How Do I Unschool Back To School?

It's that time of year again when homeschooling Moms and Dads plan for the year. My inbox and FB feed are blowing up with requests for curriculum, advice on what is best for a certain age/grade, proudly announcing they are done planning for the year and are purchasing the books needed for the year. It's the time of year when the stores sell their supplies dirt cheap. The ads are about to start for back to school on TV.

I sit looking at my screen and wonder: "How is it these parents know what they are going to study for the entire year?!"  Yes, I have a guideline for my teen as she is in high school and we've discussed which "courses" she is going to take, but I know that may change if they don't interest her. It is an outline of sorts for her "school," North Atlantic Regional High School (NARHS) to follow so she can get high school credits for what she does.

Do I have a list of books to get to make her read? Um, no. I have some ideas of what I would like her to read as I feel these books are part of what makes up some of our pop culture and she should know the references. These books are The Great Gatsby and Lord of the Flies. Yeah, that's all. Maybe some Shakespeare in there too, but which one is her choice.

I can't fathom having my life figured out for 9 months of the year in advance. I am not knocking this. I am in awe of it. I simply can't imagine it. Our life ebbs and flows. This week, Honey Bunny has full blown bronchitis. We came home with a free puppy from the Walmart parking lot on Saturday. Our lives are now full of nebulizer treatments, making bone broth for health and training a puppy.  I didn't foresee that one even last week! How could I plan the year when I can't even see a week in the future?

Our life isn't one which some would be comfortable with. I plan out a week at a time and usually that plan gets shot to sh*t because something happens along the way: a new interest is discovered and suddenly our planned learning has done a spin off into a completely different direction. Someone wakes up sick. Apparently, puppies come home when not expecting them. Sometimes, we just need a break and the pool is calling and we must all be mermaids for hours at a time because that is what is needed.

Trusting that my children will learn what they need when they are ready to do so is scary. It's really scary. We are taught not to trust our children. Society has trained us that we are the all mighty adult and know what is best for our children. But, do we?

Has anyone else ever woken up and realized now that they are an adult, it was all a lie when they were a kid? We truly don't know anymore about how to live this life than we did as kids? We can't actually keep anyone safe. We can't actually stop the world from being what it is. We have to TRUST we instilled good values and accept that they have free will. Just because we gave them the training doesn't mean they are going to use it.  Just because you gave someone a textbook doesn't mean they are going to learn it.

You see, life and unschooling go hand in hand. We are forever learning our limits, testing them, expanding them, discovering there aren't limits on everything. Sometimes we learn we need limits (don't dive into a kiddie pool head first on concrete, bad idea) and sometimes we learn we don't need limits (read as much as you want, as often as you want, whatever you want)-expand your thoughts and mind.

How does one go "back to school" when they have never left it? We learn every day of our lives. We experience new things. We have new thoughts. If we don't just sit passively and allow life to happen TO us but instead grab life by the horns and say to it: "Take me with you! Show me all you can!" we open our eyes up to so many new thoughts and ways of being (or not being).

For me, my schooling for the past 5 years has been on gluten free eating which lead to eating no dairy or corn. Not because of what I learned about it begin bad for the body (that's for another discussion) but because through educating myself I was able to ascertain my elusive issues with those items within my own body and heal myself.  It is empowering when we discover a truth for ourselves.

Had I listened only to the doctors (teachers) and followed their advice, I would be surviving on Boost (nothing but water, corn syrup and sugar) because they told me that it has "vitamins added."  It's crap! I wouldn't have learned about how to nourish my body through real food. I would still believe that a "balanced meal" includes a meat, starch, small veggie and dairy. Well, newsflash-your body doesn't need starch nor does it need dairy. It needs protein and calcium. And protein from animal product can be hard to absorb as we are not meant to be full time carnivores (meat at every meal).

My own education about Celiac Disease has lead to a huge increase in knowledge which I never would have learned if I didn't believe in following my passion. Due to my unschooling my own education about Celiac Disease, eating Gluten Free, Paleo, Vegan and Raw I have been invited to speak at an online conference about unschooling and radical food changes - how to self educate about food. That never would have happened had I stayed in the box. To visit the site and participate in the free conference, click here: http://www.homeschoolconference.com/forum/topics/unschooling-and-radical-changes-in-eating

Readers, trust yourselves. Listen to your inner voice. Trust your child.

Be there for them when they fall down but don't hold them down or push them down, instead, give them your hand and assist them getting back up. Show them the options and maybe they will even surprise you and show you one you didn't even know existed. Be each other's facilitators in life. Be each other's friend.

If that little voice says to you: "Plan your entire year." Go for it. Get your books and get your curriculum. Try it. Explore it.

If your little voice says: "Wing it." Listen to it. Try it. Explore it. Together you will find what works best for you and your family.

But, above all, enjoy going "back to school" even if you never left.

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