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When I think back to my childhood I remember always being outside Most of the memories I have of being a child is being outside and being abit of a wildchild . I remember being 6 and running amuck, and exploring the caravan park in cairns with my cousins where we lived for a while, we'd climb the frangipani trees where we were constantly warned not to eat the sap , - like seriously why would we wanna lick the tree anyway ! I remember climbing the tree house there and my cousin told me to try how good green ants butts taste.- Yes we were weird and yes we did eat them ! I remember swimming under the crystal cascade waterfalls- and sliding down the waterfall rocks in my floaties with my mum ! I remember driving on the back of quads around the caravan park with the owners kids and along the beach were my cousin got stung by a blue bottle .I remember pretending rocks around a pool were my office computers and going camping in the rain, where we would play in the muddy puddles for hours. Each one of these memories are special because they made me feel something real - true happiness ! I have tons of memories like this and so does my husband and one thing they all have in common ? Each memory was created and remembered to this day by experiencing a real childhood outdoors using my 5 senses I think a lot of us as grow adults think back to our childhood memories and the ones we truly remember are the ones we had while adventuring outdoors and being like children of the wild. We do not hold onto the memories of sitting inside watching cartoons or those other "boring" ones, of being inside playing video games and on our phones building virtual houses in roblox because They are not real life experiences and they do not stay with us when we grow up ,we instead remember the real life ones . - like building the forts in the backyard out of sticks and sheets , the camping trips with the family and playing with the camp fire, the trying to make traps unsuccessfully , the bike riding ,the tree climbing and the hanging by the tree from your pants upside down ! - yes me, the learning to surf and the hiking trips, the waterfall swimming and the ninja stick weapon collecting , the mud sliding ,the fairy house building and the hanging with the kids from around the block on your bikes, we hold onto all these memories not only because they were real life experiences using our 5 senses but because they were truly fun and made us happy enough to keep them in our memories 20 + years later. When I look back onto my childhood memories, I was very privilege to have got to spend most of my time amongst nature and the great outdoors. Embracing new generations of wild child's In our home we have embraced adventuring the wild and been amongst nature with the kids since as long as I can remember , they were all catching waves before they could swim and chasing butterflies before they could walk - as I like to say ! - I want my children as grown adults to look back at their childhoods and have it full of great memories, just like mine. You know the ones that truly made them happy enough to keep with them through the years.The ones were being outdoors as a family , going on the adventures and having real life experiences that involves using their 5 senses ,those real ones that embrace a childhood worth remembering , the ones that make them laugh and feel happy talking about it with their children when they become adults. I believe parenting comes for being Intune with your child, trusting they are cable enough to climb the tree, to walk the hiking trails ,to hang from the monkey bars and to let them become the Wild Childs of the new generation. Over the years technology has advanced, WIFI and YouTube have turned our children into little robot humans watching the world through a window. With our urban jungles, indoor culture and never-ending stream of new technology .It seems inevitable that our children and even ourselves are slowly being removed from nature and all the positive benefits being outdoors and nature play bring with it. The question is will this generations of kids have real enough experiences worth keeping as childhood memories ? The amount of research on the benefits of outside play and being amongst nature for children's development is huge ! Children don’t just play for fun ,they play to learn. Research shows that playing in any way helps develop core cognitive, social and creative skills, but the benefits of outdoor play for children’s development are infinite. -Outdoor play is any activity or interaction that a child has with nature out in the open air. It’s what they see, hear, feel smell and even taste ( like eating those ants! ) - out there. Some of the benefits of raising a wild child, and even just letting your child have unstructured nature - based play outside, everyday ,show that: Children are more creative when exposed to nature; they can use all their senses rather than just sight and sound; they can use their imaginations. Children in nature-based playgrounds engaged in more creative play than children in structured - based playgrounds -They were more alert, better at using their bodies and more likely to create their own games,because in nature based play the child had natural open ended toys instead of tradition one use only ones like that in structured play. Children who spend more time in nature have more friendships that are based upon inventiveness and resourcefulness rather than physical prowess. Children are less likely to engage in bullying when they play in natural environments Both children and adults, but especially children, with ADHD can focus better after spending time exposed to nature. The effect has been shown to carry over to school. Children who play outside are more physically active, which helps prevent obesity, heart disease, diabetes , they are also sick less often because they have higher levels of vitamin D, which in turn strengthens their bones and immune systems .Getting the recommended dose of sunlight also help you and your child feel refreshed and relaxed by helping your body’s melatonin production. Melatonin is a hormone that controls your body’s internal clock. And the right amount of it ensures you have a good night’s sleep. Children who play regularly in natural environments have more advanced motor skills, such as agility, balance and coordination, Children who grow up having regular contact with the natural world are more likely to develop a lifelong love for nature and care to preserve it.When exposed to the natural world children develop a stronger awareness, reasoning and observation skills. Unstructured outdoor play helps kids learn to take turns, share and develop other positive behavioural skills. These interactions help improve communication, cooperation and organizational skills. Additionally, fresh air and free play reduce stress levels An optometry and vision science study showed children who play outside regularly have better distance vision than children who are always indoors. Children who play outside suffer less near-sightedness and are less likely to need eyeglasses Children who play outdoors use all 5 senses which helps them learn and helps with their development Preschoolers, in particular, learn new things through their senses. Think of a toddler’s delight at seeing and patting new animals (sight and feel), stopping at a bed of fragrant flowers to smell and pick (smell and touch), hearing the birds call out to each other while picking up a rock to throw (hearing and touch) or eating a tomato