Unschooling?

I have to confess to you that I really don't even know what "unschooling" means, but I've always felt it wasn't for us. I thrive on structure and schedules and I've always been afraid of what might happen if we veer off too far from The Plan. We're using Sonlight and it's working wonderfully for my 10 and 8 year olds. But, my 6 year old is a little young, because we're doing core 6 which is designed for ages 9-12. She listens in on the read alouds, but has trouble following them. Also, we read aloud for an hour in the morning and an hour and a half in the afternoon. I know it's too much to expect a 6 yr old to focus for that long. She does so well with her Math and Handwriting and Vocabulary, which are all on her grade level. And I'm about to start Five in a Row with Measle and her little brother who's 3.


That was a longer introduction than I planned, but the point is this: lately I've realized that on her own Measle really does lots of learning. In the last few days she has written a recipe (Noodle Strap) that we'll be making for dinner on Monday, cracked a code from her big brother's Dragonology book (I did have to break it to her that it wasn't really written in Dragonscript), written and mailed lots of letters (she uses a file cabinet in the living room as her mailbox), worked on her email (fun with fonts and copywork using Microsoft Word), written posts on her blob (fun with shapes and colors on Microsoft Powerpoint), and choreographed a number of skits starring herself and her little brother (though we've prohibited her from dressing him up in tutus any longer). I've been concerned that my Measle would fall between the cracks this year, but now I'm convinced that a little "unschooling" may be just the thing for her. She has such a vivid imagination and thirst for knowledge. She really is my most eager learner and what a blessing that she's learning as she plays.


Whew! That's my sigh of relief that Measle is going to make it through first grade and NOT fall through the cracks! The funny thing is, she knew it all along.