What is unschool and why we love it.
What is unschool and why we love it
Feb 24
We left for Mexico a month ago with no schoolwork, no opportunities to zoom with our kids’ teachers, and no plan for their learning. And we were not worried about it one bit. It literally didn’t even cross our minds to buy any kind of book before we left, as we were planning to unschool.
As someone who dropped out of high school in grade 10, and got into university 3 years later without a high school diploma, I’ve learnt that our school system isn’t all that it’s chalked up to be. Hence why I was not too worried about our kids missing a few months of school. Somehow I became a high school teacher without ever graduating from high school myself (part of my inverted life). I also spent 2 years as a very creative online teacher specializing in personalizing students’ learning to their unique needs, abilities and interests, which has helped me understand the many ways kids can learn. I still value education and am thankful for our what we have in Canada, however I am really starting to see the value and beauty of unschool
WHAT IS UNSCHOOL?
Unschool is exactly what it sounds like. It is the opposite of school. It involves learning through life. It gives children the opportunity to direct their own learning, at their own pace, without the rigid structures of formal education. Instead of following curriculum, kids learn in unique settings that foster their natural curiosity about the world. This grows into inquiry that, if supported well, turns into more formal learning opportunities.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
They choose books they want to read. They speak to people they want to learn from (community members, people who work where they visit, family, friends, etc.). They visit new places (beaches, stores, restaurants, art galleries, museums etc.). They interact with other humans, nature, animals and the world around them. There are no grades to measure competency, or tests that cause anxiety. There are no deadlines for projects though goal setting by the kids is encouraged. They do want to get things right to prove to themselves that they are smart. They are self-motivated rather than motivated to get a good grade to please a teacher or fit into a school system that is worried about their ranking.
OUR EXPERIENCE
So far, unschooling has worked really well while living in another country, cause there are SO many opportunities to learn something new.
WHY DID WE CHOOSE THIS ROUTE?
On average, kids spend 6 hours a day, 5 days a week, 40 weeks of the year at school. We have chosen to allocate way less time to actual "paper” schoolwork, and more to learning through life. Right now here in Mexico, on an average day, our girls are spending a maximum of 1 hour writing on paper, whether that’s math, or practicing one of the three languages they speak. The rest of their day is spent learning through exploring and living their life. Unschool also provides us the opportunity to align what they learn with the values we uphold as a family.
WHAT OUR GIRLS ARE LEARNING:
A new language (Spanish) through conversation and real-life opportunities. They speak french and English already, so learning a third language has come naturally to them. Here we let them solve their own problems when they have needs/wants, which creates a huge demand of them to practice what they are learning. If they want to shop for anything, they have to learn how to ask for it, order it and pay for it with pesos. They have also met lots of kids, and get to practice a new language through play. They knock on their doors, ask to play outside, and they play tag, hide and seek, and other new and fun games. Through real-life interactions, they are constantly exposed to the new language and have many opportunities to practice and learn more.
Nature and animals. So far they have seen iguanas, geckos, crocodiles, whales, dolphins, crabs, and a plethora of stray cats and dogs. Yes, they would learn about these animals back home, but they wouldn’t have much opportunity to interact with them. After seeing a crocodile a few feet away from them, they went home and watched crocodile videos on youtube to learn more about what they eat and how they live. This was driven by their interest and curiosity. They weren’t forced to research anything. What they see happening in life is actually driving them to want to know more. While whale-watching they asked questions about how they swim, move and breathe. They learnt that right now whales are here cause the water is cool, but slowly they will leave as the water warms up. They learned that dolphins in this area actually fight sharks so they don’t come into the waters where we are. They tried feeding iguanas different foods until learning they were vegetarian just through cause and effect. They went from: “The iguana didn’t like the bacon, so let’s try some lettuce" to “The iguana liked the lettuce so this may mean it’s a vegetarian”. They are learning through watching, listening, and researching to learn more. And all of this because they are curious and WANT to understand what is going on around them.
