When it comes to raising our children without school, without rules in place and without guided lessons, can we trust them enough to find there own learning path, to make good decisions and to become responsible young adults? When my children became school aged I sent them of to school just like I was taught- as soon as they started public school it just did not feel right, How can I be the parent I want to be, live the life I wanted for my children, filled with adventure and exploration if this was now how our life's where mapped out for us.- I began to question why, after I spent my own childhood attending public school, now as a adult to realise I have not needed any of it in todays world. I have taught myself everything I have needed to learn through research and curiosity. The question on my mind was Will that be enough for my children as well, can I trust them to learn all they need through their own curiosities on this unschooling journey? 3 UNSCHOOLing YEARS LATER.. If it is one thing I have learnt is that children do deserve our TRUST If you are a new unschooling parent , this takes time, its a crazy notion we where all born into a society that creates a barrier in our beliefs that children can not be trusted and that they are not capable of responsible decision making. Once you accept that this isn't the case.Unschooling will become the best decision you ever made for your family. Trust will not be a over night thing. Once you deschool yourself and stop trying to force learning.Your child will begin in believing they are cable of their own path. They will find things they are curious about and begin to " teach" themselves. They will discover independence and trust you will help guide them with their curiosities if they need. Unschooling and trust works 2 ways, its not just you as the parent who has to learn to trust- it is also your child. Once you start unschooling , more trust between you and your child begin to develop ONE Your child will become to TRUST trust - in themselves, that they are more clever then they ever thought possible, they will begin to realise they do not need to be told how to learn something, they do not need to be graded or have expectations because they begin to learn for the love of it and not to learn to pass a test or receive points. trust-they have100 % of their parents support and patience. Your child will begin to realise that you trust them enough and believe in them enough to follow their interests. You will begin to notice over time how much your child confines in you, asks more questions and the conversations yous develop are more real then ever before. Your child begins to trust you see them as a cable young adult and not as a small child trust- they will be allowed to follow things they find interesting (even if it is video games)- When you are completely onboard with the unschooling path and you do allow your child to do WHAT they want and not what you think they should be doing "learning"- Your child will begin to trust ,that no matter what they find interesting or whatever their curiosity may lead them you support them (because by doing this you are creating a motivated learner, passion leads to exploration, discovery and further knowledge- they may look like they are just playing video games, but Remember everything turns into learning- half a year they may be interested in video games and the next they are interested in cooking. trust- they will not be forced into learning (just like school)- Once you stop believing that learning can only happen by being forced , with curriculums, worksheets and what you think "learning" looks like - your child can begin to naturally learn, they will begin to trust you believe in them enough to not force their learning and trust in their natural learning ability trust- they are in fact cable and independent !! Two Unschooling teaches you as a parent to also TRUST trust- your child will learn when the time is right, maybe not " when others who attend school do, but when they are naturally ready"- just remember some kids may learn to write at 6 some at 8 or some at 12, there is no rush to learning. trust- your child will learn all that THEY require, -your child may not remember calculus they are taught at school because it has no real value in their daily lifes, but just know what they need in their lifes today,tomorrow or 10 years for now, they will LEARN themselves trust- that over time your child will become responsible and independent, filled with alot of different knowledge as they have been allowed the time to pursue their own interests trust- that the education system(school) is not needed and that your child , just like every child was born naturally curious and with the ability to learn from their environment, just as they did when they learnt to walk and talk as toddlers. trust - that the bond between child and parent who trust each other lasts a lifetime Unschooling just like alot of things, takes time but only works by one simple thing and that is TRUST As john holt states: To trust children we must first learn to trust ourselves .-and most of us were taught as children that we could not be trusted.

