For years and years I have known that I would homeschool my children. Papa and I set up our life in a way to make it possible. When Bunny was still quite young, I felt more and more drawn to unschooloing. There is just a freedom there that I love. And so we have gone along doing what I thought of as unschooling. But more recently, as Bunny has gotten older, we focus more and more of our lives around her delight directed education. I find myself finding more and more opportunities to teach and to learn with her in everyday life. And even the moments when I sit back and watch, she is learning. Every waking minute of the day she is absorbing the world around her. It isn't that we are unschooling. It is that the entire world around us, our entire life, is school. We are life schooling.
While I do encourage her to learn things that I feel will help her later in life (such as pre-reading, counting, and other basic skills), I do so in an every day life kind of way.
There is no pressure to learn.
There is, however, passion.
The goal is not to fill her bucket, but to light her fire.
"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." - William Butler Yeats
Each week I join several linky parties! What a fun way to share and learn!
Natural Living Monday, The Children's Bookshelf, Monday's Kid Corner, Hey Mom, Look What I Did!, Montessori Monday, Made by Little Hands, Homemade Mondays, Mama Moments Monday {Link Up}, The Gathering Spot, Little Wonders' Days, Mom's Monday Mingle, Mommy Moments, Frugal, Crafty Home, Hip Homeschool Hop, Mom's Library, Tuesday Tots, (tot school tuesday), The Tuesday Baby Link-Up, Keep Calm Craft On {crafting on}, Tuned in Tuesday, Teach Me Tuesday, TOO Cute Tuesday, Open Call Tuesday, Backyard Farming Connection Hop, Tuned in Tuesday, Kids in the Kitchen, Waldorf Wednesday, It's Playtime, We Made That Linky, What I Learned Wednesday, Super Link Party, Kids Co-Op, Artsy Play Wednesday, Healthy 2Day Wednesday, Wildcrafting Wednesday, Adorned From Above, Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways, Kids Crafts, Link and Learn, Thrifty Thursday, Hearts for Home, needle and thREAD, Made U Look, Tender Moments with Toddlers and Preschoolers, Natural Living Link-Up, Small Footprint Friday, Our Days Homeschool Link-Up, For the Kids Friday, FarmGirl Friday Blog Hop, Kitchen Fun and Crafty Friday, Read. Explore. Learn., Creative Learning on Friday, Preschool and Kindergarten Corner, Friday's Nature Table, The Friday Baby Shower, TGIF Linky Party, Family Fun Friday, Creative Friday, Friday Flair Link Party, Shine on Fridays, Friday Favs, Outdoor Play Party, Do Something Crafty, Weekend Whatever, Saturday Show and Tell, Tot School Gathering Place, Sharing Saturday, Share It Saturday, Country Kids, Link and Learn, sharing creative, ideas {all weekend}, Show and Share Saturday, Stress Free Sunday, The Sunday Showcase, The Preschool Prekinder Nook, Fun Sparks, The Sunday Parenting Party, Making Boys Men, Spring Carnival, Made with Love, Raising Memories
I agree that "life schooling" is a much better description. That way you don't get locked into not using books or curriculum--you just go with the way your kids like to learn.
ReplyDeleteI know it's nit-picky but the word "unschooling" bothers me unless you're actually trying to UNdo some institutional schooling the child already had. I like the "Life schooling" phrase better. And thank you for this post, I've been wondering how it looks for different people.
ReplyDeleteYes! I love the term life schooling too... just perfect.
ReplyDeleteI've learned more from "life" than I ever did in school ;) I think you're on the right path.
ReplyDeleteLOVE this, and your description of "life schooling" and "delight directed education". That's exactly what we do here at the Clubhouse! When a child is passionate about something, they absorb everything they learn... and in learning such a natural way, all of the "ABC's and 123's" just sort of happen along the way! Thanks for sharing :)
ReplyDeleteIt's so fun to watch little ones learn just by playing and exploring their world. Life is a great teacher!
ReplyDeleteThanks for linking up at Babies and Beyond.
Katherine
www.proverbsandpacifiers.com
Learning through real-life experiences is so much more relevant to life. Life-skills are important and not everything can be taught 'at school'. Thanks for linking up with Mom's Library again this week
ReplyDeleteSo true Hannah! There is so much to be learned for our surroundings, our beautiful world! I think the life experiences are the best lessons!
ReplyDeleteI just love, love, love her little curls!