Incubator home

I love the teen years, as much as they can be fraught with passion and fury coming at you from all directions! This is a time when young people need and must have more independence, opportunities and choices.
At this point, some parents will want to ‘cut them loose’ while still making sure to ‘keep watching;’ that is, maintaining an eye on the kids as they move into teen-hood and young adulthood.

In my own home, the exploratory play, inventiveness and fun of their childhood has not disappeared. Instead it has become more focused, more sophisticated, more goal oriented. My daughters push for who they are trying to become; they want to shine. At any given time, you may find a daughter practicing her instrument, with acute attention to error and determination to improve. You may find a daughter stretched out on her bed, hungrily devouring every classic in the English language with a mind to studying English literature and becoming an author herself. You may find a daughter searching for opportunities in the community to get involved with more sports and athletics.  I’m not shocked if I wake up at odd hours of the early morning to find a daughter interacting on tumblr, rebogging posts and contributing to discussions that range from feminism, abortion, to the latest fashion in tights and leggings.
I’ll often ask my aspiring actor how many movies she has watched that day and won’t be surprised if it’s the sum of four as she studies the fine art of acting and film. She’s pushing; she’s in acting classes, she’s out there seeking opportunities and venues.

Incubator
The home is where it all begins; the home is where they can nurture and grow their dreams.
My home is a passion and idea incubator where my kids can identify interests and have to the best of our abilities, offer the opportunity to explore and pursue their passions.
 I hope to continue to provide them a safe haven in which to forge new paths, anchored by the faith we, the parents have in them as they gain mastery over what they have sought to know. I am not promising that all their dreams will come true; often they do not. Sometimes they change shape.  But my home is dedicated to supporting them as they move forward into the world.
An incubator home like ours offers a practice arena in which the kids can explore and test their ideas.  Every day is an opportunity for evolving interests and ideas; we try to create an incubation environment that is flexible and responsive to each child’s development.  This means being ready to spot opportunities when they come up and helping them to act on these. It also means setting up the structure so that interests can be pursued, and experimentation can continue to happen.
How have you set up your home to nurture learning and exploration? Comments welcome.

The Art of Unschooling

For those of you who don't know, I have three teenagers and although they all attend a public high school nowadays, we continue with the art of unschooling.
Why do I call unschooling an art? Unschooling, like art is a practice; both require focus, dedication and commitment. Both engage creativity but also the willingness to take risks. To be an artist is to be prepared to meet the unexpected; to anticipate surprise. It also means that you have to be prepared to meet with failure; and you have to be ready to keep going an seeing it through, against the odds.

Being an artist is a state of being attentive. It is a position that engages patience and persistence. It involves having vision and dealing daily with the creative chaos that must be worked through in order to create a work of art; that out of the muddle, something half decent will emerge. In the end, it's the journey that matters-the process that makes it all worthwhile.
Unschooling is an art because like with art, it is a way of seeing the world differently. Creativity is the best thing I know that can bring us closer to freedom.

Some people think it all comes down to talent. But art is work. Obviously, that is a good part of the whole; but more often than not, artists are driven to 'keep at it,' doing something over and over until they get it right. So it is not a question of, "Oh it's easy for you! You have so much patience," or "You're lucky, your kids listen to you."

Of course some people are going to be more talented at the art of unschooling than others. By this, I mean some people come to unschooling with obvious ease while others have to struggle. But even a talented person must have passion, must have skill, must work, must have knowledge. In the end, it comes down to will. It's a question of sticking with it.
Our medium is the world around us. Like an art installation that takes pieces from the environment to bring together and create a work of art, so too does unschooling draw from the surroundings, building on resources around us, creating infrastructures in which to help our children thrive.