Anytime Schooling

There are a great many things that I love about homeschooling. So many things in fact, that I'm hard-pressed to come up with a short answer to questions from people who ask why we chose this path, or why we have decided to continue for this long. I don't think on my feet very well, and find that my usual canned answers, just don't do my real reasons any justice. Rather than go on and rattle off a long list of reasons all at once, I'll just focus on one at a time.

My first reason: Learning All the Time

Midnight chats, often on world events, past and present, without worry about missing bedtimes, or needing to wake up early.

Discussing renewable energy sources during a cross-country trip when school is usually in session.

Seeing how unstructured, unscheduled time often leads to the discovery of new interests.

Stopping what we're doing to accommodate interest-driven learning.

Easy chats over tea, usually time spent brainstorming new and interesting things to do.

Answering all of the children's questions, to the best of my ability, while assuring them that I am not the font of all knowledge. Also related to this, is showing them how to seek answers on their own.

Allowing time to observe my children, and keeping myself from stepping in too readily during the learning process. This is often easier said than done, and I still struggle with this at times! There's something to be said for allowing a child to struggle and get a bit frustrated at times.

Actively participate in their learning process, seeking to understand and appreciate their interests, even when it's hard to do so.

Taking time to play games.

Allowing room for organic learning.

Acknowledging that education is not a one-size-fits-all kind of thing.

Now, as I write all this, it all sounds like unschooling to me. Of course, I'm not an unschooler as my prior posts have already illustrated. This is not to say that I don't see value in the method or the lifestyle. I certainly do. I like to have my cake and eat it, too. And combining a somewhat relaxed, traditional approach to education, with lots of down time and wiggle room for all of the above, has worked well for us.