Showing posts with label unschooling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label unschooling. Show all posts
Monday, April 08, 2013
Thursday, July 19, 2012
On pushing
There are times when we, and our children, need a little nudge. A push. A " I know you can do this" or a " Give it a try."
There are times when it's better to wait for that nudge to come from within. If you police my weight loss efforts I am likely to get mad or to sabotage. If I wait for that click, it works. I want to. I make myself.
I have seen the same click with reading and with times tables. No matter how a teacher may push, a child seems to get these when inner click goes, well, click!
There are also fallow times. Times when we need to ostensibly do nothing or when we need to saturate ourselves in an activity....be it a book or every Godfather movie in a row a video game, for example.
What do we homeschoolers do then? Go with it. Go with the passion, the craze, the visible doing nothing. Because it is really impossible to do nothing and learn nothing.
Sometimes if we push we miss out on a learning experience, one that can't be replaced, one that is owned by the child. Or ourselves. One that is requiring reflection.
So do we push our children and ourselves? Sometimes. And sometimes we hold back and just be. And sometimes we wait for that inner click.
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Tiger Mother and Unschooling Mama.
There are times when it's better to wait for that nudge to come from within. If you police my weight loss efforts I am likely to get mad or to sabotage. If I wait for that click, it works. I want to. I make myself.
I have seen the same click with reading and with times tables. No matter how a teacher may push, a child seems to get these when inner click goes, well, click!
There are also fallow times. Times when we need to ostensibly do nothing or when we need to saturate ourselves in an activity....be it a book or every Godfather movie in a row a video game, for example.
What do we homeschoolers do then? Go with it. Go with the passion, the craze, the visible doing nothing. Because it is really impossible to do nothing and learn nothing.
Sometimes if we push we miss out on a learning experience, one that can't be replaced, one that is owned by the child. Or ourselves. One that is requiring reflection.
So do we push our children and ourselves? Sometimes. And sometimes we hold back and just be. And sometimes we wait for that inner click.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
What programme?
What programme do you use for ..(insert your topic or subject or curriculum area here)?
We don't.
And do you know why?
It seems so easy to pick a book or a curriculum that allegedly solve the "troubles" of how to teach x.
But it's not.
There is no easy way, no perfect book.
Nothing can replace the attention of a parent or adult, responding to a child and his interests, sharing the world and their life and interests, using books and movies and activities and experiences and most of all discussion to teach.
No curriculum can replace these kind of learning opportunities.
So use the curriculum if we wish, but use it as an adjunct to real life and real learning, to everything else we do, directed or undirected and natural.
In my experience, what programme works is the programme of family and life and resources around us.
With lots and lots of time.
And lots and lots of talking.
We don't.
And do you know why?
It seems so easy to pick a book or a curriculum that allegedly solve the "troubles" of how to teach x.
But it's not.
There is no easy way, no perfect book.
Nothing can replace the attention of a parent or adult, responding to a child and his interests, sharing the world and their life and interests, using books and movies and activities and experiences and most of all discussion to teach.
No curriculum can replace these kind of learning opportunities.
So use the curriculum if we wish, but use it as an adjunct to real life and real learning, to everything else we do, directed or undirected and natural.
In my experience, what programme works is the programme of family and life and resources around us.
With lots and lots of time.
Monday, June 11, 2012
If I could tell a new homeschool mum one thing...
If I could tell a new homeschool mum one thing, it would be... to give it ( whatever it is) Time.
Time. The biggest secret in homeschooling/unschooling.
Time for a child to mature, so that the boy who hates writing at age six
("why do I have to do this") is just given time to mature, no pressure to write, just sharing books together until one day he finds his voice and writes and blogs.
Time for the shared experiences to be shared, to shape the child, to allow him to explore, think, play, be a child...so that he chooses, as a teen, to study ancient languages at a university winter school and needs no nagging about homework. He has had time to find out what he likes and how he learns.
Time to spend with family and friends, exploring persona (today it's Batman, tomorrow it is a Roman soldier), learning how to interact with others, to control temper, to think of others, to learn about self.
Time to read and read together without school schedules and have-tos.
Time for that stubborn toddler to grow into a self disciplined, determined young man. Time for that very sensitive child to grow into a young man who thinks deeply and spiritually.
Time to cook, to do crafts, to play games, to climb trees, to visit and re-visit museums and libraries, to learn.
And time for mum to realise that things that seem major and crisis making and overwhelming now will pass.
Time has been my homeschooling secret. Regardless of circumstances and living situations, I have learned to give myself and my kids time.
Time for a child to mature, so that the boy who hates writing at age six
("why do I have to do this") is just given time to mature, no pressure to write, just sharing books together until one day he finds his voice and writes and blogs.
Time for the shared experiences to be shared, to shape the child, to allow him to explore, think, play, be a child...so that he chooses, as a teen, to study ancient languages at a university winter school and needs no nagging about homework. He has had time to find out what he likes and how he learns.
Time to spend with family and friends, exploring persona (today it's Batman, tomorrow it is a Roman soldier), learning how to interact with others, to control temper, to think of others, to learn about self.
Time to read and read together without school schedules and have-tos.
Time for that stubborn toddler to grow into a self disciplined, determined young man. Time for that very sensitive child to grow into a young man who thinks deeply and spiritually.
Time to cook, to do crafts, to play games, to climb trees, to visit and re-visit museums and libraries, to learn.
And time for mum to realise that things that seem major and crisis making and overwhelming now will pass.
Time has been my homeschooling secret. Regardless of circumstances and living situations, I have learned to give myself and my kids time.
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Strewsday Tuesday..or any other day
It was Strewsday Tuesday this week.
And I'm late again.
Which got me thinking. What did I strew Tuesday, or any other day for that matter? What one thing has been my major strewing each day this week?
Sunday was White Chocolate Mousse for the Ascension. We talked about adapting our chocolate mousse recipe for a white mousse. And it was successful.
