Unschooling is a learning method that gives greater freedom and allows the learner to have more control over his education, unlike the public school, where learning comes from the implementation of a very specific program (not always very accurate), with strict rules that tend to centralize teaching more on the pupil's obedience instead of fostering his innate personal interests.
Steps
Part 1 of 2: Part 1: What is deschooling
Step 1. Find out about deschooling
This method allows the child to learn in a completely individual way, stimulating his curiosity and personal interest. Instead of sitting in the classroom for eight hours a day, he can participate in interactive projects, while enjoying constant learning opportunities.
- The deschooling method is extremely versatile, varying and moving according to the child's growth. This system teaches children that learning is a constant process, carried out not within a rigid structure made up of "facts" and texts, but in a natural and stress-free environment. There is no school activity in the strict sense, since one is predisposed to learn all the time.
- By giving children the opportunity and resources to learn on their own, they are offered greater independence and a greater capacity for empowerment towards themselves.
- The public school usually tends to be a space where phenomena of protagonism and safeguarding of those unnatural boundaries drawn on the basis of social classes, race and gender occur, which risk transmitting to the child behaviors and classifications that are already problematic in the cultural context mass. Most of the boys in this way mostly acquire a mentality projected to work within a system that is unable even to treat it as a person (there are numerous stories of students who cheat to pass exams, lying to avoid getting in trouble).
Step 2. Take responsibility for the learning process
De-schooling means that both parties, the parent / s and the child, must take responsibility for learning. This does not mean that the parent must become, so to speak, the "teacher", but must actively participate in the child's learning process.
- This means engaging in interesting projects, improving the answers to the child's questions with the child (such as: why is the sky blue?).
- There is a fairly large series of books and useful spaces for parents who intend to unschool their children, offering them advice and ideas on how to deal with difficult times. Books include John Holt's Teach Your Own or Grace Llewellyn's The Teenage Liberation Handbook. Otherwise, you can take a look at the list for readings on the Self Made Scholar website.
Step 3. Learn all the time
De-schooling means constant learning. It seems tiring, but in reality instead of sitting and memorizing facts for a specific period of time, your child is constantly exposed to the experience of the world and the learning opportunities that are offered by it.
You will begin to understand what the learning method is for you and your child. You will have to make some attempts and you will certainly make mistakes along the way for your child to learn, since there is no right way to do it
Step 4. Consider deschooling and the opportunities it offers for academic education
You may think that a child who is unschooled will not be able to go to university (and that the same problem also applies to children who receive home schooling - homeschooling in English), but in reality it is not true. Of course not everyone wants or needs to enroll in university, but many do.
- Universities and academic institutes such as Harvard, MIT, Duke, Yale and Stanford are constantly looking for students who have had alternative learning experiences, because often these kinds of students, demonstrating those qualities developed within a self-motivated learning process, earns more credits than peers from public school.
- Many universities have adjusted their admission policies in order to make it easier for those who are unschooled to enter.
- If you are a deschooled student who wants to go to university, the most important things to do include the production of documents that testify to the work done, the ability to meet deadlines for phases such as the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test and Scholastic Assessment Test) and submitting the application, but also to focus on admission.
Part 2 of 2: Part 2: What does deschooling consist of
Step 1. Follow the interest of the child
The central point of the deschooling process concerns the child's learning and the direction in which it leads him. You might spend time reading or science, but if he can't work at his own pace, he'll likely be much more likely to learn that information for himself.
- Encourage her natural interest in things. If he shows interest in cooking, find some fun experiments and try them together, or let him try it alone. Cooking can teach many things, from mathematics (with fractions and sums) to developing practical ingenuity.
- If your child likes to invent stories, stimulate his creativity in writing, tell him about the different characters that populate his video games and the stories that you can read together. He will gradually learn how to design the characters and how to develop his writing skills while having fun.
- If you want to know more about an unfamiliar topic, there are some really interesting free online courses you can join, such as those from the Khan Academy and the Self Made Scholar. You can also find free ones, made available by universities on the Open Culture database.
Step 2. Use creativity to generate learning opportunities
This is one of the funniest and most exciting parts of deschooling. You and your child will have many opportunities to learn creatively.
- Check the museums located in your city. Many have free admission on certain days, or allow children to enter for free. The visit can turn into a very fun outing. Additionally, many of the larger museum complexes have an online catalog, so even if you can't go there in person, you can always look at the interesting and surprising things they hold for the public.
- Libraries are a great resource for learning. They often have projects underway and have reading groups and lectures, as well as having a ton of interesting books! Check your library's calendar of events to see what they have in store and talk to your child about it.
- If your child is interested in a specific topic and you know someone who has the right skills, see if you can trust them for a day, a week or even a couple of times a month. It could be a cook, a chemistry professor, or an archaeologist. In this way the child will be able to acquire not only new notions on topics unknown until then, but also a different perspective and feel more involved in the world of adults.
Step 3. Use fun games and projects as learning tools
If you are looking for ways to stimulate learning in various ways, you could use games and designing projects as tools to facilitate this task.
- You discover that the area you live in belongs to the ecosystem. For example, if you live near the sea, study the marine environment and its different ecosystems. If you can, take your child to the beach to observe shells and sea creatures.
- If you have a telescope available, you can use it to observe the sky at night and talk about the stars, or take a cue from the constellations to introduce it to the stories told by myths.
- Using a microscope, examine the dirt usually found in the garden and park and compare it. Talk about the difference between the various terrains and what determines this diversity.
Step 4. Answer the questions
It is incredibly important to answer your child's questions accurately. You don't need to be an expert on every subject, but when he asks a question, sit down together to find the answer.
- You can also direct him to consult an encyclopedia (or internet), telling him to check and then tell you what he has read. If he can't figure it out in 10 minutes, search with him for the answer.
- If there is no answer or no valid answer, you can discuss why the phenomenon occurs in a certain way and try to understand the answer for yourself. For example, you can talk about gravity and how no one knows what it is caused by. You could even do gravity experiments (who doesn't want to throw objects from above?).
Step 5. “Descolarize”
Sometimes it is necessary to unschool before schooling. This is important, especially if your child has been in public school for some time. Unschooling means giving him a break for a few weeks or even a month, to get him out of the school mentality.
Once he gets into a more relaxed pace, ask him what he intends to learn and how he would like to do it. It doesn't have to have anything concrete at the moment. Just present the idea to him
Step 6. Be patient
You probably won't see the effects of deschooling right away. Children can sometimes be reluctant and averse to learning new things, especially if they have been in public school for a long time. Okay, but it takes time to adjust to the new learning system and regain your natural curiosity.
- You will need to trust your child to keep their learning in check. Children are naturally interested in the world and curious about the things of the world. Even if it takes time, they will begin to learn, because they are unable to manage themselves.
- By putting pressure on your child to learn, you can generate anxiety and little predisposition to learning (as often happens at school). Maintaining a pleasant and stress-free course will help him learn on his own with greater passion.
Advice
- You can use the Zinn Education Project for advice on unschooled learning.
- Find other people who share this method and collaborate with them. It can be incredibly useful to join a community of people who help each other, with whom to exchange ideas and possible frustrations. It is also a great way to get your child to socialize with other peers.
- There are unschooled "schools" that your child can attend. If you work during the day, it can be helpful to find one near you.
- If you think your child needs to surround himself with other children, see if he expresses a desire to play sports (such as football) or if he wants to be part of a group within the community.