they picked from the garden they helped to grow (taste,touch,sight). On the other hand, children glued to television and electronic devices use only two senses (hearing and sight). This can negatively affect development of perceptual abilities. lastly but defiantly not all the positive benefits outdoor and nature play have is Being outdoors makes you more happier ! Outdoor light stimulates the pineal gland. This part of the brain is vital to keeping our immune system strong and making us feel happier. Spending time in nature is also associated with improving mood and happiness. Scientists believe that we evolved to be more relaxed in natural spaces,somehow nature relieves stress and soothes our minds also levels of oxygen in our brain are tied to levels of serotonin, the neurotransmitter that affects your mood, appetite, memory and social behaviour. Too little serotonin and you can feel depressed – breathing in fresh air can help regulate serotonin levels and promote happiness and wellbeing not only for children but for us to. Its time you let your little one embrace their wild side- and not try to tame it. contains amazon affiliate links Great books on how to embrace a natural childhood include: You can purchase this from amazon by clicking on the links: How to Raise a Wild Child: The Art and Science of Falling in Love with Nature Nature Play at Home: Creating Outdoor Spaces that Connect Children with the Natural World Nature Play Workshop for Families: A Guide to 40+ Outdoor Learning Experiences in all Seasons Grow Wild: The Whole-Child, Whole-Family, Nature-Rich Guide to Moving More

First of all What is radical Unschooling you ask ? Radical unschooling extends the philosophy of unschooling into all aspects of life not just how you let your child pursue the way they learn but the way they live, its more about letting your child take control of choices that effect them .Just like as adults we make choices for ourselves not by someone else making those choices for us, Have you ever thought why we think a childs duty- well atleast in theory - is to obey the orders we and other adults give them ? ... Have you ever questioned . Why? Well thats what radical unschooling parents do they question the why. Well believe it or not,the development of agriculture thousands of years ago triggered such a change in society and the way we parent and view children. With the development of , agriculture became the development of labour and With all this came the breakdown of the hunter-gatherer ideals of equality and freedom. While hunting and gathering required personal initiative, skill, intelligence, creativity, and a playful spirit, Much of the work of agriculture was routine and could be done by unskilled laborers and while hunter-gatherers needed to be independent and assertive in order to survive, most post-hunter-gatherers needed to be obedient in order to survive. And so, the goal of parenting for most people became that of producing obedient and subservient children. While many hunter-gatherers tribes still parent to this day in ways designed to enhance independence and willfulness .The new age " mainstream parenting" does not. The bedrock of radical unschooling is trust and equality Radical unschooling is a belief that our children possess an inner wisdom far beyond what we have been raised to believe, its about giving them that trust. Radical unschoolers view raising their children with the same values as themselves. Here are sets of questions to ask yourselves Why is it okay for us adults to stay up late ? but our children are made to go to bed by a certain time? We know if we are tired we will either sleep in, go to bed earlier the next night or take a nanna nap. Why is It okay for us adults to choose what we eat? but our children can only eat what we say, or no dessert ? I'm sure most of us veggie eating adults , hated eating our greens when we were children,but look out us know , we are not forced into eating healthy but we choose to. Why is it okay for us adults to chose what we wear each day? but our children must wear what we see as sociable acceptable? I was a tomboy as a young child and wasn't allowed to wear what I wanted out in public, many tears and tantrums trying to force me into a skirt Why is it okay for us adults to say no to many things our children ask,want or do ? but we expect our children to become independent capable young adults? Do we ever say no you cant do that to ourselves,? or do we learn new things by giving it ago. radical unschoolers believe children should be treated with the same respect as adults Radical unschoolers believe that children should be treated with the same respect as adults are treated , in that they shouldn’t be coerced or forced into living their lives in any particular way other then how they chose to live it. After all it is them who walks their shoes Rather than enforcing strict rules, unschoolers use principles. Instead of imposing limits, unschoolers work with their children to help them live in a balanced and healthy way. Instead of a strict schedule, unschoolers follow the natural flow of their lifes as a family People may confuse radical unschooling with neglectful parenting. This is not the case. Unschooling is not “un-parenting”. Parents who live the radical unschooling life are very involved, mindful and intentional. It is not a free-for-all, or utter chaos, or children raising themselves, although mainstream media has tended to portray it as such . Radical unschooling is parenting as a partnership instead of an authoritative relationship Questions & answers on radical unschooling How does a child get enough sleep ? Radical unschoolers see their child, who stays up late everynight getting the recommended amount of sleep as the wake up later,take naps or go to bed earlier when they are tired. Can a child eat what they want? Yes a child is free to eat what they do or do not want,the family lunch and dinner is chosen together and based on what everyone wants , They also can eat when they want to. late night snack at 10pm sure.- afterall if us parents were hungry at that time we would eat right? What if a child only wants to eat junk food? I think as a parent it is important to only buy healthy and wholesome food for your family in the first place or understand trusting your child to make good choices is part of the radical unschool process. - my children will go grab a apple or healthy food if their are no other junk food options What if my child wants to wear a batman costume to the shops? Radical unschoolers allow their children to embrace their individuality and free spirits. After all who are they hurting by wearing what the choose.? who cares what a few weird looks you may get, its about your child being who they want to be and not caring of others judgments What if my child hates going to certain things? Well if your child does not enjoy going to say.. soccer practise? you have to think is that what they really wanted to do in the first place? The top two radical unschooling quotes are Put them where they shine, don’t put them where they don’t shine. Live and let live. Radical Unschooling is about forgetting all the What if's, Its about living a fulfilling life with your child , trusting their choices and believing they know when the time comes to make the best choices for them.Forget what you have been taught a childs duty is not to obey it is time to give your child the same freedom and trust you give yourself as a adult. " The radical " Is it so radical to live how hunter- gathers and even our primal ancestors raised their children.

