Heather: Swiss Army Wife and Radical Unschooler

“Dear Heather,

I am considering homeschooling my daughter and came across a concept called “unschooling.” Is this the same as homeschooling? What is it about? It seems it’s about just living life and the kids aren’t actually taught anything. What do the kids do all day? Do you know anything about this?

Thanks, Tina”

Tina,

No. I do not know exactly what unschooling is or isn’t.  However, I was able to find an expert on unschooling, also named Heather, who writes about this on her blog, Swiss Army Wife.

She does a great way illustrating the best thing (to me) about unschooling: it defies a label or a definition.

One of the philosophies supporters of unschooling subscribe to is that our kids are beyond their labels (or diagnoses) and can achieve more without being limited by those labels set upon them by public schools because the more children with a diagnosis and an IEP, the more subsidiary money the school receives.

There are myths about unschooling as well, which Heather addresses in her blog post.

“One of the problems with trying to define Radical Unschooling is that there is no simple answer.    If you give someone a definition you inevitably leave some other aspect out.  Some definitions give the wrong impressions, like child-led learning.  I don’t really like this one because I’ve heard of people not offering up anything interesting to their children because they think the child needs to think of it.  Some think unschooling is simply the lack of curriculum and freedom of academics.  But how can a child exercise his innate curiosity if he isn’t given the same right to explore life and be free from others control?”

Why did Heather choose unschooling?

“Personally my son was exhibiting signs of depression in school. He’s spirited and sensitive and doesn’t sit still and stop talking much. That didn’t really fly at school. All school focused on was making him change, but really, there was nothing wrong with him at all.”

That is 99.9% of the reasons given for choosing unschooling or homeschooling by parents who choose to do so. Schools are required to teach to the masses, as Heather also points out, and cannot (even with an IEP) individualize the teaching to make the environment palatable for each individual. What is suitable for her son might make it impossible for my son to learn.

Heather continued in our discussion…

“I had to evaluate what he was learning in school and decide if I thought it was truly necessary for him to learn it all. It wasn’t. None of it is necessary and he had no passion for learning left anyway.  He wouldn’t remember it or even care about it. He didn’t need to follow arbitrary rules and learn random facts to be a happy and healthy member of society. He needed to be free.”

I had asked her “What about special needs kids?” I was asking about those with autism, ADHD, and so on who truly do have issues with learning capacity and so on.

Her reply was…

In my opinion, “special needs” is a HUGE reason to unschool! Why take a child, who is clearly not going to fit the mold and make him try? … I tend to shy away from labels, but for the sake of conversation… can you think of another place where ADD or ADHD is a problem, aside from school? If a child’s needs were met would the label even exist? I know there are varying degrees of autism, some more severe than the next, but why do we as parents, believe that school administrators or “experts” know what our children need better than *us*?? If we trusted ourselves as parents, we may not need those labels. Although there ARE great resources and ideas out there, society today has parents believing that others know what’s best for their child in all aspects of their lives.”

Heather made very valid points about using experts and books and so on to lead parents to believing they are incapable of deciding what is in his or her own child’s best interest. It’s a business these days to “help” parents. While generalizations have their time and place, when it comes to YOUR child… do you want him or her learning a general education or something that will end up being practical and useful? That is the question parents should ask and answer for themselves.

I am not an unschooler currently and I do see both drawbacks and benefits to the practice. For instance, there are those who are perceived as being “unschooling” parents who use it as an excuse to not get up early in the morning, or to not have to “teach” their kids. Misconceptions about the practice can cause stress with other family members (in and out of the household) and friends.

And as Heather points out: “I don’t *teach* my kids anything.  However, they sure do *learn* a lot” Unschooling parents offer their children opportunities to learn things that are useful and practical. Since in reality, it is always up to the child to learn anyway, this is the perfect way to describe the situation.

One benefit of unschooling is the fact that it uses the child’s innate curiosity for learning which means the child does not feel “forced” to learn anything. That benefit alone is enough to make one consider unschooling!

So what *is* Radical Unschooling? I’ll quote Heather’s blog piece to answer that…

“Radical Unschooling is less about an educational philosophy and more about freedom and not rehashing all those mistakes our parents made on us.  It’s living a full and interesting life, and not getting in the way of our children’s passions.  It’s providing our children with as much information as we can without the expectation that they learn it.  It’s about supporting their passions and going the extra mile to make sure they have access to what they need to explore that passion to the fullest.  It’s about the individual child, and knowing that he/she is a human being and cannot fit into a mold.  It’s about parenting, remembering what it’s like to be a child, and working hard to not spew the nonsense that was spewed upon us as children.  It’s about learning from others before us, and passing the knowledge to those after us.  It’s an organic life.  It just happens and it’s near impossible to not enjoy it.

Learning happens all the time and there is no reason it needs to be separated into neat little subjects.  Learning doesn’t have to be named or even noticed.  *GASP!*  It just is.  It’s happening, whether you like it or not.  When learning is forced upon children, they lose that curiosity and that zest for life.  They stop asking questions and start looking for a way out.  Life doesn’t stop at 3pm, so why should learning?”

Please leave comments below and subscribe using the button at the top of the article. If you have any questions about educational options for special needs children, or any other issue about special needs kids, feel free to send me an email at heatherbabes@gmail.com. Thank you!