New here

This is my first blog and today is my first post, so I'm a little excited. We have unschooled (or homeschooled) our children for a little more than a year and I decided that I want to write about it. It is such a rich, wonderful experience that I feel I need to share it with whoever is interested. None of the people I meet in my day-to-day life are homeschoolers. While homeschooling is legal in Italy (as i t is in most other European countries), it is extremely rare. The Italians I get to talk to tend to react indignantly to the fact that our children do not go to school. I have gotten used to them finding me extremely strange at best or completely mad at worst. In a way this has made me even more determined to continue what we have begun.
Jake and Sophie, our son and daughter who are aged nine and five, love that we school our own. Jake went to a Montessori school in Germany for one year before we moved to Italy. He did have an okay time there, but within that year his enthusiasm for learning reduced quite noticeably. Somehow school had not made him want to learn and explore more, but less. While we have always been attracted by the idea of homeschooling, his experience in school led us decide that we want at least try it. Now we are about 14 months down the road and there are so many tales we could tell.
What is clear is that unschooling is an amazing experience, both for the children and whoever happens to 'teach' them (which we don't really). I often find it hard to tell friends and family who are not directly involved about it, as it seems to be way off anything they imagine. They sort of imagine us playing teacher and pupils in our living room (which we don't), me standing in front of a blackboard, trying to fill my kids' brains with knowledge. Well, it definitely does not work like that, at least not for us, and still our children have learned a lot so far. Everyone we meet - even the Italians who are so adamant about a child having to go to school - expresses delight about Sophie and Jake, how clever they are, how creative, focused, sociable and adaptable. It is true that they love exploring and being creative, and they love interacting with other people, both young and old, whatever their background. It is a great gift, and the fact that I am able to share it with them every day feels like a huge privilege to me.
I'll be back soon, as there is a lot to tell about what they do and how they learn, about the difficulties and the delights. Have a good day! Ciao from Verona - Maria