The unschooling process starts whenever there is an observation.
The sparrows love our bush. And C loves the sparrows. We hung up a simple bird feeder the other day and have been watching the birds extra closely to see if they eat it. I asked him to grab his bird book so he could identify them. He instantly found that they looked like the birds in the sparrow section. It was tough to see the details to be able to identify the type of sparrow more specifically so I grabbed my camera and took a few photos.
We noticed that there are different kind of sparrows in the bush. So we looked through the book and then grabbed a computer and Googled “types of sparrows.” We looked through a ton of photos online and compared with the ones that I had taken. We talked about the beak colors, crown, eyes, chest and tail. It was great to go through the details and show my boys how many different types of sparrows there are and how they are all different.
Then I got the song “His Eye is on the Sparrow” stuck in my head so I sang it to the boys. It gave me the opportunity to talk to them about Matthew 10:29-31 that talks about how God notices a sparrow fall from the tree, how much more does he know and notice you. So many sparrows just in our bush, yet God knows each and every one of them. I played the song through on the piano a couple times, which made C want to play for a bit. I have a couple lessons books that he likes to try, with some assistance. So he played on and practiced the piano for a while before he came back to the sparrows. By that point, I had printed off some coloring pages, a few of which had some key words (such as Nest, Egg, Sparrow, Seed) for C to learn.
Subjects covered: Science (animal anatomy, diet, and habitat), research skills, music, Bible, reading, coloring and photography. (Did I miss any?)
The unschooling process doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, it’s a lot simpler than people think. Even families who don’t unschool follow the unschooling process in their day-to-day lives. It starts with an observation, which leads to a question, which opens the door to exploring for answers.
What questions have you answered lately for your child that led you down a wonderful path of exploration?
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Lovely post, and so true! I was drawn to unschooling from the very beginning. It just made sense because it’s so natural. This was how we got into a frog unit, but first observing the frogs in a pond just down the street from us, while on a nature walk. Yes, life is full of natural learning moments that open up the world around us.
It does make sense, doesn’t it? I feel that it is just a continuation of the parenting we’ve been doing since birth.
And if my kids ever start asking questions about frogs, I’ll send them to my husband or to my friend who likes slimey things lol!
I love that, “It starts with an observation, which leads to a question, which opens the door to exploring for answers.”
Thank you!
You’re welcome. I’m glad you liked it. So simple, isn’t it? Thanks for reading.
It is easy to forget how much learning there is in everyday!
It is. Even when we’re not involved and paying attention, our little ones manage to find ways to learn.