It's funny.
I've been saying that I wanted to do more
interest-led
passion-driven
child-led
unschooling
type learning this summer.
We've been meeting with some homeschool mom friends at a local beach
and I mentioned this.
One of them looked at me and said,
"I think your girls do plenty of that."
"Really?" I was incredulous.
"Uh huh," she said, looking around at the other smiling mothers. I felt like there was a secret I had not been let in on and I wanted to know what it was. Especially since it had to do with my kids.
"What are their interests?" one of the moms asked.
"Um" well, they like nature, but they aren't really doing much independently with that.
They are not into weather like Grace.
Or horses or manga or bugs like some of the kids in our homeschool group.
They read a lot, but it's all over the place.
"They like mythology and have read all of the Percy Jackson books?"
My friend shook her head.
"Fashion, sewing," one of my friends said, unable to take my discomfort any longer.
"I admire how your girls are always sewing.
How they create unique handbags and are always drawing fashion designs.
Look at P, now, she is sitting there reading 100 Years of Style!"
Huh.
I never thought of it that way.
I was looking at what everyone else's kids were doing and comparing my kids.
I was looking at all of the things they were not doing.
Instead of what they were doing.
I was thinking their interest had to be scientific or historical or factual.
Fashion seems like a hobby.
But it is historical and factual.
We are always saying that one day they will have their own shop,
either on-line or a real brick and mortar store.
A idolizes Betsey Johnson.
P knows the name of every type of bag, pant, sleeve, waistline, hem...
My girls do spend hours with their sewing machine :)
They spend hours and hours
watching youtube videos about fashion, style, sewing.
They know the call numbers for the fashion books in the library.
So, yeah, we've been interest-led for a while now :-P
