Have you ever heard people talking about deschooling? It’s a homeschool vocab word that means “detoxing from school.” It’s kinda’ cool, actually. If you haven’t heard of it, that means you should probably try it, lol!
Deschooling is getting all the schoolishness out of your child’s system. It’s a period of escape from not just the rigors of schoolwork but also the routines and methods of learning typical of a classroom.
How do I deschool?
It’s not hard: just stop schooling. Stop the workbooks, the videos, the Zooms, the assigned reading, all of it.
Now you wonder what to do instead. Relax and do nothing for a while. Then gradually look for other ways around you to learn: playing games, wandering outside, fixing things around the house, watching documentaries, visiting shut-ins, talking to neighbors.
Your preschoolers might spend time playing and getting into things all day. Your elementary-aged children might run outside, play board games, and make crafts. Your teens may visit friends, practice music and sports, create something on the computer or video, or research a topic of interest.
What does deschooling accomplish?
The whole idea of deschooling is to get out of an institutional mindset. Children who have learned in a classroom are used to being fed their information in narrow ways. They will often wait for an assignment, for example, to study something new. They may be externally motivated by grades and rewards rather than by knowledge and learning itself. Or they may associate learning with drudgery like a chore rather than something to enjoy and explore.
Spending time away from the regular routine of education helps many children and adults refocus and find a new outlook on learning.
Why would I want to deschool?
If you are bringing your child out of public school, deschooling is a great way to reset expectations both for yourself and for your child. It’s a gentle way to begin fresh with homeschooling. After a period of deschooling, many parents find it easier to homeschool their own way.
Now, many parents are getting their first taste of homeschooling from stay-at-home public school. If your child is beginning homeschooling this fall after a time of public Zoom school, you especially may want to enjoy a few months of deschooling. You and your child both need time to reframe your expectations, to get past what you needed to do for public-school-at-home and begin again your way.
The hard thing about starting homeschooling after public school is learning how to do it your own way. Homeschooling is nothing like public schooling. It’s nothing like public-school-at-home. It’s learning within the culture of your own family, teaching the way you teach best for the way your child learns best.
What does deschooling look like?
When I first brought my twins home from public school, I “deschooled” them for a while. The very first day, I let them play with some tangram figures then asked them to put the toys away when they felt like they were done. Then I read them a book and asked them to look at more picture books until they were done. Then we played outside before lunch. Juliana asked me when we were going to start homeschooling. I told her we just did.
It took the twins a while to realize that what they love — reading, building, creating, playing — is what learning is all about. Now, sure, we use worksheets and have to finish regular assignments now. But in the beginning, life was just about getting back to those basics. So now the twins have a better connection between life and learning. They learn at the kitchen table so they can use it in life that day. They use their new-found reading and writing skills to create new games. And they enjoy “just playing around” with math manipulatives and board games and cooking and science experiements … the real stuff of learning.
If you are new to homeschooling — or if your homeschool is stuck in a rut — consider spending some time deschooling.
Hey, I’d love to get your thoughts on deschooling. Leave me a comment below or contact me on Facebook. I’d love to hear from you.
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