And then a funny thing happened. I found out that we already unschooled. Unschooling is portrayed by the media as "crazy" and that only "hippy, crunchy" families do it. And that kids are left to run wild and never learn to read.
In reality, you follow your kids' lead. When they show an interest in something, you teach them all about it. For example, our kids have shown and interest in our chickens since the moment we started talking about getting them. So we researched chickens with them, we talked all about them, we include the kids when we go purchase food for them, we let the kids feed them and gather the eggs, we showed them a candled egg with a chick growing inside. As a result, our kids know more about chickens than the average adult. They can tell you how much to feed them, which chicken lays which color of egg, the differences between a rooster and hen, and several other things.
But what about reading? And writing? And numbers?
What about them? I can honestly say, I haven't really worked with teaching Parker his numbers and letters, we just go with the flow. We might see a number on a sign and I will ask him what number it is. And he tells me. He knows most of his numbers (1-20) and most of his alphabet, without formal teaching. He has learned them by watching the world around him and by me (and Sam) pointing them out to him as we go. He has also learned his shapes and colors this way as well. And do you know what I think? I bet your kids have learned this way as well. It is easy, it is natural, it is fun.
Now, am I going to continue unschooling? Nope. This fall, August 15, to be exact, we are starting our homeschool year. We will be learning in multiple ways, workbooks, hands on, field trips, and unschooling. Landon will learn what he would have learned in a public school, plus he will be learning about God. But, I will always incorporate unschooling by delving into what interests my children and teaching them all there is to know about what they are interested in.
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