Unschooling - Definition and Overview

Unschooling is the term given to an increasingly popular method of homeschooling. Proponents of unschooling argue that a system of public education does not allow children to receive the best education available, as it is too centralized. Under unschooling education, parents act as facilitators and are responsible for having a wide-range of resources available to provide their children with a quality education.

The term unschooling was coined by John Holt, author of 10 books on education. John Holt founded the unschooling magazine Growing Without Schooling.

This model is sometimes used in schools, such as the Sudbury Valley School.

Unschooling is sometimes referred to as natural learning, child-led learning, discovery learning, or child-directed learning.

A famous person who attended school for only a short time is Thomas Alva Edison.

Prominent unschooling advocates

• Catherine Baker
• John Holt
• John Taylor Gatto
• Grace Llewellyn
• Patrick Farenga
• Valerie Fitzenreiter

Resources

• The Teenage Liberation Handbook by Grace Llewellyn
• The Day I Became an Autodidact by Kendall Hailey
• Growing Without Schooling defunct magazine founded by John Holt
• How Children Learn by John Holt
• The Unprocessed Child: Living Without School by Valerie Fitzenreiter

External links

• Unschooling.org (http://www.unschooling.org)
• Unschooling.com (http://www.unschooling.com/), website with essays and forums
• History of unschooling (http://unschooling.org/fun12_unschooling.htm)
• Growing Without Schooling (http://www.HoltGWS.com)
• John Holt Bookstore (http://www.FUN-Books.com/johnholtsbookstore.htm)
• Unschooling in France - "to live together" and not "educate" (links in English too) (http://rama.1901.org/vens)
• Unschooling & Social Change (http://freechild.org/unschooling.htm)
• Shikshantar: The People's Institute for Rethinking Education and Development (http://www.swaraj.org/shikshantar/resources_factory_schooling.html)
• Unschooling (http://r.webring.com/hub?ring=unschooling) web ring hub
• Unschooler's Network (http://q.webring.com/hub?ring=unschool14) web ring hub