Unschooling

 So recently, as in the last two days, i've discovered a topic that I find very interesting. That topic is unschooling. This post is completely my opinion. There isn't much research or anything behind it really, so please don't judge what I have to say, comments are very welcome though (:
 So the basic idea of unschooling, as I took it, is letting your kids learn through personal experiences, surroundings, interests, ect. without actually going to school, or having textbooks, desks, chalkboards, ect.
 At first I thought, "You people are just a bunch of crazy hippies who obviously don't realize the importance of normal schooling." But then I really started thinking about it. Every child is born with different talents and interests. School definately does not take that into consideration and every kid is forced to learn the same things. When you really think about it, how much of that stuff that you learned in school did you actually use? How much of that stuff do you even remember? In my case, I really don't use or remember very much of it! The things I use that I learned in school are basic math and basic grammer. Both of those things can be learned just be living your life though. So really, what's the point of "normal" schooling? For me atleast, I spent a lot of time being very unhappy, extremely stressed out at times, extremely bored at times,  and wasting valuable time on pointless subjects when I could have been working on the talents that God blessed me with.
 While in highschool, I was never really able to take an art class with a professional, meaning everything I did in art I just learned on my own. After graduating, I needed some extra money to travel to Ecuador so I decided to sell my painting at a local coffee shop, Solar Roast. I ended up selling a painting for $225.00 in a very short amount of time. I'm pretty proud of that, especially since I had no actual art classes.
 Another reason I like the idea of unschooling is because I believe it would give a child a better self image, or self worth. During the last couple years of elementary school and through middle school, my family had a low income. My mother was working three jobs and could not afford to buy my two sisters and I all the coolest clothes, accessories or school supplies. The biggest importance to most people while in school is what other people think of them. I know that this is very true in my case. Because I couldn't have the "best" things, my self confidence really went downhill throughout the rest of my years in school. Another thing that public schools seem to do is take away self expression, at least that was how it was at my school. I'm a very creative person, therefore, I like to do things a little differently, whether it's in the way I dress, the music I listen to, the choices I make, ect. Since graduating, and entering the "real world" I don't feel the pressure of having to be a certain way and this has made my life so much better. In an unschooling environment, the child wouldn't feel these pressures and they could always be themselves.
 This isn't very well written, even after having years of English and grammer classes, God didn't bless me with being able to write, but this is my opinion.
 I'm sure after more time and more research I'll be able to develop this more, but these are my thoughts for now.

If you want to know more about this topic, check out these amazing blogs:
http://walkslowlylivewildly.com/
http://theorganicsister.com/

(This is the painting that I recently sold)

Edit: I do realize that every child is different. In that case, if my child was motivated by being in school and learning all of the subjects requried in school, I would be completely fine with them choosing to go to public school. In the end though, it would be THEIR choice. I want to do whatever makes them the happiest.