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