Before my son arrived, I already knew I wanted to homeschool. In fact, after looking at all the schools in our area, I had realized that I couldn't afford the type of education that I wanted him to have.
Fast forward to my son's first sentence: Ahhhh...I was his number one fan club. I couldn't imagine anyone else loving him or raising him like I could, so why did I want anyone else to teach him?
My research began when he was about two years old. I began to run into alot of confusing information. Some families were homeschoolers, some were schooling at home, some were eclectic homeschoolers, and some were Unschoolers. I met a couple at our local co-op who had three children. Their youngest, who seemed to always be at their art shop was very well manered and intellectual. He was about 14 when I met him. Their older children were already in college. I learned that children had never attended school. They called themselves "unschoolers". I asked them what it meant to be an unschooler. They simply said that their children have had the freedom to explore and obtain knowledge as they found they needed to learn something. No one has ever "taught" them mathematics or English literature. In the everyday course of events, their children have discovered the information they needed to learn. Counting isn't a rote skill, it is a game...fun. History isn't taught with meaningless text books, it is experienced. Reading isn't expected by a certain age, it is an aquired skill at the time the child finds she needs to read.
Education comes from within...
Spending time with this family was more compelling than hearing them talk about it. Their children were so very well rounded, articulate and bright, that I knew they must be on to something.
Later I was turned onto John Holts books and website, and other websites like Unschooling.com and became hooked for life. I will allow my children to be children, to explore, run, play, and learn naturally.
Unschooling is many things, but summed up...it is child centered learning.
I am starting to trust my own curiosity, my own desire to explore this life so that I learn what I need to learn. I am starting to leave my children to their own devices, to their own explorations and just like my own where I learn what I need to learn when the time is right. It is a beautiful path we are taking, as our personal abilities are unfolding as we journey towards unschooling.
I know many families who live very simple lives. They get up in the morning and go out to the backyard with their children. They tend to their gardens while their children play in the sunshine, with sticks and rocks, catching beetles and digging up earthworms , watching birds fly through the air, and running through the water hose getting sopping wet. They just play, and they are just being kids. Natural scientist who explore whatever they see.
Through out the day, they read to them, feed them, and lets them play outside and they are homeschooling their children too. The children live a very gentle life, playing, reading, laughing, doing what they want.
When they write up their food co-op orders, they have the eldest child add up the numbers, and they are teaching them math. When they explore in the backyard, they are learning about science. When they read to their children, they are teaching them language, reading and grammer. When they come to the kitchen to help cook, the parents are teaching them life skills. They have lots of confidence in their children. I am told that is takes a few years for a parent to be comfortable with unschooling, because you need to believe that you are going down the right path, and in the end, that your children will learn.