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Dawnie
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What does unschooling look like in your family?
So you set aside time for learning everyday? Or do you just try to practice being fully present to your dc all the time so you can help them follow their interests? Or do you do something totally different?
Just wondering about the logistics of unschooling...what a "typical" day looks like...
Dawn
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rm4mrfrus
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Watching this thread as I am wondering too.
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Hollee married to dh in 94,
ds(96), dd(97), ds(00), ds(02), ds(03) and dd(05)
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ladybugs
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There were alot of factors that led us to unschooling many years ago.
Currently, we do have some basics that we do - math and journaling, but alot of our unschooling is the strewing of items - currrent events, ideas that we garner either through reflection or conversation, trips to the library, books we share.
This has been our desired schedule for the past two weeks but we've contracted colds and coughs so we were only able to implement the first day....
I wake early for quiet prayer time.
I wake the kids at 7:15.
We go to 8:00 Mass.
After, we take cereal or breakfast food to the park. The kids play and I walk two miles and pray.
Back to the house around 11:00 - 11:30.
Chores and lunch.
After lunch, we do our "let's dos" as Leonie calls them. Math and journaling. Around 3:00 - 3:30, free time - after dinner we get ready for bed and then have story time - we read from The Story of the World, currently, and various stories from the library.
Alot of times, art and science just happen though making things for others and spending time together - sewing, cooking...sometimes, a DVD from the library....
Hope that helps!
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Maria P
My etsy store - all proceeds go to help my fencing daughters!
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rm4mrfrus
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Maria, How old are your dd's if I may ask?
This sounds like what happens at our house very often....I have lots of intentions and plans, but often we just get basics done even though I find that they are still learning things from the books and such that we leave around....hmmm....I see I am going to be looking into this even more! 
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Hollee married to dh in 94,
ds(96), dd(97), ds(00), ds(02), ds(03) and dd(05)
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ladybugs
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Hollee,
My girls are...drumroll....
Isabella will be 10 on March 5,
Juliana will be 9 on March 1,
Sophia is 7 and our only boy (so far!) is
Joseph and he is 6.....
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Maria P
My etsy store - all proceeds go to help my fencing daughters!
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JodieLyn
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I think a lot of unschooling is very simliar to how many preschools are set up.. you fill the house with good things for the kids to use and then let them do stuff as they want to do it.
We use a math curriculum.. as much because I couldn't keep up with kids asking for math problems to do on paper as anything. We usually try and work in math in the mornings.. but I'm just as likely to see the kids grab their workbook after dinner to do some math for fun as any other time.
We work on reading with the kids that can't read on their own yet. I also have a good bit of our resources for that out where the kids can grab those.. kids will bring adults the books as often as the adults get the kids.
I do have a reading through history book list.. but right now that's mostly reading stuff outloud.. so it's just our afternoon/evening reading time.
It's more recognizing that learning happens all day long.. in work and in play.. rather than having to set aside time just to "learn".
We're pretty sick this week but playing monopoly teaches alot about working together and counting money and such, geography puzzles, even when watching movies.. the kids love to see the "making of" information and while it's not something critical like reading or writing or math.. it's still teaching them a lot.. especially about how they can show things on the movie that aren't real.. gives them a better handle on what not to believe on the screen.
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G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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rm4mrfrus
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Maria,
I'm sorry for leaving out your son! For some reason I thought you had all dd's 
Your children are around my guys' ages...my oldest will be 11, then 9, 6, almost 5, 3 and 16 months.
I think that combining this approach with a unit studies type thing would be how our schooling tends to go more often than not. I have lesson plans for each week and things I plan to cover, but life interferes and many times my plans are not covered but I find that they have learned other things in the meantime.
We have been reading about the saint of each day, reading from the Faith and Life books each week, doing math and spelling (my kids love spellingtime.com), read each day, usually get some copywork in, we've been trying to ge back to doing Latin, do projects, do a bit of science..but I never get all the work on the lesson plans done....but my kids are still learning things I have not taught them per se.
I appreciate the insight you are sharing, Maria and Jodie
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Hollee married to dh in 94,
ds(96), dd(97), ds(00), ds(02), ds(03) and dd(05)
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Leonie
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We are not pure unschoolers any more but we have an unschooly flow to our days and weeks.
If it's a morning we are home, the kids get up and do their thing ( breakfast, chores, exercise, music). I chat and help and workout and tidy.
When we are ready I call people to re-group in the family room or kitchen or dining room. We talk about the day and plans - the things I'd like them to do and the things they'd like to do.Things I need to do, my work schedule, etc.
