Unschooling

8 Powerful Reasons Why I Unschool My Kids

Nina Palmo explains the benefits of unschooling by looking at the benefits this model offers. These benefits include better learning, innovative thinking, passion about learning, good preparation for college and the workforce, and even more what the exact point of learning is (hint: it's not just to go to college or enter the workforce). Unschoolers don't have all the answers, but they do dig deep to find the best way to help their children find joy and power in learning.

Catholic Unschoolers

The Catholic Unschoolers List has been created to provide a forum for those who consider themselves ‘Catholic unschoolers,’ and who wish to make connections with other like-minded individuals for discussion and encouragement.

Fun Books

To produce life-long learners, we need to show our children that learning is not just something that they get graded on or that only happens during certain hours of the day or certain times of the year. We need to help them hang on to the natural joy of learning that every child is born with, to help them see that learning new things is fun, and to help them realize that learning can take place anywhere and at anytime. Fun Books has put together a catalog of books, games, and other materials to help you in your efforts to produce life-long learners.

Charleston Unschoolers

This is an email list designed to connect unschoolers in the Charleston, South Carolina, area.

Unschoolers Online

Here you'll find lots of links, resources, and explanations of unschooling to help you decide if this method of education is right for you and your family. Unschoolers Online provides detailed and helpful information on everything related to unschooling.

The Unschooling List FAQ

This was compiled from many of the wise voices of a great internet list called The Unschooling List. A great basic primer on the concept of unschooling.

Homeschool Parents Don't Need to Be Teachers

Instead of needing parents to be teachers, kids need teachers to get out of the way of their learning. Homeschooling is not about a teacher-student relationship. There are people who are trying to recreate school at home. For the rest of us, though, we an see the school model is broken, and we are not recreating it at home. For us, homeschooling is about the parent-child relationship.

Beware the Curriculum Mentality

One of the most important duties of parents is to help their children to discover and pursue new interests, retaining the love of learning that is almost universal in young children and almost universally extinct in conventionally educated adults. Standardised curricula, and the stultifying educational hoops that schoolchildren have to jump through, sabotage this aim. This can cause trouble for parents who have to satisfy other people ... that they are educating their children properly. Under pressure, they may slide into a "homeschooling" mentality that distorts and damages their children's education.

A Letter to Concerned Relatives

An explanation of natural learning and the reasons for pursuing this in a family.

Unschooling Basics

A list designed for those new to the philosophy of unschooling. Ask experienced unschoolers all those niggling questions, and find out how unschooling works in real families. If you're familiar with John Holt's work, but unsure of how to begin or what an unschooling day really looks like, this is a place for you to discuss, question, ponder, and become deeply familiar with natural learning and how it affects our entire lives. From parenting issues to learning from the whole wide world and beyond, come explore the issues that unschooling families have dealt with in the past and how to get beyond "school-think" to a joyful unschooling lifestyle.!

John Holt and the Origins of Comtemporary Homeschooling

Patrick Farenga's discussion of the role John Holt played in the evolution of the homeschooling movement.

Unschooling.Info Forum

This message board is designed for unschooling parents to connect, ask questions, share information and ideas, and get support.

Why Unschooling?

Does unschooling mean that your children just hate school? Not at all! Some children learn best in a classroom, but not all do. For those who don't, unschooling might just be the best approach. Children who are unschooled grow to be independent learners and thinkers and enjoy the perspective of being their own best teacher. Rather than asking, "Why unschool?" perhaps the better question is, "Why school?"

Live Free Learn Free Email Group

This group is an announcement list for the print magazine Live Free Learn Free, a forum for unschoolers and relaxed homeschoolers in which to share ideas and experiences.

Grown Without Schooling

Accompany 10 grown homeschoolers from around the country, ranging in age from 19 to 31, as they explore and candidly discuss the lasting influence home education has had on their lives. Produced and edited for the homeschooling community by a lifelong homeschooler, this documentary is a frank and often illuminating portrait of the triumphs and struggles homeschoolers face as children, teens and adults.

Classical Lite Homeschoolers

Classical Lite is a group for families that like many parts of Classical or Charlotte Mason methodologies, but choose to have a less restrictive learning environment for their children. This list is for families who see the merits in both, Classical education AND Relaxed-Unschooling methodologies— families who wish to incorporate more of the later methods in their home or have children that learn best with Classical educational methods and the other family members are relaxed-unschoolers. Those who utilize child-led Unit Studies are also encouraged to join.

Always Learning

Discussion for homeschooling fans of John Holt, whose books Learning All the Time, Never Too Late, and Teach your Own have made unschooling an option for thousands of families.

Unschooling: Learning through Life and Adventure

Picture this: It’s Tuesday morning. You and your children get out of bed and eat a hearty breakfast. You all get showered and dress, and prepare to learn. One child pops in the Lord of the Rings – Return of the King for the 5th time, looking to see how closely Peter Jackson has matched the movie to the book of the same title that they’ve just finished reading. Another child has decided to go outside and tend to their garden – they are growing some vegetables that are in season, and want to make sure that all is well in their patch. Yet one more child sits comfortably with you, in your lap, while you read every Dr. Seuss book that there is to find in your home. Welcome to the world of unschooling.

Always Unschooled

This is a list dedicated to achieving a deeper understanding of a Radical Unschooling lifestyle with young children. It is geared towards thoughtful discussion and exploration of what Radical Unschooling looks like in the early years, from toddlerhood to around age 8 or so. Experienced and new Unschoolers can discuss how they made the transition from peaceful parenting to Unschooling in daily practice, when that transition occurred and what benefits children gain by Unschooling from the beginning.

Walk With Unschooling

This is a discussion and support list for parents who wish to unschool but have found unschooling as a total lifestyle is not for them. Learning environments vary from one household to the next, and this group embraces and respects this fact. Feel free to discuss any unschooling methods here.

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