An End of the Year Unschooling Challenge

2 January 2022

At the end of 2020, which was a very tough year, I wrote the following unschooling challenge. 2021 turned out to be a difficult year too. I think we could substitute 2021 for 2020 and do the challenge again!


This week, we’re going to think about 2021 and write our end-of-the-year reviews. Maybe we don’t want to do this. It’s been a tough year, hasn’t it? We might just want to move on. Forget this year and hope that next year will be better.

But 2021 was a year of our kids’ lives. Ours as well. It was important. I bet if we look between the difficult bits, we’ll find many delights. So, that’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to write a list of all the good things that happened to us this year.

Did you have any magical moments with your kids? How did they grow and develop and delight you? Did facing covid as a family bind you closer together? Did you explore anything new this year? Were you able to take another step along the unschooling path? I wonder if you were able to let go of anything that used to worry you. Did you change in any way? What enjoyable things did you do with your family? What made you laugh? What touched your hearts?

There are different ways to approach this challenge. You could make a cup of coffee, settle down with your journal, and spend some quiet time reviewing your year. Or you could have a family conversation about 2021. Or you could do both. However you do this challenge, you must abide by the following ‘rule’:

You can only write down the positive things.

It would be so easy to get bogged down in the negatives, wouldn’t it? But we don’t want covid affecting our joys. And we don’t want worries about our kids making an appearance either. Every time we remember something negative, let’s turn it around until we find the positive.

Wouldn’t it be good to end the year feeling grateful for what we‘ve experienced? Instead of saying, “I’m glad that year is over,”and then trying to forget it, we could compile a list of joyful memories and encouraging moments that will propel us into 2022vwith enthusiasm for another unschooling year with our families.

Photos

We finished 2021 in a very delightful way: we took a rare trip to the beach! Unfortunately, Quinn didn’t like the ocean. She’s a bush dog and not a beach dog!

8 Comments Leave a Reply

  1. Sue, happy new year!! This post is prefect timing to review the previous year. Life has been difficult and unusual with Covid, Delta, and now Omicron. The cycle has gotta stop soon.
    We’ve had some delights this year wedged in between the difficult ones too. Last summer kids and I had a tough time with too much activity that I loaded into their zoom class schedules. I was burnt out. So we took the summer off. No curriculum. Just being here together. It was the perfect break that reenergized us for fall homeschooling.
    I hope you have a wonderful start to a new year and more fun learning experiences. Hugs…Esther

    • Esther,

      Happy New Year! It’s so good to connect with you. I’m glad you had a reenergising summer. We’ve been spending lots of time together too, enjoying each other’s company, and going places now that our lockdown is over. It was easy to forget about all the problems of covid while we were at the beach. It’s good to search out delights, isn’t it? They remind us that there are still lots of beautiful things in the world.

      Thank you for stopping by. Sending hugs to you too!

  2. Ah, Sue .. exactly what I think I need tonight. There is something about putting positive thoughts and happenings in writing that puts things in perspective and brings hope. Thank you!

    • Erin,

      Oh yes, jotting down the good experiences of the year helps us see past the big negative stuff which tries to claim all our attention. It does put things in perspective. I’m feeling hopeful about 2022. I hope you are too.

      Happy New Year, Erin!

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