Unschooling. How It Happens.

I've wondered at times about the process of how one "unschools" their child. In our house, we have a semblance of structure for an hour or two which includes reading, copywork, and math. As those who follow this blog know, we also rely heavily on Ambleside Online for all of our literature. I could be wrong, but because of the structure and curriculum, I don't thing we fall into the camp of Unschoolers. However, what remains with the rest of the day, has given me a new understanding and respect for just how "unschooling" unfolds.

Our nature studies are our largest focus when we school. It is not a purposeful act where we spend hours a day on the subject, but the simple introduction of a nature study keeps our ears in tune and our eyes peeled as we go on living in the world around us. Our nature studies are in constant motion. And I am finding a new delight brewing as we complete each study. The learning is snowballing.

By example, I have watched "collections" grow before my eyes. This morning I found that Grace had been working on a feather and seed collection. I stared in awe at how meticulously her collection had been laid out on a piece of paper. I never asked her to go out into the yard and hunt for these items. I've never showed her how one might lay out nature finds in a presentation (other than when we created our moth and butterfly riker mounts last summer). We have, however, had two nature studies in this area, Song Birds in the Southeast in Winter 2004 and our ongoing Seed and Germination study this summer. It has been enough of a taste, that I am now watching an amazing process happen naturally.

In the last month, I have watched Grace spend hours upon hours creating picture books. The books may be up to 30 pages. They contain detailed line drawings, a story line with consistent characters, and a surprisingly steady plot for a six year old. Again, I have never set her down and told her that "this week we are going to create a book". Her hard work has all been self directed and has taken days at a time to build and organize. This is what my children are doing in their "free time", in the early hours when I'm still trying to rub the sleep out my eyes, or when they are wandering around the back yard and then suddenly go into "Look what I found!" mode.

The evidence is everywhere. Right now, dried up flowers will crunch under your toes in the hall bathroom. The fish pond is low because the children have been stealing fish water to create "chalk paint" (don't ask). There are piles and piles of papers mid story in rooms throughout the house. Old petrefied holly berries lay on Jack's train table from a discovery weeks ago. A walk in our yard reveals random "mud and pinestraw" nests the children have worked for hours to create in the hopes that a bird will find their nest a suitable living space. And every day, and I mean EVERY DAY, a new unsuspecting creature with um-teen legs is brought into the house for an instant show and tell.

I am reminded and quickly thankful that there are no school bells. No projects cut short. No confinement. Just a sea of creativity and boundless opportunity. THAT is how unschooling just happens.