How unschooling prepares you for work

If you read a lot of unschooling blogs or even news pieces, you’ll run across several comments very frequently. One of the most common arguments you hear is that unschooling does not prepare children for work. On one hand, that is true; our school system was developed to create uniform thinkers for the work force. It was designed after the Prussian system, which was designed for the same reasons—obedient soldiers, obedient workers. Private schools were intended for the leaders, innovators and successful people. It hasn’t changed in design since.

On the other hand, it’s also false. It really depends on your idea of work. If your idea of work is a passion that you want to follow, a dream to pursue, then it does not prepare you for it at all. In the unschooling community, there are so many young entrepreneurs and leaders following their dreams. It’s almost enough to make you jealous of not being able to be an unschool—in fact, sometimes I really wish I’d been able to do what my child and her friends do. Wood Sprite is working on her own Etsy store, and she has friends who also have their own businesses and blog. I know unschoolers who also attend college as teens, get paid for writing and travel the world with their parents, doing odd jobs together to experience the world. I also know unschoolers who became researchers, doctors and teachers in their twenties.

One of the biggest points of homeschooling is preparing kids to follow their own paths, their own career goals—not a one-size-fits-all approach. Even though studies show that the one size approach fails, I think as parents we already know what works best for our kids. Some parents supplement school with internships, camps and experiences for their kids, and that’s great—whatever works for your family.

Perhaps the reason why the idea that unschooling doesn’t prepare you for work is because so many people do not enjoy their work. Another reason is likely because they do not understand unschooling, either. Either way, I think more exposure to both—dream jobs and unschooling itself—would really help people understand how unschoolers learn and work.