A couple days ago, I attended a Facebook party for a new website and Facebook page. It's called Homeschool Mosaics. Essentially, what it does is have various writers submit articles on a topic that is specific to their skill set and the editor then posts it on their page. The page rotates through the authors, which means they don't have to come up with a new article every day.
For example two days ago the article was about preparing for college. Needless to say, I'm not ready for that yet, so I completely skipped that article.
Yesterday's article was about organizing your school papers. I am a lover of organization, so although the article covered things I already feel comfortable with in my house, it was still an interesting read.
Today's article was about "Stealth Schooling." What's that you say? It's another more accurate name for Unschooling, so needless to say it jumped out at me. I love to read what others are doing because it can give me some ideas. This article was about letting your kids get involved with your business.
Needless to say, I have personal experience with that. At the age of 16, I was responsible for office duties for 2 days while my dad and his business partner were out of town. Talk about a learning opportunity! Now my wheels are turning as to how we can get our kids involved. I always thought they'd be involved when they are a bit older, but now I'm trying to figure out a stealthy way to get them involved now.
For those of you out there who think that Unschooling is not for you, I have this to say: you already do it. Each and everyone of you has found a stealthy was of helping your kids to learn. You've signed them up for the summer reading program at the local library to get them to read more. You've had them help you cook in the kitchen to help them learn that life skill (or to practice their measuring skills).
For those of us who've decided to do this full-time, it gives us the opportunity to focus our efforts in areas where our kids enjoy learning. For my son that's his desire to build robots one day. For my daughter that's her desire to help animals one day.
So how do you sneak that kind of learning in? You buy pounds and pounds, and pounds of K'nex and sign your son up for a Lego class. When you (hubby actually) are asked to be the mentor for a First Robotics team next school year, you say yes, and that although your son will technically be a year too young, he will be participating as well. You also check out books on animals and make lapbooks about them. You make trips to the zoo (and lots of different ones so you get variety). You order National Geographics for Kids and you get an annual membership to a zoo or aquarium so that you don't have the excuse that you can't afford a spontaneous trip to the local zoo.
What are some ways you "Stealth School" your children?
Huh, I hadn't thought of it this way, thanks for teaching me this. I tend to use questions E asks as learning opportunities... so instead of just answering, I'll say, "Let's find out." and we'll experiment or research. I use her love of drawing and art to teach about a lot of different things, such as textures or lately, butterflies.
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