But, there are some subjects that he just doesn't choose on his own with enough regularity for me to believe that he's really challenging himself- mainly math and writing. Those subjects I will schedule things for him to learn and work on. I try to keep them palatable, I try to incorporate them in ways that make them relevant to what he's interested in, but whether he enjoys them or not, they have to be done because working on things we don't enjoy or maybe aren't very good at is just as important as doing what we love.
Yes, that's my issue w/ 100% unschooling. DS is not motivated enough to do things that aren't *fun*. I've read of kids not learning algebra until they decide they want to go to college, then they are motivated to learn all the math at once that they need but it may mean they don't go to college until 22, for instance.
I think if I only had one, I would do more unschooling but with a very busy 2yr old and a 5yr old, it's easier for me to open the math book (we use Rightstart which is less workbooky than others I've seen) and do the next lesson. I do use living books to go along w/ math to make it interesting as well as learning math history etc which he loves, but I don't know about totally giving up the workbooks lol.
One painful lesson I learned was DS expressed interest in lapbooking. He chose the lapbook he wanted to do. He hates cutting etc so I agreed to print it and cut it all out. Well, after it was all done, he decided he didn't want to do it. Lesson learned lol! He has since picked a new one he really wants to do but I've left it up to him to print it out, cut it out etc and it has yet to happen.
So I would definitely caution against buying a bunch of stuff...try one or two things and see if it goes over well.
I don't think I could give up my history textbook either lol. We use SOTW - we do lots of go-alongs (historical fiction, beautiful picture books (The boys still ask for Gilgamesh) but I like going chronologically. DS does to so it's something he enjoys. On his own, her pursues his interest in WWII through documentaries and books. But we do things like DS will be on a dig w/ an archaeologist all week studying Ancient Greece. We spent the day w/ the archaeologist at a museum studying ancient Greece exhibit. As part of the dig he has been playing Parthenon game and we'll buy it for home. So I like delving into these things but use textbooks like SOTW as a spine.
I do lean more toward Charlotte Mason. Get the core stuff done in the AM with the afternoons free to explore interests. DS likes to spread things out throughout the day with frequent breaks in between.
What an interesting journey it is!!!!! And it's so different for everyone!
