By The Green Parent
23rd August 2022
“It makes me smile every morning asking ‘What shall we do today?’. Henry wakes up excited for each new day, knowing that he can follow his passions, take his time and have the freedom to direct his own learning. There are no stressful morning routines, no battles to get homework done and no being tied to follow a certain curriculum. It was scary at first taking a different path to the norm, but liberating to cut free of a system that was rapidly dimming our son’s light. After obsessively researching alternative education, I came across Unschooling through this very mag. I thought it was for people living off-grid in the countryside and I couldn’t see how our family, living in a massive housing development in Gloucester, could do it - especially as I worked too! But child-led learning felt like the only option for us, after the adult led way had been so damaging. So, I had to make it happen.
“Henry planned and hosted his own Zoom ‘dance how you like’ class, which children from around the world attended during lockdown”
We have lovely quiet days at home and crazy busy days out but we always get out in nature somehow - perhaps a bike ride, building dens, meeting friends in the park, paddling in the river or playing mud kitchens in the garden. Henry and Albert love things like dancing, drama, cooking, recycling, books, building, designing and they learn everything through daily life. Maths is learnt through measuring and weighing while cooking dinner, for example. Henry planned and hosted his own Zoom ‘dance how you like’ class, which children from around the world attended during lockdown! He’s big on the environment - he loves litter picking and trips to the recycling centre. He has made posters about climate change, written to Lidl about their plastic use and has helped me to make some swaps to more sustainable products. I just feel so fortunate that he can create his own ‘curriculum’ based on things like this, that he is truly interested in. For parents thinking about Unschooling, I’d suggest searching for some likeminded families nearby or online for support/community and to read Free to Learn by Peter Gray. It’s been the best decision we have ever made!”
