Unschooling - what led us here and what it means for us

...well we prefer to call it Natural Learning but Unschooling in the title will grab more attention huh.

 

We didn't always plan to homeschool let alone unschool, GASP!

 I didn't even give it a second though I mean of course my kids would go to school that's the proper thing to do right, the "normal" thing ? It wasn't until I had made a few homeschooling friends through the natural parenting community it even entered my head as a real education option and heck I even thought it sounded quite alright but was it something I thought I could or would do?

 

Nah and you know why? Well amongst the usual ones like "I don't think I'm smart enough" and "not sure I could have the patience or time" the main factor I didn't think it could be our reality was that its not readily accepted socially. I knew family especially and possibly some friends wouldn't approve let alone understand why and it was scary. I mean I have always been one to push the boundaries of what our families think is the norm or acceptable but this I mean this is up there on the controversial scale with being a non vaxer in my families world(imagine if they knew that too ha!).

Isn't that horrible that I felt so scared to consider it as an option for fear of the backlash, then we decided to move to wonderful Tassie, buy a bit of land and make a lovely, natural, peaceful life for ourselves doing what we desire away from criticism then I had a lightbulb moment and thought hey maybe we can commit to the unschooling business now.

 

That was it the decision was made...for me anyway I mean as peaceful/natural parents  I just saw it as a continuation of what we had been doing so why did that have to suddenly end at school age, Pappa B on the other hand took some convincing especially since it was something I had never even mentioned before and his reaction to the news wasn't pretty to be honest and I was upset and hurt. I get that a new idea someone has never been presented with before can be challenging to our own beliefs and experiences but how can someone make that call if they know nothing about the matter.

 

After the first announcement I let it rest with him for about a week then mentioned it again and this time he still didn't think it was a good idea but was open to sharing his fears about it and researching the information with me and slowly but surely over the next few weeks he came around and trusted that I was choosing what was best for our kids future.

Now he has gone from just supporting the decision to being a out and proud Natural Learning father and my goodness a man telling others confidently and proudly the in's and out's of why we homeschool and what it means for our family is mighty hot!!

So here we are now a Natural Learning Homeschooling family but what does that really mean? Well for us that means letting the kids take the lead and PB and I just follow and offer guidance, support and help if needed.

 

We prefer to learn through practical everyday experiences rather than "doing school" so its really quite simple to include kids in all the regular everyday activities and cover maths, science, language, history you name it!! For some this is a really odd concept to grasp that you don't need to spend hours sitting in a seat writing this and that down to learn.

 

Adopting this type of learning philosophy is so rewarding we find.  The kids amaze me on a weekly basis, when left to their own devices to learn in their own time and  pace when things click they really click for them because it hasn't been a forced learning experience.

 

 

We don't follow any curriculum we build up our own individual learning plans which are always flexible and easily changed.

We do like the Waldorf method and draw on that a bit. We have a daily rhythm, we all really have a deep connection with nature, celebrate and honor the seasons and the big emphasis on creativity and the arts.

 

 

 

Our weekly/daily rhythm which is a new thing we have brought into the house helps us slow things down and keeps peace which is just as important for me as it is the kids but being unschoolers of course its quite a flexible thing and there is more to our day than just what is on the calendar but having this helps us keep our  focus.

 

 

The most important part of the daily rhythm is our mornings and evenings I find, the meditation in the morning is such a lovely start to the day before we head outside. We light our meditation candle and if we feel like it some incense too. The kids lay on their backs in the lounge as I read them a guided meditation from our gorgeous kids meditation book and our story time at the end of the day is a nice relaxing way to wind down. So we start and finish our days peacefully.

 

 

(yes I totally got that gorgeous boys face in there on purpose)

 

I love the flexibility our natural learning/homeschooling/unschooling life gives us and now I cannot imagine it any other way and cant wait to see what adventures it and journeys it takes us on.

 

I need to give thanks to my fabulous supportive homeschooling/unschooling friends who have been there for me in those early days where I still doubted myself your support gave me the confidence to know I can do this.

 

 

UNSCHOOLING ROCKS!!