Monday I took Anthony and his friend to their Old Testament Greek class. And talked about homework.
Tuesday I met the sons at the book launch of Patrick Madrid's new book, A Year With the Bible, looking at books and DVDs and discussing philosophy.
Wednesday was drama class and an extra friend over, making two friends for a sleepover.
Thursday was the library and then time to hang out at the shops. Friday? Greek homework, Mass in the Extraordinary Form, piano lessons, youth group.
Saturday a flight to Melbourne and a day looking at op shops, retro clothing shops, an afternoon at the book store.
Sunday... Mass for Pentecost, MIB3 and a long, late lunch.
Tomorrow? Monday? The Mesopotamia Exhibition at the Melbourne Museum.
And none of this counts all the little every day, incidental strewing, the conversations, the books... Strewing equals learning equals memories equals life.
And I'm late again.
Which got me thinking. What did I strew Tuesday, or any other day for that matter? What one thing has been my major strewing each day this week?
Monday I took Anthony and his friend to their Old Testament Greek class. And talked about homework.
Tuesday I met the sons at the book launch of Patrick Madrid's new book, A Year With the Bible, looking at books and DVDs and discussing philosophy.
Wednesday was drama class and an extra friend over, making two friends for a sleepover.
Thursday was the library and then time to hang out at the shops. Friday? Greek homework, Mass in the Extraordinary Form, piano lessons, youth group.
Saturday a flight to Melbourne and a day looking at op shops, retro clothing shops, an afternoon at the book store.
Sunday... Mass for Pentecost, MIB3 and a long, late lunch.
And none of this counts all the little every day, incidental strewing, the conversations, the books... Strewing equals learning equals memories equals life.
Friday, May 18, 2012
Living Books
Educator Charlotte Mason talked about living books - books that are written by a single author, with passion, books that make the topic come alive for the reader.
By living books, however, I mean living, everyday, in and out, as we breathe and talk and be, really living books. The books are so much a part of your life, they are who you are, they are who we are as people and as a family.
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As we re-read Where the Wild Things Are, and I share the story with a new generation at work, everyone gnashing their terrible teeth and roaring their terrible roars, on the death of Maurice Sendak, then we share not only text but memory. Not only memory but rhythm and prose and poetry. Style. Which we take into our conversation, our writing, our reading, even, of more advanced texts.
As we climb trees today and look for Sam Gribbley trees, honouring the late Jean Craighead George and her imagination inspiring book The Other Side of the Mountain, we experience the weave and the woof of our lives as family, of reading together in childhood, of spontaneously exploring our world when connecting with the story. We remember the important element of story, in our lives and in our work.
As we look for the novel The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey today, and discuss its relevance to a talk last night by Professor Finnis on Shakespeare, Religion and Identity, we recall investigative method, connections, that feeling how-one-thing-leads-to-another, our knowledge of English history and Shakespeare. For, after all, it is connections that make learning. We connect, we think, we remember.
This is what is needed in education. Living books. A life intertwined with books and stories and texts and images and experiences.
One is never the same after having read, shared, experienced, followed up, a good book.
After a week of national Naplan tasting, a focus with parents at work and in the news on results and on tests, I look at our circle of readers. Young men who read, who live books, who are interested in learning, who do not fit the oft cited stereotype that boys do not like reading.
I realise that a life of books, of day to day happenings related to books, of living and breathing and cooking and climbing trees with books, has made their education. Not tests and bits of paper. But books shared and lived.
This is the legacy of life without school. Living books, living education, living memories.
By living books, however, I mean living, everyday, in and out, as we breathe and talk and be, really living books. The books are so much a part of your life, they are who you are, they are who we are as people and as a family.
_cover.jpg)
This is what is needed in education. Living books. A life intertwined with books and stories and texts and images and experiences.
One is never the same after having read, shared, experienced, followed up, a good book.
After a week of national Naplan tasting, a focus with parents at work and in the news on results and on tests, I look at our circle of readers. Young men who read, who live books, who are interested in learning, who do not fit the oft cited stereotype that boys do not like reading.
I realise that a life of books, of day to day happenings related to books, of living and breathing and cooking and climbing trees with books, has made their education. Not tests and bits of paper. But books shared and lived.
This is the legacy of life without school. Living books, living education, living memories.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
When they strew to us...
I'm sitting here, working on an assignment with one eye, watching an episode of Downton Abbey with another and listening to Anthony, my youngest son. Anthony is regaling me with stories of Saki, a writer, and of his research on Wikipedia of what-happens-next in Downton Abbey. He well knows that I like to be aware of endings before I watch movies or series or before I continue reading my book.
Alexander sends me a link to an article on why the study of Latin is important.
Greg emails me pictures of Frank Lloyd Wright's house.
Nick shares his pizza dough recipe.
And I remember the picture book "Clive eats Alligators". Just as the author ( Alison Lester) hooks us with stories of who will do what, so my sons hook me into new interests, passing or otherwise, with their strewing.
Yes, strewing.
For just as we strew to our children so they, too, strew to us.
When they were little it was a passion for Lego, for war games, for cars and motorbikes, for Biggles.
And now it is a passion for literature, for music, for movies, for life.
We strew their paths with interesting items.
And they strew our lives with interest and love.
Alexander sends me a link to an article on why the study of Latin is important.
Nick shares his pizza dough recipe.
And I remember the picture book "Clive eats Alligators". Just as the author ( Alison Lester) hooks us with stories of who will do what, so my sons hook me into new interests, passing or otherwise, with their strewing.
Yes, strewing.
For just as we strew to our children so they, too, strew to us.
When they were little it was a passion for Lego, for war games, for cars and motorbikes, for Biggles.
And now it is a passion for literature, for music, for movies, for life.
We strew their paths with interesting items.
And they strew our lives with interest and love.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Strewing their paths...late February
To strew. To lay interesting thing in the paths of our children, our families, our unschooling sons and daughters. Well, sons in my case. Or son. The lone unschooler.
