I am sure that there will be days when I dislike our way of doing school, but yesterday wasn’t one of them. We had a wonderful morning – my daughter slept in, thankfully. We’ve had relatives in town and she’s been staying up far too late these days. After that, we had a cuddle and read some books and ate breakfast, and by 10:30 we were doing our schoolwork, mostly rhyming and writing practice. Lots of fun, no complaints, a great home schooling morning.
On Thursday afternoons we visit our local democratic school to volunteer, because my daughter is attending it part time this fall. Now, this is less of a school than an unschool, in my opinion. It’s parent participation, and it’s child-led. The children can decide what they would like to do at any given time, and classes are offered university-style rather than being mandated. Rules and even school policies are always up for debate at the democratic council, and five-year-olds and adults have their ideas and opinions treated with equal respect.
After a quiet morning, we went over to the community kitchen at the school. There, we cooked taco fillings and cookies and zucchini-lemon bread with kids ranging in age from five to eighteen, at least thirty of them. For two hours, we cooked and ate together. Oh yes, and we did the dishes too – plenty of those. At one point, I am sure that almost the entire school attendance for the day was in the kitchen.
These are two things I value about this year’s homeschooling life. One is that we get to value quiet in our lives when it is there. The other is that we get to value community and work in groups that encompass many ages, not just a single grade.
What do you value most about your homeschooling lifestyle?