To unschool, you begin with your child's interests. If she's interested in birds, you read—or browse, toss aside, just look at the pictures in—books on birds, watch videos on birds, talk about birds, research and build (or buy) bird feeders and birdhouses, keep a journal on birds, record and ponder their behavior, search the web for items about birds, go to bird sanctuaries, draw birds, color a few pictures in the Dover Birds of Prey coloring book, play around with feathers, study Leonardo DaVinci's drawings of flying machines that he based on birds, watch Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds."
But DON'T go whole hog on this. Gauge how much to do and when by your child's reactions. Let her say no thanks. Let her choose. Let her interest set the pace. If it takes years, let it take years. If it lasts an hour, let it last an hour.
photo by Catherine Hassall
That's a gecko, in Mount Molloy, Queensland. I started to write about the photo, but decided to quote Joyce.
ReplyDeleteLook at it though! The only thing "in color" is the gecko, and the rest is all white, but because of the lighting it doesn't seem so.
I didn't label it woodwork or building or architecture, but it's interesting in those ways, too. I tagged it "creature, light, shadow."
In response to the post above, someone sent this note:
ReplyDelete_______
I just want to say thanks again. We discovered unschooling and Sandra 20 years ago. My kids are grown now but I still read these posts to help me stay interested and interesting in my life today. Unschooling definitely changed my life.