My son Peter graduated from our home school last Spring. This post was originally written in early October 2008:

Peter has completed one week of college classes. I’m very interested in his observations and experiences as a teenager who was allowed to follow his interests at his own pace in highschool. How does he adjust to the time demands, the assignments, the relationships, and the life away from family? Did his free-flowing education prepare him for the rigors of a college like the University of Chicago? Here’s #1 in a series of posts.

Yesterday I asked (over Google chat), “What insight do you have as an unschooler at the end of his first week of college?”

Peter: well, we need more time to see, because it’s hard to tell about people this quickly,and also UChicago attracts people with a fairly unschooled attitude anywayme: interesting Peter: but I do think that people are a little less self-reliant than I would expect.
Peter: like, in math, everyone is a little freaked out that the professor moves too quickly. And it is a little annoying, but it’s not that big a deal, you just look at your notes later and figure out the parts he glossed over.
me: so what is it about your experience that makes you less likely to freak out? Peter: well, I’ve had to figure everything out myself, so having to figure out 10% of the math by myself seems pretty easy

When he says math he means Calculus. In essence, Peter learned how to learn. He’s comfortable with ambiguity and knows what to do with it to reach his goals–in this case, to pass Calculus.

How does this happen? A child needs to become fearless at trial and error and exploration. This happens when he’s not held to certain parameters or expectations. When each failure is a learning experience and not a low grade, he’s free to develop his analytical mind and learns how to learn. This reminds me of Thomas Edison. He tried hundreds of materials until he found the one that worked in the electric light bulb. Edison was intensely interested in finding a solution, but if that had been a Physics assignment, he would have run out of time and gotten an F. Now Peter’s in an environment where mistakes will count against him, but he’s had years to prepare and has the tools to succeed.

Unfortunately, most children spend their lives in schools that ignore their interests, penalize failure, and paralyze true learning.

Jena is a homeschooling mom of three teenagers (one off to college and one checking out public school this year). She has been relaxed/unschooling for most of her home school career. She writes at www.yarnsoftheheart.com, runs http://www.dailylearners.com, and writes at http://lifewithoutschool.typepad.com/.