To Unschool means to educate your child without creating a school at home . It means to allow for the development of self-directed learning & to give freedom to your child to follow their natural talents & to learn at a rate they are comfortable with & to re-visit something they didn t fully understand when they re ready to have another go & to take responsibility for their own learning and ultimately, to be Self-Reliant. To unschool your child gives him/her the opportunity to truly learn about their own strengths and potential &they learn about themselves &that s how to become self-reliant!
Self-Reliance is the aim of any education system &right!?
The great strength of choosing to unschool your child is that it gives them the message that they have the intelligence within themselves to find their way without everything being directed for them, that they should have great confidence in themselves and that they are trusted. Can you imagine how you would have turned out if you had this experience as a child?!!
"The Teacher &if he is indeed
wise &does not bid you enter the
house of his wisdom, but rather
leads you to the threshold of your
own mind
Kahlil Gibran
To unschool does not mean to give your child total free reign and do whatever they please. There are fundamentals they must learn such as good manners, respect, discipline, etc. that can only be provided by good parenting/teaching (remember all parents are teachers - unschooling needs teachers too!) To unschool means to give greater freedom to the child as he/she explores the wonders of the world outside of these fundamentals.
And what about you, the parent? & if you already unschool you ll know the extraordinary learning experience it is for you! You ll have realized how much you are learning - not just your child! &learning about the extraordinary capacity in children for learning when they are doing something they are really interested in, learning at their own pace, and not being under pressure to perform for adults. You re also learning a lot about YOU! Home/Unschooling is enormously rewarding & one of these rewards is your greater self-confidence as you learn just how much potential YOU have too!
You ll also have noticed how challenging it can be to unschool &in the back of your mind may be the worry are they learning all they need to? &are they learning fast enough?...are they keeping up with the national average? and so on.
So &.preparation is all-important. Being prepared means feeling fully confident that you know what your child needs to learn... confident that you can provide him/her with the best resources, support and opportunities to learn it...and confident that you are the best teacher they can get!
And, yes there is a way for you to prepare so that you will always provide exactly what is needed , when it s needed! &and it s surprisingly straight forward. It s all based on Principles. There are true principles that, when applied, will provide the best learning opportunities for your child. For example &
1. Children do not learn when they are put under pressure & neither do adults!
2. Children learn best when learning about something they are genuinely interested in (and become more responsible too!)
3. Children do not learn sequentially
4. Children under 5 should not be disciplined & the appropriate behavior should be brought about by play only.
5. And more & &
These principles, and many more, are true. True principle cannot fail.. that s why they are true! If you know these principles, realize they are true, and apply them diligently you will be prepared and your child will get the best education & and the best teacher! To find out more about these principles go to our parent as teacher page.
