This morning, I noticed that there are exactly 14 hours between sunrise and sunset today. I’ve been anticipating this day for a while, watching the numbers change as the sunrise gets later and the sunset gets earlier, each creeping in opposite directions, a minute at a time. I wonder how long it’s been since we lost the last complete hour of daylight. How fast does daylight disappear?
At the beginning of summer, the hot days stretch ahead. They seem never ending, especially during a bad bushfire season when we yearn for the cooler temperatures of autumn. But nothing lasts forever. Eventually, flowers begin to fade, summer visitors fly away, schools reopen, and the holidays come to an end.
My husband Andy returns to school at the end of next week. In years gone by, that would be the signal for life at home to change, too. Although learning happened every day of the year, it never looked the same day in and day out. Unschooling changed according to the season of the year.
The long summer holidays were times for resting, outdoor adventures, and spending time with Andy. We’d go to the beach or maybe the mountains to escape the heat or stay home and fight bushfires. I didn’t keep homeschool records during the school holidays. I took a break from constantly recording all my kids’ learning experiences. It wasn’t expected, so I didn’t do it. I didn’t think about strewing because summer was doing that for me.
Then, one day, my kids would realise that Andy’s holiday was ending, and they’d smile and say, “Hooray! Mum, you can read to us again!” They’d start thinking about the books we could read together, Shakespeare plays we might view, term-time music lessons and other activities they’d enjoy: everything we could do now that our unschooling year was moving onto a new season.
My life is still affected by the seasons although I no longer have a homeschool records book and school-aged children to strew for and read to. As the summer holidays come to an end, I’m thinking about what I’ll do when Andy is no longer at home with me each day. Instead of enjoying slow mornings, chatting over coffee in cafes, and walking around the lake with my love, I’ll be here alone with the dogs. The pace of my life will quicken as I walk Quinn and Nora by myself, drink solo cups of coffee, meet with Erin for our monthly Christian unschooling Zoom discussions, record Da Ladies Fixing the World podcasts with Cecilie and Sandra, and contribute regular articles to the Virtual Kitchen Table community. I’ll also write my books and blog here. I suppose I’ll have to do some housework too.
And each week, I’ll meet up with my daughter Imogen for lunch and a long chat about our work. My daughter is still my encouraging writing buddy.
We all need someone to encourage and support us, don’t we? Someone to share the ups and downs of life and our work with, the joys and the challenges. Who is that person for you? Who do you travel with through all the unschooling seasons of the year?
The Changing Seasons of the Unschooling Year
Want to read more about the changing seasons of the unschooling year?
Photos
My once-glorious hydrangeas that gave me a lot of pleasure earlier in the season.