Letting your child take age appropriate risks, doesn't make you a bad parent,its all about a Unschooling learning path for them, as I can see now. Allowing your children to experience the real world and all those real world consequences. When ever we are out and about and my children decide they want to go all ninja and try their skills like balancing or flipping or even climbing over everything .I had always been quick to say no stop. ! Not only no because the possibilities they might hurt themselves(which I usually thought was true ) but no to the fact that their may be some other parent watching and judging how bad of a mother I must be, by letting my kids run around all wild and stuff . The thought of them thinking I do not care for my childs safety. - which is just nonsense used to be in control of how I went about parenting. But Since being on this unschooling journey as a whole family I have now learnt to embrace my children's wild sides. I have learnt to trust in them, as they know best when it comes to their own capabilities and limits. - Like my daughter believed she could walk along a jetties beam, she seen this as a opportunity to practise her balancing skills, - if that were 2 years ago, I would have been quick to say get down you will fall.- now knowing the only real danger was falling into water, as she knows how to swim and I am their to quickly jump in if she did,- does not make sense to hamper her curiosity and her own learning path.She understood the risks involved but she wanted to give it a shot anyway. Her brothers followed her as well but they stuck to their own limits and capabilities they felt comfortable with, like balancing on the beam closer to the shore, I knew they believed in themselves enough at that time and the reward outweighed the risk to them. You have to understand unschooling is all about trustful parenting and not given a damn what others think Hunter -Gather tribes embrace Trustful Parenting Everyday, why shouldn't we ? In hunter- gather cultures they embrace trustful parenting everyday, they understand their children are growing adults who need to learn about the world around them and where they fit in.They are not surrounded by judging eyes or finger pointers. They give their children one of the greatest rewards which is trust and freedom . Freedom to use that trust to experience and learn new things for which they realise is expanding their child's own capabilities and moulding them into capable young adults. By allowing the child to help handle and gather food, to cook over the fire , to give them sharp tools and teach them the proper ways to use them, by allowing their child to climb trees and adventure the nearby environment unsupervised .This style of trust is creating a balance between parent and child. The child is learning to be independent and learn that infact they are capable, and the parent is learning that when the time comes the child has all the tools required to be able to navigate through adulthood independently. Trustful Parenting and Unschooling is when you stop seeing a child as a clumsy, incapable little person and start seeing them as a smart, capable young adult. Since starting Unschooling and stepping away from the mainstream way of parenting, I have opened up to the idea that maybe my children were not these little people who need me to hold their hand on the balancing beam , that maybe they will not fall into the water if I do not intervene , and maybe , just maybe they knew this all along, and I was just to delusional to see that this was about a learning path for them , they wanted to learn from real life experiences and real life consequences.. - and I let my fear and others judgments hold them back.. post contains amazon affiliates Well not anymore I now embrace those situations that make you think twice. Yes I have come along way and fully embrace a more free range style of parenting, I let my children challenge themselves and put their own knowing of their capabilities and limits to the test whenever they feel like exploring them. As I understand this now as a learning path . I always remind them of safety guidelines, and the consequences before hand, I guide them if they need it and lend a hand when such help is required. Its all about great real life learning experience now, and as unschoolers curiosity is the only lesson they will ever need. For instance my son today had the urge to build a skateboard out of cardboard box and old wheels - he done this all himself His curiosity was his only lesson and he was his own teacher These were his steps : He climbed into back of ute to pull out box from rubbish ( we were taking away rubbish tomorrow ) He ran around the house like a chicken lost its head looking everywhere for his pocketknife, this is where he needed my help ( yes both my boys have real pocket knives and have since they were around 6 years old ) He found a permanent marker to draw the shape he then used his pocket knife to cut the box into shape of a skateboard deck. He used his own drill to screw the wholes for the ( old skateboard tracks ) onto the cardboard- yes my boys have their own real power tools, they wanted these for Christmas's and birthdays instead of toys each year since they were toddlers Lastly he found some old screws that he screwed into both the box and tracks ( it was flimsy as it was carboard but it was bloody awesome, and the best thing was seeing how proud he was of himself, -he is 7 years old and a master box troll )

This is a post of a 4 part post collection of how we unschooled subjects- naturally last year in 2021, check out our other related posts, How we Unschooled 2021 , Unschooling adventures 2021 and learning portfolios 2021 Okay so here it is I get a lot of messages asking how we turn our unschooling days into subjects for home-school registration records , There's a false lie that just because children are unschooled and free to do whatever they like,all day- that they must not be learning the required subjects (english,maths,creative arts ect ) then their fellow formal schooligans- but it is the complete opposite, unschooling children actually learn more in-depth and above their age on particular subjects and topics because they have been given the freedom to explore things curious to them at their own pace and for however much time they like ,unlike traditional school systems were a child is only allowed to learn what is put in front of them,they do not get a choice to learn and engage in things they find interesting and want to learn about ! they get taught a topic over and over again through planned lessons and textbooks for a short period of time not allowing the child to experience first hand accounts engaging their 5 senses , until the next topic is needed to be learned and then its repeated over again ! Children in mainstream education system usually forget