Saying Yes: Unschool Bits and Pieces
Saying Yes
When Gemma- Rose asked if we could get a puppy, we could have thought of many reasons to say no. But we didn’t. A year ago, a tiny Shar Pei/ Great Dane puppy joined our family and we called her Quinn. Quinn (who has grown enormously) has brought us enormous joy. All the extra work and expense are nothing compared to the love and fun this dog has brought us.
You might be wondering if you should say yes or no to some request. Will a yes bring joy into your family’s life?
Free Range Kids
Do you have free range kids? Or do you worry about their safety and so limit their freedom? Perhaps we're not allowed to let our kids roam free because others will criticise and accuse us of being negligent parents.
Lenore Skenazy, author of Free-Range Kids, How to Raise Safe, Self-Reliant Children (Without Going Nuts with Worry) talks about this topic in episode 300 of The Art of Manliness podcast: How to Raise Free Range Kids.
I don't suppose The Art of Manliness podcast is aimed at mothers, but I find some of the episodes very interesting!
How Children Learn Right From Wrong
When children feel close to their parents, they want to "follow" them. Going against their parents would be going against the most important people in their lives. That's why connection is 90% of parenting. Until the child feels the connection, she isn't open to our direction.
This quote comes from the article How Children Learn Right From Wrong by Dr Laura Markham.
I like the ideas in this post. How about you?
Are You a Curious Unschooler?
How do we cover the school syllabus (if this is necessary for homeschool registration) without compromising our unschooling way of life? By being curious unschoolers!
During our last homeschool registration visit, our Authorised Person (AP) from the education department told us about the coffee pod ban in the government-run buildings in Hamburg, Germany. I said, "We could google that to find out more (because we're interested) and then I bet we could match up the coffee ban to some of the syllabus outcomes... looking after the environment, energy, recycling... " The AP agreed.
Yes, if we take an interest in what's happening around us, what we hear in the news, what we see, what people are talking about ... if we are curious unschoolers... our kids might get excited. They might want to know more. We might all learn new things and we won't have to go looking for notes to add to our records books. We'll find plenty to record at the end of each day.
So are you curious unschoolers?
(Now I'm wondering... what could used coffee pods be turned into?)
I'm curious: Have you read my blog post, Are You a Curious Unschooler?
An Unschooling Blog
I might share a few blogs I like. I'm sure you'll enjoy Hayley's blog, Taking a Kinder Path. Why not hop over and take a look and then stop by to say hello?!
Happy Birthday Andy!
It's my husband Andy's birthday today. I'm posting Imogen's Loch Lomond video in honour of this occasion. I love how Andy is always willing to join in with our children's interests. He's always learning, sharing passions, encouraging our kids, trusting and supporting them, being a good example of unschooling!
I hope you enjoyed this bits and pieces post. Let me know if you did and I'll find some more interesting links and ideas and then I'll put together another one!