How Unschooled Kids Charge Off On Their Own Learning Adventures
Do you ever have times when you think you’re not doing much with your kids so you wonder if they’re learning enough?
We’ve had a very busy time recently. I’ve been rushing here and there doing errands. Gemma-Rose has been working. (She does a couple of shifts each week as a cafe all-rounder.) We haven’t had many of those wonderful free days that we can fill with unschooling adventures. Of course, we learn from everything that happens in our lives. I know this. But still, I’ve been yearning for the opportunity to strew some books or movies or ideas in front of my daughter. Enrich her life with things that she’d think about and learn from and enjoy.
But then the other day, I discovered that Gemma-Rose has been enriching her own life. She and big sister Charlotte found a playlist of musicals on YouTube. Each evening, they’ve been choosing a musical to watch together in their bedroom. I discovered my girls’ latest adventure when I overheard them discussing a video they’d seen. Then I got involved when they got very excited about a musical theatre production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame: “It was good, Mum! How about we watch it again with you?”
So that’s what we did. And as we watched, we chatted.
“Watch carefully, Mum. The Hunchback is about to come on stage. I reckon he’s got the most challenging part. Imagine having to sing while crouching over for a long time. He’s on stage for most of the production.”
“I love how they change the settings,” I said. “It’s very clever how they move everything around without stopping the action.”
And then after the video had finished, we discussed the themes in a natural kind of way. Because we wanted to. Because it was interesting.
“It’s not really a children’s story, is it?” I said. The girls agreed. “The Hunchback of Notre Dame seems a strange choice for a Disney animation.”
“They changed the ending in the Disney version.”
“I suppose the real ending of The Hunchback of Notre Dame isn’t child-friendly. Imagine all the kids leaving the cinema in tears. No, that wouldn’t have been good for business!”
The girls now want us to watch another video that they’ve already seen: a stage production called Jekyll and Hyde. Gemma-Rose would also like to read Robert Louis Stevenson’s book, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. I bet there’s a film version of the book she could see as well. And after Gemma-Rose pondered the similarities in the plots of Jekyll and Hydeand The Hulk, she might even watch that movie too.
Charlotte and Gemma-Rose are going to watch more of the videos on the YouTube playlist, but they have also collected together a pile of musical DVDs from our shelf: Gilbert and Sullivan productions including The Mikado and HMS Pinafore, Westside Story, Oklahoma and many others. I think this musical adventure is going to last a long time!
This morning, Gemma-Rose and I continued our musical conversation as I was driving her to town for work.
“I can’t wait for the new Cats movie to be released,” said Gemma-Rose. “The trailer looks good.”
“You could watch the stage version again while you’re waiting,” I suggested.
“Charlotte and I watched it the other day. Twice!”
Then we talked about the T.S Eliot poems in Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats which the musical Cats is based on. And we both agreed that one day, we’d love to see a live version of Cats. And we talked about how we love Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musicals. Except for Love Never Dies which is the sequel to The Phantom of the Opera. Oh my, that musical was disappointing. Some stories should never be continued.
As we reached town, Gemma-Rose said, “I think Cats is my favourite musical.”
I wonder what your favourite musical is. Maybe, like me, you have a long list of musicals you enjoy watching. You could stop by and share some that you love.
And if musicals aren’t your family’s thing, perhaps something else is. Have your kids unexpectedly dived deep into something? Have they enriched their own lives by charging off on their own adventures? And have you enjoyed tagging along?
Some extras
Photos and Video
As well as watching musicals, my girls love singing all the songs. I took these photos some time ago, while we were filming a music video. Imogen was singing a song from Beauty and the Beast.
In case you’re interested, here’s the video! If you watch it to the end, you’ll discover that Beauty and the Beast has been Imogen’s favourite movie for as long as she can remember!
Blog Post
I wrote a blog post about our Gibert and Sullivan adventures: I Am a Pirate King!
Books
And you’ll find many stories about passions and interests and how kids learn in my books Curious Unschoolers and Radical Unschool Love!