My default entry into the world of unschooling

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Last week on 60 minutes I was watching a segment about 'Unschooling' with my two older girls.  They were fascinated and a little outraged, because they quite enjoy the learning that goes on at school.  You can watch the segment here if you're interested http://video.au.msn.com/watch/video/schools-out/xtt4pc6.  I found it interesting.  Unschooling sounds like a lot less work than homeschooling and I'm always up for the easier option ;)

The girls and I were talking on the weekend about how little school Miss 11 has attended this year due to her illness.  She counted that she'd been to a total of the equivalent of five full school days.  We decided that she could now claim that she was participating in our own version of 'unschooling' because she sure hasn't done anything resembling formal education in the past two months.

We had fun coming up with vaguely educational outcomes for her efforts over the past few months.  Here we go:

- Watched the box set of 'I dream of Jeannie' (twice) and 'Get Smart'.  Also known as an analysis of 60's comedy television.
- A cross-stitch and a tapestry completed (while watching above shows).  Aka - she learnt embroidery (all self-taught actually).
- Reread 'Harry Potter' and 'The Hunger Games'. Aka delving more deeply into the fantasy and dystopian genres.
- Hours of Minecraft on the iPad.  Aka - structural engineering, architectural design, mining engineering.
- Watching 'The Block' (renovation TV show).  Aka - how to fight with other people, and apparently, how to renovate.
- Making and designing Loombands (if you don't know what that is, they are bracelets made out of tiny elastic bands).  Aka design and construction.
- Watching hours of 'Dr Who'.  Aka - fodder for future brilliance as a science fiction TV show writer.

So there you go. She's not missed out totally.  Well, actually.  She's missed out totally on what's being taught at school (maths, hmm...) but it is amazing what you can learn along the way despite being pretty unwell.  

Comments

Emily said…
I bet she could add Dr visits (health outcomes) and religion (prayer) to the list too.
March 31, 2014 at 5:41 PM
onlinesoph said…
This post made me laugh...it wasn't until the list that I realised you were being tongue in cheek :)
April 1, 2014 at 9:24 PM
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