-Guest Blog Post by Faye Green-
Please join me in welcoming Faye Green as our next guest blog writer:
Hi I am Faye a home educating mum of 4 in the UK. We live rurally on our Smallholding where we have had everything from geese to pigs! I enjoy the great outdoors, wildlife, barefoot walks through the woods, foraging and the coast.
You can follow our adventures on:
Our little tribe comprises of Matilda (9), Delilah (8), Tabitha (6) and Isabella (3) and myself and my husband. Along with our three dogs and four cats…. And that’s not to mention the livestock!
Unschooling for us didn’t ever really ‘begin’ it evolved and really it’s been just an extension of parenting. We were ‘unschooling’ as parents before we even knew ‘our style’ had a name.
My children are into so many different things , it’s beautiful to watch their free flowing curiosity and thirst for knowledge. My eldest is really into gaming and YouTube both which she had learnt so much from, she has also taught herself how to record and edit her own videos to upload to YouTube. Her research for gaming requires so much more than people would think. Gaming has such a stigma (guilty!) attached to it but can be really wonderfully educational and for filling.
Welcome to the LivePlayLearn guest blog post series. This series aims to share with you a diverse selection of families who are traversing the paths of life and learning with an unschooling mindset. The aim is to showcase how unschooling principles can be effectively implemented across the broad spectrum of lifestyles and yield a life of peace, joy, and learning. As well as this, participants will be sharing with you the stumbling blocks that have been overcome along they way, and the glorious variety of interests and activities that children access when they are living a life without school. I hope that it brings peace and encouragement to you.
My 8 year old is very much into drawing and writing her own stories. She gets very detailed and loves to make up drawings to go along with her stories. The creativity of a mind free of coercion is quite incredible to watch. Having the freedom to spend however long she wishes on her stories and not be told what her story should evolve or interrupt with a ‘learning lecture!’ about adjectives, adverbs etc!
My 6 year old is into Lego and building, she still very much enjoys small world play supporting her personal, social and emotional skills.
And my 3 year old just loves singing and dancing!
All their interests at any time are facilitated purely by providing them the opportunities to explore their interests, to be given all the time in the world to explore topics, resources and experiences that they wish to explore.
An average day for us as for many unschoolers looks different day to day, we are pretty much live for the moment family than a planning to within an inch of your life family!
It can range from drama group for my older two while me and the younger two spend time eating cake and milkshakes at a cafe reading books, drawing and learning through conversation. To forest school morning identifying trees, foraging, cooking over a campfire and playing with friends.
No day is the same and we love that, it wouldn’t be for everyone I am sure, but for us it’s perfect.
Unschooling is a way of life, it’s not just education but it’s everything. It makes you question everything. It makes you see everything differently, that is what I love about unschooling.
The thing that has most surprised me about unschooling is not just how beneficial it is for my children but also for me. It’s opened a lot of self-discovery for me, as well as allowing my children to have that freedom of self-discovery. So, they do not have to discover themselves at the age of 30!! They will always know who they are because they have been given the freedom through childhood to be themselves.
Top Tips For Those Starting Out:
#1 Do you!
#2 Don’t do things to appease others uncomfortableness with your life choices.
#3 If you follow your child’s lead openly and honestly without control or coercion life is more consensually happy. Your children are not for you to shape but for you to support.
#4 Your child is already their own person.
#5 Remember this is yours and your family’s journey, no one else’s.
I am really grateful to those who freely share their stories and contribute to providing a fuller picture of unschooling in action.
If you feel able, or willing, to share your journey, as a way of encouraging and cheering others along theirs, please complete and submit your own guest blog post here
Live. Play. Learn 