Why I’m Passionate about Unschooling

My name is Melissa, and I’m an unschooler. I will admit that I’m more comfortable saying that now than I ever have been. These days nobody blinks at the idea of homeschooling. But I usually get some sort of reaction to telling people that we unschool. Sometimes it’s genuine curiosity. (Really? What is unschooling?) Sometimes, it’s confusion. (How will your kids learn to speak if you don’t teach them grammar?) Sometimes, it’s good-hearted teasing by family members who think I’m just a little bit nuts. (I think she even unschools her dogs!) However it comes up, I’m always willing and happy to talk about it!

There are five in our family: my husband, Doug, and me, our seventeen-year-old son, Jackson, our fifteen-year-old son, Nathan, and our nine-year-old daughter, Gianna. We started homeschooling Jackson in kindergarten just to see and have never looked back. The first few years, we followed a curriculum. Actually, we were never very good at following a curriculum, but the first few years, we tried.

We started moving toward unschooling after reading Dumbing Us Down by John Taylor Gatto. It was great for me because it got me thinking about education beyond the institution of school. Then I read a few books by John Holt. I had never read books that so resonated with me. The idea of unschooling really made sense to Doug, too. It was a gradual transition toward unschooling. Letting go of formal academics is not easy when it is all you’ve ever known. But now, we are full-fledged unschoolers.

There are about as many different ways to unschool as there are families who unschool. We focus mostly on interests, natural strengths and relationships. More than just trying to encourage our kids to learn, though, Doug and I model curiosity and daily learning. We mostly learn by just living life: going for walks, watching TV, playing games, having conversations with a wide variety of people, going places, discussing ideas, going to the store, volunteering, looking at magazines, hanging out with friends, listening to music, asking our dear friend, Google, lots of questions, doing nothing and yes, sometimes we even learn by reading a book!

I heard a fellow unschooler say that when she is asked when they do school, her answer is “always and never.” I love that! Learning in our life isn’t compartmentalized at all. We fundamentally trust that our kids will learn what they need to know to function in life and to be lifelong learners without coercion from us, but as we have an open mind and a willingness to help them succeed.

I recently read this quote by Robert Brault and my heart leapt. Yes! This is how I want to be with our kids! “Do not ask that your kids live up to your expectations. Let your kids be who they are, and your expectations will be in breathless pursuit.” With that, let me tell you a little about the kids that my expectations are pursuing.

Jackson is our oldest child. He is a kind, bright, devoted, funny and sometimes rigid guy who loves music, video games, Minecraft, physics and astronomy. He is one of the most loyal and considerate people I know. He has taken Latin with his best friends for the past four years. With minimal preparation and a relatively small amount of formal academics in his lifetime, Jackson passed the GED and has begun taking classes at Grand Canyon University.

Nathan is incredibly fun, funny and quick-witted, sensitive, creative and boisterous. Nathan is amazing with people. I remember when he was about eight or nine, a new family had moved in next door. One afternoon he said to me, “Mom. I’ll be right back. I’m going to go meet the new neighbors.” That’s just Nathan. He also loves video games, Minecraft, music, Latin and Legos. He is just as happy playing music with Jackson as he is playing spies with his younger sister.