A big part of unschooling is giving freedom to the child to direct her own life. We've gone so far as to make bed time free choice. It turns out Serenity is a total night owl. She hates getting up in the morning and dislikes going to bed at night before about midnight. This is not really a problem most of the time, she gets plenty of sleep, just on her schedule. Only if there is a family outing, like church on Sunday, do we pretty much insist she get up in the morning.
I mention this because over the last couple of months I made the mistake of signing Serenity up for not one but two morning classes! What was I thinking?!? To be honest they were both MY idea and not hers. I think I was getting nervous about the whole unschooling thing and wanted to make sure that she was "learning" something. There was the wonderful art class at Monart and then a science class at a local homeshooler's house presented by a "real science teacher." Serenity gave it a good try and enjoyed the classes for the most part, but two weeks ago asked to quit both of them for the perfectly legitimate reason that she does not like getting up in the mornings. I resisted until this morning when I realized that me rousting her out of bed and off to class in the morning is not exactly unschooling. :-/ So, Serenity is still in bed now, and the morning has been peaceful, no fight to get her up and dressed and off to "class" today! Which was a huge part of why she wanted to homeschool in the first place, and why I wanted her to homeshcool, the freedom to do what she wants without the big fight and hassle of conforming to everyone elses schedule... so, I guess I will make sure to consult with Serenity more carefully from now on when it comes to doing things like classes, and I certainly won't sign her up for any morning stuff, ever!
I mention this because over the last couple of months I made the mistake of signing Serenity up for not one but two morning classes! What was I thinking?!? To be honest they were both MY idea and not hers. I think I was getting nervous about the whole unschooling thing and wanted to make sure that she was "learning" something. There was the wonderful art class at Monart and then a science class at a local homeshooler's house presented by a "real science teacher." Serenity gave it a good try and enjoyed the classes for the most part, but two weeks ago asked to quit both of them for the perfectly legitimate reason that she does not like getting up in the mornings. I resisted until this morning when I realized that me rousting her out of bed and off to class in the morning is not exactly unschooling. :-/ So, Serenity is still in bed now, and the morning has been peaceful, no fight to get her up and dressed and off to "class" today! Which was a huge part of why she wanted to homeschool in the first place, and why I wanted her to homeshcool, the freedom to do what she wants without the big fight and hassle of conforming to everyone elses schedule... so, I guess I will make sure to consult with Serenity more carefully from now on when it comes to doing things like classes, and I certainly won't sign her up for any morning stuff, ever!
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