Unschooling - thoughts?

[Snickerdoodle1]

Recently got back in touch with an old school friend via Facebook, have mostly shared messages but last week we met properly for coffee and was good to see her again.

I'd never heard of it before but apparently she is 'unschooling' her DS - not the same as home ed as they never sit down and dedicate time to work, they just visit the occasional museum and forest school class but mostly just focus on being happy. They go on a lot of holidays and spend time will their fellow unschooling friends.

Her DS seems cheerful and positive so clearly she's doing something right but when I was discussing with DH later at home he said he thinks it's 'not fair' on someone not to equip them for life and work and adulthood.

Just wondering what other people's thoughts/opinions are on it?

The example someone gave up-thread about using baking a cake to teach maths is a perfect example of an unschooling exercise.

well it's the type of thing used in regular education/life also, so I'm not sure what makes it 'unschooling'

It's a grey area at the moment. However there are government plans for more checks to be made on children who are not attending school. It's in the latest Education Bill if anyone is interested.
Many children in this position do return to education at some stage, usually secondary education or sixth form.

Again, that just sounds like how the home schooling parents do things around here. They’d use things the child enjoys to teach specific concepts, stimulate writing etc.

Or is it that unschooling deliberately tries to avoid ever looking at, say, the primary school maths curriculum and assumes they’ll cover everything the children will need to know naturally?

For some children it works very well, unschooling is a bit of a misleading name really as what it basically is is child led home schooling. I know of children who have been left traumatised through school really flourish with a period of “unschooling”

obviously it relies on the child having the kind of personality where they are keen to learn and parents able to support that for it to work. When I was considering home Ed for DS my plan was one which would have had an element of it.

Yes that is definitely not unschooling. Just because it’s child led doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be able to read/write/function in society.

It isn’t about not learning. That sounds like pure neglect.

For some children it works very well, unschooling is a bit of a misleading name really as what it basically is is child led home schooling

So “home schooling” then.

I expect any good homeschooling is child led, I just don't understand the need for a wanky label.

The difference is in unschooling, the child decides "today we're going to bake a cake" and it's up to the unschooling parent to determine what lessons come out of it. In a traditional schooling setting, the teacher decides how the curriculum runs and the children will do x activity on y day.

Neglect and awful. What's going to happen when the child needs a job?

The difference is in unschooling, the child decides "today we're going to bake a cake" and it's up to the unschooling parent to determine what lessons come out of it.

Wouldn't that apply to regular homeschooling in the main?

And what if their activity of choice isn't conducive to any lessons and this becomes a regular issue?

Depends on the child really. It could work out well or it could go wrong. I think as kids get older they should have more of a say in how they would like to be educated - particularly that they are made aware of the qualifications requirements for a range of jobs and how to access them. I also think kids should be able to voluntarily repeat a year (eg if they experienced emotional, health or family difficulties)

The difference is in unschooling, the child decides "today we're going to bake a cake" and it's up to the unschooling parent to determine what lessons come out of it.

Again, this sounds exactly what my home schooling friends do.

I don't think there's enough information to judge if your friend is being sensible. Did she say WHY she's withdrawn him?

People may take these steps in response to unmet SEN or bullying. Sometimes they have little option if they're to safeguard their child. And you may not know the full story.

I've heard of a families doing this, I have a few friends who homeschool (and do a brilliant job of it, they are totally dedicated) they totally disagree with the unschool approach, essentially you're deciding for your child that they will only ever have an unconventional life, won't have the experiences or formal qualifications of their peers. I can't get on board with narrowing a child's options so dramatically.

I honestly can't understand how anyone can afford this or any sort of home schooling. I work full time because i need the money to fund my family.
What do all these home schoolers or unschoolers do for money.
I NEED my kids at school

I think those people who say that baking a cake is a maths activity need to have a look at the maths curriculum. Whilst baking involves quantities and weighing, it won't help much with a GCSE exam. Yes, maths is involved in lots of everyday activity, but to think just doing everyday activities is enough to pass exams and qualify for various professions is a bit daft.

I know someone who unschooled three of her children until she decided that it didn't work for her. When she sent them to school it was discovered that all three of them had dyslexia (she had no idea). Her eldest is now training to be a nurse, so it's just as well she was sent to school eventually.

All fun and games until he needs qualifications. His parents won't always be around for fun days out to museums.

I agree. Cake baking won't help with trigonometry, surds, probability or quadratic equations.

I know of a family of 9 who had this sort of upbringing. They are all adults now. I believe only 2 of them went on to leave home and secure jobs. The other 7 are still at home being mummied and living off their parents. This approach claims to be child led but fundamentally it is adult led. Lazy adults who wrap it up in some fantasy of listening to their child when all along they are bone idle and can't be arsed to educate their children. It's the height of selfishness.

I mean, if you want your child to grow up to be a happy, free spirit this could work well. If you want your child to grow up to have a career, then no it won't be good preparation at all because the reality is that most (all?) jobs have crappy, boring bits that we wade through to get to the bits we like.
Unschooling allows a child to grow up with the attitude that they don't need to do anything, or stick with anything unless they're really enjoying it.
Which leads to a happy childhood (probably) but isn't particularly realistic when said child encounters the rest of the world.

@cansu I specifically said for primary level. It isn’t applicable for secondary at all. By that point they need to have a greater depth of knowledge for sure.

To the poster who asks how you afford it- friends have worked out it’s about
the same as a private education when you account for loss of earnings and expenditure on resources. It isn’t a cheap option at all.

Having spent five minutes reading about it, the difference appears to be that homeschooling parents still believe there are things that are essential for their children to learn and will create opportunities to learn them whereas unschooling parents assume that the child alone will learn everything he or she needs to know.

Unschooling is therefore bollocks.

If the child is 10 and she isn't planning on sending him to secondary school, then it's neglect.

Some parents homeschool with excellent results, entering their child for exams so that they get the qualifications necessary for jobs.

But it takes time, planning and dedication in order to achieve the desired results.

Doing nothing but visiting museums and fannying around baking cakes is a different prospect altogether, and constitutes neglect.

The child may we'll be happy and we'll adjusted at present, but he will be massively disadvantaged in the future if his education is neglected, and he will very likely blame the parents.

@Phineyj I don't think she's technically withdrawn him as he's never attended school at all, she said.

I didn't want to push and pry for info (first time we were meeting up for ages) but she didn't mention SEN or anything, just said that she finds the schooling system really restrictive and doesn't think there's enough focus in schools on achieving happiness/mental wellbeing/practical life skills like cooking, maintaining a home, etc.