Grab a cuppa, pull up a chair & get comfy while you get to know us - believe me I've had 3 already! Who are we you ask ? , well we are a family of five embracing the bliss of life as free spirits We unschool our three primary aged children where we embark on some crazy adventures together, in our new life flipping our first house in Tasmania. Where life just happens, with no rhythm , no schedule , no time constraints just good old , going with the flow oh and being able to keep a open mind at all times helps , ha ! - where no two days are the same but everyday is worth living. So as you now know from the above mentions I LOVE COFFEE - nooo , well that is true! but we are here to talk about why we unschool the kids , yes ! It wasn't much of a surprise there, you know to our families and all, - when we told them we are pulling the kids out of school and going surfing everyday ha' - that is half true! as we have always been abit of the so called " unconventional bohemian " type parents.- where we were never good at following the how to "parent guides "- instead have always chosen to follow our instincts and the trust we have in our kids abilities in our own parenting style - barefoot parenting. Embracing Unschooling, alternative living and simple parenting But It all started.. A few years ago, we had enough , of living in a routine ,and following the mainstream education system,and all that went with it like the packing & the super messy unpacking of the lunchboxes everyday,where your child gets lunchbox envy and you become a sous chef -the worst! ,not being able to travel to far as school finishes at 3 and kids can get sick -bummer ! ,trying to get to school half n hour early to get the VIP parking-only to realise that's what everyone else was thinking that day too ,and to me by far the worst was having to say goodbye to our children more then having to say hello , just knowing their childhood was flashing before my eyes and I'm missing out on it- you know, that type of routine eh, We knew there had to be another way that allows us to continue on our adventures together everyday of the week not just on a Saturday and Sunday. Then I came across the world of unschooling and fell in love with the thought of my children learning naturally, just through living and emerging themselves with things they found curious and interesting, and better yet this will teach them all they need to know , when they need to know it , cha ching ! So that was that, we have all learnt so much together and have been on some great adventures , living each day as they come ever since and that all happened nearly 3 years ago. A lot has happened since then ! Last year in the midst of the pandemic, we packed up every thing we could fit into a trailer uprooted from our lifes in New South Wales and brought our first home -( lets say a fixer upper ) in Tasmania , a house we brought sight unseen , in a state we had never once visited beforehand. It was all about the adventure for us ! doing something different and trying a new change of scenery - and what a amazing change of scenery it has been.We ditched the city life with the over populated beaches and streets, to a much slower pace of living in a very small town nestled between mountains and national parks where the closest maccas is a 2 hours drive away , yep we are rural guys ! - but our beaches are secluded , our views are natural , and the locals are great. So here we now are! Embracing a simple life in Tassie , while learning how nature intended , naturally ! - We provide real life unschooling, alternative living and simple parenting posts, through our website and blog BarefootChild in hopes it will encourage other families to chill out and try a different approach to living and parenting . We bring you first hand down to earth parenting and unschooling posts each week,we have homeschool / unschool resources to help you begin your journey. We are a new blog and website, launched this year 2022 so keep checking in while we keep posting out.

