Petra from Barcelona asked me to share some of my unschooling experience that may be useful for Corona time. My kids are bigger now, 13-23 years old, but my process has been the same over the years and Im happy with the results so Im willing to share.
Obviously these are unusual times so zoom it or put a mask on it but the big picture should be the same :
0-7 years old: focus on welcoming the child to the world. Making the beginning of a kid’s life as happy as possible is simple common sense. Children grow up to be independent adults out of being cuddled and supported. Having an independent child is just the best long term investment a parent can make, so allow yourself to be egoistic and enjoy these magical years with lots of quality time: Joy, playfulness, imagination, taking time to explore and wonder, hugs, reassurance, making a mess, story-telling, “comfy time”, spending energy, kitchen experiments, costume corner, living-room parties, popcorn movie-nights, family sleepovers, etc.
7-14 years old: Establish a weekly system with personal projects, exterior activities, and social life. it’s time to start fixing some kind of a curriculum. Based entirely on your kids talent and curiosity, within reason and budget of course. There is no logic in dictating content - instead, focus on providing tools. The more your kids are in love with the subject matter, the better they will apply themselves. That simple. Trust your child. This approach creates a learning mechanism within them that can later be applied to the ever-changing needs of their future lives.
14-21 years old: look for ways to professionalise the child’s main interests, to enhance various life skills, and open an honest conversation about sexuality and relationships.
Overall, within this loose yet fixed grid, children find their way and become happy, independent adults around the age of 21; some sooner, some later.
This is a very brief explanation of our Unschooling process, I hope it makes sense to the parents amongst you, and thank you again Petra for asking.
The image above is from “Don’t Push - 10 Lessons from Giving 5 Births”, a self-published Blurb book I am currently working on.
Tracing is fun; it turned out to be my main activity during this confinement time, using Wacom Stylus and Adobe PhotoShop.
What are you working on?