What do we do all day?

This is the most common question we get when people ask about our homeschooling because people still think in the box when it comes to alternatives to schooling. And here lies the problem! If you see that the system is broken, and you try to build another similar one to replace it, you get the same thing! The only way to make any significant change is to throw out the box together with its moulded content! And what do you get after doing that? A completely new way of learning that will surprise even the worst skeptic!

So, what do we do all day? We play all day, of course! Isn’t that what kids are supposed to be doing? Young chimps play. Kittens play. Puppies play. But young humans? They do math! The question that begs to be answered is this: why do we need to know so much Math anyway? But that’s for another day to debate about

Someone asked a very significant question: What happens if kids are deprived of play? Well, I did not fully comprehend the full impact of it until I started to deal with kids who actually were play-deprived when they were younger because their parents thought that child’s play was a complete waste of time! And here are some of the consequences:

1. The inability to translate imagination into reality, probably due to the lack of opportunities in making things with one’s hands using everyday materials.

2. The inability to imagine. Everything had to be logical. Everything had to be seen to be real.

3. The lack of skills in dealing with matters of the heart. Because the “thinking” capacity overshadows the “feeling” department, relationships tend to fair poorly for these sad individuals.

4. The incapacity to make decisions. Everything had been decided for them – from the food they eat to the clothes they wear to the things they learn – EVERYTHING has been predetermined. So how can such an individual make simple decisions like which cheese cake to choose from the cafe or which drink to order from the drinks counter! The act of having to decide is excruciating enough!

Some critics would say that by allowing kids to play all day, we are destroying their future. We beg to differ. On the contrary, we feel strongly that by depriving kids of play, we WILL be destroying their lives! Because what is the meaning of being humans if humans do not have the ability to play? That would render us robots! And we do have a great number of them in our midst, don’t we? In schools, at work, and in politics?

Because through play, we learn to feel, to care, to collaborate. Most importantly, through play, we learn to LOVE ourselves and to LOVE others!