Sandra Dodd coined this term "strewing" within an unschooling context.
And it works. It sparks an interest, it allows for exposure, it provides another knot to that mental hammock of information.
Even when a parent is in absentia. As I have been in February, due to work commitments.
You know Arnie Schwarznegger in the movie Jingle All the Way, that almost always absent dad? That's been me. But at least everyone knows its only temporary (roll on March!).
And I have been strewing. So sparks are sown without me.
Making a salt dough crown of thorns with some sons. And me varnishing it late at night and decorating the table for Lent so that is the first thing everyone sees as they come downstairs in the morning. When I am already at work.
Asking Anthony to find an icon of Sts Cyril and Methodius while I hang streamers for St Valentine. While a very late, very easy dinner is cooking.
Taking a Saturday afternoon to clean the garage and find interesting new-to-some books to share....Dorothy Sayers' Creed or Chaos?, Kim Philby's account of the Philby spy scandal that rocked Britain and that on which the film and book Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is based, Joyce Vedrals' book The 12 Minute Workout for those sons bemoaning their lack of workout time once Uni starts, Party Shoes by Noel Streatfield ( for me! But lead to discussion and a maybe we should watch Ballet Shoes again?), an Italian Reader for Thomas who is saving to go to Rome for a Latin school in July....
Other strewing? Reading about St Wahlburga after mass and Anthony looking up Saxon inspired desserts for Sunday.
A trip to Kikki K....just walking in the door makes one feel more organized already!
Setting up games days and times to hang with friends and lifts to and from drama and New Testament Greek class and buses to youth group for Anthony, the lone but not alone unschooler.
Making lists.....can someone make pancakes for Shrove Tuesday (Shrove Monday in this house this year!), can someone find a Gregorian chant CD, can someone vacuum or hang out laundry or post this letter and the myriad of other chores that make up Life Skills and Personal Development.
On the rare but treasured hang out with family nights...watching some of the Numbers series and discussing religion and faith and Maths and family and crime, watching Music and Lyrics and loving the dialogue, a mini Harry Potter marathon... Deathly Hallows Part One and Two and reminiscing about the books and characters and choices.
And my kids helping me with so much Kumon work and my thank you to my kids and to my other assistants...our nearly end of Kumon dinner at a local Chinese restaurant.
This is what unschooling looks like.
This is what unschooling strewing looks like.
It looks a lot like life, doesn't it?
But life strewed with and lived with purpose and intent.
An observer may see no visible signs of learning (You wrote down a sneeze as Health! That tongue in cheek comment!). And yet the observer can know that there is learning and intent. Time is structured, by interest and by strewing, not necessarily by school. And education happens. With the spark or interest in learning retained.
That's unschooling. That's unschooling strewing.
Sandra Dodd coined this term "strewing" within an unschooling context.
And it works. It sparks an interest, it allows for exposure, it provides another knot to that mental hammock of information.
Even when a parent is in absentia. As I have been in February, due to work commitments.
You know Arnie Schwarznegger in the movie Jingle All the Way, that almost always absent dad? That's been me. But at least everyone knows its only temporary (roll on March!).
And I have been strewing. So sparks are sown without me.
Making a salt dough crown of thorns with some sons. And me varnishing it late at night and decorating the table for Lent so that is the first thing everyone sees as they come downstairs in the morning. When I am already at work.
Asking Anthony to find an icon of Sts Cyril and Methodius while I hang streamers for St Valentine. While a very late, very easy dinner is cooking.
Taking a Saturday afternoon to clean the garage and find interesting new-to-some books to share....Dorothy Sayers' Creed or Chaos?, Kim Philby's account of the Philby spy scandal that rocked Britain and that on which the film and book Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is based, Joyce Vedrals' book The 12 Minute Workout for those sons bemoaning their lack of workout time once Uni starts, Party Shoes by Noel Streatfield ( for me! But lead to discussion and a maybe we should watch Ballet Shoes again?), an Italian Reader for Thomas who is saving to go to Rome for a Latin school in July....
Other strewing? Reading about St Wahlburga after mass and Anthony looking up Saxon inspired desserts for Sunday.
A trip to Kikki K....just walking in the door makes one feel more organized already!
Setting up games days and times to hang with friends and lifts to and from drama and New Testament Greek class and buses to youth group for Anthony, the lone but not alone unschooler.
Making lists.....can someone make pancakes for Shrove Tuesday (Shrove Monday in this house this year!), can someone find a Gregorian chant CD, can someone vacuum or hang out laundry or post this letter and the myriad of other chores that make up Life Skills and Personal Development.
On the rare but treasured hang out with family nights...watching some of the Numbers series and discussing religion and faith and Maths and family and crime, watching Music and Lyrics and loving the dialogue, a mini Harry Potter marathon... Deathly Hallows Part One and Two and reminiscing about the books and characters and choices.
And my kids helping me with so much Kumon work and my thank you to my kids and to my other assistants...our nearly end of Kumon dinner at a local Chinese restaurant.
This is what unschooling looks like.
This is what unschooling strewing looks like.
It looks a lot like life, doesn't it?
But life strewed with and lived with purpose and intent.
An observer may see no visible signs of learning (You wrote down a sneeze as Health! That tongue in cheek comment!). And yet the observer can know that there is learning and intent. Time is structured, by interest and by strewing, not necessarily by school. And education happens. With the spark or interest in learning retained.
That's unschooling. That's unschooling strewing.
Sunday, February 05, 2012
Strewing their paths...February
The biggest thing that I strew, though, are books.
I strew books because I love books. I love reading. Books have enriched my mind, my experience, my life.
As we start February, I have been strewing books on our dining table, near the candles and liturgical year strewing.
What books?
Saints and Art... For St John Bosco
Catholic Bioethics by the Bishop of our Diocese, Bishop Anthony Fisher OP.
