Last year when all the children went back to school, I did not do a very good job of making the adjustment easy for Gianluca. We cuddled and did lots of trips and activities together, but nothing was really spectacular enough. He missed the friends that he had played with all summer. He did not want to go to school, but he did want all those friends to stop going to school ;)
As the year went on, it became easier and he got used to being one of the only 4 year olds in the city that did not go to school. During the morning hours he would play with me and his sister and sometimes other home learners, and in the afternoon he would play with his school friends. By the time we became official home learners in January, we had worked out a much better rhythm. Then we went to Canada and discovered the importance of the spectacular - winter festivals at night on frozen lakes, Olympic event parties with family and friends, swimming with Papa in downtown Vancouver with the mountains and ocean behind them.
This year when school started, Graham and I were ready with all sorts of razzle dazzle ideas that the children loved. We went all out and visited the coolest places and participated in some fantastic activities. Heaps of new places, that we had never been to before. Gianluca wanted to play sports with friends, continue with the Boy Scouts and learn how to swim and rollerblade. We did our best to make all this possible, even turning the living/dining room into an indoor rollerblading arena for 10 days while our downstairs neighbour was away on holiday. The children both wished there were some other children to play with during the days, so we started a group called Leiden Young Home Learners and we meet once a week to do an activity and play together.
As I become more experienced with unschooling, I realize how important it is to our relationship that I really listen to my children - their words, their silences, their body language and facial expressions. I have to continually work at becoming a better partner to them and making better choices. But this is one of the many reasons we chose to unschool...
p.s. for the best source I know on how to unschool, read the Always Learning yahoo group.
