Schooling |
Unschooling |
| Subjects | Interests |
| Follow a curriculum | Enjoy paying attention to your child's interests and experiences |
| Instill knowledge | Trust that learning is natural; trust that children are interested in life |
| Follow a schedule | Flow with the moment, with the inspiration |
| Age | Interest and attention (regardless of age) |
| Memorize facts | Understand stories |
| Expect your child will practice to meet a need/want (to reach a goal) | Trust that your child will do what needs to be done to meet a need/want/goal (practice may not be necessary) |
| Supervise homework | Be enthusiastically open to interruption; when not available respond positively and with respect |
| Value the curriculum | Value your child's interests |
| Expect your child to apply himself/herself to the presented topic | Be genuinely OK with your child not being interested in what you strew |
| Introduce topics | Enjoy your child's delight when an interest is sparked/explored |
| Allow the teacher to choose timing and method | Strew and allow your child to discover |
| Follow your own interests while your child is at school | Follow your own interests when it works out; enjoy the times when your child joins you |
| Rely on school to provide an array of materials | Enjoy creating a home and outings full of opportunities |
| Trust school to provide a physically and emotionally safe environment for your child | Enjoy creating a safe, loving, respectful home |
| Arrange your life around the school district's schedule | Live your lives and trust that learning will happen around and within all your activities |
| Accept that your child will spend most of his/her waking hours in school/transport | Realize that life is full of experiences, that the world is full of opportunities. Enjoy them! Enjoy many of them together! |
| When tidbits pop into your head, share them with the awareness that you have found an opportunity to teach your child (teachable moments) | When tidbits pop into your head, share them because you find them interesting or because you know your child may find them interesting |
| End a lesson when it is completed | Allow a discussion to end naturally, regardless of its length or how much information was covered |
| Choose a curriculum or unit study or lesson | Choose items to strew that your child has demonstrated interest in or that you know your child has not encountered before or in a long time, or that you think are fun and interesting |
| Expect your child to focus on the topic as long as directed | Allow your child to focus on his/her interest as long as it lasts, whether that's a minute or years |
| Accept that your child will not always be interested when information is presented | Trust that optimal learning takes place when a child is interested and/or laughing |
| Accept that much information learned in school is with short-term memory | Support your child as he or she makes connections, no matter how many minutes or years it takes |
| Complete exercises | Follow clues, unravel mysteries, embrace wonder, have fun and sometimes just be |