Unschooling

Unschooling is more than just not going to school. It is following your child’s interests to get the most out of learning through living.

Unschoolers and a "Christian World View"

Do Christian "natural learners" ("unschoolers") have a world view the same as other Christians? Some of them will, but not all.

Unschoolers Online Community

This is a companion list to the website UnSchoolers Online. It is a safe place to openly discuss anything related to unschooling and our children.

Unschooling Undefined

Unschooling is a word coined by negating the idea of schooling; it starts off with a negative definition. What, specifically, is it about schools that unschoolers want to do without?

A mother of an exceptional child discusses why homeschooling is the right choice for their family. A personal look at the joys of learning and growing together through an unschooling philosophy of life.

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.

Unschooling in the Midwest

This group is for unschoolers in the midwest to offer support to other life learning families and to organize activities.

Why Unschool?

This website is presented by two unschooled siblings who have since grown up and are happy to share their experiences with this educational model. Unschooling provides so many opportunities for children to learn about the world without the constraints of a classroom by celebrating a natural love of learning. Families and children can benefit from this wonderful way of learning.

Poudre River School

Poudre River School is an independent, private school for homeschooling families in Colorado, also known as an umbrella school. PRS provides legal enrollment in a private school while parents direct the daily education of their children. Enrollment is open to students in kindergarten through high school. PRS believes that parents/guardians are capable of educating their children according to their individual needs and should be trusted to provide a high-quality education for their children. All styles of instruction are honored and accepted, including unschooling.

Unschool Sharing for Parents

Share successes and ideas and build a helpful, welcoming archive for the new unschoolers, the newly-unschooling, and the nicely unschooling.

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.

African American Unschoolers (AfAmUnschool) Email Group

African American Unschoolers email group is for African-American homeschoolers who use the whole world as their child(ren)'s classroom.

How do Unschoolers Turn Out?

As more and more families take up unschooling, self-directed education, researchers have pondered whether it is a successful learning model or not. Peter Gray and Gina Riley offer the results of a survey of 232 parents who unschooled their children. The results were overwhelmingly positive about the unschooling experience. In a follow-up survey, Gray asked children who had been unschooled for their feedback. They recounted their experiences and how it affected their lives as adults, with most saying that the advantages outweighed the disadvantages of unschooling.

Unschooling Dads

This list is a place for unschooling dads. Whether you're an advocate, long-time unschooler, novice, or somewhere in the middle, you're welcome here. This list is for dads only.

Unschooling at the Beach

A look at how taking a break from the house for a day doesn't mean a break from learning.

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.

Child-Led Learning

The term "unschooling" was coined by John Holt to mean not sending children to school. The term has been stretched and changed since then, and those of us who refuse the entire school model have taken the word "unschooling" for our own. Other terms associated with unschooling are natural learning, child-led learning, discovery learning, and child-directed learning. We don't divide our day into "school" parts and "non-school" parts, because there are no school parts. We live; we learn; we try new things; we go back to things we've loved a long time.

A Few Words About Unschooling Math

A wonderful list of things that can lead to math learning.

HEM-Unschooling

This list is for the broad-ranging discussion of unschooling. It is sponsored by Home Education Magazine.

A Comparison of Traditional and Natural Learning

This is a chart that explores the differences between traditional and natural learning. It compares how the child and parent are viewed, how learning occurs, the role of textbooks and curriculum, how learning disabilities fit in, and how various school subjects are viewed.

Allowing Your Highly Sensitive/Out of Sync Child to Shine with Unschooling

A look at using an unschooling approach with children who are highly sensitive and out of sync.

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.

Unschoolers Online

Unschoolers Online offers information, support groups listings, articles, resources, and more to help parents get the information and resources they need to successfully unschool their children.

Omaha Unschoolers

The goal of this list is to simplify the dissemination of unschooling information from informal get-togethers to scheduled events. This is also an excellent venue to easily organize group discounts for activities and events whether attending as a group or individual families. Unschoolers and very relaxed homeschoolers from western Iowa and other parts of Nebraska are welcome to join.

West River Academy

West River Academy is a fully accredited independent private school in Colorado designed for families who desire the benefits of private school enrollment but minimal oversight over their educational activities. Families may follow the curriculum and/or learning style of their choice, or may receive assistance from us in designing or choosing a program that fits their needs. Grading of students is optional and if desired, it is done by the parents. West River Academy enrolls students of all ages, including adults who would like to earn their high school diplomas. They are fully accredited by the National Association for the Legal Support of Alternative Schools (NALSAS). Note that West River Academy caters to unschoolers.