Former teacher ditches traditional ways and lets her son educate himself

Home Top

The 15-year-old girl who was sitting on top of the bomb that brought down Russian jet over Egypt: Explosives hidden under seat 31A 'went off with the force of a kilo of TNT'
Three suspects arrested over rape and murder of pregnant pastor's wife who was killed in her home as she tried to protect her infant son
Two killed as US Army Apache helicopter crashes on to mountain road in South Korea
Sixteen hurt as two gunmen open fire on crowd in New Orleans park during music video shoot
After moving Black Friday to Thursday, now Walmart shifts Cyber Monday to SUNDAY
Teen found out her boyfriend, 16, was dead by watching video of him dying on Facebook after he was gunned down in fight between 50 people outside his high school
Bill Clinton rape accuser blasts Hillary for campaigning on platform of women's issues and claims she knew about alleged hotel room assault and tried to cover it up
Columbus did NOT bring syphilis to Europe: Disease is found in the remains of a child who died 170 years before the voyage to America
Officers who were called to help a sick child at a hotel room in New Jersey discover 1,000 bags of heroin
EXCLUSIVE: Hasidic woman kills herself - months after her tech executive sister jumped to her death from Manhattan rooftop bar following split from strict faith
Obama to feature on new Coldplay album after president gives permission for band to use recording of him singing 'Amazing Grace' at Charleston shooting funeral
The end of the Kirchner era: Technocrat mayor of Buenos Aires wins presidential election to end 12 years of left wing leadership in Argentina
George H. W. Bush gets a double kiss from two granddaughters while celebrating with his famous brood at a family wedding
Phuc Dat Bich sees the funny side: Man whose Vietnamese name Facebook did not believe was real thanks supporters after his plight set the internet alight
British Freemasons fixed inquiry into Titanic to protect Establishment, claims secret archive that lists two million members - including Winston Churchill
CDC worker caught up in Mali hotel attack reveals terror as gunman knocked on her door as she hid in her room
Beauty amid terror: Musician performs haunting rendition of Hallelujah on the deserted streets of Brussels
Gunmen hunted for Air France crew: Mali hotel terrorists shot at 'anything that moved' in hunt for foreigners - and one jihadist even stopped to cook a meal in the kitchen before continuing massacre
Laughing in the face of terror: Belgians respond to police request not to tweet details of their hunt for the Paris killers by posting hilarious pictures of their cats
'All the terrorists are basically migrants': Controversial Hungarian prime minister calls for EU border clampdown in wake of Paris attacks
Britain takes the fight to ISIS by launching 17 deadly bombing raids since the Paris attacks - including seven in past three days
Now that's a war room! Inside Russia's fortified triple-decker operations base sitting on a maze of secret tunnels where Putin masterminds strikes on ISIS
'It was a complete failure': France admits intelligence disaster as it is revealed Turkey warned of Paris attack jihadis a YEAR ago
Germany to convert Berlin's abandoned Stasi HQ into a shelter to house 500 migrants amid refugee crisis

Kim Houssenloge’s son Lewi is 16 years old and has never been to school
Former teacher believed that mainstream education was not right for him
In un-schooling there are no classes, teachers, tests and classrooms
Children are expected to acquire skills through their everyday life

Published: 05:32 EST, 22 November 2015 | Updated: 08:26 EST, 22 November 2015

View
comments

The world of un-schooling seems pretty radical for many parents today but one advocate of the method has put forward a persuasive case for it.

Un-schooling blogger Kim Houssenloge’s son Lewi is 16 years old and has been free from classrooms since he was five years old. In fact, he has never been to school.

After her experiences as a teacher, when Kim became a parent she was naturally more particular about what she wanted for her son and didn’t think a mainstream education was right for him.

Kim Houssenloge (right) didn’t think a mainstream education was right for her son Lewi (left)

Instead she used un-schooling to provide Lewi’s environment with resources for the things he’s interested in such as wood work (pictured)

‘When I was online doing my research this un-schooling method just gelled with what I wanted for my son,’ she told Daily Mail Australia.

‘I just thought that this was a perfect extension to the parenting I’d already done. It’s a chance to embrace all that every day has.

‘My job as an un-schooling parent is to facilitate Lewi’s environment so I can provide resources for the things he’s interested in.’

Unlike home schooling which is conducted by a parent or tutor on a specifically devised curriculum, un-schooling is exactly what it says it is – there are no classes, no teachers, no tests, and no classroom.

Un-schooling for Lewi (pictured) meant there were no classes, no teachers, no tests, and no classroom

Lewi is 16 years old and has been un-schooling since he was five years old

He has never been to school, but his mother said he has flourished by because of this

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, more than 50,000 Australian children were home-schooled last year but there are no accurate figures on how many kids are un-schooled each year.

Un-schooling does not mean they don’t learn the basics like reading and arithmetic, but instead of learning these in a classroom, children are expected to acquire these skills through their everyday life.

Many parents will be shocked that anyone could give their children control over their own education, with no specific curriculum to follow, but Kim had been a teacher for six years, so knew all about children working within a set curriculum.

Lew has acquired skills and learned thanks to his passions and interests in life

Lew's life is about embracing all that every day has to offer, says his mother

‘I did a fair bit of work with kids who had learning difficulties and I could see that these kids didn’t have learning difficulties they just weren’t connecting with the material and with the work they had to do,’ she told Daily Mail Australia.

‘I felt that the curriculum was designed to fill kids’ days than to really ignite their learning. I could see in the kids that when they were passionate about learning they just bloomed.

‘Most of the time though they sat there bored, going through the motions and a waste of the day.’

Kim, who lives on the south coast in the Bega Valley, also believed that this form of education did not mean that her son did not have a good foundation in the basics like English and arithmetic.

More than 50,000 Australian children were home-schooled last year but there are no accurate figures on how many kids are un-schooled each year (stock image)

The un-schooling method is based on children acquiring skills through their everyday life (stock image)

‘It happens really naturally. I’ve never taught him to learn to read traditionally. He’s learnt to read by being read to and getting a love for stories when it was exposed to him,’ Kim said.

‘When children want to read they also want to write. It goes hand in hand. He used to love writing stories and he’d use a dictionary. And the more you read and write the better you get.

‘He didn’t become a big reader until he was 10 years old. But the reason for that I think was because he didn’t have the pressure of focusing just on those things.’

Lewi’s interest in arithmetic also came when he started handling money and did things with his mum like cooking, so measurements and weighing came into play. T

Some parents will be shocked that anyone could give their children control over their own education (stock image)

The un-schooling method used by Kim tries to encourage the inherent skills children have by making the most of the kids’ interests and passions.

‘It’s not about leaving kids to their own devices. But it’s also not about having English or mathematics drilled into them,’ she told Daily Mail Australia.

'If Lewi wants to learn something mathematical for example he’ll learn it in five minutes because he needs it and he wants it. It’s very different to just having information poured into you need for it.’