Is “Unschooling” Really a Good Idea?

[CareerJuggler]

Has anyone here actually tried unschooling? I keep seeing people rave about letting kids learn whatever they want, whenever they want — but I can’t tell if it’s freeing or just unrealistic.
I get the appeal of letting kids follow their interests, but part of me thinks most children would just play Minecraft all day if given the choice. How do they learn maths or writing without a bit of structure?
Would love to hear from anyone who’s done it — did it work out, or did you end up bringing some structure back in?

Not true.

If we want to talk about educational neglect maybe we should talk about the crisis in schools and local authorities that is forcing so many families, particularly those who have children with SEN, to home educate?

That's where the worst of the neglect is.

I think we specialise far too early in the 'standard' education system in the UK - much earlier than most systems in other countries do - so a 14 year old studying at degree level rather than following a broad-based secondary curriculum isn't something I think is positive or to be encouraged, no. You can think something can be a good goal for some people without thinking that doing it as early as possible is therefore necessarily also good.

Who benefits from teaching children lots of very boring bits of various subjects that they don't care about and don't need?
A lot of boring stuff forms the foundations for future learning. I didn't particularly enjoy physics at school. I didn't find it difficult but it was not interesting and I couldn't see any relevance to my future career. Given a free rein I probably would not have studied it. However, I ended up in a medical specialty where my professional exams were very physics heavy. Without the foundation of the physics I learned in school I probably wouldn't have been able to follow my career path. Or of I had done it would have required a huge amount of work to catch up. My youngest moaned massively about having to do French GCSE. He's now at University doing a STEM course but has chosen to study another language as an optional module as now he sees the benefit. The fact that he learned French in school equipped him with knowledge and study skills that he is now usefully applying to another language. If the petulant 13 year old had been allowed his own way he would now either not be doing that or finding it much harder.
Most disciplines have boring parts. As adults we can usually understand the necessity of pushing through difficult or dull things in order to gain longer term benefits and we also understand the concept of transferable skills. Children don't. I'm not anti HE. In fact on occasion I've been quite jealous of some of my friends who do it and can see it has positives in some circumstances. But I think children need guidance and structure, whether they go to school or not. Whilst there may be some exceptions I don't think many children have the maturity to differentiate between what they want to learn and what they need to learn. Sure, as you get older you get a better idea of the kind of subjects that interest you and what direction your life is likely to take and can narrow down your areas of study but I believe everyone should have a broad education at least up until the teens. If you don't try something how are you ever going to know if you have an aptitude for or interest in it?

@topsecretcyclist I didn’t say you ignored your school gojng dc. I asked if you gave them the same opportunities to have a broader education. I believe school and a broad edification enhanced by holidays and weekend activities are available for school educated dc too as well as hobbies and sport. So I see no reason why school educated dc cannot have a broad education too and follow what they enjoy.

What would have stopped your son from learning that other language in any event?

What if his experience of learning French at school was very negative and it completely killed any desire he had to learn any other languages at all?

The point of unschooling is the child is given access to resources and they choose what to learn, not what they're told to learn by someone who doesn't know them or their capacity.

I think you'd be surprised at the capacity children have to learn when the subject isn't dictated to by whichever politicians decide what's in the curriculums.

Do people really think that absolutely everything that's taught in schools is of value? That's really and truly the best way for children to learn?

Why? The education system has actually changed very little since the Victorian era and doesn't reflect what we now know about child development and how children learn.

@Sterlingrose Few dc teach themselves a MFL. A broad education means keeping going with what you might not like. Uni level assumes some prior learning, not giving up. All we do is encourage dc to give up when the going gets tough and then wonder why they cannot get jobs.

14 year old is really too young.

I thought unschooling would be like this: dc1 is interested in space, engineering and computers. So listens to podcasts about spaces, watches educational videos on youtube, we visit a planetarium. DC2 loves animals and crafts so we make a bug hotel and she listens to podcasts on animals, paints butterflies and we read a lift the flap biology book. Then we all go swimming. They learn to write stories about their own interests.

But in reality its sometimes: lets show on facebook how lucky we are to visit grandma in spain off-peak, or the kids can listen to my conspiracy theories then watch numberblocks.

Im curious - if you think this why not home school and set your own curricum instead of unschooling?

This is the important part. In the uk, how many kids are being “unschooled” or homeschooled because the organised education system has failed them, rather than because it’s actually the best option for them. I don’t blame parents who have removed their kids because mainstream school is absolutely shit. But it’s not the best option for all families. For many, it’s the least bad option available, and that’s not the same thing.

So did you unschool or homeschool? It sounds like you actually honeschooled your child, rather than unschooled?

The thing is the ‘boring’ curriculum is actually carefully thought out and created, it is not randomly slung together. Of course some things are mistakes and are taken out when the curriculum is reviewed.

One educationalist described the curriculum as a mixture of treasures and treadmills, with treasures being facts that are important as cultural capital (think Magna Carta, Newton’s laws, names of the continents etc etc) and treadmills being used to develop cognitive skills (quadratics, learning dates, balancing chemical equations).

Unschooling might work for some and be good for motivation, but you can end up with very poor knowledge of things that don’t interest you and not nearly enough practice of certain cognitive skills.

I suspect that most don’t genuinely unschool (they suggest some form of curriculum) and that those who have been genuinely unschooled don’t do well.

Maybe you should undoctor too and treat yourself using treatments that interest you.

I agree with this, as a forced home schooler (SEN off rolled by independent), I’m teaching my six year old techniques on how to get through the boring bits which his school didn’t have time to do. When he starts to struggle he’ll say “I need some motivation!” and we’ll play a song, switch it up, eat a sweet at the end of a page etc. A wanted Lego kit at the end of a ‘terms’ learning is far cheaper than the unsuccessful tutors and I feel represents dividends. This is what we as adults do to get through the naff bits of work (that we can’t outsource). We (his parents) must have the same brain and are teaching him the tricks we found for ourselves. I hate that schools disable SEN as the standard now whereas we are preparing our youngest to earn high to meet his needs. Setting up a new company is fun, laundry not so much. We would definitely get adhd/ASD diagnosis now but we have only just realised. I feel the system has narrowed too much for diverse minds and different developmental timelines. I’d rather not be home educating but I’m doing way better than any other option. I even manage some laundry now I’m home all the time!