60 minutes story on Sunday- unschooling

I am an educator and have done very similar things in unusual classroom settings over the years. I have taught many who are disconnected with school and applying this style of learning has been very successful. When working in youth detention I got very good at getting projects to meet yr 10 standards so young people could achieve a leaving cert. !!!

It also sounds to me very similar to Montessori style teaching. When I first began teaching we ran "whole language" classrooms that incorporated everything into themes.
This meant all subjects were covered within discovery of a particular idea.
I think the tricky part is keeping up with the learners and stretching them enough.
As for further education I think it will become quite obvious what is required when if you do this style of education well.

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This is all really interesting to read about. Thanks for sharing JF.
I'm curious what age you or other families plan to unschool to? Will they attend high school or will you introduce home schooling for those teenage years? How will these kids be prepared for Uni/tafe for example if/when they want to go? Would they be in a position to apply without on paper schooling iykwim?

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Alright this is a big question people ask! So yes, unschooled children can attend university or TAFE, in theory anyone can - they can enter similarly to a mature age student by way of exams to demonstrate knowledge, they can attend bridging courses or classes, they can have portfolios made by them and their parents and interviews - it depends on the age they want to start, the course they want to take and who they are and what they've done before that point. Universities love motivated self directed learners and all the unschoolers I know of that have wanted to attend university have been able to make that happen. Because an unschooler has been encouraged to pursue their passions they will usually start to realise their aspirations and interests earlier than the traditional age one leaves high school so they can begin to specialise and steer their learning in that direction. In the end, who knows how things will look in the future for unschoolers trying to enter further education, my eldest is only just 5 so she has at least 10yrs before that is something to consider, maybe there will have been an educational revolution by then (one can dream haha).

Unschooling doesn't have a graduation date and no, we don't intend to ever move back to home educating or the traditional schooling system (never say never). You don't need to. If at some stage a child says to you, I really want to learn trigonometry or I need to know this because I would like to become an engineer or you explain that to them when they say they would like to be an engineer that they might need to understand trigonometry then you find a way that will help your child learn that - so yeah like an online course (there are so many free courses out there if you want to learn things) or a text book or a class or a tutor or an app or possibly some sort of hands on exploration if they are a kinetic learner (maybe start designing and building simpler things and increasing difficulty). So you help them find whatever it is they need to reach their goal and support them in that. If either child tells me they would like to try school then we would first try to understand what it is they feel they need or want from it and make that happen in our home but if we couldn't we would support them in going to school and they could choose to come back to home educating and unschooling at any point. I mean really, for the rest of their lives I will be here to help guide, support and encourage whether they want to learn something at 5 or 25 or 50.

There is something written somewhere that I will try to find that outlines some of the things some grown unschoolers have pursued but it explains that unschoolers seem to do well in university (or college) because they are there in the pursuit of interest and knowledge rather than a piece of paper and shows the diverse things they do end up doing. It comes down to the fact that they want to be there, so they will do what they need to do to make it happen and benefit from the experience.

Thanks for sharing JF, you are doing some fantastic things with your children.

I love the pictures you posted, it looks like you have an awesome set up too.

I will continue to read with interest!

What happens if they want to learn physics or advanced maths? don't you think that they should learn this from someone with a qualification in that area?
What about having friends/a social life/people to talk to/connect with?

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I'm not sure what you have read about unschooling to give you that impression but from my reading unschooling is very well defined no matter who is speaking or writing about it (there is actually an unschooling conference on in Australia at the moment which is pretty exciting - ALLive). At its core, it is a form of home education, if you are not home educating than you can't be unschooling. It would be like somebody who isn't a parent saying they gentle parent - some of the principles may guide some of their decisions but without the parenting part then it isn't the same thing.

You can call what you do unschooling, you don't need my approval to use the word obviously, I just disagree that it applies. And I think there would be more helpful descriptions; possibly something like "children as people parenting" or "respect based parenting" or "partnership parenting" - if you just want to say you follow their curiosities outside of school and think that is an important part of education then I do think that is just being an active and involved parent and that is the really shallow depths of unschooling, it is much more than that (yes it is a spectrum but one that begins at rejecting school).

