Thanks everyone!
KB, unschooling is a method of homeschooling also known as "whole life learning" or "child led learning." Basically it means that we trust that by nature humans are learners. Nothing needs to be done to make kids learn, it's just what they do. So you expose them to tons of stuff and you help them follow their passions. It's a term coined by John Holt. Sometimes kids want to learn something in a formal manner and will request a curriculum. That totally fits in with the unschoolng philosophy, but otherwise curriculums aren't used.
Dayna Martin's
website has a good summary. And a youtube
video as well.
We recently went to the NW Unschooling Conference and I was beyond amazed at all the kids there. The older kids treated the little kids like people, talking with them and helping them, and the teens treated the adults like people. They could definitely hold their own in a conversation with anyone of any age. Their interests were so diverse as well. Musicians, writers, fencers. It was really really cool.