Mmkay. What, like 40%? What percentage of these naturally well-rounded kids would prefer to study everything-- the social studies, the math, everything? I'm curious to know how high the percentage of kids who just naturally like social studies is, in your estimation. Then I would certainly like to know the basis of your estimate.
Social studies is probably the worst example to bolster your argument as it is one of the most neglected and poorly taught subjects in most public schools. Many kids get none in elementary school at all. I naturally loved social science (graduate trained in the field) so I took everything offered at my school and had at most one semester worth of information about world history prior to the U.S. revolution and nothing at all about ancient history. The school offered one paltry civics course which was taught at a remedial level.
I've seen quite a few homeschool kids who are into social sciences and history. Sometimes it starts with a fascination about a particular period in history - knights, world war two, life in the Old West, and continues from there. Sometimes it starts with a deep concern for a particular social issue like concern for the environment. For many that pretty naturally extends into some degree of political involvement. If I've got any beef about homeschoolers and political involvement it would be that I'm not a fan of right wing politics and there are some homeschoolers very actively focused on producing politically active conservatives.
Keep in mind that any non-negligible number of kids who aren't well-rounded by nature means the scheme won't work well at all.
So you basically must be assuming that nearly everyone is "extremely well rounded" by nature.
That's not at all what I'm assuming. I start from the belief that ALL humans are born with natural curiosity and the desire to learn about the world around them. This can be damaged- through stifling inappropriate education, parental neglect, massive amounts of media, etc. However, the innate desire to learn is there.
I don't assume most people are well rounded. I believe being well rounded is totally overrated. It is vitally important that during childhood kids get the foundational skills - critical thinking, strong reading skills, high school level math skills, the ability to ask questions and research answers. The rest I see as pretty negotiable. There will be kids who think of nothing but biology and kids who end up knowing little. With the skills I outlined in place the rest is always possible.
My only hesitation with unschooling is for the kids who don't get the strong foundational skills because they are starting adult life with a big deficit. I agree with other posters though this is more an issue of neglect than something specifically about the educational method.
