Unschool: Create a Real Life Curriculum

Sue Patterson

Sometimes, what holds people back from unschooling is the lack of having a plan.

Does this bother you?

But really, you CAN make a plan - it just doesn’t center around academics.

When you learn more about unschooling, and spend a lot of time with your kids noticing how much they’re learning or are curious about, you can see what direction you need to move.

No one else can really tell you - so maybe that will help you stop the endless search for the Perfect Curriculum.
The nuances of your kid and your family - that’s as individualized as it comes.
Don’t worry, it’s not hard to do.
And those academics you’re worried about right now, they’re going to take care of themselves for the most part.

I know - that sounds crazy to a lot of people. But hear me out!

We fall back on that academic focus, because so many of the years in OUR childhoods were focused on academics. Truthfully, they were focused on a lot of things that aren’t that great too - like the idea that kids need more direction or they won’t learn or they’ll make bad choices or it will be anarchy. We end up carrying these ideas forward with us into adulthood too. And so that’s another reason this deschooling period can be hard. We have a lot of layers to work through.

So what you need is a tool to help you brainstorm! Something to help you shift to this new way of living.
And no, I’m not asking you to drink the KoolAid.

via GIPHY

About "Drinking the Kool Aid"

In fact, the KoolAid drinking is what’s happening with the idea of sending kids off to schools for 12 years!

Making them sit still when we know they need to move around.
Making them shelve their curiosity and think they’re bad kids for wanting to play.
Setting up a divide between the family and the child - trying to insert the school and their peers as their new “better” family.
Confusing internal and external motivation! All those grades and gold stars becoming the focus - and then acting irked that “kids these days have no drive, no internal motivation.”
The school, and the mainstream way of parenting contributes to that significantly!

OK... I'll rein this in a little...

I’m Sue Patterson, and this is the Unschooling Mom2Mom podcast.
I have all kinds of tools to help you figure out how to make unschooling work for you.

Here at the website, you’ll find Guides (downloadable/digital), a course, years of blogposts.
And my fabulous membership, a group coaching program, if you’d like to learn alongside other families unschooling too. All of these things will help you develop the confidence you need to make the choices that are best for your family - your kids - their learning.

You know more than you think you do - you’re the expert of your own kid. Not some curriculum company making lesson plans to satisfy some bureaucracy.

Something you should know:

You don’t have to be afraid of that word, unschooling.

It’s just about living life - and noticing that learning is happening all around us.

My own three kids are grown now - they were unschooled. Doors were not closed to them as far as careers and higher education. In fact unschooling offered a variety of advantages. I’m happy to talk with you about it, if you’d like.

People worry that if they unschool, their kids will miss out on stuff. Yes, they will.
Definitely they’ll miss out on the lame stuff! Instead they’ll have the opportunity to live a full rich life - instead of reading about it and hoping that maybe they’ll get 1-2 field trips during the school year or hoping SOMEDAY they’ll get to travel and see the world. Unschoolers aren’t shackled into that - where all rewards are in the distant future concept. They’re exploring the world now. And that, in itself is a really great reward.

So what would you do if you’re not doing academics?

Start with The Learner and think about what interests them. Then move out from there.

Remember, your goal is to fuel their curiosities and expose them to pieces of the world they don’t know about.

At Home

Think about what to do together as a family or that they could do solo at home:
Movies, cooking, games, learning about the world, listening to audible books.

Your Community

Thinking about your community, what could you go out to see?
Where could you hike?
What ethnic restaurants could you try out, and then soak it all in, the ambiance, the music, the flavors?
Go on kid dates, or volunteer with community service.

The world holds so many opportunities - you just have to notice them and tap into them.
The learning will be happening all around you!

Brainstorm with the Kids!

If this sounds great and you’d like a tool to help you do all this,
grab the Brainstorming Guide.

It will walk you through 20 different areas to brainstorm with the kids about. Brand new homeschoolers and long time Unschoolers have all told me this Guide helped them - and their kids - see the world through a Real Life lens, instead of the artificial school lens.

Show me the Brainstorm Guide!