Kitchen by Nigella Lawson... A great read, attractive turn of phrase, clever use of imagery, a cookbook that is a example of good writing.
The Women's Weekly Retro Cookbook (yes, I have sons who like cooking and who get into retro).
The Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton .. I have raved about this so much that I might as well leave it around.. Who knows who will pick it up?
And that's what happens with books in our house. Someone leaves one lying around and someone else picks it up, peruses, gets into it.
Strewing paths with books.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Strewing their paths...
Its that time of the week again. When we share our strewing.
My strewing this week had been both intentional and unintentional.
Intentional strewing...strewing with a purpose or with forethought .
This week it is a novel by Madeleine L'engle. A Wrinkle in Time.
I first read this at age twelve. I have read it aloud to classes I have taught. I have read it aloud to some of my kids and others have read it themselves.
Except Anthony. Who is sporadically studying physics, with occasional use of a Saxon Physics text and occasional reading of Six Easy Pieces by Dr Richard Feynman.
His interest is not high. Hence sporadic study. So I thought A Wrinkle in Time would be a good complement. Physics related literature and a darn good story. L'engle is a talented storyteller. And it just happens to be the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of A Wrinkle in Time this year!
Unintentional strewing? Strewing and sparks that happen in every day life, almost serendipitously.
Watching episodes of series one of Fringe, a Christmas gift. The science of the weird, of cloning, of regeneration and a FBI story to boot.
Fits in well with A Wrinkle in Time, doesn't it?
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Encouraging Readers
I hear of many ways to encourage our children to become readers.
Books on CD, read alouds, share picture books, create reading nooks, watch book related movies, buy books, visit libraries.
We do all these.
But the single biggest helper has been my example.
I read myself.
I strew books for myself.
I create reading lists for myself.
I talk about my reading,
I share excerpts.
The kids have grown up knowing that I value reading.
Even if they never read themselves (they do!), they know reading is important, a past time, a way of opening up other worlds and other ideas.
So, what are you strewing for yourself, reading wise, as a homeschooling mother?
Here are some of my Christmas and post Christmas reads...
The Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton.....I love this book. I had to read it again. His description of the search within each of us for Truth wrings my soul. It's me. It'smany others I know. Talking with the kids today at lunch, about authors with whom we identify, about authors whom we wish to emulate ...for me it's Merton. I want to write like Merton.
What's Eating You? by Katherine Alleume. Why do we eat what we eat? This question has puzzled the nutritionist author and she asks us to make conscious eating decisions, conscious rationalizations. A similar take to that Intuitive Eating book. But something I am still trying to tackle...I am a stress eater and there is a point where enough is enough.
Contemplative Prayer by Merton. A deep interior life that reaches out and shares with others.
The YouCat. The "youth inspired version" of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. I want to read it before recommending it to others. And the many side bar quotes have sparked discussion here....why include that? Great definition of religion (relationship with God). Some good pre and post Vatican II stuff ( yes the Church existed pre Vatican II!). Some great quotes and some what the ? quotes.
Women, Work and the Art of Savoir Faire by Mireille Giuliano. A Christmas gift. Bringing style and pleasure to life. Balancing life and work. My sort of book. "Quality of life is very important in France. I have many friends who turned down promotions and more money because it would affect their quality of life as a couple or a mother. I was pleased to hear this. This is not a sign of weakness." Very true. It is not.
The 10 Habits of Happy Mothers by Meg Meeker. Subtitled Reclaiming our passion, purpose and sanity....I have read about this on homeschooling blogs and even though I am on a buying less binge, er, lifestyle, I had to pick it up when I saw it, the very last copy, at Portico Books. Why? I need my passion. I need my sanity. And I have been inspired by the few quotes I have read on other blogs. "If every mother in the United States could wrap her mind around her true value as a woman and mother, her life would never be the same.”
Read. Strew. Share.
Thursday, January 05, 2012
Strewsday Thursday
It's Strewsday Tuesday!
Well, officially it's Strewsday Thursday but that doesn't fit now, does it?
What have we strewed this week..for learning...in our unschooling life?
Museums. Again.
We seem to have a penchant for museums, wandering around, looking at those displays and objects that catch our eyes.
On Friday, it was the National Museum in Sydney. We mostly explored dinosaurs and native Australia.
And the National Geographic Wildlife photo competition.
On Tuesday we explored the Melbourne Museum. In which I was enamoured of the Melbourne Gallery....Photos and artifacts and memorabilia from old Melbourne.
I sat in a 1960s sitting room and watched old TV shows....Homicide, IMT.
I fell in love with kitchen appliances from the 50s and 60s...A cute pink Mixmaster. A cunning Spacemaster refrigerator.
Then today we visited ACMI again...a Melbourne perennial, Australian Centre for Moving Images. And again I was immersed in digital technology. Indi gaming and early Aussie cop dramas.
Museums are like microcosms of the unschooling life. Bits of information presented here and there, glimpses of possible future interest or passions or rabbit trails, discussion starters, learning via absorption.
Easy, interesting, family time strewing.
Well, officially it's Strewsday Thursday but that doesn't fit now, does it?
What have we strewed this week..for learning...in our unschooling life?
Museums. Again.
We seem to have a penchant for museums, wandering around, looking at those displays and objects that catch our eyes.
On Friday, it was the National Museum in Sydney. We mostly explored dinosaurs and native Australia.
And the National Geographic Wildlife photo competition.
On Tuesday we explored the Melbourne Museum. In which I was enamoured of the Melbourne Gallery....Photos and artifacts and memorabilia from old Melbourne.
I sat in a 1960s sitting room and watched old TV shows....Homicide, IMT.
I fell in love with kitchen appliances from the 50s and 60s...A cute pink Mixmaster. A cunning Spacemaster refrigerator.
Then today we visited ACMI again...a Melbourne perennial, Australian Centre for Moving Images. And again I was immersed in digital technology. Indi gaming and early Aussie cop dramas.
