What Unschooling Looks Like…Today

A day in the life of an unschooler looks different every day. I decided to just jot notes down as a random day progressed, and then write it up. Truth be told, as the day went on I wasn’t sure this was the day I wanted to ‘showcase’ but I’m all about keeping it real. So, here’s how it went.

My day actually started much earlier than B’s, but I’m focusing on his day. The little night owl rolled out of bed around noon and grabbed his tablet. It was important to him to see what happened overnight to his base in Clash of Clans. He checked on that and watched the replays of some attacks, then moved on to some YouTube favorites. He subscribes to many YouTubers so he gets a notification when new videos go up.

I mentioned that it had snowed so we headed into the living room to take a peak. The next door neighbor was out shoveling and B decided that he would head out to help meet him in the middle with shoveling the sidewalk. He stayed out for over half an hour; shoveling the sidewalks, driveway (so I could get the car out,) and sledding in the back yard.

When he got back in, he headed to the PC and while that booted up, he did some puzzles in his newest Lego Club magazine. I had just happened to leave it laying on the computer desk. B played Lego Worlds for a little bit and when his hunger got the best of him, he headed to the kitchen for something to eat.

He had some macaroni, while working on a new March Math Problem Calendar. This made him realize that it was indeed March and he had heard that Clash Royale was going to be available in the US this month so he grabbed his tablet and checked to see if he could download it. No luck, so we researched when the drop date is supposed to be for that. Then I grabbed a cookbook for kids that I had picked out at the library and showed him some of the recipes from around the world. We added items to our shopping list for the following day. Then B replied to the journal entry I had left for him on the table. He finished eating, brushed his teeth and hair, then headed to his room to get dressed.

Next up was some Plants Vs Zombies Garden Warfare on the Xbox, with online friends. He has a headset so he can talk to other players and made friends with a boy from California. This is a pretty intense game for him, so he bounces on his trampoline while playing it. This particular time, it led to a hurt foot, which ended the gaming and jumping for the day.

Our new homeschooling books arrived from Amazon so we took a look at those. B thought it was funny that his book was twice as big as mine. He snuggled with his kitties that were in the vicinity, then headed to the kitchen to try the peanut butter energy balls I had made. They got a thumbs up!

B got on the PC to play Minecraft since one of the YouTube videos he watched gave him an idea he wanted to try. He hadn’t played in so long there were a lot of new updates to explore and test out. There was one called Elytra so we looked that up to see what it was, how you use it and how to pronounce it. It ended up being an insect anatomy lesson. Dragon’s Breath was another new one that we researched. When he lost interest in Minecraft, he moved on to Rock of Ages for a bit.

He finished on the computer and played with his kitties and some cardboard boxes, which reminded me that the pet store had called and said their food was in. We headed out to pick that up. That required removing snow from the car (one of B’s favorites.) The store was an exercise in patience and making the best of a situation, since there was no price listed and blah blah blah. This particular store gives out bite size candy bars at checkout so we earned a couple extra for our patience. On the way through the parking lot, I spotted a California license plate and pointed it out to B, reminding him that was where his online friend was from. Connections!

Got home, fed kitties and B and I ate too (not the cat’s food.) Then we snuggled up in his bed to finish reading aloud Diary of a Wimpy Kid #8. Next up will be his Guys Read book club choice from the I Survived series.

B still had some sillies in him so he wanted me to play 2 player soccer on the PC with him. He deemed that I was too good and kicked me off to vs the computer. That didn’t last long.

I asked if he wanted to feed the fish and he said no so I did that and prepared the gecko’s food. I handed B a slice of apple and told him his hamster was hungry. He quickly got to work filling dishes and adding fluff to Jack’s bedding. Then he took little Jack out to run around in my bedroom, in his plastic ball. Ten o’clock rolled around and I reminded B that was the time he’d agreed to take his shower so we put Jack to bed and B headed into the shower.

Once he was squeaky clean, he came out, told me good night, collected a smooch and headed to his room.

That was our day. Simple as that. Living life, answering questions, exploring interests and making connections. Can I measure anything or say for sure what he learned? No, probably not. I don’t have to. This is his journey and he gets the most customized, perfectly unique education for him because he chooses his path.