Interests are Contagious... Hockey

It is so interesting that when one person in our house becomes passionate about something, it becomes contagious. This has happened a few times in our home. I think that with unschooling this could become more apparent because we are following interests. I don't mean just the interests of the kids but the interest of all of us. Parents could be the model of how people pursue their interests. I'm not as good at this as my husband is. I end up making the needs of everyone else a priority. The point being made here is that when one of us get involved in a particular interest we all end up eventually interested in someway. It could be an interest that moves from parent to child or child to parent.

Austyn has been interested in hockey lately and because of that interest Daddy decided to try out hockey for the first time. We do our best to support each other as much as possible. We all go to practices and games for Austyn even when it`s really early.

When Daddy went to his first practice, it was late at night, but since the kids don`t have to attend school the next day we all went. We likely won`t do it again that late because Zoe can`t handle it, but the point is we did it for support. I think it was important for the kids to see that it`s never too late to try something new.

I'm no hockey fan. I particularity don`t like the fights, but I do my best to support Austyn's interests and use those interests as a means to learn. After all he loves when I do this. I've been reading books to him on the subject and am finding hockey much more interesting than ever before.

Here is a book about the most famous goal, told by a young boy. It`s called The Greatest Goal by Mike Leonetti. It's just one of the hockey books we've read.


Here is a video on the greatest goal. The year is 1972. It`s The Soviet Union against Canada. It`s game eight. All of Canada has shut down to watch. Children watched in classrooms. It was tense and a tied game. With only 34 seconds left, after rebounding twice off of the goalie, Paul Henderson scored The Greatest Goal! People everywhere could recall where they were when they witnessed it! After the game people of all ages left their homes and went into the streets throughout Canada to celebrate together.

So, as you can see, being an interest-led type of homeschooling family can really lead to so much knowledge and life experiences. Now... let's see if my interest in learning Spanish catches on. :)