Beyond Unschooling

If you've been a reader of this blog for some time, you'll know that our main approach to owlet learning and living has been through unschooling. We've always followed their lead, since they were very small. Aside from that little moment of Steiner kindergarten for Big Owlet, we've just lived life and helped the owlets learn what they needed, when the needed. It's been beautiful and amazing, and a huge learning curve for us in observing and letting go and trusting that they will learn when and what they need. We wouldn't have it any other way.

As we stepped into last year, however, the owlets asked for more. They felt they wanted a plan mapped out for them. They wanted to learn more, explore more. And they wanted to work. Big Owlet was particularly keen to see where she was at and if she was on par with the peers that she knew at that Steiner kindy so many moons ago. But she was also adamant that she didn't want to go to school. She loves the freedom we have at home. Loves the ease and convenience of being where everything she loves and needs is, all day. All the owlets do - who doesn't?

So we set about finding structure and work, but balancing it with freedom. And we arrived at Oak Meadow. We've been using the Oak Meadow curriculum for Big Owlet for almost a year now. Little Owlet has also darted around the grades, then taken some time to focus on gardening, and she's now back on board and into her third week of a new year. Tiny began puddling around with her own "special books" (Oakmeadow Kindergarten) half-way through last year and is now into week three of Grade One.  I spent the first three weeks of this year planning and finding extra resources and mapping out our year. We're all in and we have a daily rhythm and we're working hard on all the things every day. Who even are we? Essentially we're still following the owlets' lead... Unschooling with book guides? Haha! It feels like the same life, but with different hashtags.

So how did the owlets measure up? Well, there were a few new concepts that curriculum based learning introduced. We found that the writing component of the program was challenging - there's so much writing! So we've been working through slowly, picking and choosing. We began at a level that covered much of the history learning Big Owlet was after and she's now at exactly the same place as those Steiner kindy peers. Little Owlet needed a little extra time with hands on work before she felt like settling down to bookwork. Her spelling needed some help, so using a formal program has done wonders for her confidence. Both bigger owlets can read very well, despite very little input from us. It really has just happened with time, patience, lots of reading aloud on our part, and effort on their part. Maths… well there are quite a few concepts which the owlets hadn't encountered yet. But they learn new maths concepts extremely quickly, so with Khan academy and extra time chatting it through with Huz, we've got them covered. Science - well, the Owlets find all those unschooling years and the way we live, observing and exploring, mean they have a great grasp on nature and science.

The beauty of the Oak Meadow program is that from Grade 4 onward, it is written to the student, so the owlets can work somewhat autonomously. The program is rather extensive, so they pick and choose the projects that really appeal to them and we supplement with extra outings, books, films and performances. And some days we put it all aside because it's a perfect beach day and there's so much learning and living to be done there.

I'm so glad for our unschooling years. They mean we learn creatively and resourcefully. They mean that I don't stress over skipped days or push things that the Owlets don't find interesting or essential. They mean that I know we'll get to where we need to be eventually, trusting the process of living and learning, together in partnership. Whichever approach you take, and whatever you decide to call it, that's really what it should all be about, after all. That's where the real learning is.

How's your year going?

I'll be sharing a little more of our learning adventures, past and present, in weeks to come. 

Have a gorgeous week.

Much love, 

~ Lauren. xx

unschool monday :: celebrating the seasons :: beltane

I'm fortunate to have come from a family who celebrates. Any happy point on the calendar was always celebrated when I was growing up, and in style.  Food was an important part of our days, especially the ritual of celebrating the end of the day with a good meal and candles and conversation. It's something Huz and I have taken on happily, and we celebrate anything and everything. Such a great asset to pepper our unschooling days and take note of the seasons and events around us. One thing we've done in recent years is look to the seasons and nature and how other cultures and our ancestors might have celebrated them... Thus, when local children are wandering down the street, Trick or Treating, we are that family again. The ones who celebrate Beltane instead of Halloween. Who leave out offerings for the faeries instead of jack-o-lanterns... Well really, why would you celebrate death, endings and new beginnings where all around you is so fertile and abundant?



Every celebration is an opportunity to learn new things, start new traditions. Have lots of fun. And each time we celebrate, we revisit themes, keeping some traditions and finding new ones, as the owlets understanding of new concepts grows. We've always found the seasons perfect for strewing our paths with activities and concepts throughout our year in a beautiful, circular way...



So for our Betane celebration, we decorated everything in white and red, both symbols of male and female fertility. We filled every vase with flowers from the garden. We lit the fire and burned old paperwork. We placed a round cob of bread on the table, with our red and green salad and dinner... we drank red juice from wine glasses and adorned ourselves in willow wreaths. Beltane is a fantastic celebration of abundance and fertility, known well for rolling and frolicking in the woods, and this was not lost on the owlets who winked at me and Huz and cheered with much woo-hooing... We talked about what we had learned about Beltane, about religion and the changing seasons. We talked of the wonderful summer that lies ahead and our hopes and plans for it. Then we ate cake and danced with our full bellies until darkness fell and owlets headed for bed to dream...



