Dory Jolin

Hi!
I am calling what I'm doing a school detox. I find myself wanting to *teach* my children some thing like school would. Reading. I want to work on reading with my daughter. She isn't interested in doing it my way. She loves her day being spent on what interests her. Like watching movies, computer games, pretend dress up play, making art people, playing with her little brother, playing outside, list goes on. All the things a 7 year old child needs to do. :)
It kind of hits me out of the blue. I feel peaceful and have all sorts of fun...then I wake up thinking, "Does Emma know her address or can she read any words at all in a row? What about her writing?" Then I think, "I better do some thing." Then I pick up one of my many books or go to Sandra's website to find some balance within.
I read in "Questions and Answers" by Linda Dobson, when you are an unschooler and you have the need to teach your child a school lesson, call your unschool group friend. I really don't know anyone in our area <yet> to call who is doing this unschooling journey like we are, so I thought I'd post to this group. (I may have done this before?)
I am already feeling a little less concerned about it all.
I enjoy this group and the support offered!
Thanks so much!
Dory
Unschooling in Michigan

Sandra Dodd

-=-I am calling what I'm doing a school detox.-=-

What a cool coincidence!!! Just yesterday I found some old (old) chat
transcripts from AOL homeschooling forum days, and one was called
"Detox." Those chats were called "The Unschooling Barrage." There
weren't any webpages, and if people asked a question, we'd send them
to a place to download a chat transcript I had edited in Word to make
it more readable.

I have it on a disk in this computer, because I hadn't seen the memory
stick in a year.

Then I went into Keith's office, set my handful of stuff down, and he
asked "What's on the disk?"

"Old unschooling stuff I'm going to put online. I don't know where
the memory stick is."

"You mean this one?" and he pointed at it. He had taken it to work
and forgotten he had it there.

And now, less than a day later, someone writes "detox."


I love these fun synchronous bits of life.

Sandra

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Sandra Dodd

-=-It kind of hits me out of the blue. I feel peaceful and have all
sorts of fun...then I wake up thinking, "Does Emma know her address or
can she read any words at all in a row? What about her writing?"-=-

The last two will come on their own, but the first one is worth
memorizing. We made a little song out of it when Kirby was little.
As the other two came along, when they wanted to go somewhere without
me, I'd ask if they knew the address, and we'd play around with it.
So I kind of (not like "a rule") tied that to their being separate
from me in the world. Memorizing the phone number, too.

When Keith was a kid, ten or so I think, he was visiting relatives in
another state and had a serious bike wreck (brakes were out, and he
had been swimming, so hardly had any clothes on, and ended up
underneath something... a bus or truck, I forget--not run over, but
broken arm and hot-metal burns or some such. He knew his name, but
when they asked his address he gave his address in Alamogordo. No
help. When he was awake and calm enough for them to talk to him
about it, he said he was staying with his uncle. What's his name?
Uncle Ed.

Each family has stories that help them "checklist" what to remember to
do and with my kids it has always involved knowing how the hospital
could get in touch with the parents. Sometimes it was a note in the
pocket. Sometimes it was a white handkerchief with my name and phone
number and the child's name written with a sharpie and tied on around
the neck.

Sandra

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Robyn L. Coburn

Memorizing the phone number, too.>>>>
>
We were sitting in the hotel restaurant having breakfast at the Live and
Learn in Boston in 2004 (wasn't it?) so Jayn was 4. Someone came up to ask
our phone number and Jayn rattled it off. To our astonishement.

Robyn L. Coburn
www.Iggyjingles.etsy.com
www.iggyjingles.blogspot.com
www.allthingsdoll.blogspot.com

AromaRonna

Hi Dory
We go to Michigan once or twice a year to visit my family in Southfield. Perhaps we could meet up with you if you are in the Detroit area. I hope that you find some Unschoolers there.
Ronna

--- In [email protected], Dory Jolin <emsimmom@...> wrote:
>
>
> Hi!
> I am calling what I'm doing a school detox. I find myself wanting to *teach* my children some thing like school would. Reading. I want to work on reading with my daughter. She isn't interested in doing it my way. She loves her day being spent on what interests her. Like watching movies, computer games, pretend dress up play, making art people, playing with her little brother, playing outside, list goes on. All the things a 7 year old child needs to do. :)
> It kind of hits me out of the blue. I feel peaceful and have all sorts of fun...then I wake up thinking, "Does Emma know her address or can she read any words at all in a row? What about her writing?" Then I think, "I better do some thing." Then I pick up one of my many books or go to Sandra's website to find some balance within.
> I read in "Questions and Answers" by Linda Dobson, when you are an unschooler and you have the need to teach your child a school lesson, call your unschool group friend. I really don't know anyone in our area <yet> to call who is doing this unschooling journey like we are, so I thought I'd post to this group. (I may have done this before?)
> I am already feeling a little less concerned about it all.
> I enjoy this group and the support offered!
> Thanks so much!
> Dory
> Unschooling in Michigan
>

emsimmom

" We go to Michigan once or twice a year to visit my family in Southfield. Perhaps we could meet up with you if you are in the Detroit area. I hope that you find some Unschoolers there.
Ronna"

Thanks Ronna! We live close to Southfield. Let me know when you are heading this way. Would love to meet you. :D

Thank you too for the ideas about address and phone. We made a song up about our phone number and it worked great. Now our address. More singing fun!
Sandra, it is really fun to hear about the resurfacing of 'detox.'
I like when that happens too.
Thanks all!!
:)
Dory