Life learning

Although we haven't "officially" begun homeschooling yet, I find myself increasingly convinced that unschooling is the path we will follow. I'm still reading about all the various options - the boy hasn't even turned three yet - but unschooling already feels like such a natural extension of our life that it's hard to imagine taking a more formal approach to his education.

One of the things I most love about the idea of homeschooling is the opportunity for learning to be a joy rather than a chore. Learning should be organic, living, one question leading to the next, not the formulaic teaching I remember from my days in public school. Unschooling lends itself so well to instilling both a hunger to learn and an ability to seek answers to one's questions.

There is so much to learn and life itself provides endless opportunities to discover new things. I am amazed at the sheer number of things the boy and I discuss from even the most basic of experiences. Going outside to throw a ball yesterday resulted in a chain of questions and answers that explored terrain, gravity, force, and how cars work. Simply baking a batch of cookies covers, at increasingly complex intervals, counting, sorting, comparing, measuring, sensing (touch, feel, smell), fractions, reactions, experimentation, and more. This week's trip to the library has us reading about apples, pigs, horses, maps, counting, and the alphabet. Placing some bulk purchases into glass jars had us identifying various nuts and seeds, and closing the jars provided a natural exercise in physical manipulation. Opening and closing the domino set requires learning to use a latch, while playing with the dominoes themselves is an amazingly rich natural learning experience.

And then there's reading! There is so much to be gained from good children's fiction. Even at this young age, the difference I've found when reading him quality literature versus “twaddle” has led me to agree with C.S. Lewis: “No book is really worth reading at the age of ten which is not equally worth reading at the age of fifty.”

I won't entirely rule out a more classical approach at this time, and most likely we will end up being rather eclectic, taking bits and pieces from various homeschooling methods and philosophies. But I think that our early years, at least, will simply allow life to be the teacher.