Inside: this is my annual unschooling resources and plans post for 2026-2027. If you’re wondering what unschoolers do all day and what their interests can look like, this will give you a snapshot of one family’s unschooling life, from teens to kids.
The 2025-2026 “school year” is finished. Hooray! We had our homeschool evaluation a month ago. I prepped next year’s homeschool paperwork and turned everything in.
(Side Note: If you live in a state where you need to turn in paperwork, make sure you get some kind of receipt! Last year, the district contacted me saying they didn’t have my paperwork, and I was able to send the receipt saying yes, they did. They eventually found it.)
Our co-op has ended for the year. Art class is done. So is spring soccer. I really really love when all the things are finished because towards the end of the year, I start to feel burn out creeping in.
I was just about to take a deep breath and rest for a bit when I learned that my 14-year-old got a weekend job bussing tables at a local restaurant. Yay!
And also not yay, because I’m basically a full-time chauffeur now.
With a new roof to save up for and a first time car payment (low, but still), we’re not planning to do much this summer. I think the phrase is “enjoying your mortgage”? And in our case, that also includes frequenting our neighborhood pool, which is funded by our HOA fees.
Unschooling Ideas and Resources for 2026-2027 (11th, 9th, 7th, 5th and 2nd Grade)
I will have two kids in high school this year. That is truly wild! Time doesn’t always fly, but sometimes it really does.
All five kids are reading now, and it’s truly a relief when all your unschooled kids successfully make it through the “learning to read” phase.
Here are some loose “plans” and ideas for the 2026-2027 school year.
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1. Secular Homeschool Family Park Meet-Ups
Due to some recent changes, we will not be participating in the same co-op next year. It was truly awesome for the past two years, and we are so thankful for the routine it gave us during a difficult time for our family.
Some of the families we developed strong ties with are also not returning, and we plan to stay connected through weekly park meet-ups, field trips and hang-outs.
The community we found through the co-op is truly amazing, and one day I’ll write a post about homeschool socialization because I think we brush off concerns more than we should. These families continue to be a safe space away from the hellish dumpster fire that is currently the United States.
2. Theater
Last year, two of my kids participated in The Wizard of Oz. One of them played a Lollipop Guild Munchkin and Emerald City Guard, and another the Lion! Play attendees said that the Lion did a fantastic job and truly embodied the character in the original film.
My favorite part of their previous theater program was that it was truly inclusive. It gave kids of various acting and singing abilities a chance to shine, and everyone who wanted a role gets one.
We are hoping to find a similar theater program for two (or more) kiddos in the spring or summer of 2027.
3. Art
“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.”
-Pablo Picasso
If you’re worried that your child doesn’t really do art, every child has a different developmental timeline. My child that didn’t draw at all until he was seven is now my most prolific artist, but he’s a digital artist, so perhaps he was simply waiting for the right medium?
Only one child takes formal art classes through a local art center, but everyone else does art in some form or fashion at home.
We have kids who are digital art Procreate gurus, kids who love drawing with pencils, and others who love acrylic paint markers. Some kids draw all the time, and others only draw on long car trips.
Art is a pretty big part of our unschooling life.
4. TV Shows
Watching TV shows together in various groups has become a big deal in our house. It’s a major point of connection and family bonding.
Last year, we watched…
- She-Ra and The Princesses of Power
- Avatar: The Last Airbender
- The Legend of Korra
- Camp Jurassic: Chaos Theory
- Digital Circus (Indie Youtube Show)
We are currently watching Marvel’s What If, and we will watch My Little Pony next. When my kids talk about their favorite times as a family, it’s often watching things together (not on individual screens).
Have a show to recommend? Let me know! They especially love animated shows.
5. Extracurriculars
This year, I foolishly broke my most sacred rule for extracurriculars: I signed up my 6-year-old for weekly gymnastics when she didn’t have “hell yes” energy. And by the end of the year, I was seriously regretting it.
We ended up quitting last week because it became very apparent that it was me dragging her to gymnastics, and not her dragging me out the door, excited to go.
At one point this year, I was driving somewhere almost every single day of the week. I could feel myself approaching burn out.
So this year, we are scaling back. My youngest (now 7) is going to try soccer again in the spring. The field is two minutes away. Very doable! We’ll see if soccer is her jam.
My 12-year-old will be playing fall and spring soccer, the fall season being with the local middle school team. And my 14-year-old is taking Art II with the same art studio starting in September.
We have kids who participate in a couple of clubs at our local library, including D&D campaigns. We love love LOVE the library!
My youngest also has a local friend group that does regular park meet-ups and playdates throughout the year.
6. Kahn Academy
At the time of this writing, we plan to use Kahn Academy quite a bit this year.
My 14-year-old will be finishing Algebra I this summer and plans to continue on with upper level maths. They are also taking a grammar and vocabulary course and have expressed an interest in taking additional English courses.
At ninth grade, they aren’t quite ready for dual enrollment, but they want to be ready by tenth or eleventh grade. They are currently planning on college, though that could change at any time.
My 12-year-old is set up to use Kahn Academy for math, World History and US History. How much he’ll actually do? We shall see.
Who knows? Maybe more kids will jump on the Khan Academy train this year. It really is a fantastic and free educational resource.
7. Dungeons & Dragons
I didn’t grow up playing this role-playing game (even if I’d wanted to, I’m pretty sure my mom thought it was Satanic sooo nope), but all my kids love it! My husband introduced them to it a few years ago.
My 14-year-old took a D&D class at co-op this year and joined short campaigns at our local library. They also recently wrote a hilariously bizarre campaign for their siblings, and it finished this week. They’re planning to write another “full campaign” just for the experience of writing it, even though they admit their siblings will likely lose interest before the end.
