The “Unschooling” Movement: What It Is and Why It’s Gaining Popularity (No, It’s Not Just Kids Running Wild)

If you’ve ever scrolled past a TikTok of a child building a chicken coop at 10 a.m. on a Wednesday or baking bread while casually explaining the water cycle, you may have stumbled into the world of unschooling, and then immediately asked, “Wait…is this real school?”

Spoiler: It is. Sort of. But not in the way you’re probably used to.

Unschooling is part of the broader alternative education landscape, and lately, it’s been gaining traction faster than a kindergartener on a sugar high. Some parents swear by it, some educators raise an eyebrow, and a lot of people are still trying to figure out if it means just letting your kid play Minecraft all day.

Let’s break down what unschooling really is, why more families are choosing it, and how it actually works in the wild (spoiler: it’s not just chaos in pajama pants…though sometimes it’s that too).

What Is Unschooling, Anyway?

Unschooling is an approach to education that tosses traditional school structure out the window and says: “Let the kid lead.”

No set curriculum.

No formal tests.

No worksheets unless the kid asks for one (they usually don’t)

Instead, unschooling is about:

• Interest-based learning

• Real-world experiences

• Natural curiosity

• Learning at a child’s pace, in their own way

It’s kind of like Montessori’s chill cousin who lives off-grid and makes sourdough from scratch.

So…Do They Just Not Learn Anything?

This is the biggest myth, and the fastest way to get unschooling parents to side-eye you. Unschoolers do learn, they just don’t learn on a rigid schedule or through one-size-fits-all methods. Instead, of being told, “Today we’re learning fractions” they might:

• Bake cookies (hello, measurements and proportions)

• Open an Etsy shop (financial literacy and communication)

• Get obsessed with ancient Egypt and build a mini museum in the living room (history, research, presentation!)

The learning is embedded in life. And for many families, that’s the whole point.

A Quick but Necessary Rant: Educational Neglect Is Not Unschooling

Now, before we romanticize unschooling too hard, we’ve got to talk about what it’s not. Because lately, on TikTok (bless it and curse it), I’ve come across a few so-called “unschooling” moms whose content is raising serious red flags.

Picture this: a child, age 6, laboring to copy letters off delivery boxes, barely legible, no fine motor control, no foundational skills, while the parent proudly declared, “We don’t force reading. They’ll just figure it out by staring at words.”

Or another video where a curious 9-year-old literally asks “Why does the sun come out everyday?” And the parent responds with a dismissive, “You have a book about that over there,” while the child clutches clutches the book upside down. No further conversation. No explanation. No support. Just a rant about how traditional education ruins kids and staring at words will teach them to read “naturally”.

Friends, this is NOT unschooling. This is educational neglect dressed up in crunchy language.

Unschooling still means facilitating learning. It means offering resources, answering questions, guiding curiosity, and meeting developmental needs. It does NOT mean waiting until a child accidentally learns how to read while you ignore every sign they’re hungry for knowledge. If a child is asking questions, especially basic development ones, and being met with shrugs, vague hand-waves, or worse, silence, that’s not self-directed learning. That’s abandonment of your role as an educational guide.

And it’s heartbreaking. Because kids want to learn. And these parents, intentionally or not, are ignoring that need.

You’re allowed to say no to worksheets. You’re allowed to let your children learn through play and exploration. But if your child is literally asking to learn and you’re too caught up in your anti-curriculum aesthetic to engage? That’s not freedom, that’s a disservice.

So let’s be clear:

Unschooling doesn’t mean do nothing. It means do everything differently with purpose, presence, and deep respect for your child’s natural desire to understand the world. And if your kid is holding a book upside down? That’s your cue. Step in. Teach. Love. Support. Because the “un” in unschooling should never stand for uninvolved.

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Why Is Unschooling Getting So Popular?

The Pandemic Changed Everything

Remember 2020? When every dining room became a classroom and parents got a crash course in Zoom fatigue? Yeah. That. The pandemic made a lot of families question the traditional school model. Suddenly, people saw firsthand what their kids were (and weren’t) getting from school and started exploring other options. Unschooling offered flexibility, freedom, and the radical idea that kids might not need to sit at a desk from 8 to 3 to learn something valuable.

It Respects Neurodiversity and Individuality

For kids who don’t thrive in traditional settings, neurodivergent kids, highly sensitive kids, wildly creative kids, unschooling can be a breath of fresh air. There’s no one “right” way to learn. No behavior charts, no sitting still for hours while your brain is doing backflips. It’s not a magic fix, but it is a way to honor the way each child learns best.

People Are Craving Joyful Learning Again

Let’s face it: modern school can feel like a factory. Test. Sore. Repeat. Unschooling says, “what if learning was joyful, meaningful, and tied to real life?”

It’s learning without the pressure, and for a lot of families, that’s worth everything.

But Wait…Are There Any Rules? Structure? Anything?

There’s no official “unschooling manual,” which is both freeing and mildly terrifying. But most unschooling families share a few core beliefs:

• Kids are naturally curious

• Learning is constant and doesn’t only happen in school

• Trusting the child is key

• Life itself is the curriculum

Does that mean every unschooling family is out forging steel swords and writing poetry under waterfalls? No.

Some use online courses, some read piles of books, some spend their days gardening, gaming, or launching lemonade stand empires. It varies wildly, and that’s kid of the point.

Common Criticisms (Let’s Address Them, Shall We?)

“They won’t learn discipline or structure!”

Actually, they do, it just comes from intrinsic motivation rather than external deadlines. When a kid wants to learn something, they’ll put in the time and effort. Ever met a tween who taught themselves video editing just to level up their YouTube channel?

“They’ll never survive college or the workforce”

Many unschooled kids do just fine in college or entrepreneurship. In fact, they often enter those environments with strong self direction, creativity, and problem solving skills, you know, the stuff employers keep begging for.

“This only works for privileged families”

It’s true that unschooling requires time, flexibility, and access to resources, and that’s not available to everyone. But many families unschool on a tight budget, share resources through co-ops, or work non-traditional jobs to make it work. It’s not always easy. But it is often intentional.

Final Thoughts: It’s Not for Everyone, But It’s Not Nonsense, Either

Unschooling isn’t about abandoning learning. It’s about redefining it. It’s not chaos (okay, sometimes it’s chaos). It’s not anti-education. It’s education without the institutional baggage. If you’re someone who loves structure and standards and bullet-pointed outcomes, unschooling might feel like a free-fall into uncertainty. But if you believe that kids are capable, curious, and wired to learn in ways that don’t always fit into a box, it just might be the wild, wonderful journey you’re looking for.

Just maybe pack snacks. And a measuring cup. Because odds are, math is going to happen at snack time.