I read it in Home Ed groups all the time. Questions like, ‘Are you structured or do you unschool?’ or comments that say, ‘I couldn’t unschool because we need a structure in our lives or we wouldn’t get anything done.’ It’s a common place for unschooling to sit in the ‘unstructured’ approach to home educating because there are some obvious differences when a child centred approach is taken. It doesn’t necessarily mean that there is no structure.
For unschooling families deciding how the days are spent, what activities we do, how long we spend on a task, is dependent upon the child/ren involved. Our schedules are created in liaison with the primary recipients (that’s our child/ren) and enacted (or not) according to the choices that that child makes.
The plans and decisions that we make are intentional, and purposeful, even if those plans are to create space for our children to play all day, or those plans change in light of choices that are made in the moment.
One of the ways that can help parents to make plans is the tool of reflection. Taking a look back at what your child did in the last month/ season/ year. I often sift through our diary from the previous year as January rolls in and more than once I have written about ‘Our Year in Numbers.’ Not only is it a nourishing thing to do, it is a comfort to see all the adventures that we did have, as well as sparking ideas for things to suggest and offer for the coming year.
2023 in Numbers
So, without further ado, here is 2023 for our family of six, in numbers:
One:
Round of crazy golf; Escape room; Ear piercing; Pottery painting; Museum Visit; Nature Reserve Outing; Trip to Paris; Play in the Woods; Pumpkin Picking Trip; Fireworks night; Sea Life Centre; Horse Riding Session.
Two:
Theatre Shows; Beach Days; Bowling; Longleat visits, Play Park meet ups.
Three:
Stay and Play Sessions; Shopping Trips; Rock Climbing; Swimming;
Four: Trampoline Park;
Five:
Trips to the library; Films at the cinema.
Six: Days out at the local Farm/ Adventure Park
Seven: Theme Park visits
Eight: Birthday Parties
Fourteen: Home Ed Teen Meets
Sixteen: Art Sessions
Twenty Two: Board Game Meet ups
Twenty Four: Cheer Classes
Forty: Dance Classes
Forty-five: D&D sessions
Fifty-Two: Playdates
Fifty-Three: Gymnastics Classes.
Even as I type this out I know that it isn’t entirely accurate however it fulfils its purpose. It enables me to see that my children are engaging in many things outside of the home and gives me a fairly good impression of where their interests currently lie as well as reminding me of things that we did that went well and we could consider doing again.
Creating an unschooling rhythm takes time and the willingness to reassess and try again over and over! It is not the same as sticking to a schedule and having an immovable structure, it is about how you, together with your child, make the choices about what you do and when you do it.
There’s more to it than the things that we actively plan
Of course, it doesn’t include all the things that we did at home, this is specifically about activities that might need more scheduling, booking, planning and for thought in order for them to happen again.
These are the things that might go in a diary and, as we get better at working in tandem with our child, these are the things that will create a regular rhythm to our lives.
Other things that I haven’t included, but as life is learning and learning is life are equally valid in terms of experience of the world, are hospital visits, dental treatment, emergency vet visit, hospice visits, funerals, extended family gatherings, food shopping, and anything spontaneous that we did that didn’t make it into the diary (hence why I know that some of the numbers are a little off!)
The LivePlayLearn Community are talking about what goes into our diaries and how we plan for our unschooling families over on Discord. It’s a free unschooling community group chat and you would be very welcome to join us.
Those with a LivePlayLearn Membership are taking it one step further and joining weekly calls to help ease their worries that they are not doing enough and how to start formulating an unschooling life, aided by the Learning Journal created for unschooling families by unschooling families. Join us for deeper community and tailored unschooling support.
Live. Play. Learn 