Who's Learning More Here? Me or the Kids?

We started unschooling the kids 3 weeks ago and honestly I have kind of felt like I haven't done anything to teach them about much of anything. The whole unschooling thing is hard for all of us to completely grasp. We haven't had a day where we just sat down and did any studying or book work. I was feeling like I was letting the kids down. Over the weekend I bought some multiplication flashcards for Ezie and Mallory and some ABC flashcards for Jace. The kids and I decided last night that we would have a reading time everyday because although I enjoy reading I NEVER do it. Ezie avoids reading at all costs and Mallory reads pretty much everyday. So Mallory was really excited about the multiplication flash cards because she said she is TERRIBLE at math. She always got a "B" in math in school......terrible isn't it! Jace was very excited to practice his letters and he only forgot 4-5 of his abc's. Then this afternoon we sat down and took turns reading outloud the first chapter of the book "Hollywood Hogan", obviously Ezie picked the book out this week.

So, who learned more over the last few days?

1. I learned that math comes to Ezie so easy and not so easily to Mallory.
2. I learned that Ezie, although very quiet, is a very good reader.
3. I learned that Mallory and Ezie work together to figure out the words that they don't know.
4. I learned that Jace loves to do everything that Ezie and Mallory do.
5. I learned that the kids love for me to spend time with them.
6. I learned that they don't really like to be on the computer unless there with a me or each other.
7. I learned that they are learning everyday even without me sitting down and being "a teacher" to them.
8. I also learned that Hulk Hogan, as confident an obnoxious as he seems, really doubts himself sometimes. Who new?

We have done crafts, watched movies and discussed them, talked about racism and prejudice, talked about history, cuddled a lot more, cooked together, worked together on taking care of Jace and Anthony, started each of the kids a Facebook page, done some cleaning and organizing, and just spent some quality time together.

Tonight I was reading a new blog/site that I discovered a couple of weeks ago called the Insightful Nana. Kathy Griffiths has all kinds of tips and advice on family, cooking, home and garden, and fun things. Today she reminded her readers of the movie Dead Poet's Society with Robin Williams playing the role of an English teacher, John Keating.


I saw part of this movie several years ago and always liked it, but never remembered how much I liked it. Kathy reminded us of how Keatings got on top of his desk and encouraged his students to "Look at the World Differently". By standing on his desk he did see the world from a different view. I think that unschooling is making me look at my own kids from a different view and that they are beginning to look at learning from a different view.




Now if I haven't lost you, Kathy, the Insightful Nana, has a video on her site called If the World had a 100 People In It by John Chow. It is a wonderful little video that shows a different view of the world. It is worth watching!

The Insightful Nana is also encouraging that starting on Friday bloggers tell about people who are making a difference in their families, neighborhoods and communities. She is calling this "Only the Good Friday". It is a way to spread the Goodness and pass it on. If you would like to join in be sure and go to Kathy's site and add your name to her list by leaving a comment. My sister Cathy does something similiar to this every week on her blog. Cathy writes down the things in her life that are special to her that we normally take for granted. Cathy also has some wonderful insight, like Kathy Griffiths on life in general. Sometimes I forget what a wonderful and super duper smart sister I have!

We are an Unschooling Family as of Today!

Last Thursday Ezie and Mallory finished up school in Rensselaer and as of today we are "unschoolers". I'm very new at this, but my sister Cathy is an expert so I'll be visiting her unschooling blog , Born to Learn .... Free to Learn, a lot for advice and information. It's going to take the kids awhile to adjust to not sitting down and doing school work everyday and me awhile to having them around 24-7, but I think it will all work and be fun in the long run!

Mallory is very interested in learning about Black History and The Underground Railroad so I bought a couple of movies, Sounder and Race to Freedom: The Story of the Underground Railroad. We'll be doing some stuff on this topic and Ezie wants to find out how a huge ship can be steered by the one little wheel that the captain moves around. That should be interesting too!

Jace is going to love having the kids home all the time now. He learns so much from them. The kids are great at playing with him and Mallory is a born teacher. Jace's language improves so much everyday and he is getting more and more social. He isn't nearly as shy and withdrawn as he used to be.

Today, we are going to learn organizational skills and start unpacking and organizing the tons of stuff we moved over the weekend (we're finally done moving!!! Yay!!). This will be an on going project because, I kid you not, there is literally a ton of junk to go through. We are working towards organizing for a big garage sale this summer. The kids are going to help sort, price and sale stuff and then donate what doesn't sale. They are excited about the whole thing.

So I think our new adventure will be great for all of us! It will definitely be a learning experience for me as well as the kids and a great chance for all of us to reconnect as a family.