Homeschooling Versus Unschooling

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Homeschooling is absolutely a great way to keep your children at home and teach them! Homeschooling is also known as Home Education which allows children to learn in the comfort of their home with their parents, tutor, or an online teacher. This is a great alternative to the traditional public school setting. Therefore, there is a need to prepare yourself before you start your homeschool journey.

Preparation is key before you start your homeschool journey.

As a second-year homeschool mom, I found myself getting burned out early in my journey. I found myself trying to implement the same techniques that are used in a traditional school setting. There were times, I’ve felt lost as I was bombarding myself with curriculum that was unnecessary. I did not have my niche down to the key. I found myself trying to level up to everyone else’s expectations and follow in the routine as other homeschool families. However, it just didn’t work for me!

I was seriously overwhelmed and discouraged at the beginning of homeschooling my children!

At that point, I seriously debated putting my children back into the public school setting. However, I knew that it was not the best thing for my family. I just needed to find a better way. Whatever that meant for me. So, I began searching around the Internet especially on Instagram where I found a large homeschool community. I was definitely surprised at how welcoming the online homeschool community was. It was there, that I begin learning about different ways to homeschool my children. I’ve learned that there is more than one way.

Thank God for that because I would have failed miserably!

Homeschooling is definitely a journey and not a destination. However, I truly wish that someone told me that in the beginning. I literally thought that I had to create a homeschool environment that modeled the same type of schooling that my children had previously. In my head, when I thought of homeschooling, I thought that it would be the same criteria just home-based. This ideology brought extreme frustration not only to me but also to my children. Clearly the reason why I took them out of the public school setting was for a reason. It behooves me to understand why I would try to create the same atmosphere that I was trying to avoid. However, with the online homeschool community, I’d learn different ways to homeschool. I’ve learned the difference between homeschooling and unschooling.

Unschooling is basically an informal way of learning and teaching your children.

It is considered a different type of home education method. In which, children are taught differently than in the traditional educational setting. For example, children are not necessarily taught base on a textbook and workbook curriculum. The education is more freelance where children are learning through hands-on experiences throughout daily living.

This is beneficial in itself because any and everything can be considered a learning experience. Unschooling can be very beneficial to both the child and the parent because the parents are typically becoming familiar with the best ways that their child learns. Parents are more opted into allowing their children learn in their natural environment based on their interests and personality. This is especially beneficial to the child as they are not subjected to learning material that is only beneficial to the educators of the school district.

Unschooling methodology is not just focused on the daily schedule and rigorous standardized testing rituals such as the ones in the traditional school system.

But rather, this approach allows parents to find the best practices suited for both the student and parent. In turn, this method is more convenient for both the parent and child duo. Children are much happier and excited about learning! Unschooling is a complete opportunity for families to figure out the way that they want to develop their Home Education routine for their children. I’ve learned that many parents were incorporating more physical activities that allows their children to gain hands-on experience over textbook curriculums. In my opinion, I personally found that this is truly beneficial especially if you have a difference in the age range of learners. My learners range from middle school down to preschool. Therefore, more hands-on activities make it more convenient for each learner to learn in the same environment in the same lesson.

When I’ve also learned about this method of homeschooling, I became intrigued.

I was curious to learn a better way, a more realistic way. There I realized that the traditional homeschooling method of educating my children was not beneficial to my family. Not only was I burnt out most of the time with constant printing and grading of assignments, but my children was also upset with the level of their education. They were trying to learn new curriculum and we tried to come up with a new schedule that was fitting for our family which was not convenient. Now looking back, I realize that I was trying to implement the same practices as in the traditional school system at home in our home setting.

I’ve found that there is freedom in unschooling.

You can homeschool your child in the way that is best for your family. Don’t worry about who is judging you or who has something to say about your method of homeschooling. Do what is best for your family!
Your children will grow up to be self-sufficient individuals. They will be college students and will be able to become entrepreneurs if they choose to as well. My biggest hope is for you to set a solid foundation for your children and they will be able to grow and inspire the world because they’ll be well-rounded individuals.