Typical Unschooling Days

Schuyler's Better-than-Typical Day
"Today was one of those days that is all things gone right, even though a couple of things went wrong. One of those days where you know, or I know, that unschooling equates with happiness at a level that Linus believed only a warm blanket would bring."

One of the most frequent questions I hear is, "What does a typical day look like in your house?"

The value of sharing our lives with those who want to unschool, being a snapshot of sorts of the life of Deb Lewis, in Montana, with commentary of substance.

More of Amy's podcasts with Janine in them, and other people, usually.

A TYPICAL DODD DAY

PHOTOS OF DAYS:

Warmish Winter Day in Photos, Amanda Horein

365 Days of Sparkle is Amanda's photo journal of unschooling days.

A Patchwork of Days

Click for more of any sample day:

All in all, a pretty rich and varied life for a six year old I think. I think sometimes how that, if he was in school, there'd be no late night talks...
[Painters, playdate, playground, dad, movie, baths, Minecraft, Harry Potter, iPad as a window to the world] —Julie M.

I just wanted to share the great day I had with my 2.5 year old son Logan....I never had this much fun, or got so much out of a day in school.
[Singing subway "A" train, elevator, water play, curly slide, Central Park, ducks, Shakespeare, sword fights] —Meryl

This leads to a discussion about the body and how an ear infection would cause one to be off balance and about moms need to take it easy and mainly sit down a while...
[Mom falls, WoW, exorcism, wind tunnels, Pythagoras, computer graphics, cake, dinner, cooking and then some more cooking] —Nicole

One of my great joys in this world is watching my children run through the pastures. It's one of those mental snapshot moments where I just try to burn that image in my brain because it's perfection here on earth.
[reading, chess, games, piggies, grass whistles, meadow, moonrise, pizza, costumes, domino effect, electrical short, video and peaceful sleep] —Danielle

I took the big plunge with unschooling, and I'm still finding little things I didn't realize I was ruining for everyone. We stayed up swimming until midnight...
[dollar store, fries, coloring books, glowsticks, FLUXX, 100 degree heat, nighttime swim, noodle chairs lightning bugs, babies, video games and storytime] —Melissa

Unschooling WORKS!! A day in the life of...us
[sewing, tricks, comics, ants in the field, a vole, salad, shopping, budget, Fantasia, computer games, tarsiers, chapter books and a doll hat] —Tamara

Early Spring day: We had a friend sleep over last night ...
[overnight friend, playing, pancakes, girl scouts, secret codes, dance, comics, super-hero origins, seeing kids in different lights, "Castle in the Sky," playing, party preparation, voting, hair dye, leapster, volcanos, news, food]—Lori

Pi to calligraphy - awesome day
[square and a protractor, race cars, angles, drawing and measuring, circles and pi, history, Arabic script, calligraphy, paints, peanut butter sandwiches, and wall decorations ] —Becca

Funny how the happiest days are full of small joys instead of major undertakings.
[Seahawks game, mail, calculator, playing bank, neighbor-baby, 19th century nautical history, hangman, sharing, relaxing] —df/dragonfly

Enjoying My Kids
[Magic School Bus, bikes, Harry Potter, computer, arrows, treasure hunt, Lego, peg boards, Lord of the Rings, ooblek, air guitar, fantasy, fancy dress and joy] —Julie

One morning...
[early light, photography, hot air balloon, heat and physics, hot chocolate, lake, dock, waterfowl, international adoption, Erica Enders and geography, tangled guinea hen, veterinary aspirations, Norwegian relatives, dusting—all before lunch] —Mary T.

