Unschool Your Children while using curriculum?

Yep, you read me right! You can UNSCHOOL your child using any "boxed" curriculum of your choice? How you ask? Well, let me take a few minutes to explain first what "unschool" is and then how we use it everyday here on our little homestead.

Unschooling is an educational method, philosophy, and lifestyle that focuses on "child led activities" as a primary means for learning. Unschool children can learn through their life experiences: playing outside, daily chores, responsibilities, interests, natural curiosity, apprenticeships, vacations, books, online resources, family, and social relationships. Basically, the world is their classroom and they are free to "open source" their learning everyday from whichever subjects they choose to study. Crazy right!?! Well, wait a minute...how do you learn everyday? What do you choose to focus on everyday? Does someone drop a workbook on your lap first thing in the morning and tell you the exact sequence of what you need to learn that day? No! Of course not, we as adults, are free to pursue our own interests and study what we choose; what we are passionate about at this time in our lives. Why not allow our children this very same freedom? So you say, but my child would choose the wrong things or maybe my child would choose nothing! Well, then it's back to the drawling board. I am NOT suggesting for one moment that you let your child choose bad things, life has limits, and expectations and so should you for your own children. As for choosing "NOTHING"...well that's where you come into play again, you will be the one offering options, guiding and directing their paths. Sounds cool right? Sounds like real life.

So, there is a full spectrum to every method or philosophy of homeschooling and "unschooling" is not any different. Just take a few minutes and search out "unschool" and you will find a broad view of how different families define and implement it into their daily lives. As for our family, we have chosen to use a very untraditional approach to get in all of the core subjects everyday.( Reading, writing, math, Language,etc). We use an online program that costs $100 a year for the entire family. You may have heard me talk about it before because we have been using it for this past schoolyear and I am thrilled with it! It's a website called Mobymax.com and it basically gives one on one instruction to each child at their level and keeps track of everything for me. My new role is just to supervise and assist as needed. This has allowed me freedom to care for my two babies (Butterfly 9 mths. & Junior 2yrs.) Afterall, their needs are JUST as important as the older childrens' need for schooling.

So let me back up the Homeschool Bus!LOL Oh ...I have way too much fun writing! hehe A little history of our family's homeschool journey...thus far. So, when I began homeschooling(officially..we all know that every parent homeschools from birth... right?) So when my first son turned oh...3 years old...I began to get the itch to start teaching letters, numbers, colors, you know the typical things every 3 year old daycare child is "expected" to know! uggg sigh... So I went to a local "Curriculum Sale" and headed straight for the Abeka table and asked the poor man behind the table 20 questions about 3 year olds!!!LOL He sold me several workbooks and I was off and running! So by the time my oldest son turned 5 year old, I now had three little ones to "school". They were 5,3,and 2 years old. I switched my homeschool around and started using "My Father's World Curriculum". We soared through K and 1st grade in like 6 months time and then I started to research and learn more about the "Charlotte Mason Method". I bought all the "living books" that were recommended online and dove head first into that approach for the next three years. I still used some workbooks from milestonebooks.com for math, English, and hardback readers. Then we moved and had two more babies!LOL So again, it was time to reassess my homeschool approach and rethink everything. My children were then 10, 8, 7, and a new baby and a few months later I was prego again. So the older children were trying their best to fill in those workbooks and big prego me with little Junior on my lap was spending countless hours sitting on the living room floor helping the oldest three get through those workbooks, as well as reading and writing done. Yes...I said "DONE"..."getting it DONE" was the theme of the song EVERYDAY! I was frustrated, the baby was frustrated and the older children were frustrated and it just no longer worked the same way that it always had when I just had three children close in age that could all sit together on the couch or at the kitchen table. So, in sheer desperation, because my last pregnancy was physically challenging on me, I did what every good geeky homeschool mama does... went back online to look at more options. I came across these CRAZY people talking about "Unschool"!!! Ok, so you have to know that both my husband and I are public school kids born & raised and then went onto state colleges to finish our educations. So "UNSCHOOL"???!!! No way...but these families seemed happy and fairly balanced and they seemed to have great relationships with their children and way less stress! So I kept watching. Needless to say, I still can't take the full plunge because...well...in a nutshell I'm way too dorky. The day that I decided to LOCK away those workbooks and never take them out again was probably one of the hardest decisions of my life! LOL I know lame-O! But, I have been able to adapt our homeschool to a method that is more like unschooling or on the very tip of the imaginary "unschool" spectrum or....at the very least you could say that we have "unschool tendencies"! LOL

How does this look on a daily basis in our home. Well, our mornings start off with breakfast, chores, and playtime. At 10am -ish the babies go down for their morning naps which is when I call in the three older boys from outside and have them get onto their tablets and start their Mobymax.com for the day. Every subject is preset( by me ) so they know exactly what they are expected to do and for how many minutes. They each have a fire tablet and a set of headphones so there is no excuse to not get their work done. They can choose which subjects they do and have full responsibility to get it done. They rarely ask for my help but if they do I am available to assist. In a couple hours time they are finished and we go on with the rest of our day. It has made our homeschool so incredibly simple. I also have to say, that if anyone has a child with a learning disorder or attention disorder, this program is wonderful because it only shows one problem at a time, explains everything thoroughly, has little incentives for each correct problem, and incorporates every learning style, audible, visual, tactical, etc. I really can't say enough good about it. And "no", I don't have any type of incentive from this company to say anything good about their product. This has just been my own experience. At some point that same day or maybe a few days later when I get a few mintues, I go onto the "teacher account" and check their grades and reassign failed lessons which is super easy peasy!

So, how else do we "unschool"? Well, there are lots of ways. Another way, is by using online resources such as a Bible App that allows the children to each have their own individual Bible study going on. Also, by using youtube for science and history and interest -led-lessons. We obviously use the homestead as a foundation to our homeschool as well. The children take ownership of their animals and garden everyday.

So the questions remains...can you REALY "unschool" while using curriculum? I have to say a BIG YES! Yes!!! you absolutely can get your homeschool somewhere on that invisible spectrum of "unschool" even if your a big geek like me! So be brave and relax a little! And if you do, please send me a comment and tell me how its going or how you've decided to "unschool" for your family. Blessings to you all, and thanks for letting me share my heart on this topic~Texas Mom

A List Of Our Favorite Unschool Websites:
Mobymax.com
abcmouse.com
handwritingpractice.net
Bible App

YouTube channels:
Brain Bubble
How It's Made
Khan Academy
Outback Wildlife Rescue
Brave Wilderness
The Spangler Effect
Creation Science channels
& many many homesteading channels