A LIttle "unschooling"...

Around the time I started researching some of the ways to homeschool, I recall learning about "unschooling". "What is this?" I began reading about the term and discovered there are virtually limitless ways you can learn without "learning". 

Homeschooling is not just school at home. It is a way for our own children to learn at their own pace and in the comforts and protection of the family home (or co-op) without the rigorous stressors of public school. Today, we began our once-a-quarter "unschooling" week.  

This morning, I woke up, made a double mocha cappuccino, turned on some Native American flute music (yes, we are winding down our last week fo Native American History), and grabbed the remote, but not to veg out like you might think. Since July, I had this week planned. It was going to kick off without a hitch and we were going to "unschool" like crazy! 

I knew we would be ending our unit study this week, so I made sure to include searches for Native American films and documentaries. I also reserved several Native American books from the library, as well as a Native American Signs and Signals book. That took care of the unit study for the week. 

But what about math, writing, science, or language arts? Enter the wonderful Roku device and our Netflix subscription. 

Searching for a few titles I was able to score big on shows for the kids to watch and learn without them knowing they are learning. With five kids, someone is bound to enjoy some part of it, and they all love to watch television. But not just watching, they would write a reflection after each show -- and that is writing. They would learn about the vast caves of the world and create a short story about one -- that's writing, grammar, and language. They would watch TedTalks about Rad Inventions and Head Games of psychology - That's science! Then, to see how numbers affect lives, an episode of Num8ers would surely captivate them. What about Brain Game? Of course! Health? How about a documentary called Food, Inc? Absolutely! 

Learning doesn't always have to be textbooks, worksheets, lap books, and spelling - learning should be fun, relative to the real world, and captivate their attention. When asking how the kids enjoyed the day, they replied, "...and we are doing this ALL WEEK?!" 

As I sipped my cappuccino, I simply smiled and nodded. They cheered! 
To see a sample lesson plan of an unschooling day at Evans Homeschool Academy, click here. 

Until next time, 
LaVonda

Read my more recent post, A Little More Unschooling, Please! 

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