Unschooling Approach Detailed

Assumes that children are natural learners and gives them resources to do so.

On one hand, the Unschooling Approach is defined by John Holt, a 20th century American educator who concluded that children have an innate desire to learn and a curiosity that drives them to learn what they need to know when they need to know it. Holt believed that both desire and curiosity are destroyed by the usual methods of teaching. In his book Teach Your Own, Hold wrote: "What children need is not new and better curricula but access to more and more of the real world; plenty of time and space to think over their experiences, and to use fantasy and play to make meaning out of them; and advice, road maps, guidebooks, to make it easier for them to get where they want to go (not where we think they ought to go), and to find out what they want to find out."

On the other hand, unschooling refers to any less structured learning approach that allows children to pursue their own interests with parental support and guidance. The child is surrounded by a rich environment of books, learning resources, and adults who model a lifestyle of learning and are willing to interact with him. Formal academics are pursued when the need arises. Christians who favor less structures schooling, but with definite goals, prefer to be called "relaxed home educators," not unschoolers.

Some questions to ask yourself before trying the Unschooling Approach:

1. Am I comfortable with few pre-set goals and little structure?
2. Do my children have strong interests in particular areas?
3. Does my family have a lot of natural curiosity and love learning?

Strengths of the
Unschooling Approach

Takes little planning
Captures the child's "teachable moments"
Children have access to the real world, plenty of time and space to figure things out on their own
Children are less likely to become academically frustrated or "burned out"
Children can delve into a subject as deeply or as shallowly as they desire
Provides a discipleship model of learning
Creates self-learners with a love of learning

Weaknesses of the
Unschooling Approach

May neglect some subjects
Hard to assess level of learning
Lacks the security of a clearly laid out program
Is extremely child-centered
Difficult to explain to others
May be overly optimistic about what children will accomplish on their own

Special thanks to Elijah Company for allowing this reproduction from their 2002 catalog.
For your own free catalog, contact The Elijah Company, 1053 Eldridge Loop Crossville, TN 38571 1.888.235.4524

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