At a basic level, it’s an unstructured, child-led version of homeschooling.
I don’t know that there is really a definition of Unschooling that really sums up what it’s all about.
So where Homeschooling is doing school at home – lesson plans, structured days – basically replicating school but doing it at home, Unschooling has none of that. It’s freeform, natural learning; following your child’s lead on what they’re interested in.
When parents say “I could never homeschool”, I wonder if they’re turned off by the thought of having to replicate the school day for their child at home? If that’s the case, Unschooling could be the way forward because it’s so much more flexible.
What’s involved in getting started?
In the state of Victoria, Australia (where we live), you register your intent to Homeschool with the Victorian Education Department and then once approved, the main requirement is that you cover the 8 main learning areas.
Once you start unschooling, you’ll see that daily life can cover these learning areas reasonably well.
If you’re interested in finding out what’s involved in homeschooling/unschooling in your state, I’ve created a handy guide that you can download.
Let me know in the form below where you’d like me to send it 🙂
[widget_area name=”secondary”]Here are a few of my favourite videos to give you an overview.