What are the Different Homeschooling Styles?

I was unschooled, as were my two siblings (my brother and I, the older two, did a few years in public school before escaping), and my wife, and we'll be doing the same with our children. I can say that it works, as long as someone is staying home with the kids of course - a big if for many families.

Why unschooling over other forms of homeschooling? Because unschooling lets the child learn and explore without constraints. It removes all the negative things that can burden learning - no stressful tests, no boring subjects, no dry books. Example: I read the encyclopedia article on "Solar System" straight through, until the pages were worn and torn, because I wanted to learn about it, and therefore it was fascinating, not dry or boring. Make a ten-year old memorize facts about the planets because it's on the syllabus for this week, and he may go through with it, or he may not. But if he wants to learn about it and his mental energy isn't exhausted doing school's busywork, he'll eat it up.

Unschooling is entirely driven by the child's curiosity, which as most of us on this site can testify, is damn near infinite! Curiosity can be squashed when school forces kids to focus on arbitrary topics at arbitrary hours of the day. Forcing oneself to pay attention to something one does not find interesting is exhausting; learning about something you love is exhilarating.

Objection #1: work and college. Can we agree that this problem has long since disappeared? I've never been asked for a high school diploma, and never had problems with college admissions. Demonstrate skills and you'll find work (eventually; the economy will be better by the time our kids grow up!). A university that doesn't accept a student with demonstrated ability just because she had an unconventional secondary education isn't one you'd want to attend anyway.

Objection #2: Shakespeare/algebra/other "hard" subjects. "But what if my kid never reads Shakespeare/never wants to learn algebra?" I never got through any of Shakespeare's plays as a kid, but that's because they're plays, not novellas, they're meant to be seen, in person, with the swordfights and the blood and the curses and the shipwrecks and all that cool stuff that many teens would be stoked to see. Take them to see Shakespeare.

As for algebra, it's a necessity in college, but otherwise useless unless you're going into CS or engineering. And kids with interests in computers or engineering will have practical uses for advanced math. I taught myself trig once I discovered I could use it in my little Commodore Basic programs to make a spaceship rotate and move realistically - an application for the math.

So these and other "hard" subjects can be learned if the child has an interest. If not, that's OK. A curious kid will, over 18 years, learn TONS about a LOT of stuff. Maybe not the capital of Mali. Maybe not the 22nd U.S. president. But trivia does not a person make. Having a subject you're passionate and knowledgeable about makes you an interesting conversationalist and a worthwhile employee.

In the age of Wikipedia, your kids can learn almost anything about almost anything, as long as they have the time to do so. It's a great day to unschool.