“If you’re not using curriculum and just using life experiences how will they learn things like math and history and grammar!”

Its a question I hear a lot from curious friends and concerned family. I, at least for most of primary school, intend to unschool or wildschool my children.  Terms used to describe child led  and/or experience based learning and nature based education. Kids are allowed to play and be free, follow their curiosities and passions and there’s very little if any book work. Now I’m not a radical unschooler by any stretch but I simply don’t think tests and desk work do much to stimulate a child’s brain. Yet even I sometimes find myself wondering if such methods as letting a child lead the way might produce gaps in their learning. But then….don’t we all have gaps? Don’t we all have subjects that we never fully mastered or information our brains deleted once it had no further use for it? Are any of us completely and utterly educated after high school or college…all knowing? I should think not!

And now that I’ve been at this for a year, really giving it a go I’ve found my children are actually a fair bit ahead with most things and we touch on almost every subject daily quite naturally. And even if they were average or behind I doubt I’d feel any different about unscooling. Each child learns at their own pace and shoving them all into little boxes arranged by age serves no purpose but to hold back those who would run and destroy the esteem of those who would walk towards their education. Yet and still I think it both uplifting and edifying to document the creative ways in which we incorporate all the subjects in our daily life. So I’ve decided to dedicate a good chunk of time to writing about real life examples of child led and life experience based learning which take place in our house…or out of it most likely. I look forward to showcasing our little moments that make up our version of unschooling. ❤