What is Unschooling?

Unschooling is a form of homeschooling that is based on the belief that children learn throughout life, not just in a classroom, and encourages the use of informal learning tools (books, documentaries, and everyday life)! It's the freest and most natural way to learn. Unschooling (or Radical Unschooling/Whole Life Unschooling) is different for every family. The gist of it is: the education is based off of what the child is interested in, no textbooks/curriculum, no forced learning, no pointless regurgitation of facts, just freedom to live and to learn while living! Many families incorporate unschooling into other aspects of their lives as well. They let their children make educated decisions about their bodies, what they eat, what they do, and how they live.

How many of you just shuddered? No schooling? No formal education? It sounds insane, and completely unnatural. But let's step back for a moment. How do children naturally learn? A child has a natural, inherent inclination to learn (unless there is a learning disability present). It's pre-programmed; it's part of the fabric of out DNA. We are constantly learning. How many four year olds incessantly ask questions? Their natural curiosity spurs them to try to find out about the world we live in. The parents provide answers (sometimes they know the answers, sometimes they learn them with the child) and the child learns something new. This would continue forever-if it wasn't for public education. Through forced learning, children begin to despise learning. If you were force-fed everyday, how would you feel about food? Before public education, children continued to learn outside of a classroom. They learned from books, games, events, experiments, and everyday life. Now, in a world with unlimited resources, you can learn anything! I learn from books, documentaries, experiments, games, the internet, classes, video tutorials, art projects, and the world!
Where did public education come from anyway? It emerged during the Industrial Revolution. The purpose was to educate in mass millions of people to be able to work machines in textile mills, etc. The goal was to give the same skill sets to millions of people, preparing them for a workforce that desperately needed more button-pushers. It prepared a workforce for a simple economy.
The problem is: it hasn't changed. It still functions under the same principle: teach every child the same thing, in the same way (never mind if it's actually working, or if it's the most effective way). Everything needs to be measured through testing, and whole areas of learning (art, music, theater, creative writing, sports teams, etc.) are usually not taught at all.
 How does unschooling redesign education? It lets children learn about everything; art, math, science, theater, cinematography, neurology, history, oceanography, etc. In essence, anything that can be learned you can learn. We meet people of all ages from all walks of life, and learn from them as well. You aren't limited to the subjects offered in school, and you aren't limited to the one textbook you're supposed to learn it from. You can learn about it from a million different resources. Children always want to learn. It's only whenever learning becomes forced that children make negative associations with it; and then begin to dislike it. The children are never forced to learn, because they always want to learn. It's child-led learning; the children learn about what they like. They're never turned off to any subject unnecessarily because they haven't been forced to 'learn' it. Unschoolers always want to learn because learning is fun and exciting! It allows the child to find out who they are, and what they love. They discover their passions, and learn about them.
What about whole life/radical unschooling? That takes it a step further. It lets children (once they are old enough) to make informed, educated decisions about other areas of their lives. They are usually granted permission to decide what they want to eat, how they dress, to make decisions about their bodies, all with the guidance of their parents. Unschooling doesn't mean unparenting. It means teaching your child to make responsible, informed decisions about their own lives. My parents guide me constantly, and help me if I need it. They don't let their child get hurt, but assist them through life. They teach them the ropes, and then let their child (once they're old enough to make educated decisions) guide their lives.
Public school forces you to stay inside a cement room for eight hours a day, only with people your own age (whenever you can learn so much more from being in the real world with people of all different ages and different backgrounds), from your own area. You are told what to learn, and given incredibly limited resources to learn it from. You are given hundreds of tests to measure how well you can regurgitate information. As if it wasn't bad enough, your peers constantly pressure you to look, behave, and think in the same way. The crippling social pressure can make you lose yourself. You're then told that what you may naturally be interested in (art, music, theater, certain sports, etc.) isn't offered, and besides it wouldn't be a lucrative career. It's best to forget it. After all of this, why would any child want to come home and learn? Which way seems unnatural now?

Let's address some other concerns:

• Socialization: How do you meet friends? I meet friends the same way people out of school do. I meet people at homeschooling cooperatives, sports teams, libraries, classes (if I choose to take them), and everyday life! I meet people that live from lots of different places that are all different ages, so I learn more from them than only local people that are my age. 
• What about college? How does unschooling prepare you for that? While it's difficult to pinpoint unschooling specifically in any statistics (it's usually put under the umbrella of homeschooling) it shows that homeschoolers who decide to go onto college have higher GPAs than public schooled students, and graduate at a higher percentage. I recently got accepted (at age fifteen) to a baccalaureate college with three scholarships. The college told me that my unique education had empowered me, and that it would make the transition to college life easier. This response isn't unique; many colleges are taking an interest is homeschoolers/unschoolers since our love of learning has been retained and we have learned out passions. 
• What about radical unschooling? Do the children just run wild? Unschooling doesn't mean unparenting. The parents have to constantly guide and help their children. They prepare them for life, not just following the orders of their parents. They keep them safe until they are old enough to make educated decisions, self-regulate, and keep themselves safe. The parents are ALWAYS available for help or assistance if needed, and ensures the child's safety. They don't let their child go into the street because they know they can get hit by a car. They wait until the child is old enough to look both ways, and understand the consequences and avoid them. The parents are constantly discussing life with the child, and preparing them for it.
• What if the children don't want to learn? There's no school to force them! Schooling and education are two different things. Schooling is forced regurgitation of facts, while education is genuinely learning. So, unschooling doesn't mean uneducating. Children always want to learn, it's only whenever children are forced to that they have negative associations with it. We retain that love of learning. Are we sometimes disheartened/disinterested? Sure. But there's always something cool around the corner to learn about. It's a free, natural way to learn. Would you rather have your child learn to paint by paint-by-number, or by using a white canvas and a paint brush?

I hope that successfully introduced you to unschooling. Thanks for reading! :)