Your question seems odd to me... some kids like studying in a self-determined manner, and others want to experience the "success" of answering leading questions before venturing into the wild woolly world. Some kids like playing alone or with a few friends, while others live for those "extra-curricular activities". Why _wouldn't_ you give them a chance to explore the "other side"?

I would recommend that you explain to them that they need to complete at least one full term (or better yet, a year) before you pull them out though... I don't see how you can grok the light side of schools unless you push through the tough bit at the end of term and realize what you can accomplish if you put your mind to it. (If they find it boring, so much the better for their renewed interest when they stop.)

You and they should also discuss the various types of schools they could go to. For example, the neighborhood public school might seem drab and impersonal socially, but the local private school may have such small class sizes that the social scene goes quite sour. Each case is different, which is why you would need to investigate your options.

hola mama,

i was an unschooled child, and i did want to go to school for science when i was twelve... so we arranged a part-time option at the local high school... it worked out well. i'd find out specifically why they want to go to school, and explore what need it is that they're trying to meet there. is it curiousity about what school is? a need for more confidence about the choice to unschool? a need for more friends? more time away from mom? more guidance in a particular subject? in my case i wanted a lab and a teacher for science, so we took care of just that, and kept homeschooling the rest of the time. how old is your youth?? are they asking about school, or are you prepping for the time when they might?? maybe if they are, and you are apprehensive about it, you could set a time in which you each try addressing the needs your child has without them going to school- ie. they have an apprenticeship, a playgroup, they take a more active role in planning their own days, or maybe they get some texts or create projects they are interested in, or you get lab equipment, etc... and at the end of the agreed upon time you each reassess and then decide if school is to be tried. then school can be tried for an agreed upon amount of time, and then you reconvene to reassess. it's important for children at a certain point, i believe, to feel that they are a part of the decision process. at the same time, it's also important that they know that there is a choice, for real... and that neither choice is mutually exclusive of the other... you can explore school, and then decide you'd like to unschool again, and it's nice to have that flexibility. if you do try school, do share your reasons for hesitating, as they will provide good points for reflection for your child while they are in school. hope this helps a bit. peace! xylem

We just started this year. My daughter is 10 and in 4th grade, so I don't unschool. I felt I had to start with the normal homeschooling first. However, we also add to the curriculum that we have. There is more that she wants to learn so she is learning other things too. I guess you could say that we have a combination of homeschooling and unschooling, but more so on the homeschooling side.

She really loves it though. She was in an "institution" up until the 3rd grade, which was last school year. So "homeschooling" if fine by her. She sometimes just gets on the computer with her Encarta program and starts looking up things at random, she loves that too. We are also learning Latin, which is not part of the curriculum that we have. She doesn't think she would be ready to be completely "unschooled" just yet and I don't think ever. The combination will work fine for her as long as she wants that.

Hi! I did unschool 3 of my 4 kids (the oldest didn't homeschool for various reasons). They are all grown up now and in college mostly on scholarships, so I guess I didn't damage them by not forcing schooling on them. They were just so interested in different things and weren't damaged from being in structured programs that I didn't have to do much.
My older daughter did want to go to high school at different times, she felt she was missing out on prom etc I just kind of tried to encourage her to find other ways to get the social things she wanted out of school. She even did go to prom with someone. But what had the most effect on her was when we went to the local high school for a form so she could take a high school proficiency test and she was so upset by the way the people in the office behaved towards us. They were very condescending as well as many of the students that came in while we were waiting. She was used to being treated as an equal and always had participated in adult conversations. As we left she thanked me for not putting her in school.