Some would consider us a Homeschooling Family, others get more specific and say Unschooling. I like to say we just opted out of formalized education. But did we opt out of education? Not at all, instead we are maximizing it.
You can find the seeds of our beginning in the things that brought my husband and I together: a desire to learn about how things work, PBS, NPR, making gifts instead of buying something from a store, sitting in on lectures, live concerts, impromptu jam sessions, scrabble & other word games, scientific & cultural magazines, experiencing foods and customs from friends of other cultures, and the list goes on. And experiencing them with our kids on our shoulders, on their own feet beside us, or on my breast has been the most natural transition in the world.
I guess we have been homeschooling, uh since the first time we taught our firstborn that the sun was a star, or explained what recycling was or how when two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom hold hands they make a WATER molecule.
Our home has gracefully transitioned into a lab, studio, concert hall and nature center by creating science projects, painting and sculpting, making our own musical instruments, and even raising silkworms from eggs to moths to reclaiming the “peace” silk (unlike commercial silk productions that boils them alive in their cocoons).
Our daughters are being raised in an empowering lifestyle that encourages them to believe that their voice and ideas warrant attention and respect. We encourage them to believe that they are a vital part of their community, well many communities. And we teach them to question figures in authority. Yes, that means their parents too! At ages 5 and 2, they have a better sense of self than most 30 year olds. As their parents, we are working hard to safeguard these “citizenship rights” so they do not have to lose them as children in order to reclaim them later in life.
To a family that is forever learning, exploring, and figuring out how things work every excursion is a hotbed of educational excitement. A trip to the gas station, well especially one like Helios House, the greenest oxymoron in LA, offers a peek into “how to” be environmental conscious. It is never too early to explain how our resources are indeed limited. Except for love and compassion, most things are.
This is a living honeybee hive at LA's National Museum of History's annual Bug Faire.
This weekend we went to a Bug Faire, a Renaissance Faire and a Fiddler and Banjo Faire. Each served up immeasurable fun, tons of insight and all sorts of spaces and places for tactile learning. At the Ren Faire we watched candles come to life and got to help weave on a loom and spin wool into yarn. At the Bug faire we were greeted by people dressed as a Giant Monarch and a Giant Luna Moth and witnessed the life cycles of spiders, butterflies, moths, and beetles. At Topanga’s 49th Banjo/Fiddler fair, we learned how to make music on a handsaw and how to identify the sound of both a Stand-up Bass and Banjo with our eyes closed.
…….At all of these great events, my family actively participated in workshops, dances and edible experiments. We shared our experiences and opinions with others, breeding tolerance and new neighbors. The world shined on our experiences.
This is our lifestyle of learning alongside our world. I hope with this blog to not only introduce parts of our amazing world with a simplicity that broadens our awareness of that world with joy and ease, but also open a billion points of light onto how learning is indeed fun if we all participate, listen to each other and find the answers to questions we conceive of together.
From one parent to another – “You do not have to know everything to teach your children.” On the contrary, by learning alongside each other, even more lessons are subtly passed on: resourcefulness, humility, passion. Your children will adore you more to see you with out the answer. Find it on the internet together, or bone up on something that week before you present it. By learning alongside each other we all get to be proud, courageous and empowered.
It is because I have faith in my children, my support circle and myself that an entirely new world has unfolded for me…far different than the one I craftily avoided in my youth. As I see it, I am adding possibility and ingenuity (and loads of fun), to the love and intent my parents had for me in my childhood. My childhood was miles better than what I know of theirs, and now I get to do the same for my children.
But don’t do it all for the children. It has to work for you FAMILY. That includes your needs. Everyone’s needs are a priority. And that list will change annually, monthly or daily. Because if the members of your family aren’t smiling the majority of the time, it’s time to make some changes. And if all else fails, just try to have fun.
(*I will be reading this for inspiration later, I just know it!)