Un-School Ahoy!

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I am extremely excited to be a part of our local Homeschooling Facebook group!  Aurora is only 20-months-old, but the planner in me is already gearing up to start her education moving in the right direction.  We are going to be implementing the Un-Schooling technique, which relies heavily upon real-life learning experiences with an emphasis on self-governance.  Yes, she will still be learning her fractions and her grammar, and no we aren't just going to let her run free and wild with no structure whatsoever.  She is just going to get to enjoy life to the fullest and learn all of the skills every public school child is learning, but without the constraints of a government schedule and the confines of four walls, which sounds like a fabulous adventure for us both, to be honest! 

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My excitement about the homeschooling group is that they announced tomorrow is their planned field trip to the local fire station!  How exciting!  Aurora is a bit young for that, but as soon as something age appropriate pops up you can bet she's going to be there getting the full tour!

The benefit of un-schooling is that she will be developing a desire to try new things and enrich her life in her own ways.  If, hypothetically, she were to be a bit older and this trip were planned tomorrow and she said "Mom.. that sounds SO boring!  I don't want to go.", then we would promptly get online and research the interesting aspects of it, in hopes of encouraging her to at least learn a proper appreciation for the profession (at which point she can say it's boring all day, as long as she has an educated reason behind her conclusion).  My hope would be that our internet investigation would spur more interest and that she would agree to go on the trip, but either way, guess what??  We learned a plethora of very valuable things in a short amount of time (research skills, not jumping to a conclusion without proper research and evidence to back up your claim, teamwork, compromise, and hopefully a fact or two about our friends in yellow!), and there was no "MY WAY OR THE HIGHWAY" argument and cranky kid drama.  Sounds like a win/win to me!

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Yes, I am just in dream land right now, but I am EXTREMELY excited to give the reins of life to this beautiful creature I was blessed with the privilege of guiding on her journey.  I already see so much passion and intelligence behind her eyes that it can be scary sometimes.  With the proper support and encouragement this child could conquer the world!  Actually... I truly believe all children can; we just have to gently hold the reins to keep them safe, and let them lead where their desires and drives take them!

Now, it must be said that I am not a public school basher.  I had quite a terrible time with public school, but it made me the fighter I am today.  There can be benefits to each side, I just prefer to be a little more primary in my child's education which is why we chose to go this route.  The hubby and I have also talked and decided that, while we will be discouraging it, public school will never be a null option for her.  If she wants to try it, then she can, but it will be a full-year commitment type of deal (which also teaches her cause/effect, and choice/consequence skills) and if she hates it then we will help her to cope with the difficulties, but she must see it through to the end of that year.

What are your thoughts on your children's education?  I would love to hear what you think in the comments!