Museums are like microcosms of the unschooling life. Bits of information presented here and there, glimpses of possible future interest or passions or rabbit trails, discussion starters, learning via absorption.
Easy, interesting, family time strewing.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
But how will they live in the real world?
Wednesday in the last week of Advent.
Faith on our Unschooling Catholics list, asks...what are you strewing?
Strewing orthodontist appointments, lists of things I need help with around the house because of my work commitments, and stress.
Got to stop strewing stress.
And smile.
This is what I like about unschooling, though.
It's real life. Stress and all. And we strew learning, real life learning, learning in the affective realm, even when we are not intentionally strewing.
You know that question we all get. "But how will your kids be prepared for the real world?"
This is the real world, dear. They live in my life, and I live in theirs, and the kids see into almost every nook and cranny of my life.
And my life is very Real World.
Faith on our Unschooling Catholics list, asks...what are you strewing?
Strewing orthodontist appointments, lists of things I need help with around the house because of my work commitments, and stress.
Got to stop strewing stress.
And smile.
This is what I like about unschooling, though.
It's real life. Stress and all. And we strew learning, real life learning, learning in the affective realm, even when we are not intentionally strewing.
You know that question we all get. "But how will your kids be prepared for the real world?"
This is the real world, dear. They live in my life, and I live in theirs, and the kids see into almost every nook and cranny of my life.
And my life is very Real World.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
What do unschoolers do?
We have lived in very small houses and still live in suburbia.
What do we do with our days? What did we do when all the sons were young?
Well.... We have always done a lot of park visits, library visits, putting posters in libraries and notes in homeschool newsletters for other homeschoolers to meet us at these visits.
We have done and still do regular ice skating arena sessions with other homeschoolers and lunch at the park or even Macdonalds together ( free rein on the equipment!).
Cleaning up every few hours hasn't been a bad thing for us. We have just put some things aside or in a box to resume after meals ...we still do! Even I have a work basket....or we have used the clean up as a time to change an activity or change direction eg craft in the morning and park visit or DVD or computer in the afternoon.
And asking some friends to join us for the craft or DVD or computer games... Mums chat, littlies make a mess with Lego and toys and biggies enjoy the computer game camaraderie.
I like to question routines... Life doesn't have to be a certain way, we can change things up to suit us.
For example, meals don't have to be eaten at the table.. We often had picnic meals on the patio or on a blanket on the floor and we could sit together or read a story there.
Or take it to the park.
Or spread the tablecloths on the floor and watch a movie together while eating.
We can have breakfast for dinner .
We can start our day with art as we did one season .
Or start our day with a walk around our suburbs or a walk to the shops or to the park, as we did many times.
We can go to the library and get an armload of books and play at the park on the way and visit new shops and come home and chill out with books and listen to music CDs.
We can go to the video store and come back with a pile of DVDs and games.
We have joined toy libraries and brought home new toys and games.
We have gone to op shops (charity shops and secondhand shops) and brought home interesting cheap stuff to look at and play with and take apart. And cleaned it up in the next peg of cleaning.. Or said hang it, leave the mess and get some pizza for dinner!
We have rearranged furniture and made rooms look different. I love this. It gives a different feel to a room and especially to a small house!
We have done museums and art galleries very often, again always followed by a play in the park and with or without others .
A beach trip and walk even in winter.
A nature walk in our suburbs and collect finds or take a million photos .
Set up a container garden.. We currently have a mini lemon tree and a mini mandarin tree in pots that we planted two years ago in those same pots in our last house. These bore fruit this year!
We have always done and still do a lot of cooking ( and you get to eat the results!).
Cooking and playing with playdough.
Small pets like fish and birds and a cat.
Visit a pet shop .
Get out dress ups.
Buy foam balls for in house volleyball.. Over the sofa! My kids favourite.
One of those indoor small boouncy trampolines were popular here and the boys still love run inside and outside games with nerf guns.
Or take water pistols to the park.
They also liked turning the kitchen table or the sofas into cubbies with blankets and pillows and playing there for hours... Eating there too so no cleanup till getting ready for dinner .
Or if we were doing schoolwork do it in mum and dad'snbedroom.. Leaning against or on the bed together, littlies in and out with toys, lie on the bed together and read. Just last week I and four sons sat and lay on the double bed or balanced on the foot and hung out and chatted.
Go on a bike ride and skateboard ride around the neighborhood.
Go on park crawls and skateboard park crawls.
Visit new shopping centres and new libraries.
Stop to look at landmarks or signs.
Visit historical houses.
Organize these sorts of outings with other homeschoolers.
Visit other parishes and churches. Pop in for a visit and prayer. Read the history.
These are just a few of the things we did and do, living your average unschooling suburban life.
It's a beautiful life...
What do we do with our days? What did we do when all the sons were young?
Well.... We have always done a lot of park visits, library visits, putting posters in libraries and notes in homeschool newsletters for other homeschoolers to meet us at these visits.
We have done and still do regular ice skating arena sessions with other homeschoolers and lunch at the park or even Macdonalds together ( free rein on the equipment!).
Cleaning up every few hours hasn't been a bad thing for us. We have just put some things aside or in a box to resume after meals ...we still do! Even I have a work basket....or we have used the clean up as a time to change an activity or change direction eg craft in the morning and park visit or DVD or computer in the afternoon.
And asking some friends to join us for the craft or DVD or computer games... Mums chat, littlies make a mess with Lego and toys and biggies enjoy the computer game camaraderie.
I like to question routines... Life doesn't have to be a certain way, we can change things up to suit us.
For example, meals don't have to be eaten at the table.. We often had picnic meals on the patio or on a blanket on the floor and we could sit together or read a story there.
Or take it to the park.
Or spread the tablecloths on the floor and watch a movie together while eating.
We can have breakfast for dinner .
We can start our day with art as we did one season .
