A Picture for Christian Unschooling

When I talk to people about the freedom of unschooling in a world where education is very structured and controlled, it is so important to be able to clarify what it looks like in practice. But because of the freedom of unschooling, this can be a hard thing to do - unlike a pre-packaged curriculum or a lesson plan, no two applications are alike. Unschooling is as individual as the families practicing it. And the learning is often not obvious, as there are few (or no) written records that look like schoolwork.

Talking to unschoolers is helpful, as it builds a clearer sense of how it works and what it looks like. For this reason, I have included narratives from our lives on this website, allowing you a window through which to observe aspects of the way our family functioned, and some of the reasons why we lived the way we did. Hopefully our stories will assist you in working out what a methodology of unschooling could look like in your family.

Our children are all grown now, but looking back Craig and I realise that we wouldn’t have changed much. We loved the sense of togetherness and sharing life that was the fruit of those choices and it was incredible to watch our children making sense of their world and eagerly pursuing anything and everything that interested them. Now, as I watching our daughter unschooling her own children with a serene confidence that we often lacked, I am even more convinced that this way of raising – and educating - children works.
 

What is education? It is an important question. Increasingly I see that education is so much more than a way of 'equipping children for life'. We all begin somewhere, and this is a good starting point, but if that is all that happens, then we only scratch the surface of something so deep and so important. An education is more than gaining utilitarian skills. True education builds capacity for meaningful and wholly purposeful living.

 

Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, and a life.
 

When we say that "education is an atmosphere,"

we do not mean that a child should be isolated

 in what may be called a 'child-environment'

especially adapted and prepared,

but that we should take into account

the educational value of his natural home atmosphere,

both as regards persons and things,

and should let him live freely among his proper conditions.

It stultifies a child to bring down his world to the child's' level.

By "education is a discipline,"

we mean the discipline of habits,

formed definitely and thoughtfully,

whether habits of mind or body.

Physiologists tell us of the adaptation of brain structures

to habitual lines of thought, i.e., to our habits.

 

In saying that "education is a life,"

the need of intellectual and moral

as well as of physical sustenance is implied.

The mind feeds on ideas,

 and therefore children should have a generous curriculum.

~ Charlotte Mason (Principles 5,6 & 7 of her 20 Principles)

At least as important as defining education are questions like these: What is the role and purpose of childhood? What is the role of play? And to what extent are our ‘educational’ interventions and requirements counter-productive, or even downright detrimental to the proper development of personhood? Are our efforts building or undermining confidence, self-awareness, motivation, joy and passionate interest in our children?

A.S. Neill, founder of the controversial UK school called Summerhill, set it as a goal to use childhood and adolescence to create emotional wholeness and personal strength. His perspective was that people who had this kind of wholeness would be self-motivated to learn whatever they needed academically. This makes sense, because a person who has a strong sense of personal identity and worth also knows what he wants out of life, and chances are that he has some idea of how to go about getting it. Confident people take the world by storm, and they are not easily swayed from their objectives. As Albert Lamb (editor of A.S. Neill's book The New Summerhill) commented: “With a happy childhood tucked under your belt, your future development is almost assured.”

Like many others, A.S. Neill was deeply concerned that children should be given all the time they needed to play, and to play in an atmosphere of approval and love. Thus they would not play in a climate of mild disapproval engendered by the idea that they might be wasting their time, and that there might be better things to do with it. In this kind of environment it would not matter if you were an early or a late bloomer, or whether your interests were particularly beneficial for a future career. Neither would it matter if those interests were different to the rest of group; there would be no need to compete or to conform.

Many years ago now, while asking God for fresh wisdom about our home educating approach, I read Psalm 23. The picture of the Shepherd with His sheep was so clear and so vivid. I had a strong sense to create for my children a huge pasture in which they could delight in the freedom of being lambs. Around this pasture it was necessary to create a strong and secure boundary fence. This fence would actually guarantee the safety and freedom of the sheep within. This picture, of a pasture with a boundary fence, illustrates the learning lifestyle of Christian unschooling. The sheep and lambs are together in the pasture. I am a sheep, and along with my lambs we are following the Great Shepherd. However, I am also caring for the lambs. Together with other sheep, I am responsible for and accountable to the Great Shepherd for the well-being and growth of my lambs.

The pasture is the richness of God’s beautiful world and the life He has invested in us; the place where a person is free to be, to revel in the joy of living. It is the place of choice. The place of doing what I want. To put it simply, the pasture aspect of our illustration means freedom. Freedom to learn what one wants, when one wants, in the way one wants, where one wants, for one’s own reasons. Learners choose for themselves what they want or need to discover next in the exciting adventure of life. The pasture is the natural environment into which the child is born. It is NOT a specially adapted and prepared ‘child-environment’, but life as it really is. This does not mean that we shouldn’t enrich the life of the child. Quite the contrary. But we should not labour under the fallacy that life has to be simplified, diluted or 'brought down to the child’s level' (how arrogant that idea is!) Neither - and this is such an important point - does it need to be upgraded with all sorts of fancy equipment, resources and curricula in order for learning to happen.