NEW BLOG: Learning Parsley Style

Ice Tea & Flip Flops will continue to be my diary.

But we also created a blog called Learning Parsley Style. You can find it here: http://learningparsleystyle.wordpress.com/

Welcome. This blog will serve as a public showcase of what our family is learning through our relaxed homeschool (unschool) environment.

We have been homeschooling regularly since 2007. We homeschooled Levi when he was in “Kindergarten” even though well-meaning people made comments like: “Levi will be 5, he HAS to go to Kindergarten, it’s the law!” It’s funny how we’ve been conditioned to believe that once our kids turn 5, they become property of the State and we no longer have a say, or a choice. We chose to homeschool.

Levi, being the curious, energetic child that he is sort of caused people to be concerned that he was “acting that way” because he was homeschooled and “wasn’t around other children HIS age.” We started thinking, “Maybe they’re right.” When first grade rolled around, we decided to put him in public school. That was interesting. Levi was at school from 8-3 and when he came home, he would have at least 2 hours of homework! It was very overwhelming for a 6 year old. Also, we noticed that he was still energetic even though he was now around other kids his age.

When second grade came along, he was in public school for 2 weeks. Every time I would drop him off, I had a feeling that he needed to be home with us learning. So the second week into the second grade, Skipper and I pulled him out of school and went shopping for homeschool material. We took Levi to HEP and asked him what he thought about certain books. We decided not to go with a “boxed curriculum” for several reasons. #1. They are expensive and those nice folks that put these together sure do make a killing off of homeschoolers! Add some bible verses with your package and you’re paying out of the wahzooo! Isn’t that interesting? #2. We have seen the product of the homeschooled kids who came from boxed curriculums and asked them questions. The answers they gave us, lead us to believe that we were spot on concerning our opinions we have of them. #3. We are still learning Levi’s learning style. A boxed, rigid curriculum does NOT go hand in hand with an independent thinker. And me wanting to be a “good homeschooling mom” I would have followed the directions and forced my child to learn subjects and topics he may not be ready to learn. This situation would cause me to feel pressure because I wouldn’t be able to check a lesson off in my “Good homeschooling mommy’s book.” This entire situation would only tempt me to lash out and force Levi to do what the pre-packaged box curriculum says. This is why we showed Levi several books and resources. We watched how he reacted and engaged with them. He was able to have a hand, or a say, in what he would be learning. Then I decided to log what he was leaning instead of doing a lesson plan.

Recently I have been doing research on the idea of unschooling. It appears that we have been practicing this concept without knowing that it even had a name! I think it is an extension of Attachment Parenting and listening to your child. This blog will be a collection of the things we are learning as a family.