So, unschooling to me means to learn through occurances in life, not through a set planned lesson but driven from interest and quenching the thirst with whatever resources we can condure up......I could be wrong, I am very new to this! Anyway, if this is what unschooling is, then we definitely incorporate this in our educational experience. So, here is my 'unschooling' experience for this week (possibly for the month....we shall see how good I can be at doing this regularly!).
Miss Ant loves music, she listens to all the words and tries to find the story to each song. After the Buffalo Soldier experience (see previous posts.....not sure which), I added a new song to my playlist.....'Hurricane' by Bob Dylan. Now, I don't tell her when I have added a new song, I simply pass her my phone so she can act as DJ while I drive. I was most interested in what she would do when she stumbled upon the new song.....a bit of an experiment really! Now, Hurricane isn't for the feint hearted, it's 8.32mins long has a tough story to follow and has a few questionable words in it, but WOW....from the moment she 1st heard it, she was entranced. (For those that don't know the song, it tells the story of Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter....and how he was wrongly imprisoned.) After a couple of days listening to it, Miss Ant had already started her investigations - googling Bob Dylan, Dr Carter and racism and of course, asking us a whole barrage of questions on words and terms used in the song that she didn't quite understand.
Then came her little bombshell. Driving along like normal, listening to Hurricane (for the 3rd time on the trip...needless to say we now limit this!), she pauses the ipod and says:
"Mum....Bob Dylan is a revolutionary man (just like in the song)......he wrote this song for us. Not just to protest to the people about the Hurricane, but for us now. Right now, so we can learn how we were and we can learn from it. AND, so we can learn to not make the same silly mistakes. I think Bob Dylan is my new hero."
Now, the thing that gets me is that the song is about the Hurricane, not Bob Dylan! She has managed to link the story to the author.....or poet as she calls him. She has recognised the importance that the story teller has, not just the 'character' of the story.
The main educational point to this little example is.......Comprehension. I think she nails it ;-) Oh, and my kid has musical appreciation *proud mummy moment*
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| Miss Ant having her Piano Lesson xxx |
