#15 Unschooling – The Secondary Level, Pt. 1
Categories: Unschooling, Léo’s Insights 2025-2026
Nothing scares home educators and unschoolers more than the possibility of ruining their children’s potential prospects for post-secondary advancement. The idea that government sets the standards for education and calls the shots regarding post-secondary admissions is so ingrained in the minds of the masses that it causes parents to capitulate to public programming far too often. It is not uncommon to see very successful unschoolers fully lose their resolve and faith once students reach high school age. I personally see this as having the student go backward in order to advance.
Many parents will start questioning their ability to teach their children once they pass puberty and enter the senior levels. This is indicative of a major misunderstanding regarding learning and education. Perhaps the best way to explain this statement would be to share the secret to my public high school teaching success with you. Are you ready? I did not teach the students. I invited them to teach themselves. I provided help when needed, while constantly reminding my students that it was not me that had to learn the material in order to succeed. I understood that since the dawn of time, learning has always had two ubiquitous characteristics: everybody learns and it is individual. I believe everything we have learned is as a consequence of our having taught ourselves. Even when doing school, students may demonstrate they are intelligent and love their parents and/or teachers enough to temporarily memorize information in order to succeed on the test, but then they forever forget what they “learned”. If, on the other hand, what is presented is of interest, students will take the opportunity to teach themselves and the material will not be forgotten.
Let me give you an example. Suppose I take a class of biology students on a field trip with the objective of learning the different trees that grow in Alberta. After showing the students the trees and informing them of the ecological characteristics and their scientific names, I give them an exam. How many students will pass the test? Most. If I surprise them with the same exam a week after having reviewed the test (so everyone knows the correct answers), what do you think will happen? You guessed it. There will be a major drop in scores. Now imagine a student took an interest in the trees of Alberta and taught him/herself to identify them along with their scientific names. Years, decades later, this student will still know this information. The difference? The student taught him/herself. This is how unschooling works.
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