The Unschooling Homeschool Method
What is the meaning of Unschooling Homeschool Method?
Unschooling is a homeschooling method that takes a child-led approach to education. You as the parent trust that your children will learn what is necessary because it becomes necessary to live or follow their desires. This approach to education allows children to shape their own education because learning occurs anywhere and everywhere.
How Do I Start Unschooling?
The Unschooling method happens when you allow your children to develop and blossom in the interests and passions that they have. You as the parent have to allow the unschooling process of teaching your children that learning is possible anywhere and that they are capable of learning anything they want.
As the parent you need to be able to facilitate and sometimes guide your children so that they can figure out how to learn the information that they require. Remember that the unschooling method or approach is not just unsupervised play, or even supervised play but for you as the parent to be able to turn everything that you and your children approach and experience into a fun learning experience.
Children are naturally curious and they are going to become interested in different topics. Your job as a parent is to facilitate that learning instead of teaching. Just trust that your children will learn what they need to know.
Use documentaries, libraries, museums, field trips and anything else that helps your kids learn about what they are interested in. The topic your children may be interested in can be a lot wider than a school curriculum because your children are curious and want to learn about everything and anything.
How I See the Unschooling Method
When our children are born we nurture them and allow them to develop at their own pace. We guide them and teach them new things constantly. When they show signs that they want to learn to walk we help to facilitate this. We read stories to them and show them pictures in books and sometimes they pick the words up. They learn to speak by repeating words heard and listening and by us as parents guiding them and helping them to understand and say the words.
To my way of thinking, unschooling is a similar process and a continuation of what we as parents have always done. We nurture our children and guide them in their learning and help facilitate by providing what is necessary for them to learn at their own pace.
Unschooling Curriculum
There is no set curriculum for unschooling. As the parent you have to be able to provide the resources that your children need as and when they require that knowledge.
Just because unschoolers don’t have a set curriculum or set lesson plans the children are still learning through life. The learning just looks different to traditional educational methods.
Some kids who unschool may choose to use a curriculum, especially as they get older and start thinking about their future goals. They will learn what they need to learn in order to meet goals they have.
The difference is the children choose what curriculum they want to use, what subjects they want to study and they have their own goals of why they are studying that curriculum.
Parenting and The Unschooling Method
As parents we often forget that the most important thing that we can do for our children is enjoy being with them. They want to be with you, laugh a lot and everything that they experience is a small miracle to them. As parents we have a multitude of knowledge from our own experiences to share with them and adventures to take. We as parents are here to love our children unconditionally.
Once our children can communicate we can share everything in this world that is good and help them to stay away from the bad. Take the time to put yourself at their level and learn how to see the world as they see it. Stop thinking of them as just responsibilities and start seeing them as opportunities to love, laugh and learn as it is an incredible journey.
If the unschooling style doesn’t fit your children or your homeschool then have a look at some other homeschool methods such as the elective homeschool method or Charlotte Mason method.
