Unschooling is a form of homeschooling. It is an educational philosophy. Homeschoolers are diverse as are their educational methods, not unlike schools. Unschooling is not about letting your children do “whatever” in a careless, neglectful manner. It is about non-coercion. Obviously, Ms. Kasparian at age 10 preferred television over reading a book — she wasn’t unschooled. And yes, Ms. Kasparian if an unschooled teen decides she truly wants to go to college, she will acquire the knowledge she needs to do it.

Watch the video and judge for yourself, “Unschooling vs. Homeschooling vs. Formal Education”.

Although you do bring up some very valid advantages toward homeschooling, don’t you feel that problems such as drugs are something that you cannot shield your child from for their whole life? One of the best lessons you can teach your children is how to stay away from drugs, but hiding them from it isn’t necessarily the way to do it. Eventually they will be on their own today and it is up to you as a parent to teach them “how to say no.” Also, when taking them out of a school system, you are taking away many valuable lessons that can be taught as in how to work with other people that you may necessarily not like. It can be argued that the most important things you learn in school are social rather than educational, so why keep your child from learning these valuable lessons just to shield them from something they’ll run into eventually anyways?

Many people hold such sweeping assumptions about homeschoolers and homeschooling. While personally I could provide you with facts and experiencs of my own children, that is really not the point.The perception that homeschooled children are hiding and unaffected by the rest of society is a pervasive misconception. This is a myth founded on misinformation.

Homeschoolers are not hiding but rather choosing not to participate in a system that for individual reasons they feel is not the best for their family and children.

Why assume homeschooled children are always shielded from drugs? Drugs are a part of our society whether that is desirable or not. Our children are just as much a part of the “neighborhood” as is anyone else. And like everyone else they, too, must learn how to cope and handle these pressures. They do not wear signs that say, “Drug dealers beware, I’m homeschooled!” and somehow that protects them from life’s realities.

Why believe that homeschooled children do not learn “how to say no”? As you yourself say, this is the responsibility of parents to teach them “how to say no.” If anything, I would counter that homeschooled children have had greater opportunity for instruction on how to form independent choices than those traditionally schooled.

It is perhaps the overwhelming impression that homeschooled children are somehow removed from society and thus lacking experience in social situations provided only by classrooms and school buildings that is the most erroneous. Just like everyone else, homeschooled children and families encounter people and uncomfortable social situations. Opting out of a system of mass education does not constitute removal from society as a whole.

As is stated, “…the most important things you learn in school are social rather than educational.” That is precisely the point. Homeschoolers are educating their children outside of a school system. Their children are learning and their children are not being socialized in the same way as those in brick and mortar buildings. This is what makes homeschoolers different.

Homeschoolers are very much a part of society and are a growing element in American culture. Homeschooling does not equal isolation or lack of socialization. Homeschoolers are parents asserting their rights to raise their children, including the direction of their educations both academically and socially.

This comment was posted to an article on the choice to homeschool. The editor felt the comment warranted further opportunity for discussion and placed the comment and response in a post.