
Unschooling - alex_young
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unschooling
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justinmchase
I was "homeschooled" instead of going to High School, but by reading this
definition I was effectively unschooled.

I'll say it worked great for me who struggled with bullies and traditional
school systems for whatever reasons. I later went on and got a GED (took all
the tests in one day and did very well). Later went on I went to a community
college and then state university finished with a BS in CS.

For me things tend to be much easier to understand if I need to understand it
in order to solve a problem and then I could go as deep into a topic as
necessary. For example if someone had told me that geometry and trigonometry
were what I needed to know to be able to 2D game graphics and presented it in
the context of game programming I would have been a million times more
interested. I was definitely one of those kids who asked "why do I need to
know this?" And typically the answer was not forthcoming, even though being
older I understand this much more clearly.

Also, I'll add that I don't know that you have to necessarily cram a bunch of
information into a kid just because they're a kid. If they learn how to learn
and later on need it, you can still be quite well equipped to learn more. In
fact it seems easier to me as you get older and have more context around all
subjects.

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rogerkirkness
I was unschooled, unschool my son and will continue to as we have more kids.
AMA.

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alex_young
I was unschooled as well, in the 1980s, and I'm considering the idea of a
modern interpretation of this for my future son.

Any pointers on how to manage the ubiquitous devices we find ourselves
preoccupied with these days? Maybe this is more of a general kids question
than an unschooling one :)

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rogerkirkness
We like using Google speakers instead of screens for things like music and
podcasts. We don't let him have any screentime, but we'll change that when
he's five to try and have active things. Make screens boring (e.g. greyscale,
bluelight filtering, no passive apps).

