One of my biggest concerns upon starting out on this unschooling path was that a relaxed, unstructured learning lifestyle couldn’t possibly prepare my child for real life. My rationale went something like this:
The vast majority of the adults in this country went to a traditional school, studied traditional subjects, and did so in the traditional way. Those people are living real lives. Therefore, to be able to live a real life, one must follow the traditional path.
And it’s certainly true that the traditional educational path works for a lot of people. It worked for me, so I’m not knocking it.
But it’s also true that it’s not the only path. Or necessarily the best path.
What I’ve discovered in the past few years of unschooling my son is that the best preparation for living a real life is: living a real life. And real life doesn’t wait until adulthood. Kids everywhere are living real lives right now! (Shocking!) 
But this lesson isn’t merely one of philosophy. I see my son learning and practicing real life skills every day. He has more time and opportunity to do this because he isn’t mired in fact memorization and busywork. He learns about the world by being out in the world. (As well as by 4,235,345,235,234 discussions and books and movies and documentaries and projects and classes and chores and …)
At the risk of sounding like Dr. Seuss, the reason unschooling prepares kids for life is that they learn what they need to learn to live the life they’re living.
That’s what grown-ups do. We live life. We come across something we need to know. We learn it and apply it. The End. Teaching our kids how to find things out for themselves is one of the best gifts we can give them. It’s an essential skill for living a real life. Now, and in all the days to come.
~ Danielle
Love the rock photo!
Now, we’re not unschoolers, but I do find it very interesting. I’m such a traditionalist though. (I’m a certified K-8 PUBLIC SCHOOL teacher, but have stayed home with the kids to homeschool for 8 years.)
Thanks Jessy! It’s a zoo day pic–just me and a bunch o’ homeschoolers “playing hooky” on a school day. One of the best things about having such a relaxed learning lifestyle is that we can avoid the crowds!
I think a certified teacher who chooses to homeschool her children is a wonderful ambassador for homeschooling! Rock on!
“The best preparation for living a real life is: living a real life.” YES!!!
The crazy thing is that while this is such a no-brainer, it took years for me to discover it. It seems so obvious, but part of our culture is that if something’s easy, it’s not valuable. We think things have to be hard to be worthwhile. And no one can tell us any different. We have to experience it for ourselves.
Amen. As time goes by, more and more I realize that MOST of the time spent in a traditional school doesn’t prepare kids for real life at all.
I know! I didn’t realize this until after I graduated from college and had approximately NO actual job skills. I can totally see why folks choose apprenticeships and vo-tech schools instead of extended high school (college).
Absolutely and utterly true!! I wrote about this recently on a post called Unschooling Teens. Since I wrote it, both of my teens are now working full time. One dreams of either an electrician apprenticeship or owning his own cafe (he’s currently working as a barista). The other is working at a tyre/mechanic place with plans to work at the mines as a diesel mechanic. They are both living true to themselves, just as they always have done. Why seclude them from real life, thinking it will prepare them for real life lol! Let ‘em at it now!
LOVE this article!! I love homeschooling / unschooling, and am thankful it’s the path we have chosen for our 3 kids. I really like the way you put it!
Thank you!
Thank you!!!
I’m reading several of your blog posts to my hubby, slowly trying to convince him it is ok to US after age 8! I’ve still got 3 1/2 years but it can take a while for my husband to change his way of thinking.
I hope this website is a help to you, Cyndel!
I think a lot of dads’ minds are changed when they see the fruit of learning this way. When they see that their children are, in fact, learning everyday, and that unschooling is not just some “hippie philosophy”.