unschoolers - 2018
In 2018 I spent a week photographing a "unschooling" family in Wiarton, ON. Jennie and Luke have chosen to unschool their three children, Judah, Neve, and Wilder, letting them learn through play. The children are given the freedom to explore interests that appeal to them, instead of following a curriculum or a schedule. The kids enjoy making art, cooking, dancing, building forts, card games, identifying plants and animals, reading and visiting the library, and playing outside.
Home educating their children is a choice that parents usually make due to a lack of faith in the school system. Schools are often run as one-size-fits-all, failing the many kids who don't thrive when asked to memorize facts and sit still. Home education offers an alternative. There are two main types: homeschooling, which is more structured and may involve textbooks and assignments; and unschooling, which is unstructured and not comparable to school.
While all home education tends to encourage children to nurture their passions, unschooling is based on the well-established premise that children learn best through play. Unschooling parents believe that it’s beneficial to the child to let them lead when it comes to learning, and that there should be no schedule for learning or rules for how to learn. The parents also believe that childhood is a sacred time meant to be enjoyed.
Organically cultivating a love for learning has benefits. An 2016 study by the National Home Education Research Institute indicated that home-educated individuals scored 15-30 percentage points higher on standardized academic achievement tests. But more importantly, kids like Judah, Neve and Wilder will grow up with memories of these days of being free to play and let their imagination run wild. They are given permission to be children.
The three kids relax on the front porch while Neve reads her children's book on neuroscience
Neve practices balancing on a small tree stump in the front yard of her home
Wilder chops garlic while his mother Jennie supervises
Judah, Neve and Wilder search for "treasures" in the lake near their home
Neve plays at the bottom of a playground slide
Neve and Wilder build a miniature tipi in their front yard
Neve swings on monkey bars by the lake near her home
Wilder plays an imagination game with a stick in the living room of his home
Wilder draws flora and fauna with his siblings and mother Jennie in the woods near their home
Wilder, Judah and Neve play on top of their parents' car in front of their home at sunset
Judah plays an imagination game in the front yard of his home on a rainy day
Jennie ties Neve's hair into a bun before her ballet class while Judah reads comic books
Neve runs into ballet class with her friends
Judah, Neve and Wilder walk down the street with their family