My post about unschooling elicited a response from an unschooler. I was excited to have the chance to talk to her, so I asked her to answer some questions about what her life is like. She, Idzie, gave some very thorough answers:
1. How old are you currently?
Nearly 18.2. As a high school-aged unschooler, what is a typical day like for you?
Well, there really is no typical day! Each day is truly unique, but I’ll try and do the best I can for a description of a nearly average day. Unless I have something particular I want to do that requires I get up early, I don’t. I find I’m more alert and feel better if I don’t get up before I’m actually rested, which means I sleep to 10:00 some days, 12:30 others. It really all depends on how late I decided to stay up the previous night! After breakfast/lunch (depends how early I decided to get up!) I usually go on the computer for a while, check email and other messages (responding when necessary), sometimes doing a bit of surfing, researching something that catches my interest, debating various subjects on discussion boards, or browsing art online. After I tire of that, I’ll either read for a while, spend time with family members, or run errands. If I choose to read, the book(s) I’m currently reading could be anything from teen novels to serious non-fiction (some favorite subjects recently include deforestation, anarchy, civilization, and education, unschooling and alternative learning specifically). If I spend time with family members I’ll quite likely end up enthusiastically discussing some of the issues I’m passionate about, which have lately been anarchy, human and animal rights, and writing/literature. If, instead, I go on errands, that could be anything from a trip to the library, to picking up my sister from somewhere or other, to buying food. I usually like to help with choosing food, since I’m an avid cook! The evenings are spent with friends (and spending time with friends often includes discussions on politics, human nature, and other fascinating things, as well as the usual immature banter!), or sometimes watching documentaries, science shows, and mysteries, reading more, or writing.3. What kind of opportunities did you have that you wouldn’t have had as a regular high schooler?
The biggest opportunity I see myself as having is simply freedom. I would certainly not have been able to choose my own curriculum, if you can even call it that, had I been in high school! Having not had all of my time taken up with school and then homework, I’ve been able to follow interests that I’m truly passionate about, to develop creatively and as a true individual.4. What was different about your curriculum compared to someone who is home schooled?
Lack thereof. Unschoolers have no set curriculum, and only use textbooks etc. on their own terms. Homeschoolers, on the other hand, virtually always have a curriculum set by the parents, with little or no input from the student, and that curriculum often very closely follows what you’d find in a regular school.5. What is your favorite academic subject?
English. I love writing (both poetry, short stories, and non-fiction) and reading everything I can get my hands on!6. Do you volunteer? If so, how regularly? Where at?
The three years before this one, I did an average of 70 hours a year of volunteer work. Some things I’ve done include: Serving lunch to seniors; running games for children on special days organized by local boroughs/suburbs/towns; running short lessons on the most basic principles of flight on an aerospace day organized for elementary school children from all over my area; helping out at a Free The Children toy drive; volunteer staffing at a summer camp; and collecting food for the Salvation Army. In part because of all the community service I’ve done, I’ve received both the bronze and silver levels of the Duke of Edinburgh’s award. Sadly, I left the organization that I did much of this community service through, so am currently looking around for new places to volunteer, since I really miss it…7. What are your plans for the future?
I have too many plans to choose from! I love cooking so have considered becoming a vegetarian or vegan chef. I’m also very interested in natural healing, so have considered pursuing a career in that. For the near future, I plan on finding more volunteer opportunities, getting seriously involved in environmental activism, traveling, and getting a job so I have the money to travel! I also definitely plan on continuing to write. I already have a regular column published in a homeschooling magazine, so hope to continue having my work published there, and I’d also love to someday have my poetry and short stories published.8. Have you ever attended a regular school (public or private)? If yes, what did you like less about the school compared to unschooling? What did you like more?
I attended kindergarten for half a year, which hardly counts. A couple of years ago I considered going to high school, but decided against it. I don’t regret the decision, as I really think I’ve been happier outside of the school system than I would have been in it!9. If you plan on having children in the future, do you intend on having them be unschooled?
Most definitely. I would not even consider sending my children to a regular school unless they specifically wanted to be there.10. Do you feel as though you’ve missed out on any opportunities you could have had if you had been in a regular school? (I hope the word “regular” doesn’t offend you. I just don’t know how else to word it.)
The word “regular” certainly doesn’t offend me. I’m well aware that my path in education is far from “normal”! I don’t really feel I’ve missed out on anything positive, although I do feel I’ve missed out on the negative aspects associated with the school system. Because of my involvement in the Canadian Cadet movement, I was even part of a marching band for a time, and competed in several sports tournaments!11. How did your family learn about unschooling?
My mother learned about it at a homeschooling conference when I was very young, I believe.12. What are some of your hobbies or interests?
Writing, great books, poetry, anarchy, social rights, environmentalism, ultimate Frisbee, natural medicine, sustainable living, Irish mythology, Native American legends, civilization, politics, photography, impressionist art, music, vegetarianism, cooking, nature, animals, paganism, spirituality, the beginnings of Christianity, trash hunting, fashion, radical unschooling…13. How do you meet people/ make friends?
When I was young, my family was heavily involved with the homeschooling community so I met people through that. As I got older, we drifted away from that, since most homeschoolers go to high school when they reach that age. I’ve met tons of people through cadets, and I have friends from there, as well as those I’ve met simply because they live near me, or are friends of friends. Oh, and just this past year I attended Not Back To School Camp, which is a weeklong camp for more than a hundred unschoolers! So I met a bunch of unschooling people there.14. Anything else you’d like to add?
