Hi! I’m Big Daddy. My friends at Homegrown and Healthy have graciously extended me an invitation to discuss a concept called ‘unschooling’. What, you say? “Un”-schooling? Yes. Unschooling. Bear with me. All will be revealed.
You all know what homeschooling is. Well, unschooling is the belief that even homeschooling can be too restrictive. Unschooling is the radical notion that children learn best when they learn what they want, when they want. Unschoolers do very little (or no) formal education. We allow our children to seek their passions through a process of self-discovery. We believe our kids learn best when they’re self-motivated. We believe our children learn best when they’re in comfortable clothes, well-rested, well-fed, and happy. We believe true learning occurs when a child is doing that which brings them joy. We believe that schooling, by its coercive, mind-numbing nature, dampens the innate curiosity we all have from birth.
Children are natural learners. This starts in infancy. It will continue as long as that love is not destroyed. The role of a parent in unschooling is to serve as a guide. We provide the needed resources and answer the inevitable questions that arise. Ultimately, the journey belongs to the child. By pursuing their passions – by unschooling – they find that learning is a wonderful adventure, an adventure that can best be undertaken in the ‘real’ world, far, far away from a ‘real’ school.
Hope you found that informative. If I’m asked back (hint, hint, H & H), I’ll expand upon this introduction and show you how unschooling works in practice. Have a great day and peace to you all.
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