I won't keep rehashing though, my position on the matter has been communicated and what you take from that is up to you, I hope it is something helpful even if you still disagree :)

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I don't think I ever said I wanted to call anything I did unschooling - just that the principles behind it can be implemented even if your child goes to school - the idea that humans are born learners and that they learn best if given the freedom to learn what and how they want whenever they feel it is appropriate.

I don't think that any of the material around "children as people parenting" or "respect based parenting" or "partnership parenting" really looks at the learning aspects (particularly once get to school age - as it seems to assume that the main point of learning then becomes the school rather than the family), but 'unschooling' and 'natural learning' literature do have a reasonable focus on the learning aspects, that is where my interest lies, not really in the parenting part, some parenting methods fit more naturally with unschooling than others but the only parenting method I really hold to is the "wysiwyg" method :-)

The way JF does things, are all things that parents can do even if they go to school/daycare/kinder etc (with my DD is Romans) - it is how my life was outside of school, a project on Australia (at 6 years old - was probably a big contributing factor to why I have ended up living here), an obsession with Castles, collecting barcodes from serial packets and trying to work out the code (barcoding is part of my job now :-)). Everything was a learning experience - school was not thought of as any more important than anything else.

I think personally think that 'unschooling' can work whatever the age of the child, and I would think it would lead to some exceptionally employable people, the high school years wouldn't worry me anymore than other ages if I was to unschool. I also think that 'school' does not always 'break' the innate interest in learning - especially if home life does all it can to foster it and is not driven too much by standard schooling models.

Really my only concern with 'unschooling' is the fact that there appears to be an assumption around on lots of the web sites around that if you send your child to school, you can't possibly understand the concept properly. Also that some of the great ideas about learning, and the way people learn, that exist in the 'unschooling' world don't get transported back into more mainstream education because there is so little crossover - and it is only certain segments of society that can do 'unschooling'. It is interesting you mention an educational revolution JF, because that is kind of what I am getting at, unschooling is so separate from school and in some places so disdainful about people who choose/have to use school - what is going to drive the educational revolution?

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Word of warning though, what has been seen cannot be unseen. Choose wisely whether this is a rabbit hole you want to explore (you totally do).

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I am not sure it is a rabbit hole, and I think there is plenty to be taken from it whether or not you would ever 'unschool'.

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What happens if they want to learn physics or advanced maths? don't you think that they should learn this from someone with a qualification in that area?
What about having friends/a social life/people to talk to/connect with?

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(I am not 'unschooling', but have read lots around the subject and below is my opinion)

They can talk, learn from someone with a qualification and experience in that area, just the same as if a school attending child/young adult is interested in something that is not covered at school you might find some other avenue for them to explore that interest.
As for friends/social life/etc. people who attend school are not usually limited to those they go to school with, so I don't really see it as any different myself, I don't see it 'unschooling' as an isolating way of life at all.

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What will happen when the hormones kick in and she is not so keen to learn? Not so interested in the world around her? How long do you plan to unschool for?

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I think one factor is that unschoolers don't generally lose their love of learning and interest in the world in the same way that a child who doesn't fit into the school system and dislikes school might.

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What happens if they want to learn physics or advanced maths? don't you think that they should learn this from someone with a qualification in that area?

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Unschoolers usually find ways to meet those needs as they arise. They may join some classes in an academic setting based on their interests in those areas or they intern somewhere they can learn it. It's a more flexible approach to education, but I think at the older levels some structured learning settings may come in based upon the individual.

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I don't think I ever said I wanted to call anything I did unschooling - just that the principles behind it can be implemented even if your child goes to school - the idea that humans are born learners and that they learn best if given the freedom to learn what and how they want whenever they feel it is appropriate.

I don't think that any of the material around "children as people parenting" or "respect based parenting" or "partnership parenting" really looks at the learning aspects (particularly once get to school age - as it seems to assume that the main point of learning then becomes the school rather than the family), but 'unschooling' and 'natural learning' literature do have a reasonable focus on the learning aspects, that is where my interest lies, not really in the parenting part, some parenting methods fit more naturally with unschooling than others but the only parenting method I really hold to is the "wysiwyg" method :-)

The way JF does things, are all things that parents can do even if they go to school/daycare/kinder etc (with my DD is Romans) - it is how my life was outside of school, a project on Australia (at 6 years old - was probably a big contributing factor to why I have ended up living here), an obsession with Castles, collecting barcodes from serial packets and trying to work out the code (barcoding is part of my job now :-)). Everything was a learning experience - school was not thought of as any more important than anything else.

