Aha Moment
Joanna Murphy
I just had an aha moment about trust and unschooling.
I was just having a conversation with my ds, and he was explaining to me why he thought
Animal Crossing was the best game so far, that he's found, for replicating real life money
situations--there is interest, investing, etc.
I realized after that, although I was very interested in the conversation about what he was
saying, I wasn't thinking anything about how "educational" the game was. Then I paused
to consider that--and why it was that I didn't have any interest in that line of thought
anymore. And then I had my "moment."
Here it is: If my kids are finding something interesting and FUN, then they are doing so
because there is something of value going on. Why? Because as human beings we are
curious and intelligent and enjoy things that challenge us to think in new ways. And so, if
they are finding it fun and valuable, it's BECAUSE IT IS! That simple--no worrying about
"educational content," etc. The value is there because they have defined it as such. If it
weren't "educational" for them, they would find it boring--like I found high school
trigonometry! lol
These are thoughts I might have intellectually articulated, but I just felt it right down to my
toes--and my level of trust in them (and me) has just risen to a whole new place.
Joanna
I was just having a conversation with my ds, and he was explaining to me why he thought
Animal Crossing was the best game so far, that he's found, for replicating real life money
situations--there is interest, investing, etc.
I realized after that, although I was very interested in the conversation about what he was
saying, I wasn't thinking anything about how "educational" the game was. Then I paused
to consider that--and why it was that I didn't have any interest in that line of thought
anymore. And then I had my "moment."
Here it is: If my kids are finding something interesting and FUN, then they are doing so
because there is something of value going on. Why? Because as human beings we are
curious and intelligent and enjoy things that challenge us to think in new ways. And so, if
they are finding it fun and valuable, it's BECAUSE IT IS! That simple--no worrying about
"educational content," etc. The value is there because they have defined it as such. If it
weren't "educational" for them, they would find it boring--like I found high school
trigonometry! lol
These are thoughts I might have intellectually articulated, but I just felt it right down to my
toes--and my level of trust in them (and me) has just risen to a whole new place.
Joanna
Ren Allen
~~These are thoughts I might have intellectually articulated, but I
just felt it right down to my toes--and my level of trust in them (and
me) has just risen to a whole new place.~~
That's a really cool shift!
I try to tell new unschoolers to TRUST fascination, because whatever a
person is fascinated with, they are learning from.:) As much as people
might try to dissuade your fascination it is still there. We're much
better off facilitating more open avenues to that interest, than
trying to judge it or distract a child from it...
Like with video games, or anything else in life.
Ren
learninginfreedom.com
just felt it right down to my toes--and my level of trust in them (and
me) has just risen to a whole new place.~~
That's a really cool shift!
I try to tell new unschoolers to TRUST fascination, because whatever a
person is fascinated with, they are learning from.:) As much as people
might try to dissuade your fascination it is still there. We're much
better off facilitating more open avenues to that interest, than
trying to judge it or distract a child from it...
Like with video games, or anything else in life.
Ren
learninginfreedom.com