what i love about unschooling....

alright, i want to write about what i love about unschooling.... but that leaves me thinking maybe a definition would be helpful... check out the below blog for more info on what unschooling is...

http://cottonwoodjournal.blogspot.com/search/label/unschooling

home-schooling is school-at-home; parent is teacher; child is student
curriculum and books hold prescribed information to be taught and absorbed by student.

unschooling is living, growing, doing
LIFE is the curriculum
unschooling is a life full of learning from living....
child is learner; parent is learner


What i Love About Unschooling...


i love.....
having time to be with my kids
friendship with my kids
we have freedom!...
to stay up and sleep late
days organically growing
we have time to learn how to live peacefully
indulging in messy creating AND messy learning



i love...
that it is my privilege to support their learning by....
holding back and watching
by loving them
by sharing in delightful curiosity...
and discovery
i get to hear all their great questions and ponderings!



i love...
that my kids go to bed when they are tired,
and seek out nutritious food when they are hungry...
read books because it is fun!



i love the absence of power struggles!



i love...
moments when they take on HUGE projects with HUGE confidence
and own their HUGE feelings of success



i love...
that my kids are motivated to do and learn from the inside
because they understand how learning relates to their life



i love their willing spirits....



i love....
that my kids have formed friendships with people of all ages
being witness to their learning and growth



i love...
our togetherness
spirituality
creativity



so much free time...
to meditate
play music
share
take in the wind, sun, and rain

...to take in the beauty of sharing childhood with my children...



i love...
when they say 'thanks'
because the feeling is mutual
;)

feeling high on the sun

where i live it is usually some shade of grey outside, sometimes throw some fog in for good measure, or rain. so after 9 months of grey the sun has finally shown up to do it's thing. and it's hard to not feel down-right high on the blue skies. this is the first year i've gotten caught up in gardening, i have dabbled in it here and there, but this year i am actually interested in it. growing food and herbs...mmm...


it all started with setting up a privacy screen in our backyard, we couldn't afford a fence so my dad built a frame and we hung fabric (think kinda like curtains)... anyways, it's cute, and now we can hang out in our tiny backyard and feel like we are in OUR yard, not our neighbors ;)...
then my friend gave me some herbs and tomato plants.... and well, it grew from there...


now i'm having these day-dreams of staining the cement pad terracotta, and building a small fountain or pond... really therapeutic, has me thinking i was meant to live somewhere warm...


for the next three months, i get to be warm, my body feeling good, my kids feeling cheerful and happy to play outdoors, all of us in bare feet... i think that's how it was meant to be, bare feet-feeling the earth....


one awesome side effect of this beautiful sun is that it makes it easier to go with the flow...



to be more patient as my son struggles to "do-it-himself"... or to accept being late getting some place... to move slower... to overlook the mess and play outside instead... for all of us to stay up, until we fall asleep... to eat popsicles before lunch... to visit the water park in our play clothes...to just BE......


it would be amazing if this flow could carry over to the rest of the year... maybe it can...


.... looking forward to time spent in the back, creating music with friends.... cant think of anything more groovy than that feeling.... connecting with sound, with rhythm.... past the beginning stages when everyone is conscious of their voices.... deep into the freedom of creating....

think i might do some of that today....

in hope that Super-woman will disappear.... or get real

Super-woman... who is she? in the 50's she was the housewife. beautiful. perfect. perfect mother, wife, and house. perfect cook. and her perfect babies were bottle fed. and slept in perfect little cribs-all night. and her perfect husband made the money. and life was perfectly blissful for Super-woman.
Since then, things have changed, right? for better? for worse? who is today's Super-woman?
some would say she is well-educated, independent, liberated, strong, fulfilled, determined. and dont forget, she is also a good wife, house keeper, and loving mother. the message is: go to school, as much school as you need to make a good living, so you won't have to be dependent on a man. and also, dont forget to: meet the right man, get married, make babies, breastfeed. and so Super-woman goes after the dreams....

but what if i don't want to 'do' school? ... what if i am an artist, or musician?.... then i wont be living up to the liberated dream... and the Super-woman of the world will look down on me for my falling short...
and what if i have babies before i am educated, liberated? ... am i to feel bad for bringing and raising life? Should i still go to school after having my baby? should i give my baby over to daycare so i can live the Super-dream? should i feel guilty if i do? guilty if i don't?
and what if i don't want to get married? don't want to have babies? don't want to care for a home and family? Surely, i am Super-failing. i should beat myself up for it.....

and while i'm at it, i should also look as young, healthy, and sexy as possible.

i'm scratching my head, trying to figure out how i am supposed to raise a daughter when these are among the many unhealthy messages we, as a culture feed into. this is the gold standard. this is the supposed Super-path to Super-happy. i don't know anyone who IS all the things listed above. i do know a lot of Super-people, they are REAL people. real women. they have dreams, and flaws, and wants and needs that are real, and personal. they have ups and downs. and some of them went to a lot of school, and some didn't, and they are married and single and with and without children. and they are all doing their best. and for some reason "Super" gives us a reason to beat ourselves up, and to beat each other up... with all the "shoulds" and all the "judgments."
but lets not forget, we as women also have to endure all kinds of abuses, assumptions.... even as children... and no one wants to admit that it is so common... and then, somehow we are supposed to just be okay, and we seem to expect everyone else to just be okay too.... better than okay... we must be Super. Super-woman makes it okay to tear each other down;
but the Real Super-women i know are loving and forgiving...

my hope is that Super-woman, the mythical creature we've been describing, will disappear so that Real-Women can stop failing to measure up to her mythical Super-standards, and i and my daughter and her generation can be free... or else Super-woman could Get Real! she could be re-invented! with strengths and flaws! ups and downs! she could be forgiving and loving.... and joyful! she could be an artist... or single, or married... she could be a mother who still has an identity of her own... she could have cellulite! she could have times when she needs help and support from her friends and family... she could be humble enough to ask for help and accept it...
she could be powerful, and gifted, and honest... able to do so much in her own way; but not in all ways.... just like most of us are.... and i think that needs to be okay.

so there is my ra-ra-ra for women! because i know a lot of Real-Super women! and they are gifted, and beautiful, and supportive... and i am thankful to know all of them, to have them in my life... and i am thankful that my daughter is growing up with so many fantastic REAL Super-women in her life!!... just thought you all should know...