What if instead of doing what you usually do, you did some of those things your children have been wanting to do for ages. All that fun stuff that usually has to wait until all the serious stuff has been completed. The stuff there’s never time for?
What if you and your children read a funny book aloud,
and watched an entertaining movie,
and sang along to some upbeat music,
and strolled down to the park to feed the ducks,
or scooted swiftly around the lake,
and made a huge colourful painting mess,
or pricked a few fingers learning how to sew,
and played a challenging computer game and an old-fashioned board game,
and baked some chocolate muffins,
and explored a website together,
or visited the library and borrowed a huge stack of books,
and curled up somewhere quiet to read to them,
and talked about anything and everything,
and laughed loudly,
and hugged tightly,
and just spent the day together doing what everyone enjoys best?
Wouldn’t that be a fantastic day?
And what if you did it all over again the next day, the next, and the next?
Would you and your children look forward to each day?
Would your children be eager to learn?
Would they begin to lead the way?
Would they be unschooling?
Great post!!! That is how I want to live our life. Letting go is so hard. Thanks for the reminder.
Blessings
Diane
Diane,
Thank you for sharing my post. You are right: letting go is so hard! I guess I finally realised I didn't want to look back and have regrets about not doing what I really felt was the better way.
I was really struck by your post "My Friends Will Think I Am Crazy"… how we do things (structured learning) for a long time and then one day we face the fact it's not working for our child.
A lot of 'education' is just a waste of time. It takes courage to stop and decide to do something different, maybe even radical. To go against the norm is scary. But exciting too! I shall have to think more about this!
God bless!
Love, love, love this (and everything else you write)!!!!!
We've been doing our own thing this "school" year with great success! Unschooling makes my hubby very nervous but he has clearly seen the benefits of a child directed, mom facilitated, interest based learning environment. So for the time being, we aren't officially unschooling, but we're reading books and magazines, knitting, cooking, blogging, drawing, playing the piano, taking walks, crocheting doll clothing, playing chess and mancala (love), making movies and how to videos, watching documentaries and science shows, conversing about interesting topics, crafting, discussing art, hand sewing. And I do mean, we, because we are doing this together and despite my college level education, I have so much learning to catch up on!!!
My girls are even now giving ME piano lessons (100% all their idea). How amazingly beautiful!!
Ms. Sue, thank you for your courage. You inspire!
Cassie,
Thank you for reading my posts!
You sound so excited about your homeschooling! We all should feel that way about learning.
"…a child directed, mom facilitated, interest based learning environment." I love that description of your homeschooling! That sums up everything so well.
Your days sound so enjoyable, very similar to ours! It sounds like you are unschooling even though you say you're not officially doing this. I don't think there's anything wrong with mothers joining in as long as the children don't mind, and as long as they don't take over and start directing. It's fun to share learning. Like you, I am at last getting a proper education!
I used to think I should step right back and just let my children get on with it. However, I think children need facilitators as you mentioned. They need someone to bring new experiences into their world, help search for resources even if they know where they want to go, someone to share passions with, show them the possibilities…
Wow! You are having piano lessons from your children! Imogen offered to teach me, but I haven't taken her up on it yet. It is exciting watching our children develop their talents to the stage where they can teach others. In many areas, my children know far more than I do. Whenever I am tempted to doubt the value of unschooling, all I have to do is compare where my children are compared to where I was at a similar age. They win every time, despite the fact I am considered to have had an excellent education.
Thank you for your kind words, Cassie, and for stopping to say hello. I hope you feel welcome to stop by again some time. I'd love to hear more about your unschooling adventures.