And more..

From the radio show that included our interview:

"Even someone who loves to read Shakespeare needs to know math, science and history."

- Gretchen Wheelwright, education professor

But critics are on the rise, too. They say it's wonderful to think kids will soak up knowledge on their own, but that's not always the case.

"That is the romantic notion," says Gretchen Wheelwright, a retired high school teacher, principal and professor at Troy University in Alabama. "It was resurrected in the '60s for the hippies. Go out and everybody make love and the world is going to be a beautiful place. Our experience is that isn't what happens."

Wheelwright says unschooling is a disservice to children.

She remembers public schools trying a similar approach in the 1960s and '70s, when students could choose their own classes they wanted and work on self-directed projects.

"You saw the results five, 10 years later. They didn't know anything," says Wheelwright. "They had vast gaps in areas that they should have known." Wheelwright says even someone who loves to read Shakespeare needs to know math, science and history.

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I guess I'm wondering how many unschooled families she really knows. And she says, "even someone who loves to read Shakespeare needs to know math, science and history." If she had met some unschooling families I think she would see that kids can and often do learn all those things. Abbi, who they were referring to, also knows math, science and history. She's curious about things. We were actually playing a card game which brought her to wanting to read more about Shakespeare and that also lead to discussions about England and its surroundings.

Oh, and how about this, "They had vast gaps in areas that they should have known."
Gaps? And I know everything about everything because I went to school. Hehe. No one knows everything, everyone has gaps in their knowledge. With unschooling we feel that a person will keep wanting to know, they will continue to find things out because they've never been stifled or told.."wait, you can't do that yet, its not your level" or "that's all for now class.. time for your next subject"... that's where learning tends to come to a halt.

Learning can keep going, it can be continual, it can connect one thing to another. And in my opinion, I see it happening most easily and joyfully by unschooling.