a week at our house

When I first heard about "unschooling," one of the things I was most curious about is what an unschooling family would actually do all day. I mean, if the kids are not going to school, and they are not doing a "school-at-home" type of curriculum, how do they spend their time?

What I found out was that unschooling looks different for every family. And unschooling looks different at different stages of a child's development. There's no one right way to do it. What I think most unschoolers would have in common is the desire to allow their kids the freedom to direct their own learning. Instead of being told by a school system when and how to learn "science," for example, an unschooler would learn "science" by exploring their interests. For my kids right now (at age 5 and 3), that means any of the following: observing animals in our backyard and documenting them with photos, looking at things through a microscope, googling anything and everything, watching a video of a paramecium, playing with a human body iPad app, visiting the dinosaur exhibit at Science World, watching dinosaur documentaries, reading book after book about dinosaurs, learning the names of dozens of dinosaurs, guessing whether an object will sink or float and then trying it out, going outside at night to look at stars, etc, etc. The list is endless. And the kids wouldn't tell you that they are "learning science." They are just playing, and doing things that interest them.

I don't tell them what to do every day. I don't have any "learning outcomes." I don't require them to read a certain number of books per week, or write a certain number of journal entries. I don't expect them to read by a certain age, know fractions by a certain age, handwrite by a certain age. I am not a teacher. I would consider myself a facilitator. I provide them with materials, I let them explore, I help them when they want me to. If there's something I think they might be interested in, I make suggestions. But if they aren't interested in what I suggest, I am willing to drop it. And even though I don't test them or grade them, I know they are learning, because I get to see it every day. Ella can read. Liam can use critical thinking to figure out how a rat might have died in the backyard. Ella can do addition and subtraction problems in her "math journal." Liam can write most of the alphabet. Ella can write about exciting things she did in her journal. (Even right now, as I type, I can hear Ella telling Liam, "My heart pumps my blood. And my lungs are right here, and they breathe.") The best part is that it is SO rewarding to see them actually choosing to do all of these things.

Mostly, though (since they are only 3 and 5), we play. Because at the end of each and every day, no matter where we've been or how much cool stuff we've done, when you ask my kids, "What was your favourite part of the day?" they always answer, "PLAYING!" And playing = learning, but more on that later.

But if you want to know what an actual unschooling week looks like, here is a typical week for us. Remember, though, that every family is different, every week is different, and our learning right now is appropriate for young kids so it will change as the kids grow. But this list can give you a general idea. It is taken from the informal journal that I keep for myself, so I can track what we're doing and what the kids are learning. Not because I am required to, but because I am curious to see how much my kids actually learn (because, after all, we are very new to this whole unschooling thing, and I want to make sure it works...so far so good). I don't write down everything they do, but I do make note of the activities that have the potential for some sort of learning to happen (of course, learning can happen anytime, and probably most of their learning happens through play when I'm not even around to see it). So here is what we did last week:

SUNDAY

• Ella & Liam helped to dig up weeds and rake the yard.
• Ella & Liam discovered earthworms in the backyard, and spent lots of time observing and holding them.
• Ella read a few books to Liam and me.
• Ella & Liam had a bedtime story.

MONDAY

• We went to the grocery store, and took Gavin for his first haircut.
• Ella & Liam played in the backyard.
• We went to the playground.
• We went for a walk around the neighbourhood.
• Ella & Liam had bedtime stories.

TUESDAY

• Ella read some books to me.
• Ella tried for quite some time to blow up a balloon.
• Ella went to ballet class.
• Liam looked at lots of books and told me stories to go with the pictures.
• Ella & Liam helped Joel fix his bike, and explored the garage.
• Ella & Liam had a bedtime story.

WEDNESDAY

• Ella finished the sudoku puzzle she had started a few days ago.
• We looked through all the photos of the backyard wildlife, used the internet to identify all the animals and learn a bit about them, and had the photos printed.
• Ella read a book in English and French.
• Ella & Liam made up a game in which jumping to different spots gives you different numbers of points, which equal different prizes.
• We built a fort in the playroom.
• We played Lego.
• Ella & Liam had a bedtime story.

THURSDAY

• We picked up the animal photos, and went to the grocery store.
• Ella & Liam helped me make an ice cream cake.
• Ella & Liam put the animal photos onto posterboard and wrote the names of the animals beside each of them.
• Ella & Liam had a bedtime story.

FRIDAY

• Ella did a whole sudoku puzzle.
• Ella & Liam presented their animal posters to the family that came over for dinner; they named and talked about the different animals.
• Ella & Liam had a bedtime story.

SATURDAY

• Ella went to the garden centre with her grandma, and then helped her plant the flowers.
• Liam played with the learning computer.
• Liam and I went to the playground.
• Ella & Liam had a bedtime story.