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Comment by bitshiftfaced | Hacker News Reader

I know that I could figure out what they mean by "unschooling" by clicking around and searching. It's just that it feels a bit annoying to read an article about it, have it mentioned several times, but not be told what it's supposed to mean. I take it it's supposed to be a cool way of saying homeschool.

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In a previous thread the author mentioned that it is homeschooling without a set curriculum.

That’s one definition. I like “study what you want but you must study something.”. I have also seen what I call “raised by wolves” labeled as unschooling. We homeschooled, but it was somewhere between “school at home” and unschooling. It was structured, there was a core, but kid could follow there interests, assuming core was being served.

This is absolutely correct. There really is no single definition of unschooling and even homeschooling. I know families that say they "homeschool" their kids, yet those kids attend an "academy" three days a week that provides the curriculum, teaching, and homework. The parents really just make sure the kids do their work. This is very distinct from what my wife and I did -- pulling together a curriculum ourselves, and doing 75% of the teaching.

its another way to say homeschooling, but with an emphasis on what the kid wants to do and not on a govt provided curriculum.

You could say it's homeschooling without the pressure to follow some arbitrary curriculum.

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