Everyday Unschooling: Stop-Motion
Everyday Unschooling

Everyday Unschooling: Stop-Motion

This post is part of a series of posts documenting our day-to-day life as an unschooling family. Sometimes it’s hard to picture what unschooling looks like, so here I hope to provide a little window into the kid’s life and learning. This is just an example of what unschooling can look like, but it’s very different for each family. It’s not designed to be read as an ‘activity idea’ that you can set up for your child, but an account of four inspired young people who have the freedom to learn how and what they desire.Everyday Unschooling: Stop-Motion

A few months ago, Miss 6 decided she wanted to make a stop-motion movie. I think the idea was inspired by her older sister making a documentary. She really wanted to make her own video and edit it on the computer. One day, while drawing dinosaurs, a story came to her…Everyday Unschooling: Stop-MotionShe made a story-board so she didn’t forget the plot.

Everyday Unschooling: Stop-MotionAfter a trip to the shops for supplies, she started on the backdrop.

Everyday Unschooling: Stop-MotionNext, making the characters. She decided to use dinosaur figurines, but wanted to make the people herself out of modelling clay.

Everyday Unschooling: Stop-MotionMaking a dinosaur bone.

Everyday Unschooling: Stop-MotionThis actually happened over the course of a few months, which is often how things go here. They tend to do a lot in one burst, then have a break and come back to it at another time. Whenever she was feeling motivated she did some more work on it. For a time she was stuck, not knowing what to do next. Just recently she decided it was time to take the photos!

Everyday Unschooling: Stop-MotionLining things up perfectly. She didn’t ask for any help with the photos, and it seemed clear she had a precise vision in her head. I just love watching their plans unfold.

Everyday Unschooling: Stop-Motion

Everyday Unschooling: Stop-Motion

Everyday Unschooling: Stop-MotionAfter she had taken all the photos I put them on the computer for her and showed her how to use the program. She put everything in the right order and chose the time she wanted each frame to play for. She then decided it needed sound effects and used my phone to record her voice, adding it to her movie. Next she asked me to show her how to add titles. And finally, she browsed online for some background music to add.

Take a look at the finished movie here…

My favourite part is the sound effects! She’s so happy with it.

What have your kids been up to lately?

Comments

Emma
November 24, 2017 at 6:52 pm

What a wonderful movie ❤️ What was the computer program she used for it?

My biggest girl (5) also made a stop motion movie recently using a cat she had made from pipe cleaners. The story that went with the cat and all her illustrations was so adorable.

We used the iPad to make hers. I’m think the computer and camera might be easier for her to manage more idependently possibly though??



November 26, 2017 at 11:26 am

This is so great! What type of camera does she use?



Ashleigh
December 1, 2017 at 6:42 am

Wow. Fantastic and lovely. I can see her passion and curiosity coming out for sure. Reading about (and considering) unschooling through your blog. Thank you for sharing things like this!



Therese
January 22, 2019 at 6:42 am

What a nice movie she made! Here in Sweden it is illegal to homeschool our children.



Allan
April 19, 2024 at 11:57 am

I tend to see unschooled kids getting exposed to things that schooled kids do and got inspired. It seems to me that unschooled kids have a very limited exposure to knowledge on their own (without some elements of intervention to introduce new things – it could be picking things from school curriculum once a while to introduce to them and see if it interests them) and periodically placing them in activities with schooled kids gives them the best chance to be exposed to new areas of interests or expand their knowledge.

Also, in the absence of a teacher, someone knowledgeable in the area of interest plays an important role to ensure the kid’s interpretation of what they’ve learnt is accurate and not misinterpreted. Misinterpretation is part of learning and within a school system, there is someone to go to for clarification (like it or not, the hard truth is that exams / exercises is where the teacher could pick this up and re-align the student’s understanding).

While unschooling is a good way to offer freedom to explore and learn, it does have its challenges. I believe that unschooled kids should be exposed to schooled elements every now and then (subtly). For this to work well, a lot of dedication from the parents are required (to some extent – the parents are the “teacher” in all the subjects taught by school). That means, as a parent, you must be prepared to do lots of studies (self-schooling) and impart the knowledge that feeds your unschooled child, to introduce new knowledge, to expose them to new skills, etc.



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