“Unschooled” Used to be an Insult!

How is an unbirthday like an unschooling? It’s quite simple really: the first is not and never can be a birthday, and the second isnot and never can be a schooling.

Now that we have that cleared up, you may have noticed that among the homeschooling movement there is a radical segment of it who are going a step further than simply replacing the teachers and classrooms with themselves. They’re not only eliminating the traditional school and its structured education in their approach to learning, but they’re eliminating the teacher as well, leaving the “students” to set their own course and letting them learn what they can, pretty much on their own. Also called experiential learning, intuitive learning, child-led learning, and a host of other things, unschooling has been estimated to be the chosen path for as much as ten percent of the two million or so homeschoolers in the U.S. Consequently, the numbers are large enough and the movement has been around long enough to draw some conclusions about the value of the approach.

“To a very great degree, school is a place where children learn to be stupid.”
― John Holt

The more I learned about unschooling the more I wanted to learn about it. So, like an unschooler myself, I chased down what I could about what fascinated me. I was somewhat surprised to learn that there has actually been quite a lot written about it, mostly by parents who have done it and, fortunately, some by serious researchers using appropriate scientific methodology. (1) (Scientific methodology, by the way, is what most unschoolers would tell you is exactly what children use when teaching themselves.)

The more I read, the more I realized that much of the valuable and useful things that I have learned in life were things I taught myself, so I felt inclined to give unschoolers the benefit of the doubt. But still, I did run across parents who were truly sorry they had chosen the unschooling path. (2)

I also came to the conclusion that it really helps if you’re a true believer. You’re shooting craps with the lives of your children with whatever path you choose for them, but unschooling does seem a bit like turning the ivories over to them and saying “Good luck, kid!”. I suppose that’s where the faith and trust come in!

The further I read the more I came to the conclusion that unschooling is such an interesting issue and so much information is readily available to us, that you should unschool the subject yourself and learn as much as you can about it on your own. (As you do this, you’ll come across the name of John Holt, who is pretty much the one who started the ball rolling with the modern concept of unschooling. Actually, he is said to have coined the term. He is also responsible for a great many acerbic quotes like that above.)

I do have one reservation, however. We here at Alpha-Phonics truly believe that learning to read should not be left to chance and is accomplished so much sooner and effectively if guided by another person. The child who is left to educate herself will have a huge advantage if she learns to read soon in her life.

Would you set your child down in the middle of the woods without a map and compass, or without teaching them how to use them? Learning to read is the equivalent to that map and compass and Alpha-Phonics has proved over the past 34 years to be the very best way to do it!