Unschooling, travel, and work. They’re three things that don’t always go together, but they should. When I travel for work, I frequently find myself in places where there’s tremendously wonderful stuff for kids to experience. Meanwhile, the gang isn’t with me, they’re at home, because work. Even if we could stay the weekend—frequently, we actually could—to check everything out, where would the gang hang out while I’m at work? Since the kids here are unschooled, and have been raised free-range, the obvious answer at first blush would be that they should go see the sights without me. But how? Many museums--at least in San Francisco—don’t allow kids to free-range below the age of 12, and that’s only the tip of the iceberg.
The gang here is 7, 5, and 3 years old. They know how to ride public transit, they know how to behave in museums. They know how to socialize with other kids in markets, and with adults for that matter. What they need though—-somewhat sadly—is an adult to legitimize their presence in the world. Once they’re with an adult, any adult, they can get in places, travel, and experience the city.
While I wonder if museums have ever experimented with drop-in camps, the ideal solution for us would be an out-of-town Director of Tac Ops, (DTO aka nanny).
I said any adult could be a DTO, and in theory that’s true, but in reality, it takes a uniquely qualified adult. The skills—being able to travel along with kids to a variety of destinations via public transit; let the kids look at what they want to at each destination; and finally let them play independently at playgrounds or other places here play is appropriate—aren’t hard to learn. To do it though, the mindset of a typical adult has to be thrown on its side. The mere job description has caused some local nanny candidates to balk. Which is good, I’d rather they balk in the interview rather than on the job. In any event, potential DTOs would have to be vetted ahead of time, which begs the question, how do you do that when they’re out of town?
In fairness to the DTO, the kids should also be vetted. The skills the kids need to have are—once again—simple, yet elusive: the kids have to be able to take direction from an adult from afar; they have to be able to behave in the situations to which they are escorted, (e.g. museum, gallery opening, playground, etc.); they have to be adaptable to new situations in new towns. Kids are capable of these skills, but in my experience there’s a learning curve.
This brings up a second set of questions. Should kids have certifications available that demonstrate life skills? It would be a handy part of vetting kids for the proposed out-of-town DTOs. But, does certifying that certain kids have certain life-skills, leave the implication that other kids don’t; maybe that all kids don’t? And would the whole idea just create another slippery slope of ‘standardized’ testing? (Although these kinds of tests are hardly a standard at the moment.)
What do you think? Have you heard of a solution to these problems? Is there a better way?
The gang here is 7, 5, and 3 years old. They know how to ride public transit, they know how to behave in museums. They know how to socialize with other kids in markets, and with adults for that matter. What they need though—-somewhat sadly—is an adult to legitimize their presence in the world. Once they’re with an adult, any adult, they can get in places, travel, and experience the city.
While I wonder if museums have ever experimented with drop-in camps, the ideal solution for us would be an out-of-town Director of Tac Ops, (DTO aka nanny).
I said any adult could be a DTO, and in theory that’s true, but in reality, it takes a uniquely qualified adult. The skills—being able to travel along with kids to a variety of destinations via public transit; let the kids look at what they want to at each destination; and finally let them play independently at playgrounds or other places here play is appropriate—aren’t hard to learn. To do it though, the mindset of a typical adult has to be thrown on its side. The mere job description has caused some local nanny candidates to balk. Which is good, I’d rather they balk in the interview rather than on the job. In any event, potential DTOs would have to be vetted ahead of time, which begs the question, how do you do that when they’re out of town?
In fairness to the DTO, the kids should also be vetted. The skills the kids need to have are—once again—simple, yet elusive: the kids have to be able to take direction from an adult from afar; they have to be able to behave in the situations to which they are escorted, (e.g. museum, gallery opening, playground, etc.); they have to be adaptable to new situations in new towns. Kids are capable of these skills, but in my experience there’s a learning curve.
This brings up a second set of questions. Should kids have certifications available that demonstrate life skills? It would be a handy part of vetting kids for the proposed out-of-town DTOs. But, does certifying that certain kids have certain life-skills, leave the implication that other kids don’t; maybe that all kids don’t? And would the whole idea just create another slippery slope of ‘standardized’ testing? (Although these kinds of tests are hardly a standard at the moment.)
What do you think? Have you heard of a solution to these problems? Is there a better way?
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