Homeschooling, unschooling, and deschooling

Parents, I want to confess something to you. I have been a vocal homeschooler for years now, but I have not revealed how radical we are in our philosophy of educating our children. As we enter the long haul of quarantine, you may find this confession helpful.

In the Huntress Clan, we may call ourselves homeschoolers, but we more properly belong to a radical branch known as ‘unschooling.’

The unschooling philosophy does not require schedules, or lesson plans, or worksheets, or many other typical methods of educating children that are frequently used by the public school system.

Instead, we guide the education of our children by their interests. We let them play at what they like, because, as Fred Rogers reminds us, “Play is the real work of childhood.”

This took me some time to get used to it. I was reared by a public school system, so I defaulted to schedules and workbooks and exercises to practice subjects via drills.

My lady wife has done much more reading and study on the subject of education than I have. She encouraged me to trust that our children have a natural capacity for learning.

When my son was eight, he showed little interest in reading. I fretted and I worried, but my wife bade me trust the unschooling method. “He’s not going to…