Mexican culture. At home, our kids learn about the history and people of Canada, which is great, but they are exposed VERY little to other cultures. You wonder why some adults grow up to be so misunderstanding of people they perceive as different. Right now our girls are able to learn about another culture WITH the people, which makes it unique. Mexican culture is rich and vibrant, and full of beautiful music and delicious food that has been influenced by the ancient Aztec and Maya civilizations. Mexico has also been impacted by European colonization, just like Canada, so there are many opportunities to compare and contrast just how much Europeans impacted each country. The girls have asked big questions like why some kids have to work here, and have even picked up the fact that recycling is not valued here. Because of their background, they are able to see opportunities to make big changes for BIG issues. What a way to make the world a better place! The girls are being exposed to so much new information which they would never fully understand by watching a video back home in Canada. Learning about other cultures and other languages will help them develop into inclusive, kind adults as they will understand that we are all beautifully unique, something that should be celebrated!
Math. Abe has taken over the math portion cause I had a horrible mindset towards it (based on fear of failure), that is quickly changing. They are learning math through real-life experiences such as shopping (addition, subtraction etc.), baking (fractions, addition/subtraction), currency exchange (division and comparisons), tipping (fractions/percentages), playing Mexican monopoly (finances/investing), and problem solving (distribution and set up of problems). They hear so many conversations about finances and what their life can look like as adults and the lifestyle they could afford if they learn the real-life money rules. Our goal is for our kids to have a healthy relationship and mindset with money, rather than the common demonized concept of money.
How to support their mental and emotional health. Since they don’t have to wake up at a certain time to get to school, they wake up and go to sleep with a more natural rhythm. They are learning to be more in tune with their needs by reading body signals that cue hunger, boredom, and tiredness etc. because there is no set schedule. Being together so much provides many opportunities to learn to read each others’ emotions and continue to understand our own. As parents we get grumpy, annoyed, tired etc. and need our own space to regulate. We model that for them, so they can do the same for themselves. If we notice they are bickering with each other, or look mad/upset/sad, we make time to connect and discuss those feelings and give them ideas to self-regulate. At school, kids have less opportunity to regulate emotions as there are so many kids in one class, and they are a lot busier during the day.
The importance of movement. Our girls understand the importance of not only moving your body, but enjoying the movement that they do. As a family we all value movement, but we all have our own favourite ways of doing so. We allocate time every single day to move our bodies in some way. We usually head down to the gym or beach, and make up little workouts. The girls get to pick their favourite workouts, but also have to try the ones we set up for them. Some days they just do monkey bars for the entire time, but other days we get them to try new classes/workouts so they are exposed to different types of movement to understand what they really enjoy. Lately, as a family we took a really cool class called "animal flow”, which was VERY challenging, but the girls had a great time and felt proud of themselves for getting through such a tough workout. Showing up to an all-adults class as a family, felt really unifying and inspiring for the kids to grow into adults that prioritize their health. We have also tried surfing, yoga classes in Spanish, beach workouts, volleyball, acroyoga, bootcamp, and just good old fashioned outdoor games. There is no shortage of movement in our family and we will always help them keep this up for their well-being.
The biggest takeaway so far has been learning about what our kids actually WANT to learn and how they learn intuitively. Having a lot of time on our hands has provided us with many opportunities to understand their unique learning processes, and foster their weaknesses so they don’t get left behind. They learn through curiosity, and it comes in the form of many questions.
Just like we value the freedom of living a life where we’re not stuck in offices from 9-5, we enjoy the ability to have more freedom with our children’s schooling as well. Yes they will go back to school when we are in Canada again, but we will continue to create opportunities to leave the country and unschool. It’s one of the most amazing things we have experienced so far as parent, and what we always wanted for our kids. One of the biggest questions we have as parents, is what kind of adults do we want to raise? This question drives our parenting styles and teaching styles so we can help them develop into strong, healthy and confident women.
HOW COULD THIS WORK FOR YOU?
Unschool can work for you in any country, you just have to be confident and take education into your hands. Even if your child attends regular school, you still get snippets of what unschool could look like every single day. Try exploring a topic of interest that your child has, and really diving into the process of acquiring new information with them. Write down their questions instead of answering them, and give them the tools to figure out the answer on their own. Look for unique learning opportunities in your community that align with your values. If you want more tips and/or ideas, please reach out! I love this topic and would LOVE to delve deeper into it with anyone who is intrigued.
