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Letting the World Strew

Random Strewing: Letting the World Strew for You

As an unschooling parent, I strew.

For those new to the whole world of unschooling, strewing means putting out things, books, games, art materials, whatever that you think unschooling kids might find interesting.  It’s like an educational slush fund.  Sometimes the kids get interested, sometimes they don’t.  

I’ve also found though that the world at large is happy to do the strewing for us.  This week, the gang, (8 y.o. No. One, 6 y.o. No. Two, and 4 y.o. No. Three), went on a three-mile hike through a forest to a nearby beach town.  They’d been on the hike dozens of times before.  It winds down a steep ravine with redwoods hurtling out of the ground on both sides.  The forest off the trail is lush with ferns, moss, and other undergrowth.  They frequently find banana slugs, sometimes see quail, and once in awhile, spot a deer.  When they crusie into town, they visit the local library.  It’s their hangout.  There are books, and games, and very nice librarians, but this time…  This time, there was more!



When they arrived at the library, they found out that it was raptor day!  A local rescue organization had brought several large birds to show the kids at the library.  As they opened a labrador sized pet carrier, and owl stepped out.  On another perch, a Peregrine falcon surveyed the room.  There was also a large hawk with a broken wing. The kids loved getting to see the birds!  We have two hawks that live in our nearby forest, but we never get to sit in the same room with them.  The gang got to ask the rescue center experts all their questions.  They got all this free education just for the price of going outside to explore!

And this wasn’t an isolated incident.  Years ago, the kids and I stopped by our favorite building gon camps, the architecture building, and wound up in the middle of a career fair where we were whisked away to the speakers room for fruit, and conversations.  A few weeks back, the kids wandered into a clock repair shop.  The proprietor told them all about clocks, showing them their inner-workings as he went.  A few weeks before that, they wandered into a barber shop for a drink of water, and were treated to a lesson in Foosball.  All of these things were just sitting there, in the world, waiting for them.  They just had to go out and find them.

So, if you’re having a hard time deciding what to strew next, might I suggest, that you let the world steer for a bit?  Head out, pick a spot, and see what happens!


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