How We "School" Part 1

I've been asked to write a bit about how we do things around here and what our long term "plan" is. I don't mind a bit. It seems to fit in with all the curriculum listing others are doing. The thing is that I will likely do more ranting about "school" philosophy and raving about delight in learning than anything else. Also my oldest is almost 4, but we'll get to that in a bit.

What we do is as close to radical unschooling as anything else. I hate to put labels on things, but the reality of it is that the label has helped us find like minds, community, and lots of support locally and online. We attachment parent in addition to unschooling and that makes us radical unschoolers. So be it.

So what does that mean for us? How will our children learn to read and do math? All good questions. What that means for us is lots of conversation, a very special and respectful bond with our daughters. This extends to their interests and learning desires. I also don't take their interests and ruin them with too much academic parental intrusion. That's not cool. Here is an example:

Lil'Bug likes bugs. She catches them, plays with them, wants to read stories about them. We bought her a bug house and lots of books about bugs. We took her to the Science Center Bug night. She doesn't care for some of the books, but they were helpful to me so that I could learn data and answer her questions, use the book as a reference guide to help her identify the critters. What we also do is show GREAT enthusiasm when she presents her finds. I get out the camera and document, I ask her questions, I answer what I can, I ooh and ah over her delight. Dearest and I catch bugs too and present them to her with the same excitement.

We do not quiz her. We do not check out extra books and insist on reading them. We do not make her stay and listen to presentations and lectures at the park when she is not interested. We present opportunities and options but she knows they are hers to choose.

When we do count spots on the critters, or legs, or eyes, the counting has meaning and context. How many of something helps identify it, what kind of eyes and such tells us about what it eats or how it builds. We're not just singing a counting song without reason (though she's been known to break out into "nine pirate girls" just for fun!).

We do remind her that bugs are living creatures and we treat them with respect and care and always try to release them back to the places they were found.

Stay tuned for more!