We made a conscious decision to change our way of homeschooling this year, for many reasons but mostly because leaning strongly towards an unschooling approach felt right. One of the major concerns people have about unschooling is how on earth children are going to learn if they are not immersed in daily. formal lessons. I haven’t quite figured that out yet either, but I do know one thing – the children are learning. Constantly, in so many ways. Lets have a look at some of the learning opportunities they have had over the last month.
When we were on our beach holidays they observed the tides daily, saw a goanna dragging a shark head up the beach and into the bush (now that was cool!), learned more about petrol and mileage in our extensive car travels, witnessed the arranging and paying of accommodation, noted gardens and the different varieties of plants that grow in coastal regions, went fishing and walking. A visit to a local library presented us with storybooks by aboriginals and gave us more insight into their culture. Our oldest son was able to navigate one of the towns on his own – something he is never able to do here in suburbia due to safety issues. All these experiences instigated much discussion and dialogue.
At home, one daughter was painting a lion on a large piece of paper using the easel. She called me over to show that she had been mixing colours on the palette. I marvelled that she had made such a beautiful bright purple without the use of blue. This led to a discussion about colour theory.
Another daughter spends hours a day reading, writing stories and drawing – these are her passions. She can write for hours on her own, calling out occasionally to check the spelling or meaning of a word.
We have a new puppy! This has inspired lots of internet searching and video watching on animal care, handling and training.
I’ve been suffering with back pain more than usual, requiring a lot of rest time. For the children this has meant more input into running the house and helping.
We have also been preparing for Lent which starts tomorrow. Lent themed colouring sheets and activities as well as discussions and plans for all of us have been common.
2 of the children have been seized with garden fever, and with no help or input from adults, they have potted seeds and marked out small plots in our garden for themselves for experimentation.
I could easily go on and on about what the children do each day but really there is too much to document and every thing they do teaches them something. Learning opportunities are endless when your life is not filled up with unnecessary stuff – time and freedom are on your side and there is so, so many possibilities!
Kelly,
What a rich life you've been living! Sounds like you've been having lots of fun while you've been learning.
The sand and sea look so inviting. My girls love going to the beach. I've promised them we're going to have a proper beach holiday this year, probably in the spring.