Unschooling

It's in my nature to share the good, bad and ugly... I don't like to post online under false pretences, pretending everything is hunky dory and completely plain sailing because the reality of it, is that it never is, and sharing the parts of our journey that are less than perfect can help others feel less alone. 

So, today's little peek into our world is about our unschooling journey and issues that have arisen along the way (so far!) 

We are quite new into this world, having only withdrawn Alfie from the public education system in May this year. He had only two months of schooling before we stopped for him to enjoy the summer holidays, and another couple of weeks done and dusted this month. It has definitely been an eye opener though! There is no one way to do this, every person's journey is different, and that has made it a learning curve every step of the way. 

One of the things we are struggling with at the moment is Alfie's willingness to get involved in the clubs and activities we are giving a go for the socialisation aspect of his learning. It's very important to me to make sure he doesn't become isolated and lonely, as it is incredibly beneficial to have friends and peers who you can relate to. One of my fears when exploring unschooling / home learning was the worry that he'd end up on his own - the worry that he'd go from feeling alone at school amongst the bullying and nastiness, to being on his own at home with no regular social life and being pulled further away from his peers through no fault of his own. 

We've been trying to attend groups and sessions to help him connect with others who are being home schooled, and also for me really, to share in the experience with other adults who know this journey because it's far from being an easy one. 

The struggle with Alfie at the moment with this is that he's got used to his own company and enjoys it... doing the work in his own time, at his own pace. He will fly through the work we do that he's interested in and loves, and work slower through things that are obligatory but not something he particularly enjoys. And that's okay, when he's at home doing it, but in group sessions it puts him back into that space where his individual needs aren't catered for and everyone is seen to as a whole. It's more common in-home schooling environments for the sessions to be mixed-age as well, so he's adjusting to sharing space with children younger than him, who need a little more support than the older children. 

I imagine it can be quite frustrating and this is definitely the vibe I've got off Alfie over the last few weeks. It might not seem like a huge inconvenience to most, but it did really start affecting his behaviour and attitude to learning. We had a good chat and a breather, and decided together that Alfie needs to choose two different clubs or activities to attend weekly and stick to. 

What are your go-to clubs for your home ed child? I'm sensing a Lego club in our midst knowing Alfie, but we will see!