1-2-3, Ready For Homeschooling

Now that is back-to-school time in the North Hemisphere, unschoolers and homeschoolers might also be preparing projects and activities. Even if you adopt a more eclectic style of homeschooling, being organized in your routine and materials will prevent stress and aggravation in your day.

An important part of getting organized is making sure you are in compliance with your country and state’s homeschooling laws. Whether the place you live in is more restrictive or flexible will have a bearing on what kinds of records you keep.

If you’re required more stringent requirements, a homeschool planner may be essential so you can easily create monthly or yearly progress reports.

These are also helpful if you’re keeping transcripts. Of course, if you enroll your child in a virtual school or certain “in a box” curriculums, you can opt to have records kept for you. It may be an option to consider, especially if you have a hard time with paperwork. Read more

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What’s your homeschooling/unschooling approach?

Ours is:

- Lots of music and concerts

- Lots of art: visit galleries, paint with different mediums (especially now that I’ve surrended my art supplies)

- Lots of real life

- Lots of people

- Lots of travel and outdoors…ehem…stil not “lots”. I should fix this ASAP!

What about your homeschooling or unschooling approach?

photo credit: jakesmome

Fieldtrips for kids of any age

My unschooled 4yo son and I are hooked with field trips. Well, I’m a Geographer and I took him to his first field trip when he was just 1 month old…and earlier while pregnant!

Fieldtrips are great for unschooling and homeschooling families to add some excitement and some real life learning experiences to the day. In fact our unschooling “curricula”, if any, is to have as much field trips as possible .

Fieldtrips are an excellent way to get out of the house, get some fresh air (not always true if you live in a polluted city, though), learn lots of new things, and interact with people of all ages and backgrounds. Here are some ideas for fieldtrips that could be adapted for kids of all ages:

Zoos, Wildlife Preserves, and National Parks – I’m not really into conventional Zoos, although there are many out there that work as animal shelters and are great places to visit with kids. Other great one-day-trip options are wildlife preserves and State Parks, which give children the opportunity to actually experience natural science first hand. If your city has a botanic garden, then write it down on your list of fieldtrip destinations. My little one loves to visit the Botanic Garden in Quito that we try to go at least once every two weeks.

Farms – Children and adults can learn about farming and agriculture first hand by visiting local farms. Many organic farms provide an opportunity for tours or for you to pick your own produce. If you’re not sure where to go, just ask the vendors at the organic markets and they might have some options for you.

Art Galleries – Most galleries are fine to visit with kids, even if they aren’t particularly interested in art. Many even have exhibits that feature the work of child artists. What we usually do is to walk along the rooms stopping when there’s something that catches our attention. It’s fine to just enter, go thru the gallery rather quickly and leave. This is what we do when any of us is not showing interest in staying longer.

Museums – Children of all ages usually enjoy quick visits to museums. History museums give them a look into mysterious times long ago. What child can resist a dinosaur, caveman, or ancient Egyptian exhibit? Science museums usually give children an opportunity to learn about science by seeing different scientific principles in practice. These museums also have seasonal exhibits that are worth to keep in your schedule.

Long walks to wherever – When out of ideas, you can just pack your lunch and walk with a destination of your choice. It could be grandma’s house, a park or a new metro station. In fact some “field trips” have turned so accidentally when I’ve gone out of money for the bus or when we’ve just kept walking instead of waiting for the bus. My son always tells about the day when we walked from the church to our old house, stopping to buy some fruits and vegetables. It turned to be one of his favorite memories.

Field trips destinations are not easy to find. So grab a city or town map and plan your next outing!

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