Or start our day with a walk around our suburbs or a walk to the shops or to the park, as we did many times.
We can go to the library and get an armload of books and play at the park on the way and visit new shops and come home and chill out with books and listen to music CDs.
We can go to the video store and come back with a pile of DVDs and games.
We have joined toy libraries and brought home new toys and games.
We have gone to op shops (charity shops and secondhand shops) and brought home interesting cheap stuff to look at and play with and take apart. And cleaned it up in the next peg of cleaning.. Or said hang it, leave the mess and get some pizza for dinner!
We have rearranged furniture and made rooms look different. I love this. It gives a different feel to a room and especially to a small house!
We have done museums and art galleries very often, again always followed by a play in the park and with or without others .
A beach trip and walk even in winter.
A nature walk in our suburbs and collect finds or take a million photos .
Set up a container garden.. We currently have a mini lemon tree and a mini mandarin tree in pots that we planted two years ago in those same pots in our last house. These bore fruit this year!
We have always done and still do a lot of cooking ( and you get to eat the results!).
Cooking and playing with playdough.
Small pets like fish and birds and a cat.
Visit a pet shop .
Get out dress ups.
Buy foam balls for in house volleyball.. Over the sofa! My kids favourite.
One of those indoor small boouncy trampolines were popular here and the boys still love run inside and outside games with nerf guns.
Or take water pistols to the park.
They also liked turning the kitchen table or the sofas into cubbies with blankets and pillows and playing there for hours... Eating there too so no cleanup till getting ready for dinner .
Or if we were doing schoolwork do it in mum and dad'snbedroom.. Leaning against or on the bed together, littlies in and out with toys, lie on the bed together and read. Just last week I and four sons sat and lay on the double bed or balanced on the foot and hung out and chatted.
Go on a bike ride and skateboard ride around the neighborhood.
Go on park crawls and skateboard park crawls.
Visit new shopping centres and new libraries.
Stop to look at landmarks or signs.
Visit historical houses.
Organize these sorts of outings with other homeschoolers.
Visit other parishes and churches. Pop in for a visit and prayer. Read the history.
These are just a few of the things we did and do, living your average unschooling suburban life.
It's a beautiful life...
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Unschooling joy?
Unschooling joy?
Can we unschool and experience joy or contentment, regardless of our circumstances?
"I speak not as it were for want. For I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, to be content therewith." Phillipians 4:11
I decided that part of Unschooling for me would be looking for joy at this moment.
In other words, in spite of stressful things in my life, well... as much as possible, I would treat my mothering as the job or vocation that it is.
You know, when you get dressed and go to work outside the home, regardless of what is happening at home, you put on That Bright Face and smile and are cheerful and work hard...Well, that is what I try to remember at home. It's not my kids' fault things may be problematic so regardless I try to set the tone... Smile, do something nice even if I don't feel like it, be willing to give ourselves a break and have fun, say yes more. Go out even just to the park or to a friends house!
Amazingly, when I do this, especially the saying yes more and being with my kids instead of directing them towards schoolwork, then I feel happier and less stressed. Of course, I have moments when I lose it or when I am utterly exhausted and just curl up on the sofa.. But when I look for joy in the little things, when I say yes more, when I hang out with the kids and with my friends, when I put on a smile and some mascara (!), when I make a chocolate church with the kids even though I am tired ( as we did for the dedication of the Lateran Basilica)... Then I just feel happier and love my life in spite of any problems.
I have learned contentment.
I have to say that my prayer life has been of paramount importance. I pray the morning and evening prayers of the Divine Office and I try to get to daily mass and weekly confession. That gives me peace.
"To converse with You, O King of glory, no third person is needed, You are always ready in the Sacrament of the Altar to give audience to all. All who desire You always find You there, and converse with You face to face." St Teresa of Avila
And I do a workout every day, no matter how short, as those endorphins give me a high!!
We have structure in our day and week, too, just not school structure . Most often structure scheduled around homeschool activities and my work. We do better here with less clutter and more rhythm but that rhythm might be tidy ups pegged to meals and a DVD with dinner most nights for example. Or it could be lie down on the sofa with some Maths and Latin.
These routines pave the way for contentment.
Ultimately, however, contentment and joy are like love...a choice, made in and with His grace.
"The only way to make it in this homeschooling life is to reach for God instead of reaching for happiness. Trying harder to be happy or content will not make you happy and content; trying harder to rest in God and depend upon His grace will. It is a spiritual issue, not a practical one. Contentedness will not come from being more organized, sleeping longer, being a better wife, having a better home, using better materials, having more time to yourself, or whatever you think might help. Contentedness is learned in the process of daily accepting life as God gives it to you, and adjusting your expectations to life’s limitations." Sally Clarkson, Season of A Mother's Heart
Can we unschool and experience joy or contentment, regardless of our circumstances?
"I speak not as it were for want. For I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, to be content therewith." Phillipians 4:11
I decided that part of Unschooling for me would be looking for joy at this moment.
In other words, in spite of stressful things in my life, well... as much as possible, I would treat my mothering as the job or vocation that it is.
You know, when you get dressed and go to work outside the home, regardless of what is happening at home, you put on That Bright Face and smile and are cheerful and work hard...Well, that is what I try to remember at home. It's not my kids' fault things may be problematic so regardless I try to set the tone... Smile, do something nice even if I don't feel like it, be willing to give ourselves a break and have fun, say yes more. Go out even just to the park or to a friends house!
Amazingly, when I do this, especially the saying yes more and being with my kids instead of directing them towards schoolwork, then I feel happier and less stressed. Of course, I have moments when I lose it or when I am utterly exhausted and just curl up on the sofa.. But when I look for joy in the little things, when I say yes more, when I hang out with the kids and with my friends, when I put on a smile and some mascara (!), when I make a chocolate church with the kids even though I am tired ( as we did for the dedication of the Lateran Basilica)... Then I just feel happier and love my life in spite of any problems.