Basically, it amounts to "school work" three days a week - maybe four some weeks! 
This includes some sort of maths and English activity and some project - currently we are reading the Ashton Scholastic My Story books for Australian history and the kids are dong some Science reading and an experimment once a week.
We aim for Wednesdays to be a time for some Latin and religion study or reading or discussion or activity.
So, the formal work is not lesson plans or even curricula but more projects and rabbit trails and interests - some initiated by me and some by kids. The work kind of fits into our days and weeks and continues all year round. We aim not to have a school and non school time but to learn all the time - some times more formally than others...
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Leonie in Sydney
Living Without School
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ladybugs
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Leonie,
You reminded me....
we're learning Latin roots from the English from the Roots Up program although we're doing it very informally. We review them before we begin our reading from The Story of the World....
and for religion, we do pray the rosary every night (most nights) and we do morning prayers. I've been trying to read from the Bible to the kids and last week, I did 2 sittings.....I'll work towards more this week.
I also like the idea of reading from the Catechism but I think i'll see if my dh can do that....
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Maria P
My etsy store - all proceeds go to help my fencing daughters!
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Willa
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I usually let the kids wake up in their own time. For the littlies that is about 7 am, and the teens trickle out in stages after that. My older teens usually work in their rooms for a while before they come out.
We have a routine of a cooked breakfast, relatively leisurely and including our time to converse and plan, then morning jobs, then basic 3Rs.... math and Latin at least. REcently the kids have been wanting to play after breakfast. So the deal is that they get their morning routine done and then they can play a bit before we phase into the 3Rs. I try to get these "requires" out of the way early in the day so that we have accomplished the basics and can go from there.
With that done we go on to reading and various other things. I have been using the PUS Timetables as a sort of mixed strewing and planning guide. Every week I take out my spiral and brainstorm using these different areas as a sort of focus.
I have a sort of running list of books we are reading and topics or activities to collect resources for. Depending on how the day is going I will bring out more or less. I try to think in terms of providing a rich and generous layout of resources, not so much checking things off on my list. So sometimes if one child is having a very rich playing day or is out of sorts, I will focus just on the others and do more things with them.
We tried radical unschooling for a while but it didn't seem to work well for us. What works for me is having loose plans and ideas for things to "present" but then just seeing which of these things really are going to work with the kids and which are better to put away for another day.
The afternoon is more open-ended. A couple of days a week we clean the house and then have VG/video time. There are various other activities going on -- I try to go on an "explore" out in our National Forest with the kids at least once a week and am trying to do it more often than that.... maybe when the weather gets nicer.
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Willa
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Dawnie
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Maria,
Forgive my ignorance, but what is journaling?
It looks like all of you who responded have at least loose plans for the day/week...just not neccissarily lesson plans for everything.
I'm feeling overwhelmed trying to fit everything in...we're considering putting Mary Beth and Anna in our parish school next year...but I thought that another option might be to let go more. Maybe a year or so (or more!) of unschooling would help to rejuvenate me?
I know what archives I'm going to be digging through during the first 10 days of Lent! 
Dawn
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Visit my blog!Water Into Wine:Vino Per Tutto!
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ladybugs
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Dawnie,
For us, Journaling encompasses many things....for the little ones....it's copywork, for the oldest it's jam writing, some poetry copywork, for Juliana, it's spelling words, copywork, or jam writing....
Hope that helps, Mama! 
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Love and God Bless,
Maria P
My etsy store - all proceeds go to help my fencing daughters!
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Leonie
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Dawnie wrote:
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I'm feeling overwhelmed trying to fit everything in...we're considering putting Mary Beth and Anna in our parish school next year...but I thought that another option might be to let go more. Maybe a year or so (or more!) of unschooling would help to rejuvenate me?
Dawn |
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A loose routine may be just the thing - some days of a little formal work, reading aloud, nature study and projects. And some days of just hanging out together, chores and playing.
I recently wrote a book review of an "unschooly" Christian book - its on my blog. Not that you have to buy the book - but if you read the review, you'll see the author's idea of a little table time and lots of free time. Might just work for you!
Julie's Bravewriter blog has lots of unschooly ideas. She suggests doing One Thing - be it tea time or daily writing or whatever. You can always add in more but at least that One Thing gets done.
I still get the Bravewriter reminder emails and they help me if I feel in a slump of "what to do next."
And the kids learn so much from playing and real life and work and reading/reading aloud/books on CD.
