Just saw it. Few issues to unpack there. Was difficult to watch. Misinformation regarding unschooling is pretty rife so I’m going to share a snapshot of my single parent unschooling family.
My kids spent their childhoods running down the beach, eating, dancing, pretending to be ninjas doing commando rolls in the garden with their mother, pursuing their interests.. They had ‘homeschool hair’, preferred to be home, played instruments after midnight, were exactly like that unschooling family, a big family taking walks that locals would eyeball, and more than one kid told us they weren’t allowed to play with mine.
If we had taken tests to assess whether we were hitting Australian education benchmarks, they would have failed most. Re the kids on Wife Swap wanting to learn, they already are. We learn incidentally all the time. We don’t specifically need a book in front of us to learn.
Fast forward to six of my eight unschoolers in university (so far), art, journalism, psychology, law (2), environmental science etc. Amnesty intern, homeowners in their 20s, talented classical/rock musos, designs on catwalk at last year’s Melbourne Fashion Week, world travellers and volunteers from North Pole region to Africa to the outback.. etc etc. Best of all they’re kind, engaged humans. Anyway, you get my point.
Just like this unschooling mum, I wanted my children to learn how to think, not what to think. I can’t comment on her methods as we are not given enough information on the show. Also, I don’t personally know her children. That matters. However I empathise with her not being able to articulate her rationale under pressure. (Sorry, referring to ‘her’ as I can’t remember name! I’ll just call her Queen).
Anyway, just providing some insight into unschooling as a valid education option because uninformed opinions can be cringe. Here’s a pair of mine in their classroom.