I think personally think that 'unschooling' can work whatever the age of the child, and I would think it would lead to some exceptionally employable people, the high school years wouldn't worry me anymore than other ages if I was to unschool. I also think that 'school' does not always 'break' the innate interest in learning - especially if home life does all it can to foster it and is not driven too much by standard schooling models.

Really my only concern with 'unschooling' is the fact that there appears to be an assumption around on lots of the web sites around that if you send your child to school, you can't possibly understand the concept properly. Also that some of the great ideas about learning, and the way people learn, that exist in the 'unschooling' world don't get transported back into more mainstream education because there is so little crossover - and it is only certain segments of society that can do 'unschooling'. It is interesting you mention an educational revolution JF, because that is kind of what I am getting at, unschooling is so separate from school and in some places so disdainful about people who choose/have to use school - what is going to drive the educational revolution?

I am not sure it is a rabbit hole, and I think there is plenty to be taken from it whether or not you would ever 'unschool'.

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It doesn't sound like we disagree, the concepts and ideas behind it can be applied if a child attends school and I've said that many times (including mentioning that this is where we were at previously as a family). I was merely correcting Ginger's statement that she unschools out of school hours. I don't think it is impossible to understand from outside of it, I do think it is more difficult to; that is just my experience from last year to this year, it has been a big shift in our family from knowing to doing.

I found it like a rabbit hole, especially from unschooling to radical unschooling, that's all any of this is; just sharing my experience.

One question for you JF (if you don't mind), it may have been asked and I've missed it, if one of your children wanted to go to school, would you be happy for them to give it a go?

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What happens if they want to learn physics or advanced maths? don't you think that they should learn this from someone with a qualification in that area?
What about having friends/a social life/people to talk to/connect with?

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Experts can be found in far more places than school. But no, I don't think they should learn in any particular way, that's kind of the point.

As for the last question; those are not concerns we have had to face. We are part of a home education co-op that involves 22 families (each with between 1 and 4 children) and weekly themed gatherings. Yesterday we went on a nature walk where they ran around and climbed trees, one became the headquarters for fairy adventures. There are also weekly park dates open to all home educators in the area or we have friends over or go to their house or go somewhere together. There are organised excursions, we went to the fire station a few weeks back and there is a farm experience coming up soon. There are camps and conferences, I've mentioned ALLive is currently in Australia. There is also another co-op beginning near my area starting in a few weeks that we might check out and another a bit further out where we know some people. There is a Facebook group and email list that informs home educators of classes, events, themed days and excursions within their area that we subscribe to. We attend what interests us.

Just earlier this week Heaven's DDs and mine were exchanging video messages because they wouldn't be seeing each other this week (we usually see them most weeks as they are part of our co-op). Last week they were at our house creating this beautiful piece of art (totally just wanted to share that because I think it turned out stunning haha).

ETA: and there is also all the other sorts of things schooled children attend such as sport or art or music or dance. And the internet!! I know a lot of home educating children connect with others via skype and online gaming as teens.

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One question for you JF (if you don't mind), it may have been asked and I've missed it, if one of your children wanted to go to school, would you be happy for them to give it a go?

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I don't think anyone specifically asked but I did answer it up above: If either child tells me they would like to try school then we would first try to understand what it is they feel they need or want from it and make that happen in our home but if we couldn't we would support them in going to school and they could choose to come back to home educating and unschooling at any point. I mean really, for the rest of their lives I will be here to help guide, support and encourage whether they want to learn something at 5 or 25 or 50.

That's a great attitude to have about it!

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What will happen when the hormones kick in and she is not so keen to learn? Not so interested in the world around her? How long do you plan to unschool for?

