I title these posts "Stupid Thoughts" even though I know I should not judge any thought that way-- they're just thoughts that come from past experience, past parenting, past teachers, society, and past curricula. I'm accepting of my thoughts, but discern that they're still quite dumb. I need to put those fear-based, ignorant, and judgmental thoughts in their place. After all, I'm noticing the more fun my kids have, the more enthusiasm and focus they put into whatever they are doing. As long as learning is fun, learning is more effective! As long as learning about something has a clear reason and purpose behind it, they hunger for knowledge.
In the midst of every day life I have been amazed at how much Sosena (age 5) is progressing in so many ways. I sit down to make grocery lists, and she wants to watch me write every letter. She knows the letters stand for sounds, so she works at reading on her own. She is so curious, so it drives her nuts that she doesn't know what I'm writing.. that characteristic alone has motivated her to start reading. She looked at a word, pointed and said, "I don't know what that word is.. hmmm." She was thinking hard, and I told her to 'sound out' the letters. It was the word "Tree" since I had planned to purchase our Christmas tree that day. She sounded all the letters on her own, and shouted "Treeeee!!!" She was super happy, and so was I. There have been other spontaneous instances like this, where I don't formally sit down to teach her, and she reads words on her own. I'm not pushing at all, but sometimes I suggest attempts to read words.. if she wants to great, if she doesn't, great. It's up to her in the moment. Like this morning when she was trying to click "Resume Playing" on her Netflix show, I told her to look for the link that said "playing" in it. She pointed to the word and clicked on her own!
For me, all this spontaneity and natural learning is exciting. I'm learning far more than my kids right now because I have so many ingrained beliefs about how learning should look-- mainly, I keep thinking it should be a lot of hard work. Both my kids are self-initiators, they want to learn all the time; all I really need to do is keep things fresh and new, and trust a lot more in their natural tendencies. The trust part is very hard for me, but also extremely healing to the child inside me who felt imprisoned every day of structured school.
What's planned for today? Fun, of course! I'm hoping to make it to the library with Sosena and have her pick out books that interest both her and I. Parents need to love what they read to their kids, or the kids have no fun. There's that word again: fun! I love it. And I cannot believe I'm saying this (never thought I would), but I love having my kids home every single day, and I love learning with them! Historically, I was way too frazzled and stressed, and was dying for a break from the kids. Looks like we found the perfect approach for ourselves and our kids. But wait.. being so happy with my kids and their natural learning set-up causes me to question myself, "Hmmm.. I must be doing something wrong." Naaah!!
Here are a few resources for families considering homeschooling or unschooling:
- Click here to read the benefits of unschooling. I especially loved all the family quotes at the end. The benefits are truly endless! We've just started, and are seeing major changes in self-esteem, well-being, family closeness, and a true joy for learning.
- The expert in unschooling, Sandra Dodd, has three videos on YouTube that are great introductions. Being new to this very holistic, organic approach, we're happy to find so much info online.
- This is an interesting article by a filmmaker and photographer who unschooled his son, and took issue with the mainstream media's portrayal of unschooling, including how "damaging" they said it is. Seriously? It sounds like his adult son turned out great!
- Homeschool Statistics Graphically Depicted.. this speaks for itself!
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