You Don’t Need Curriculum to Make Learning Happen | 228

0:00While a lot of homeschooling parents are scrambling to get their kids interested in the curriculum that they bought, other families are noticing that a lot of fun things are happening in September. Did you know that September has a Rice Krispies treat day? A day to celebrate that? Now, in a lot of people's eyes, Rice Krispies treats might be about as far away from legitimate learning as you can possibly get, but not in an unschooling house. And not for families who recognize that learning can weave through even the most playful activity. What matters is the child's engagement. When they're interested or curious and participating, learning becomes the natural byproduct. Let me show you what I mean. But first, I'm Sue Patterson and this is the end-schooling mom-to-mom podcast. After 30 years in the homeschooling and end-schooling community, I've learned what works and what doesn't work when we start moving away from the school approach to learning. I bring these short, unschooling pep talks to offer a little reassurance and help you recognize that learning is already happening.

1:06I'm helping to make this way a little bit easier for you. If that sounds good to you and you could use a little help, take a minute and subscribe. Leave a comment and let me know what you think of any of the episodes that have been helpful. Whether you're listening on a podcast platform or watching over at YouTube, it all helps. And that way we can stay connected and the algorithm will keep sending you my podcast. So let's talk about rice crispy treats. So maybe you mentioned rice crispy treat day to your child that is coming up and they may want to make some. They read the recipe, they measure the ingredients, they watch the marshmallows change as they heat. They estimate whether everything will fit in the pan, they figure out how to cut the finished treat so that everybody gets one. They may wonder who invented the rice crispy cereal or why it makes that snap crack a pop sound. Or they may just dump in the cereal, lick the spoon, eat a couple of squares and move on. And that's okay too. The point is not to turn rice crispy treat into a lesson plan or unit study.

2:08The point is that when children are engaged in real life, learning is naturally weaving through what they're doing. Some of it looks like math. Some of it looks like science. There's reading and problem solving and sequencing and cooperation and independence. Even if you don't identify it as such while you're making the rice crispy treats. Your child isn't dividing things into subjects. They're simply making something they want to eat. The subject labels are for us. They help parents who are still learning to see that education doesn't disappear when we stop using curriculum. It simply looks different. Once you begin to recognize learning this way, the next question is often, where do all these ideas come from? Because you don't want to replace curriculum with a new job where you have to manufacture fascinating educational experiences every day. Fortunately, interesting possibilities are everywhere. They're in the changing seasons. Something happening in your community.

3:09A new food at the grocery store. Are one of those sometimes silly celebrations that you didn't even know existed? That's where steering comes in. If you didn't know, steering is simply bringing possibilities into your child's world and seeing what catches their attention. You aren't assigning it. You aren't disguising it as a lesson. Sneaking it in. And you don't have to know where it's going to lead. Strewing is scattering ideas that you can run with. September alone offers all kinds of possibilities. There are celebrations every single day of the month. Maybe your child would perk up if they knew about celebrations around dessert. Or maybe they'd be interested to know that there's a video games day, celebration, Batman Day, Hobbit Day. All this month, a child who loves animals might not want to miss crab or rabbit day. Each of these daily celebrations can be jumping off places to learn more. That child interested in rabbits and crabs may encounter animal habitats,

4:11or adaptations, or food chains and geography and life cycles, and size and speed and populations or comparisons between species. They may watch videos, read facts, draw pictures, build habitats, or tell you everything they've discovered while you're trying to make dinner. Science is there. Geography is there. They're building vocabulary as you read more talk about the topics. They may run into numbers, measurements, graphs, comparisons. But you don't have to assign a science lesson about crabs. You mention it. You see if they're interested. The learning weaves its way in because the child is engaged. That's the shift. Instead of asking, how can I get my child interested in this lesson? We start with something that interests them and notice where it leads. And this is where unskilling can feel uncomfortable at first. Curriculum tells you what the child will learn before the activity even begins.

5:11It gives you an objective, a lesson, and usually some way to prove they absorbed it. Real life learning doesn't really announce itself that neatly. You may mention rabbit day without knowing whether your child will watch a funny rabbit video, or research different breeds, or ask for a pet rabbit, or ignore the idea completely. You don't have to know in advance. Struing is about bringing interesting possibilities into your child's world without needing to control what they do with them. Some ideas go nowhere. Some lead to five minute conversations. Others open the door to an interest that lasts for weeks or months or years. You're not planning the outcome. You're creating more opportunities for curiosity to bump into something interesting. The autumn equinox is this month. That gives you a natural reason to pull out the globe and notice how the daylight hours are changing on the wall. Maybe someone asks why seasons are changing and why it's becoming autumn where we live while

6:12spring is beginning somewhere else. Maybe you begin paying attention to the sunrise and sunset times. You might compare temperatures or notice the shadows or talk about Earth's tilt or wonder how people in different places mark the changing seasons. I've been recorded a podcast about daylight savings last spring. You could listen to that. I'll link to it in the show notes because you can see how many different directions one topic can take you. History and geography and government and science and math, the way people organize time. Learning doesn't stay inside one subject box. Because life doesn't stay inside one subject box. And you don't have to follow every possible path. Maybe your child only notices that it's getting dark earlier. That moment of observation is still part of understanding about the world. Those little increments add up. Now you could search for all these possibilities yourself, but that could easily become one more job for you. And that's why I created the steering calendar.

7:13When you subscribe, you get a printable monthly calendar filled with all kinds of ideas. Your family can hang it up, look it over, and circle the possibilities that sound fun. Then I send you a daily email with links and ideas for exploring that day's celebration a little bit further. There's a celebration for every day of the month. You don't have to search for everything yourself. You don't have to plan a lesson. You don't have to use every suggestion I send. You can open the email, see if anything catches your attention, their attention, and share what might appeal to them. I've also included learning objectives for every day of the month. Those aren't there because your child needs to see the objective before they're allowed to make some rice crispy treats. They're there for you. If you're still de-schooling those objectives will help you practice recognizing the familiar subjects that are weaving through those everyday activities. And if you live somewhere that requires a progress report or proof of learning,

8:14you'll have the language that you need to document what your child is doing. The learning connections are already identified for you for all 30 days of the month. You can stop wondering, does that count? I'll show you how it does. You can actually look at what happened and recognize the science and the math and the language arts and geography and history and creativity and problem solving all inside it. Your child does not need every day of September to be filled with educational activities. They need a life with interesting possibilities. Maybe this month they make rice crispy treats. Maybe they investigate rabbits or play with play dough or talk like pirates or learn a few signs or watch a Broadway musical or pull out the globe for autumn equinox. Some ideas will be at 10 on the fun scale. Some may only be at 6 but still interesting enough to explore and someone appeals to them at all. And that's fine. The calendar isn't there to control their learning.

9:17It gives easy ways to add more possibilities to the buffet and then pay attention to what your child chooses because that's where the real learning begins. You're beginning to get data on how to create this very individualized approach to learning. All with the help of a steering calendar. So if you'd like the steering calendar, the daily links, all the learning objectives already done for you, I'll leave the subscription link in the show notes. The steering calendar is also included in the creating confidence full community membership. So if you are looking for some more unschooling support and coaching and connection with other parents, that may be the better option for you. And you get the calendar. You don't need curriculum to make learning happen. You need an interesting life. Some creative ideas to run with. And a willingness to see where your child's engagement leads. Learning will weave its way in. It always does.