Learning Independently and Unschooling

I consider my kids independent learners. Educators take terms like "independent learners" to describe kids who are peer tutors. This educational terminology is NOT the method I consider my kids to be learning. My kids are NOT mini teachers that run to the aid of one of their siblings to tutor them in a subject they are good at. This is not an independent learner, it feels more like a mini teacher training camp led by "experienced teachers."

I am an experienced teacher. I don't feel it is a requirement for my kids to be independent learners. As a matter of fact I have had to get rid of my experienced teacher hat in order to allow my kids to become independent learners. I define an independent learner as any one who freely chooses to explore and learn more about a topic that they are intrigued about, or feel is necessary for their future. Freely choosing to learn is important, as it has the ability to change attitudes about learning. 

Yesterday my oldest chose to spend her day reading and writing. She chose to finish reading The House of Hades by Rick Riordan, after which she rolled on the floor and discussed her despair at how the book ends and the fact that she has another year to wait for the next book in the series. She shared her excitement on new insight about several characters. Next, she picked up a book I had picked up from the library about Aladdin and other Tales from the Arabian Nights. She was excited to read Aladdin and ran upstairs to start. After reading she chose to read a couple of chapters from a book about writing called Seize the Story and decided to do the writing exercises at the end of the chapter. We discussed what she learned from the chapters and how she used the exercises to learn more about the characters she is developing in her novel. After lunch she saw another book I had on the table called The Witches by Roald Dah lthat I had picked up to see if my youngest wanted to use it as our next read aloud. My oldest asked if I would read it to her, so we read a couple of chapters. After lunch she added another paragraph to the next chapter in her novel and wrote over twelve pages in her writer's notebook. She did not do any reading of history or science on this day, nor did she do a math lesson.  Yet  she was still choosing to learn after 11 pm. 

I believe this description embodies an independent learner. My oldest is freely choosing to read and learn about what interests her. I do not get in her way and try to teach her something. My job as her mother is to listen and discuss her interests with her. Through these discussions she shares what she is passionate about, we are able to analyze and think deeply about her interests, and when we are unsure of something we go and explore; searching for an answer. 

Independent learning is a result of unschooling. Teenagers are not the only age group who excels with this style of learning. My elementary aged daughters are also independent learners. I have one in the kitchen trying to re-create science experiments she has found on Youtube. She will spend most of her day doing this. We are reading aloud the classic story Heidi and will do a math lesson or two on the computer. Later she will spend some time learning how to design a web page and write HTML code and at 9:30 pm curled up by the fire to read the book Storybound. My youngest announced at 9:30 last night that she wanted to read a chapter from the book My Haunted House by Angie Sage. She also announced that she likes reading and she discussed how she remembers not liking to read (back when I was still trying to be the "teacher"). She listened to a chapter in our read aloud, The Willoughby's by Lois Lowry, and spent time on the computer doing a math lesson. She grabbed a book about Billy the Kid that I picked up from the library and ran off to read it. She played her favorite on-line games and spent the entire day practicing her hand stands for the hand stand competition in her tumbling class (which she won). 

I am not teaching my kids. If anything they have taught me there are better ways for them to learn. I am a listener. I listen to what they are working on and exploring. I ask if they may want help finding more information on a topic they are exploring. I set books and materials on the dining room table and if they gravitate towards it great, and if they do not then  I return them to the library. 

This is what independent learning looks like at our house. It does not resemble a classroom. There is no teacher. There is most certainly no mini tutoring sessions going on. They will help each other if asked, but it doesn't look like school or tutoring. Simply put, my kids are unschooler's who learn in an independent fashion. Public education turns simple language into a teaching style that completely misrepresents the words from which it originates.