I have learned contentment.
I have to say that my prayer life has been of paramount importance. I pray the morning and evening prayers of the Divine Office and I try to get to daily mass and weekly confession. That gives me peace.
"To converse with You, O King of glory, no third person is needed, You are always ready in the Sacrament of the Altar to give audience to all. All who desire You always find You there, and converse with You face to face." St Teresa of Avila
We have structure in our day and week, too, just not school structure . Most often structure scheduled around homeschool activities and my work. We do better here with less clutter and more rhythm but that rhythm might be tidy ups pegged to meals and a DVD with dinner most nights for example. Or it could be lie down on the sofa with some Maths and Latin.
These routines pave the way for contentment.
Ultimately, however, contentment and joy are like love...a choice, made in and with His grace.
"The only way to make it in this homeschooling life is to reach for God instead of reaching for happiness. Trying harder to be happy or content will not make you happy and content; trying harder to rest in God and depend upon His grace will. It is a spiritual issue, not a practical one. Contentedness will not come from being more organized, sleeping longer, being a better wife, having a better home, using better materials, having more time to yourself, or whatever you think might help. Contentedness is learned in the process of daily accepting life as God gives it to you, and adjusting your expectations to life’s limitations." Sally Clarkson, Season of A Mother's Heart
Monday, November 07, 2011
I wish unschooling for everyone..
We recently had
a discussion on our Unschooling
Catholics email list...on that ubiquitious statement, oh so familiar
to all homeschoolers with an unschooling bent...Unschooling sounds great but
*I* could never do it.
Maybe the
speaker couldn't. Or shouldn't.
Or maybe they
should and could...if they are willing to step out of their box.
I'm on my
seventh teenage unschooler here.. And my thought and experience is that unschooling works with
relationship and time.
Time because a child
who does not pick up a book at age eight can become a a teen studying liberal
arts at university and reading and enjoying philosophy and theology... And yes,
I am describing one of my sons! I would strew books that he would never pick up
unless they were non fiction full-of-pictures DK and Usborne books. However, we
kept reading aloud and listening to books on CD and watching movie versions of
books and letting him follow his interests... Which when he was young was all
about the outdoors and activity. So I think Unschooling works best over
time.
Time because it takes
awhile for "no strings attached" strewing to take... By no strings I
mean that I really don't mind if no one takes up my strewing but instead strews
their own stuff. And with expectations off, my sons have been more likely to explore
new ideas and activities and books.
Relationship because that has
been the way Unschooling works in our house. It has enhanced our relationships
because we spent time together not
doing school but reading
aloud, watching movies, drawing, cooking, going to parks and outings and
talking. It's this quantity time that is sometimes missing when mums and kids
are rushing to do school and then to homeschool activities. And yet this
quantity time has been the biggest aid to our learning... so one son, who used
to make a big fuss about any sort of formal work when young is the one who is
now at university, writing essays and talking to me about chastity and
celibacy and how he doesn't think celibacy would be so hard as your mind, his
mind, is on other things.. At the moment Cicero. (!) Now, he was the one who
you could have said would not be a poster child for Unschooling, would spend
oodles of time on computer games and make a big fuss about chores and really did spend a year or two around age
sixteen or so just playing games and hanging out ( and doing chores and serving
at mass and helping in the parish).
Or let me give
an example of another son ( did I mention I have seven sons...thus many
examples!) who was also a non writer and often a non reader. But who grew, however,
into reading Shakespeare as a teen, who has a degree and now works
in politics, works hard, long hours and yet still finds time to go to
mass or confession on weekdays as well.
Are they
perfect? No.
Were they the
perfect poster unschooler kids? No.
Were we the
perfect unschooler poster family? No, not with our problems, financial
problems, moving many many times, mum's health problems and miscarriages,
unemployment, extended family crises, months where we did nothing but chores
and watch movies and read and cook and eat. And I went through stages of let's
try this ( CM or classical or curriculum) but we always came back
to just living and
learning.
Where am I going
with this?
That I would
wish Unschooling for everyone.
That blossoming
of self and interests and relationships.
Unschooling
tweaked to suit each family but Unschooling where the child and family are more
important than is he reading, is he doing maths, can he meet these outcomes? Ad
infinitum.
In my
experience, the unschooled children can meet outcomes, over time, with a good
relationship ( "darling , for uni you will need more maths and writing so
how about we try x and y... "...Easily suggested and more likely to be
taken up when relationship in place) and with tweaking to suit each child and
family.
Unschooling has
brought me to my knees, to my Faith, to the sacraments , many many times...
Heck, I became a Catholic! Me! It's that trust in Our Lord, in the Holy
Spirit's workings in my life and in the life of my kids, in the graces of the
sacraments.
So my answer to
is Unschooling for everyone is.. It's up to the parent!
Are you prepared
to read more, pray more, live with your kids, daily give more of yourself, move
out of your comfort zone, educate yourself, give it a good long try, no strings
attached!?
For Unschooling
requires effort as the vocation of mothering requires effort .. Effort and
prayer... It's just that the effort is spent in time with the child and family
and not with curriculum and programmes.
And the rewards
are manifold.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Unschooling choice
People wonder what unschooled teens will choose to do, to read, if their time is not structured, if they are not required to "do school".
Will they choose unlimited video games and easy read books and TV?
They may do.
Or like Anthony this week, they may choose to read..and read widely...and talk about reading.
In Anthony's (self directed, self chosen) reading pile this week....
Dante's Divine Comedy (Hell) and Shakespeare's Coriolanus.
Scott O'Dell"s historical novel The King's Fifth and a French Reader.
The education of an autodidact.
With mum and brothers and friends around, for discussion.
That quantity time.
Will they choose unlimited video games and easy read books and TV?
They may do.
Or like Anthony this week, they may choose to read..and read widely...and talk about reading.
