What is unschooling?

Kelly Lovejoy, coordinator for the Live & Learn Unschooling Conference posted this on an unschooling e-mail list I'm a member of. She was answering someone's question, which was "What exactly is unschooling? I thought it was another name for homeschooling".

"All poodles are dogs, but not all dogs are poodles.

All unschooling is homeschooling, but all homeschooling isn't unschooling.

Unschooling is legally a type of homeschooling.

Unschoolers don't "school-at-home" nor do we gives tests or grades.

Unschooling accepts all learning as valid. Everything is connected. You never know when one thing will lead to or connect with another! Unschoolers know they *do* and will keep searching for those connections.

Unschooling is natural learning. Humans are hard-wired to learn-we crave it and seek it out. When you believe that, you're half-way to understanding how it works.

Unschooling is understanding the difference between teaching and learning. That's a HUGE hurdle to overcome before you can "get" unschooling. (I can *teach* you everything *I* know about unschooling, but unless you're willing to *learn* it, I'm wasting my time and your time.)

All children can unschool.
Many parents can't.

Unschooling requires a "paradigm shift" to make it work. And it works best when you (the parent) are an active learner. And curious and thoughtful and enthusiastic and interested and interesting.

It's about trust and respect and patience.

It helps if you can step OUT of the box. If you're OK going against the flow and standing up for yourself (or at least your child)."

There you have it...unschooling. :-)
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