Trust Our Children

Trust our children. What does that mean? When we decided a couple of years ago that homeschooling was the right option for us, I remember reading books and hearing stories from parents saying the key to happy homeschooling is to trust your children. I didn't fully grasp what they meant at the time, to trust that my kids would learn everything they needed to know when they needed to know it. But now I get it.

I have watched my older daughter learn to read and write, not because I sat with her to teach her these skills, but because she is surrounded by literacy and is given the space to become engaged in this important process. I have seen my son's imagination bloom, not because I work explicitly to help him think creatively, but because I trust his innate curiosity and give him the time and space to build his imagination. Just as I see my littlest one learn to crawl and then to cruise, not from teaching but by learning, I see my older ones learn naturally, organically, individually as well.

We are unschoolers, meaning that we don't follow any established curriculum for our kids and instead use the resources of our city to learn and explore. We plan to continue on this unschooling path indefinitely, trusting our children to show us the way and trusting ourselves to listen--and follow.