Answering some Unschooling Questions

After my post What is Unschooling? I received many questions in the comments and privately about unschooling so I thought I would write a blog post answering those questions in case more people had the same questions.


Multi-Testing Mommy asked:
Do you plan on doing this all through her elementary and secondary years?
The answer to this questions is yes if that is her wish.


Ashley asked:
Are the basic foundations of education (reading, writing, basic arithmetic) still involved?
They are very much involved in our schooling but done in different ways instead of your worksheet/textbook format.

Whispered Inspirations asked:
I have never heard of unschooling but, correct me if I'm wrong, don't kids need structure?
Kids in fact do need structure we all do and there is structure to her day. From meals to snacks, to bedtime and getting up to doing the usually morning and bedtime routine. What is not routine is the "work" she does every day. Sometimes she gets caught up in a certain topic and instead of saying okay enough of that time for say Math she can continue on the topic until she wants to switch to something else. I remember one week she was into Math and for what seemed like days on end she was doing Math and nothing else. She has the freedom to stay on the same topic for long periods of time because of the way we have chosen to homeschool. Also I know many unschooling families who children have gone on to attend university and become teachers, lawyers and even doctors. The huge misconception about homeschooled children is that they will lack in areas and unable to attend post secondary education when it is actually the opposite, homeschool children often out perform those who have attended public on standardized tests and based on their grades during further education.