Why I Concluded That Unschooling Doesn't Work When It Does

When we first started unschooling, I used to read John Holt’s magazine Growing Without Schooling. Every couple of months or so, a new copy would land in our mailbox. I’d make a cup of coffee and then settle down to devour each edition from cover to cover.

I read wonderful stories about children who were doing amazing things such as rewiring their family homes. I got excited. I couldn’t wait until my kids did similar things. Would they research electrical wiring? Perhaps they’d build furniture. I was sure our walls would disappear under a thousand diagrams and pictures. Our house would become one wonderful big experimental and creative mess. A place of fabulous learning adventures.

So I stepped back and waited for something to happen. And I waited some more. But my kids didn’t do any of the amazing things I was hoping for. I was so disappointed. I concluded that unschooling doesn’t work.

Of course, unschooling does work. So what was the problem? I misunderstood unschooling. I thought I had to step back from my kids and not interfere with the natural process of learning. Leave them alone to learn completely by themselves. But that’s not what unschooling is all about. Even though parents shouldn’t take control, we can still be involved with our kids’ learning. We can enrich their environments by strewing. Open up the possibilities. Share our own learning. Listen and discuss. Help our kids get to where they want to go.

None of my kids was ever interested in rewiring our home which is unfortunate because we could do with some extra electrical outlets. However, Gemma-Rose has been repainting the interior of our home by herself. So far she has painted the walls, skirting boards, ceilings, and architraves in our family room, living room, hall and kitchen.

I share more about how I discovered what unschooling is really all about in my book Curious Unschoolers.

And if you’d like to know more about strewing you could read my story Time for Some Strewing. (There’s an updated version of this story in Curious Unschoolers.)

You could also listen to episode 114 of my podcast. It’s called All About Strewing.

In the above photo, Gemma-Rose and my husband Andy are replacing the wooden frame around the sliding door in our kitchen. We discovered that redecorating a home involves more than paint. Sometimes things such as door frames and skirting boards have to be repaired first!

I love seeing my kids working with Andy. He shares his skills and they share theirs. And sometimes no one knows what to do so they learn new skills together. Does that happen in your family too?

So, I’m wondering if you ever misunderstood unschooling. And have you had any strewing successes recently?