Unschooling/Relaxed

Unschooling, Relaxed or Delight Directed

John Holt, a school teacher, originally used the term unschooling during the 1960’s and 1970’s to describe the process of learning without going to school.  Since then the term unschooling that is is used, is also called relaxed homeschooling, discovery learning, delight-directed and is also the main focus of a method called the Moore Method.

Some unschoolers allow the students to make some of the decisions with guidance from the parents while others impose little to no structure at all on the children.  Unschooling is meant to help guide the child through a natural learning process by creating a rich environment with many learning opportunities.  Many parent encourage their children to go at their own pace through hobbies and interests that the child want to pursue.

Unschooling generally implies that parents have consciously adopted a lifestyle with few textbooks or workbooks, and no grades, test or labels.  The goals of the children or the child and parent partnering together as a team should be the driving force for each individual child’s learning experience.

The Moore Method is a method that encourages work ethic and a sceduled learning environment.

Dr. Mary Hood advocates teaching each child completely as an individual. She believes homeschooling is really just a mindset. It’s the idea that you are a family, not a school.

Living Joyfully is a site with a lot of information on unschooling and how to get started.

Written by Brenda Sain