Unschooling and Natural Learning Activities I’m doing with My 8 Month Old

Learning is a natural process and is something that’s part of our DNA. Learning happens naturally all the time, and this is how babies naturally learn to roll, walk, talk and grasp. So as I am going through my day, naturally, without forcing anything, I involve my little one in everything that I do.

You may not think this is part of ‘education’ but it’s all part of learning. Learning the basic things in the REAL everyday world that’s just living.

Once you start to pay attention to all the minute things you’re doing, reading, speaking about in your everyday life, you’ll begin to notice how much of a learning opportunity this is for your child. This is even more reason to become a better person yourself, to be the role model you want to be.

So here’s just a short summary of things we’re doing with our 8 month old.

Getting out into the real world and community

We see that learning is part of everyday life, and therefore we approach life a little different with our 8 month old. Living out in a rural area, we are surrounded by beautiful scenery and landscapes – naturally, spending time outdoors is one of our favourite activities. We go for walks, exposing our little one to a large variety of scenery. Whilst outside, we tell her about all the beautiful things we see, why the leaves change colour in autumn and why the trees have no leaves in winter.

When taking our 8 month old out “into the real world” for example to a bank, I explain what we are doing and why. This way our baby gets involved in the everyday things of “real life”.

Narrating Everything I Do

I’m using the Montessori approach for narrating what I’m doing so that my child “sees” and hears what is going on. This approach helps with “natural literacy” as well as learning to understand the world and what we do. I explain that we’re going to the bank to reset a pin, that a pin is a secure code to a card, and that with that card we can withdraw money out of the ATM.

Since when she was a newborn to present day, I ask my daughter if it’s okay “to pick her up” and when I change her nappy I’m narrating that I’m putting her down on the change table, taking off her nappy and cleaning her up, and then put on a fresh nappy, and I explain that personal hygiene is an important part of living a healthy life.

Involvement in Everyday Living

As “unschooling parents” we are conscious of daily living routines, things we do, errands we run etc. Our natural day rhythms and routines form part of our daughter’s natural learning opportunities and therefore we ensure to narrate things and most importantly include her in everything (mostly everything we do).

From simple things such as going up to the counter to pay for something in a shop, to counting the money to pay for something, to receiving the receipt and saying “thank you” to the lady at the the check out. All these minute parts of our daily life are integral to learning natural numeracy, literacy and community interactions. (Natural literacy is the way children naturally learn through being exposed to language/literacy components known as the ‘Big Six’: oral language, phonological awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension.)

In Short

Once you start paying attention to your daily rhythms and routines, you’ll be surprised to see how many natural learning opportunities there are for children. From learning ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’ at the shop or post office, to your weekly trip to the grocery shops, market or bank. Although it may not always be practical to make every minute daily activity a learning moment, I’m sure you can easily find one or two in your day that are easily turned into one. And with the unschooling method, it’s not about forcing education onto children, it’s all about exposing them to the wonderful wide world (the real world) and following their lead. At the age of 8 months old, it may be hard to gauge what your little one is interested in, but once you approach life from a different point of view, you will soon discover the beautiful things we can learn in our everyday lives.

How many natural learning opportunities can you find in one day?