The unschooled child :: learning to read + write
We are unschoolers. There I said it - haha! We are many titles and I embrace the ever changing but for them to learn how to read + write - I really took a step back.
Homeschooling can seem overwhelming if you are comparing it to public school. I mean - they want those kids prepared before kindergarten + there is so much busy work.
BUSY WORK! Work that keeps them busy and may not be necessary especially in a homeschool setting.
When we choose to homeschool we are gifted with time. Time to love on our kids more + time to do the things that actually fire us up.
The most important takeaway is that when an unschooler learns anything it is because they wanted to. It’s a personal process that brings a lot of threads together to create what you see on the outside.
This is how I have learned to trust my kids and myself more than a worksheet or a curriculum.
If anything - they make their own curriculum
Sometimes there’s jumps in progress and sometimes it’s gradual.
Everything comes down to creating the space. Answering their questions and taking the time to write down words they need help with.
The other day my oldest spent hours writing a story. Making chapters and creating illustrations for it.
She read it to me many times. She was beaming with joy.
Even though words were spelled wrong and the story didn’t make a lot sense - it was perfect in her eyes.
This is the process of creative learning. This is the process of unschooling.
Let it go. Let there be misspelled words. Let it be a work in progress.
So I did. I took my own advice and just listened and watched her enjoy the process of writing and illustrating her story. It’s not easy as a parent to watch them make mistakes but I have learned that this is the only way we make our own progress. Progress doesn’t come from someone else telling you that you’re doing it wrong.
Progress doesn’t come from another person fixing your work.
Of course I don’t just disappear in the background and have no say. What happens is she watches me type my weekly blog. She hears about editing and how I go back and reread and fix sentences. She watches me write the weekly grocery list.
She becomes curious & takes it to the next level.
Real life learning - no busy work.
Later that night we all sat together before bed for our nightly story time. She wanted to read her story.
Before she starts she informs us that she did some editing and wanted us to see.
What!? Did some editing? Wanted us to see!? God, I love that girl!
She comes back and shows me a misspelled word in the first copy and then shows me how she found the word to spell it correctly as an edit.
I was so proud! Of her and myself for stepping back.
For giving her space to make her own progress.
She is in the process of learning to read + write with very little intervention.
She is discovering a passion - fueled by her own progress.
For now it is gradual and I’m ok with that.
