Meta-Goals of the Unschooler

Learning history through travel, and other meta-goals of unschooling

Once upon a time, when my kids were toddlers, I spent a lot of time thinking about our dreamed-of life as unschoolers. I did a lot of reading on unschooling theory, neuroscience, and attachment theory. I talked to everyone about this path who could offer me some insight, and generally tried to prepare for the responsibility of taking on my children's learning. In general… yeah, I was over-eager and uptight. And, I'll admit it, a little afraid. Afraid of bucking the system, afraid of having to de-school my own expectations, afraid of screwing up. So I did what any ex-academic does when confronted by a problem… I did even more research.

That is how I spent the first several years of motherhood, but as time wore on I got to witness the natural learning of my two littles unfolding before my eyes, and I calmed down a bit. They learned complicated things with ease. My oldest taught himself to read, via Shakespeare (!), at the age of six. My youngest drew dragons at age three and knew the names of rare animals (coati, vontsira, hirola) that she learned seemingly by osmosis. They are not gifted or unusual. This is the way of things, and it happens in unexpected ways, each kid unfolding into their unique self, right before your eyes. I let go of my year-by-year plans and ideas about proper modes of pedagogy, and generally relaxed into learning as a life exploration. I also began to turn my reading and thoughts to de-schooling myself more than anything, because clearly I was hanging on to ideas about grade-level, performance, social expectations of success, and educational force (i.e. compulsory education). I was growing increasingly uncomfortable with these part of myself and in our culture more generally.

While I had no particular dream-profession or specific vision for my children's life and no desire to pigeon-hole them into what they might become, I found that, while I wished to unschool, I was still very interested in living/exploring broad modalities of thinking in our family life as a way to encourage my two children to explore it more fully in theirs. I began my work as a Transition Town activist in our community, started an alternative currency, and  generally began to open my mind up to a much more broad understanding of what encompasses a "successful adult" not only in our culture now, but in the changing world we live in -- and if I know anything it is that changes are coming.

When it came time for me to declare our homeschooling selves to the State of Pennsylvania when my son turned eight, they required a goal-setting document for the year to come. I submitted that, but also went one better… I compiled all of my broad dreams and ideals about raising children (over the course of their early lives, from childhood into their teen years and beyond) into a "meta-goals" document and submitted that as well… just for shits and giggles.

The district completely ignored it.  (What did I expect them to do with "lifetime goals.")

Every year, for a few years, I continued to submit it along with my affidavit. And they continued to ignore it.  Eventually I stopped submitting it, and it sat deep in my homeschooling folder for years, unopened. 

Recently I opened the document again and read over it, preparing to send it to a new unschooling mom as a reference. I thought I might share it to my wider community as well. What would you add?

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Our young people

• Will be able to read fluently, analyze a text for both overt and implied meanings, look for information that is missing in the text, and be able to apply content to their own lives and to the world in a meaningful way.
• Will know the history of scientific achievement, the methodology of the scientific process as well as its strength and limitations, and be able to apply this process to every-day problems.
• Will understand how number systems work, be aware of major modes of mathematical thinking and, most importantly, be able to apply mathematics to the problems in their daily lives.
•  Will have a strong knowledge of both human as well as planetary and cosmological history.
•  Will have some basic familiarity with ancient Greek and Latin as well as one modern language of their choice, as well as a good basic knowledge of mythology from many cultures.
•  Will enjoy many types of music and, if they wish, play an instrument of their choice.
•  Will explore at least one type of physical activity.
• Will be familiar with meditation and mindfulness
• Will have a broad knowledge of art materials, techniques, and art history. We include theater and dance in this category.
• Will be knowledgeable about the importance of healthy food and nutrition.
• Will learn the history of philosophy, reasoning skills, and logic and be able to apply this knowledge to the large philosophical questions of human existence.
• Will have the ability, tools, and self-awareness to be able to educate themselves as adults.
•  Will have respect for and a deep awareness of the natural world, including a strong environmental awareness and a working knowledge of the principles of permaculture.
• Will be aware of, respect, and participate in the political process as appropriate for their age.
• Will understand the basics of a household accounting and tipping, as well as the broad issues of economics, our money system, banking, and alternative approaches
•  Will be technologically literate.
•  Will have learned major life skills by the time they live independently that promote self-sufficiency, according to their interests, like cooking, gardening, canning/preserving, wild-crafting, orienteering, map skills, blacksmithing, woodworking, leather working, wilderness survival skills, knitting, and sewing.
• Will have had experiences camping, canoeing, rafting, and hiking.
• Will approach all life with respect and compassion.
• Will continue to have many friends and enjoy learning from the similarities and differences among people.
• Will learn behaviors, language, and techniques that help to ensure their physical and emotional safety, including the importance of setting boundaries with people who seek to transgress on them in some way. (edited to add: this includes the importance of consent.)
• Will learn how to manage a household and share in the responsibilities of day-to-day running of our life.
• Will  live fully integrated in their community, volunteering and giving to the collective welfare of those around them as they desire and is appropriate to their age.
• And finally, our young people will learn as much as possible of what is described above through domestic and international travel, with others and on their own.