Wednesday, May 05, 2010

Unschooling works

We have always used an eclectic approach in our home education - mostly natural learning with a bit of Charlotte Mason approach thrown in (ie: loads of living books and nature walks).

But in the last couple of years my boys have been pushing the envelope even more and they have adopted a very unschool approach to their education, much to my dismay.

Well 3 years of stressing and letting them follow their own paths must have worked as I am seeing some wonderful developments in my 2 young men.

Jordan is naturally fairly shy and I have often wondered what job he would ever get!! We have had lots of discussions over the years and he has not shown an interest in study or a trade or for that matter retail of any of the "regular" jobs out there.

I was at my wits end and someone suggested AFL Umpiring. Well our family has never even watched an AFL game so this was a bit of a stretch to consider, but Jordan is very athletic and loves the outdoors. He doesnt even mind getting rained on which is common in this winter sport.

So I signed him up for an umpiring course and told him if he hates it he doesnt have to do it.

The course was not much of a blazing success as he was so shy, but he liked the idea of the money and so I talked to the local club. They explained that Jordan would be mentored as he went and that it was ok that he was shy, reassuring me he would gain confidence as he went.

Well he is 3 weeks into the season, and doing amazingly well. David and I have been to the games with him, and there are times when, if it were me out there, I would have run off the field in tears. But Jordan is philosophical, saying "oh, all the umpires get abuse from the fans mum".

So much for my shy little boy! He still get nervous but he takes the "constructive criticism" from the other umpires and turns up the next week to try and do better.

And even more surprisingly is how excited he is about the money. Even opting to stay home from Gym camp so he doesnt miss out on a weeks pay. (He has never been the slightest bit interest in money in the past, once even telling me that when he grows up he wants to be a "professional moocher").

So as my first little duckling takes his first steps into the wide world of adulthood, I feel much more convinced of the merits of unschooling than ever before. Trusting a child to find their own path is probably never easy, but seeing the fruits of that trust definitely makes it worth the risk.

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