Laurie Chancey, seated, prepared herself for a 4.0 sweep through college with no formal schooling. Her mother, Valerie Fitzenreiter, says that if children are treated with respect and are allowed to make their own educational decisions, they will learn what they need to know.
Not once did Valerie Fitzenreiter question her decision to "unschool" her daughter. Now, with Laurie Chancey set to graduate summa cum laude from McNeese State University at the end of the current fall semester, observers agree with the wisdom of the decision. And she is completing her degree requirements with 3 1/2 years of study.
Although Laurie was classified by the Louisiana education system as a home-school student, to comply with the law, her "schooling" followed no curriculum and no regimen. She pursued knowledge as her curiosity and interests led her. With her first day of school being as a college freshman, she was properly equipped for higher education. Her first test was to get her driver's license.
This is not to say she faced college without deficiencies. Math was not a strong subject for her. She learned some arithmetic through a few lessons offered by her grandmother. Additionally she picked up math in practical ways — in cooking measurements, counting games and in other instances where she saw the need for learning math.
At age 6, she performed division by portioning out Easter eggs as they were being dyed, Fitzenreiter said.
While preadmission testing at McNeese showed Chancey needing development (remedial) math, she finished the course with an average of 94 and went on to achieve a 4.0 in college algebra and to take three statistics courses "just for fun,” she said.
Fitzenreiter entered McNeese at the same time as her daughter, and they took several courses together. "We had a lot of fun." Fitzenreiter said.
"I was bored all through school," Fitzenreiter says of her elementary and secondary education experience. "I read the book, 'Summerhill,' about a school in England that had no curriculum, no structure to learning. The idea is that if children are given respect, they will study what they need."
Chancey had the freedom to pursue a subject in depth until her thirst for knowledge in that area was satisfied, Fitzenreiter said.
“Actually she had an easier adjustment to college work than the products of traditional classroom education because she was not biased against learning by forced memorization," Fitzenreiter said.
Chancey discovered the computer early in life, acquiring her first one at age 11. The older 486 model that she got from her aunt was later joined by a newer one to support the bulletin board service she built. "I was the youngest female sysop locally," Chancey said.
"Unschooling is child-led learning," Fitzenreiter wrote in an article for Edgy-catin' Mama, a newsletter for urschooling and home-schooling families published in Sultan. Wash.
"The child decides what he will study, when he will study and if he will study. Radical unschooling gives the child free reign over his life, allowing him to make decisions about everything that concerns him. There are no forced bedtimes, no room-cleaning rules and no punishment-reward system. The child is not manipulated to perform according to the standards of a school board." she wrote.
"The school system attempts to push all children through subjects at the same pace," she said. "It does not seem to occur to them that each child is unique and should not be put into a mold that was formed by archaic notions."
The unschooling process was supported by Laurie's father, Wyatt Chancey.
The experience was so positive for Fitzenreiter and her daughter that she is an advocate for the process. She is the author of the book "The Unprocessed Child: Living Without School," a working title. She is active in Edgy-catin' Mama and the Internet message board, http://www.unschooling.com.
How does Laurie feel about unschooling? "I won't have children unless they can be unschooled," she said.
