ALLways learning...learning allWAYS

I have been asked a few times now, "What is unschooling?" Here are some thoughts (some my own, some not) to clarify, especially for our friends and family members who wonder what on Earth we're really doing waaaay up here in the frozen North...

According to Pam Sorooshian, on Sandra Dodd's *awesome* unschooling website , unschooling is:
"dropping the conventions of schooling, eliminating such things as required subjects, reading and writing assignments, and tests, and entirely replacing those with the creation of a stimulating, enriched environment and lots and lots of parental support for kids in pursuing their interests and passions...

LOTS of parents create stimulating environments and give lots of support for their kids' interests; this is not unique to unschoolers. What makes it unschooling is that unschoolers give up the rest of the schooling and trust that their kids will learn what they need to learn by being immersed in the rich and stimulating environment and with parental support of kids' interests."

John Holt, in his book 'What Do I Do Monday?' says the following:

"Let me sum up what I have been saying about learning. I believe that we learn best when we, not others, are deciding what we are going to try to learn, and when, and how, and for what reasons or purposes; when we, not others, are in the end choosing the people, materials, and experiences from which and with which we will be learning; when we, not others, are judging how easily or quickly or well we are learning, and when we have learned enough; and above all when we feel the wholeness and opennesss of the world around us, and our own freedom and power and competence in it."

What is life-learning?

It is what we DO. It is who we ARE. It is BEing right HERE, right NOW. It is the notion that each and every moment is a learning experience; that the path we are meant to follow will unfold before us; that each of us is FREE to CHOOSE where to go and how to get there; the understanding that we were brought together in order to BE TOGETHER. We connect, we breathe, we flow, we listen, we learn, we LIVE TOGETHER, as a whole, while also honoring each other as individuals. We do not force each other to learn that which we do not care about or has no relevance in our lives, and we do not force each other to stop learning that which makes our hearts sing, that which brings us joy and fullfillment or is relevant to our lives in some way.

Life-learning happens simply because we are L-I-V-I-N-G. We are ALIVE...alive to the awareness that EVERYthing is possible. We are present, within ourselves, with each other. It is the understanding that learning NEVER stops. It cannot be shut off because an alarm sounds, or we are tired, or we have an appointment to make. It is the idea that we are ALLways learning...learning allWAYS.

~*~Bright & Beautiful Blessings~*~