Unschooling?

So I came across a story in People magazine recently that told of a family that practices unschooling -- a form of homeschooling process of educating children by letting them puruse their own interests and follow their passions in a way that leads to self-learning.

I applaud any parent who takes their child's education on as a full-time job through homeschooling -- most of us barely survive providing the essential bath, three square meals and meaningful play time. Deferring to a child's intuition as to the best way to learn? Imagine that!

I'm not sure that a child's natural and inherent drive to learn are starved in a school environment, nor am I convinced that unschooling or homeschooling are superior methods of preparing children for the future. As with everything in life, there is a fine balance of the formal (okay, standardized) schedule and the less structured (let's say "free form") activities that, together and given proper attention, do fine by the majortiy of children.

What I love about homeschooling and unschooling philosophies is the notion of putting a child in charge of his or her learning experience. Most often, homeschooling activities provide hands-on opportunities for exploration, creative problem solving, trial and error and story telling. In a way, it's a playful education.

To put yourself in the shoes of three homeschooling/unschooling families, visit their list of recommended Web sites offered by NPR in conjunction with its "Changing Face of America" series.

While I think school curriculum could stand to be a bit more playful, it's not wrong to have an goal-driven approach to learning (by reviewing and doing these things, you will learn X).

Where I think the majority of busy families fall is somewhere in the middle. My older daughter loves school. She doesn't want her first year of kindergarten to end, and my younger daughter can't wait to start preschool in the fall. But I do wonder what lies ahead as I think of something MIT professor Mitch Resnick recently mentioned during a discussion on creativity:

"People complain a lot about the educational system, and often with good reason. But you generally don't hear people complain about kindergarten. Kindergarten works pretty well."

As my daughter heads to first grade in the fall, I wonder if she will love it as much as she loves kindergarten. Will as much art work come home? Will she watch caterpillars turn into butterflies?

We're not about to take our kids' education into our own hands (remember I've said they usually teach us more than we teach them?), but I'm guessing my wife and I will have to be more diligent about providing the creative play time she needs to offset the time she will be spending learning the more "practical" lessons in school.

After all, every creative play opportunity can, and also should, be an opportunity to learn.