Unschooling is an interest-based or child-led form of learning. Learning is a natural part of each day and night for unschoolers.
John Holt, an educator who had written books on school reform in the 1960s, came to the belief that children can learn outside of schools, without compulsory learning being forced on them. He was the founder of the unschooling magazine Growing Without Schooling, which began in 1977.
Unschooling involves learning from whatever interests the child, in her own way, and in her own time, based on the idea that many of us learn by figuring out what we're doing as we are in the process of doing it.
Different disciplines can be learned in various ways in the unschooling approach. The child can learn language by listening to and writing stories. Math can be learned by using it in cooking; history and social studies by going to museums; and science through a nature walk or a television program.
Choosing to unschool can sometimes make family and friends very nervous. It may be helpful to offer to lend them some good homeschooling books that discuss unschooling.