Radical Unschooling: A Revolution Has Begun

By Shalee Drake

English 10 Ms. Shelley o! A"ril #$% #01#

Unschooling looks like what you would picture children doing on a weekend or vacation, joyfully building a fort in the woods, enjoying a game with their parents, or taking a day trip somewhere special (A Revolution). ohn !olt, the father of unschooling in the "#$%&s 'uoted, ()ince we can&t know what knowledge will be most needed in the future, it is senseless to try to teach it in advance. *nstead, we should try to turn out people who love learning so much and learn so well that they will be able to learn whatever needs to be learned.( Unschooling isn&t a recipe, and therefore it can&t be e+plained in recipe terms. *t is impossible to give unschooling directions for people to follow so that it can be tried for a week or so to see if it works. Unschooling isn&t a method, it is a way of looking at children and at life. *t is based on trust that parents and children will find the paths that work best for them , without depending on educational institutions, publishing companies, or e+perts to tell them what to do. Unschoolers are free to be themselves. -ut this kind of freedom comes at a cost. Unschoolers learn the things they need in life by doing everyday things. Unschoolers believe that every person is born with a natural desire to learn. .arents, sometimes referred to as facilitators and guides, trust and nurture that natural desire. *t does not mean leaving a child alone to fend for himself though. *t is just the opposite, actually ()kype *nterview). /amilies must be interactive ones. .arents must learn to listen to their child carefully, be ready to ask and answer tough 'uestions, provide endless resources, and encourage every one of their child&s interests. *t is a family effort, with the parents learning right alongside their children. /or many unschoolers, one of the greatest benefits of unschooling is the strengthening of family bonds. Unschooling families spend lots of time learning and playing together and this naturally creates close ties between brothers and sisters and between children and parents ()kype *nterview).

Unschoolers also have a great deal of fle+ibility in how and what they learn, allowing them to learn about the (real world( by being part of it. 0hese advantages allow unschooled children to receive a superior education that is attuned specifically to their own needs, learning style, personality, and interests. An unschooler1s philosophy is based solely on trust, freedom, and love. 2ayna 3artin e+plained her philosophy to me over )kype. )he e+pressed her deep desire to help children grow and learn in their own way, naturally. )he e+plained her beliefs of respect, trust, and peace that pervades her home. 4nce, 2ayna told me a story of her oldest son, 2evin. 5hen he was about three years old, he cutely asked his mother if he could wear one of her old maternity dresses. Any mother * would know would have refused his re'uest and worried intensely about 2evin1s feminine side (0he )parkling 3artins). *nstead, 2ayna told me how she trustfully helped her son into her old dress and tights per his re'uest. 6veryday for three years, 2evin wore dresses and tights. 2ayna1s friends and family worried about 2evin and 2ayna1s choice to allow him to wear dresses. 0hey encouraged her to take 2evin to see a psychiatrist. *nstead, 2ayna allowed her son to continue to wear the dresses he loved, saying, 7*t1s my role to support my children1s choices, with out judgment.8 0oday, 2evin is a thirteen year old boy. !e loves to play video games and has a collection of swords and wants to be an engineer when he grows up ()kype *nterview). !e no longer wears dresses but 2ayna says she would gladly help him into a dress today, if he asked. 74n the Unschooling path, it is so important to always remember that one of the major benefits is that our children can be themselves on a level that most children in our culture never get to e+perience. Always listen to your inner voice, respect your children1s desires, and silence the negative, fearful voices of those around you. 0urn up the volume

on trust, joy and love9 )ometimes, boys just want to wear dresses, and Its All Good!8 ()kype *nterview). )ome of the most significant disadvantages to unschooling are cost, time, parents1 inability to instruct, lack of contact with other children, interpersonal skills, communication skills and being overprotected from the real world. 0he biggest disadvantage to unschooling is the child1s lack of sociali:ation which does not provide them the opportunity to interact with other children. /or some children, especially children in early years, this can affect their development of social skills. *t can also hamper interpersonal and communication skills. 0his will result in children feeling isolated, passive, lethargic and alone or ill,e'uipped to handle situations where interaction is re'uired. 2ayana1s oldest daughter, 0iffany, was "" years old when * visited them. 6ven in the double digits, 0iffany1s grammar was something to be desired. (i.e. ;he going to the store instead of, He is going to the store.) The smallest Martin, Orrion, was four years old at the time of my stay and he still breast fed and does not s ea!. The family of si" has been to the emergen#y room many times be#ause their #hildren get hurt doing dangerous things$ %um ing of houses, ma!ing s ears et#. Another disadvantage is the financial burden or hardship it can impose upon a family. *t is the responsibility of the parents to purchase the curriculum needed for home schooling where the public school provides it at no charge. 0his means parents must purchase books, materials, computer software and other resources in order to teach the lessons. .arents must fund all field trips, outings or special activities. 4ften, one of the parents must give up his or her job to home school. 0he loss of a second income in a two,income household can be detrimental. 0his can be a significant disadvantage and it can disrupt the harmony of the home.

An additional disadvantage to unschooling is the amount of time it drains from parents who perform the task. 3any parents don1t reali:e the time constraints involved with teaching. 0eaching can be emotionally and physically draining. A parent must be motivated and e+ercise laser focus when instructing. *t can be very challenging to create a schedule that the children as well as the parent can follow. *t becomes even more challenging when parents try to balance everyday chores with home schooling. ust like teachers, parents need time to prepare lessons, plan activities, organi:e and keep the children on task. 0hey must also learn how to balance their time while still being able to maintain the home. *t1s not easy. According to Unschooling advocate 2ayna 3artin, 7Unschooling is more of a parenting philosophy than an educational one. -oth parenting and education are inseparable and not compartmentali:ed in the Radical Unschooling philosophy.8 0he life of an unschooler is not for the la:y parent. Unschooling children re'uires constantly thinking of new ways to help them e+plore their surroundings, pursue a new desire or make a new discovery (A Revolution). As many benefits that #ould #ome with &adi#al 'ns#hooling, there are a lot of ris!s also, sa#rifi#es and o #annot su ortunities to fail. If arents are not as a#ti(e as they should be, if the arent

ort the #hild #om letely in mind or finan#es, or if the #hild does not learn well in su#h

#onditions it can bring the whole system tumbling down. Unschooling #hildren are free to be themsel(es, but their inde enden#e #omes at ri#es that may not be worth the ay off.

5orks <ited

2ayna 3artin. )kype *nterview. =>??>"? 2ayna 3artin. 0he )parkling 3artins home page. =>?@>"? A httpB>>thesparklingmartins.blogspot.com>C 2ayna 3artin. Radical UnschoolingB A Revolution !as -egun. 3adison, Dew !ampshire. 2ayna 3artin, ?%%#. =>?">"?