Our First Hurdle in Deschooling

This week has been fairly uneventful. Last night the kids decided to have a kids camp out. They said it wasn't a survival night because they wanted a tent and didn't want to have to find their own food. So they spent the night by the fire they built toasting marshmallows and then slept in the tent. They had egg salad for dinner made by boiling eggs in a wax paper cup in the fire. They also wrapped potatoes in foil and cooked them in the fire. It never ceases to amaze me what children are capable of when the adults get out of the way!

Aiden has decided that he has exhausted his learning on game star mechanic. His goal was to make a game that ended up on the front page of the top rated games. Currently one of his games is on page 3 and still moving up. He also made a 100 level game that took him over 100 hours of work. He's still making games there, but he's also now learning game maker, which is a much more powerful game making site. I've also loaded lynx on their laptop because he said he'd like to start learning coding. This will truly be a test of his ability to teach himself. I know absolutely nothing about programming and will be of no help whatsoever.

Right now it's Zoë that seems to be floundering. I'm not sure if it's because she is having a harder time adapting to coming up with her own ways to spend her learning time or some other reason. She's the queen of accomplishing anything I ask her to do, but she seems to be struggling with things on her own. She keeps coming up with great ideas, but seldom finishes them. Right now she wants to have an art show, and I feel like I'm having to tug her along the process. She just doesn't seem to be able to find a passion and dive into it.

I've also noticed that since we've started this hands off approach to learning, Zoë has become much more bossy toward Aiden. It's almost like she can't handle the idea of letting him do his own thing and if I'm not going to tell him what to do, then she will. It's very interesting to watch. Several times this week he has come inside saying "I'm not playing with her anymore. She's just bossing me around and it isn't any fun." I feel like if she could find somewhere to put her energy and focus, this might go away.