Many parents are in their back-to-school mode. But in some families, school never stopped this summer, and their kids dont plan on stepping foot inside a classroom this year either.
Instead, those parents are unschooling their kids. It’s kind of like homeschooling, but the kids take the reins in what they learn.
Unschooling to me is completely different from what traditional schooling is, said mother Molly Bonds, who’s practiced unschooling with her two boys their whole lives.
Bonds is a former grade school teacher, and she taught for a decade. Now she is a 24/7 educator for her 9-year-old and 11-year-old sons, who are being unschooled at their home near Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Homeschooling, youre usually educating your child at home,” Bonds explained. “Youre usually following a curriculum, versus unschooling, youre following your childs desires, your childs interests. So, you may grab a curriculum to help with that but overall, youre really just presenting, like, a feast for your child. Your childs picking and choosing whats interesting to them.”
Lynette Heinz is on the other side of the state near Grand Rapids, but shes on the same page about unschooling her three kids. She said the eldest is on the verge of starting unschooling at the high school level.
The unschooling is happening year-round, all day long, Heinz said. I see them learning so much in ways that works for their learning styles and their interests, so theyre really motivated.”
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Schools, the structure of them is set up really well for certain students, certain learning styles, and personalities,” Heinz continued. “But theres a lot who dont really fit the box of school.”
Unschooling isnt a uniform method of educating, and it can look different to each household practicing. Its also not tracked at the state level.
Michigan doesnt keep track of how many kids are enrolled in any homeschool program. Per the Michigan Department of Education:
There are no required tests for a homeschooled student. The issuance of report cards, transcripts, and diplomas are the responsibility of the homeschool family (based on internal standards). The annual reporting of a homeschool to the Michigan Department of Education is voluntary. (Reporting is required if a student is seeking special education services.)
Unschooling parents say the state not keeping close tabs does not mean their children arent learning.
For all of them who are homeschooled or unschooled, there are nine required classes that parents have to make sure its the same classes you get if you go to school,” Heinz said. “Math, science, language arts, and history and language arts get broken up a little bit, and then civics.”
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You have to teach the U.S. Constitution, the Michigan Constitution, Michigan history,” Bonds added. “So they want to make sure you are actually graduating someone whos going to be functional as a citizen.
Parents can give their kid a high school diploma if they stay home through 18 years old.
Both Heinz and Bonds said if their kids do want to start public school, they can. In the meantime, they say theyre working lessons into everyday life.
If were at a museum, thats their classroom at that moment,” Heinz said. “If were traveling and were in Florida on the beach in the middle of winter, thats their classroom at that moment. If were at a park with friends, thats the classroom.”
Inflicting a schedule on your children seems a little adult to me,” Bonds added. “And so I would like my children to have open-ended free play time for the majority of their day.
A playground or any place play can happen is a good place to facilitate learning, according to the U.S. State Department.
In a Teachers Corner article about teaching English language arts, the State Department said, When teachers use activities that make learning engaging and fun, students are more willing to participate and take risks. Having fun while learning also helps students retain information better because the process is enjoyable and memorable.
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An American Academy of Pediatrics article titled The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Maintaining Strong Parent-Child Bonds backs up the value of play by saying, Play is essential to development because it contributes to the cognitive, physical, social, and emotional well-being of children and youth.
I knew from a very young age Ginley liked dinosaurs. So, my youngest was into dinosaurs, I had dinosaurs for him. We read dinosaur books. Thats unschooling,” Bonds said. “That is playing with my child, realizing what he likes, what his interests are and because we have that super amazing parent-to-child connection, I knew the things.”
Both parents say when asked about unschooling, they dont really get a lot of negative pushback or comments. One myth they do want to put to rest is that their kids are not getting socialization; on the contrary, they have friends outside of their homes.
That is why were here today. So, every single week on the same day of the week we meet up,” Bonds said. “The kids are playing. The parents are interacting. And its much more socialization than you could ever get at school because at school youre quiet, youre sitting in your chair, youre raising your hand. I taught public school, and we were keeping our kids very quiet.”
Everything that typical high school has around here, the homeschoolers have that same thing,” Heinz added. “They have homecoming dances. They have other like, prom-type dances.
The parents both belong to the Facebook group Unschooling Michigan. They invite any other parents interested in learning more about the concept and putting it into practice, to join.
This story was originally published by Brittany Toolis at