(Un)School Choice

While I was out at the grocery store, C and the girls had a talk. They won't tell me what they talked about, but C did tell me one part. He said that A had thanked us for homeschooling her and said she really enjoyed it. I guess she is thinking a bit about her friend who chose to try out school this year. We have had some conversations about what school is and what it isn't and why her friend would want to go and why she might not want to go. I admire her parents for being so supportive of her choice, especially since her mom is the co-leader of the Life Learners with me. I can't say that I would handle it as well. Unschooling is about giving the child the freedom to make their own choices in life. So, ideally I would support my child's choice to attend school if they so chose. But like parents who make their kids go to school because they feel it is the best choice for them, I would be sorely tempted to make my child stay home because I feel it is the best choice. I guess the heart of this matter is how much do I really know what is best for my child, compared to what they know is best for them. Trusting that they know better than I do, or at least that they should have the option of finding out on their own, would be the real test of just how committed I am to an unschooling lifestyle.

But, so far my kids are happy homeschooling and so am I! Today I showed the girls a portion of a show that had seahorses in it, that we had recorded on Tivo one night after the kids were in bed. It showed the daddy seahorse "giving birth" to all the baby seahorses and then went on to show other creatures doing other things in the seas off the coast of Australia. A was all bubbly excited to see animals doing cool things and she said, "I love learning!"