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Unschooling in action
by Cath Nester
My youngest (6) has been asking for a few days to make "custard cupcakes". Something he said he thought up. So I helped him to make them. It was fun, and delicious, and spontaneous, and not remotely like "school". And no agenda.
So it's only afterwards I turn this into "edu speak", for the record of his learning I'm required to produce....he just thinks he made cupcakes.
Maths: measuring, and weighing ingredients (and using different kinds of measurements....cups, half cups and millilitres)
Literacy: Explaining his idea in a coherent way so that I knew what he wanted to make. (He can't read yet, so there was no reading of a recipe)
Science: Mixing ingredients in certain amounts to make a reaction happen. Adding heat to make a different reaction. Cooling the custard to make it solid. Making a paste out of custard powder so it mixes with the milk properly. Using different forms of heat (oven, microwave). Floating the eggs to see if they're fresh, and why it works.
There's lots more non-academic benefits. Confidence, independence, self-sufficiency, imagination, art (presentation of food), food safety, hygiene, care using a stove.
The list goes on and on and on...
And think how many of these "ordinary" moments a child would have every single day! And that's why we don't use a curriculum, or have sit down lessons, because the magic just happens!
on their way to the oven
the finished product... delicious!
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Together with the support of my family, my aim is to help parents educate their children in stress-free, nurturing environments. In addition to building and maintaing this website, I continue to create and manage local and national home educating networks, help to organise conferences and camps, as well as write for, edit and produce newsletters, resource directories and magazines. I am an active supporter of national, state, regional and local home education groups.
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