school

I've previously told people that our family homeschools with an "unschool" philosophy.  I learned today that different families do different things.  I actually tell the children that all the time.  Apparently some people who "unschool" their children let them do whatever they want and have unlimited access to media.  That's not us.  And now I need to re-think how I describe our homeschooling.  Sheesh, some of the people's situations seemed more like "unparenting" than "unschooling" to me. 

Our unschooling looks like children having a flexible pace of learning things that I feel are appropriate for them to learn.  Mostly that looks like them learning really fast, in short bursts, and free play the rest of the time.  They only have access to media that I feel is appropriate.  PBS kids, ABCya, and the DVDs we bought.  And limited time consuming media. 

I write math problems for the kids and go through it with them.  I tell them math stories.  I'm sure things could be more educational, but I feel like that's necessary. 

lP wrote the alphabet at her 4 year old check-up.  She doesn't need to be taught her letters. 

I feel like media presents a real problem to the idea of letting kids be self-led.  Because media entertains way more than it teaches, it numbs the brain.  If I were willing to let the children run free in the woods, I would love them to just be self-entertained exploring nature.  Nature, not the internet...