What Do Unschoolers Do Each Day?
Is unschooling about staying in bed late, spending lazy days in the forest, and baking cookies? Or is there more to unschooling than that? What does a typical unschooling day look like? Will it be different in different families? Will it change over time? Whatever it looks like, will it always be packed with deep learning, the kind that matters and makes a difference?
Recently, I followed a few links and found myself on a classical homeschooling forum reading a thread about unschooling. One mother said she’d never unschool because she believes unschooled kids’ knowledge is superficial and limited. How much do children really learn while cooking cookies and wandering wild and free in the forest? Surely the only way to gain in-depth knowledge is to buckle down and learn it formally from books and courses?
I’ve read similar comments before. Many people believe that unschooling isn’t enough. It might be a wonderful way to live - who doesn’t want to lie in bed as long as you like and then do only the things that appeal to you? - but it won’t prepare kids for the real world which will, one day, involve finding jobs that will support them.
It seems many people don’t understand what unschooling is all about. They don’t realise that curiosity motivates kids to learn. Children have inbuilt desires to chase after knowledge and seek challenges. They want to live purposeful lives, knowing they and their interests are important and capable of changing the world. Unschooled kids will learn all they need to know unless, of course, adults squash their curiosity and passion for learning by insisting they know what’s best for them, forcing them to do what they consider important, in ways and on timetables that don’t correspond to children's’ needs.
Unschooling is much more than sleeping late, tramping through a forest and baking cookies. But what if that was indeed an accurate description of a child’s unschooling life?
Imagine having stimulating conversations with a child that last far into the night. Or what if a child is so deeply involved with an activity, he’s unable to break away without losing some valuable learning, so he continues to work, despite the late hour? What about the connection that comes from staying up late and enjoying a movie together, knowing no one is going to say, “Time for bed!” at an inappropriate moment? And what if kids just function better late in the day? Not everyone is designed to be a morning person. Late nights lead to late mornings, but what’s wrong with that if time is our own? Of course, a child, especially if she is a teenager, might need to sleep longer, even if she got into bed at a regular hour.
Baking cookies, besides adding pleasure to life, could lead kids on some fabulous learning adventures. Cooking could become a passion that involves creative arts, maths, English, science and even geography and history.
And then there’s the forest. Why shouldn’t kids run free in nature, testing their bodies, exploring, looking at everything with a sense of awe and wonder, using their imaginations, observing, asking questions, satisfying their curiosity? Forest adventures result in lots of treasured memories. They also lead to lots of discussion, googling and reading too.
I understand the forum mother’s concern about unschooling. Our unschooling lives are good. Our kids are free to learn and do what they like. But that doesn’t mean they do nothing much at all. Unschooling days aren’t empty, a waste of time. Each one is packed with learning experiences. Even when a child is in a rest phase - we all need these times - he’s thinking, dreaming, and processing what he’s just learnt before moving onto a new season of his learning life.
Of course, there’s nothing wrong with kids spending all day running wild and free in the forest. Or the garden. They’re just doing what kids ought to do.
Typical Day Stories from Curious Unschoolers
You’ll find these stories in my unschooling book, Curious Unschoolers:
A Typical Unschooling Day
The Ingredients of a Typical Unschooling Day
An Unschooling Day at Home
A Typical Unschooling Morning with My Girls
My Teenagers’ Unschooling Days
What Other Unschoolers Are Saying about Their Typical Days
What Does Unschooling Look Like? A Week in the Life from the Happiness Is Here website
Typical Unschooling Days from Sandra Dodd’s website
What’s Behind a Typical Unschooling Day? by Pam Laricchia from the Living Joyfully website
A Day in the Life with Teens, Young Adults, Pets and Whole Life Learning by Erin from the Ever Learning website
The Podcast Version of this Post
A Last Thought
Even if the homeschooling forum mother read my stories, she might not be convinced. She could say, “But what about university? I want my kids to be prepared for that possibility.” Well, unschooled kids can go to university too. I have lots of university stories here on my blog!
Photos
Photos by Markus Spiske, Unsplash
So, What Do You Think?
What does unschooling look like in your family? Are you happy letting your kids spend their days doing the things that interest them? Or perhaps you sometimes feel uncomfortable and wonder if you should structure their homeschooling a bit more?Why not stop by to chat? I’d love to hear your story!