Unschooling is a child led interest. You do not use a formal curriculum. As things come up, you address them. As your child's play evolves, you supply a supportive environment.
I never thought I would like unschooling as it does not fit my personality. But
Next year, we are incorporating a lot of the different styles we tried last year to make our own. For example, we liked the travel/vacation time more frequently than a typical school year dictates. We also liked having classes - not so much for the structure, but for the social/team building aspects to it. We also liked working at our own pace for some things and then having time to explore. Right now, DS has fit a LOT into his schedule, so I expect we will change it up again around Nov. But to me, he is learning that he is able to voice his needs and interests which are then pursued. He is learning HE has a lot of say in his education. But he is also learning that some things he has to learn whether he really wants to do the work or not.
As an aside, although we did a lot of interesting things this year, we did not produce a lot of output. Someone asked me for a work sample the other day and I had to think hard because so much was experiences this year. It's not exactly like he could bring in his sand castle from when he was learning about slurries. But to me, that is important stuff.
Don't discount the power of the digital photograph and a paragraph written about the photo as a work sample. Put some of your favorite photos onto a slideshow on a cd and you have a special keepsake documenting your year.
