3 Reasons It Is OK To Homeschool (or Unschool) Your Teenager

School break season is over and children are heading back to school. While many children are excited about getting back into the classroom, there are many others whose stomachs are filled with dread at the thought. The transition from grade school to high school can leave some teenagers feeling overwhelmed or unhappy. The social hierarchy of high school has students dealing with the formations of cliques, bullies, and social pressure to fit in which can lead your once happy learner to become sullen and feeling lackluster about school. If your teenager has fallen out of love with school, there are other learning options available. Allowing your child to learn at home in his own way and at his own pace may sound scary when you have always followed the rules of structured learning, but many teenagers who are struggling in school become happy and find a renewed vigor for learning once they are able to learn in a home environment that they are comfortable in. If the thought of letting your child learn at home has you feeling a bit wary, consider these facts:

Children Who Are Unschooled Do Go To College

            

It is a myth that only those with a high school diploma can go to college. Millions of homeschooled kids have attended college locally and even in Ivy League colleges in the States. In fact, many homeschooled/unschooled kids enroll in college as early as when they are sixteen. While they may sometimes have to go through more loopholes than traditionally schooled kids, the fact of the matter is that anything that can be done with a high school diploma can also be done without one. Many unschooled adults hold a college degree, and not because their parents forced them to go to college, but because they themselves wanted to go.

Many Unschooled Children Grow Up to Have Strong Leadership Skills

            

In a structured school setting, much emphasis is put on learning academics, but there is no focus on teaching time management and self-motivation. The students do what they are supposed to do when they are supposed to do it because a teacher or a parent tells them that they have to. But children who learn outside of the structured school environment have the responsibility put solely on their shoulders. If they want to become a doctor one day, then they have to take the initiative to focus their time and energy performing tasks and learning skills that will get them there, without anyone standing behind them telling them that they have to. For this reason unschooled children do better when they go off to college than many traditionally schooled children simply because while all that freedom and responsibility is new to traditionally schooled children, there are skills that unschooled children have already mastered. The early development of these skills leads unschooled children to grow up to be highly motivated, self-driven, and responsible adults, who in turn make great leaders.

Unschooled Children Are Sociable

            

There is a bit of a stigma surrounding untraditionally schooled children that leads people to falsely believe that they are “weird” or socially awkward. This could not be further from the truth. Children who are schooled in a home environment participate in sports, church, and community activities just like traditionally schooled children. If anything, unschooled children are often better socialized than their traditional counterparts because instead of doing the majority of their socializing solely with children their own age, unschooled children socialize with children and adults of all ages, which better prepares them for having to deal with people of all ages once they reach adulthood.

            

If your child is struggling to learn or fit in at school, then consider letting him start this school year by learning at home in his own way. Keep in mind that school is one place where children can learn and grow, but it is not the only place. Instead of dreading the school year, you and your teenager could be excitedly imagining new possibilities. If you need more information, there's this book entitled Homeschooling: The Teen Years which you may download in Kindle at $14.00. This book reveals secrets on how to make homeschooling work for you and your teen, plus, it has inspiring stories from real homeschooling families. 

Unschooling my Preschooler: What Does Unschooling Mean?

Unschooling, from the word itself, means not sending your child to the compulsory school as an educational method to learn. Unlike "regular" homeschool, it refuses to use standard curricula. This live and learn together method allows you to teach your child using the conventional way of instructing your child in an on demand basis that you, as a parent, may comfortably bear. Certainly, the interest and questions of the child could lead to reading books or doing projects and activities that may explain more about the interest. Unlike in the traditional compulsory school, the topics of interest in unschooling were not mandated because the curriculum were not dictated.

How does this work? 

My little D.C. asked about how a car runs, his daddy would give him images and pictures of the car as well as explain about the engine. Then we go out to apply what we have learned and check out actual cars and its engine. This hands on approach is a natural way of learning things without any arbitrary authority. As a parent, I won’t pretend to be an expert in anything, but the process unleashes the natural inquisitiveness of my son and allows him to gradually learn what he needs to know when he wants to learn about it and most importantly, at a time he feels ready to absorb new information.

  

A child often gets tired and stressed out doing all the things that were required by traditional schooling. In unschooling, I can set the instruction according to how my son wants to learn. However, this method requires you to make all efforts to actively connect with your kid, knowing what he is ready to learn, and finding the things in the world that might trigger some interest. No one tells your child what to learn or you as a parent what to teach. Unschooling is a kind of homeschooling but a bit different, because homeschooling teaches what was required by the school. The key here is exposure – let the child explore the world and the questions would be raised as he learns about his immediate environment.

Beauty of Unschooling 

It lies in its freedom to let the student pick the topic to learn. No one sets the instruction and crammed up any information to drown in his head. My son figured out things by himself with my help. He learned to think by himself and often times, decide what is important to know at the moment instead of just following a teacher. It is play-based, not structured, and is perfect for preschoolers until age 7. 

In school, sometimes or most of the times, kids are being forced to learn and do homeworks that they do not like. In unschooling, the challenge for both parent and child is the search for the answers. It is a learn as you go way of finding information. The choice and the control reside with the learner in all ways. With unschooling, you do not need to coerce your kid on some imposed educational agenda. I let my son take charge of his interests and choices. My role is like a helpful, supportive mom and a friend.