My fourteen-year-old daughter and I went for a walk in the sunlight on our first morning in Rome.
She is currently studying European History the fast way by following the Crash Course European History.
She told me it is lovely to be a nomad child and has seen a lot, if not most, of the places, buildings, cities, and pieces of art mentioned in the course.
I am not particularly focused on my children learning world history. It is one of the many things that happen by itself while living a life with enough time.
Whatever puzzles us, we can dive into it.
We have time.
We have the means.
And on our many walks and meals together, we get to talk about what is on our minds, sharing and anchoring what we are learning.
Later we all walked to Piazza Navona to enjoy the marble fountain and a lovely jazz trio, and again: each other's company. We read the Wiki page about the piazza and have to wonder how they filled it with water.? How much water? How did they contain it? It is a vast place to fill with water each week!
Then we went for the Pantheon, overwhelmed by the crowd but more so by the building. Two thousand years is a long time for a building to stand, let alone the colossal dome to hold up.
I discussed unschooling with my well-educated brother-in-law while walking Trastevere in the afternoon. He wondered if a child or young person could understand the consequences of not learning a specific topic.
I do enjoy my conversations with my brother-in-law. Intelligence, empathy, curiosity, and respect are how he meets the world.
We are a large group of ten people moving around Rome, aged from 5 to 48. It is beautiful how the day can evolve with enough time for play, reading novels, enjoying the culture, history, street art, conversations, wine in the sun, monuments, shopping, working with the dogs, meeting people, and looking at the river.
Love and light
Cecilie Conrad
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