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That doesn't always happen. Didn't for me - but I self-taught myself a lot in those years. As a teacher, I see children keen to learn. And those turned off by the school process, but still learn outside of school (like me). Or those so turned off by school they will never choose to learn again because of the negative connatations. Not to do with hormones. Who honestly is disinterested in life? Rather than defeated by the system.

At leadt with unschooling, you get positive feelings, so lifelong learning is encouraged even if there is a blip.

I can see that you think that you're doing the best thing for them. I still strongly disagree.
Can I ask you what your dh thinks about it all? Does this mean that you are planning to not have paid employment for the next few years?

Ginger, can I ask why you strongly disagree with unschooling? Do you also disagree with home schooling that follows a structure? What research have you done that supports your stance on education? (Not trying to cause trouble, as a parent who hasn't yet had children start in school I am genuinely curious).

JF thank you for all the info you have shared, you have been very generous with your time in the detailed responses! The only question I have is whether your entire day from waking to bed is spent unschooling, or do you have breaks within the day where the kids go and jump on the trampoline or ride their bikes or whatever? What I mean to ask is, do you have structured learning times or do you just follow the day and see how it goes? I hope that makes sense...

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I can see that you think that you're doing the best thing for them. I still strongly disagree.
Can I ask you what your dh thinks about it all? Does this mean that you are planning to not have paid employment for the next few years?

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Sure, ask away, I am happy to answer most anything. I do feel a bit weird answering for him but he has read this thread and expressed how proud he is of my ability to communicate about it and given me the green light so here goes. His opinion is very important to me and I wouldn't be doing this without his support. He basically thinks it is brilliant similar to the way I do and is involved as much as possible. It was something we researched, discussed and decided together. He is very thankful that our girls are not tied to a school schedule particularly because he usually starts work at 3pm and so would miss out on seeing them a whole lot of the week. On the opposite side of that, it means he is able to have a very active role in it all and can attend most of the co-op gatherings too so it works really well for us in that sense. He enjoys having so much family time to share his passions with the girls. We love our life; it is busy but not rushed and it is happy and peaceful and fun.

On the other question; no I don't intend to have paid employment for the next however long and I also have not had paid employment the previous 5 years, since before DD1 was born. I'm not sure if you were wondering his opinion about that too but it has never been an issue, he values and appreciates the things that I do for our family and sees that as more important than having another paycheck at this point in our lives (his words).

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Ginger, can I ask why you strongly disagree with unschooling? Do you also disagree with home schooling that follows a structure? What research have you done that supports your stance on education? (Not trying to cause trouble, as a parent who hasn't yet had children start in school I am genuinely curious).

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I strongly disagree with unschooling because I think it is really unfair on kids not to let them experience going to school. I think it socially isolates them and I think they are missing out. Yes, I also disagree with home schooling, except for in some particular circumstances. By research, do you mean google research? Or are you asking if I have studied education at university?

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JF thank you for all the info you have shared, you have been very generous with your time in the detailed responses! The only question I have is whether your entire day from waking to bed is spent unschooling, or do you have breaks within the day where the kids go and jump on the trampoline or ride their bikes or whatever? What I mean to ask is, do you have structured learning times or do you just follow the day and see how it goes? I hope that makes sense...

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It was a lucky day for there to be an unschooling thread because my girls are enjoying time with Grandma and I do love to write and talk about life and learning so really it is my pleasure to share and I will continue to answer questions as best I can, the rate of response might slow down very shortly though (enjoying a night with my partner once he gets in from work and then the kids will be back tomorrow morning).

Our entire day is spent unschooling, our entire life is - from wake up to bed we are taking advantage of opportunities to learn and grow (and even in our dreams, I have the best dreams). There is no formal structured forced learning so nothing to have a break from. When we are on the trampoline we are unschooling, when we ride bikes we are unschooling, when we cook or clean or chat and joke or have tickle fights that is all part of unschooling. Whatever we are doing is unschooling. We do just follow the day and see where it goes but in a very intentional way, we do try to make the most of our days, make them purposeful and meaningful (but that could be laying in eating pancakes, nurturing relationships is big meaningful). There is no distinction between life and learning, we do both together all the time. We learn through our life and we build a life that inspires us to learn. Does that answer the question?

