Homeschooling Turns to Unschooling

Joe and I are sitting around watching the polls. We went as a family to vote today. How sweet is that? ;)

Explaining politics to Maizie is a challenge. We spent a while finding words that she did not mix up with other meanings. I said, "Voting will determine who gets to run for president of the United States." Maizie looked up excitedly and said, "Where are they running to?"

I think we are officially unschoolers. I am not a hundred percent sure but almost. Maizie is just now going to bed. It is after eleven. No amount of coercion could tear her away from her dinosaur dig. It is really no big deal because she can sleep in tomorrow. Maizie was in the mood to work and if she has the energy I certainly don't want to stop her.

Worksheets or workbooks are out of the question right now. I remind myself that Maizie goes in spurts and I try not to panic. Growing up in traditional schooling makes me think the more completed worksheets the better. I know. I know. It really is ridiculous to think that worksheet quantity has anything to do with real learning. She will do more worksheets than I can keep up with and then refuse.

Tutoring has been on hold since the CVS kicked in after Christmas. Maizie has learned more math from Webkinz games than we have managed to teach her in months. Math is a major challenge for her and I am learning to be patient. I catch her using math and testing things out in unique playful ways. We need to be patient for her to develop in this area. I can see where we have pushed her heavily in math and it backfires. My patience level is constantly being tested. I am forced to slow way down every day. For me, this can be torture.

I suppose her math struggles tie in with understanding the concept of time. Her frustrations with understanding days, hours and when tomorrow is never seems to get any better. I create calendars and lists and she gets frustrated and refuses to use them. I suppose it is time to try again.

A self directed method of learning is definitely taking place here. When opportunities arise and she shows an interest we go for it. Hands on is key for Maizie.

It has helped that I don't compare her to other children as much anymore. Notice I say, 'as much'. I still need work in this area. We focus more on strengths and less on weaknesses. It seems by doing so she is catching up in little by little in other areas. There are nights where I lack sleep wondering if she will ever be able to understand when 'tomorrow' is, how to tell time or do simple addition. But, I am feeling more at peace with the not knowing.

What good does it do spending hours forcing math when it seems to cause her self esteem to plummet? Since we have backed off and went about learning math in a very relaxed way she is slowly showing more of an interest and less of a fear. We may return to tutoring but go about it in a different way. Lucky for me her tutor is always into trying new techniques and so am I. The most important goal I have for Maizie is to encourage the love of learning. In public school we watched as her interest was slowly squelched. It has taken a long time for Maizie to understand the freedom that she has in her learning process now. Even longer for me to accept that her way of learning is acceptable. Once again this has required me to give up some of my over controlling nature. My words can not express how difficult that is. The rewards and lessons I am learning are awesome. I am only now beginning to understand. Who is teaching who here?