In Anthony's (self directed, self chosen) reading pile this week....
Dante's Divine Comedy (Hell) and Shakespeare's Coriolanus.
Scott O'Dell"s historical novel The King's Fifth and a French Reader.
The education of an autodidact.
With mum and brothers and friends around, for discussion.
That quantity time.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
A Quick Succession of Busy Nothings
“Life seems but a quick succession of busy nothings.” ~Jane Austen
That's the danger, folks. That we who like-to-do-a-lot can just do-too-much and miss out on all the important things..family, prayer..sleep.
"Education is the Science of Relations'; that is, a child has natural relations with a vast number of things and thoughts: so we train him upon physical exercises, nature lore, handicrafts, science and art, and upon many living books, for we know that our business is not to teach him all about anything, but to help him to make valid as many as may be of––
"Those first-born affinities
That fit our new existence to existing things." Charlotte Mason
So how do we do this? We have daily, work-at-home rhythms and I am pondering being less busy....
"But how can you stop being busy? It’s a simple change of mindset: you say, I’m not going to be busy anymore. Even if you have little control over your schedule, you can decide that you’ll slow down, and pick the important things to work on, and if necessary, talk to your boss about doing this. If you control your schedule, you can drop all the busywork, and just pick the high-impact tasks. It might seem impossible, but once you decide to put an End to Busy, you have taken the biggest step."
What is our weekly, work at home, unschooling rhythm? Flip over to the Unschooling Catholics blog and read my post there..
"And that is how the weeks go...way too fast...but we work on flow...on doing...and on being...Like the blue willow tea set...cups in a row, beauty, but not perfect...little imperfections...like those little imperfections in our days, our order, our rhythms ...that make the unschooling week"
That's the danger, folks. That we who like-to-do-a-lot can just do-too-much and miss out on all the important things..family, prayer..sleep.
Which is one reason I unschool. We don't need another set list of To Dos in our life. We need to connect more, to form relationships with each other, with books, with ideas, with nature, with the world. with self, with God.
"Education is the Science of Relations'; that is, a child has natural relations with a vast number of things and thoughts: so we train him upon physical exercises, nature lore, handicrafts, science and art, and upon many living books, for we know that our business is not to teach him all about anything, but to help him to make valid as many as may be of––
"Those first-born affinities
That fit our new existence to existing things." Charlotte Mason
So how do we do this? We have daily, work-at-home rhythms and I am pondering being less busy....
"But how can you stop being busy? It’s a simple change of mindset: you say, I’m not going to be busy anymore. Even if you have little control over your schedule, you can decide that you’ll slow down, and pick the important things to work on, and if necessary, talk to your boss about doing this. If you control your schedule, you can drop all the busywork, and just pick the high-impact tasks. It might seem impossible, but once you decide to put an End to Busy, you have taken the biggest step."
What is our weekly, work at home, unschooling rhythm? Flip over to the Unschooling Catholics blog and read my post there..
"And that is how the weeks go...way too fast...but we work on flow...on doing...and on being...Like the blue willow tea set...cups in a row, beauty, but not perfect...little imperfections...like those little imperfections in our days, our order, our rhythms ...that make the unschooling week"
Sunday, October 09, 2011
My Invisible Unschooling
Someone teased me recently about my unschooling. That if Anthony sneezes I would write that in my Homeschool log as Health.
I laughed. It may be a tiny bit true.
Yet my sons, yet Anthony, is educated and has a well rounded education, a liberal arts education, not in spite of having me as a mother and not in spite of all the things I don't do, but because of all that I do.
All those invisible things I do, things that seem effortless and seamless but are done, every day, day in, day out, with a direct philosophy in mind.
A philosophy of unschooling, of children being natural leathers, of emphasizing the tools of learning, of creating a rich learning environment at home and elsewhere, of modelling, of discussion, of strewing, of Love.
At the end of Chapter 2, we find a summary of the principles of unschooling. “Let the child learn by his own initiative, in his own way. The basics are not hard, children want to learn them, and they will ask for help when they need it. Learning is easiest and most effective when it is spontaneous and entered into by desire. Our home life will include necessary tasks, obligations, and duties, but learning does not have to be one of them.”
From a review of the book A Little Way of Homeschooling...you know, that book on Catholic unschooling, the one to which I am a contributor..and a perfect description of what seems to be invisible unschooling.
Tuesday, October 04, 2011
What are we cooking today, Mum?
We cook our way through the liturgical year.
I change our dining table centerpiece to reflect the liturgical year.
This week, we have had a statue of St Michael the archangel on the dining table. Our saints book open for the day. The Dhouay Rheims Bible for St Jerome. The Story of a Soul for St Therese of Lisieux. Today a statue of St Francis.
And our ongoing feature for this month, the month of the Holy Rosary, is a statue of Our Lady, some rosary beads and a missal open to the indulgenced prayer to St Joseph for the month of October.
This week, we have made Devil's Food Cake for the Archangels, quiche for St Vincent de Paul, my grandmother's toffee for St Jerome, a strawberries and cream cake for both St Therese and for the guardian angles...and today for St Framcis?
Well, check out my post on the ACF blog.... Cooking for the Feast of St Francis.
I change our dining table centerpiece to reflect the liturgical year.
This week, we have had a statue of St Michael the archangel on the dining table. Our saints book open for the day. The Dhouay Rheims Bible for St Jerome. The Story of a Soul for St Therese of Lisieux. Today a statue of St Francis.
And our ongoing feature for this month, the month of the Holy Rosary, is a statue of Our Lady, some rosary beads and a missal open to the indulgenced prayer to St Joseph for the month of October.
This week, we have made Devil's Food Cake for the Archangels, quiche for St Vincent de Paul, my grandmother's toffee for St Jerome, a strawberries and cream cake for both St Therese and for the guardian angles...and today for St Framcis?
Well, check out my post on the ACF blog.... Cooking for the Feast of St Francis.
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