the information they have just learned about, once the test is over or that unit is complete, why ? because it did not interest them, it did not spark their curiosity, and without curiosity learning is not fun and not rememberable. I'm not a organised person when it comes to trying to document my child's learning every day As a unschooler and embracing a carefree way to life its annoying when you have to " stop life to take notes" - but the law is law I guess and a requirement for homeschooling no matter what style of home educating you chose to use whether, formal, Reggio Emilia, waldorf stiener,classical, and so on, is you gotta record your childs learning and those subjects! So when I see a " learning opportunity that is covering subjects happening at home or out and about- I think this is great for my learning records " - I whip out my camera ( or should I say old iPhone ) and take a quick picture or 2 . This way at the end of the week , I can go through the photo library and actually remember what went down for that week. I make photo collages of these using free pic app and write a short sentence of what happened and what subjects it covered .I print these of and add them to a photo album / yearly learning reflection portfolio ( a plastic sleeve folder to be more blunt ) - I usually jolt down in a daily planner book anything "special" that happened, that I can not take a picture of , and save any pictures.artwork,writing work, anything that have done on loose papers in a seperate portfolio.(plastic sleeve folder ). how to categorise daily life into subjects For instance , Today my son asked how to spell the word - (month) - for something he was doing on his online gaming, That covers english ! my youngest son cracked salt and pepper on a plate and told me to separate it, -I thought this was a science experiment he watched on YouTube , so here I was blowing the salt from the pepper and trying to lick the salt of - little did I know it was a prank he seen! He cracked up laughing while separating the salt from the pepper shakers ! that covers creative arts, english All my kids played either Roblox or fortnight today , now online gaming covers so many topics you have english,maths,tech,science,creative arts subjects - left right and centre- happening there. My children played a few games of hangman with dad - English, and we all went swimming in the pool, ( our little pool ) where we ran around in a circle and created a whirlpool - we discussed what a whirl pool is as well , we reflected mine and dads childhoods of us in my pool , were we learnt to hold our breaths longer under water from holding a heavy rock and all laughed about the other funny memories me and dad had ! we covered (english,pdhpe,geography ,science,history ) , my daughter is sitting next to me as I write this, creating a Roblox game in Roblox studio - she didn't know how to add a water element to her game so she looked up a how to video on youtube, she watched it and followed instructions - now she has realistic water , that covers english,creative arts,technology,science -a lot more went on today but they were the few that stuck out ! see once you start unschooling or even just categorizing what you done for the day into subjects, you will be surprised how much learning is going on. Natural learning is a continues thing and it is always happening Everything that your child does can be labelled into a " subject" category even 2,3 or more subject categories ! and here we are , I'm finally posting some of my previous photo learning reflections we had last year 2021 that i used as my homeschool / unschool learning records. Each of these learning moments were spontaneous , they just happened while out living our life's and exploring. Its easy to turn something that is fun and enjoyable into subjects for your homeschool / unschool learning records. Learning shouldn't be describe from coming from textbooks and lessons, after all how are our children meant to learn about real world experiences, from behind a desk all day ?

My honest review and account when my unschooling kids had unlimited use of technology . Is it Technology that = no outside play or no real life experiences? Did you know that children in todays modern society spend less then half the time outside as their parents did ? Yes it is true the advance of technology for our children's generation has turned our children's childhoods into virtual ones,like a child robot watching the world through a window -there is no more playing real life games with physical friends, instead they do all these real life experiences through screens and not in reality , they do not get to use any of their 5 senses and learn about life through hands on opportunities like we did as young children before YouTube ,before the social network and before online gaming was widespread and readily available. So The question is will their childhood be worth remembering,if their childhoods are spent mainly on screen? what research says The research shows that 71 per cent of Australian kids spend less than an hour a day outdoors, and one in two families do not spend time outdoors with their kids more than twice a week.The research also states that Australian kids between 8-16 years old are spending more than 30 hours a week glued to their screens. - that is like a casual job ! And the stats from around the world ? It’s estimated that kids and teens between the ages of 8 to 28 spend about 44.5 hours each week in front of digital screens.- how crazy is that ! honest behaviour problems I noticed when my Children had unlimited internet access If your child spends too much time on the Internet, compulsive behaviour may develop. This can lead to an internet addiction, which just like any other type of addiction, can destroy a healthy balance of interests and activities in your childs life. Here are some signs that my children developed when having as much free time to use their technologies as they liked and why we had to set some rules stayed in bed rooms all day playing laptop / xbox Yes when we were at home and not out adventuring , they would go straight on their laptop,iphone or Xbox and stay on it until either they went to sleep , had to use the bathroom or we had to go out .