Useful Tips to Help Children Go through Deschooling Smoothly

Homeschooling is a life-changing decision that opens numerous unknown aspects of studying, one of which is deschooling. Check what it means, learn how it differs from unschooling, and get a few tips about making the process smoother.

What Is Deschooling?

Deschooling is the transition from studying at school to homeschooling. This process influences both children and parents. Kids get accustomed to learning in the casual domestic environment and detaching themselves from school norms and habits. You can check Deschooling Society by Ivan Illich to discover a new view on contemporary education.

Meanwhile, parents establish trust, get closer to their children, and learn the ropes of homeschooling.

Unschooling vs Deschooling

Homeschooling may be a new idea for you, but you may have heard about unschooling. It’s time to finish the deschooling vs unschooling dilemma: the latter means learning new things beyond typical expectations like grades.

Math for Kids

Is Your Child Struggling With Math?
1:1 Online Math Tutoring
Let’s start learning Math!

How Long Does Deschooling Take?

Deschooling may take months. It depends on how long your child studied at school.

As a rule of thumb, one year of school equals one month of deschooling. Thus, if your child spends three years at school, the whole process will take at least three months. However, it’s a very loose approximation.

Deschooling is over when a child:

  • No longer panics about homeschooling.
  • No longer worries about “keeping up” and “missing out”.
  • Feels comfortable about anything educational, from museum trips and classic English literature to YouTube podcasts explaining the nature of black holes.

2 Vital Deschooling Ideas to Follow

These two tips will help you and your kid go through deschooling more smoothly:

Set Correct Expectations

A kid will have some fears about not keeping up with schoolers and may be afraid not to miss anything. But be honest and realistic and remember a few things:

  1. You have never used and will never use 80% of the information you have learnt during a dozen years at school.
  2. Your memory deleted 80% of the information you learned at school.
  3. Knowledge is valuable only if you apply it.
  4. It’s physically impossible to know everything – remember point 2.
  5. Your memory doesn’t hold information that you don’t use often.

Therefore, you should set correct expectations about homeschooling. Your child will not learn everything as they tried to do at school. In contrast, you may need extra help for certain subjects like math. You will have a hard time preparing a homeschool math curriculum yourself, and it’s better to acquire it from dedicated sources.

2 Vital Deschooling Ideas to Follow

See What Your Child Likes the Most

You will attempt to give your child knowledge you think will benefit them in adult life due to inertia of school habits. However, this approach will render your deschooling period useless for the most part.

Instead, you have to take a closer look at the things your children get interested in the most. It might be complicated if your kid rejects anything educational.

You may also discover that your child doesn’t know what they like. This ambiguity comes from years of shelving their interests and doing homework instead. But the whole point of deschooling and homeschooling is to awaken children’s true passions that were hidden under school curriculums for so long.

Math for Kids

Is Your Child Struggling With Math?
1:1 Online Math Tutoring
Let’s start learning Math!

Final Thoughts

Deschooling is detaching from school norms and getting used to studying at home. Moreover, it’s the transition to a new way of thinking. You have to relieve your fears about keeping up with schoolers during homeschooling.

Also, you can rely on external resources in subjects beyond your competence – like math or chemistry. For this, you can refer to Brighterly’s math courses for homeschoolers. Brighterly teaches math with fun using play-based learning approaches that many homeschooling families already enjoy.

After-School Math Program

Image -After-School Math Program
  • Boost Math Skills After School!
  • Join our Math Program, Ideal for Students in Grades 1-8!

Kid’s grade

  • Grade 1
  • Grade 2
  • Grade 3
  • Grade 4
  • Grade 5
  • Grade 6
  • Grade 7
  • Grade 8

After-School Math Program
Boost Your Child's Math Abilities! Ideal for 1st-8th Graders, Perfectly Synced with School Curriculum!

Apply Now
Table of Contents

Kid’s grade

  • Grade 1
  • Grade 2
  • Grade 3
  • Grade 4
  • Grade 5
  • Grade 6
  • Grade 7
  • Grade 8
Image full form