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If you can really let go of the idea of certain "subjects" being more important than others, of some things needing to be learned at certain ages or stages, of the whole notion of school versus play, you'll be better off (and so will your son!).
It's my belief that the kids will get around to learning what they need to learn in their own good time. Your kids are young and mostly need to play -- that's the work of childhood. I'd encourage you to provide opportunities for Justin to explore trains to whatever degree he wants, but don't make a unit study out of it. I think sometimes we can take a child's love of the moment and ruin it by making it into a source of object lessons. Check out some books on trains (stories, nonfiction, pictures, whatever) and leave them about, read them to him if he wants, let him look at them. Provide trains to play with--does he have Brio or similar trains to play with? Take him to see real trains if possible. Let him ask the questions, and see where the answers lead. Mostly, don't worry about math and reading and spelling and science and history. Trains can lead to all that, but if they don't, something else will. Unschooling doesn't mean doing school around a child's interests; it means not doing school, and letting the child learn from his interests in a natural way. Does this make sense? Laura (LJDBush@aol.com) |