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MISCELLANEOUS
Webcam

Stir It Up

I am awake at stupid o'clock again. I have talked a lot about this subject. I still have the same feelings, the same questions, the same struggle. We just keep going down the same road, not changing anything even when it seems very obvious that there is so much more we can be doing.

Now that we have aquired more resources for the children and given them some semi-personal space to call their own I am trying to think of activities and subtle things I can do to take the things I have learned about unschooling and and apply them to our daily life without feeling like I am failing to keep the children, especially Logan, since he is the only one that is really stuck in the confines of traditional schooling and bookwork, from progressing with the skills they are working on.

I don't want to fail any of them and I feel like I have grown complacent. I have been hiding behind the curriculum because it is easy and they can work pretty much independently. Savannah has even completed a few workbooks now. She is eager to "do school" but on the other hand she gets disinterested quickly. I would rather not stifle her creativity and natural curiosity by insisting she conform to the bookwork. I don't think they are being challenged or encouraged enough.

I wish for more for them than that. I want them to pick up books on their own, whole books. It doesn't matter to me if they are not "grade level". In fact, I don't want them to feel like they can't open a book because it is too hard for them.

I want them to find their interests. I want them to get excited about things around them, not ask me which pages I want them to do today. I want them to figure out where to find answers without me having to tell them. I want them to be confident and think for themselves.

I have to figure this out. Me handing them papers to fill out just to satisfy some standard, some expectation is just as bad as schools and television dumbing them down. We have all grown extremely lazy. It is my fault. I am not doing my part to stir their interests and creativity. There is no excuse. I need to find time and ways to encourage their creativity and share with them the excitement I have for their progress and their learning. Life doesn't wait. It is time to get busy.

Posted by gwendolyn on May 06, 2003 at 02:44 AM