Category: 30 Day Learning Lifestyle Challenge

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Learning Through the Generations

My sons found a stash of pictures of their mom and set them up around the house last week. We have a ton of pictures, many in frames, and they tend to rotate in and out of our living spaces. It’s always a bit of a mystery, but our rhythms dictate how often we want to be reminded of Mary’s absence.

They brought out a lot this time. It’s been tough to turn corners and be surprised by those memories. Not crippling or especially sad, but unnerving.

I wonder why I’m not crippled. Widowhood and single parenting seems enough to crush a human spirit. Top that with a pandemic that looks a lot like your late wife’s dis-ease and, well, I don’t know why I’m still standing. Insanely, I’m thriving. I’m taking on new challenges, making new friends, and loving the time I get to spend with my girlfriend. Just typing that out doesn’t make any sense.

I got another clue tonight as I thought a out the educational blessing that my grandparents have been. They lived outside of London during the Blitzkrieg and have related those stories to my sons. They were children at the time and my sons are fascinated by the downed German bombers and evacuation of children to the coal mining country.

A novel cold virus can’t stop people who have lived through watching the end of their street leveled by bombs. They’ve been living as full a life as they can manage and seeing their great-grandsons whenever they can.

I didn’t have to learn a zest for life through hardship, I was raised by parents and grandparents who had done the hard work and modeled positive, meaningful behavior.

When hardship came, I didn’t have a Shut Down button. I had a British Carry On petrol pedal fueled with a whole lot of American muscle.

I learned something about myself today. I’m a little less of a mystery. I’m blessed by the hard work of generations before me and doubly blessed that my sons are witnessing the unstoppable nature of their genetic code.

God bless, I appreciate you, and thank you for reading,

Jason

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Learn More Fun at Ohmfest

Fun is learning.

The more you break down the barriers between fun and learning, the more you receive of each.

This past weekend we attended Ohmfest in Dover, Delaware. It was our first camping and music festival since Lockdown and our first yoga festival ever.

I didn’t require any participation, but my sons joined in on three or four yoga sessions. They also figured out how to have breakfast away from the bugs while lounging on yoga mats in the screened in section of our tent.

We set records for our camp set up and break down, some of which happened in heavy rain. And the boys got to experiment with whittling and hatchet use before we got to the fun of the fest.

Saturday storms appeared to keep families away, so we spent much of the day on our mats, playing ga-ga ball (they had to teach me, and then other kids, as families showed the next day), bocci, and soccer near the music.

After an early morning and an action-filled day, we hit the hay just after sunset and survived a late-night rain storm.

Sunday morning I was up early for sound meditation and more yoga. Midday music from Rivers & Rhodes kept our day rolling and The Hungry Spork fueled us back to the ga-ga pit.

My sons made more friends, taught them the game, and I got a break from ga-ga to try Ayurvedic yoga.

It was my first experience with this lifestyle-focused practice and Mallory Rose Spencer offered a wonderful introduction.

The fest was coming to an end, but the best was to come.

Disco Risqué took the stage and started to make things funky. No one was on the dancefloor yet, but these guys were bringing it and deserved some energy in return. I’m not nearly as brave as I seem, so I talked my son into going to the grass with me.

He didn’t stay at first, but once I got myself in front on the music, I wasn’t going to leave. Soon, another dancer hit the ground and both my sons joined us.

I didn’t know how much I needed this: funky trumpet, keyboards, bass, guitar, and drums; sun shining on barefeet pounding the moist ground; and getting loose.

My younger climbed my back and it was a time warp through nine years of that guy bouncing on my shoulders. It almost brought me to tears as I thought of his mom and how much she would love this moment. I looked to the sky and thanked God for this answer to my prayers.

It wasn’t without challenges, but we focused on manifesting fun and were blessed with it in abundance.

God bless and thank you for reading,

Jason

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The Un

The Un is a stumbling block. It’s a negative. I struggle with the term “unschool.” It’s why I prefer Learning Lifestyle, a more proactive-sounding approach that empowers the learner in a positive direction.

But The Un has a lot of use. We have patterns that may not be healthy and need to be undone. We have to unlearn reactions drawn from trauma. Unschool is neccessary in a society or family that has absorbed the assumptions of school. Clocking in, clocking out, assigned work, entrenched authority hierarchies, and a division between learning and fun are unnatural barriers we’ve placed on ourselves.

The Un can release those patterns to live a life immersed in learning what serves us and unlearning what blinds and binds us.

