Beautiful stained glass at Niigata Airport, Niigata City, Japan.

Isaiah and I didn't feel like being stuck in the house today, so we headed out to the airport. He wanted to take his Lego men and their vehicle.

Before we left, though, they had to have some apple juice together.

When we got to the airport I advised Isaiah to keep his Lego guys and their vehicle in the car, because I didn't want him to lose them in the airport. He made a concerned face and explained to me that they would be lonely if they didn't get to go in and see the airport, too. So, we took them in, and I am glad we did.

Korean Air, ready to fly into the great blue yonder.

When we got to the play area in the airport, almost immediately a boy with a Lego sweatshirt approached Isaiah and I, looking interested in the Lego dudes and their party wagon.

This kid was one of those special kids you encounter from time to time, who seems to have been affected by the bullshit culture of "sillifying" and infantilizing the world for children to about a degree of zero. He was confident, independent, kind and mature. I said hello to him in English, and instead of shying away or mumbling something, he looked me dead in the face and said hello.

He and my son proceeded to play together for a good half hour. He was six. My son is four. As I have mentioned in my previous entries in this series, building a community of peers for my son is one of my top priorities, and any time he can spend playing with other kids in a healthy, non-coercive setting--especially kids of different age groups--is precious to me.

One of the huge problems with compulsory schooling is that it segregates children unnaturally into homogenous age groups.

This does not allow for the various experiences, knowledge, and perspectives of older kids to be "filtered down" and shared/absorbed by younger children who might benefit from them, nor does it allow for older children to learn from younger ones via caring for them, protecting them, and teaching them. This is to say nothing of the daily segregation from parents, cousins, grandparents and community in general.

Snake man guarding the castle while the others sleep below.

One more friend.

After the six-year-old Lego master had left, another, smaller, boy showed up, and Isaiah played with him as I spoke to the boy's dad.

This boy was two, and Isaiah was able to be the Onii-chan (older brother), and take care of and play with the him, while this little guy laughed and jumped around repeating our English.

We had a great day.

Until next time...

Keep unlearning the BS, and keep diving into life!

~KafkA

You can catch the previous installment of this unschooling blog here.

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Graham Smith is a Voluntaryist activist, creator, and peaceful parent residing in Niigata City, Japan. Graham runs the "Voluntary Japan" online initiative with a presence here on Steem, as well as Facebook and Twitter. (Hit me up so I can stop talking about myself in the third person.)