As many other unschooling parents, we’re sometimes caught up thinking ‘What should our children be learning?’.

Our kids are now 5 and 2,5 years of age, living and learning at home, at the inn, and while traveling, always with us, not attending to school or kindergarten. The other day I wrote down my dream list of what I would love for them to learn or know in the future. While they’re still children. 

I came up with things like:

 Ability to

• Identify and name feelings and moods
• Consider and respect other peoples feelings
• Identify and know the functions of basic tools, ability to use them
• Take care of animals
• Identify, name, and use (for and in various ways)
  • herbs…
  • mushrooms…
  • edible plants…
  • animals in the wild
• Tell stories
• Question and marvel

and other things like

• Understand how the body functions
• Be a good friend and neighbour
• Ride a bike
• Cook and bake
• Play an instrument
• Sing ‘traditional’ songs from their native countries

How to…

• Read and write in Finnish and in Bosnian (their native languages)
• Count to a hundred, and then some
• Do simple math (addition and subtraction)
• Use a map
• Measure weight, hight, time etc.

Some of these abilities they have, some are pretty far still. And I left out a bunch of things. But the point is this is my list. They don’t have one. They unschool. They learn what they like and a lot – most – of the time just play, have fun, and live their life. 

They don’t think: ‘Here I am, learning this new thing’,
they’re just living and enjoying.

And like many kids, when they notice me wanting to push new information, accidentally wanting to teach, they pull back. Immediately. And I love that. Unschooling teaches me so much. I can not make my children want the same things as I do. I can not make them learn anything unless they want to. It’s not about me. It’s about them. And they learn. So back off.

A friend of mine sent me this article a few days ago. I think it’s brilliant. Unschooling, homeschooling, traditional schooling – whatever you do, here are some great things to help and allow your child focus on.

Listening to music or planting a garden. That’s education.