BEDA day two: Unschooling vs Homeschooling

So, after posting my "I have returned from the land of dead bloggers" post, I got a comment asking me more about homeschooling. I promised that I would have a post up, detailing my thoughts on said subject, and here it is.

A common misconception is that homeschooling and unschooling are the same thing. I have had conversations like this:

"What school do you go to?"
"I'm unschooled, so I don't go to school."
"Oh! So, you're homeschooled!"

At which point, I have to decide if setting the record straight is worth the feeling of ripping my hair out by it's roots.

Here's the difference:

Homeschooling:

- Curriculum is used
- Is simply a way of learning
- Depends, but projects are usually graded
- Mom or Dad acts as "teacher"
- Children learn what they are told to learn
- Essentially, this is "school at home"

Unschooling:

- No curriculum
- Is a way of learning and a lifestyle philosophy
- No grades, tests, "homework"
- Mom and Dad act as guidance so that the kids can teach themselves
- Children learn what they want to learn, when they want to learn it
- Essentially, this is life-long-learning

Does that makes sense? Do I need to elaborate further? All right then.

In some, (most, I think) but not all U.S. states unschooling is perfectly legal. There are no compulsory schooling laws, and for that, we should all be thankful. There's no compulsory working law that says "everyone, once they reach X age must go into work in a factory" so why should there be one that makes going to factory schooling compulsory?

I digress.


Unschooling is a lifestyle where children of all ages are counted as just as important as adults, where at the end of the day the goal is to have lived free, not be fed a mash of information that you will never use again in your life, unless you go into a specific field.


The previously mentioned commenter asked how I would get my high school diploma.

Well, I'm not going to. I don't feel I need one. However, if I did, I would have to get my GED. I would do that by studying up and taking the test, like everyone else.
I can get my GED at any time I want, so it's not like if I don't get it TODAY, I'll never get it.

Usually, after getting asked about my GED, I get asked about college.
Colleges LOVE unschoolers. We are self-motivators, we are free thinkers, and those things are what colleges like.
How would I get in?
I would take the entrance exam. Just like everyone else.
If they needed a GED, I would get a GED. Just like everyone else.
Or, I could take courses at a community college and then transfer over to a larger school when I had enough credits. Just like anyone else can do.

The last question I was asked in the comment I keep referencing back to was "What happens if you have a falling out with whoever is teaching you at home?"

I have never been asked that before.
I have been asked if I am Amish, however. Go figure.

Anyway, in answer to that question, I don't really know.

My dad, who moved out of my house when I was nine has always been a supporter of unschooling, in spite of his being a high school teacher.
Both my moms (one biological, one not) have been amazing, helping me along my path, supporting me in every way, and overall being the two most fantastic womyn I could hope to call "Mom".

Last week, my dad told me that he didn't support my lifestyle, that he thought I wasn't independent, that he thought the business I'm starting will fail, that he essentially thinks that I am shooting myself in the foot for later in life.

I explained to him, just as I have explained to you, all about unschooling.
I thought he understood. I thought he had supported me for years. I guess not.

I know plenty of grown unschoolers who live rich, varied lives that don't look like the mainstream way. They are all amazing people, their life paths just don't follow the typical direction. They travel, own their own businesses, give speeches, make music, and all live perfectly full lives without school.

He seems to think that there is one life path, get GED/ high school diploma, get fast-food/checkout-clerk job, college, graduate, get job in area of degree, move up corporate ladder, (Get married, one assumes is in her at some point, dunno when), set aside money, keep moving up corporate ladder, retire, die.

I wish he could see that I am doing with my life what is right for me, instead of trying to make myself fit into the conventional world.

Not everyone is the same, why should our lives look like the same?

~Whimsy

P.S. Any more questions? I'd be more than happy to do a part two. I just don't know what is interesting to the general public. xD It's my life, see, I find it all interesting.