Due to the coronavirus pandemic so many people are in lockdown and they suddenly find have thier children at home. There is some confusion as what on earth Unschooling actually is.
So for clarity here is an excerpt from our book that breaks it down from our persepective. How does unschooling differ from homeschooling?
Home schooling
Home schooling is teaching school subjects and following a curriculum outside of a learning institution such as a school, usually at home. Home schooling parents may collaborate with other home-schooling families. A home-schooling family can have widely varying approaches to learning but the core principle is the teaching of children to a curriculum linked to examinations. Many home schooling families use a mixture of approaches to the process of learning some of which are shared with unschooling although they usually stop short at granting full self-direction to the children. Home schooling families are increasingly transitioning to unschooling as we have done.
Unschooling
Unschooling is an approach to life and learning that fully removes the line separating learning and education and daily living. Unschooling relies on the potential for learning across all daily living activities and contexts. Parents focus on children’s innate natural curiosity, which is fostered and supported, leading to self-directed learning where the children learn by self-selecting what they interested in engaging with. Unschooling parents rely on the process of facilitating learning with children so as to leverage their natural curiosity. Teaching takes place only when required by the child and with their consent. Unschooling seeks to maintain a collaborative approach with children where power is focussed in the relationships in the family rather than in the adults. Unschooling prioritises the child’s overall wellbeing and positive natural growth over reaching predetermined learning objectives.
Ultimately unschooling is about respecting the child and nuturing their inherit learning, following their dreams, passion and curiosity, as opposed to telling them what they have to do, when and how they have to do it. It is a completly the opposite of everything I ever learned about learning. It puts the childs mental health above everything else, surely right now this has to be the most important thing?
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