- this could sometimes be all day if we didnt go places ! did not play outside somedays there were a few days they wouldnt even go outside at all , did not play in real life for more then several minutes or so at a time new Christmas toys weren't being played with , drawing , painting ,riding or really anything that they had to do in real life " couldnt be done for more then several minutes at a time, before they needed to go back on their technology. i will have a shower tomorrow I will have a shower tomorrow became the new norm i will eat dinner in here wanting to Eat lunch, dinner and snacks in their rooms or wherever they were playing their tech became the new norm. Emotional fallouts left right and centre Became angry and/or agitated when interrupted while online, like trying to vacuum ! became irritable when access to the Web was denied or slow , constant sibling fighting , when on and off line , leaving one child out of games incredibly moody and irritable when not able to play online for a day or two lost creativity when my children would draw or paint , they didnt try to be creative, they rushed to finish , they would draw something and not even be bothered to colour it in,. when before they were very creative, took time and had pure joy in creating Pre-occupied with online life when offline day dreaming about roblox even when riding scooter ( yes !) When offline,constantly remained preoccupied with getting back online Sacrificed doing new fun things, in order to hurry up and get back online lost all interest in activities previously enjoyed before becoming obsessed with being online late nights , early mornings played until late- , late at night,11pm / woke up extra early to play didn't have time to talk to relatives on phone we live in another state from our relatives, so children were either to occupied and couldn't be bothered to call / facetime with grandparents, as they were to involved in whatever they were doing online constantly saying im hungry constantly saying they , were hungry and want food all of the time , even when they just ate. turned into real life karens, my children would always pick out negative points of things, before any positive ones , especially if it didnt involve them playing on phones, like going for a bike ride - this is boring - lets go home (so they could play on tech) where they went , so did the phone If you asked them to do something like take out the rubbish , the phone would remain in one hand if my son went to the toilet he would sometimes still be holding the phone in the other hand alot of things they had to do, they done quickly so they wouldnt have to put down the phone! Yes at one point it got really bad and tech crazy around our house for a few months , when me and their father were pre occupied with renovations for our house flip! That was it, we had to put up limits As radical unschoolers ,i believe my children should be allowed the same values as myself, but this internet addiction became way to much. So almost a month ago we had enough of the unlimited internet access, and the way they were living , we stopped the use of technology throughout the day and the kids can now only go on after 5:30pm most days! - with weekends being still unlimited, as we are usually out and about anyways . I think the use of technology is a great learning tool and I know how much the use of them has been in my childrens learning paths, especially as unschoolers. But if a child who does not go to school is truly allowed as much time as they want on their technology, - the reality is they will become addicted and just chose that above all else I think when children have unlimited access for a long period of time on their technology , major behavioural problems develop. So it is our responsibility as parents to remind them of the no wifi childhoods we all had when we were younger that we have great memories about, from time to time and reinforce some limits , if they are spending all of their time on it.

Are you a new unschooling mum? Would you like to be ? Here is 3 things you should know. one This is you and your families life Nobody else or nobody's opinions matter, As a unschooling parent you will most likely hear others negativity about your lifestyle choices, I can guarantee every unschooling parent has one way or another heard it! I have heard -how will they get a job if they don't learn anything aren't home-schooling kids dumb, and laughed at - Once you see past the fact and shrug of those comments ,once you stop trying to explain and let others affect your parenting choices,once you accept that everyone will have their own opinions ,some are on board and understanding, and others not so open minded .You begin to realise that who really gives a crap what they say or think , embrace your unschooling journey , live outside the box and follow your heart , because unschooling really works, and your child deserves a better childhood then filling in textbooks and studying for tests their whole young lives. Two trust takes time Trusting your child, and trusting the unschooling philosophy takes time. You will have them days, just like most unschooling parents when you think to yourself - are they learning,? am I doing this right?, or omg what have I done?. The beautiful part of unschooling and natural learning is that when your child is ready and only then will they learn certain things, and like most things that takes time.You have to trust that in time all that is necessary for your child to learn and what they need to make their life's more comfortable ( reading, writing simple maths, geology everything they are interested in - will be learnt ) Trusting that the path of unschooling - which is allowing your child to learn how and what they want at their own pace, does not happen overnight, a reminder every now and then to yourself, that time is not important for learning , as learning is a never ending thing-will help you get through those days. Three LEARNING OPORTUNITIES ARE ALL AROUND US Natural learning ( unschooling) is unlike formal learning or following curriculums, Why? because being a Unschooling parent you start to understand that learning is happening all of the time, not just in those so called learning places or in textbooks. You begin to realise that Learning opportunities come from your everyday living , chores, maths,shops that day at the beach , video game playing , markets. You begin to see the hidden learning that comes in many shapes and forms from just living each day naturally, and getting on with whatever happens in daily life . You notice your childs questions when they become curious about something, you notice how many subjects life skills cover, and you begin to notice that learning opportunities are always around you - from this modern world and modern time we are in, learning is happening one way or another. Before the school system was created, every child got on fine, learning what they needed to learn from their natural surroundings, and from their natural learning abilities The same as our primal ancestors and hunter-gather tribes allowed their child to self educate : naturally learn " . The modern world is full of new technology where you can learn anything and everything from a click of a finger, you read signs and labels and media content daily, you do maths at shops, on gaming software and in daily life skills. Everything your child will need to learn to suit them for our future and our culture - they are naturally surrounded by.

