Everyone has their own ideas about unschooling.  That isn't a bad thing at all!  We are all different, and we must always remember that. 

I thought it might be a fun "exercise" to just jot down some of my ideas and principles that we adhere to in our little non-school educational adventure.  Here goes:

A.  Answers.  We might not know them all, but we can sure try our best to find them! 

B.  Believe in your God-given talents and abilities. 

C.  Curiousity.  Kids are curious!  Allow them to explore what interests them.

D.  Delight-directed.  Direction.  Remember that you are the parent, you are the disciplinarian, and your kids are being discipled by you!  Keep the proper perspective as you direct them. (And be delighted along the way!)

E.  Encyclopedias.  A set of these is absolutely necessary.  Kid LOVE to look things up in the old set, once they discover how neat they are!

F.  Faith.  Have faith that the Lord will guide you in raising/teaching your kids.

G.  Giving.  Homeschooling is about learning to give.  Parents give time to their kids, kids learn to give to their siblings, families learn to give to others. 

H.  Housework, not homework.  Working with your kids on home up-keep and maintenance is a life skill lesson that will just keep on giving......everyone needs to know these things!  Homekeeping is also a ministry not only to your kids, but to your Husband who is of utmost importance!

I.  Interest led learning.  Grab the bull by the horns as soon as they show an interest!  Help them find out all they can about what they take a shine to.

J.  Jesus!  His words are the foundation of our lives, hence, our education follows suit.

K.  Kitchen.  So much time is spent learning in the kitchen.  Cooking, measuring, baking, sharing, experimenting.  Then there is washing, cleaning, canning......families love and learn in the kitchen!

L.  Life.  We believe that learning happens all the time.  Life is our homeschool.

M.  Messes!  My philosophy of messes?  They are inevitable since we are here living, loving and learning.  (We have to learn to live in the mess, love being here and also learn how to deal with it too. :)

N.  Notebooking.  One of our most "schoolish" ways of learning is filling notebooks with our treasures gleaned online, from magazines, from our own hands.  A great learning tool.

O.  On-line.  There are SO many fabulous resources online that we have found.  Printables, charts, friends, etc!

P.  Priorities.  There are so many things vying for our attention.  Choose the most important, the best, not just the convenient and the good.  Patience.  We don't always know what we should do.  Pray and have Patience that the answer will come.

Q.   Questions.  I have never heard more questions than those that pop out of my 9 year old's mouth!  Questions  keep Mom and Dad very busy.  (Refer back to letter "A")

R.   Reasons.  Always keep a reminder of the reasons you are homeschooling where you can see it!  Make a family mission statement, and have the kids memorize it with you.  It will help in times of insecurity.

S.  Study.  Kids need time and space to study to their hearts content. 

T.  Time.  I have learned that time passes much too quickly to be wasted on worry, trivial things and temporal issues.  Invest your time wisely, and if you haven't, the Lord will help you redeem it!

U.  Understanding.  There are many things we Mom's need to learn, and one is understanding.  It might take a while before we understand who our children are, what their needs are and what their capabilities are.  We must be patient while we learn it.....with ourselves, and with our children!

V.   Vision.  It is important to have a vision for the future and work toward that goal.  But more importantly it is important that the vision is the one the Lord would have for us.

W.   Wonderful!!  Even in the midst of trials, remember that it is a wonderful gift to be able to have children, and to live with them and learn right along with them. 

X.   This is always a hard letter.  :)  I think that "X" is for crossing off all the negative memories and ideas of the public school system and moving on in a new and better direction for me and for my kids.

Y.   Yes!  I want to be a "YES"  Mom.  Not a "No" Mom.  Yes, you my try that experiment, Yes it would be a great day to go for a hike, Yes you may bake a cake all by yourself.....YES!  You can DO it!

Z.   Zealous.  I want to be zealous for life, for learning, for the Lord and for my family.  And I want it to rub off on them.  I want to be contagiously zealous!

Well, there you have it.  Just a quick fun little A-Z excursion into the inner workings of this brain of mine.  Why don't you take a moment or two to think of some of your own?  Try jotting some down for yourself.  Brainstorm with your kids, or your husband.

Once you start thinking about it, you will be surprised at how you really feel about your homeschooling/unschooling mindset. It will freshen your perspective!

Enjoy!

Nancy~a Mom of four, wife of 1, owner of a dog and cat and various other furry critters.....lover of flowers, taker of pictures, writer of many words, working out my faith and salvation each day with fear, trembling and gratitude to the Lord.

Stop by my other blog and say hello!

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