Hmm… I can’t think of much else I’d like to add… I want to make it clear that I’m not your picture of an average unschooler, since there is no average unschooler! Because the whole thing with unschooling is that people live their lives the way they want to, not by a path set out by school, each person’s life is entirely different. I’m happy with a more relaxing life, and spending time mostly with close friends and/or family, yet I know unschoolers who are hardly ever home, and spend tons of their time in group activities! It really does depend a great deal on the individual.
I’ve never talked to an unschooler before, so the opportunity to hear about Idzie’s life was thrilling, and she was more than willing to answer my questions. From what I can tell, she is very much in love with learning. She’s like a normal high schooler in most senses; she plays sports, surfs the internet, sleeps in, and chatters with her friends. Contrarily though, she seems to spend a lot more time focused on the intellectual aspect of life than most high school-aged teens do. That’s not to say that there aren’t public school kids out there who regularly engage in conversations about politics, history, environmentalism, etcetera, but for the most part, high schoolers have a very limited frame of reference. Because Idzie doesn’t have a high school curriculum to stick to, she has this thirst for knowledge, which I’m sure many young people would crave were they in her position. Idzie learns because she wants to. She learns what she wants to. School for her isn’t a chore, but a choice. This is what I mean by intellectual curiosity. She has made her education personal. Unschooling provided this opportunity for her, but I believe there is a way to make students in schools thirst for knowledge in the same way. The difference is that schools have teachers who can lead students on their educational journeys. Teachers can inspire students to learn. And that is exactly what I intend to do.
I found your posts on unschooling to be very interesting. While I have always been interested in, and supportive of, the homeschooling movement, unschooling seems to be a horse of a different color. I can’t say that unschooling sounds all that great to me. I guess I prefer things to be a little more structured. I think unschooling is something that would have to adopted by a family that values education, because without it, I could see unschooling having some very poor results. Here is what I am wondering: What if an unschooler wants to go to college? From what I gather, unschoolers only study the topics that they want to study. That doesn’t always cut it when it comes to getting into college. For instance, had I been an unschooler, I would have stopped studying math after basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. I daresay that this would not bode well for my college entrance exams or my completion of basic skills courses. I don’t really know how it would work. While the person that you interviewed seems to be a smart and involved young woman, I can’t help but think that this is probably more of a result of her home environment than the result of unschooling. To each his own, I suppose. If unschooling works for some people, then that’s great. You were very lucky to get to interview an unschooler. It made for an interesting post.
knowing Idzie, and being an unschooler I found this very interesting.
I’m always amazed that there are people who’ve never met/spoken to an unschooler!
I very much hope you can inspire your students to learn everything they can! it works for many of us
No, unschooling does not mean that you lose access to college. I should know — I’m fifteen and doing college courses right now. Guess what? I pretty much stopped doing math after basic mathematics, subtraction, addition, and division. (They tried to cram geometry down my throat about the time I left public school. I remember having an awful teacher who wanted anything but to give me one on one assistance or to explain what the hell was going on. )
I’ve been doing unschooling, although a variant of it — freeschooling. It’s basically an on campus version of unschooling with an actual school, but similar applications — no structure. It has the benefit of community and paid staff/actual campus (although there are only about fifty students.)
Idzie’s story isn’t rare — more of the norm, actually. You were right about one thing — you don’t get much out of unschooling if you’re not motivated. Unsurprisingly, you find that unschoolers are all pretty motivated and pretty involved.
Unschooling might not be mainstream, but it’s pretty big, so saying that people who do unschooling aren’t normal kids doesn’t quite apply — and I could tell you that the kids who I go to school with are perfectly normal, and do most of the same things as other kids their age at public school.
My experience with college math? you need ‘basic’ math that you’ll never need to touch once you’ve got your bachelors. You hop through hoops, you do it, get it past you, and then you’re ready to do a math-free education from then on out.
I’ve also found that you don’t need math past what you’ve outlined — day to day things. Anything you do need, you end up picking up quickly. Math isn’t unneeded or useless, but it’s not going to kill you to be unable to tell someone what a + b = 27x means.
Been doing classes part time at college for five or so quarters now. Idzia (sp?) could definately be in college now if she wants.
Hi,
I came here from Idzie’s blog. We’re unschoolers and I find your question 3, and partially 4, to be the core of your (former?) and lizlongcore’s ignorance about unschooling.
Unlike schooled kids who are herded like cattle and forced to memorize meaningless, often inaccurate, crap, and who are taught to NEVER question authority, unschooled kids are given room and time to think. It’s a critical difference.
Curriculum? Is that like the Christian Bible, handed down to us from God on high, or is it a construct of pedestrian, flesh-and-blood people? People with their own agenda and prejudices. Some of whom IMHO can’t tie their shoes without a diagram.
Well, I’m getting a little wound up and I don’t mean to dump on you. I got a teaching degree in 1970 but like John Holt, John Taylor Gatto, and a host of others I quickly came to the conclusion that the U. S. education system is broken beyond repair and is useful to no one, except as a babysitting service.
Even the Romans knew that forced “education” was nonviable, as evidenced by the aphorism: Nemo nisi per amicitiam cognoscitur. And that was more than two thousand years ago.
Oh, and if you can’t translate that, it means that you haven’t studied Latin. How can you possibly get into college or pass “basic skills tests,” whatever the hell those are, if you don’t know Greek, Latin, and The Calculus? That’s what *my* curriculum contended. Apparently current curricula are different. OMG! How is that possible?
Cynicism aside, unschooling is the only honest educational philosophy. All others, especially the U. S. public education system, are coercive. Coercion is always bad. Always. Even when it’s useful. There’s another great old maxim, this one’s in English: Beware of what works.
And public school doesn’t even work in a minimalist sense. How pathetic is that?