(refer to: Real Lives: Eleven Teenagers Who Don’t Go To School, by Grace Llewellyn)
 
Unschooling is the educational philosophy advocated by John Holt. In this option, the student is set free to choose and study whatever they are interested in. They can study on their own, take a few correspondent courses, do an apprenticeship, start a business, get a job … This doesn’t mean that there is NO structure to the learning. It simply means that the student sets the structure. If the parent sees an area of weakness that the student is not addressing in their learning, then the parent can step in and help the student find a way to address that issue. The student takes the responsibility for learning, so they generally study in-depth. Since no attempt at a traditional high school experience is even attempted, the parent does not have to understand pre-college curriculum, etc. Any records needing to be kept should be kept by the student in the form of a file and journals. To use the dinner analogy once again, this is like letting your student loose to plan and make Christmas dinner. They may have to practice some, do a little research, etc. They could buy ingredients from the store, use what is in the cupboard, ask “Aunt Jane” to bring something, and even buy part of the meal already made. They would choose the menu, plan and cook the meal.
 
Pros:

• The student is self-motivated and learns eagerly.
• This produces an individual, not a public school clone.
• Student develops a love of learning and sees learning as a part of real life.
• They learn the self-starter skills needed to succeed in real life.
• Parental involvement is less.
• Student doesn’t have time to get bored, so they do not get involved in negative cultural activities.
• These students go through the experiences that produce success, confidence, and good self-esteem.

Cons:

• No scope and sequence to learning a specific body of knowledge. But is that really necessary?
• They receive no diploma or college prep courses to show to a college admissions officer. But, plenty of real life experiences will impress the admissions office also — especially at a top-notch institution.