I love how this game inspires reading, writing, note-taking, imagination, collaboration and so much more.
8. Reading Aloud
Last but not least, I cannot talk about our unschooling life without mentioning reading aloud.
My 10-year-old and I are not so patiently waiting for the final book of Keeper of the Lost Cities to be released in 2027. We were plodding along through the series for the second time, but it dropped off. They are pursuing their own Manga reading at the moment.
My 7-year-old and I completed Land of Stories this year, and we plan to read the prequel Land of Stories series, along with the Harry Potter series. After that, I’m hoping that she likes Percy Jackson more than my 10-year-old did (he quit halfway through book 2).
Do J.K. Rowling’s anti-trans views suck? Yes, but we already own the books and the movies, and they hold a special place in my exvangelical heart, so we’re gonna read them.
I have to say that even though my 10-year-old and I are no longer reading together daily, it is a bit of a relief to only have one child left to read aloud to. After over 15 years of reading aloud to my kids in various groups, I think I’ll be ready to be done in a few years.
Individual Interests
These kids continue to dive into their own unique interests, from Algebra to Chess to Anime. It’s all over the place, and I am so very thankful for this unschooling life.
Here are some of their interests to give you an idea of what unschooling can look like.
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11th Grade
My oldest continues to love all things LGBTQ Culture and continues to be a fierce advocate for all marginalized people groups.
She caught the anime bug from her siblings! And apparently there’s an app called WebToons for self-publishing Manga, web comics and more? It’s kind of like graphic novels…but that’s where her reading energy is going these days.
We are planning to watch Black American History on Crash Course together, along with my 14-year-old. She has also been enjoying participating in D&D sessions with her siblings.
9th Grade
My 14-year-old is loving work and having “real people money”. We opened a bank account last week. They’ve been wanting to build a computer for several months now, and in a month or so, they will finally have the funds to make it happen! This is all self-taught via Youtube: I have zero expertise to contribute.
After buying computer parts, they plan to open an Acorns account like their siblings and “catch up” to their investment contributions. We match dollar for dollar investing, although we probably need to come up with a cap on that offer…
They love math and seem to have a natural talent for it. They plan on progressing through upper level math courses on Kahn Academy this year.
They’ve also been working through a Kahn Academy grammar course, with a vocabulary course up next. While we’re on the subject of Language Arts, they also want to write a full length Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) campaign after writing a mini campaign for their siblings last month.
And finally they’re rushing to finish the latest Hunger Games prequel Sunrise on the Reaping before the movie comes out in November.
7th Grade
My 12-year-old caught the Chess bug from my 14-year-old (the ADHD hyperfixation fizzled pretty quickly for that one). He plays Chess multiple times a day on Chess.com.
He also wants to incorporate Kahn Academy into his routines, working his way through grade level math and US history courses. He also will be playing soccer for our local middle school this fall for the first time.
He still dabbles in LEGO and LEGO technics, mostly building remote control cars. He occasionally builds with cardboard as well. This comes and goes depending on motivation and inspiration.
5th Grade
My 10-year-old currently loves anime! They spent this year watching so.much.anime. This interest also inspired dabbling in piano to learn theme songs, writing a new book, and learning a few basic Japanese phrases. And of course, their digital art is showing a ton of anime influence.
This year, we plan to work on spelling together. They’ve been working on it, slowly catching on to basic phonics. This kiddo taught themselves to read via whole language, so spelling doesn’t come naturally to them, which is totally fine! My 14-year-old was the same way and decided to work on spelling around this age, too.
Related: Unschooling Spelling Works – How Kids to Spell Without School
2nd Grade
Roblox continues to be my 7-year-old’s passion. It’s controversial to let your kids play Roblox, I know. And likely, if she wasn’t the youngest of five, she would never have been introduced to Roblox in the first place.
We turn off chat, talk about staying safe, monitor the types of games she plays, and make sure to stay connected about anything that feels “off” to her. She finally found a friend at co-op to have regular Roblox playdates with via Facetime.
We are currently reading the Harry Potter series. She wanted to watch the movies first, but I wanted to do the opposite (books first, then movies). So we made a deal: for the first book, we could watch the movie first and then read the book, and with the second book, do the opposite to see which one was better.
We did not even make it to the end of the first movie before she lost interest. But she’s loving the book! I guess I “won”? Yay books! In my opinion, for this series, the books are way better than the movies, anyways.
I’ve noticed that coin names and values are still rocky for her. I plan to offer to play Money Bags a few times this year to work on that, or simply bring it up more to solidify it. This girl is a clear spender, so we will use earning and spending money to work on coin recognition.
Finally, she has a special interest in Spanish that we hope to explore this year via Outschool classes.
My Interests
Having your own hobbies and learning interests is so important for unschooling parents!
We are cleaning, painting and revamping our garage this summer and fall in hopes of having more space to host teen hang-outs. My oldest also desperately needs some space from our loud chaotic family, so it serves both purposes.
I want to do some painting in the fall and hopefully stencil our upstairs hallway. I am dialing way back on my decorating spending, since we do have a roof that needs redoing next year.
My booklist…
- The Happiest Kids in the World
- The Gardener and the Carpenter
- Yesteryear (this one was WILD)
- The New Perimenopause
- Live Laugh Love (releases this fall)
I continue to ponder getting a part-time job outside the house. It would be nice (I think?) to have a job that I can truly leave at work, unlike this one with a running to-do list in my head at all times. It’s unlikely to happen this year, but maybe next summer? We’ll see.
Well, that’s all for this year’s unschooling plans, ideas & resources! Have questions? Ask in the comments!
