r/unschool

My kid is a special mix of neurospicy that would make public school a disaster. I tried a more traditional approach to homeschooling last year as a test but the constant demand of a curriculum is not going to work either. Anyone else dealing with a PDA profile of autism that has any pointers? He’s only 5 so we still have time to figure outlining our system. Right now I’m just making making my own Minecraft style activities here and there but that’s not gonna work forever lol.

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I am beginning a homeschooling consultant and tutoring business after many years as a teacher, and I have some basic questions for you all. I want to understand what your needs are and where you struggle most.

I guess I'll start with, where do you struggle the most on a day-to-day basis where you feel that having support would help you homeschool better? On the other hand, what do you feel are your superpowers as parent/teachers that were undervalued in traditional schooling?

I'm from near Welshpool in Wales, 19M, autistic, i play guitar, I'm good at fiddling with electronics, I'm very close to my mum, and right now I'm friendless. I'm completely uninterested in "romance".

We've always found the best place for me in the alternative education community and made some excellent friends there. My upbringing has always been child-led and I've been empowered to follow my interests and self-learn at my own pace, and now after all that i do not want to move on to overly structured, scripted education such as college, or get some Sisyphean 9-5 job, especially after seeing so many people struggle. I want to do something really worthwhile that i enjoy.

We travel long distances and can meet up anywhere within about 2 hours if it's worthwhile. The rest of the information that follows is supplementary and if you can't be bothered, you needn't read it.

In my early teens i fell in with the wrong people and became friends with a couple engaging in underage sex. I wasn't yet aware of the implications of this and put up with it, even as they increasingly tried to involve me, by just treating it as a joke. Fortunately they're not in my life anymore.

My dad has nothing to do with us and my extended family has cut us out. Since i turned about 16 we've been losing my friends. Some were a bit nasty anyway, some changed and became unbearable, some vanished inexplicably. I was planning to jam and possibly form a band with 3 friends and they've completely disappeared. I'm not clingy or demanding, i have the bad examples set me by my dad and the couple i mentioned to bias me against that behaviour. I just can't understand where all my friends went.

More understandably, some have just moved on to college, and even if i wanted to, my friend group was so scattered (we had friends as far as Worcestershire) that i couldn't follow them in if i wanted to. One old friend is a Polish immigrant and would probably be looked on by the government as a squatter if he didn't take that path. He still finds time to drop me a line every few weeks.

When i was 17 i was wandering around a park with my mum while my sister hung out with her friends. I sat around, queued for the swings, wandered, i had no friends to hang with, and then someone called park security and told them i was a paedophile staring at children - in fairness i look mature and beardy. I was lucky my mum was there, and they were embarrassed when they tried to arrest a 17-year-old, but still... now I'm old, i can't go to the park and exercise, i can't wander about on my own for fear it'll happen again.

We don't live a cloistered existence, we always follow our interests and go to interesting places, but still, apparently there's not much we can do. We've searched for and continue to try neurodivergent and homeducation groups of all kinds throughout Wales and the West Midlands, but this is long enough already and i can't be bothered to write a full account to justify myself to whoever you are.

Anybody out there?

Hey everyone!

My parents and I are in the process of opening a brand-new school. While we plan to offer a solid, standard curriculum like most schools, we really want to rethink a few traditional structures—specifically around schedules, attendance, and assessment—to create a better environment for students.

Here’s a breakdown of the main ideas/reforms we are considering:

1. Mid-Week Break (Wednesdays & Sundays Off)

Instead of the standard consecutive weekend, students would get Wednesdays and Sundays off.

• The Goal: Breaking up the week aims to reduce burnout, give students a mid-week breather to catch up on rest or study, and ultimately boost overall attendance rates.

2. Adjusted Daily Timings

We are looking at starting the school day a bit later to accommodate better sleep cycles:

• Start Time: 9:00 AM daily for everyone.

• Dismissal (Lower Classes): 1:00 PM

• Dismissal (Higher Classes): 2:30 PM

3. Structured Testing & Mock Exam Schedule

Rather than overwhelming students with surprise quizzes or massive finals blocks, we want a predictable evaluation routine:

• Lower Classes: Two short weekly tests (20 marks each) every Monday covering two subjects.

• Higher Classes: One full mock exam on Saturdays (40–80 marks), followed by two short tests (20–30 marks each) every Monday.

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We’d love your feedback!

- Is this model feasible from a parent, student, or educator perspective?

- Would you support or enroll in a school with this structure?

- What potential drawbacks do you see, and what suggestions do you have to make it even better?

Thanks in advance for your insights!

>!This is our first school, so kinda don't be like 'OMG YOU DON'T KNOW THIS SHIT AND WANNA RUN A SCHOOL' 😅!<

Hiya! I’m developing a children’s nonfiction book and I’d love some feedback on the concept before I get too far into the manuscript.
The working title is \*\*The Young Explorers’ Guide to Investigating the World\*\*.
The basic idea is to create a field-guide-style book that teaches children how to investigate the world around them. Instead of primarily saying \*“Here are some interesting facts about history/science/geography/etc.,”\* the book teaches children how to \*\*look closely, ask questions, follow clues, gather evidence, compare sources, notice patterns, reconsider assumptions, and draw their own conclusions.\*\*
The investigations could take them anywhere—from their own backyard or neighborhood to a historical photograph, an old building, a family story, a map, an artifact, a natural phenomenon, or a place they’ve never visited.
The larger philosophy is that \*\*curiosity itself is a skill\*\*, and that not knowing the answer isn’t a failure. Sometimes the most interesting part of an investigation is realizing that the evidence doesn’t give you a definitive answer.
I’m intentionally trying to avoid making it feel like a textbook or a workbook. I want it to feel more like \*\*someone handing a curious kid a set of tools and saying, “Go investigate.”\*\*
My question for writers, educators, nonfiction readers, and parents is:
\*\*Does this sound like a viable book concept, or does it sound too broad/abstract for a children’s nonfiction book?\*\*
And if you were handed a book like this as a child, what would make you want to actually pick it up and investigate something rather than simply read it?
I’m especially interested in feedback about the \*concept and approach\*, rather than publishing advice at this stage.

Hello!

I used to run an arcade shop back in the days, back then I had a project where kids helped me develop my arcade games by provide both game Mechanics, story or art work (there is some creativity that you can't get with adults or older children)

And since I only run an online arcade website now and not one in real life, I thought I would try to take this project online. So, if that sounds like an interesting project, I would love some help from you guys.

What I would need from you is ask you kids if this sounds like a fun project ages 4-10 is ideal, if you kids love to draw, tell stories, or play video games.

This project of mine is completely non-profit. I make and publish my games all for free, so I lose money, so unfortunately, I can't pay anything, but your kids will be credited either with their name or alias or whatever they want.

Comment or DM me, and I'll make sure to answer. Thanks!