Unschooling has parameters, @Madison85. When done properly, unschooling opens up traditional subjects so students can explore them without a road map. In NYS, grade school children are required to take art, music, reading, US history, math, science, English grammar, spelling, writing, and PE/health. We file a plan with our district that tells them what subjects we’re teaching and what books we’re using. Parents can follow the curriculum as written or use it as a jumping off point.
So a family with a 4th grader might enter the Native American unit listed in the [scope and sequence](http://schools.nyc.gov/NR/rdonlyres/82AC428B-068D-4DE1-95C2-8F7192B6D563/0/scopeandsequenceK8topbindingweb.pdf) of NYS history and discover that their kid has a huge interest in Native Americans. Instead of just doing the history assignment then moving on to another topic for the other subjects, an unschooler will use those interests to drive the other subjects. They could study Native American [art[/url] and create some projects, learn about their [url=<a href=“https://www.teachervision.com/native-americans/resource/7462.html%5Dmusic%5B/url”>https://www.teachervision.com/native-americans/resource/7462.html]music[/url] and make an instrument, [url=<a href=“http://www.biography.com/people/groups/native-americans%5Dread”>http://www.biography.com/people/groups/native-americans]read biographies](Native American Art (First Nations, Inuit, and American Indian artists)), read their [folktales[/url], make their [url=<a href=“http://www.nativetech.org/recipes/index.php%5Dfood%5B/url”>http://www.nativetech.org/recipes/index.php]food[/url], play their [url=<a href=“http://moa.wfu.edu/files/2012/04/Fun-and-Games-Teachers-Guide.pdf%5Dgames%5B/url”>http://moa.wfu.edu/files/2012/04/Fun-and-Games-Teachers-Guide.pdf]games[/url], learn about their [url=<a href=“https://digital.libraries.ou.edu/whc/duke/%5Doral”>https://digital.libraries.ou.edu/whc/duke/]oral histories](http://www.educationworld.com/a_special/native_americans.shtml), read about the [Navajo Code Talkers](Native Words, Native Warriors - National Museum of the American Indian), study the [Trail of Tears](https://www.nps.gov/Nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/118trail/118trail.htm), or visit a Native American [url=<a href=“https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Native_American_museums_in_the_United_States_by_state%5Dmuseum%5B/url”>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Native_American_museums_in_the_United_States_by_state]museum[/url].
Children don’t just get to decide they’re playing video games and call it a day.