Mind Changing

Our whole lives we are told what to do, what to believe, how to behave… For instance growing up… I was told that I talked too much at school and was scolded a lot because apparently talking is bad. The problem a lot of teachers had with me was that I knew what they were saying and could tell them what they were saying even though I was talking… Society tells us that if we don’t fit a certain kind of mold that we won’t be successful adults! The mold of wearing a nice suit, getting the best education (what is thought to be the best), living in the best house, driving the best car ect…

Last few weeks or so we have been researching alternatives to public school… This is because our kids have expressed that they are unhappy and being bullied… We have explained that we are willing to look into other options because they deserve to learn in a positive environment. That’s not to say that there haven’t been great people in the school system because there have been. Looking at the vast amount of options there are it’s a little overwhelming, but also kind of eye opening to me. I have been researching the foundation of “unschooling” and I have to say I think it’s fabulous. The premise of the child deciding what they want to learn about… The problem is that I have to change my train of thought that has been ingrained in my head about having to do certain things at certain ages…

I guess what really opened my mind happened this morning at my moms group. There was a little boy who wasn’t 2 yet… He was sitting on the floor playing as us mom’s were chatting it up… All of a sudden he picks up these magnet letters and says I… His mom laughs and says awe that has to be a fluke… he just kept picking up letters O, S, B ect… we were all amazed… She said that she never worked with him on letters. She explained that she worked with his 4 year old sister on letters while he would play by himself… That baby was paying attention… There was no structure in him learning those letters. That really was like a light bulb… By the way his mom was a teacher and quit teaching…

It happens everyday in our lives with our children… We teach them from the time they are born with no assistance from an institution… We teach them based on what they want to do that day. Your baby wants to throw a ball you throw the ball and you talk about the ball or your baby wants to read books you read books ect… Our babies lead the way in what we teach them based on the interest that they have. We somehow stop all of that at the age of 5 or 5 when they go to Kindergarten and then we expect them to behave perfect in a classroom for 6-7 hours a day being directed… It’s crazy to think that we smash the creative side at that age… or if we send them to preschool at 3 or 4… We expect them to be these perfect little people… it’s silly. Kids need to be kids. Why do we rush them growing up… Why not let them be little and learn at the pace they want?