Confused by Homeschooling Terms? Here is How Unschooling and Other Philosophies Actually Fit Together 

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Hi! If you’re just starting out, your head is probably spinning with all these terms. I remember feeling the same way! Like I needed a PhD just to figure out how to teach my own kids at home.

Whether you want a strict schedule or no schedule at all, it all starts at the same place: the legal paperwork. Firstly, it’s important to know that homeschooling and unschooling both fall under the same legal umbrella.

You officially ‘homeschool’ in the eyes of the law, but unschooling is the philosophy or style you choose to use under that legal banner. Both paths require you to be familiar with your local educational laws and regulations.

Okay, now that the boring part is out of the way, I’ve pulled together some thoughts to help you see the big picture of how everything fits together.

I think it helps to look at this in two parts. First, the big what and ‘why’ of alternative education, and second, the ‘how’ of actually doing it day-to-day.

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Part 1: The Big Picture – What is Alternative Education?

Think of Alternative Education as the giant umbrella that covers everything outside the traditional, one-size-fits-all public school system. It’s for parents who want more individual education for their kids.

Under this umbrella, you’ll find:

• Charter Schools: These are public but act a bit like private schools. They have more freedom to try new things and are often called schools of choice.
• Specialised Schools: You’ve probably heard of Montessori or Waldorf. These follow very specific philosophies.
• Career-Themed Schools: These mix academics with hands-on experience in things like art, law, or media.
• Homeschooling and Unschooling: These are the private versions of alternative education where the learning happens right in your living room.

The Main Difference: Homeschooling vs. Unschooling

This is where most people get tripped up.

Homeschooling is usually a bit more structured. Most parents start by checking local laws, setting up a dedicated space, and picking out a curriculum. It’s often about making sure your child learns what they would in a traditional school, but in a way that fits your family.

Unschooling is a whole different mindset. It’s often called natural or child-led learning. Instead of a pre-planned book, you follow your child’s lead. If they get obsessed with space, you spend three weeks at the library and the science centre.

It’s based on the idea that life and education are the same thing and kids are always learning just by living life. Unschooling parents aren’t lazy; they are actually keen observers, always ready to jump on a learning moment when it happens.

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Part 2: Finding Your Groove – Styles and Philosophies

Once you decide to move away from the traditional system, you get to choose your Philosophy. This is basically the vibe of your homeschool. Here are the big ones:

• Traditional or Structured: This is basically school-at-home. You have textbooks, grades, and a set schedule. It’s great if you want to make sure there are no gaps in learning.
• Charlotte Mason: This is all about living books (great literature and poetry), building good habits, and spending time in nature. It focuses on the whole child.
• Classical: This follows the way a child’s brain naturally develops in three stages: grammar (soaking up facts), logic (arguing and processing), and rhetoric (expressing their own ideas).
• Unit Studies: This is where you take one big topic – like the ocean – and use it to teach everything else. You do ocean-themed math, read books about explorers, and do science experiments with salt water.
• Biblical Principle: This approach uses the Bible as the foundation for every subject, focusing on character and a Christian worldview.
• Design Your Own: Honestly? My guess is that most of us do this. You might love the literature from Charlotte Mason but want the math structure of a traditional curriculum. That’s the beauty of this journey – you can mix and match until it feels just right.

Our Family’s Journey

We’ve found that the best approach is often one that evolves with each child. Our daughter does remote school through correspondence school, but even with that formal structure, we’ve found so much value in weaving unschooling into her life.

We’ve included homesteading projects as part of her project learning, and seeing how much she thrived with that hands-on approach really changed how we looked at education for our second child.

For our son, (who is formally ‘homeschooled’) we do a bit more formal teaching for the basics like reading and maths to give him a solid foundation. But the vast majority of his schooling is pure unschooling right here on our homestead.

Every duty on our off-grid property and market garden is a real-life learning opportunity. He’s not just helping; he’s learning mechanics by reading machine manuals, physics and math by tracking solar electrical readings, and economics by earning and saving money for jobs in the garden.

Even a trip to the hardware store becomes a literacy and planning lesson as he writes out the shopping lists.

Debunking the Myths

You’re going to hear a lot of noise from people who don’t get it.

They’ll say your kids won’t be socialised, but the truth is our kids are out in the world every day, interacting with people of all ages, not just a room of people their own age. 

They may question how your kids will get into university, but higher institutions actually recognize the discipline and character of homeschoolers, and many graduates actually have an edge when it comes to scholarships. 

We even acknowledge that university may not be the right path for our children to follow as they could be ready to jump straight into the workforce or training opportunity when the time comes. Even straight into their own entrepreneurial journey? 

The most important thing to remember is that we all want the same thing: an environment where our kids can actually flourish. Whether you want a strict schedule or you want to follow your child’s lead, you’re doing great just by showing up for them.

You’ve read this far, so are you completely opposed to starting your homeschool planning now?

Or are you willing to waste more time researching over and over only to get more confused?

Purchase my homeschooling starter checklist and planning worksheets on ETSY and let’s get you moving! You’ll feel relieved to be making a start!