Well, for starters, unschooling language arts means teaching the kids to read. Like a lot of other things in the unschool setting, a "learn to do by doing" approach is a good idea. Any wise homeschooling parent using any style or method will tell you, the best thing you can to for your kids is read to them.

The unschool setting means they're allowed to develop their literacy skills in ways that suit their learning types. For instance, Spazzerific is a prolific speed-reader, but dislikes writing. So he plays with Lego and is learning to crochet to develop the fine-motor skills that make writing easy. He has a touch-typing program with games in it. When he writes, it's mostly for the purpose of listing facts. Bird-watching lists, animal trivia, that sort of thing. That's what he enjoys, and that's what makes writing useful to him.

Banana Brain keeps a diary, enjoys workbooks, and writes people letters when she's mad at them. (Activist in the making?) Her approach to literacy is totally different. It's not a problem.

Maybe it helps to have an idiosyncratic writer for a mom. They have the example of how to write, that it's enjoyable and worthwhile. They get amusing vocab and grammar lessons from the mice who keep showing up on the white-board in the kitchen.

We've also had some fabulous discussions about character and other fairly complex elements of writing, although they aren't ready to tackle it yet. They love being told stories - whether summaries of Mom's four-book fiction project, or family history. Banana Brain says she wants to write the story of how the maternal side of her family came to Canada and ended up scattered across it.

Etymology interests everyone, especially when the English language gets frustrating for its lack of attention to its own rules. We have a dictionary that gives the origin of words, and often get into historical discussions as a result.  Spazzerific remains disgusted with the utter linguistic disorganization of the various invaders of the British Isles - couldn't they have coordinated things more intelligibly?