A Wasting Time Unschooling Challenge

When I was a child, I always felt I should be doing something useful rather than sit still and dream, think or watch TV. I thought I had to be productive and not waste time.

As an adult, I‘ve discovered that we learn a lot by doing such things as watching movies and playing video games. These activities aren’t time-wasters. They’re rich learning experiences.

But what about those times when we or our kids aren’t even watching movies, when we’re not doing anything much at all? Are we wasting time? Or are these times very important too? Could we need a quiet time after a busy one? Perhaps when we’re not doing much on the outside, lots of processing is happening on the inside. Could ideas and thoughts be forming, dreams appearing, connections developing? Or maybe our brains and bodies just need a rest before embarking on more learning.

And what about our relationships? Could wasting time with our kids be exactly what they need? All those times when we linger over lunch because we’re enjoying the conversation. When we sit and listen to our kids who want to share their ideas, their stories, their dreams. When we stop at the park and swing on the swings instead of rushing straight home. When we slow down and enjoy instead of trying to cram as much seemingly productive work as possible into our days…

I wrote the following words in a story called Will I Have Done Enough?

…Time is limited, I won’t always be able to sit and chat and listen to my children.  I won’t always be able to give them what they need so that they know without a doubt that they are uniquely valuable people who are very loved. If I don’t use this opportunity now while I have it, I won’t be able to reclaim it later.

When all my children have left home, I don’t want to look back and wonder, “Did we do enough?” Did I spend enough time with my kids, loving and enjoying and sharing the most important things in life?…’

So, for this unschooling challenge shall we ’waste’ some time with our kids? Or maybe we can allow them to ‘waste’ time in their own way.

Chatting, thinking, dreaming, resting, playing. Can we slow down so we notice the delights of our days, including each other? Can we trust that what our kids want to do today is exactly what they need to do right now?

A Vlog

Here’s a video I made about wasting time and how I’ve observed my kids learning.

Book News

Unschooling  Challenges

I’ve written a lot of unschooling challenges which I’m going to publish as a book. Hopefully, these practical challenges are a way to deepen understanding of unschooling and turn its principles into something real in people’s lives.

Radical Unschool Love

The new edition of Radical Unschool Love will, hopefully, be available on Amazon this week. Watch out for more news about it!

Photos

Spending time with my kids is never a waste of time. Gemma-Rose and I enjoyed a picnic lunch before she had to go to work.

So, how will you waste time this week?

Update: I expanded this post and included it, with 75 other challenges, in my book, The Unschool Challenge:

Challenge 34: Waste Some Time

You can find my books on Amazon!