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Natural Learning Happens ALL the Time!October 12, 2012 by Beverley PaineI need to say something about the nature of natural learning. We sleep, we wake, we breathe, we learn. Learning isn't anything different from those mundane everyday things we can't help but do. So, no matter WHAT a child IS DOING, that child is actually learning something. Identifying what our children are learning is hard. Translating that into eduspeak is harder (and only necessary to collect a few bits of 'evidence' to report to the authorities so they stay off our back, or build our confidence in unschooling). Valuing our children's activities (no matter what they are) can be very challenging. But no matter what, they are learning. Heck, we learn while we're asleep! And if we reflect on our dreams by writing them in a dream journal when we wake up we can use them to help us make important decisions, understand relationships, sort out worries, problem solve, etc. Long ago I learned that everything I encounter in life is a lesson for me. Sometimes lessons cycle in a spiral - they revisit me because I need to learn something new about that particular lesson, on a different level. I learn from people, places, experiences, things. I'm learning all the time. That's my attitude. It's infectious - my children think like that too. They aren't as passionate about it as I am, but it's awesome just how much they learn from thinking about what is going on in their lives regardless of what they are doing in each moment. There is no real down time for learning. It's like breathing. Even if we're not consciously aware of what we're learning we're still learning. Our bodies and brains are processing, sorting, cataloging, deleting stuff we learn all the time. That's what we do, because we are alive. That's why I totally trust that we are learning all the time and that's why I call it natural learning and that's why I differentiate it from unschooling. Natural learning is simply happening. Now not everything that our children are learning are things we want them to learn! That's our problem, but it's one we can make choices about and act on those choices in ways that meet both our needs and our children's needs. It requires us to take a hard and perhaps long look about our goals, ambitions, expectations, standards, wants and finally and hopefully identify what our true needs are, what is most important to us right now and perhaps into the future (if we're fixated on that or need to think about it for any particular purpose). Was this article helpful? Was it worth $1.00 to you? Your gift of $1 or more helps to keep this site operating offering encouragement and reassurance to families wanting better outcomes for their children. Beverley Paine with her children, and their home educated children, relaxing at home. 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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Welcome to the World of Home Education We began educating our children in 1985, when our eldest was five. In truth, we had helped them learn what they need to learn since they were born. I am a passionate advocate of allowing children to learn unhindered by unnecessary stress and competition, meeting developmental needs in ways that suit their individual learning styles and preferences. Ours was a homeschooling, unschooling and natural learning family! There are hundreds of articles on this site to help you build confidence as a home educating family. We hope that your home educating adventure is as satisfying as ours was! Beverley Paine
The information on this website is of a general nature only and is not intended as personal or professional advice. This site merges and incorporates 'Homeschool Australia' and 'Unschool Australia'.
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