Unschooling: Why I have Decided to Give it a Try

I have been watching unschooling video after unschooling video on YouTube recently. I have even connected with a few unschooling mothers in my local area recently. I have decided to give it a try, I have experienced some serious homeschool burnout recently, and I feel like I am trying way too hard with it. I have been finding myself worrying about how much my son is learning, and if he has up to the standard that he "should" be at this age. I have been staying up really late at night researching, putting work boxes together, and generally worrying about everything. I have even been neglecting blog posts, vlogs, work and everything else in between to focus on home educating.


I came the realisation a couple of days ago that I need to calm down, I need to release the stress. I need to relax, I need to stop worrying, and I need to stop thinking about what other people think so much. Unschooling fits my sons personality, he is a free spirit, I does not like to be tied to a chair doing handwriting and learning numbers. He is very sensitive, empathetic, and he does not enjoy being stuck indoors. Having said that, I take him out quite a lot, but I think we need to start doing more interesting things. So, I have decided I am going to start the unschooling process.  I will be doing things my way though, and there is going to be some degree of structure.

I want to get the basics down, reading and writing and basic number skills. I have noticed my son loves to use the iPad and the computer. So, I am going to do something regarding numbers or letters daily with him. For example, doing Education City on the iPad for 20 minutes, counting cars, painting numbers of letters, watching a YouTube video, listening to a song, cooking and learning about quantities, or reading a book. I will do that daily, it won't be forced or structured but it will be something.  If he wants to do text book work he can do so, but it won't be something he is made to do every day. The rest of the day will be out and about learning as we go, walking about , getting lost and just having a good time. He also has activities throughout the week such as drum lessons, and drama lessons.

I have also decided that we are going to start travelling a lot more. I booked a holiday to Spain today, we will be going in September. It is work thing actually, and I originally said no because I was thinking it would be impossible to bring him. I found out today though that I could bring him along. I am also thinking about taking trips to different parts of the UK every week, just to get a feel for different surroundings. This weekend we went to a football themed kids party, then we went to a sport festival, he loved it. We were both exhausted by the end of the weekend but it was great because we just immersed ourselves in newness. I feel less stressed at the moment and I feel like this is the right decision for now. He will still continue to go to his classes and activities every week but for the most part we will be unschooling. Stay tuned!!! This journey is going to be awesome!