Unschooling in Costa Rica

As I prepared myself to leave Los Angeles and head for Costa Rica the number one question that people would ask me, is “What are you going to do about your children going to school?” I replied “they are not going to school, they will learn at home with us.” I found it interesting the reaction that would come from people. My children have been to school, they have been to every type of school, academic private, alternative private, and public schools. All of them had their negatives and positives. It was never an issue of whether they could keep up academically as they are both highly intelligent or socially as they both make friends easily, instead I felt like the schools were not encouraging them to find themselves. However, for my girls, only positivity comes out of schooling them at home. We are not structured, we go with the flow but we tend to do our work in the morning. If we decide to go early morning fishing, the girls will bring their journals and math workbooks and sit on a blanket and do their work If we are at the house they do their work on an outdoor picnic table. Our days always are different which inspires my girls to want to learn.

Since I am a TRUE Earth Mama, I have wondered what the most natural form of learning is. Learning that encourages a child to be able to thrive in the world, to be well-rounded and have a worldy perspective. This is my husband and my intention in bringing our girls to a different country, with a different language, different environment, and entirely different culture than any of us have lived before. We are all learning, together.

The greatest part of our schooling is that we get to learn as a family. We have a Rosetta Stone Spanish program that we sit together as a family and learn from and then we practice the new language together. Many times while the girls are doing their seated work, we are interrupted by some sort of creature that interests us. Of course we stop what we are doing and head for the jungle. We have woken the girls in the middle of the night so they could witness a mama turtle giving birth. We have had many opportunities now to witness and take part in the release of baby turtles. We had no idea about a sea turtles reproductivity before we arrived here and have been able to witness it with our own eyes. We learn about life by living.

At the moment the girls have not met any friends. Cassidy, my 10 year old said today,”I don’t even need friends here, I am just happy.” My girls are always playing together formulating activities that they can all participate in. It took a few weeks of adjusting but now they are getting along so well and blossoming every single day. The bond that I see forming between my girls is a strong imprint which I see them holding sacred forever. Zoe, my middle daughter, has changed the most noticeably. She arrived here broken hearted from the loss of her puppy and she was the only one of my children still in school. Zoe has been a challenge for my husband and I. However, she has totally come into herself. She has found an independence and confidence that she did not have before. Her tantrums have turned into giggles. She is happy 🙂 Although Zoe really enjoyed life at school, I did not feel it was the best place for her. She would come home every day from school and have major meltdowns. She was not pleasant to be around. Being perfect all day and holding all of the different energies would cause her to come home and let go completely in whatever form that looked liked. It is so wonderful now to be able to see Zoe’s sweet, loving, helpful and caring side stand out the majority of our days. Honestly, if all Zoe learns from our time in Costa Rica is to ground herself and feel good within herself than mission accomplished 🙂

As a mama, I want my children to grow up to be conscious, empathetic and loving girls who are confident within themselves and adaptable to the flow of life. In the school system, I saw the opposite happening to my girls. Now they are free to let their light shine in whatever way they choose and I will be by their side to help guide them. I don’t know if we will continue to homeschool them throughout their entire education but at least while we are in Costa Rica they will continue to learn by LIVING!

I will let you know how it continues to go…..
Thanks for joining me on my journey!

With Love ALL Ways
~ Alex~

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