Taoism and Unschooling

Taoism is to unschooling what the organized religions are to schooling-at-home (and of course traditional schools). As the first Taoist precept says:

The Tao that can be talked about is not the real Tao.

You can substitute any of curriculum/learning/growth for Tao in there and it continues to ring true.

Taoism respects natural processes, and guides us to recognize & trust them. ("You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar," is a well-known Taoist principle, for example.) We unschoolers try to do the same - go with our children's interest, talents and passions. That way lie happier and more successful kids (as more and more research shows by the way). What's not to like about that?!

It is certainly easier to recognize their talents than to trust them (or the universal processes that underlie the unfolding of talents), but that is the distinguishing feature of the unschooling philosophy. The first piece of advise given to would-be unschoolers is: Trust your kids. And really speaking it is not your kids that you are trusting per se, but the Tao itself. It is a process of trusting the whole universe to do the right thing.

I had borrowed a book called "The Tao of Parenting" (or some such) a while ago from a friend, and really liked it. I need to borrow it again to refresh my memory.