Rigamaroo Starter Guides
Unschooling
The Starter Guide
Unschooling trusts that children are wired to learn the way they are wired to walk and talk. Instead of delivering a curriculum, you build a rich environment — books, tools, places, people — and follow the questions your kids actually ask. It is not the absence of education; it is education running on its native fuel. The parent’s work is real and daily: curating, noticing, documenting, and knowing when to feed a spark.
Learning is not the product of teaching. Learning is the product of the activity of learners.
The Principles
Interest first
Sustained attention is the signal. Follow it, and the “subjects” show up on their own.
Strewing
Quietly leave interesting things around, like a field guide, a strange tool, or a documentary queued up.
Real work with real tools
Cooking is chemistry and math, and the hardware store is a field trip.
The parent as curator
Your job is the environment and the noticing, not the lesson plan.
Documentation
A daily one-line log turns free-range learning into a record you can stand behind.
Your First Book List
How Children Learn
by John Holt
The founding text — a joyful, close observation of how kids actually figure things out.
Free to Learn
by Peter Gray
The research case for self-directed education, from an evolutionary psychologist.
The Unschooling Handbook
by Mary Griffith
Practical structure for the “but what does a Tuesday look like?” question.
Project-Based Homeschooling
by Lori Pickert
The best bridge between child-led learning and visible, finished work.
A library card
by your library
The core element. Go weekly with no limits on the book haul.
Curriculum Picks, Budget First
Library & Museum Memberships
Your curriculum budget, redirected. A zoo or science-center membership pays for itself by February.
The Strewing Bin
Rotating supplies: magnets, maps, watercolors, a microscope, thrift-store machines to take apart.
Documentaries & Khan Academy
On-demand answers for when they ask.
Project Journals
One notebook per obsession. Photos, sketches, questions — the record grows itself.
A Sample Week
Monday
Mornings
Slow start + read-aloud
Project time
Child-led projects
Out the door
Park or trail
Strewing (parent)
Set out one new thing
One-line log (parent)
What happened today
Tuesday
Mornings
Slow start + read-aloud
Project time
Child-led projects
Out the door
Errands (real-life math)
One-line log (parent)
What happened today
Wednesday
Mornings
Library morning
Project time
New-haul exploring
Out the door
Museum or field trip
Strewing (parent)
Queue a documentary
One-line log (parent)
What happened today
Thursday
Mornings
Slow start + read-aloud
Project time
Child-led projects
Out the door
Park + friends
Strewing (parent)
Set out one new thing
One-line log (parent)
What happened today
Friday
Mornings
Read-aloud + plans over breakfast
Project time
Show-and-tell what’s underway
Out the door
Long outing
Strewing (parent)
Restock the bin
One-line log (parent)
Week in five lines
This is a rhythm, not a schedule — the blocks are anchors, and the best weeks will wander off this page entirely.
Five Mistakes to Skip
Confusing unschooling with doing nothing
The lesson plan is gone; the curating, noticing, and driving are very much not. It is active work.
The February curriculum panic-buy
Every unschooling parent feels it. Reread your log from September before you reach for a boxed grade.
Quizzing them on their interests
Nothing kills an obsession faster than turning it into school. Be curious, not evaluative.
Skipping documentation
Be sure to follow your state’s guidelines and laws for coverage and documentation.
Measuring against school timelines
Self-directed learning is often asynchronous. Your child might be two grades ahead of their peers in one subject and one grade behind their peers in another. Pay attention to where your unique child was in August compared to where they are in May.
Your First 30 Days
Deschool and observe
No agenda. Watch what they gravitate to when nothing is assigned, and write it down each evening.
Start strewing
Three interesting things this week, left out without comment. Track what gets picked up.
Open a project journal
Take their strongest current interest and start a journal together — questions, sketches, next steps.
Build the record habit
One line per day plus photos. Map what you’ve logged to your state’s requirements once, so you can relax.
However You Homeschool, Rigamaroo Plans It Your Way
Lessons, attendance, records, and day sheets for every kid, in one calm hub.
Start Your Free TrialFree 7-day trial · No credit card required