What If?

What if, throughout your life, you got to choose what you turned your attention to?

What if nobody told you what you "should" know, and nobody chastised you if you didn't know it?

What if you chose to learn about science because it served some deeper need for you, rather than having to learn about science because is was part of a curriculum?

What if you had no fear of being wrong or looking stupid?

What if you were able to try new things to solve problems, and no one "corrected" you when you took a different path?

What if you never thought you were "bad at math" because the way it was taught to you literally made no sense?

What if you had no anxiety about numbers and it was fun to see what they could do?

What if you could interchange numbers and letters and no one said you couldn't do that?

What if you used language in conversation with adults or peers, and read or wrote because you needed or wanted to?

What if you said please and thank you because it felt good and right to you, and because you knew it would make someone feel good, and not because someone prompted you to?

What if you could eat when you were hungry and not because it was officially "lunchtime"?

What if you had more than 20 minutes a day to play in the fresh air?

What if you could learn about things you cared deeply about, and didn't put time into things that would never serve you?

What if you could take a nature walk on a Tuesday morning?

What if someone actually thought you had value as a person, even though you were not an adult?

What if you could take as much time as you wanted to think about/work on/investigate something and not stop because the bell rang or the lesson plan ended?

What if you could just "hang out" if you needed some time to think (or not think)?

What if you could pick up and go anywhere you wanted to, when you wanted to, and you didn't have to wait for "spring break"?

What if you went to the beach and gathered coquinas and rescued a crab and no one told you you were learning something?

What if you could run around the backyard in the Florida sun at 2 o'clock in the afternoon on a weekday?

What if you didn't have to worry about being part of the "in" crowd (or worry because you weren't)?

What if you didn't have to fight with your parents about homework?

What if you got up in the morning after you had had enough sleep, instead of because you were awakened at 7 a.m. based on someone else's schedule?

What if you could get together with kids of your own age if you wanted to, rather than because that's how you were "grouped"?

What if you were not afraid of life but thought it was an adventure?

What if you thought that you actually had real choices to make in your own development?

What if you could decide what you wanted to do to make a living because you loved doing it, instead of because that's how you could make the most money?

This is what unschooling/natural learning means to us.

What could it mean to you?