So What is Unschooling Anyway?
arun on Jul 13 2007 at 8:12 pm | Filed under: 4 to 8 year old, family diary, natural learning, newbies, stages & ages, unschooling | Click here to go HOME | or find out about SUBSCRIBING TO THE PIT |
When I started this site I wrote some Quick Definintions of a range a terms from unschooling to deschooling.
Since that time we have been living those terms more and more and as a result my children have been helping me understand them more. I am constantly learning new definitions, here are some that I learnt today…
- UNSCHOOLING DEFINITION #2189
When your 5 year old, still wearing pyjamas at 11am, takes a break from simultaneously drawing fairy queens and watching Charlie & the Chocolate Factory and decides to scrub a giant pink lamp that she picked up from a garage sale then paint her easel (not a picture… literally the easel) to make it “more sparkly”.- DESCHOOLING DEFINITION #1874
The art of giving your child space to experiment and explore when you hear them go into the kitchen, opening packets, clinking plates and making other unidentified noises.
I was hoping she would call me for help but when she did not I could only last 10 minutes (thus proving my deschooling process is still a work in progress) before I had to go and look. She was trying to make “coloured clay” but could not find flour so she managed to open up a falafel mix and was using that instead.
In the picture she was adding her final touches by adding some food colouring. As she told me “Im fine Dad, you go do something else”.
So that’s some of my definitions today… if you are unschooling feel free to leave some of the definitions that you learnt from your kids in the comments below…
Oooo. That must have been smelly clay! And kudos for you for holding back a full 10 minutes. I doubt I would have made it more than 3 minutes myself! Isn’t it amazing how much self-control us previously-schooled, now-unschooling parents must have?
Nice site, BTW.
My unschooled kids have to “de”school me almost daily
. I admire their patience. My kids are often in pajamas at noon … and even beyond. The coolest sight in the world is to look out the door at them playing on the swingset still in their pajamas … or some combination of dress-up clothes and regular clothes. It’s pretty funny.
I am learning to let go of my attachment to T’s long, thistle down, silky hair and embrace the dreads that are forming.
We call a day spent completely in our pajamas a “perfect” day and each day we check our hands and feet and faces to make sure they are good an dirty before our bath so we can remember what a great and adventurous day it has been!
LOL 10 minutes is grat, I probably would ahve been peeking in a lot sooner. The kitchen makes me nervous, that’s my special room to hide out in. I don’t even like their father in there messing in the drawers without me. LOL
We spent yesterday evening with all the dining room chairs pulled out and a mountain of blankets thrown across them. It was our rocket ship so that we could explore the moon on our own. I’m happy to report that there are cookies on the moon.
I think my latest one would be when I see DD break open a big bag of rice and use it to make “sandcastles” on my rice-coloured carpet… and I keep my mouth shut.
(okay, if it would have been expensive food, like the organic Quinoa I probably would have re-driected her LOL )
I love these definitions and need so many more. As a new mom to this I am constantly questioning what we are doing and NOT doing.