During our early years of homeschooling, a friend, her eyes alight with excitement, told me about a curriculum she’d just purchased for her children. She described the neatly packaged units of beauty, truth and goodness, which included famous works of art and music and great literature, as well as the basics of a thorough education.
My friend’s enthusiasm was contagious. I wondered: do we need this curriculum too? Perhaps my kids would miss out on something essential if we continued to follow our interests without an overall plan.
The Curriculum of Life
But then I remembered how rich our days were because we were following the curriculum of life.
What curriculum are you using this year? The girls and I are going to be using the curriculum of life.
Surely day-to-day life doesn’t provide many learning experiences? Most days are the same, aren’t they? And perhaps this is true unless we regain our sense of awe and wonder about life, and keep alert.How often do we wander from day to day without asking any questions? I am sure we miss so many opportunities to muse and ponder and take delight in what’s around us.
Perhaps you’d like to read the rest of this story:
I never bought a curriculum in all the many years we were registered as homeschoolers, though my friends tried many of them. They moved from one to another, searching for perfection. Somewhere, there was a beautifully presented document that included everything their children needed to know. They only had to find it.
Unschooling: Good Education
When my first two kids were small, even before they reached school age, I was tempted to buy not a curriculum but a set of encyclopaedias that promised a perfect education. The salesman, who appeared on my doorstep, glossy brochures in his hand, was pushy and almost convincing. If I invested in his very expensive set of books, my kids would be set up for life. They’d have an advantage that was well worth the money.
When I open the front door, a man with a winning smile immediately launches into a slick presentation. Do I have children? Yes, I have two. Would I like them to receive a good education? Yes. Do I want to give them the best start in life? Of course. It’s my lucky day. The young man tells me he has just what I need: a set of encyclopaedias.
He thrusts a brochure at me and says he can give me a special deal. I tell him it all sounds good, but I’m not going to buy anything without first speaking to my husband. The winning smile wavers. What time will my husband be home? 6 pm? The salesman will return at the appropriate hour.
Here’s the rest of the story:
An Unschool Challenge
Although I never seriously considered buying a curriculum, I did think about their advantages at homeschooling registration time. If we’d been using an approved learning package, I wouldn’t have had to turn our unschooling into educational language. They’d have been no need to provide evidence my kids were learning all the required school subjects. But I was willing to do this work. It was worth it. And it wasn’t that difficult. My kids were encountering the traditional school subjects daily, even though they were never presented formally in lesson plans or text books.
If you struggle to see science, English, maths and all the other school subjects in your kids’ interests and life in general, you could do Challenge 23: Strew the School Subjects. You’ll find it in my book, The Unschool Challenge.
As you might know, all my kids are now grown up. Do they struggle in their adult lives because of a lack of knowledge? Were there holes in their education? Was unschooling the wrong thing to do? Do I regret not following a carefully thought-out curriculum? No.
My children weren’t limited by someone else’s idea of a perfect education. They were free to explore the possibilities. While other kids were in school or sitting at kitchen tables, completing their pre-planned lessons, mine were in the bush making music videos, setting up cameras to vlog, writing adult-length novels, taking and editing thousands of photos, designing video games and animating movies, fixing cars, discussing anything and everything, and working and volunteering in our community.
My kids didn’t need a curriculum. They had the world.
Why Flying Fish?
Unschoolers have fabulous imaginations!
So, what do you think?
Do you feel a packaged curriculum gives you security and peace of mind? Perhaps you’ve chosen to use one for homeschool registration purposes? Or are you using the curriculum of life?