As a unschooling parent the greatest reward is knowing that my child can and does learn naturally without school - EXAMPLES SHOWN BELOW So of course the top question everyone asks when you tell them your children are unschooled, is .. WTH were you thinking !! no they say... What are you serious, but how do they learn ? It comes as such a shock to them that yes ! In fact children do learn without being forced to sit at a desk 5 days a week, follow a planned lesson and without the use of textbooks. In a unschooling world children are free to play and pursue whatever interests they might have, lets say they enjoy playing Roblox, - like I have mentioned in my previous posts all the subjects Roblox covers while your child is playing, As they get better and more in-depth with their curiosity for the game, they begin to research using YouTube and google on how -to videos, hacks they can use,or how they can make their own game in roblox,ect -they begin to message friends on the game and for all this they need to spell and read , if they are unsure how to spell certain words they will come to you and ask how you spell it, - you spell it out - They type it in . If they are not sure what a word or sentence says, they will come to you, and you read it out for them ,they begin to remember and with whatever your child does in the day , some learning is developing and over time it all advances there is 2 ways that a unschooling child learns one learning develops from natural curiosity for something your child actually enjoys doing .In order to enjoy their curiosity your child will advance their learning skills .They will begin to research, ask questions , watch videos , copy work, and turn to you for help to further their enjoyments (meaning maybe they want a new microphone and webcam for their birthday so they can start to create their own YouTube gaming videos( my daughter last birthday), or maybe they want new paints and art pads so they can test their creative skills (my daughter this Christmas that just past 2021) or maybe like this year for my daughters birthday she wants a sewing machine, so she can have a go at making some textiles.(As she has lately been sketching her own clothing dress designs from time to time. and also she has been watching YouTube videos of making things, like a girl who makes rugs? rugs yes I know.) But this is her interests, and so from all her above curiosities she has learnt a variety of new skills and gained alot of new learning tools, two learning happens from daily life living, throughout each day their is always learning that your child is doing and its happening subconsciously. like reading price tags, labels, instructions, advertisement signs, media text , watching different youtube viral videos , lego building , gardening,chores,pocket money,pretend play,listening to the news,over hearing conversations, on outings.asking the time,talking on phone calls and so on.Next time when your at the beach notice how your child observes the waves, builds a sandcastle, collects specimens , observes the rockpools,picks up little sea creatures,runs,climbs,flips. This is all learning and each of these things covers subjects. There is a never ending variety of learning tools in this modern environment that your child uses in daily life. what should my child be learning , -you ask? Forget everything you have ever been taught , children do not need to know what verbs, nouns, or adjectives are , children do not need to know algebra, they do not need to know about ancient Rome or need to know other pointless things they teach in school , do you know why? Because none of the stuff we were taught at school, are needed in our real lifes as adults, when have we ever been to a job interview and they ask so do you know what a verb is? or what is the capital city of Australia. The thing is ,If there ever comes a time when we do need certain " subjects" for say a job, - or we become interested in certain topics. We do our own research ,then in that moment ! - when we need to use it ! not 15 years earlier when we were at school, where we have forgotten all that we were taught .Thats what unschooling and the natural learning path is all about ,learning when the time suits you, when you are passionate and curious . Thats how learning as a unschooler works. You learn only what you need , to enjoy your life comfortably. Your child should learn whatever they are interested in, whatever they need for their own life's ,forget what you were taught ,embrace the natural learning path your child is on what if they are behind ? Every child learns at different stages some learn to read and write at the age of 4 some after 13, some learn their times tables by the age of 8 and some never do.It doesn't matter how or when a child learns- as learning is a never ending thing.Maybe the question instead of asking what if they are behind ?, should be , do they really need to be learning this at all? or at this age? I mean does a 8 year old really to to be able to fluently read.why? So just trust your child that when the time comes, they will learn what is necessary to them , hey who knows they may even be a young adult when they decide they need to use it. so when our unschooling journey started near the end of 2020 - I wrote down some notes of each of my childrens learning abilities This is what I wrote for my youngest son then 5yo in kindergarten June 2020 Huey-Hayes learning to use and navigate his way through technology ( iphone,xbox) can count to 17 - confuses after with 80 ect , can not read numbers knows simple math in the 1 digits , 2+3=5 ect learning to spell his own name doesnt know what alphabet letters are / nor any reading or writing skills doesn't know any time,money skills doesnt understand left from right, what first or last means starting to join in with family convos loves to roleplay magic, superheros end of year/start of new year reflection report 2020/2021 Huey has shown interest in money he know knows 100c = $1 , he knows his $1,$2 ,50c 20c ,10c and 5c he can now count past 50 can tell me what most numbers are between 1-10,also some various 2 digit number , 15, 31 ect ( he is able to write them down aswell) he knows his left from right he now knows the difference between the beginning of the line the end of the line start and finish , he know 1st 2nd and 3rd place meanings he can write his own name,know the letters H and U , and knows the letters x, y,a and d as this are on xbox controller he has learnt to swim while going to beach and surfing learning different underwater sea creatures and mammal names from his toy collection he loves playing with , hump back whale, blue whale , reef shark ,octopus ect always asks questions, loves roleplaying superheros (drama) - directs me and gives me lines to do and say. end of year reflection 2021 Huey can add double digits as well as large multiplications together , his maths has advanced incredibly over the last year he can easily and fastly add 22+35 etc and 1000+200+55 etc together he can read out large numbers in correct place value th h t o / 1245 counts way over 100 can add his money together 50c + 20c+ 5c = 75 etc he can now read tags at shops in correct decimal $1.89 = 1 dollar and 89 cents starting to know small 2x tables ( doubles ) he can read analog clocks , does not yet know meaning of half past quarter to etc he loves playing Minecraft and can navigate and build all by himself on Xbox and iphone, can set phone stop watches , check weather apps , download apps ( almost completely can navigate on phone himself ) knows almost every letter in alphabet from sight, still can not write them all tho knows how to write mum, dad, hi,bad,mad,hulk gun,huey no real reading skills yet starting to understand the world, has different countries , and different states inside those countries like Australian states NSW TAS ect has been finding his own gems ,rocks and crystals , knows words like amethyst , quarts, slate ,bedrock, gravel , knows his 10 % , knows his 50% are the same as half of , can tell me almost every question i ask related to them (beginning to understand divided by 2 and x2 are like the same. He has also learnt alot from our adventures exploring the wild , being amongst nature and has learnt alot of random facts about animals and real life living from YouTube videos - he will come and share these facts with me and teach me knew things- like dogs have more bones then humans ,a fresh water snail kills 20.000 people a year or other interesting things. He has learned alot of great life skills,how to use power tools, chores, baking ,feeding the dogs ,skateboarding, and so on . One thing I have noticed also is just how much confidence and happy he has become .He communicates and joins into our conversations, he has his own thoughts and opinions, He always cracks some bloody funny jokes and he is just the sweetest thing always telling me how much he loves me ! its about the journey , the learning path they take is up to them so - That is some of the things I recorded from the start of our unschooling journey July 2020 to the end of Dec 2021 - you can see their just how much my son has naturally learned, he has not done any lessons, no textbooks, I have not forced him to learn anything.Everything he has learnt and done is up to him. - As you can see he is more advanced in his maths skills then his english , and thats completely fine - when he is ready , I know he will get there. Check out my how we unschool posts, to see work examples He has learnt through playing and enjoying his childhood, what he learns and when he learns it , is completely up to him.

