 |
| After looking through the museum at so m any interesting things, Grover asks for more.. |
 |
| Wheeeee!!! |
This book encapsulates the nature of unschooling so well. We've been letting Andrew decompress and recover from so much of his previous school experiences while we research, learn, and let go of so many old thoughts and beliefs about what learning looks like. With unschooling, parents and children learn together, and connection & happiness is far more important than the learning part. As long as we keep things fresh and new, learning happens naturally. "Getting out of the way" seems to be a theme in our lives lately, and it's becoming more fun than we imagined.
One part of our lives that has changed drastically is scheduling; we are not living by the clock as much as we used to. We all sleep until around 8:00am or later, so there's no more sleep deprivation due to early mornings, everyone is in a better mood, and no one has been sick with a cold or anything since pulling the kids out of school three months ago (schools are germ havens!). The kids usually eat when they are hungry, and Andrew is making Sosena and himself lunch daily. Snack time is "around" 3:00 now, instead of promptly at 3:00, and dinner falls whenever it's done. We eat any time between 5:30-7:30 or 8:00 most nights, but we used to eat promptly around 5:30. Bed times are set tentatively for Sosena, but if she's in the middle of something fun, we extend it. Late night learning can happen at times when I used to force her to go to bed when she wasn't sleepy. Same goes for Andrew. He used to get to bed promptly at 8:00, religiously. We used to need all our kids to bed no later than 8:00pm, but that's not the case any more. We are enjoying one another, and Andrew stays up later reading, drawing, watching cool shows (things his dad and I loved watching as kids), and just hanging out with the pets. He tends to retire on his own around 9:00 or 9:30, and I've been amazed at how he initiates bedtime himself. Our home life is taking on a completely different feeling and mindset. One of trust, freedom, relaxation, openness, and peace. This wasn't possible with a lot of what was happening in our home before. If there is one thing long-term hardship and drama does for you, it makes you appreciate life in ways we never could have without them.
On a creative note, Andrew researched homemade Christmas ornaments so we can get some great pieces on our tree this year, and he is teaching me how to make Polish star ornaments and a paper table-top Christmas tree. Next month I plan to encourage some food activities, like cracking eggs for fun and rolling dough. I can't wait to see how both kids react when I mention "playing with food." As the parents of unschoolers, we are supposed to make it fun for ourselves, and be the kind of people our kids want to be around. This means I can be a kid, too... something I feel has been lost during the past many years of trauma and challenges. I have a feeling this final lap of parenting my last two kids is going to be a blast, if not, at least it will be an interesting trip that nurtures my "inner Grover."
No comments:
Post a Comment