Examining An Unschooling Life

I drop a peppermint teabag into my favourite glass mug, add boiling water, and carry it to the living room. Opening the blinds so I can see the sun as soon as it rises, I settle on the sofa with the cat, who keeps trying to sit on my head. I grab my journal and chew the end of my pen while I think of the past week. While my family sleeps, I review my week in the pre-dawn Saturday darkness.

 

I flip back through last week’s journal entries and reread my notes: quotes from books I’m reading, thoughts and ideas, my delights and challenges, Bible verses I’m pondering, sunrise and sunset times that capture numbers I love, books, movies and games I’m enjoying, my prayers, my hopes and my dreams, the highlights and lowlights of my days.

Reviewing my weeks slows my life down. The days don’t pass in a meaningless blur. Each one is important. Sometimes, I can only see that when I sit still with my notebook and pen and explore my days with written words.

There was a time when I hated writing about life because the education department forced me to do it: I had to keep detailed notes about my kids’ learning to retain our homeschool registration. I moaned a lot as I turned yet another colourful unschooling day into black-and-white words in my records book: “We’d have more time for learning if I wasn’t spending so much of each day trying to provide evidence of learning.”

Then, one day, I got tired of listening to my repeated complaints, which weren’t going to change the situation. Record-keeping was something I had to do. It was going to be part of my life for many years. Was I going to spend all that time moaning about it? Perhaps I should look for a way to enjoy it.

Changing the name of my notebook changed my whole perspective. My homeschool records book became our family journal, a place to preserve the memories of our unschooling days. I listed everything that happened in our days from the books we were reading to the conversations we’d shared. Adding loads of photos, I included all the delicious, curious, fascinating details of our lives.

It was evident from my journal that my kids were living a rich and full life. They were satisfying all the learning requirements.

“How did you find time for record keeping, Sue?” I’ve been asked that question a lot. And I’ve been asked this one, too: isn’t it better to live life instead of writing about it? Why did I prioritise journalling? Why do I still do it? Because it’s important.

Socrates said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.”

I think all life is worth living, but maybe we could live a better life if we slowed down and examined it.

At the beginning of my book The Unschool Challenge, I recommend keeping a journal or a challenges notebook:

Every time you do a challenge, you could jot down the following:

• Answers to any questions you pondered.
• What you and your kids did during the challenge.
• The outcome of the challenge.
• How you felt.
• What you learnt.
• Any changes you’d like to make.
• And any other relevant thoughts and information.

I say:

Writing things down often seems like too much trouble, doesn’t it? We might be tempted to read, think briefly and move on. But writing helps us sort out our thoughts and feelings, so we get to the heart of the issue. Sometimes, it takes us to unexpected places. It’s helpful.

When we reread our written words a year or even a month or two later, we often realise how far we’ve travelled. Our ideas might have changed a lot!

And having our thoughts and ideas in writing can encourage us when we’re having a wobbly moment. We might reread what we’ve written, remember what we’re trying to achieve and then step forward with renewed resolution and enthusiasm.

Keeping a notebook will ensure you get the most out of this book, so I hope you’ll take the time to write about each challenge.

I wonder if anyone has read my book with a notebook in hand.

I often add notes of books I’m reading to my journal. At the moment, I’m reading Peter Kreef’s Practical Theology, which is a lot livelier and easier to read than its title might suggest. I want to grow in my understanding of my faith and become the person God created me to be.

How about you? Do you want to understand unschooling better? Perhaps you want to ponder aspects of this way of life that you’ve finding challenging?

Do you want to preserve memories of your unschooling days?

Do you have thoughts and ideas that might escape forever if not jotted down? Perhaps a journal is where dreams begin. Or it could be a place where you confide difficulties and try to solve them. Perhaps you want to sift through the daily challenges, searching for the hidden delights. Or track progress. Do you want to grow as a person?

If you haven’t already done it, why not keep a journal?

A couple of days ago, I met up with Imogen for coffee. “I’ve got something exciting to share with you,” I announced as I plopped onto the cafe chair opposite my daughter.

“Oh?”

“I’m getting to the end of my current journal. In a few days, I’ll begin using the one you bought me just before Christmas, the one with the gorgeous Twigseeds bird pictures.”

I’ve discovered that any notebook can be the repository of my life observations, but one with good-quality paper makes journalling even more delightful. A pen with smooth-flowing ink and a comfortable grip makes a difference, too.

Tomorrow or maybe the day after, I’ll close my current journal, add it to the pile on the shelf under my desk, open my Twigseeds notebook and begin writing.

That’s another thing I’ve learnt: never be afraid to write in a new notebook. Our lives are precious, a gift. They can’t spoil pages. They can only enhance them.

Images

I preserved this moment from our lives by writing about it in my journal. Andy and Gemma-Rose examined the classic cars at a recent Australia Day event.