{"id":313,"date":"2021-06-22T12:51:12","date_gmt":"2021-06-22T12:51:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lightsailed.com\/homeschool\/?p=313"},"modified":"2021-10-21T09:58:41","modified_gmt":"2021-10-21T09:58:41","slug":"what-is-unschooling-and-how-to-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lightsailed.com\/homeschool\/blog\/homeschool-faq\/what-is-unschooling-and-how-to-start\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is Unschooling, Really, and How to Start"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>\u201cUnschooling\u201d is a popular term that you\u2019ll often hear in homeschooling circles, but you may be confused about what it means. In short, unschooling gives kids the freedom to make the whole world their classroom. By learning more about this method, you can determine whether unschooling is the right fit for your family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2>Unschooling vs Child-led Learning<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Many homeschool parents figure that unschooling and child-led learning are the same things, but that\u2019s not the case. Child-led homeschoolers pay attention to their students\u2019 interests and plan lessons and activities around those topics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s different from the actual unschooling meaning. Unschooling homeschool involves less structure. As the homeschool teacher, you won\u2019t plan lessons around your ideas or your kids\u2019 interests. Instead, you\u2019ll set your children free to experience the world. As they go about their play and explorations, they\u2019re likely to acquire plenty of knowledge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2>Unschooling Environments<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>At first glance, it may sound like unschooling is a hands-off approach to home education. That couldn\u2019t be further from the truth. While the idea is for kids to experience learning naturally, your job is to create an environment in which that\u2019s possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cStrewing\u201d is a common term in unschooling circles. The idea involves leaving educational breadcrumbs around for your kids to discover. That could mean investing in math counters, magnifying glasses, watercolor paints and other tools that will get your kids\u2019 wheels turning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Books are another key piece of a rich unschooling environment. Kids who have access to a wide variety of engaging books have whole worlds at their fingertips. As an unschooler, you could display your top picks on a child-height shelf or a bedroom nightstand. Even better, you could give your students access to <a href=\"https:\/\/lightsailed.com\/homeschool\/libraries\/\">digital libraries<\/a> with <a href=\"https:\/\/lightsailed.com\/homeschool\/libraries\/audio-books\/\">audiobooks<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/lightsailed.com\/homeschool\/libraries\/audio-books\/?tag=interactive\">interactive tools<\/a> that will bring their favorite stories to life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2>Unschooling with Lightsail<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Sometimes, even unschoolers need a little push to discover their new passions. Unschooling parents occasionally offer suggestions of topics that kids might want to explore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>LightSail can be the perfect complement for your unschooling lifestyle. By using the sharing feature, you can open your kids\u2019 minds to all sorts of topics that they might never have thought to dig into on their own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By sending your kids a LightSail <a href=\"https:\/\/lightsailed.com\/homeschool\/libraries\/video\/\">video<\/a> on reptiles, a <a href=\"https:\/\/lightsailed.com\/homeschool\/world-book\/timelines\/\">timeline<\/a> of developments in baseball, or a <a href=\"https:\/\/lightsailed.com\/homeschool\/libraries\/classic-books\/\">classic<\/a> piece of poetry, you may inspire their next unschooling adventures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lightsailed.com\/homeschool\/registration\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"853\" src=\"https:\/\/lightsailed.com\/homeschool\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/web-banner-300x250-new-1-1024x853.jpg\" alt=\"sign up for homeschool literacy program\" class=\"wp-image-1201\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lightsailed.com\/homeschool\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/web-banner-300x250-new-1-1024x853.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lightsailed.com\/homeschool\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/web-banner-300x250-new-1-300x250.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lightsailed.com\/homeschool\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/web-banner-300x250-new-1-768x640.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lightsailed.com\/homeschool\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/web-banner-300x250-new-1.jpg 1250w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cUnschooling\u201d is a popular term that you\u2019ll often hear in homeschooling circles, but you may be confused about what it means. In short, unschooling gives kids the freedom to make the whole world their classroom. By learning more about this method, you can determine whether unschooling is the right fit for your family. Unschooling vs [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":392,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v18.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What Is Unschooling, Really, and How to Start | LightSail for Homeschoolers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u201cUnschooling\u201d is a popular term that you\u2019ll often hear in homeschooling circles, but you may be confused about what it means. In short, unschooling gives kids the freedom to make the whole world their classroom.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/lightsailed.com\/homeschool\/blog\/homeschool-faq\/what-is-unschooling-and-how-to-start\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What Is Unschooling, Really, and How to Start | LightSail for Homeschoolers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cUnschooling\u201d is a popular term that you\u2019ll often hear in homeschooling circles, but you may be confused about what it means. 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