any unschoolers here?

I am quite confused by this thread. Perhaps it would make sense to me had I read the posts as they occurred instead of attempting to wade through them after the fact.


My children are unschooled at home. They are well above average academically, though that may be more a factor of genetics than anything else. They are more socially stable than I was at their ages, going to public school, and they are much happier than I ever was as a child. That is what's important to me, that they are happy and confident in themselves. They are not behind in any subject that would be taught in school or even school-at-home. My oldest is learning about archaeology, and all the other subjects that she needs to know in order to understand the books available about archaeology (which are all geared toward a much older child than she is). There is no curriculum in the world would satisfy her thirst for knowledge. I just follow her lead, and answer her questions, all day, every day. For us, education is an ongoing dialog between me and the girls. They ask me questions and I answer them. If I don't know the answers, I know where to find them. I only offer help when they ask for my help. It works beautifully for us. I realize unschooling is a philosophy that few people can understand, it's much more than just our approach to education, it's how we live. If a parent can't grasp the entire philosophy of allowing children to make their own choices in life, it can't possibly work for that family.