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Leonie in Sydney
Living Without School
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JuliaT
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I am enjoying reading this thread. Our family has been experiencing some upheaval this past month, so we have been doing school in a very laidback manner. From what I am reading in this thread, we are unschooling. I am enjoying this way of teaching and learning.
I have a question, though, what if your children don't pick up the things that you have strewn about? I have tried strewing, but my kids just ignore what is lying about. I keep hearing how other kids learn on their own from items that are strewn. That does not happen in our house. I have to bring it to their attention and start the ball rolling myself. Are their any 'strewing tips' or are my children failures at unschooling? :)
Blessings,
Julia
mom to 3(7,6,4)
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Juliainsk
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Leonie
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JuliaT wrote:
Are their any 'strewing tips' or are my children failures at unschooling? :)
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re your last comment.
I think it helps to do a variety of strewing, in a variety of places - books, puzzles, pictures, music CDs, games, recipe and craft stuff, movies, food, activities and outings. IOW, maybe change the type of strewing and see if that catches your dc's eye?
I also found that I had to strew with "no strings attached". I had to realize that the things I strewed may not catch anyone's attention except mine and that is okay.
Sometimes, just catching my attention is enough to interest others, too.
For areas/ideas/things dh and I think important, I don't just strew. I make them a part of our do together time - our "have tos", as Theresa says.
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Leonie in Sydney
Living Without School
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Nina Murphy
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Dawnie wrote:
.
I'm feeling overwhelmed trying to fit everything in...we're considering putting Mary Beth and Anna in our parish school next year...but I thought that another option might be to let go more. Maybe a year or so (or more!) of unschooling would help to rejuvenate me?
Dawn |
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I also figured "letting go" would relieve me and not hurt the kids---that they'd just go creative and use their time wisely---but I found the opposite. My children become inert, whiney, demanding, and depressed when they don't have a more structured and stable environment with consistent stimulation---reading on the couch isn't enough. (Sadly...sigh.) I also end up nervous and guilty and feeling neglectful, and that we are all becoming moody and restless. In this family, we seem to do best with externally imposed schedules. Some people just have more gifts in this area, I think, intellectually, and temperamentally to live that kind of lifestyle. There isn't a one-size-fits-all educational/lifestyle model for families...there just isn't.
At least that's what I have found with my family over these almost 20 years...and it has changed with each added child. The dynamic has changed, and we have had to adapt and partly "redefine" ourselves. It has challenged me.
That is just my opinion and contribution.
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~~Nina
mother of 9 on earth,
and 2 yet-to-be-met
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JodieLyn
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Yep, I agree Nina.. as far as the schedule or not.. but you can have a schedule without having set in stone lessons either... you can for instance.. do Math for 20 minutes.. if that means half a lesson gets done or 3 lessons get done.. it doesn't matter.. and that would also relieve the pressure of trying to fit in a certain amount in the time frame available.
Also, children that have had everything planned out for them are very likely to not do much at first.. because it's a novelty and they haven't woken to the fact that they can do stuff without it being on a schedule. Kids that leave public school can be rather like this. They're so used to being told that math is done from 8:30-9:15 that they don't even think to get out math at any other time.. or so used to being told when it's time to do math that they feel they have to be told before they can do math. And it can take a while to change that mindset.. it can be very nerve wracking trying to wait it out. Some casual suggesting at first can help.. as well as general scheduling.. inside time, outside time, quiet time..
Sorta like taking away the tv.. at first the kids won't know what to do with themselves.. because the tv did the entertaining.. and you have to just give them time to be bored without giving into using the tv before it starts to get better.
How long it takes is very individual. I've heard of kids that after being in public schools need a year or better to get out of that mindset.. other take days.
It doesn't have to mean that you have to go totally free wheeling without a schedule.. but you can relax a good deal and let school fit the time you give it.. instead of having school dictate your schedule.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
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Willa
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JodieLyn wrote:
Some casual suggesting at first can help.. as well as general scheduling.. inside time, outside time, quiet time..
Sorta like taking away the tv.. at first the kids won't know what to do with themselves.. because the tv did the entertaining.. and you have to just give them time to be bored without giving into using the tv before it starts to get better. |
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I think so, too. We found that we ended up landing upon a sort of organic schedule.
Dawn, remember that February is a notorious burnout month. It's become legendary in homeschool circles.
