Sci Fri: Squirrel Blind
There was a science lab planned for Friday. A good one. With microscopes and specimen.
However, Miss O's self-created project had fantastic results. So I tossed my lab.
She built herself and her sister a 'Squirrel Blind', after we read a few chapters of 'Owls in the Family' by Farley Mowat.
They constructed the blind with random objects from the backyard; some balance beams and the trampoline. After finding a bucket, they filled it with bird seed and set a booby trap with the Balance Board they made last year.
Then they ran in the house for their clipboards and pencil crayons.
It was about an hours worth of sitting in the sunshine and sketching. Despite the lack of wildlife, Miss O came up with a drawing and nicknames for her animals.
When I write up a weeks worth of projects, I come into Monday knowing full well that I'm kidding myself if I believe that we will tackle everything I've written down. After breakfast, on most given mornings, two out of three are already deep in a game of imaginary play, writing a book, drawing some sketches, planning something to sew, building with Tegu. If we're headed out, I ask them to put the activities on hold. If we have 'morning lesson' I have to hold myself back from interrupting their very important work. It takes every ounce of me to resist pushing the projects I have planned, in place of the work they feel is important to them. This is where I remind myself the reason I am keeping them home; to develop interests of their own and work at their own pace.
Because Miss O is now clearly school age, more people are curious why she is with me during the day.
The majority of those people ask how I know what to teach.
I do not.
The kids do.
When I push a subject they have no interest in, it's very clear.
When we're doing work they are immersed in, the learning comes naturally.
It's really a no-brainer.
But it's scary for people who trust that others know best.
They have moments of doing nothing and I test myself not to fill the void.
Nothing is healthy. Nothing is not done enough in this day and age.
Within an hour, they have created something, picked up a book, made up a game, worked out an argument, gathered food from the garden, made themselves a snack.
Some mornings my 'lesson' runs flawlessly.
Most mornings, I come to terms with the fact that I am their student and always will be.
Take a backseat and watch the learning unfold.
EXPAND ON UNSCHOOLING
The Reality. A Day in the Life. You would be amazed at how naturally motivated kids can be. http://happinessishereblog.com/2017/09/reality-unschooling-day-life/