Are the Kids Concerned?

Kids Need Information



So I want to share a little of what I created for the kids of the parents in my Creating Confidence group.
I think it’s important to talk to your kids about choosing something as unconventional as unschooling. 

Truth is, they’re going to bump into people who think this approach is lame. Or worse.

And you want the kids to feel confident that this is intentional on your part. 

And that it’s actually a really GOOD choice.

And, I’ll tell you, this is one of those things I don’t think I talked about enough with my own kids. When they first launched out into the world as young adults, they didn’t feel as confident as they could have. And that might have been different if I had talked with them specifically about some of the learning that was happening through their regular activities. 

Even in my book, Homeschooled Teens , where 75 young people spoke about their lives without school, Rebecca shared that while she loved her teen years - she didn’t realize she was unschooling. She thought her mom had just given up on the traditional homeschooling approach. 🤷🏻‍♀️ But it wasn’t until she had kids of her own, and discovered more about unschooling, she asked her mom about it.
She was taken aback, saying, “What did you think we were doing?” 

Rebecca told her, “I wasn’t going to rock the boat, so I didn’t ask about it!”

I’m bringing this up because I want your kids to feel confident.
I don’t want them to feel like they're bluffing or having to hide what’s REALLY going on at your house. 

I want them to see that learning IS happening. Subjects are weaving throughout all their activities. 

They may need you to help them identify this though!

Unschooling itself

So let’s start with the word unschooling. Share it with them.
Mention that it might even seem weird - and they don’t have to use it if they’re afraid it might be more of a problem than a help.

Remind them that they can call it “homeschooling.”

Or they can just say, 

“We learn about useful stuff” or even something like, “The WORLD is our classroom!” 

Because they can really say whatever they feel like. 

And if someone says, “Yeah, but is that legal?” 

It is! Unschooling is simply a style of homeschooling. 

And all of it - even the school version - is just a way to learn.

Tell the kids that we’ve discovered that unschooling is a way more FUN way to learn - as opposed to the schooly way of learning. AND, something research has shown us: when we’re having fun, we remember things better. 

So that’s why unschoolers dive into their interests and let the learning start from there instead of starting from some one-size-fits-all lesson plan. 

Because really, who says every kid learns to read at age 8? Or every kid has to learn division at 10?

That’s just the way schools do it. Fine for them. 

Not necessary for us. We learn it when our brains are ready and when we have a need for it!

Feeling a little... different

Sometimes, when parents choose to unschool, the kids can feel like “Everyone” knows something they don’t know.

Because so many kids go to school, they may be the only unschooled kid in the neighborhood. 

So as fun as this may be, it may feel like everyone turned left while your family turned right. 

It kinda DID happen like that. 

But it’s ok.

Lots of times kids learn things in school, then take the test on Friday - and forget all about it after that.
That’s what happens when you learn things that don’t really matter to you, they don’t stay with you.
Remind the kids that unschooling is all about helping them continue to learn what interests them.

It might help you, as the parent, to join the membership group for a couple of months because I’ve created some tools to help identify the subjects that are hiding in those hobbies and day trips you’re doing - even those activities that happen every day around the house.