The Lifestyle of Education
Zenna discovering fossils along the banks of the San Juan River
In this picture my (then) six year old daughter, is beginning to read the story of history written in the rocks. She’s collecting information and organizing it, like a Geologist. And just like reading in a story in a book, first she learns the parts {letters, words, sentence, pauses, etc.} and then she learns to read.
Being a curious person with an interest in Geology, I consulted books to find names for these fossils we had found: Brachiopods, bryozoan, crinoids & horn coral. This led me to more questions: How old are these? And why are the strata layers that I see these fossils in sometimes way up high on the cliff and sometimes all the way down here at the river level?
The answers to these questions fascinated me and led to more questions. I tried to relate the information I was uncovering to other regions in the area that I have some geological knowledge of. I talked about it and shared our finds with others on my trip, equally fascinated by geology. They shared their finds with us. My children were by my side for many of these conversations: collecting information.
I’m over a decade into this unschooling journey with my children now, and I’ve learned that while I may have intentions for what they “learn”, those may or may not be the pieces that they necessarily pick up on ~ so I try not to put a lot of effort into pushing my ideas on to them. Instead I wait & observe like a scientist, hence my Naturalist Mama instagram. Like a naturalist; I watch them, I see what they’re doing, I listen to their questions, I relate it to their past.
River trips are long hard work, usually in the hot sun, with lots of sand or dirt (everywhere!). It’s a funny kind of ‘vacation’ that involves a lot of work. It takes people with a certain character to make up a river trip. People who love being fully immersed in nature, the water, the biome of the river, and the wildness of the place, and sand. Generations long friendships are forged here.
All this to say, people are unique. Interests vary. Educational styles vary. Homeschooling is a lifestyle. It’s going to look different on your family than it does on ours. It’s taken me a decade + to get where I am now; unschooling. I like that technical term for homeschooling {unschooling} because it defines my experience. I have been unlearning how I was taught to learn. My experience has shown me that we humans, especially young humans, learn through play. And that is a very important phase of development. We also learn through engaging with others, from being curious, from asking questions.
Today, we have so many resources at our finger tips, we can find the answers to just about any questions we have. And we can also feel lost, knowing there is a better way; just needing a little prod in the right direction by a trusted mentor. I’m thankful for my mentors along this path, who have gently prodded me to follow my intuition, to listen, watch, engage and learn. And I hope to offer the same to families who are ready to take the deep dive into homeschooling. If you’re feeling the pull to get started, get in touch! I’m offering affordable, sliding scale homeschool consulting to families diving in!