Everyone has made valid points.

I don't see it as assuming that the child's judgement is superior - rather that in trusting children to explore their limits and interests, we get to help them in the way that works the best for them. And yes, for HG+ kids, sometimes we need to direct that - because we can see what they need when they cannot even verbalise it themselves. As they get older they do well having more and more freedom to flex those self-directing muscles and I think this is what (to me) unschooling is. It's not that I will make my child study everything *I* think is essential for him to know, and it's not that I will allow my child to study everything that some random bunch of people sitting in a office somewhere decide should be in a national curriculum. I believe that he should be allowed to study the things he is curious and passionate about, and that it is my PARENTAL responsibility to teach/guide him in the things that will make him a good citizen (like basic economics, politics, religious view, tolerance, kindness, integrity, honesty, manners etc)

That's not the responsibility of education at all - that is the responsibility of parents. Regardless of how their children are schooled (or un.. lol )

I agree that as in all types of educational models there are radicals and to me that always seems suspect, because there is no "system" that is a one size fits all, works exactly the same for every person - simply because we are, well, people. So we are unpredictable, unique, quirky etc.

I see unschooling as doing things outside the proverbial box. Perhaps it translates differently due to us here having so many fewer options academically, I'm not sure. I do know that I love the idea of democratic schooling, and to me that is unschooling really; where a child is not forced or coerced into learning something that he at that point has no desire to learn about, that he could be guided to that through his other various interests, and that when he needs to take certain steps to reach his goals that he will then understand the process needed to do so.

Val - unschooling is not letting kids do it all and figure it all out on their own - it's helping them find the tools/resources they need to meet those goals. It's the same as for adults. If I'm not good at anything new that I need to do, I find someone who is good at that who can teach me, guide me in my learning of that thing. That is the ideal for children surely? That they do not have a view of "my teacher said" or "my mother said", but that they understand the best places to go to find the resources they need. I truly believe that unschooling is more a way of saying that we need to stop believing in a largely failing system and we need to understand that the way we find information changes more rapidly with every passing year - that therefore the way in which we prepare children to exist in a world that largely is not yet in existence cannot be done by using outmoded methodologies and ideas.

Sir Ken Robinson has some excellent TED talks on why the current education system doesn't work as it ought to. They really were the tipping point for me into realising that there is nothing here in South Africa that will prepare my children for the world they will work and live in in 15 - 20 years' time.

And that this means I need to teach them how to find answers instead of what all the answers are. (in a nutshell)

For anyone interested, here are some links to his talks:
Changing the Education Paradigm:


Do schools kill creativity? : http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity

How to escape Education's Death Valley: http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_how_to_escape_education_s_death_valley

And my current favourite: bring on the learning revolution, where he makes strong points for natural learning, where kids natural talents can flourish: http://www.ted.com/talks/sir_ken_robinson_bring_on_the_revolution

Mom to 3 gorgeous boys: Aiden (8), Nathan (7) and Dylan (4)