It’s that time of year! Parents of frustrated children may be looking for alternatives to the traditional schooling system. While doing research, parents may stumble across the world of homeschooling and want to find out more information.
The journey of homeschooling can often be a learning curve. Along the way, you may encounter some new and sometimes confusing vocabulary words – some of which sound the exact same! The most common confusion comes up when discussing unschooling and deschooling. While similar in sound, these two concepts are different. Read on to learn more!
Deschooling
If you are a parent who is beginning to transition your child from traditional school to homeschooling, deschooling is often the first step. Simply put, “deschooling” is the adjustment period that students go through when leaving the school system to become homeschooled. The traditional school environment is nowhere near the same experience as the homeschooling environment; children need time to decompress and unlearn habits that the rigid school environment has taught them.
During this time of deschooling, children may find it difficult to jump right into your ideal homeschooling schedule. In fact, transitioning from a rigid school day to the freedom of homeschooling is foreign to children, especially if they have been in the school system for a while. The longer that a child has been in school, the more time will be spent in the deschooling transition.
It is completely okay for this process to take some time! Every child is different, and some may take more time than others. During the deschooling process, however, there are still ample opportunities for learning. Take time to learn more about your children, especially academically; what are their interests? What subjects are their favorites? Who was their favorite teacher and why? How do they like to learn? This process can be enhanced by fun trips to the library, exploring the outdoors, or creating art. Finding a homeschool group is also extremely beneficial and can help smooth the transition from school to homeschool.
Unschooling
During the deschooling process, parents may stumble upon various homeschooling methods. One of the most common methods that deschooling can lead to is unschooling.”Unschooling” is a homeschool style that is focused around child-focused learning without a formal structure. In other words, unschooling is natural learning, based on a child’s interests.
The process of deschooling complements the unschooling method well. While a child is decompressing and unlearning the rigid schedule of traditional schooling, new discoveries are often made. Now that there is ample time in your child’s day, he or she may want to explore these newfound interests and discoveries. Overtime, these interests can continue to evolve and lead to more discoveries down the line.
For example, a child may observe you cooking a meal for the family. Say you are boiling a pot of water to cook pasta, and you salt the water for taste. Your child may observe that the salt completely dissolves into the water and may question why. According to the unschooling method, your child should be encouraged to find the answer to his or her question in whatever way works best! This could be accomplished through checking out a book from the library, watching a video, or engaging in an interactive online curriculum, such as Time4Learning. The beauty of unschooling is that it is up to your child to decide! Perhaps the simple observation of salt dissolving into water could turn into a lifelong passion for chemistry.
Of course, unschooling isn’t for everyone. Parents may want to explore other homeschooling methods, while others may have a set plan in mind. The wonderful thing about homeschooling is that there are no wrong decisions, as long as you keep your child involved during the process.
In summary, deschooling is a process that nearly every child – and parent! – will go through when transitioning from school to homeschooling. Unschooling, on the other hand, is a potential path that deschooling may lead you down. Do not be afraid to experiment and try new things with your child! Homeschooling is a learning experience, but it is also a fun one. Time4Learning offers a flexible curriculum for all grade-levels that can start, stop, or pause at any time. We strive to make your transition from school to homeschool as seamless as possible.
I didn’t know the difference between unschooling and deschooling! Thanks for the useful content
We’re happy to have helped! Thanks for stopping by!
I have custody of my grandsons, it was causing issued in public school for the oldest, which is almost 12. I withdrew him from public school when he was going into 3rd grade. It was extremely hard for him, and me because he was expected to get so much done per day, and it was an all-day and into the evening every night. So I’ve been teaching him, and also paid someone to teach him, but I’ve put a lot of time trying to find what would be the best option for him. I’ve read a lot about unschool, and I truly believe this will help my grandson axseed, and feel better about himself. I have a lot of books, I also have the books for each subject in regular school, I also downloaded a lot of things that will help both of us. I don’t gave a computer anymore, so if you can lead me in the right direction for who I could get in touch with to hopefully get one for him that will accept monthly payments in it cause I get paid on the 3rd cause im on disability. And if you could please let me know how much itIs , and get him started on unschool I would really appreciate it
Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing your story, Jeanette! Unschooling is a popular method of homeschooling. Here is some more information about that: https://www.time4learning.com/homeschooling-styles/unschooling.html
As far as computers go, many retailers have wonderful sales during back-to-season. Keep an eye for any sales ads!
If we can answer any additional questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us! https://www.time4learning.com/curriculum/contact_us.php
Making the decision to homeschool my 9 and 12 year old boys who have been in public schools for the entirety of their school age. Trying to discover where to start. Thanks!
Thanks for stopping by, Sasha! We’re happy to try and help. In addition to all the information you can find on our blog here, we wanted to let you know that we have a great ebook you can download (for FREE), called Welcome to Homeschooling. It’s a wonderful guide to help you get started. 🙂 https://www.time4learning.com/homeschool/how-to-homeschool.shtml
Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us if we can answer additional questions! https://www.time4learning.com/curriculum/contact_us.php
Nice
Interested in homeschooling
Hi Farida! Here are some links to get you started:
https://www.time4learning.com/homeschool/state_homeschooling_info.shtml
https://www.time4learning.com/homeschool-curriculum.htm
https://www.time4learning.com/homeschool/how-to-homeschool.shtml
Also, please consider registering for our parent forum (https://www.time4learning.net/) and joining our Time4Learning Families Group on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/Time4LearningFamilies/) to connect with other homeschoolers and Time4Learning members.
Good luck on starting your homeschool journey! Feel free to reach out if you have more questions or would like more help! 🙂