What is the difference between unschooling and not parenting?
It is ill-conceived, at best. Children — especially younger children — need rules and boundaries, and to have common sense instilled into them. Ice cream for breakfast will not sustain their health when they become adults. It is my understanding that unschooling basically is letting your children do what they want, when they want, and leaving any semblance of a “curriculum” up to them. Yes, they may become proficient, even savants, in certain subjects, but it is almost guaranteed that they will come out of their experience with severe educational deficiencies. Some things, notably maths and harder sciences, are almost universally too difficult to be self-taught. While everyone ought to study some things based purely on interest, when one is young, one must also learn the basics to serve them in later life.