Our trampoline and bikes do get used everyday, although DD1 prefers her skateboard :)

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I strongly disagree with unschooling because I think it is really unfair on kids not to let them experience going to school. I think it socially isolates them and I think they are missing out. Yes, I also disagree with home schooling, except for in some particular circumstances.

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The same could be said about any child. My children do things others might not. Children in some schools would miss out on things done in other schools and vice versa. There is no cookie cutter life that everybody gets to experience exactly the same (and how brilliant is that). It does nobody good to focus on what they are missing out on; "comparison is the thief of joy" -- Theodore Roosevelt. School can also be socially isolating, being surrounded by people is not the same as being socially nurtured.

My ds has a specialist Indonesian teacher who has lived in Indonesia and whose husband is Indonesian. This is the sort of teaching and learning that you are not letting your kids experience.

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My ds has a specialist Indonesian teacher who has lived in Indonesia and whose husband is Indonesian. This is the sort of teaching and learning that you are not letting your kids experience.

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Lots of kids don't experience that though. Where I went to school I had a French teacher for a few years, she was not at all a great teacher and I barely learnt any of the language. I've never again learnt another language. The opportunity your DS has won't be available to many children that do go to mainstream schooling, and other kids will have opportunities that your DS doesn't - ability to work closely with animals, learn about farming, etc.

Also, this is only a fantastic opportunity if it's something the kids are actually interested in. Maybe your DS is, and it will help him in future by making him more employable overseas. If it were me though, I wouldn't care who my Indonesian teacher was. I'd learn it because I had to, but language doesn't interest me. It'd be a total wasted opportunity.

Unschooling parents are in a position to recognise this and pursue the opportunities that do matter to their children. If I were an unschooler and my children expressed an interest in Indonesian, I'd teach them everything I could through my own research, and I would seek an expert for tutoring or similar to teach what I couldn't.

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Unschooling parents are in a position to recognise this and pursue the opportunities that do matter to their children. If I were an unschooler and my children expressed an interest in Indonesian, I'd teach them everything I could through my own research, and I would seek an expert for tutoring or similar to teach what I couldn't.

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Or maybe an unschooling parent would go and take an extended holiday there. I certainly can't see that it is a restrictive approach at all. In fact if different languages are the thing, schools are quite restrictive in that they limit to two or three at most and they may not be the ones of most interest to your child for whatever reason (family connections, interest in specific place etc).

How would my ds even know that there was a place called Indonesia in the first place if he was unschooled? All he would know would be our suburb! How would he express an interest in Indonesia if he never even knew it existed? His teacher has been wonderful and introduced him to things I never could have. That is such a valuable experience for him!

My DD is only 2.5 and knows a little about Germany. This is because four of her great-grandparents are German and lived in a German-settled town that we regularly visit. There is any number of ways that various interests can crop up, kids pick up on tiny little details if it interests them. Maybe she'll see a picture in the newspaper I'm reading and ask about it. Maybe it's the Malaysian plane thing so I tell her, and maybe this leads to a conversation about Malaysia, or planes and aviation, how the black box works etc (I'm thinking older here, not 2.5!).

And we do exactly the same thing here outside of school hours. My kids are constantly learning and following their interests. They also get to go to school though.

I think that's fine. It's what we do (will do when the kids are at school age) but I in no way go in to it to the level an unschooler would. Because I'll be at work and they'll be at school, we just won't have the time to pursue these types of interests the way an unschooler could.

What about all the fun stuff you used to get up to at school? The laughter and the mischief with your friends. Your kids will never have those memories.

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How would my ds even know that there was a place called Indonesia in the first place if he was unschooled? All he would know would be our suburb! How would he express an interest in Indonesia if he never even knew it existed? His teacher has been wonderful and introduced him to things I never could have. That is such a valuable experience for him!

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I'm getting the impression from this post you haven't read some of my previous replies because they address this notion and that does make me less inclined to address things further. One in particular was about strewing in response to a question you asked me about introducing things to our children. Strewing is essentially leaving things in your child's path to discover; it could be anything from books to music to artwork, anything. An unschooling parents role is to ensure a child is surrounded by rich and interesting and varied things to discover. We have a map and a globe and an atlas. We play global music. We bring art from many lands and cultures into our home. I myself know another language. Why would all a child ever know about be their suburb? That sounds like an incredibly sad environment for a child to grow up in with or without school.

