melissa on Nostr: Sharing this from a home ed group I'm in - written by a homeschooled now adult: Hi ...

Sharing this from a home ed group I'm in - written by a homeschooled now adult:

Hi everyone! I'm 23 years old and I've been Unschooled for my entire life, as have all of the kids in my family. I see a lot of comments in this group and online asking for success stories of grown Unschoolers/Homeschoolers, so I wanted to take a moment to address that, as an adult Unschooler.

I'm sure there are other people who feel differently, but I've never liked those comments. I understand our experience being valuable, but there is a lot of pressure on us home educated adults to be "successful". Part of reaching adulthood for us is realizing that sometimes parents still expect us to conform to systems like college and/or traditional work force arrangements, despite the fact that we were raised in an unconventional system. Some of us home educated adults have "successful" jobs/careers, while others have minimum wage jobs and are struggling, and that's not because we didn't go to school, it's because we're trying to start our adult lives in the worst economy American has seen since the Great Depression.

Too often in my experience are we used as reasons for or against parents Unschooling their kids. I will always share my experience with those who are interested, but my life story shouldn't be a factor in whether or not you should keep your kids out of school. Stop focusing on "will they be successful" and start thinking about what children need NOW.

There is no way to out maneuver a toxic system, and no amount of "early education" can prepare children for a world of broken people and dangerous circumstances. But they can be taught how to find joy and peace in the world they're in, and strive for a better one because they've been shown how to love and how to love and value themselves.

Children shouldn't be Unschooled because they "can still be successful", they should be Unschooled because it's what is natural, and it's the right thing to do. If parents can't see that, can't see how broken every school system is, they're not paying attention. Speaking as someone who's grown up around Unschoolers and school kids alike, I can promise you that whatever fears you have about Unschooling don't matter. We all integrate, we all learn, we can all "keep up" and get jobs. But maybe you should have better priorities for us.

Thanks Annelise Nicole for giving me to share this here.

#homeschooling #unschooling #selfled #education #parenting