Unschoolers and College

Here is a recent comment I received: "Since you Unschool your children, they'll never be able to go to college." The statement behind the statement is: "Your children will never amount to anything."

I realize that these comments are coming from a place of fear on the speaker's part, and even sometimes from a place of genuine concern and love. The fear is unwarranted and the concern is unnecessary. Homeschoolers (and especially Unschoolers) are thriving and successful.

Grown Unschoolers have been proving for years that school was not necessary for them to have healthy, happy, and fulfilled lives in the real world. They've been allowed to live in society for their whole lives (unlike children who are forced to spend hours and hours every day in school -- which is a completely different environment than "the real world") and they have no difficult transition period between adolescence and adulthood unlike their schooled age-mates. I have not met a single unsuccessful grown Unschooler. I can't say the same about schooled adults...

Think that Unschoolers aren't qualified to attend college? Think again. I must state, however, that Unschoolers might not feel the need to receive a traditional college degree in order to feel like a worthy citizen (and their friends and family don't force them to believe this myth, either). They've learned from an early age that learning and education do not necessarily go hand in hand. Living in society proves this to them.

If an Unschooled individual has the desire to attend college, then they'll attend college. It's really that simple. If you want something badly enough, you learn how to do it (which is the whole premise behind Unschooling). If, in fact, you don't want to know how to do it, your heart will never be in it no matter who forces you to go through the motions of "learning it" (and you'll never remember it). People need to WANT to learn about a topic before they actually learn it.

Some resources to begin your researching journey on this topic:

• BestHomeschooling.org's College & Career Information
• The Chronicle of Higher Education's October 12, 2007 article titled "Home-Schooled Students Rise in Supply and Demand"
  
• Sandra Dodd's "College Considerations for Unschoolers"
• Alfie Kohn's "How Not to Get into College: The Preoccupation with Preparation"
  

In my early quizzing of possible colleges and universities for my children (now 11 and 7), I've found many (just about all the ones I've looked into) are actively seeking out homeschooled children. These higher education schools are thrilled and excited about this "new breed" (their words) of young adults that actually want to be attending their classes (and aren't being forced to be there by their parents). The professors are happy to have them since they ask the important questions in class and are searching for the knowledge that the professors are trying to impart. The entrance requirements are easily met by all types of homeschoolers, so I have no worries and neither should other unschooling parents. Our pioneering children know exactly where they need to be, exactly when they need to be there. It might not be the "traditional path", but it will be the right one. Their happy and fulfilled lives prove it.