Why unschooling is right for us?

About a year ago, when Scarlette was only 3 years old, many people were already encouraging me to get her into pre-school, or pre-pre-school (what ever that is). Warning me that if I did not start the search early enough, she would not get into a "good" school.

What is a good pre-school? I thought to myself? I was in the process of trying to find a good college for Briana! I wasn't really worried about Scarlette getting into an Ivy League pre-school. The more I thought about it, the more I realized I did not want her in school. I loved being home with both her and Jayden (most days). I did not want to toss her into the education system at the age of 3!

Briana and Hanna went to a total of 6 different schools through out the area, private and public. I was never really happy with any of them. Being a single Mom, and working 2 jobs proved it impossible to home school, and so, I had to deal with the useless homework worksheets, the projects that I mostly completed, the books that they had to read (even though we had already read them as a family), the waste of time, and the fustration that they had with trying to fit into the cliques. They learned the importance of a letter grade instead of the importance of learning something you love, and loving to learn.

They have both excelled scholastically, and some may think, "Why fix something that isn't broken?" "why not follow the same path with the younger children?" Because, although scholastically Briana and Hanna have done well, it isn't all about scholastics, it is about relationships within the family, the community. It is about learning what you want to learn; about the stars, or spaceships, or why snails don't have legs. It is about paving your own way instead of walking down the path of others.

With unschooling, I can let my child lead me. I can facilitate educating them, but in reality, they will be teaching themselves, how to learn, why to learn, when is the best time for them to learn, and they will not be punished, humiliated, or exasperated by the learning process. (hopefully)

I have realized just how short a child's childhood is, and to send my babies to school for 8-9 hours a day, then come home, do homework, bathe, eat, and get to bed early enough, will rob both me and them of their childhood. So for now, we choose unschooling.

I hope you enjoy our journey as much as we do.