still teaching/learning even though we're not homeschooling!

 Yah to that!

I've been feeling sad and worried that with our homeschooling journey over before we barely had time for it to begin, that I wouldn't be able to be the "teacher" to my children in the way I wanted. Or the way I thought I should.

But I realised that's not true. Even though it's not official book work or lesson planning or scheduled learning & teaching, it's still happening. And probably in a better, more fluid way than when we had the restrictions of the education department breathing down my neck, so to speak. 

I still receive this mailing list that makes me think and think. Lori's book and site Project Based Homeschooling is quite amazing in her ability to know where I'm up to in my thinking and doubts and reassure through her newsletter. Pretty clever hey! This post about self directed learning hit the nail on the head for me this morning.

I've been worrying that I needed to make sure my kids were keeping up with the few things we'd started and wanted to journey through, and that I feel they're missing at school. But life hasn't given us the time for me to make it happen and set it all out for the kids and do the research and find the books and information. But it's much better this way anyway. Life is telling me that it's best when the kids do their own research and finding of books and information and make it happen. That if I keep doing it for them, they won't learn to do it for themselves. 

And while I knew that, I feel that often my kids take the easy and lazy option of not doing it at all. But maybe that's because it's important to them, and they don't want to know that anyway. So, why should I be pushing them into all this research for what they're not interested in. 

Lately, Mishi has been looking through my craft, art and design books to find inspiration for making doll clothes. She's not asking me to help her, or to do it for her. She'd flicking through and reading the words, and asking help when she wants and needs it only. And I'm there for her - when she needs a word sounded out or a pattern traced and cut. She's learning names of clothing shapes and styles, and sometimes talking about eras and fashion trends. This is her interest, real and true and I know she'll pursue it without my pushing. 

And only today, Ari read on an oats box, while we were baking afternoon tea, that they would send a free bag clip if you emailed them. So - he read the box for all the info he needed to find their email address and worked out how to send an email from my account. He wrote the letter to them, and told them his recipe, and they replied saying they want a photo of him with his baking. He then searched the brand on Instagram and looked at the possibility of joining up to their mailing list. Really - I couldn't have taught him to write an email to someone unless he'd wanted to. 

So, just a reminder to me (and maybe you?) that letting our children discover something on their own is the best way for them to learn. It's so important for children now days to know how to search something (every single child knows the word Google) and how to look within the pages of false information for the true information, that's a skill that's more important than knowing how the answers to the questions we feed them.

*images are from Ari's Collections on Pinterest. Because even 8year old needs to know to how Pin! They perfectly sum up how I feel about the learning journey I go on with my little ones; the turtle express and flying in the wind.