Watching “Unschooling” Work is Such a Trip.
Getting ready for dinner. Isaiah requests his crayons and some paper. He’s been getting more into drawing and writing lately. I figured he wanted to draw some pictures, which had me elated. He put down the YouTube video he was watching, and began to scratch some designs on the paper.
Without prompting, he began to write down numbers and addition problems with question marks, quizzing my wife. When she would purposefully guess the wrong answer, he’d grab a new sheet of paper and write down the problem again, this time revealing the answer.
I haven’t tried to get him into “maths.”It’s not “educational.” It has meaning to him, and he’s excited about exploring and mastering this meaning. The knowledge is his. He is CREATING, exploring, and discovering it afresh, FOR HIMSELF. And it’s connected to real meaning in his life. It’s not a “subject,” but just a natural and totally interconnected part of life itself.
This is very exciting stuff, and this is what unschooling is all about. Fuck “school.” Let’s get into meaning.
We celebrated his discoveries and correct answers and I gave him a big hug. He was smiling from ear to ear, and nearly jumping up and down. THIS IS HIGHLY EXCITING TO CHILDREN! MASTERING NEW KNOWLEDGE AND CONCEPTS!
This is the real joy of learning, which is really simply the joy of being alive and engaging with this fascinating world around us.
~KafkA
Graham Smith is a Voluntaryist activist, creator, and peaceful parent residing in Niigata City, Japan. Graham runs the "Voluntary Japan" online initiative with a presence here on Steem, as well as DLive and Twitter. (Hit me up so I can stop talking about myself in the third person!)
You have a lot of patience and persistence to "unschooled' your kids. Although I with you with how the school system is messed up, I honestly don't have the patience to homeschool my kid. What was your turning point to focus much on "unschooling?"
That's so cool. My little boy is getting interested in 'maths' too. School makes maths a hated subject and so disjointed from real life. Learning about it in real life gives it real meaning.
I love hearing about your unschooling journey. It's great when we can 'see' the learning.
Yes! Thanks for this excellent comment. Nice to know you and half to follow you here now.
cool!
the same is with my boy - i never forced him to study numbers )he will be 3 years old only soon, but he wanted to do it by himself, and now askes me to ask him where what number is in his cards-))
everyhting has its time in kids development, so no need to force our kids, they're wiser than we're because they follow their own nature.
YES!
that's it exactly learning is meant to be fun, and for kids who are allowed to learn at their own pace and in their own way that is actually what happens, that's one of the best things you can give your child is the freedom to teach themselves x
So cool man, its the only way we can shift things if we resist our little ones becoming indoctrinated!
Good on you, man!
The reason why the education machine was invented was solely for control and to churn out workers not thinkers...
Namaste, JaiChai
Man, this subject is fascinating to me and to see it in action more so.
Do you have a method for introducing kids systematically to new subjects in a way that seems natural to them even though it was planned?
Like if he saw a particular painting that intrigued him and you discover there's an exhibit coming to town, would you take him? Or do you purely let things happen naturally.
Thanks for the posts man, it's cliche but true: children are the future 😉😉
Oh, yes! The whole idea is I’m just a guide and supplier of resources as he shows interest/needs them.
Thanks for the great question and commentary.
OK! What about this? Say he shows an interest in airplanes but has never heard about space travel?
Thanks for answering my questions by the way. This is just so foreign to me haha
That’s fine. If he’s not interested in space travel, he’s not interested in space travel. However, an interest in planes will always make one aware of space travel, by default, somehow. Reading, talking about, and riding on planes, space travel/rockets/space shuttles are gonna pop up. That’s the beauty of freedom. The interconnectedness.
Alright, nice one. Well I look forward to more Posts like thus one bro. Thanks again!
Good to see your child enjoying his childhood with these lovely things arts crayon paper may God bless you both 😊 little graham and u
Thanks, and you as well, @hassanabid.
It's always cool watching children create things !
Kids brain are much powerful than adults and learn quickly and fast as we know.