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Pagan Unschooling by DoulaWitch
What is a free-spirited Witch to do when her little ones hit school age? Interview the best of Montessori? Waldorf? Free-school? Well , perhaps. Or just maybe she’ll pick what our family has embraced- learning through living! For our family- comprised of four children ages 12 ½, 10, 7 and 4 school begins when they open their eyes and commences when they begrudgingly turn out the lights at night. The entire world, all their community becomes the blackboard for their learning and exploration. They read (some voraciously) being for the most part self-taught, create endless weavings, paintings, and carpentry projects, monitor the comings and goings of birds and wildlife. They take fiddle lessons, gymnastics, dance, swimming and scouts. All day they go about the business of self-initiated learning, exploring what they feel compelled to explore. My husband and I act more as facilitators than teachers, answering what questions we can and lead them to resources to answer those we can’t. Most people agree that knowing where to access information is more important in our wired age than pure memory regurgitation of facts. We also rely heavily on community-based resources, libraries, art galleries, museums and the ancient tradition of mentors. But what about socialization you ask (it’s okay go ahead and ask- if I had a dollar for everyone who asked me I’d be one wealthy Pagan!) Well let’s look at what socialization means. To learn to conform, follow what you are told without question, know the routine and morays of the general populous. Not something we envisioned for our children’s education. Have contact with other kids? Go to Birthday parties? Have sleepovers, endless giggly phone conversations? This we have with lots to spare! Luckily for us our area has a large homeschooling network, we gather weekly for tours, trips, art courses, horseback riding and just plain “ recess-type” fun. Thankfully it houses no elitism, people of all incomes, races and faiths. Because of a rather flexible schedule our kids can become involved in the real world that goes on from 9 to three everyday, volunteering in nursing homes, running an organic food co-op, paying the bills with parents, learning to sew, chop kindling, do plumbing. Real life skills. It also allows for reflection, solitude, and dreaming. What do I want from my life? What do I want to create? Explore? So what does all this have to do with our being Pagan? Well our family is a hybrid of my husband’s Ojibwa-Mohawk ancestry and my own Irish one. Born-again Pagans both. Our feelings about how we are spiritually- unique individuals who need love and space to explore and grow just naturally seemed to lead to unschooling. It also meant more time to be together as a family. To celebrate the Witches Sabbats, decorate a seasonal altar. Time was available during the day to take advantage of Ojibwa language classes and Metis fiddling at our local Native Cultural resource centre. So for now we live together, work together, and learn together. And tonight as I write this I bade 6 goodnight – sleepovers well underway! Blessings ! |