God bless and thank you for reading,

Jason

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Learning Through Adventure and Challenge

We have a rainy day ahead of us as we prepare to attend a camping weekend filled with yoga and music.

We’ve enjoyed fair weather camping through much of the Lockdown and this weekend offers several challenges: potentially dangerous storms, new territory, and our first COVID-rules festival.

The most useful learning happens as you stretch into the unknown. I know that we will broaden our world, our skills, and our knowledge through this weekend.

God bless and thank you for reading,

Jason

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Lifetime Learning and the Learning Lifestyle

The Learning Lifestyle combines the principles of unschool, learner-directed focus, and lifetime learning.

In practice, this means that everyone in the household is on a learning journey. There are no teachers, only students with varying degrees of mastery. We learn from, alongside, and independently of each other.

Modeling is at the center of our educational world. I take on new learning challenges (I’m currently reading Sam Harris’s Free Will and a book about Buddha, listening to C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity, and beginning a jiu-jitsu practice) and share my enthusiasm with my sons. I’m easily humbled as my older son has trained longer and will coach me against more experienced practioners.

Learning is more than a family affair, it is the way we live and breathe.

We analyze presumptions and dig down with question after question. Reasoning is where we always start, then we go deeper with resources and more questions.

It can be exhausting. It can be challenging as a parent who sometimes wants easy compliance.

It is all worth it as I watch these boys grow into themselves with strong minds, bodies, and spirits.

God bless and thank you for reading,

Jason

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Learning Lifestyle: Schooling Alongside Homeschooling

Can I homeschool my children while they attend virtual public school?

You are already home educating your children and no one can stop you. I attended K-12 public school, but was raised with a personal sense of responsibility that my education was just that, mine.

Not everyone can home educate, but everyone can instill a love of learning and personal accountability in their children.

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Learning Lifestyle: Lego Shopping Math

A fun and practical way to incorporate math into your child’s love of Lego.

Take a look at Lego catalog prices, then go to FB Marketplace, a physical/online reseller, and/or craigslist for the same sets.

The basic math is about 10 cents per piece for a new, non-franchise set (City, Friends, etc.) Sets with special minifigs (Batman, Minions, Toy Story) go above that.

With that knowledge, it becomes much easier to price compare without looking up the new set price.

This could be a practical way to discuss value and price comparisons in a field of interest. I know my boys can look at a price and say, “That’s ridiculous.” Makes them much more helpful in deciding when and where we spend our Lego budget.

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Learning Lifestyle: Winging It

Since March 16th, I’ve been praying for clarity. Clarity on what “this” means when people say, “When THIS is over…” Clarity on how to best navigate my own family through “this.” And clarity on where my talents belong. It has felt like a long time without clarity.


Before home education, unschooling, and our learning lifestyle, I left my job to care for my young sons. It was the first time I felt God speaking to me, He told me I was where I belonged. That’s no less the case today, but as my sons stretch their independence, I feel compelled to share what I have learned and expand my mission.


I’m facing a lack of confidence that has plagued me. I forgot how many times I’ve driven forward without the necessary skills, knowledge, nor resources. I forgot how many times it worked. I might be the king (maybe fool) of winging it.

I’m posting about our learning lifestyle at my blog for the next 30 days. I don’t have clarity on all these questions, but I see it on the horizon. I’m sharing this new journey as honestly and openly as I can.


Today a friend started a new FB group for anyone who may need a place to get their children out during the week. Few rules, masks and social distancing optional. A place where parents and children can get together in person, enjoy each other’s company, and support one another…regardless of educational philosophies and situations.


I work best with other people, In widowhood I’ve discovered how critical my social life is to my being. So come hang out, let’s learn from each other and have some fun while doing it (spoiler alert: “let’s learn from each other and have some fun while doing it” is my educational philosophy).

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1004305646667310
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30-Day Learning Lifestyle Challenge: Support and Encouragement

FB event: https://facebook.com/events/s/support-for-schooling-from-hom/306451337442180/?ti=cl

Registration

Over six years as the lead facilitator in a home education environment, I’ve increasingly become a devotee of the unschooling and (self described) learning lifestyle methods.

I’ve gone from worksheets and schedules to long afternoons in hidden swimming holes, libraries, museums, Youtube rabbit holes, and lots of places children don’t frequent.

Although I’m much more IRL than virtual, I’m excited to participate in this event to offer support to the many families who find their home becoming the new center of their education world.