It's amazing how much learning can be had from
simply living life.
One day - like many other days gone by, when Lewi was about 3 and a half, we went out to the backyard to do some weeding in the vegie patch. We started weeding - Lewi with his little tools, me with mine. After a little while he stopped to ask what was wrong with some withered looking plants. I explained to him that they were potato plants and that when their leaves die back it means they are ready to dig up. This is where our weeding ended!
While digging up the potatoes we discussed how they grow from seed. We also discussed other ways they can grow too - like from an old shooting, potato. As we dug and found the little brown treasures we noticed the root systems on some of them and discussed this. We talked about how the potato got it's food and how the plant grew. We talked about why some of the plants had lots of potatoes on the ends and others not so many.
After digging up the entire row we took them inside to the kitchen. Here we washed them in the sink and scrubbed off the dirt with a scrubbing brush. We talked about hygiene and the importance of getting all the dirt off. We discussed the types of bugs that could be in the soil and what they could do to our bodies. We discussed microscopes and how they work.
Then we took the freshly cleaned potatoes over to the kitchen table for drying.
Lewi started to count them and we spontaneously sang "One potato, two potatoes, three potatoes, four...". After counting them we then sang and acted out "The currant Buns in the bakers shop" rhyme but instead sang potatoes for buns and grocer's for baker's shop. Lots of fun was had.
Then I asked Lewi how he would like to cook the potatoes. We discussed lots of different ways to cook them. He chose to bake them! We prepared the potatoes for baking. We cut them into different segments. We talked about halves, quarters and eighth's. We put them in the oven.
After awhile the baked goodies tempted us back to the oven to check to see if they were done. They were. Out of the oven we carefully took the baking tray. We discussed safety and hot foods, we discussed how to protect ourselves from being burnt while cooking. We talked about how to check whether a potato was cooked or not.
We set the table, discussing this procedure - what utensils we'd need to eat with, what goes on the table,where we were going to sit. We talked about carbohydrates and the healthy diet pyramid. Then it was time to decide if we were going to have butter or sour cream with our potatoes or nothing at all.
The best part was in the eating. Yummy, fresh home grown spuds! And not a workbook or program in sight!
On this day the penny really began to drop for me. In my past life as a teacher, the whole potato thing would have taken ages of preparation and resource finding. Outcomes would have needed to be met and ticked at the end. Talk would have been scripted and mainly come from me. A crappy little drawing of a potato would have been coloured in on mass production and the whole process would have been a build up of weeks on a unit called "Potatoes". Ugh!
All that happened on our day in the garden was natural, fun and normal. It was spontaneous and child led. Questions were asked from natural inquisitiveness not based on me probing for answers from a check list of outcome linked questions.
This is how learning occurs best. This is what it's all about. That's not to say that the Board of Studies based curriculum can't be found in our two hours of gardening and eating. If you look closely you'll find it all there, and more. But the outcomes were coincidental and a bonus.
Thank you potatoes, for teaching me that unschooling and natural learning is what's best for my child.
One day - like many other days gone by, when Lewi was about 3 and a half, we went out to the backyard to do some weeding in the vegie patch. We started weeding - Lewi with his little tools, me with mine. After a little while he stopped to ask what was wrong with some withered looking plants. I explained to him that they were potato plants and that when their leaves die back it means they are ready to dig up. This is where our weeding ended!
While digging up the potatoes we discussed how they grow from seed. We also discussed other ways they can grow too - like from an old shooting, potato. As we dug and found the little brown treasures we noticed the root systems on some of them and discussed this. We talked about how the potato got it's food and how the plant grew. We talked about why some of the plants had lots of potatoes on the ends and others not so many.
After digging up the entire row we took them inside to the kitchen. Here we washed them in the sink and scrubbed off the dirt with a scrubbing brush. We talked about hygiene and the importance of getting all the dirt off. We discussed the types of bugs that could be in the soil and what they could do to our bodies. We discussed microscopes and how they work.
Then we took the freshly cleaned potatoes over to the kitchen table for drying.
Lewi started to count them and we spontaneously sang "One potato, two potatoes, three potatoes, four...". After counting them we then sang and acted out "The currant Buns in the bakers shop" rhyme but instead sang potatoes for buns and grocer's for baker's shop. Lots of fun was had.
Then I asked Lewi how he would like to cook the potatoes. We discussed lots of different ways to cook them. He chose to bake them! We prepared the potatoes for baking. We cut them into different segments. We talked about halves, quarters and eighth's. We put them in the oven.
After awhile the baked goodies tempted us back to the oven to check to see if they were done. They were. Out of the oven we carefully took the baking tray. We discussed safety and hot foods, we discussed how to protect ourselves from being burnt while cooking. We talked about how to check whether a potato was cooked or not.
We set the table, discussing this procedure - what utensils we'd need to eat with, what goes on the table,where we were going to sit. We talked about carbohydrates and the healthy diet pyramid. Then it was time to decide if we were going to have butter or sour cream with our potatoes or nothing at all.
The best part was in the eating. Yummy, fresh home grown spuds! And not a workbook or program in sight!
On this day the penny really began to drop for me. In my past life as a teacher, the whole potato thing would have taken ages of preparation and resource finding. Outcomes would have needed to be met and ticked at the end. Talk would have been scripted and mainly come from me. A crappy little drawing of a potato would have been coloured in on mass production and the whole process would have been a build up of weeks on a unit called "Potatoes". Ugh!
All that happened on our day in the garden was natural, fun and normal. It was spontaneous and child led. Questions were asked from natural inquisitiveness not based on me probing for answers from a check list of outcome linked questions.
This is how learning occurs best. This is what it's all about. That's not to say that the Board of Studies based curriculum can't be found in our two hours of gardening and eating. If you look closely you'll find it all there, and more. But the outcomes were coincidental and a bonus.
Thank you potatoes, for teaching me that unschooling and natural learning is what's best for my child.