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| My daughter, Maddy, edited this picture |
Kids are already heading back to school and the neighborhood will be quiet, again. It is bittersweet. I loved watching my kids play in the summer sun with their neighborhood friends from 9am until dusk, but on the flip side, there is a lot to be said for having a calmer household. Since having so many children, it’s easy to be the house that gets the most attention. There is an age-match for any child looking for a friend at this house. I hosted many a slumber party, with giggles, popcorn, pink pajamas and movies. Boys were piled-up on my downstairs sofas with pretzels and game controllers, and enough birthday celebrations (all my children are piggy-backed all summer long) to make you vow to never eat another piece of cake for the rest of your life. But through it all…another memorable summer to be had.
So what does our un-schooling household look like? Simply put…living! We are not on tight schedules, rather, we have learning goals. What are learning goals you might ask? This month, we will all sit around and talk about what they want to learn, do and see. We also have daily and weekly chores to keep the house running smoothly. I compile all that needs to be done to keep our home looking good and clean and the kids pick out what they want to be responsible for. They are included, and that means, less complaining!
I have been un-schooling my children for 10 years and what they learn never ceases to amaze me. They actually love learning and isn’t that what you want? They’ll always seek out what they want to learn.
How do you and your children learn best? I’d love to hear from you!
Thanks, Jenny!
My son of whom I spoke is actually a young teen. It takes a lot of requiring from me in order for him to write anything. He's not one to naturally be interested in story or letter writing, etc. He does enjoy reading- but only for perhaps a chapter a day. He's never in a big hurry or dying to finish a book. He's more interested in watching Man Vs. Wild or cooking shows in his spare time. He's not really into sports and, I think, he sits around too much without enough hobbies. He enjoys riding dirt bikes and camping/fishing, etc. However, these are not possible during the majority of the school year where we live.
Do you think I should back off and reassure him that I trust his instinct on what to write and when and that I leave it in his capable hands, being here for him if he needs help? He is in boy scouts and he runs into this issue a lot where he needs to write for his merit badges- especially when with his group. I know his self esteem suffers then as his spelling is not great.
He is actually my fourth child of six. The others don't have this problem at all- most of them are avid readers and writers. He's more interested in working with his hands. I love that he's a different type of learner….but at the same time, my worries kick in that he's not where he 'should' be in his English skills. Because of this, my instinct sometimes says to let him be, let him blossom in his own way and stop pushing him. Then I witness a friend or two of his doing something amazing academically and I start worrying again. We've been home educating our children for 14 years and I can't believe I'm still worrying! : )
Hi Jessa,
They learn math and English as we go and it happens in life, naturally, occurring all the time. My teenagers seek out math because they want to know it. My oldest took math and accounting at a local community college because she wants to start her own business. Same with English… they want to learn it and so they do. That is what happens when you let go…and let them tell you what they want to learn.
I love pumping them up with "theme nights" (check my posts on it) this gets them learning various topics! They love it! Mine don't write essays unless they want to. Go in round about ways to have him practice some writing. When (not if) he really wants to learn his writing, he will. Mine have all done that. I approach them with something, such as learning to read, if they don't want to…I let it go. They come to me when they're ready. Same when they want to practice their writing. One of mine said to me not too long ago that he needed to practice some spelling and wanted my help. All you need is that willingness, that desire, that they can own. Then comes the true learning; and the ability to think for themselves and feel ownership over their learning. It's a beautiful thing.
Let him not do anything for awhile. Let him just play. Then, after a couple weeks, start introducing some fun things to learn, do or see. And set the goals only according to his learning goals not yours. They will want this for themselves. When around other children they will feel like, "hey, I need to know this, I should practice." They will hold themselves accountable. No more pulling teeth; he's just learned a valuable tool of being able to do something for himself for the betterment of himself on his own. He's not doing it just because his mom made him. There is a huge difference, one that some never get to experience.
I hope this helps, Jessa…let me know how your journey goes or how else I can help!
jenny
May I ask how you teach your children math and english? For instance, do you help them set goals for the year, knowing what math/english concepts need to be learned before growing up? Or do you let them learn naturally as they go. Do your children write reports and essays or do you let them only write when and what they feel like? I ask this because I have a son who is dyslexic and it's like pulling teeth to have him simply keep a journal. I truly feel he'd never write so much as a sentence if it wasn't assigned. : )
Depends on their temperament. I know that my 7-yr. old daughter loves to know what her day is going to look like and has an opinion about everything she does! So this kind of child would show the interest to plan learning goals. But, if they don't, I have some of those, too,and that's fine, too! Playing legoland and wii is quite fun and they learn doing that, too. When they are free to explore their interests, they will jump all over the place.
I think it is fun to group all my children together and talk about our year and what we want to do, learn and see together. That's always a lot of fun and I plan all the ideas we came up in my planner. It could be museums, park days, library days, crafts, sewing days, drawing, art days, lego and block days…maybe they would even enjoy learning and reading out of their books. We love to go to Borders, order chocolate milks and lattes and read science books or novels.
You will find as you go, your children will become very good at knowing what they love, having fun pursuing it, and feeling good that they can enjoy learning!
Do you ask the younger ones to come up with goals also? Like this idea however since we are new to this journey am wondering if my 5 and 8 yr old boys would actually have any goals! Outside of playing Wii and Legoland.com 🙂