unschool monday :: this is how we roll

It's been a little while since I updated exactly what a day looks like in our nest. A home day. One of those ones where we just wander and let the day flow over us... Actually, I find the happiest days around here require a little nudging along to keep things fresh and relaxed. Not a plan as such, but most certainly a gentle rhythm, which I have talked about before... Quiet home days can turn into a day in front of the screen, for all of us... Or I can get distracted by the million and one things to do and somehow the day ends up in a big mess. Winter days can be like that and while the screen can be helpful and lots of fun for all of us, when we are not getting so much outdoor time, I find the energy becomes a little stale and angsty. So we look to a rhythm and I assume the role of gentle nudger... Kind of like the sun keeping all my planets in orbit...

Big Owlet has always responded to a plan. She loves being surprised with a whole bunch of activities carefully designed just for her. Then she reserves the right to reject said plans... I'm getting to a point now where I can almost predict where she's wanting to go and I've been quite amused to observe that she's kept fairly on track with her peers at the Steiner school she started out at, choosing topics of interest and working on things at a similar time. This year she's all about building, which happens to be what they do in grade three at most Waldorf/Steiner schools. So with this in mind, I have a loose waldorfy curriculum sitting in a file on the computer for those days where we need some nudging. We'll use it for a prompt if things get stale and talk about what's in the pages, then explore it in our own unschooly way, if we feel like it. In the picture above, the owlets are working together to build a lego treehouse, a model that we might replicate and build in the garden in the warmer months.

Little Owlet is happy to join in and work on whatever Big Owlet is doing, but in her own playful way. I see now why so many home educators pitch their learning at the eldest child and the younger children join in. When Little Owlet tires of what we are doing, she dives back into that play world of hers and drags Tiny Owlet along for the ride....

Of course, there are days where we're all just feeling like doing not much aside from going with the flow of the day and seeing where it leads. That's the great freedom of Unschooling that I love most. Sometimes these days are the best. Somedays they end up in a great big ball of chaos. On those days, I remember that I'm the sun and pull everything back to that slow, gentle rhythm. We'll all tidy up a bit and sit down to afternoon tea and breathe for a moment before preparing for the evening. Somehow conversation flows and peace falls upon our nest and the week rolls on...

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I must confess, I've been a terrible linkup hostess the past couple of weeks... a holiday and the beginning of a new business will do that, I suppose. I have lots of catching up to do reading all the amazing blogs that have linked up here over the past few weeks! Looking forward to it! Do join in if you can, or enjoy reading along when you have a chance. There's a wealth of insight and inspiration shared on Unschool Mondays!