Archie and I have had a good couple of weeks. The main thing we've been trying to do is get him back into a 'normal' sleep pattern, as he was pretty much nocturnal for a while. He seems to have finally achieved it today, waking up to his alarm at 10am and getting out of bed. He told me it feels good to get up at a normal time.
Since my last post, we have been to The Beaney in Canterbury as a friend of mine works there and has curated an exhibition about the history of Canterbury Pride. We met my Dad on his lunch break from work and went together. Archie was most interested in getting drag queens' pronouns wrong which led to a chat about assuming peoples' gender and deciding it was best to go with 'they' unless they tell us otherwise.
On our way there and back Archie introduced me to Prince EA, who is an American spoken word artist who has made a few YouTube videos about the education system. I think these really helped Archie to clarify what home / unschooling is and he seemed proud to be on this journey.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqTTojTija8
My only issue is Prince EA talks about the education system's purpose being to produce 'robots' which I don't really like as a term. I made the point to Archie that people can still think freely and for themselves if they have been educated by the state, and home schooling doesn't make him better than anyone else, we've just decided on a different route.
We also watched a video specifically about unschooling by a an unschooled kid which was really helpful to us both... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqkYQ-3etxE
Archie also had his first piano lesson this week and seemed to really enjoy it. A friend of mine that I met through a local comunity cafe is teaching him. We have ordered a John Thompson book on her recommendation and Archie is to practice his 'middle C' this week.
Archie has talked about feeling like he is not doing enough. I asked him what he thought he should be doing, and he said he feels bad for not doing formal things like workbooks or sheets, but he also really doesn't want to do them. We talked about how that is just because that is what he has got used to, and unschooling allows time for him to get out of that way of learning and rediscover what he is interested in. I said that getting into a normal sleep routine and listening to his body was all part of it - so he was doing stuff without even realising it.
I also reminded him of a day last week when I came in to wake him up and he had sketched his Xbox controller when he got bored. That's what it's all about, doing things as the inspiration strikes.
I know how he feels though - I have felt worried about not giving him things to do or being structured enough, but I am trying to keep in mind that unschooling is a way of life, keeping curious and learning through experience. I am here and we have an open dialogue about how things are going and if there is anything he needs. I think he would really like to make new friends and see his own friends more, so that is something that's in my mind quite a lot at the moment.
No comments:
Post a Comment