I have always been curious of unschooling every since I heard about it on the news years ago, when my daughter was 3 but like most media news they over exaggerated the title - it went something like this - These kids are raised with no tests, no books, no bedtime , and no school they are even allowed to eat pasta with peanut butter sauce if they want to- but what caught my eye was the son in the background hammering at some some metal in a forge he built himself , he was a very talented self taught blacksmith using knowledge he learned himself - I think he said that YouTube was like university , everything he needed to learn and had learnt he found on there in the one place.The other children on the program all had learnt English and maths skills naturally at their own pace, and other various cool things. But what it was - was they all looked happy and connected as a family, who embraced unconventional living without fear of others judgements. So that was the first time I heard about unschooling, and it had always been on my mind ever since, then - I thought that's how I wanted to raise my children ,them to learn from what they were passionate about, ! But just like everyone caught in the mainstream trap I willingly sent my children of to school, of to the unknown I dreaded the days of my children attending public school, not just all the nonsense that school required, but all the baggage it came with - all those hard laboured lunchbox packing hours-when nothing gets eaten, but still comes back with yogurt open and everywhere! all the teacher meetings- where they like to tell you your child needs to do speech therapy on the second day of kindergarten,or your 7 year old needs to practice his sight words more because he says cat for car all them early nights because you have to get up early in the morning - no Netflix bingeing there ,All the heartbreaking tears and the I don't want to's, The thought of this will last the next 10 plus years, having to live by a routine which is something I can not do and send my children off for literally half of the day more times a week then having them at home with me and their father just did not feel right or natural. It didn't feel what being a parent should be like or what parenting should be about. Taking away a childhood in exchange for 4 walls and a desk. 2020 then came covid19 So 2020 came, covid spread to Australia - NSW went into lockdown and parents were given the opportunity to home educate .We were given learning packs for each week, from the kids class teachers. I remember thinking while looking at these huge bundle of pointless paperwork, what the heck, why is my 6 year old learning what coins are on a piece of paper, 10c 50 c $5 . etc, why is my 8 year old daughter learning bee anatomy also from a piece of paper. Why is my 7 year old son learning distance of a pool to a house also on a piece of paper. All these real world things my children were being forced to learn from a textbook instead of real life experiences, felt unnatural, what better way to prepare my kids for the real world than having them actually spend time in it I thought School learning felt so forced and was it really necessary to learn all these huge piles of paperwork, when you are 6, 7 and 8 years old. So of we went trying to fit and complete these lessons designed by the teachers into our day, Lets just say we failed. - and purposely only completed the ones we had to send through to the teacher for the day , to get our marks or better yet get that awesome well done sticker. Its funny now to think how the school system bribes children into having to learn for rewards, with grade marks, shiny stickers ,a student of the week wall picture and those silly merit awards at school assembly's. I now see how this was dismissing my children's ability to love and want to learn for the reward of learning itself Anyways 3 weeks in And hundreds of loose papers everywhere , 3 children who just wanted to play and enjoy their time at home and 2 exhausted parents, we called it quits - " the trying to learn school- like at home " kinda quits. Forgot about trying to do all the paperwork , trying to please the teacher, and trying to force the children to learn. - It was time we embraced this opportunity of no school and no work .I blocked the teachers number, put all the papers back into a folder in the loungeroom cupboard - that was it out of sight , out of mind ! We were in lockdown but could leave for exercise purposes. So that's what we did we "exercised "we went to the beach , the kids went surfing all day, we explored the beach caves, rockpools , went on 2 hour hikes, went beach combing, bush walking , kayaking, we hung out like a family and enjoyed having longer discussions then ever before. It was awesome . My youngest son learnt to swim by learning to surf and being in the ocean everyday within this time. We had all learnt so much from each other, out on our adventures and from natural daily living , there were maths, science, English, history, geography topics coming up naturally every day it was great . Even my son ended up learning his money skills as well within 2 weeks, from having pocket money to go into the shop and buy a lolly after every surf - he did not need to do hours of filling out worksheets. I knew we were onto something great, something real.. School was returning The 2 -3 months of home educating was coming to a end and we were being forced to send the kids back to school ! - I was not letting " the once in a lifetime home educating (covid lockdown ) be for nothing. It was a sign -a nudge for me to embrace something I have always felt passionate about but was always to lazy and afraid to take the leap .I believe everything happens for a reason and that was for us as a family to embark on a unschooling journey, to get of the mainstream education train once and for all so that's what we did.- I quickly researched and done all my home-school registration paperwork, following the Unschool - natural learning philosophy, the process takes time in NSW ( 12 weeks )so unfortunately the kids had to go back to school until I was approved with my registration certificate, believe me I tried every trick and trade I could to get a exemption from them attending but the school were being doofas's and the kids had to go for another whole term ,but here we are a couple years later ,embracing The Unschooling life and loving every day of it, there is no two days the same, Each day comes and goes and the kids do and learn what they want. We are together as a family. We are learning side by side. They get to live a childhood they deserve and learn how nature intended - naturally..