Freecycle and Unschoolish Musings

Austin's Freecycle network has almost 10,000 members, so it's no wonder I've never been able to reply to offers quickly enough to get them. Today, however, was different. As fate or luck would have it, I checked the site at just the right moment, and Kenzie is now the happy owner of a shoe box filled with hundreds of superhero trading cards from the 1990s. He's gotten comfy in the bed and is reading through as many as he can before sleep overtakes him. There are hero cards, villain cards, story cards, team cards, scene cards - you name it, both Marvel and DC.

It occurred to me a few hours ago that if I were keeping track of his academic accomplishments, I'd be happy (and a bit smug, perhaps) about all the reading that's going on. However, sometime last year, I stopped worrying so much about the way Kenzie's life translates into educationese. When journaling, I finally quit noting a school subject next to every project or undertaking or play session or book read. Tonight, I realized how freeing it is not to have to concern myself with whether he's done something science-related for the day, or whether he's been asking fewer math questions recently. We just live. And when I find something that I know will interest him (like these cards), I do what I can to get it. We play board games, not because they're educational, but because they're fun. We search for books at the library based on what he wants to know and thinks he will enjoy. There is no more pressure on Kenzie to learn than there is on me.

Anyway, he's digging through the shoe box, exclaiming every few minutes or so, asking his father who this hero is and who that villain fought. He's categorizing. He's deciding on his favorites. He's enjoying himself.