A recent post of mine from a MotheringDotCommune forums thread:
When Kenzie was a little over three, I was surfing the Internet and stumbled upon Jan Hunt's Natural Child Project
website. I was so amazed to learn that other people mothered like I
did. I wasn't alone. Co-sleeping, extended breastfeeding, lots of
holding and respect.... After reading through article after article, I
came across one by John Holt. By the time I finished it, I had
exclaimed "Yes!" and "Well, duh!" about fifteen times. That was it for
me. All I could think was, "Why hadn't I already figured this out on my
own?" It made more sense than anything I had ever read in my life. Of
course people learn best when they're interested in something. Of
course we retain information much better when we actively seek it out.
Of course learning through life is ideal. So, I bought up lots of
Holt books, as well as a few others, and pored over them with a
permanent smile affixed to my face.
I had been a perfect student all my life. Honors. Awards ceremonies.
Plaques on the wall. And I knew it was all a sham; I had always done
the least amount of work possible. During high school, for instance, I
refused to read any book they assigned simply because I resented the
fact that they wanted me to put down what I was reading and pick up a
"classic" that didn’t interest me. Really, though, there was no need to
read the books; just listen in class and ask a few questions of the
suckers who DID read the books, and the tests were a breeze. (I ended
up reading most of the books later, on my own – when I wanted to....)
Once I realized I'd be attending the local-yokel university (couldn't
leave my all-important boyfriend), I dropped all my honors classes so I
could be in easier classes with the kids I liked. I piled on extra
courses so I could get out sooner - and it worked. I escaped in three
years, rather than the usual four, graduating with 400 people I hardly
knew.
All that (and MUCH more) to say that public schooling wasn't for me. It hadn't killed my
love of learning, exactly, but it had certainly put a crimp in my
style. And I haven't even touched on any of the numerous "popularity"
problems or difficulties with specific teachers.
Embracing unschooling took all of about two minutes for me - long enough
to read through that article. And Kenzie was only three, so had never
been to school. His life just flowed along naturally as if nothing
special had happened. We simply continued living life the way we had
been doing since his birth. He’s eight, now, and can’t imagine what
school would be like. He spends his days playing, exploring the
neighborhood, digging through the back yard, acting out Greek myths,
drawing, singing, reading like mad, starting Pokemon RPGs on the Neopets
boards, building with Legos and Bionicle and Construx, and snuggling up
to me in the big comfy chair to talk.
He tells me he wouldn’t have it any other way.
