Adoption Support at Forever Parents

Three Things I Want My Kids To Know As They Grow.

…and what I’m doing now to help them.

1) I want them to know that learning is a natural part of life.

That’s it’s not something seperate from life…not something done in a building from Monday through Friday with weekends off. As unschoolers, my children get to see learning all around them. It’s not something they’re made to do, there are no grades or tests needed to prove that they have learned. I want them to know that their interests are valid and worth pursuing and that there is learning in everything.

“True learning - learning that is permanent and useful, that leads to intelligent action and further learning - can arise only out of the experience, interest, and concerns of the learner”
-John Holt

2) I want them to know gratefulness.

Being grateful is so much more than just being thankful. It keeps the goodness of the universe flowing by receiving it with open arms and then passing it on to others. That’s the key to happiness and I try to model this in my own life for them to see. One of the things we did was create a Grateful Wall in our home. It gives us a way to journal what we’re thankful for, share it with others and see what other people are grateful for.

“In our daily lives, we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but the gratefulness that makes us happy.”
-Albert Clarke

3) I want them to know that they are respected and honored just as they are.

I want them to know that what they’re doing right now in their lives is relevent and important. I work at accepting them unconditionally for who they are, not who I want them to be. It’s not always easy and sometimes I blow it, but I’m getting better everyday.

“We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that child is someone today.”
- Stacia Tauscher

This post is part of a group writing project for parents.

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