Ha-ha! Every time I try to become a constant writer on here, something happens, and I just disappear for an extended period of time. My time perception has been fluctuating a lot - I jump from feeling the time fly to stretching it out like a resin where a week can feel like eternity. It becomes especially pronounced when I come back somewhere I haven't been for that duration of time, and it feels like I'd been out of the world and just came back from some kind of weird, indescribable time-travel adventure.
Since the beginning of the Covid PLANdemic (yes, I still am one of those "crazy" theorists) my daughter has been staying home with me 24/7. Well, not "home" - we do go outside. I mean homeschooling. I feel like she has learned more in these 2 months no less (maybe more!) than she did during the whole school year.
We don't have any official "learning time" at home - we just go along exploring the world and anything that interests us. For instance, when we walk or babysit people's dogs, we learn about animal and specifically dog psychology and behavior as well as human/dog communication skills. Who knows, maybe she will want to be the next dog whisperer. Or maybe she won't, that will be up to her.
On the weekend of July 4th we went far into the mountains and spent most of our day hours inside the river. She learned not to be afraid of the water and now she feels comfortable diving even though she can't swim yet. We watched fish swim under the water, we explored plant life, we always ate outdoors, and for the first time in her life she watched the full moon rise above the mountains. It was a magnificent moon rise that looked more like sunrise, with the sky going golden-yellow and the moon huge and surrounded by halo.
There is no more pressure to go to bed or get up at a certain time. There is no more "do your homework or you won't get credit", there's no more "behave or you'll miss your recess". No more repetitive, boring worksheets. Instead, she reads when she feels like it, listens to Russian audio-books or me reading to her, draws in paint (pixel art), and learns spelling here and there randomly when she wants to type or write notes.
I feel like there is no rush. She is only 7 after all. I feel like we aren't missing anything; on the contrary, we are gaining more. The iPad and YouTube watching is still a problem with her to me. These things are super-addictive, and simple time limitations, rules, and prohibitions aren't enough. To drive attention from those things, one has to offer a more interesting and exiting alternative. I feel like the system is working hard on STEALING our kids and incorporating them into itself from the moment they are born. Millions of games, shows, cartoons, etc., to avoid them entirely one must live on a faraway island with no exposure to mass-media OR other kids who are into these kids of things.
But slowly, slowly she is learning about things like influences, control issues, and various addictions as well. A mind of a 7-year-old perceives all these things differently, but she's been asking questions. For instance, yesterday she asked why some store-bought veggies won't produce if we plant their seeds. I had to explain to her that many companies modify their plants so that they don't produce or produce badly if planted, that way people are forced to keep buying veggies in he store and not grow their own OR buy special seeds from those same companies instead of using natural seeds.
When such topics arise, she always says "If I am the government, I will prohibit those companies doing that" or something along the lines "I want to destroy 5G towers or teach people that they are bad". Oh, I wish it was that simple...
But than who knows, maybe the kid is right, maybe it IS that simple, and it's us, adults, who are doing complicated things trying to live better lives and ending up getting more and more screwed up as a society.
