What is Unschooling to Each of Us

What is unschooling? For Josh (8y) who went to public school for two years, it is unlearning everything the system "taught" him. It is re-discovering his curiosity, passion, and sense of self. For example- I was helping him with homework once, a multiple choice question which had 2 right answers depending on how the question was interpreted. Josh chose the "right" answer. I said, "Well this one ...could be right also, if you think of it this way." To which he responded, "Mom, this is the answer they want. Lets just get this done." He had been programmed to find the answer "they" wanted, without questioning or looking for alternative solutions. That was a defining moment for me. That moment I knew this had to be stopped. For Papa and I, unschooling is reevaluating everything. Things we thought to be true and necessary and vice versa. This journey is especially hard for us, because it calls into question literally everything we have ever thought and done. We're often finding once we question and analyze our motives, we come to different conclusions than we'd had before. It is mentally painful at times to come to terms with the fact that most of our lives we've been doing things we no longer agree with, and reconciling the reasons WHY we were doing those things in the first place. Now here comes the most important part of this post- For Bug (23m) unschooling is just living life. I wouldn't even use the word "unschooling" to describe his education, because he has no "schooling" to un-do. The way he learns is natural, normal, and beautiful. He is curious, he explores, he discovers, and he will simply continue to do so, not stopping at age 5 or 6 to sit in a room to "learn what he needs to live successfully". He will be out in the world, living, finding what he needs to be successful.See More "