The difference between homeschooling and unschooling is pretty significant, Priesnitz said.

Homeschooling involves a prepared curriculum, testing, marking, grading and everything else a structured school curriculum provides, Priesnitz said, adding that this style of learning has often been popular among conservative or Christian families. On the other hand, unschooling is much freer and much more child-centric.

Homeschooling brings the curriculum into the home environment whereas unschooling does away with it all together and places the onus to learn on the individual.

“Although there are no definitions or rules, unschooled children are motivated to learn by interest and need—in the same way they learned to walk and talk,” she said, adding that children are more motivated to learn once an externally imposed environment is taken away.

“Virtually all real learning happens as a result of want, need or interest,” she said.

“That sort of learning is different than memorizing some aspect of a “subject” that is on a course of study, because a teacher requires a report on a topic, or because the information needs to be regurgitated on an exam.”

Unschoolers learn these basics through doing, playing, experimentation, manipulation and questioning the world around them, she said, adding that the Internet, mentors and books play a part in their learning as well.

via www.queensjournal.ca

I recently came across some interesting thoughts on unschooling in a post by Mary Hickcox.

I have realized over the past few years that you really can’t stop someone from learning no matter what you do or don’t do.  My middle child has never been to school or even attempted anything remotely resembling school; yet, at 7 he can read because he wanted to and he was developmentally ready to read.  Although if he was not ready, there would have been no pressure put on him to be on to be “on par” with others his age.  Through simply living our lives he has learned numbers, adding, subtracting, percentage, fractions etc.  How?  We play war, poker, exchange money, let him do some shopping; all of which are necessary and fun for him, so he has learned it.  School puts our children in a box and many times real life cannot be discovered within it.  I would prefer my children to spend their time independent and free of that box, in the real world.

Everything my kids do shares an equal value because they are always learning, whether it is a walk in the jungle, building a chicken coup, playing video games, or reading a book. We love that our children have a say in what they want to discover.  We offer them ideas and show them various paths to knowledge, but ultimately it is what interests them.  Don’t we all learn better when it is something pertinent in our lives?  I know I do and I know my kids do as well.

Deschooling is an ongoing process and something I will be actively doing for many years to come.  It has profoundly changed me as a person and there is no going back inside the box.  It reaches beyond schooling and into our lives on every level.  There is a new intensity of respect, equality, independence, and unconditional love for all members of the family.  We now know what authentic learning is:  It’s experiencing life without structured learning, and we are all happier for it.

via dissidentvoice.org