My kids and I used to have "Teach Yourself" month every February -- sort of a mini-unschooling experience. We got it from the title of Agnes Leistico's book "I Learn Better by Teaching Yourself". It was the childrens' chance to just do the things they had wanted to do the rest of the year, with my support.
Think of summer and how you probably phase down the academics or drop them altogether and just focus on the things you don't have time to do all the rest of the year. It can be fun.
Maybe, try to think of what would be fun for you and your kids. You don't have to drop the schedule completely but just don't be anxious about getting through things and packing every moment of the day with "to do's."
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Willa
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SaraP
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Dawnie-
Mine are about two years behind yours ('01, '03 and '06), but at this point all I do is set aside two chunks of time - one in the morning and one in the afternoon - to explore with them. In the morning I collect everyone in one place and we read and open our cabinet of 'things-with-small-pieces' (puzzles, math maipulatives, CGS materials, etc.). I stock the bookshelf and cabinet, but they choose what do to when.
In the afternoon we go outside or do craft or cooking projects and, again, I suggest, but they decide.
Hmm . . . for some reason this post is missing some of what I thought I wrote, so here's the rest:
I try not to have much of an agenda for these times, but just to be fully focussed on facilitating whatever they want to work on. Obviously lots of learning goes on the rest of the day, too, but I miss a lot of it because I am busy with housework, cooking, tending to DD, etc. and having at least one chunk of time a day when I can just watch and help (if they want help) is important to me.
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MrsMJ
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I hope it isn't too late to jump in on this topic!
I've discovered that each year our lives look completely different from the year before or where we are currently at when we look back over the year (if that makes a little sense?)
It is hard to show what unschooling in our home looks like without looking at the whole picture, but I'll try to share what a day might look like here. My guys are 17 and 14 years old.
I get up early and drive dh to the train, come home and say prayers, take shower and get dressed. Breakfast is usually fresh juice or a banana or something - we just aren't big breakfast eaters here. When the boys get up they take showers and do whatever chores they have.
They then do their own thing. For PJ that may mean reading some history (he is doing art history right now. For several years it was WWII), then doing some art (drawing at the moment). He plays guitar (both electric rock and acoustic classical) and composes alot of his own stuff. He may do a few lessons in Japanese (he wants to go to Japan after he graduates from college). Some days he will do some computer programming (ie, maps of worlds that he creates, or objects to be manipulated within those worlds), or learns how to manipulate code and "hack" into his own games. He told us last night he wants to start an online group and have a topic each week that they discuss regarding computers, programming, etc., so he's been chatting with friends about that and creating a space online to do that.
For ZJ it might mean reading several books at once (PJ likes to read only 1 at a time, ZJ will often read 4-5 at a time) - right now he is reading about the Eastern Hemisphere (he, too, wants to go to Japan, but so far isn't interested in learning the language yet). He also takes photos each day for the 365 project and tries to get interesting shots and use light and shadow, etc. He loves to study animals and is writing his own nature book about animals that he studies (on average he may research 1 a week - sometimes 1 every 2 weeks or so). He plays piano and will practice his assigned music as well as work on his own compositions. He listens to alot of Japanese music and talks about becoming a Prosecuting Attorney (but he isn't sure about any of that yet!). He also loves to draw.
Reading this I just realized how academic is sounds - but 100% of this is something they chose to do without any suggestions from me. To be honest, I would never have thought up the computer stuff on my own!
Both love video games and play them off and on throughout the day. They just finished watching Discover Science (about creating robots) and enjoy watching other channels like the History Channel and Animal Planet (and others that are not academic).
We have lunch together each day and have lots of different discussions throughout the day. They both work on life skills and love to share what they are reading about or saw online or on tv.
On Tuesdays they take their music lessons and on Wed they bowl on the homeschool bowling league. We run errands and just go places for the fun of it.
About strewing - I know in the beginning I thought if I strewed things, the kids would just naturally take it up and begin doing things and that I would feel "better". Very often the things I strewed they never noticed or only took a very passing fancy in. I finally quit consciously strewing and started consciously living and suddenly they were just bubbling over with interests.
For instance, I would get excited when my box of wool roving would get here for my needle felting and they'd gather round while I opened it and we'd enjoy the colors and textures. When they saw me getting involved in my own interests and passions, they really dove into theirs. Now strewing seems to consist of them picking up something I purchased for myself and it sparking something THEY want to do, or I will notice something they are doing and it will spark something in me. Pretty cool!
I really didn't mean for this to be so long!! I hope it was helpful to someone.
God Bless,
Donna
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Topic: What does unschooling look like...
