Educational language and activities

Oftentimes in article titles and headings, I use common, yet sometimes controversial words (especially within the unschooling community), such as curriculum, lesson plan, schedule, teach, etc. See The Unschooling Case Against Teaching for more on teach. Of note, some languages don't have an equivalent word for teach (as some languages don't have a word for work.)

I use common terminology to help my articles reach people via search engines. I look at Google Insights, Google Trends, and the terms other homeschool writers typically use, and I use what I see. However, within the bodies of my articles, I choose words that better convey my meaning.

Sometimes I worry that using words like teach in my titles will put off folks like myself who typically avoid a teaching model of living with kids. I waited several years to join the local homeschool group, Teaching Parents Association, only to discover that it includes lots of unschoolers. Assumptions just don't serve.

Language influences perception
I take seriously the influence language has on our perceptions, the way we feel and how we think. See E-prime, which attempts to transform the English language into an active one, largely by eliminating the verb to be with all its conjugations (i.e., am, are, is). For example, "I am an unschooler," changes to "I unschool." Note instances in which forms of to be camouflage into common compound words, such as become or maybe. In the spirit of E-prime, yet against the literal rule, some enthusiasts retain gerunds (-ing words), which require a to be prefix, i.e., "I am unschooling."

Education-ese to Real-Life Unschooling Translation
When I say teach or educate, I mean help learn.
When I say schedule, I mean routine.
When I say standards or basics, I mean typically useful skills.
When I say curriculum, lesson plan, or course of study, I mean a list of fun things to do in pursuit of a specific interest or skill.

For example, A collection of free homeschool curriculum lesson plans lists some online activities, enjoyed and recommended by my unschoolers. I post lots of links and information on their blog, Dragon's Fire.

Check out The Unschooling Thought Police at Lenz on Learning for more info on the unschooling language debate.