Hi there! My name is Cindy Englan Wentz, your host and veteran unschooling mom of two grown, comically messy, college-educated kids. The biggest questions I’m sure you have are: Who am I? Why should you trust me? Where did I learn all that I know?

My backstory: I enrolled my kids public school in the 1980’s. One child was labeled “gifted”, the other “slow”. I was a hands-on parent, convinced that if I pitched in and played an active role in their K-12 schooling, I could make a difference. I was a classroom assistant, fundraiser, Odyssey of the Mind Coach, Vice President of the PTA/PTO, Teacher Appreciation Week organizer, front office helper, nurse’s station helper, a Gifted and Talented Program assistant, you name it. Things began unraveling in the first weeks of kindergarten, and got worse from there. Still, I hung in, sure things would improve. I was wrong.

In the spring of 1993, my 5th grader overheard me talking to another mom who was planning to pull her children out and homeschool them. He got the bright idea I could do that, too. My jaw dropped. “Are you crazy? I can’t do that! I’m not certified, I’m not devoutly religious!” He said, “I’m serious. If you make me go to middle school next year, I’ll run away.” That stopped me in my tracks. A couple weeks later, the President of the PTA/PTO and I took a tour of the the middle school. We asked about curriculum, and the principal burst out laughing. Curriculum? Middle school, she explained, was NOT about curriculum or academics. It was for learning to socialize and transition into high school.

Three years of learning to pass notes in class, giggle, gossip, get crushes and figure out how to get up the nerve to call a girl on the phone? You’re kidding. She wasn’t.

At this same time, my oldest got his younger sibling onboard with this homeschooling idea. So now I had two kids bugging me: How soon can we start?

So I started looking into this crazy homeschooling idea. I read dozens of books, attended a Rookie Workshop for New Homeschoolers hosted by Cafi Cohen, attended support groups meetings, park days and events. I asked a hundred questions of every parent I met. I began to get excited. Then, another bombshell dropped. The district was changing the curriculum to Goals 2000. Goals what? The PTA/PTO President (Julie) and I attended a district meeting to get the scoop. She pulled out a tape recorder so we’d be able to give the correct info to the parents at our school. But the presenter stopped the meeting. She told Julie to put it away. Julie smiled and explained “we just want to get it right.” The presenter said NO. Confused, she shut it off and put it in her purse. Three administrative types in dark suits surrounded us, and escorted us out of the building. We couldn’t even stay and listen! The next morning, we were both locked out of our kids’ school, we needed permission to enter, and we each needed an escort to stay with us the whole time we were inside the building. Why? We were told we were “subversives” and couldn’t be trusted anymore. For pulling out a tape recorder at a meeting? Seriously? Yes.

That was it. Finis, done, outta here. There was something fishy going on.

Within a few months, the same things happened to other parents who had the nerve to ask questions. They pulled their kids out too. It became a mass exodus.

Unschooling appealed to us the most. By fall, I was ready. Or so I thought. But when push came to shove, I panicked. I need curriculum! I need textbooks! So we begged and borrowed. I made lesson plans, sat my kids down every morning, and had them do lessons. I bought a blackboard, a pointer, chalk, workbooks, teaching games, you name it. This lasted six weeks. My kids were bored. I was exhausted from filling in planners and grading papers every night. What happened to unschooling, Mom? This is just like public school. Scared as I was, I had to agree.

Problem is, there’s no roadmap on how to homeschool, let alone unschool. No rules. No teacher’s manual. We had to learn as we went along. I made many mistakes. But the kids hopped in the driver seat. They taught me how to unschool. They leap frogged over me so fast it was dizzying. THEY taught themselves. I was the intern, like some rookie fresh out of teacher’s college.

A year later (1994), I began volunteering for the original state inclusive organization, Colorado Home Educator’s Association (CHEA), the folks who helped write our homeschool statute and get it passed. Sadly, politics interfered during my tenure, and 1.5 years later, another homeschooling mom, Valerie Berg, and I founded Rocky Mountain Education Connection. That was May 1996. We were never and still aren’t a support group with members. RMEC is just an information hub, for every homeschooler in Colorado. Your beliefs or lifestyle are your own. RMEC also isn’t here to sell you pricey curriculum, materials, or anything.

Three short years after beginning our unschooling (1996), my 14yo wanted to study biology, chemistry, computer networking. I knew nothing about any of those. It was time for college. He took a placement test at local college, passed with flying colors. He was the youngest student they’d ever admitted and became their poster child. My “slower” child was ready for college at 16. This is the kid who refused, absolutely flat-out, would NOT do Math — until he had to take his college placement test. So he taught himself, and also took a couple of remedial Math courses. He went on to get BS from the University of Colorado — in Applied Mathematics, with Honors. So when you ask yourself, can I really unschool? Yes, you can. I’ll launch you, give you a ton of guidance and great ideas, and your kids will teach you the rest.