Unschooling Chat Sept. 1st-...Sept. 7th? - Page 2

[WCM]

That's exactly what I mean piglet. That we have these mental checkpoints of learning, and whether you're unschooly or homeschooly or public schoolers, we mentally tally *math* reading*writing*spelling* as big ones. do they know it yet, are they struggling with it, how do we address it, how can we help? and my kids happen to get all that stuff easily. Next???

That I appreciate this place *I* am in now, where I need to watch, to *see*, what they are doing, where they are at each day. to sit and observe, figure out the struggles, what challenges them. that our focus is not the 3 R's. what it *is*, I don't know. but that I cannot just sit and take comfort that they are getting the basics, no worries. yeah they get them, so what is occupying their minds?

comic books are. winning as a reflection of his value occupies my eldest. how being helpful makes you important and seeking praise occupies my midddle. doing it al HERSELF you dummy! occupies my youngest

I am happy that the basic academics are not a struggle for them. but it pushes my own issues of seeing the *other*n stuff, the big struggles for tem, which are all emotional, sense of self, stuff. Which I struggle with as an adult. so I have lots of work to do, to support THIS, this stuff they are learning now.

[harrietsmama]

piglet, excellent post!!

I agree with you that play can teach so mush about interpersonal relationships and also emotion regulation. Especially when faced with siblings where emotions run high and manners go out the door so easily

I think these skills are far more valuable than learning academics, which can be learned more quickly when the interest of the child is driving the learning process.

[greenthumb3]

Haven't posted here for awhile but Annakiss, I sense the frustration ( or maybe just the questioning?) and I understand, too. (enjoying reading the thread btw)

To answer, here's some of what we are up to.

(Disclaimer: This is the way we unschool; what works for one family who unschooled may be different for another,
but that's okay b/c there is no one right way to unschool as each family dynamic and each child is unique)


My oldest will be 8 next month, and we have 5 and 3 year olds as well as a baby. Our kids are very tech oriented (esp. since we live in a very hot climate, so summer time is essentially like being "snowed in", only with extreme heat). SO lots of video games, Netflix watching, etc. Sometimes all day or for a few days in a row. But just as I get worried, one or both of the oldest boys will run off and play Legos in their room or find something else to do. I am worrying less :-) Most of our days are spent playing and not too much that 'looks' academic (of course everything they do contributes to their education of life, but ykwim).

I did start to think. What if no kids went to school? What would their days look like? How much of the day would be spent playing or reading books etc? I figure it would look a lot like what our kids days look like, no two are the same really, but most days are just filled with play. When I need a reminder to keep me from feeling panicky about how our kids spend their days, I like reading the Moore's website and articles about kids not needing academics before 8 or 10 and that they naturally tend to want to read and do those kinds of things later. I will cross that bridge when we get there (age 10).

This year, I wanted to add in something for us to do together (ds 1 and me) and feel like we are "accomplishing" something.
So, we do a modified Charlotte Mason approach from yr 1 of Ambleside Online.

Basically, my oldest and I sit at the breakfast table together ("morning time" we call it) He likes it cause it's just our time together and he feels kind of grown up having his own 'work' to do. He has a small folder with lined paper. I read a poem a day and choose a word from the poem and write it in his folder and then he copies it down on the paper. It's up to him how much he wants to do, so he'll tell me when he wants to try another word. He might do 6 words or he might do 1. I don't even need to correct; he does it himself if he doesn't like the shape of a letter he wrote or something. I don't care about how well he does this as I figure this is just helping him set the stage for future writing skills he'll use more later on. I also read one selection from the CM Year 1 reading list each day and then have him tell me in his own words what he heard. (narration) He likes to write but isn't that interested in reading, but really likes numbers.

All this takes about 15 minutes a day. We've been doing this for 2 weeks and its been going better than I anticipated. I want to expose him to ways of thinking and stories that he might not discover on his own as well as give him the experience of showing himself what he is capable in the way of reading/listening and writing. As long as he is game, I see us continuing on this year in this way.

This also helps me b/c the rest of the day, I just think to myself, I don't need to worry if he is getting what he needs b/c we took the time together in the morning. Those few minutes will add up to a good foundation for when he really starts to want to include more academics later on. Of course, I facilitate him if he wants to call a friend to play or find a website or wants to know how to type in "Dirty Jobs" on Netflix. We play board games often too.

