'Unschooling' children 'teach' themselves with computer games and 'life experiences' Maryanne Jacobs lets her children Rio, nine, and Bryden, eight, stay home With no formal lessons or timetables, she says they learn by themselves The family from Gorebridge in Scotland practise new idea of 'unschooling' Children can choose what they do, when, and when they go to bed Miss Jacobs says children learn numbers by playing Minecraft and baking A mother of two who lets her children stay at home says they don't need to go to school because they learn enough 'naturally' by playing computer games and going for walks outside. Maryanna Jacobs, 32, from Gorebridge, Scotland, is one of a new wave of parents embracing 'unschooling', a new philosophy that rejects traditional, curriculum-based, education in favour of letting children choose what they want to do. Rather than sitting down with a workbook and learning key subjects such as maths or English, Miss Jacbos' daughter Rio, nine, and son Bryden, eight, enjoy playing Minecraft on their laptops, baking or going to the shops with their mother. 'Unschooled' Rio, nine, and her brother Bryden, eight, learn maths by playing Minecraft on their computers Mother Maryanne Jacobs, 32, lets her children stay at home in Gorebridge, Scotland, rather than go to school Miss Jacobs, who has been criticised by education experts for harming her children's chances, says often people cannot 'comprehend' her reasons for choosing to bring them up this way. But she says her children are learning 'naturally' by playing on their own and having 'life experiences' like cooking or playing in the park. She said: 'School is not necessarily the best environment to learn in and when it came to my children I wanted to give them the choice to stay at home. 'And they've not been held back by that - they can both read and write very well, and they're just as advanced as children their age who go to school. 'They pick things up every day and that's how they learn. I don't think it's right to introduce projects and make them sit down to learn something. 'If I tried to do that, they'd be confused.' Miss Jacobs, who lives with her registered disabled partner, Allan, and their two children, says she doesn't believe in routines or schedules, so there are no set meal times and the children go to bed when their parents do, which can be between 9pm and midnight. Miss Jacobs, who left school with no qualifications, has been told she is too uneducated to teach her children Unschoolers believe that children's innate curiosity will drive them to learn, so a curriculum isn't necessary And while children across the country are sitting down to the desks for the day's lessons, Rio and Bryden are engrossed in their favourite computer game, Minecraft, or collecting feathers and stones in the nearby country park. Their mother said: 'Both the kids have learnt numbers, words and how to type through their computer games, and they've learnt a lot about computers too. 'They've learnt maths through things like shopping and baking. 'Numbers are always going through Bryden's head - he's fascinated with clocks and timetables. Rio is more of a words person - she learnt through games like Scrabble and Monopoly. 'They've learnt about birds, trees and rocks just by being outdoors.' Miss Jacobs says if her children ask her a question she doesn't know the answer to, they look it up together Daughter Rio, nine, went to primary school for eight days last year but stopped going because she didn't like it She added: 'They're naturally curious and ask a lot of questions, which I try my best to answer. If I can't, we'll look it up on the computer or we'll find someone who can help.' Miss Jacobs, who left school without any qualifications and did a variety of jobs including working on a market stall before having children, dismisses people who have told her she's 'not educated enough' to educated her children. She said: 'I have been criticised for what we're doing and some can't believe it's legal. 'A lot of people find it hard because people have been going to school for centuries and we're going against that. 'We have a great deal of quality time together and it's made us closer as a family. It makes me very sad when I hear parents say they can't wait for their children to go to school so they can have some peace and quiet. 'Why have children if you don't want them around?' The children can read and write as well as or better than their peers in formal education, their mother says Miss Jacobs' children both attended nursery school five days a week but when Rio was four, her mother heard about unschooling and decided to give her children the choice. She said: 'I decided to ask the kids what they wanted to do about school. 'I said their friends were going but it would be stricter than home and they'd have to sit for longer periods of time at their desks. I also explained they wouldn't get days off when they wanted. They both decided they wanted to be at home with their mum. They had that choice. She said Rio attended primary school for eight days last year but decided it wasn't for her. 'She told me she really wanted to try it so we took her out and bought the uniform and the bag,' she said. She went to bed early, set her alarm and got herself up in the morning. 'Rio went to school for eight days last year so we took her out and bought the uniform and the bag but she didn't like it in the end.' Maryanne Jacobs, mother None of the children could believe she had never been to school before. She added: 'Rio didn't like it in the end. She found some things very frustrating - she was much more advanced than other kids in her swimming classes but wasn't allowed to go in to the deep end of the pool. The teachers didn't really know how able she was. 'She was also taught nursery rhymes like 'Ring a Ring o' Roses' which she found babyish. Miss Jacobs is not concerned about her children's prospects, saying she is bringing them up to be 'free-thinking'. She said: 'I'm bringing the kids up to be free-thinking entrepreneurs who don't have to work for someone else if they don't want to and don't feel they have to 'be something' when they grow up.' Today leading educators said a formal education offered children the best chance. Dr Kevin Stannard, of the Girls" Day School Trust, said: 'It's important that we do have an element of choice within our education system, and one size will never fit all, but for the vast majority of children a school environment, with a formal curriculum and experienced teachers, is by far the best option. 'It's not just the content of a formal curriculum that's important, it's also about how you learn and the life skills and attributes you develop while in education. Part of a rounded education, for example, is the ability to develop "critical thinking" and to question assumptions you have grown up with, which can only truly happen outside of the home environment. It is also much easier to learn skills like "collaboration" when you are actually working alongside a group of classmates each day. No lessons: Miss Jacobs says her son and daughter have learnt words by playing Scrabble with her And Julia Harrington, headmistress of Queen Anne's School in Caversham, near Reading, said: 'Schools provide an environment where there can be exciting stimuli, opportunity and support for an adolescent to safely learn and develop their thinking and personalities. Teenagers are very creative and, as we all do, benefit from working with those who are more experienced and experts in their subject area alongside their peers. Young people need to know how to filter and shown discernment in their processing of information, and it is very difficult to develop this sort of mindset in a vacuum. Julia Harrington, headmistress of Queen Anne's, Caversham 'Research shows that a teenager's brain demands interaction with other teenagers and will seek it out if it is not there. In the age of information overload, young people need to know how to filter and show discernment in their processing of information, and it is very difficult to develop this sort of mindset in a vacuum. The unconventional phenomenon of unschooling began in America but its popularity is now on the rise here in the UK, and Miss Jacobs knows a community of around 200 other parents in Scotland who embrace unschooling or other variations of education that reject formal schooling. While home-schooling your children is legal, the legality of unschooling is unclear, with the Department for Education (DoE) saying that children of compulsory school-age must receive a suitable full-time education, whether in school or otherwise. A spokesman for the DoE said: 'Parents in England must ensure that children of compulsory school age receive a full-time education 'suitable' for their age and abilities. This can be at home or at school. It is down to local authorities to decide whether the education a child is receiving is suitable. A Scottish Government spokesperson said: 'The Scottish Government is supportive of parents" right to home school if they wish. Local authorities, however, have a duty to ensure that parents that are known to be home educating are providing their children with a suitable education. A spokesman for Midlothian Council, which covers the area the Jacobs family lives in, said they couldn't comment on individuals but said they were 'committed to providing the highest quality educational experiences for all children and young people'. He added: 'There is a very small number of parents who choose to home educate their children and the authority has a responsibility to monitor this provision to ensure that the needs of the children and young people are met.'