Have you heard of strewing? If not, you might need to hear that it’s not something you do with rhubarb, it’s something you do IN your life, FOR your kids. There’s a bit of an art to it, and it can make you feel like a total Home-Ed Ninja. Want to come to the strewing dojo? It’s right this way…

You won’t win at this strewing game 100 percent of the time. Not even close, so there IS an emotional toll you need to be aware of. You’ll want to weep when one of your Home Edlings isn’t drawn to your favourite childhood book. But, the wins can be epic, and strewing is a bit like Zen meditation, so stick at it.

WHAT THE HECK IS STREWING?

According to some woman called Merriam-Webster, the definition of strewing is: to spread by scattering. At this point, you might be tempted to back out of the dojo. I know you’re thinking that your kids do enough spreading and scattering by themselves – they certainly don’t need help. But wait! This might solve your housework problem by keeping the kids occupied for hours on end. N.B. I said might.

What Strewing Means to Unschoolers

The aim of the game is to strew interesting things into the path of your young. The hope is that they will pause a while and follow their curiosity down an interesting rabbit hole.

Curios, rocks, weird substances, scientific instruments, spoons, pans, books, puzzles, exotic fruit – honestly ANY ITEM you think will catch your young one’s eye is strewable. 

Why Bother Strewing?

From time to time, you’ll be rewarded with a happy and contented learner. You might even be lucky enough to be invited along on their voyage of discovery. The truly blessed will be able to crumble away in their future rocking chair, knowing that because of their strewing decades ago, the world now has a new medical genius, a ground-breaking scientist, or the best guitar player it has ever known.  

The Mathematics of Strewing

You won’t win at this strewing game 100 per cent of the time. Not even close, so there IS an emotional toll you need to be aware of. You’ll want to weep when one of your Home Edlings isn’t drawn to your favourite childhood book. But, the wins can be epic, and strewing is a bit like Zen meditation, so stick at it.

The Ethics of Strewing

As I was writing this post, the word manipulating kept popping into my head. But I think we can rest easy because no-one’s being forced here. Compared to being sat in a classroom and force-fed Shakespeare, walking past a dvd on the coffee table is decidedly low pressure. 

To be extra safe, we should double check that the items we strew are chosen for our children and not for ourselves. If you still have a sore spot about not becoming a famous artist, those paints may be more about you. There we go, manipulation avoided. Phew, stand down, morals! 

The Art of Strewing

There is a skill to this. The trick is to act casual when your kids take an interest in the strewed object. Here’s an example –

Your 4-year-old was very interested in an RSPCA documentary yesterday. You decide to place a toy bunny with a bandaged freakin’ leg on the coffee table. The child enters the room and shouts, ‘Muuum! Muuuuuum! Why is there a bunny on the table?

‘Oh, erm, Granny left that by mistake. Maybe you could look after it for her for a few days?’ you improvise, thinking, Yesss, Gotcha!

’But he’s huuuuuurrrrrrtttttt! Can we save him?? Can we? Mum, quiiiick!’

This would be a strewing WIN. And this is where you might break out the animal rescue kit you just happen to have incase of this exact scenario. Wink wink.

Things get a little bit more challenging as your kids age and they become more sophisticated. They don’t fall for those ‘parent tricks’ so easily anymore, so you have to up your game. Allow me to indulge in another example – 

Your 13-year-old has become very interested in Norwegian Death Metal. You decide to place an awesome goth make-up kit on the coffee table. The child enters the room and asks ‘Mum, why is THAT on the coffee table?’.  

‘Oh, erm, Granny left that by mistake. Maybe you could look after it for her for a few days?’ you improvise, thinking, Yesss, Gotcha!

The 13- year-old stares at you with a difficult-to-read expression, then lets the door slam on the way out.

Not quite a win this time.

You might become more pathetically grateful for every strewing win as they get older, but honestly, it’s a good thing- just be happy that they’re becoming more and more their own people and are better at researching and self-direction as they age.

Be Aware

The sparks of curiosity can be easily extinguished by an over-zealous parent. Strewing gives control of the learning process to the learner. If they decide to pick up your stewed item and run with it, the sparks may well develop into little flames all by themselves. And your reward for all your efforts is to look on in silence while inside your head you are fists in the air shouting ‘Yes! I’m a strewing flipping NINJA!’. Because you must never, ever, tell the kids that we do this, ok?

How about you? Do you Strew?

Do you already strew? Are you going to take it up? Please, share your strewing wins in the comments.