-
We Were Already Homeschooling. This Quarantine is Not What Real Homeschooling Looks Like.
We homeschool. However, the word “homeschooling” is a misnomer.We do not spend all of our time at home doing school work. Our choice to skip school was not taken in favor of simply replicating school at home by dividing life and learning into subjects, inflexible time blocks, and bells. We chose to homeschool. It was not forced onto us. More specifically, we chose self-directed education because we wanted to expand the definition of education to include everything a person does and experiences. I wanted my kids to understand learning as something you do every, single day. And I wanted to move learning outside of classrooms, walls, rigid schedules, and state-mandated…
-
3 Regrets of an Unschooling Mom
We have been homeschooling for 12 years, unschooling for close to 11. My kids have been unschooling since birth, though. I am the one who needed to catch up to what they instinctively knew to be true, which is: Learning happens ALL THE TIME even without adult involvement, control or meddling. Below are three things I sort of/kind of regret. I say sort of/kind of because I believe all our experiences teach us something. Even the failures–especially the failures. So, do I REALLY regret the following? Not necessarily. I mostly mourn the time I lost worrying and comparing. The upside, however, is by sharing my experiences in those early days…
-
The Case for Living the Self-Directed Life
Summer is probably the most dreamed about, written about, and longed for season in America. For most of America’s children and young adults, summertime means freedom. The school year schedule fades away and the longer, warmer days are replaced with uninterrupted sleep, exploration, visiting with family and friends, vacationing, and learning new information simply because of a desire and curiosity to know, not in order to pass a test or check a box. The alarm bells cease and desist. Stress subsides and growing minds are happily given more time to wander and wonder. There seems to be a universal respect of the unscheduled, free flowing days of summer and a…
-
You Might Be Ego-schooling If…
Once upon a time, when our family first made the decision to forego the traditional schooling options, I dreamed of being a fabulous teacher to my kids. We would come together every morning, still dressed in our pajamas, sipping cocoa or nibbling on the morning breakfast I lovingly made while their sleepy bodies were still in bed, and we would read stories together, work equations, draw, or do science projects. I would have amazing lessons devised and they’d gleefully thumb through the pages of their ‘work packets’. On our best days they’d ask for more. I considered how our space should be arranged, I made a list of materials we needed,…
-
Pine Cone Bird Feeders: 4 easy steps
We love birds. For years we have been observing them and putting up birdhouses in our backyard to provide shelter. We have also participated in FeederWatch and the Great Backyard Bird Count. If you haven’t heard of either of these, I encourage you to check them out. It is a great way to learn about the many birds living right under your nose and to help scientists track birds. My kids really enjoyed it, but truth be told, I may have come out as the true ‘bird nerd’. This weekend, we revived our neglected bird feeder and decided to also make pine cone feeders. They are super simple and pretty. Be aware, the…