There are many places to learn a language outside of school. There are online programs, there are physical programs run out of language schools (in and out of school hours, some specifically for home educators and others not), there is family and friends and of course, there is the wonderful opportunity to immerse yourself in an entire culture and learn from actually visiting a place for an extended period. Schools do not have the monopoly on experts or learning, they are one option in the sea of many.

I've read what you've written, don't worry. I'm just finding the whole thing incredibly hard to believe. I think what you're doing probably works quite well with children the age of yours, but I think you will start running into problems over the next few years. I think they will get bored and at some stage wonder why you've stopped them from enjoying the experience of going to school and having meaningful connections with their peers and the wider community

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What about all the fun stuff you used to get up to at school? The laughter and the mischief with your friends. Your kids will never have those memories.

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I mentioned my girls and Heaven's girls were video messaging each other earlier this week. They laugh, they get up to mischief, they once (along with some other friends too) exploded a room in my house with playdough and waterbeads and coloured rice so badly that I shut the door on it and didn't face it for 3 days lol. I also mentioned that at our co-op yesterday (there was about 20 children) my DD and some other friends there were off making a fairy headquarters inside a tree they climbed. They played tiggy, they looked for tadpoles. My daughters spend time with other kids frequently and they could more often too, there is plenty of things we don't attend because they also like some time just at home doing their own thing or with their family. They are just as capable of making memories as anybody else, "it's not where but who you are with that matters" - school is not a prerequisite for laughing mischievous memories.

What is to stop them from playing on their wii all day, if that's where their interest leads them?

Ginger out of interest do you have close family or friends who unschool? Have you first hand experience of the 'problems' with unschooling?

No. I don't know anyone that unschools.

Wow a little sad at the lack of respect of choice in this thread, something I haven't missed while being off Bellybelly!

JF you explain yourself very well, I've been informed and inspired by your words. My family has had some huge ups and downs with schooling. I have often thought that I'd like to homeschool but m DH doesn't agree. Does that mean he can't see it's value no way. I feel that we unschooled the children until they were of school age and we use a lot of those principles you mentioned to guild and enable their interests as much as possible outside of school. We are so beautifully fortunate that our school is a pilot school for a new teaching system. And from what you have said it uses a lot of the I unschooling approaches. We call it discovery learning. Where the children are given an exciting box of information and they take from it what they want and take their learning In whatever direction they want. This term was 'out of space" and wow the different places the kids have ended up is amazing. And best thing they share they info with each other so they are learning the skills of how important their peers are as well as adults!

ANY ANY ANY way a child is raised, happily, engaged and excited to learn works for me!

I agree Tegam, very sad to see the lack of respect and understanding of people's choices..I thought BB was a place that we could all come and talk and ask for advice and learn from each other and support one another and not have to defend our decisions as parents.

I have learnt a lot from this thread and it has definitely made me do some serious thinking so thank you to everyone who has spent so much time in participating!!

I am very interested in unschooling and this thread is the first I have ever heard of it to be honest but it sounds absolutely fantastic and I will definitely be reading more into it - although practically speaking it would be near on impossible to implement wholly in our family a lot of the principles that have been discussed are appealing and could be applied in a limited fashion outside of school!

Unschooling sounds like lots of fun, I wish I was unschooled :(

JF thanks for all the fabulous info.

I actually like the to and fro of this discussion because it's essentially the debate raging in my head. As I have posted before, I'm struggling with school for dd. it's only her first term, but I have already had dd say things like 'I don't like reading', writing is too tricky, I just want to draw and not do xxx'. This is from a child who can read words already, has excellent writing and loves doing book work.

From a family perspective I hate the rushed mornings, and the ratty tired afternoons. I am not able to participate in dd's learning like I want to be because she is out of the house so much.

I love the school and the learning philosophy it has (very emilio reggio) but I don't think school is for every child or every family. To have a blanket yes or no attitude to school/unschooling denies the variety of family and child experiences.

