This is a clarification to yesterday’s post, in which I said that while unschooling is not for everyone, anyone can do it.

Is that a contradiction?

I don’t think so.    Anyone who has the desire to unschool can make that choice, regardless of background, temperament, previous beliefs about how children learn, financial situation, marital status, etc.   You won’t be perfect at it.  You’ll make mistakes and there will be days when you question your decision.   But you can do it.

Why is it not for everyone?  Because not everyone is willing.  Not everyone will make the choice.  Some will decide it’s not the right fit for their family, for whatever reason (and that’s different than using a chart to decide whether or not you are fit to be an unschooling parent).   It isn’t the easiest thing in the world to do.   So some (many?) people won’t do it.

Maybe this will change.  I hope it does.  I would love to see a time when unschooling was the norm and schooling the exception.   Until then I want people to know that there is no typical unschooling parent.   We are all so very different in our styles and our approach, which is just fine, because we all have different kids in different situations.  You don’t need to be like anyone else in order to make unschooling work for your family.

About unschooling, as is almost always the case, John Holt said it best:

We who believe that children want to learn about the world, are good at it, and can be trusted to do it with very little adult coercion or interference, are probably no more than one percent of the population, if that. And we are not likely to become the majority in my lifetime. This doesn’t trouble me much anymore, as long as this minority keeps on growing. My work is to help it grow.

The minority keeps on growing.