Unschooling/Natural Learning

[SunnyRain]

Sunshine: it's difficult to explain because it requires a mental shift. One of these days I'll sit down and compose an eloquent response.

However, unschooling is a philosophy that centres around the ideas that:
1. A child learns in their own way, in their own time, according to their own interests.
2. A child learns without being taught, they learn to crawl, walk, talk, think, feed themselves, act independently etc.
3. Learning does not begin at the age of 5 at school and end at the age of 18, but begins at birth and never stops.
4. We don't necessarily retain, use or require most of what is taught to us externally, but what we learn through exploring our personal interests, we will retain and find a use for.
5. (requiring a total change of mindset) We should only ever really need to learn that which will help us achieve our dreams in life. Do we want our children to be like us, working jobs we don't really love, or do we want them to discover their passions and pursue their dreams?

Note: dreams, passions, interests are flexible and change throughout our lives, and it is our prerogative to pursue new dreams, learn new tricks, gather new knowledge when we want to.

Unschooling does not deny a person a right to attend classes, college, university in order to achieve a dream that requires specific qualifications or complex knowledge. However, it is not up to parents or other educators to choose what a child/ teen/ adult studies.

There are many resources available for independent learning. Google Khan Academy, for example.

There, that's a start. As I said, it takes a mental leap to consider not sending your child to school or even formally homeschooling them in any structured way.