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I'm an indie founder. I unschool my 5 kids. This is how much it costs us.

I've been an indie founder for over 15 years now. And unschooling for about 11 of them.

I never broke down how much we spend on unschooling, so I thought I would give it a shot. :)

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    I am actually working on something for homeschooling/unschooling parents. If you could take a look, I'd really appreciate it!
    https://homescholar.xyz/

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    Is it more difficult to manage the missing social aspect of school? What I mean is that traditional school usually also provides some sort of long-term stable social circle - you go there everyday with the same people of same age for several years...

    Sure, they can meet other kids doing sports and other activities, but I'd image that the social environment there is less stable, i.e. the kids change often, maybe are not exactly peers in terms of age...

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      It is more difficult, it can get lonely if you are not careful, we find having consistent activities helpful for that.

      When my older kids went to school they never had more than a couple fo real friends. It's pretty similar in in home ed, a small group of friends where the kids and the parents lean on each other for help and activities together.

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    Am I the only one who still doesn't see how would this work? - Yes the extra activities are great and they can help shape the kid's future.
    But who is teaching them "the things they need" if they don't want to become an "Indie hacker"? (for example teacher, biologist and etc.)

    And you aren't continuing the time/fuel to go to places A and B ...

    I'm not sure If I didn't read it correctly or if I'm just overthinking stuff but there are too many holes in the story.

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      There are many routes to where people want to go.

      You don't need to go to school for 12 years to have permission to do higher education / uni. My 19 year old just started study maths at uni and he followed this path.

      Also, you'd be pretty surprised at how capable kids are. The are all avid readers and learners by choice, it makes a huge difference and actually requires little input from the parent.

      I mentioned at the bottom of the post about the time + fuel and how that's not counted there and how we often share duties with other local parents.

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    Less than I thought! That's inspiring to my future self. Thanks for the breakdown :)

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    Congratulations. You have to be very brave to live such a bold lifestyle. I was very disappointed when I learned my daughter enjoys school and loves going daily(We are all different, I only remember nightmares from the period when I was in school). Plus, unschooling/homeschooling is illegal where we live. So enjoy every second of your freedom.

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      Yes, each to their own. Variety is the spice of life. 🤩

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    What do you mean by unschooling here ?

    Does that mean don't send the kids to school at all ? Just train them in other things with minimal reading and writing skills ?

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      I'm not sure why you imply 'minimal reading and writing skills' 🤔

      Unschooling is choosing not to go to school or following a specific curriculum. It's more self-led, following the individuals, their needs and interests.

      It's very aligned to indie hacking tbh, indie hackers are wanting to find their own path to success and freedom, same thing with unschooling.

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        If kids don't go to school then how will they learn to read and write ? How will they learn basic mathematics , physics and chemistry ?

        I believe all these are also need in life to take a better decisions going forward.

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          Surprsingly, they can learn and with very little 'force'.

          All of mine read really well, my daughter has even created a library on her bed because she can't seem to get enough atm.

          I'd argue the need for physics and chemistry unless there is a specific interest. But cooking is a great start for chemistry.

          Humanity seems to have forgotten our built in natural curiosity of our children and how quickly they can learn when they choose to.

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            Interesting....

            I am from India. Very few people think like this here.

            Kids here complete education at least up to 10th or 12th. Few kids complete multiple degree as well. Even govt give free education until 10th. So very less amount of young population completely stay away from school.

            It's a narrative here in India that every parents tell their kids that goes as follows :

            "If you don't study well, then you don't get good job. If you don't get good job, then your life will be difficult"

            I am a solo entrepreneur myself. I have double degree in computer science. I know most of it that is being thought in my degree is of no use. I ended up re-learning how to think after I started my own business.

            But I still believe the basic education say up to 10th is required for life.

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              Don't compare your (country) situation with her. Sadly, homeschooling can only work in western top countries with strong secular cultural norms. The rest of the world still must be schooled by official entities. It's simply because many people use this as an opportunity to remove their kids from the education system because of religious and cultural reasons.

              Girls/women are hit by this the most. If you don't have clear understanding of educating your kids and preparing them for future regardless of their gender identity, homeschooling is dangerous. Formal education is designed for giving a educational base to masses. It has an awful lot problems and shortcomings but it does the job.

