This is the cliff's notes version:
Elimination Communication:
Paying attention to babies' signals (i.e. body language, vocalizations) to know *before* they will have to pee/poo, and
then hold them over the toilet so they go there instead of in a diaper.
Minimizes diaper changes by up to 100%, thus providing considerable savings. We've been doing this for two months, and so
far have gone from washing diapers once per day to once every 3-5 days. Yesterday we even left him without a diaper for
several hours, and though he peed on us once (while feeding, so he was distracted), he also communicated to us twice that
he needed to go, and so we held him over.
We have learned that once he signals to us he needs to go, he will actually wait for us to take him to the toilet, undress
and take his diaper off and hold him over, before he will start to pee/poo.
Co-sleeping:
The baby sleeps in the bed with the mother instead of in a separate crib or bassinet. If breastfeeding, this helps both
mother and baby sleep because they don't have to fully wake (or sometimes wake at all) to breastfeed. Also, when coupled
with Elimination Communication, it means the parents are more responsive to the babie's needs.
It also reduces nighttime crying, thus allowing partners to sleep better. There are a lot of things to be aware of when
co-sleeping, so research must be done to ensure the safety of the child. However, again been doing this for 2 months and
has been very helpful.
Also a money saver because a bassinet, crib, or nursery are unnecessary.
Attachment Parenting
This is keeping the baby with one or both parents at almost all times. By giving the baby all of the attention it wants
in the early stages of life, it develops healthy attachment to parents by realizing the parents will always be there when
the child needs them. This gives children the confidence to venture out on their own, rather than wondering if they'll be
left stranded / alone. Babies cry much less often... our baby cries maybe for 10 minutes per day, total, because when he
needs anything we are already there paying attention to him so he doesn't have to cry long to get a response.
This also couples very well with Elimination Communication and Co-Sleeping, and again a money saver because a nursery is
unnecessary and the best infant toys are mommy and daddy.
Unschooling
No formal education is provided, and instead children learn through the school of life. Just as nobody ever taught a baby
how to walk or talk... they still learned these things because they wanted and needed to. How might a child learn to read? They hear mom or dad reading to them at night and start to wonder how to do it themselves. Some children learn to read and do math on their own, some ask for help from parents.
What is focused on is not what to learn, but rather, how to learn. This highly enables these children as adults to succeed. Many unschoolers will openly admit to holes in their knowledge base... some may not know much about history, or another about geography or government, but they all readily state that if they wanted/needed the knowledge they would have no problems with it.
This also encourages parents to be in tune and understanding of children's interests. If a child likes trains, then trains may be used to help teach about math, or a trip to the train museum in Sacramento, CA might help combine history with their interests.
By keeping children interested in the process of learning, they also tend to develop a lifelong love for that process.
This saves money because public schools now require kids to bring supplies in underfunded districts, no costs for private school, and no costs for homeschool materials (which can be expensive).
As a side note, NORDS has personally known some unschoolers so he may be able to give some more realistic perspective on the subject.... everything I know about this is, so far, from reading information and interacting on mailing lists.
