I took a step back and began to listen to my intuition, which became more heightened as my pregnancy progressed. I sifted through it all, weighing and integrating what felt right to me and letting the rest fall away.
Parenting techniques continue to be a widely-covered and controversial topic and there is certainly no lack of opinion on which is the right way to raise our children. Unschooling (and homeschooling in general) are also garnering a lot of attention as the benefits of interest-led learning proliferate. And with that coverage and awareness comes the division that is inherent to almost any movement that challenges the establishment. The homeschooling umbrella covers many different and legitimate ways to help our children learn outside of the typical school framework. Unfortunately, they carry labels based on everything from the reliance on or absence of curriculum, text books, bed times and even food choices.
How is a parent to decide which home learning« technique » is right for their family? A more important question might be, do we each need to fit neatly into any one of these categories? More importantly, do our children need to have the way in which they learn best (which may differ from child to child, within the same family) be so strictly defined? In the end, it all comes down to our parenting intuition, our ability to identify which aspects feel right and which don’t. We can pick and choose and mix it all up and call it whatever we want because ultimately it only needs to work for our children within the greater family fabric.
…do our children need to have the way in which they learn best (which may differ from child to child, within the same family) be so strictly defined?
Following our intuition is a learning process itself. Mistakes will be made, insecurities will surface, obstacles will present themselves in the form of setbacks, standstills and criticism about our choices. But if we consider our options carefully and observe and listen to our children, that same intuition that guided us through birth and parenting, and the accompanying peaks and valleys, will lead us along a rich learning path with our children. Eventually they’ll veer off onto their own unique life paths, patterned with experience and paved with intuition.
Ellen Rowland is the author of Everything I Thought I Knew, a collection of essays about living, learning, and parenting outside the status quo. She writes about culture, family, things that are good for the planet and life without school. She and her family currently reside on a small island in Greece where they plan to restore a goat barn and call it home. Contact Ellen via Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. Follow her family’s adventures at amuddylife.com. Click here to learn more about her book.
