Learn Nothing Day July 24th...wait, what?

There are many ways to approach learning. There are many ways to go about homeschooling kids. You could use any of the following styles: Five in a Row, or A Well Trained Mind a la Classical Education, or Thomas Jefferson, or Waldorf, or Sonlight, or Charlotte Mason and there are still many more than these. Another way is Unschooling. It almost sounds anti-intellectual doesn't it? But, it's not--far from it. It's not about letting kids become feral, rather it's about supporting kids' interests and abilities and exposing them to all sorts of things in all sorts of ways so that they learn what they need to learn. It's also about trusting that kids in their natural state of uninterrupted curiosity will learn. Period.

Unschooling is a self-directed approach to learning that the parents help foster and support. It may or may not mean workbooks, for example. It may or may not mean outside classes. It will mean exposure to lots and lots of stuff, in lots and lots of ways.

A well known supporter of Unschooling, Sandra Dodd and her daughter Holly, thought maybe Unschoolers should have a day off sometimes too just as all the other schooled kids do. Since Unschoolers explain to people that unlike public schooled kids or other homeschoolers who use a curriculum during the school year, Unschoolers really don't take days off, don't take summers off, don't take a break from learning--the Dodds thought it would be fun to declare a day off from learning and give Unschoolers a break. Unschoolers could take some time off too! So, July 24th is Learn Nothing Day! Hurray!!

Hey...Wait a minute!! What kind of nonsense is this?! I couldn't stop my kids from learning even if I wanted to! They ARE learning all of the time. They are reading and playing and talking and observing and doing and creating and thinking and drawing and writing and...How can there be a Learn Nothing Day???

Oh... I get it. Good one!

Happy Learn Nothing Day on the 24th! I'll meet you there and I'll bring the bean dip!