Homeschooling or No-schooling

Parents, today, are disenchanted with the entire educational system. School fees are skyrocketing, kids are carrying school bags that weigh more than their body weight, kids are learning by rote and then there is a constant threat to the kids’ safety. No wonder alternate schooling movements such as homeschooling and no-schooling have caught their attention, and more and more parents are inclining towards it.

So What are Homeschooling and No-Schooling?

Homeschooling and no-schooling are types of alternate schooling where a child is not required to attend the traditional school. He learns at home with his parents being the teachers or on his own.

Alternate Schooling Methods

Let’s learn in detail about these alternate schooling methods:

1. Homeschooling

As the name suggests, in homeschooling, parents make a conscious decision to pull out their child from a private or public school and continue his learning at home.

• • This learning can be imparted by one parent or both, or a tutor could be hired to facilitate learning.
  • The parents decide on a particular board system and teach their child under the provisions of that board and curriculum.
  • The parents prepare a learning timetable as per their convenience and availability.
  • The parents decide the teaching style and pace as per the comfort of their child.

2. No-Schooling or Unschooling

Basically, no-schooling or unschooling falls under the umbrella of homeschooling.

Here as well, a child doesn’t attend a traditional school. However, no-schooling takes it one step further by not putting stress on learning through traditional means like school text books. So there is no school, no classes, no teachers and no methodical instruction-based learning.

• There is no curriculum and no timetable.
• The child decides what to learn and how to learn. He learns from doing real things, by observing people and pursuing natural interests.

We have come up with a few interesting pointers that will help you in knowing the differences of these informal schooling methods:

• Promoters of homeschooling believe that children learn better through a structured teaching style imparted on a daily basis. While those who push the case for no-schooling believe that if kids are given access to the proper resources and books, and plenty of opportunities for personal learning experiences and people belonging to various fields and interests, they will teach themselves.
• In home-based learning, parents follow a daily timetable and curriculum and try to follow it religiously. However, under no-schooling, the parents are not required to sit with their child every day at a designated hour for tutorial learning.
• Learning happens through textbooks, and other practise sheets in homeschooling. In no-schooling, learning is not limited to school textbooks.
• Believers of homeschooling see the personal interests of the child as an extra-curricular activity, while in no-schooling, these activities are promoted as a way of learning.
• Homeschooling usually takes place in a certain location at certain times while no-schooling can take place anywhere and anytime.

Both homeschooling and no-schooling are excellent forms of alternate schooling. It really depends on the parents and the child to decide the one that works out the best for them. If the parents are willing and fully committed towards their child’s education, then they may opt for homeschooling. If they have a child who is self-motivated and can control his own learning, then parents may choose no-schooling for their child.