Ironically, I feel like we unschooled the best over the weekend. It actually makes sense - I was fired up, I hadn't told anyone we were doing it and it wasn't a "real" school time. The weekend was fun. We baked and cooked together (we do this often, but I really tried to be better about explaining things), they played outside with Helium filled balloons (we talked about Helium) and we read snuggled up in my bed (my husband was out of town Sunday night). It also helped that my older daughter was at her dad's house most of Sunday. It's harder to let go with her.
Monday was Johnny Appleseed's birthday, so for our first "official" day of unschooling, we headed to an apple orchard. We rented some books about Johnny Appleseed (did you know no one actually called him "Johnny"?) and we made "Grandma's Apple Crisp." The kids played outside and it was fun. Really fun. I printed off some worksheets from the internet too - just some basic questions about Johnny Appleseed's life and geography about where he'd planted his trees. I vacillated. Was it too formal? Was I taking it too far? Should I have just let it go? My older daughter did one of the printed worksheets and I recycled the others.
Tuesday was no one's birthday.
Since we began homeschooling, we have always listened to books on CD in the car. We're on our second run through of the Harry Potter series - we just started the 3rd book. Three times a week we drive thirty minutes to bring my son to speech therapy. We listened to Harry Potter on the way there and back. While we waited at speech I finished up reading the American Girl Samantha book to my 5 year old and we read a couple more chapters in Savvy while the girls did Foam Art Mosaics. That's an 1 hour and 45 minutes of reading (if you're keeping track).
When we got home we made tin can telephone's (an idea we got from the Samantha book). After our first attempt, the telephone's didn't work. The kids lost interest and I was left tweaking the phones in to operation until I went upstairs and passed them on to my husband to figure out. The kids were more interested in playing in the rain. Honestly, it didn't really feel like they learned anything from doing the tin can telephones or running outside in the rain with jump ropes tied around themselves pretending they were horses (a common game around here). Throughout the day we read the Bible, played a Silly Sentences Game as a family and the kids played with trains, Barbies and American Girl Dolls. Looking back it seems like a pretty successful day, but getting there was rout with stress, worry and frustration for me.
With four kids and a Type A perfectionist personality I don't feel like I'm meeting everyone's needs if I don't have a plan. Someone is going to get forgotten in the mix. Extended periods of reading just aren't feasible when the 7 month old is trying to eat the books and wiggle out of my lap. My 3 year old son wants to do nothing but play with trains and race cars. The girls would lock themselves in their bedroom for hours on end doing nothing but play Barbie's or American Girls. I WANT them to play, but how much is too much? And what about me? I feel like I can never turn off. I can't take time to myself during the day because I should always be encouraging some kind of learning activity. On Monday I was "on" from 7:00 a.m. until 10:30 p.m. when we had to go pick up my husband from the airport.
And I know kids need time to "deschool", but since the baby was born we haven't really done much anyway. They all did some "Time 4 Learning" (an online curriculum) each day and my older daughter did Math, but that's been about it for the last 8 months or so. Maybe my Type A "no" personality has left my kids defeated. They don't even ask to do chemistry or build elaborate structures because I've "no"-ed them to death. Honestly, they don't even ask me to read to them.
I guess I'm needing some encouragement. From other homeschool families (on any end of the spectrum). What does YOUR day look like? How much planning goes in to it? Do you keep track of what you're doing? How do you quantify it? Most importantly - are YOU happy with it? are your kids?
For now, I'm off. I think I'll offer to let the girls make breakfast today.
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Oh, Bree. I hear you because I often struggle with the same thing. While I don't feel the need to qualify or quantify what the kids do, I DO have those feelings of doubt and worry, especially as my kids get older. We live in a culture dominated by formalized education so it can be hard to watch our kids "just" play -- as you said, what in the world are they learning??
ReplyDeleteThey're learning to embrace their imagination and their creativity. They're learning to tell stories and to solve imaginary problems. They're learning to get along and to resolve differences, especially if they are playing together. They are learning how to live and work in their play world...and those skills will translate well into the "real" world.
Look at all your kids DO accomplish, especially with dance and music. Think of the inherent value in the skills they are learning there. And...look at how you are supporting their passions.
Ask your girls what a "perfect" day would be like for them. Not a school day but just a perfect day. And then ask for another one, without repeating any of the already listed activities. Examine each and really think about how much "learning" each activity/event entails, even if it's "out of the box."
And, most of all, take some time to yourself. To knit, to read, to do the things you enjoy. There is learning in that, too -- for you AND the kids.
There is learning in EVERYTHING. And I promise you, you don't need worksheets to do it. :)