Rest assured, every unschooling parent has had the same fears and questions, because none of us were unschooled ourselves. I could have written your message word for word before I learned about unschooling. The good news is that nothing is easier, more fun, or more rewarding!

It may help to look at it this way: unschooling is simply doing the same things that any loving parent does before their child is so-called “school age.” If a 3-year-old gets interested in trains, what do his parents do? They find books about trains, they answer his questions about trains, they might take him for a train ride or to a train museum. Unschooling is simply continuing to do this same kind of patient observation, listening, understanding, and helping.

My son Jason (who is now 28 and unschooled from the beginning) and I have co-edited a book, The Unschooling Unmanual, to help parents like you who are intrigued about this concept but uncertain how to go about it themselves. You can learn more about the book and read an excerpt at http://www.naturalchild.org/unmanual. (That’s Jason at age 4 on the cover.)