the child's "teachable moments"

• Children have access to the real world, and plenty of time and space to figure things out on their own

• Children are less likely to become academically frustrated or "burn out"

• Child can delve into a subject as deeply as desired

• Provides a discipleship model of learning

• Creates self-learners with a love of learning

Weaknesses of the Unschooling Approach:

• Very unstructured

• May neglect some subjects

• Hard to assess level of learning and to keep records

• Lacks the security of a clearly laid out curriculum

• Is extremely child-centered

• Difficult to explain to others

Used by permission Elijah Company

Related Links:

http://www.unschooling.com/

http://www.gomilpitas.com/homeschooling/methods/Unschooling.htm

http://www.unschooling.org/

 

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