Our most interactive times are morning and evening. Middle of the day is chill or whatever each person wants to do, or we go places.

I also have a small bulletin board with envelopes tacked on with each day of the week written on the front. Monday-Math, Tuesday-History, Wed-Science, Thurs-history, Friday-Art, Saturday-Nature, Sunday-Music. I have a book with 500 ideas for exploring different 'subjects' and I figure at some point this year, we can try to incorporate a fun project each day. I plan on reading 3 or 4 ideas for the two oldest to choose from each day whenever the time is right and we'll do one together. This is really just for ME to help me get engaged with them instead of falling into the habit of finding my own thing to do every time they get busy with something of their own. (having me time is fine, I was just tuning out too much and needed something to help me get back to engaging them and interacting more). This usually leads to them thinking of other things to do, like make a mud pit or play a game of hide and seek or build a fire in the backyard.

A lot of the time, I look over at the bulletin board and realize we *did* something that 'fit' into that subject already that week. It is a reminder that most learning juts happens spontaneously and naturally through regular life. It serves as a reminder of that for me as well as a 'back up plan' if we need some ideas of things to do together. Who knew a bulletin board could do so much? lol

Let's see...oh yes, we attend park day for two different groups once a month. Two days out of the house is manageable for me. And on one day a week I have started to invite other homeschool families over and we make our own fun. It's also a great chance to do a project that works best (or is just plain fun to share) with a group (either parent-led or child-led), without having to form a co-op o anything. Other families have been reciprocating occasionally. It's been fun.
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[mamamoogs]

new here to unschooling, and finding myself doubting things from time to time, dd who is 6 plays all day everyday with her younger sister, they go to a wed co-op and play with other homeschoolers, her favorite activity there is PE. we have tried the sit down and do her curriculum lessons, but that just did not work for us, she just kinda shut down and refused so now we are learning through living i suppose you can say.... I love that i can come here and chat with you all from time to time, and love reading other ideas from other mamas and papas, it is very reassuring all will work out.

[Piglet68]

mamamoogs: play is SO important for young children. if you google articles about the importance of play as the means by which children learn, it may help to ease any concerns that your daughter should be "doing more".

[goddessjulia]

Originally Posted by greenthumb3

I also have a small bulletin board with envelopes tacked on with each day of the week written on the front. Monday-Math, Tuesday-History, Wed-Science, Thurs-history, Friday-Art, Saturday-Nature, Sunday-Music. I have a book with 500 ideas for exploring different 'subjects' and I figure at some point this year, we can try to incorporate a fun project each day. I plan on reading 3 or 4 ideas for the two oldest to choose from each day whenever the time is right and we'll do one together. This is really just for ME to help me get engaged with them instead of falling into the habit of finding my own thing to do every time they get busy with something of their own. (having me time is fine, I was just tuning out too much and needed something to help me get back to engaging them and interacting more). This usually leads to them thinking of other things to do, like make a mud pit or play a game of hide and seek or build a fire in the backyard.

love this! thanks!! I need just such a thing to help me "get back to engaging" as you describe. I also like your morning time with your oldest. mine needs something like that too, it totally changes the whole day, and doing it in the morning sets the tone for the day so much better. later it's too easy to get sidetracked.

[CrazyCatLady]

Well my dd and I started her curriculum for the charter school homeschool program that we've joined. I was really nervous and skeptical about how it would go. Turns out my dd likes the work. Not sure yet if it's just because it's new or because she's older now. But either way we'll be able to get our six work samples done every month and then some, so I'm happy.

We're stopping ice skating and voice for now because I'm really poor. But the charter school offers a full day of classes for kids her age on Thursdays. She'll get to do art, science, PE, library, computers, theater, and geography. Hopefully that and our home school park days will keep us busy enough.

[greenthumb3]

Originally Posted by goddessjulia

love this! thanks!! I need just such a thing to help me "get back to engaging" as you describe. I also like your morning time with your oldest. mine needs something like that too, it totally changes the whole day, and doing it in the morning sets the tone for the day so much better. later it's too easy to get sidetracked.

Hey, so glad you found this idea helpful, too. :-)
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