When I first began homeschooling, I’d never heard the term unschooling. I hadn’t researched all the different methods of homeschooling because I honestly didn’t even know there were different methods. I just did what worked for my daughter(and later my boys too) and I at the time. It wasn’t for many years that I heard the term unschooling.
Our early homeschooling days consisted of living life. We read books, listened to books on tape, spent as much time outdoors as possible, and went to the library every chance we could.
We were members of our YMCA and one day I learned that they offered a weekly homeschool gym class, so we signed up. During one of those classes, I learned that there was a local support group that met right there at the YMCA during the gym class, once a month. I joined that group and started attending the support group meetings. I enjoyed socializing with other homeschool moms. The other moms would always discuss their curriculums and homeschooling methods, and I just sat there listening. I learned so much about different philosophies just by listening to their conversations. I always felt a little inferior when a mom would casually ask me what we were using for a certain subject.
I’ll never forget the one week when a mom asked me “so what are you using for science?”
My answer was: we just went to a local nature center and learned about owls from a presentation that was given there. We were even able to see 4 different types of owls that the group brought in! As a follow-up, we went to the library and checked out some books about owls. My children drew some of the owls, read the books, wrote poems and stories about owls, copied parts out of the book, and were making a notebook about owls. We were incorporating looking for owls into our weekend camping adventures. I had just found this amazing website and ordered some owl pellets and we were awaiting their arrival so we could dissect them. I was so excited that I’m sure I rambled on and on. That mom, as well as others in the room, just smiled and nodded at me, and started talking about their curriculums that were working and whether or not they were going to use the same one next year. As I left there, I realized that no one else homeschooled the same way I did. I wondered if I should try ordering some specific curriculums. I paged through some catalogs and browsed websites. I just could not justify the cost though when we were pretty much learning the same things, but in a way that really worked for us. I didn’t want a bunch of boring textbooks for my children because I knew we wouldn’t use them on a daily basis. So I was now feeling slightly inferior, but decided not to change anything. I was happy. My husband was happy. My children were happy. That was really all that mattered to me.
Probably a year or so later, at one of these support group meetings, I first heard the term unschooling. The moms were discussing what subject they would like to cover at the next month’s meeting. They decided they would focus on homeschooling styles. They were really excited. They made a list of methods and moms that they thought were utilizing each method. They started asking moms if they would speak on their method. A mom said “what about unschooling? Does anyone know a mom that utilizes this method?” Someone called me out. I was so flustered….unschooling? Me? I didn’t even know what that meant. I did not agree to speak. I went home, feeling super discouraged, thinking that they were saying that I didn’t educate my children.
After a good, long cry, I started researching the word unschooling. Wow! I guess this was us, to a certain extent. We were also partially interest-led schooling, but I was no longer feeling like being called an unschooler was an insult. I didn’t go to the meeting the next month because I was afraid of being put on the spot.
Over the years, I’ve had a love-hate relationship with the word unschooling. I will talk more about the unschooling myths that I’ve had to debunk in next week’s post.
Today, I just want to encourage other homeschooling families, to not allow labels to dictate their homeschooling journey. Each family is unique. Each circumstance is unique. Each child is unique. Each person in each family is unique. So shouldn’t the obvious answer be that each homeschooling experience is unique?
It is imperative as homeschooling moms that we do what works best for our family. We cannot compare ourselves to other moms and families. This comparison is so hard to avoid, but in my opinion, is what causes the most stress for a homeschooling mom. Our days are busy and we do the best each day. Our day may not look like anyone else’s and that is ok. It does not mean you are failing your children. Learning is a way of life and not something that only happens when you structure your schedule to standards that work for certain other families. Keep your learning lifestyle unique and you and your children will thrive.
To read how I began my homeschooling/unschooling journey, check out my earlier blog post:
https://learningisawayoflife.com/how-my-journey-began/
Interesting post. I have never heard that word before either. I don’t know much about homeschooling but it was interesting perspective. I know our YMCA has gym and art classes once a week for homeschooled children. I think that is good that they get a chance to get together with other kids and have the specials.
I love that curiosity is the core of this “curriculum.” I can relate and get on board with that. Of course, my mom was a proponent of the “supplemental” education; where she would be sure I understood some aspects of history and culture that probably wouldn’t be covered at school. We did the same thing with our kids; we are musicians, so they know waaay more than they probably should about music history and about a wide variety of musical genres. Thanks for sharing on an awesome topic.
Very insightful post. I have never heard the word unschooling too. The most important thing is that your kids are thriving with the methods you use. Thanks for sharing.