“My memories are of the targets and the pace, the expectations from others and the foresight into my future that I was expected to possess already,” writes Nicola Dellard-Lylle. So she decided to do things differently with her own child…
There’s no rush: A phrase I have had to remind myself of many times as my son Caleb (now aged 5.5 years) shows me how he likes to learn. It’s different to the way I was schooled, as it is on his terms.
There is no rush.
My memories are of the targets and the pace, the expectations from others and the foresight into my future that I was expected to possess already.
There was a pre-prescribed request for speed, absorbing information for testing and box ticking, all for the ultimate goal of accolade, recognition and money earning.
This unsettles me now.
Which is why I honour the passions Caleb presents to me everyday – whether it be puzzle building, drumming, small world play, mud squelching, origami, sea mammals, bounding around the house on all fours pretending to be a cat…
There is no need to rush.
Caleb doesn’t go to school, so we spend our days together doing what we feel like doing.
This is a choice I embrace and a freedom we are constantly grateful for.
Every day Caleb shows a constitution that, I think, differs to what I had at his age (or any age, actually). Where my school marks were high and the reports sung of my achievements, I carried the weight of pressure and something out of my consciousness – the future.
So, as we journey as a life-learning family I take this opportunity to de-school myself; to unlearn the patterns that demanded order, control and monotony.
I did not need to run around a field ten times, struggle for short-lived friendships, study times-tables or memorise the dates of hundred-year-old battles to make the moves I have made into conscious, happy living with my family.
I still don’t need to rush.
With each day come new questions, opportunities for growth in mind, body and soul. For us, there isn’t a focus on learning. There doesn’t need to be. It’s all about living. Because, life offers enough.
Follow Nicola on Instagram: @threadpressed