Ep 236: Can we deschool our approach to holiday/family stress?

Fare of the Free Child

This week on #fofcpod, we’re inquiring about the idea of an unbothered child. Is “unbothered” a status reserved for worthy adults? Or can children claim it too? We’re moving through some thoughts around liberation work and education perceptions that center the decolonization of intergenerational practices, so this also means Madd Question Askin’ time!

Listen in as Akilah acknowledges how our family members and friends might feel about unschooling during the holidays, and some of them may not understand what unschooling and other types of Self-Directed Education look like. Because of this, they sometimes openly question some of the ideas and practices around them. How might we learn from their reactions and begin to recognize our mindful responses as actual skill sets?

Here’s a 2017 episode where Akilah points out a few specific ideas, and recommendations of what we can do: Episode 56: Managing Unschoolers' Holiday Anxiety.

Excerpt source.

"Dis Long Time Gal Mi Neva See You"

"This is a song that tells of two people who have not seen each other for a long time. The singer invites the other party to allow him to hold her (gal/gyal) hand in a greeting as they wheel and turn and dance and jig.

https://youtu.be/_Fy39wPedmY

The first video is of the legendary Jamaican icon, Mrs Louise Bennett Coverly, singing the song. She was very instrumental in breaking cultural barriers that saw the local language (patois) being frowned upon by the "most affluent" in the Jamaican society who would have preferred to have everyone speaking the adopted "Queens language" or proper English. Miss Lou (as she is fondly called, got people to accept the fact that our language is our language no matter whatever other language we may adopt. She also played a very instrumental role in the Jamaican folk songs rising to prominence."

Madd Question Askin’ out loud!!

• Do children get to be unbothered? If so, what does that look like for a child?
• Is unbothered a skill reserved for grownups like trust or respect?
• Are children not trustworthy?
• Minding your business is community care and self-care
• What unbothered might look like as a skill set?

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