Unschooling

I never would have referred to myself as an unschooler. I've always been pretty rigid and follow my maps and plans that I've laid out.

Last night after I posted about our new science unit, it occurred to me...we have been unschooling in science all along.

I have a local friend who is an unschooler. Watching her homeschool led me to an aversion of the term unschooling. Well, after thinking about it, she's no unschooler -- she's a nonschooler. There is a huge difference. I think that's a common mistake amongst people in general -- when they think of unschooling, they think of nonschooling. I fell into that trap, but at least it was due to example rather than ignorance.

After I blogged last night about science, I thought -- the few people reading this blog will think we never do science! Nothing could be further from the truth. We do science all the time. It is just informal, not like we do the rest of our school. For me to plan out that unit was a change of pace for us. I have always made sure that we met the state standards for science every year. We go way beyond that, though.

My son knows a lot about science. I really started doubting myself, but I think I've laid that fear to rest now. I'm always second-guessing myself!

Thanks, Doc, for the great downloads. They've been printed (in black and white lol) and added to my unit.