              I have ADHD and neither my parents know how to handle a kid with ADHD. I love both my parents to death but I'd definitely wouldn't want to be homeschooled by them.

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                All your points makes lot of sense.

                By the way how old are you ? I am asking this because you said you have ADHD and still able to communicate really well. Put forward your points

                What's the common issue do you face because of your ADHD and how to you manage them ?

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                  I am 27. ADHD doesn't work like Autism or Asperger's. At least not in my case. I have no problems with my motor skills or communication etc. I have hyperactivity and attention problems, as the name suggests.

                  One of my issues is that I can't(hate) work in the same room with other people. So offices are a big no-no for me. The biggest issue in work life is that people misjudge the tonne of my voice when I am talking or explaining stuff. Once, I get to call by HR for literally doing nothing but some of my colleagues were offended because I sounded angry and violent which is a completely false alarm :)

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                    I'm ADHD and Autistic, or AuDHD as it is often referred to, there's lots of misconceptions about that too.

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    I don't have kids, but seen my friends and neighbours do unschooling for their kids.
    It take courage but definitely useful and you have beautifully explained costing in your article.

    Would love to know more about how you take care of educational stuffs for kids.

    1. 1

      Mostly it's supporting their interests and what they want to do. Lots of exploring and nudging and suggesting of ideas.

      A crucial milestone is them learning to read, once they can do that, we struggle to keep up, so it becomes a case of supporting rather than teaching.

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    This is awesome, and a topic I’m really interested in.

    I’m actually a 3rd grade teacher at one of these expensive private schools that you mentioned in your article, and altho public school is hard to turn down as a free place to put your kids for the day, I ideally hope my future kids will never step foot into a traditional school.

    There are so many better ways and more important skills to learn that aren’t being taught in schools.

    I really like the idea of teaching, but in the process of learning more about the education system, the career just isn’t something I was happy with.

    The first step was for me to get out of my job. Super happy to share that a year and a half ago, I made a site that’s doing super well. My teaching contract ends this academic year, and I don’t have to return.

    Happy to answer any questions ppl might have from a teacher’s pov.

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      Oh nice...are you staying in education as a niche?

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    That's very interesting. You guys are heroes :). I can't imagine how much effort and time I would have had to put into unschooling my children. Not to mention the extracurricular activities. Fortunately for us in Germany, schooling is compulsory. )) Everyone goes to school without a choice. Plus for two children (6 and 12 years old) we spend about 600 euros a month on activities.
    How do the children feel about unschooling? They don't beg to go to school?

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      They beg not to go to school, lol. Two of them tried it for a short time and were like 'nah'.

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    Does "unschool" mean homeschooling? Never heard this term before.

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      It means home schooling without a specific curriculum, it is more self directed education.

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    commenting here to read later...

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    Wow, I admire the energy you have for this, Rosie! Amazing!

    I must admit that I had to look up "unschooling" in Wikipedia, because I didn't know what it was. I find this great, as I always learned the most when I had no curriculum at all. So I can really relate to this.

    Keep up the good stuff and all the best for you and your family!

    1. 1

      Thank you and great to "see you" again :)

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    Wow! that's impressive! How do you plan all the activities for your children? do you have any kind of resources?

    One of our kids (3 year old) goes to a public school which costs us around (150 EUR / month, mainly food), and the elder one (6 year old) goes to a semiprivate school (500 EUR / month). But we plan to move the older one to the public school and invest this money in traveling more often with them.

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      Activities are based on what is available/happening locally and whether we can fit it into our schedule.

      We don't like to over book things either, the kids get plenty of free time to choose what they want to do, often just going down the park, reading, crafting, board games, etc.

      We don't follow a curriculum. I never taught them to read, but they're avid readers. My 8 year old has a library in her bed (ie - multiple stacks of books she's organised carefully) and reads before bed time and often first thing as she gets up.

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      I am a software developer with lots of flexibilty (for the first time in my life I have a full time job) but my wife is a freelance tourist guide here in Barcelona.

      To have time for your kids really makes the difference.

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