Unschooling [Adventure]

 

[Adventure 5]

Unschooling has looked different for us throughout the years. We began with eclectic homeschooling and realized quickly that sitting children down to teach them things they weren't excited to learn wasn't effective. When we switched to following their leads, answering their questions, and exploring the world around us, real learning began. 

Unschooling truly has been quite an adventure! We have gone to numerous aquariums, science centers, museums, historical sites, movies, theatrical productions, hands-on experiences, and concerts. We have explored countless websites and read myriad books on innumerable topics. We have created, crafted, and built. We have dismantled a piano, smashed furniture to pieces, taken apart various appliances, and dropped things from great heights. We cook, bake, change oil and check fluids in our vehicles, build furniture, sew, paint, and learn to do whatever we want to do. We've learned things from docents, experts, professors, doctors, occupational therapists, psychologists, addicts, refugees, clerks, and custodians, among others. We have helped resettle two refugee families, provided refuge for friends going through rough times, and provided child care for numerous children, many on an emergency basis. My children have acted in and/or done tech for many theatrical productions.

Quarantine has brought new adventures our way. We have expanded our hiking horizons and rediscovered Rails to Trails. We began playing Dungeons and Dragons, involving character creation, creativity, problem solving, and survival skills. I learned to play the ukulele ... and my husband did, too. I learned new video editing skills and my children wrote, directed, filmed, acted in, and produced videos for our church. One child is participating in a medical study. Another is into candle making and yet another is building new levels in her favorite game on a virtual reality gaming system. We repainted and updated our bathroom. We visited safe, outdoor nature centers, state parks, and beaches. We're continuing to work on our woodworking, painting, art, costuming, photography, and other skills.

Adventure and learning are everywhere if you know where - and how - to look for them!