Worldschooling:

What're the differences between and the definitions of homeschooling, unschooling, and worldschooling?

Homeschooling — This is the official and most common term for not going to school full-time; being otherwise educated. The word clearly implies creating a school structure in the home, as some do, though many or even most homeschoolers utilize many educational opportunities outside of the home. Even when this is the case many people will still refer to themselves as homeschoolers because it is the most recognizable term or they think of their home as the base of their schooling.

Unschooling — This term was coined by John Holt to emphasize his educational philosophy as something fundamentally different than school and education as most people think of it. It's essentially freedom or the confidence in free people's ability to become educated by utililizing the resources and guidance around them and inside of them. It is often described as "child driven learning", free of coercion and based on following one's own interests, not necessarily using any of the usual school resources. Still, one can go to classes and use textbooks while still calling oneself an unschooler as many unschoolers do.

(John Holt was a school teacher himself. He started to become a critic of the way schools were run and wrote about How Children Fail to learn because of school and looking at How Children Learn realized it's really inspite of school. Eventually he started to tell parents, "You can Teach Your Own children and let them enjoy Growing Without Schooling because, in truth, children are actually Learning All the Time." In fact as a philosophy it's Never Too Late to start unschooling and follow ones bliss to learn whatever one wants. At the same time, many unschoolers and unschooling advocates, including Pat Farenga, a protege of John Holt and current president of Holt Associates, has expressed a desire for a more positive term that isn't defined by what it isn't.)

Worldschooling — This is a new term coined by Eli Gerzon that is essentially a more descriptive and positive version of unschooling that can apply to anyone even those beyond school age. Gerzon defines it by saying, "It's when the whole world is your school, instead school being your whole world." Eli Gerzon has "unschooled through college" mainly by learning from his international travels but the term does not require you to travel the world, just as unschooling doesn't forbid making use of school resources. Instead, it's when one actively experiences and learns from the world around one: the home, family, friends, strangers of all backgrounds, libraries, parks, sports, forests, schools, towns, and of course the world and the world wide web. It also emphasizes that there is always more to learn from this wonderful, complex world regardless of whether one has a high school degree, is a doctor, or is solely self-educated.

Join the Worldschoolers group on Facebook!

More ideas about homeschooling, unschooling, and worldschooling:

-School: "Do what you're told."
-Homeschool: "Do what you're told... by your mom."
-Unschool: "Do what you want."
-Worldschool: "Do what ya gotta do..."

-Unschool - Trust yourself, your child, and the individual.
-Homeschool - Trust your family, friends, and community.
-School - Trust school, government, and institutions.
-Worldschool - Trust the world and the universe.

-School teaches there are few possibilities for you.
-Unschooling teaches there are infinite possibilities.
-Worldschooling teaches you which are truly for you.

~Worldschooling is when the world schools you.

Worldschooling is when you get your ass kicked... in a sacred manner. And then learn from it... in a sacred manner.

"Because the world owes us nothing, and we owe each other the world." -Ani DiFranco "Joyful Girl"

The term unschooling was invented by John Holt years ago and it's when students are free to follow their own interests instead of someone else's curriculum. It's having confidence/trusting in a person's ability to do that. And amazingly, it actually works: people learn what they need to learn and a lot more!

Worldschooling is in some ways a more positive term for unschooling but it's also a little bit different: it's when you temper what you want/are interested in with what's going on in the world! It's unschooling beyond your neighborhood without the support of your family and friends and learning and DOING what you gotta do: what you're meant to do in this world! In some ways, worldschooling is when you grow up!

Many go through worldschooling by travelling the world but other people go through it from other meaningful, challenging experiences.

Many unschoolers have been looking for a more positive and descriptive term for the way they educate themselves and this word I created hopefully fills that need for some people.

For worldschoolers of school age, homeschoolers, it might be an easier conversation when people ask, "Where do you go to school?"

"I homeschool, but I like to call it worldschooling because I learn from a lot of people and things all over the place!"