Apparently unschooling is the new schooling. Apparently intellectualism has become so repugnant to some parents that to simply not teach their children at all has become popular in some circles. In fact, the movement has spawned its own hideous green-and-white website where interested parents can read all about the merits of not actually educating their children. (There's something mildly ironic about that last sentence.)

The idea, as I understand it, is that by simply aiding their children in exploring the wonders of everyday life — albeit in more depth than one might traditionally do so — children will learn by some kind of mysterious osmosis. As the unschooling.org home page says about math and unschooling:

Sure. Because the average parent would look at a quilt and immediately leap into a discussion of non-Euclidian geometry, or because the average parent will look at a can of paint and start babbling on and on about algebraic rings. Math, and really the bulk of traditional education, will, as the unschooling.org folks correctly note, have little use in a person's everyday life. Learning about algebraic rings, however, does serve a purpose; it exposes people to complicated ideas, which — if understood — lead to real learning.

This whole plan depends upon the motivation of teenagers, the intelligence of parents generally and sheer happenstance for presenting the right context for a learning experience. Three very capricious variables indeed. The mere presence of the question, "Is this legal?" on their FAQ page should be enough to kill the movement.

Though I don't think anyone put it better than Harvard College Director of Admissions Marlyn McGrath in a recent interview: "Having no academic experience is a profound disadvantage for students applying to college."