As a Unschooling mum , I love when my child comes to me and asks a question, do you know why? Why because it reminds me of why I wanted to embrace the Unschooling philosophy in the first place.I wanted my child to be naturally curious of the world, and want to learn for the joy of learning themselves, not because they are being bribed with gold stars , high marks and awards.You will be very surprised of how natural daily living and natural learning work so well together. Even how going with the flow, of your life's adventures can turn into a great science , geography and history lesson. post contains amazon affiliates Lets take today for instance We decide to go for a quick drive in the bush to see if we could find any dead wood,- so my husband can make the kids some branch tree blocks, who knew trying to find the right piece of stick would be so hard and take so long.Anyways half hour in , numerous tracks we randomly came to a honey bee farm , in the middle of the bush ,now this got alot of questions being asked,The kids learnt that bees eat pollen and nectar from a variety of flowers, thats how they create honey that we eat.They got to see with their own eyes how humans farm honey in honey bee hive boxes.We also discussed how plants and flowers need bees to help them grow and produce fruit , by pollinating them(we discussed how pollination works).We pulled the car over to have a better look , and had to quickly whined up the windows up, as bees were everywhere , I discussed with the kids how bees, do not purposely try to sting us only when they are threatened and that if the honey bee stings a human they die see In that one spontaneous moment taking a random track we came across some science and geography questions we could share with the kids But that was not all ! Other natural Questions and conversations were being said, We were nearly at the bottom of the most biggest mountain ever, and my eldest son asked how are mountains made ! Hmm I had no idea, how are they made dad ? - I said ... Luckily dad knew, they are made when earths crust moves, from the plates the collide and the pressure pushes up forming mountains.(I even learnt some new science and geography stuff today) We drove past a few random signs , and pulled over to have a read, we realised we were closed to a old mining abended town " a ghost town" - now that got my daughters attention what a ghost town? - we explained what ghost town means , and how back 100 years ago in 1910 it was a thriving old town, families would come and mine and live but once the resources ran out, everyone moved away and only what's lefts of the buildings remain - hence they call it a ghost town. some history was also covered today in our spontaneous adventure. The learning was still not over. As we kept driving looking for that perfect stick -we drove past a random super old picnic spot , right next to a flowing creek, we pulled up to let the kids have a little explore and my son got out his metal detector ( we always keep this in the car, for moments like this ) and went around trying to try his luck , he waved it by a old fire, we discussed how the charcoal set it of, he ended up finding a fairly new pen in the end ? huh.. weird. We also discussed pine wood is soft wood, and the difference between soft and hard wood, and probably alot more that I cannot remember . Its amazing to see my children naturally learn science and geography This was all within a hour and a half, being out amongst nature, going out to find dead tree branches and coming back with some science, history and geography knowledge, I love random adventures that turn into curiosity questions from my Unschooled children,to be able to learn side by side naturally with them is the greatest reward Natural -science,geography,english & history The kids loved learning about bees, so much , we decided to order a bee hotel so we can observe them from home, and a grow your own bee pollination plant kit - so the kids can grow their own bee friendly flowers and watch them pollinate. - if you'd like to see your child learn and observe bees naturally aswell , click on the images to take you to checkout. Update* The kids love playing with their wooden natural block set BarefootChild are proud supporters for handmade childrens toys and artisans on etsy - they have a beautifully range of handmade block sets just like ours, you can find the link Here , that will take you to their big range

This is a post in a 4 part unschooling collection for 2021, Check out turning everyday living into subjects , Unschool learning portfolios 2021 and our Unschooling adventures 2021 for more of our Natural learning journey. So I will be sharing more of our Unschooling adventures from last year to help you understand how everyday living can be turned into subjects for your unschooling/home-schooling learning records .A picture speaks a thousand words, these are my learning records we used for our home-schooling record keeping last year ,Everything my children learnt was spontaneous while we were out and about , just living life, no rhythm, no lessons, just good old nature and natural curiosity. Open discussions, observations and exploration. Unschooling is about embracing life, living in the moment and naturally learning side by side with your child.

