“Unschooling” is a word that was coined by John Holt, who was a pioneer in school reform in the US. He was a Yale University graduate and spent time as a teacher. He started wondering why toddlers and pre-school children had so much fun exercising their curiosity and loved learning and then, as 10-year-olds, acted up in class and appeared bored with learning. He came to realize that when the element of coercion is added to the learning model, it turns off love of learning and students just try to get by with the least effort. John Holt’s solution to this was to do the opposite of what is done in school. Instead of being required to participate, let it be voluntary. Instead of changing subjects every hour, let the child continue learning in an area of interest as long as his interest continues. Let him stop when he loses interest. Let his interests lead his learning. Isn’t that how adults learn things?

Unschooling has come to mean interest-based learning, child-led learning and relaxed homeschooling, among other terms. Think of it as putting the child in the driver’s seat of the car. The parent is in the passenger’s seat, making sure the car is not driven off a cliff, being the navigator with map in hand, letting the driver know what appears to be up ahead, etc. The child is then free to take