Chores and Our Typical Unschooling Day
The other morning, after we’d done the morning chores and said prayers together, I asked my girls what they wanted to do.
“Can we go to the post office?” asked Gemma-Rose. “I want to post my letters.”
My eleven-year-old daughter has been writing a lot of letters recently. They’ve all been written in cursive handwriting, Gemma-Rose’s latest interest. There was a time when I doubted she’d ever learn to do ‘running writing.’ Several years ago, I tried to teach her, but she dug in her heels and refused to cooperate. But a couple of weeks ago, I found my two youngest daughters sitting side-by-side writing together.
“Gemma-Rose was admiring my handwriting,” explained Sophie. “She wanted me to show her how to do cursive writing.”
Once Gemma-Rose had decided she wanted to learn, it took four days for her to conquer this new skill. She filled up her notebook with handwriting, and I had to buy her a new one. She’s filling that one up too. And she’s writing lots of letters.
So at 9 am, on that particular morning, Sophie, Gemma-Rose and I put on our coats and headed out the door. Nora, our dog came with us. It was rather cold and, as we began the walk up to our village post office, I searched my coat pockets for my gloves.
By the time we were on the return journey, after posting our letters and visiting a couple of shops. the day had warmed up a little. My gloves were back in my pocket and I was enjoying the feel of the sun on my skin. As we strolled along, I looked at the girls and the dog, the gum trees rising high above the houses, and the sun in the clear blue sky, and I felt so thankful. I imagined school children working at their desks, and structured homeschoolers sitting around their tables with their work spread out in front of them. And what were we doing? We were outside enjoying the pleasures of an early spring morning.
I talked about this typical unschooling morning in this week’s podcast. I also talked about typical unschooling days in last week’s episode. After I published that episode, I decided I hadn’t said enough. I hadn’t given a clear enough picture of what we actually do each day. So I had another go!
In this week’s podcast, I also answer the following questions
Are our unschooling days really as ordinary as I made them sound in last week’s episode?
Do all unschoolers have similar typical days?
How can we get kids to help with the chores?
Can we encourage kids to do more than their fair share? Can they become generous without counting the cost?
Do I sometimes get fed up of being a good example? Do I sometimes fail?
And what resources do I share this week?
Show Notes
Blog Posts, Videos and Podcasts
About Chores
Getting Kids to Help with the Chores
Interviewing Sophie (13), an Unschooling Teenager
Unschooling Experts, Criticism, and Radical Chore Rosters
Chores and Kids: What if We Said ‘Yes’?
About Our Typical Unschooling Day
So How Do You Feel on a Monday Morning?
What a Day Without Rules Looks Like
A Bit of Murder in Our Typical Unschooling Day
Resources
Maths
Coding
3D Animation
Geography / HSIE
You might find episodes on Youtube
We haven’t viewed all episodes. Some viewers may object to seeing the Hairy Bikers in their traditional Norweigan knitted undies, in the Norway episode. Gemma-Rose said, “That wasn’t necessary!” Could she be right? You could always skip over that particular moment!
The Hairy Bikers’ Bakeation articles on OpenLearn
Jamie Oliver’s Food Escapes- Venice
You might find episodes on Youtube