This is a continued post of a 4 part post collection of how we unschooled subjects- naturally last year in 2021 , these are some of our examples -I used for our home-school registration record keeping collection (these are little scrapbook sort of things I make throughout the year and add to a plastic sleeve folder ( Our visual learning portfolio ) - for homeschool registration requirements, and to reflect on what the kids learn throughout the year through pictures. Everything my children learn is spontaneous~ with no textbooks , no planned lessons and no sitting behind a desk- between four walls all day,They learn naturally, through daily life living and from nature.Check out our other posts for our 2021 unschooling journey Turning everyday living into subjects / How we Unschooled 2021 and learning portfolios 2021 A childhood should be worth remembering, its about being together as a family, embracing we all have the ability to be natural learners and not limiting our children's learning to " only happens at school "

This is a continued post of a 4 part post collection of how we unschooled subjects- naturally last year in 2021 , these are some of our examples -I used for our home-school registration record keeping collection, check out our other posts, Turning everyday living into subjects 2021, How we unschooled 2021 and Our Unschooling adventures 2021 In my previous posts I explain how I use 3 methods to record our unschooling learning - ,a daily diary, a photo portfolio, and a hardcopy " portfolio" - a plastic sleeve folder that keeps any random drawings,writing,paintings " any school like" stuff the kids do over the year goes in it for their unschool - home-school registration record keeping. Last year the kids each filled 2 folders ( which they lovely decorated with stickers ) up.Below is some things that they spontaneously done - either asked for things to be printed of , or decided they wanted to draw and write - Keeping anything that they write on is also a great way to watch the progress of their writing skills develop over time. My then 6 year old son's work (yr 1 ) -turn 7 dec Below you can see how over last year his drawing and attention to detail advanced, - naturally . You can also see how he is beginning to develop his writing skills - he naturally began to form letters in his drawing and is slowly learning to write words my then 8/9 year old daughter (yr 3 ) below you can see my daughters creative side, she loves to write notes and lists from time to time - her spelling and writing skills have advanced so much in the last couple of years my then 7/8 yo son (yr 2 ) You can notice throughout the year how much my sons writing (letter form ) and pen grip has advanced, He had no writing skills at the end of 2020 and now he is able to sound out and write words all on his own ( which he will usually write on youtube himself - now he can write pen to paper- lots of different words himself Unschooling does work There's a huge misconception that because a child is free to pursue their own learning path - then how must they learn? - . As you can see just SOME of the things my children learnt and did last year, without anything planned ,anything forced - just following their curiosity, going on adventures and embracing the moment. Unschooling can work for everyone Its all about opening up to the idea, that school was never meant to be ! Life is a classroom ,your child is the teacher and the only lesson they should ever follow is that of their own curiosity.

Post contains amazon affiliates How we Provide Unschooling Learning resources As a Unschooling mum, when ever my children spark new curiosity's I know that they are passionate about, I take every opportunity to provide the "resources" and give them hands on opportunities as much as possible.Thats how unschooling works, children become curious and when they have curiosity of something that they truly love and enjoy they want to soak up as much information for the subject they can,so as a Unschooling parent you help provide them with the necessary tools. So last year my eldest son 8 was very passionate about gemstones and crystals ( he still is ) We furthered his curiosity by using toys and tools To help further his learning path for this passion we gave him the "resources," to help "teach" and "educate" him in geology over the year .So for birthday and Christmas presents he received a gemstone tumbler he absolutely loved using this .He would constantly be looking for special rocks whenever we were out - to smooth and polish in it .My boys love real tools, so we knew he would love a multi tool - that sand, polishes ,cuts -it does EVERYTHING - and oh does he ever ! - he uses this all of the time to polish and shine his "rocks and gems he finds and collects, He also received various gemstone dig kits ,crystals and a grow your own crystal kits.( they all came with information and gem facts , that he read and learnt more about) See by providing these resources, he is covering many science,& geography topics,(learning about rocks,/gems /crystals - how they form, the feel , how to identify, how and why they grow ,the history and how people value them etc. He is also covering technology ,english and even maths topics - from using hands on "tools and machines , following a process ,reading instructions, information books ,discussing the price gems are worth, and lots LOTS more.. We furthered his curiosity by using nature What better way to learn about gems and geology then using nature as a "resource " having a real go ourselves, Last year, and still to this day -we go adventure to different spots trying our luck at finding our own crystals and gemstones,- My son received a gold sifter set and gold pan that he got of his grandma for his birthday , so we take that and have turns. Before we go ,we will google spots online that are " gems spots" , we discuss these together. and to my shock we get lucky sometimes . My son has been able to find lots of amethysts, clear quartz crystals and a few other little gems himself which he gets very excited about.He loves observing them, cleaning and have open discussions about them. He also received a metal detector for Christmas (this is the 2nd one as his first one a year ago was left in the rain!) - so whenever we are out and about , He gets this out to have a look for any - treasures and gold. He hasn't found either yet but his found some bullet shells, old metal and other random things.Throughout the year he has added to his "geologist" collection with his own pic axe, magnifying glass ,spray bottle,and specimen contains He has been lucky to find lots of purple amethysts and clear quartz We furthered his curiosity by using tourist attractions Last year he went to a museum with his grandma and siblings - where he was able to see and learn about all different crystal,gems and minerals, He got to see first hand the huge variety of different specimens there is out there waiting to be found. We have been able to visit a old silver mining town where we discussed how the old timers mined and He visited a gem shop where he was able to talk with the geologist in there who finds thousands of dollars worth of crystals, gems and fossils.( he brought himself a real old shark tooth fossil with his own pocket money ) and this year we are planning to visit a huge gem fest show that happens in Tassie! Unschooling - really is Natural learning Its crazy how much learning - or should i say " natural learning " goes on from allowing your child to follow their curiosity while providing them with the resources and tools needed to pursue those passions. Its a whole family learning side by side, experience.We are all in it together. Covering each subject Naturally.