#10 Unschooling – Quick Review
Let’s start the new year by first stating that most home education providers and facilitators do not wake up in the morning with the objective of obstructing the unschooling approach to education. Most, in fact, have never given unschooling much thought at all. They simply advance the only thing they know which is something aligned with public programming, as most everyone has adopted the idea that government knows what children need. Nonetheless, how can an agency incapable of procreation know what is best for children? Furthermore, how can a one-size-fits-all system accommodate the incredible diversity seen in humanity?
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#9 Unschooling – Parental Motivations
As modern schools became bastions of compliance for secular ideology, the home education movement in Alberta grew. Wanting to preserve their faith from erosion, many parents chose to escape schooling, entrusting dedicated home education providers to support their programs, as parents believed these providers held a common objective of faith in God. However, with home education being funded in Alberta, the character of home education began to transform into being more of an industry than a ministry as nearly every school began providing for home education with the intent of increasing cash flow.
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#8 Unschooling – School Motivations
Last time, we ended by questioning the ultimate goal of modern schools. As long as there have been schools, there has been an overarching motivation toward some sort of universal compliance. Perhaps some of these motivations have been of a good nature, but then again, whenever something becomes mandated by government, the objective should be suspect.
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#7 Unschooling – What is School?
The “best” dictionary definition of school is: “An institution or place where people, typically students, are educated, instructed, and taught, often by teachers, to acquire knowledge, skills, and understanding to function in society.” At first brush, this definition seems to be accurate and non-threatening. However, it may be a good idea to look into the history of compulsory education before coming to any foregone conclusions about what school was and what it has come to be.
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#6 Unschooling – The Bible and School
Before diving deeper into our discussion, we should ask ourselves what it is that we are trying to “undo” or escape when we talk about “unschooling.” Before we begin, let me tell you a funny story.
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#5 Unschooling – Big Question?
Hopefully by now, you have come to the conclusion that the reason we end up believing what we do is that we don’t question or test what we have come to believe or why we believe it is true. We just act in accordance with the way we were raised and the things we have been taught and have experienced. While we individually have the capacity to think independently, we usually unquestioningly continue with the established narrative and status quo we have come to, even if we don’t understand how or why.
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#4 Unschooling – More Questions
Pontius Pilot is famous for having asked a question likely everyone has asked at some time in their life: “What is Truth?” Avoiding a long dissertation on what truth is, we need only point out two things. While the word truth is most often used in a singular context, the opposite can be said of untruths commonly known as lies. The other thing of note is that truth is the only way that lies can be exposed as such. Also know that what we believe, whether true of false, will ultimately default as truth in our minds.
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#3 Unschooling – Undoing School
Having established the importance of having a faith foundation, it is important to understand how this actually looks within an unschooling program. If faith in God is the main reason for unschooling, then it should go without saying that the first requirement is to relax. If you believe in God and that He gave you the creative ability to produce His children, then we can trust that He will not need man’s education methodologies and pedagogical techniques to accomplish His will in their lives. I repeat, trust God and relax. You need to take responsibility, but you should not fret.
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#2 Unschooling – In The Beginning
You have probably already discovered that schooling doesn’t deliver as promised or that what is being accomplished at school is not in keeping with the goals and aspirations you have regarding your children’s education. This is likely why you have determined to keep your children home and why you are watching this vlog.
While unschooling is often advanced as simply keeping children home rather than sending them to school, it is much more than that. If all you do is replace a school environment with a school mindset at home, you haven’t really changed much other than being intimately involved with systemic failures. Put another way, repeating what you intrinsically know is not working only makes for a better bad.
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#1 Welcome (Back)!
Welcome to the 2025-26 academic year. For those of you already subscribed to this channel, thank you for your support. If you are not yet subscribed, may I suggest you do that so you catch all the editions of this series. I believe I am also supposed to ask that you “Like” what you see here, but you wouldn’t likely be subscribed if you didn’t!