“Without getting some external direction of what to do, they don’t know how to seek pleasure themselves through doing an activity.” Natalie says schooling is very prescriptive and learners are rewarded extrinsically, which damages the internal motivational system. Under these you’ll find the term, unschooling which can also be seen as an umbrella term for concepts like ‘wildschooling’ and ‘worldschooling’. Whyte has since compiled a website from her research on alternative schooling methods, which now includes 48 different schooling trends across the globe.

The experience creates all the sensory stimuli which then creates the neural networks and then on top of that you put the theory.” “Experience is so important to be the framework before you put the theory on top, and that has informed my teaching and education style since then. “I was able to see the actual neural learning process,” she says. Her alternative take on education stems from doing psychology first and particularly working with children with autism. Whyte, who studied psychology and then moved on to education, is passionate about alternative schooling methods. With unschooling, children get to learn through experience. With home schooling, children are still required to follow a certain curriculum. While home schooling is an alternative schooling method that has been broadly explored in South Africa, not much is known about other schooling – or rather unschooling – methods. I would love to see you there.What are the alternative schooling options in South Africa? This is the beginning of a great adventure for my family, but my hope is that it is also the start of something larger that connects us all. We look to nature as our primary platform for knowledge, reflection, and discovery. Providing the time and space for lots of free, unstructured play. The goal here is to get up and get out into our community and out of our shell. We focus on child-led, inquiry based experiences and projects, drawing inspiration and opportunities for growth from every day life. Our goal is to keep encouraging the creativity, curiosity and joy that children naturally express. We are facilitating our children's innate potential to succeed in a joyful, productive life by pursuing their passions, and not someone else's agenda. This book focuses also on the evolutionary aspect of parenting and human consciousness. The parent's role is to facilitate their interests and curiosity.

The focus of the unschooling philosophy is trust of a child's own ability to learn without coercion and encourages children to explore their passions. It is different from homeschooling in that children are not forced to follow a curriculum and take tests. 'Wildschooling' is a progressive parenting philosophy which encourages the creativity, curiosity, and joy that children naturally express.

Wildschooling by Brittany Horton