There Has Never Been a Better Time to Start Unschooling

Have you ever thought about unschooling but have hesitated? Maybe you haven’t quite been able to do it. What if things don’t go well? What if your kids get ‘behind’ while you’re experimenting? Will you regret your decision to give unschooling a go?

Even though I think there’s no reason to be concerned – unschooling is a fantastic way to learn! – I do understand why you might be worried. It’s hard to try something new, isn’t? It’s difficult to step off the well-travelled path. It could feel safer to stick with the crowd.

Recently, I’ve been thinking about the crowd. Things have changed since the world was hit by the coronavirus pandemic. Schools have closed. With children now at home, teachers are concerned that their students won’t learn everything in this year’s school plan. Maybe these kids will have to repeat a year of school.

So, it’s very unlikely that any homeschooled kids will get ‘behind’ their school peers. And this is good news if you’d like to try unschooling. Your kids won’t miss out on anything while you’re experimenting. There isn’t anything to miss out on. You’re free to investigate, to explore, to try things out without any pressure.

And that’s not all the good news. I think that once you get started, you will be surprised by how much your kids are learning.

But how do you get started? How about beginning with your life? What is happening around you? What are you doing each day?

Let’s start with the biggest thing that’s on people’s minds at the moment.

Are you reading the online news for the latest coronavirus updates? Are you watching news programs and videos? I’m sure you and your family are talking about the current crisis.

Have your kids asked you about viruses, epidemics and pandemics? Did you do some googling? Perhaps you watched some videos on Youtube. Have you looked at maps together to see where the virus started? Where exactly is China? How far across the world has the virus spread? Which countries have been affected the most?

Have you talked about social distancing and other practices that might help limit the spread of the coronavirus? What about vaccines? How do they work? When will one be developed for the coronavirus?

When was the last time the world faced a big health scare? Do you remember the bird flu? Let’s go further back in history. Our family has talked about the plague. And how about the Spanish flu?

And have you done any real-life maths recently? There are loads of numbers associated with the coronavirus. There are graphs and predictions and statistics. Which country has the largest number of coronavirus cases? What percentage of each country’s population is affected? How long is the quarantine period for the virus? What age group is the hardest hit? So many maths questions! And in case the numbers are worrying you, and you’d rather not know about them, here’s some good news: the number of people recovering from the coronavirus is larger than the number of deaths.

If you’re reading and talking about the coronavirus and doing nothing else, you and your children are still learning lots of science, geography, history, maths, personal health and development, and English. Maybe your rabbit trails have led you to creative arts as well. It’s amazing where we sometimes end up!

Perhaps your kids are young. You might want to protect them, as far as possible, from any news of the coronavirus crisis. Maybe all the facts and figures would make them anxious. Then how about using your isolation time in a different way?

You could say, “Shall we bake a cake?” And then when it’s out of the oven and ready to eat, you could say, “I found a poem that I really love. Can I read it to you while we have our morning tea?”

Or you might ask, “I could read this book. Would you like to listen?” Afterwards, your kids might like a turn in the reader’s chair. Or do they want to chat about the story? Or tell one of their own? And do you have any movie versions of your favourite stories?

Or you could say, “Shall we watch a movie together?” When it’s over, you might say, “I wonder if there are any behind-the-scenes videos on Youtube.”

Perhaps you could play a game. Or how about getting some craft materials out? Play some music?

How about using a file from the Internet to print a famous painting? If you hang it on the wall, will your children stop and look at it?

Do you have any jigsaw puzzles or a jigsaw app on your device?

You could walk around your house looking for interesting things. (You might be surprised what you discover on your shelves.) Put everything in a place where it can be seen. Your kids might notice your strewing and then start watching, playing, listening, experimenting, talking about… They might ask questions. You might google. You could find yourself having fabulous conversations.

While you’re busy spending time together doing enjoyable things, everyone will be learning. If you have any doubts about this, write down everything you do each day in a notebook. Make a list of the books, poems, movies, documentaries, games, cooking and other activities. Don’t forget to jot down the details of the conversations you have. If you have a digital notebook, you could add maps, graphs, links to videos, book cover images, recipes, articles you read…

And take some photos. You’ll want to remember your unschooling experiment. Hopefully, when the coronavirus crisis is over, you’ll want to continue it. It would be such a shame to move onto something else just as the restrictions are lifted and your unschooling world opens up, wouldn’t it?

So at the moment, if you decide to give unschooling a go, there’s no need to think of it as a risky thing to do. While the school parents and teachers are trying to work out how to do ‘school at home’ – not an easy job – you and your kids will be well ahead, having loads of learning adventures of your own.

If you need some help as you set out on your unschooling adventure, you could read my unschooling books, Curious Unschoolers and Radical Unschool Love.

So, have you ever wondered about unschooling? Have you thought about doing it but haven’t yet taken the first step? Well, don’t wait any longer.

There’s never been a better time to start unschooling!

Something Extra

I’m sure you’ll like this blog post written by Erin of Ever Learning:

Things for Families to Do During This Time Together in Close Quarters.