Godfreys from Nebraska

Hi! We are the Godfreys. Attending the conference are myself (Michelle 43), my 5 year old daughter, Isabel and my 4 year old daughter, Clara. My husband, Ben has to work so he won’t make it this time. I am bringing my sister, Marilyn Anderson and her 15 year old daughter, Marrissa who have recently started to home school.

I decided to homeschool our two girls just after Clara was born. I thought I would have a small Montessori classroom in our home and do it that way. I even set said classroom up and bought an expensive curriculum. Isabel and I sat down to do some of the first lessons and it became clear very quickly that the Montessori style of teaching was not going to fit our family (some things in theory are way different in practice).

I began reading about unschooling in 2011 and it resonated with all that I believe yet had not yet been able or brave enough to practice (I had been working with young children in preschools and tutoring center situations prior to being a mom). I began deschooling myself and talking about the concept with my husband. We put some things into practice in a “testing” type fashion. In 2012 I began to implement more unschooling concepts into our lifestyle yet still in a “on the fence” fashion. It had been about a year since I had read Sandra Dodd’s “Big Book of Unschooling” and I picked it up again. To my surprise and pleasure, some of the concepts that went right over my head the last time I read them now made sense and some of them I even “got”.

At the beginning of this year, I chose to unschool. It is a practice similar to how I see my yoga practice. I know and have experienced the magical benefits. I am just past the beginning steps and am determined to continue on the path, even through the unknown, uncertainty and angst that shows up. I trust those that have followed the unschooling path before me and I am trusting the human spirits of my girls.

Isabel (5 years old) loves her mommy, daddy, her cat, her dog, her pigs, her chickens, her bees, her geese, her sister and her grandma. She likes to run. She likes zebras because of the stripes and giraffes because of their long necks and their long tongues. She likes exercising, such as jumping and skipping. She likes to play Barbies. She likes to help people cook. She likes to take pictures, too!

Clara (4 years old) likes to play house and princess, watch princess movies, jump, watch Winx Club and Bubble Gumpy. She likes to eat strawberries, apples, pears, bananas and sweet things like cake, ice cream and chocolate covered berries. She likes to dance like ballerinas and princesses. She likes to hold our baby chickies and visit our piggies. She wants the animals to grow big and strong like their moms and dads. She also likes her pretty dresses and her party dress.

We are looking forward to the Always Learning Live weekend in front of us!