Am I going to homeschool? Not right now, but it's a wait and see thing for me. I will see how dd goes. i also disagree with the idea of 5 year olds playing largely unsupervised because they tend to need help negotiating social situations still.

I recognise school is a gift and not everyone has the privilege of free education like australia. But I also recognise it is an old institution that has limitations, and it does not fit every child.

I have really enjoyed sharing and I'm glad others have enjoyed my words too. Thank you for all the kind words, respect, understanding but especially questions! They help me too, to cement and solidify my thoughts as I try to communicate and explain them to others. I appreciated what you said Arcadia, I don't believe unschooling (or homeschooling) would suit every family; some couldn't, some shouldn't and some wouldn't. If somebody is not into the idea then that's not going to be a good choice for them and their family. I think there will always be a place for schools within society and therefore they should be brilliant.

I share not to sway the world but because many people are simply unaware of their options and choices; and whatever they decide after hearing my (or others) thoughts then at least they are making a more informed decision. They have words and ideas they can further research and consider. They are making an intentional active choice rather then operating under an assumed necessity. And that was me, I was unaware and I have so much gratitude for the person who helped me understand my options (thank you Heaven). I think BB to me has always been about that, understanding our choices and our rights, empowering people with knowledge to make informed decisions and that is what I hope I have contributed in this thread :)

As an aside the 60mins episode will feature Dayna Martin and her family. They actually flew over to America to interview and shoot within their home. I think there will also be at least one Australian family, they did do a call out in some of the groups I am within for those interested in interviewing and I assume they were able to find someone. I will be watching with a hopeful heart.

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And that was me, I was unaware and I have so much gratitude for the person who helped me understand my options (thank you Heaven).

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Nawww you're so lovely. Come to me for all your crazy ideas! LOL. It is just such a freeing decision for me (homeschooling that is, I'm not sure if I'd call myself an unschooler, I don't know, we do a lot of natural learning and I like that term better). I am just loving life, we all are. There is no stress, or pressure, or rush and my kids are thriving. That's the kind of life I always wanted. I have always been about doing what works, and this is what works for our family.

I'm going to be upfront and say what I think you already know :) I'm not a fan on homeschooling or unschooling at all. However, what you do with regards to your children's education is your business. I respect your choices, even if I don't agree with them.

I do have a couple of genuine questions though. I'm not wanting a debate. I'm just honestly curious. So here goes...

One of the issues I have is that in many homeschool environments I see (particularly those which are religion based) children are 'kept from' those who are different. Even when it's not a conscious choice on the parents' part, they naturally spend the vast majority of their time with people who have the same attitudes/backgrounds as them (ie. their friends and family). Socialisation involves mixing with people who are your polar opposite, people you don't like and who don't like you, people who will antagonize you and make your life difficult and learning how to thrive in that environment. School, like life, is a huge melting pot of personalities, beliefs, values, backgrounds, attitudes, behaviours, ect. When you go there, you learn how to negotiate, and thrive in that every day. When I hear homeschoolers say, "little Joey isn't missing out on socialisation because we play with friends, or go to a homeschool co-op, etc every week", my immediate thought is that little Joey is missing out by not co-existing with people who don't like him, or who don't share his attitudes on life. Joey is being brought up in a protective social bubble. A controlled environment masquerading as educational freedom. How do you allow for this?

My second question is, what would you do if your child/ren turned around and blamed your educational choices for them for them not being able to pursue a career path they wanted to pursue?? I realise this can happen to any parent, whether they homeschool or not, but some of the homeschooling parents I have come across (albeit mostly in the media) are as dumb as lumps and couldn't teach a dog to sit (NOT REFERRING TO YOU JF :lol: ) I imagine their children are going to be woefully unprepared for formal tertiary study.

Wow n2l I don't think I have ever seen a homeschoolers irl or on tv that seems dumb......


I wonder about little things... Our school doesn't have tables and chairs..... What's high school going to be like going from such informal dynamic learning to traditionally boring and structured classrooms.....

N2l my children could blame me for not sending them to a top private school or being homeschooled. I think if your kids have that sort of resentment towards you then something has gone wrong in your relationship well before then :(