I WILL NOT GIVE UP THIS KIND OF LIFE.
[Smithsonian, foam, paper airplanes, business mail, Delta, "blitz," roof rescue, sand box, grape picking (all that before lunch!), nap, antiques, jamming and joy! ] —Paula L

A magical afternoon right when a tired frazzled mom needed it.
[regional park, river, rocks, water, wind, sticks, birds, minnows, deer poop, moose poop, magic and awe] —NancyBC

Here we reside, adjacent to the den of the mother bear and her two cubs, lingering on the shores of a large deep lake with 22,000 miles of shoreline, cradled by pines, poplar, birch and maples, atop rocks of the Canadian shield. . . .We embarked on our unschooling journey, with enthusiasm, as well as some feelings of uncertainty. . . .
[Aspergers, bears, iced lake, sauna, firewood, a squirrel coat for Barbie, web design, nutrition, outdoor skating, ice fishing, building shelters, games and swimming] —Minna

My heart is just bursting with joy this morning. I had to share this with someone.
[money saved, relaxation, experiments with electricity, mapping dinosaur finds, reading, punctuation, love, science, life, peace and freedom] —Lannie

Dustin our 11 yr. old taught himself how to skim board. He wanted to surf but the water is still a bit cold here. We attended a HS meeting, the kids played and had a blast.
[skim boarding, homeschool meeting, X-men, the dump, yard sale, Brittany Spaniel, VCR, swim suit, trampoline, rocks, bookstore Spanish, impressing a stranger, and The Man in the Mountain] —Laura D.

This evening we have some friends coming over who are going to help get a piano into our basement. We've had one in our garage for a year and we finally get to bring it in!!
[computer, animals, toys, books, gameboy plants & dirt, trampoline, scooter, bike, yoga, Toonami, friends, and a new piano!] —Kelli Traaseth

Today, while Abbie was at Drama, Katie and I played in the park. You know, this group has been good for me, because I'm seeing "say yes to your kids," "spend time with your kids," "be there beside your kids working and playing and talking."
[glop, lemonade stand, signmaking, treehouse, painting, hummingbirds, glass beads, slides, sand]—Heidi C.

We play. A lot. And most people would say that's all we do. We're a happy family.
[snuggling, visiting grandma, movies, computer games, spelling, prices, Animal Planet, paints, play dough, toys, playing in the yard, food, showers, encyclopedias] —Mary B.

I thought "Our days are never typical and we don't really do anything much." Then I thought about what we did yesterday and realized this is the essence of unschooling and I love it when I realize that."
[Making maple syrup from their own trees, appointments, x-rays, physics, biology, physiology, bird poop, photo-reactive dyes, hydro-engineering, and other fun and games.] —Heidi R.

I'm sure on any given day I could look at what we're doing and say "We haven't done much today" and I could choose to freak out about it and panic. But when I look back over a week or a month I can see the rich tapestry of fun and learning that is our life.
[Lego, Bionicles, cooking, writing, painting, computer, music lessons, gymnastics, playdate, Hogwarts, hiking, library, bikes, cooking, swimming, movies, reading]

And another one on that same page:
There are times when unschooling just happens and life goes by and it doesn't strike me how cool it all is. . .
[sleepover, unschooler etiquette, infinity, chess tutorial, moebius strips] —Robin

[U]nder the drawing was the scrawled word "brachiosaurus." His passion for dinosaurs had prompted him to write that long word better than all my efforts to get him to write "cat!"
[dinosaurs, art, food chain, travel, geography, maps, online research, measurement and math, sharks] —Amy

My son is six and he watches what he wants. Even though the tv was on when he woke up yesterday, he walked right past it to ask me to take him to the park.
[Harry Potter, identifying poop, worms, train tracks, doves' nest, demo games, Blues Clues, doll house, Franklin, classical music, stars, and the sad inability to fly] —Mary J.

[T]his morning she got dressed and went back out to her bike. Michael (5) decided he wanted his training wheels off as well.
[bikes, wrenches and bolts, ebay, financial planning, internet research, Gameboy, new teeter-totter, fulcrum and balance, pizza, Mario Party, Harry Potter, Scooby Doo and a heated blanket] —Pam Laricchia