Unschooling

More than a million children in the world are homeschooled. Generally speaking, homeschooling is an approach in which children are taught at home by a parent. It is hard to talk about homeschooling in general terms, however, because there are different degrees, if you will, of homeschooling. Some parents teach their children at home using a curriculum adopted from a nearby charter school, for example; some families implement a co-op program; and other parents create their own curriculum, that still involves textbooks and tests, but does not mirror any other formal curriculum. At an extreme end of the homeschooling spectrum is unschooling. Unschooling involves a child learning through exploration of interests. Unschooling occurs 24 hours a day, as opposed to 8, and 12 months a year as opposed to 9. Unschooling does not involve textbooks, lesson plans, or even curriculum guides. It is a form of homeschooling in which the parents serves as a facilitator in their child's education rather than a teacher.

The 'Unschooling' parenting controversy of whether or not unschooling could be considered child abuse, is brought up in this clip from Dr. Drew on HLN.

Personally, I think that saying this "learning-centered democratic education", as one unschooling supporter calls it, has the potential to become abusive is a little extreme. I think that some amount of structure is good, but I also believe that children are curious enough to want to learn various things. I also think that part of the problem with homeschooling in general is that homeschooled students sometimes do not have a life outside of their home and their family. When children are placed in a diverse social setting they learn from their peers, and the exposure to new and different things fosters a desire for learning.

I don't believe that unschooling or homeschooling in general is a bad thing. (I mean I was homeschooled up until 6th grade). But I think that it all depends on the parent and how well they make un/homeschooling a part of life rather than a way of life.