When we think about children’s education, we usually categorise it into regular schooling and homeschooling, of which the latter may be radically unconventional for conservative, old-school (no pun intended) parents. But, there also exists a third style of education, which is known as ‘unschooling’. Essentially, it is child-led, meaning the interests and curiosities of the child take precedence over anything else.
18: An Unschooling Experience is a chronicle or record of a mother's (the author herself) experience of unschooling her three children. Compelled by the lethargic school administration, poor pedagogy, regular absenteeism of teachers, insensitive behaviour of teachers towards kids and dubious curriculum, Marta takes the monumental task of unschooling her three children, Jayme, Afrika and Konji who are in the fourth ,first and preschool grade respectively. In this book , Marta describes at length and detail how she successfully homeschooled her children. From turning dinning room into elementary classroom to running to museums, science centres, libraries, bookshop, co-operatives, teaching workshops and associations, the author pen downs her efforts to provide holistic education to her children. She unabashedly talks about the failing American educational system, the experience of being an immigrant, fear of loosing their Catalan culture and ever present fear of not giving best to her children.
But this is not just a struggle diary of a mother to success rather it is a guide for all those parents who are apprehensive about institutional schooling and want to give best to their children at home. The author has attempted to described every possible process like unschooling children legally ,chalking out curriculum , designing pedagogy, utilisation of available resources , socialisation, management of time and money and comprehensive and continuous evaluation at home through her own experiences.
Overall, it's a very resourceful and enriching read for all those who are not satisfied with the conventional education system and want to give something refreshing to their children.