Briar Rose & The Bearz

I've become a great lover and believer in the Unschooling method. I've seen my kids struggle this year and I have wondered to what end? Especially children with developmental delays, is it fair to expect them to keep up to their peers in ways that just produce anxiety and stress? And what does it matter really?

In Sweden they don't actually start school until they are seven, yet, in Australia, we are teaching them how to write their name at three. If your child is ready for that, great! By all means teach them! But if they just wanna sit in the corner and stack block does it really matter at that age?

I know I suffered from a lot of pressure and stress when I did the HSC, and I just thought why on Earth do we do this to ourselves and our children? People are more stressed out and depressed these days than previous years and what is causing it?

The pressure to perform, obtain and succeed. The movies of the eighties told us we could do anything, the nineties told us women could have it all, and I think the last two decades have shown us we can have meltdowns and burnouts.

I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with having ambition and aiming high. Everyone should do the very best they can in life, but there's a greed or a misconception that has spread over the western world, that we always need to be striving for more.

And if you're not, there's something wrong with you. I've meet too many people whose whole concept of self is wrapped up in what they own, what they do and who they know, rather than who they are as a person. The danger in this, is we never know where life can take us, and this is all you have going for you, if you ever lost it, how would measure your self-worth then?

I refuse to put that kind of pressure on my children, and that's why I've chosen an unschooling lifestyle. I talked to the kids about it and explained what it would mean and they were very keen to learn more naturally.

I just wish I'd discovered it sooner and let them enjoy their childhood more. But it's never too late to turn things around.

We've been conditioned as a society to believe that the only way to learn and socialise is through institutionalized education. Yet many of the world's greatest thinkers and artist were self-taught or homeschooled. You do not need a piece of paper to prove you are educated, and you do not need to go to formal classes to learn something. Yes, gaining knowledge from someone older and wiser in many instances can be beneficial, but I'm saying it's not the only way to learn.

I've heard schools kill creativity. I've lived it. How can you have time to create when you're expected to do three to six hours of homework a night and you've been at school all day?

When do you have time to think for yourself and work out who you are?

Play teaches children to imagine, to problem solve, to co-operate, and children are learning even when they don't realise it, especially when are younger. If only schools could incorporate a more play based, hands on method of teaching, than half the kids with ADHD would probably lose their diagnosis, kids would be more engaged, and be more relaxed.

But until then I'll continue to Unschool thanks.