I just wanted to thank all the regular linkup participants on Unschool Mondays. It is a delight to wander around your posts when I have a chance and it's so nice to find inspiration and meet like-minded friends there... Last week I loved reading about art club, a great kids book review resource, spooky stuff, storing art supplies, and thanksgiving preparations. It's well worth going back to last week's post and checking the links!

unschool monday :: mathletics

In the back of my mind, I have the thought of our next monitoring meeting with the home education advisory council. Although I'd rather not need to see it, I can see that Big Owlet is ticking boxes she's supposed to with literacy and doing it easily and all on her own. Numeracy is a little harder to account for as we don't have lots of evidence of her doing maths. I know she will work on things as she needs to and in her own time, but that's not an enormous help for registration purposes... 

She did go through a phase of sitting down to do a maths workbook, and she enjoyed it for a short while, which made things easy for me when it comes to accounting for her mathematical knowledge. She had a go at the Mathletics computer program which is used in loads of schools and by lots of home educators... But she found it boring. So repetitive! And the concepts didn't seem to lock in her head in a practical sense, although she answered the questions correctly. She was bluffing, as I had often done in my mathematical learning at school. In fact many basic concepts didn't appear to have stuck for her and I'm not sure how many hours of sitting at the computer playing Mathletics would be needed for them to sink in. Odd and even numbers, multiplication, division... She announced that she hated maths and didn't want to talk about it. It was bothering her and she seemed to be needing a nudge. Or perhaps something to encourage her to work with numbers confidently... 

So we asked the gardener to trim the lawn around the pavers out to the clothes line. As one naturally would in this situation. I added a bucket of chalk one day and we had an instant number line. Little Owlet counted pavers over and over, forwards and backwards. Big Owlet counted by twos, odds then evens. She counted by threes, fours, fives, sixes. Then she divided the total to work out how many groups of different numbers fit into it. 

She did it joyfully. And she has continued to most days this week. Odds and evens finally made sense to her, as we discovered on a walk to the rope swing. Then the mathematical concepts she needed to grasp to save and buy the Blythe doll of her dreams made absolute sense to her. Just like that! Little Owlet is loving numbers too. And numeracy is open for discussion in our house again.

unschool monday :: following + strewing

"Oh I could never home educate my daughter. She's so headstrong. She'd never listen to me..." This is one of the most common things people say to me when I tell them I home educate. I always find it amusing... Firstly, because I don't ask them why they don't home educate, but they feel compelled to offer justification. Secondly, because anyone who's ever met my owlets knows they're some of the most headstrong, determined kids you will meet. I could never make them listen to me. I could never teach them. Unless they specifically asked me to. So how do we fit everything in? How do we do it? Do we lead the way? Do we follow their lead?

Well, it's a little bit of both. A balance between following their lead and strewing the path for them. But always responding to a need. Sometimes if we sit back, brilliant stuff happens and they wander freely from one thing to the next. Other times, they need someone to point them in the right direction.

Last week, Big Owlet decided she wanted to camp. On her own. Outside. Reluctantly, we set the tent up, suspecting she may be inside before dark. But no. She took all her bits and pieces, rugged up in layers, and snuggled down for the night. It was a really cold night! We didn't sleep a wink, thinking of our small girl out there all alone. She slept better than ever, emerging to tell me of roosters in the neighbourhood, bandicoots around the tent and bush wees at dawn, under the lemon tree... That's my Big Owlet. Headstrong. Determined. She was afraid, but she needed to do this. And with our trust and support, she did.



We left the tent up for a couple of days and it became a feature of owlet play. It became known as the "Funfair Spectacular... Its Miracula!" (not actual spelling). There was a face painting booth, and inside, a music performance space. A Spiegeltent in my own backyard!



They played there ALL DAY. They wrote signs, devised a ticketing system and currency to pay for the attractions. They role played. Performed music... It was a brilliant exercise in saying yes and following their lead. Beginning with camping. Just going with the flow.



Then yesterday, the owlets were a bit weary. They watched some programs on iView, then proceeded to melt down when we suggested they stop, as they usually do when they've become vegetables early in the day. I asked Little Owlet why she couldn't find something to do. Why all she could think of doing was watching... "Because I don't know what to do, Mama!" She pleaded. Ahhh... this made sense. Strewing hat ON!



We started with the art cupboard. Pulling out the paints. Big Owlet muddled around and didn't know where to start. Then something sparked in my brain about a blog post on Altered Books. An unschooled girl Big Owlet knows and likes has been making some. So I showed her and we checked out some youtube clips for inspiration. We also checked out Lap Books, which are a tool some home schooling families use, but we deemed them to schooly. I showed her an old visual journal of mine which is similar to an altered book in apperance. Big Owlet decided altered books are the go... Then we found an old book each and off we went! An hour of fun, and learning there, at least, to begin with.



Later, I was lying down, feeding Tiny Owlet to sleep, when I stumbled across the next activity in my Twitter feed... LEGO Quest. Fantastic! I loaded up the website, ready to show them if they needed some more direction. Lo and behold, 15 minutes later, "Mama, I'd like to watch now..." So I showed them.

And they loved the idea! They built a garden. Then they went back to the art books.  Then they pulled out boxes and more LEGO and they were unstoppable! In the zone! Thank goodness... Back to following their lead.



At dinner that night, Little Owlet said "you know, Mama. I think art is really wonderful. Making art makes me happy". Me too. She's at it again this morning. Big Owlet has already solved another mystery we set for her and she's wanting to learn about art too. Yesterday's strewing has lead to a whole new path of learning for her today... and so we follow their lead.