Megan Valnes

Hello all,

We are 3 months into our radical unschooling journey.   At first, we were trying to get out and do a lot of activities.   For the past month or so my kids don't really want to leave the house much.  They prefer to stay and play minecraft, video games, jump in the trampoline,  and just hang around.  My husband wants me to do more outside things with them and I always offer but the only one who ever wants to leave is my toddler (almost 3, others are 5, 7, 10).  I think this must be par for the course for deschooling and I'm curious to hear thoughts regarding this.

Thank you.

Warmly,
Megan

Greg and Kirsty Harriman

HI Megan
 
playing minecraft, video games, jumping on the trampoline and just hanging around are as much the stuff of Unschooling as going out and about a lot, if your children are choosing these things and prefer them to other activites at the moment. I find it to be a constantly changing feast. Their choices rarely remain the same forever.
 
Unschooling doesn’t equal getting out and doing lots of activities. Unschooling to me is also about lots of down time and think time and “appearing to not be doing much” time. SO much learning and processing is going on in these times too, not just during those times when you’re out exploring and the learning seems much more apparent, to us.
 
Our children have never been to school. They still, especially our just turned 7 year old, much prefer to stay at home than go anywhere so I am not sure its part of the deschooling process. Then they love to go out and do something different sometimes. Not all the time.
Why does it concern your husband that they want to hang out at home and no go anywhere? Does it concern you? Are you happy to stay home or would you prefer to be out doing things a lot?
 
Kirsty
 
Sent: Friday, May 30, 2014 5:49 AM
Subject: [AlwaysLearning] Not getting out much
 
 

Hello all,

We are 3 months into our radical unschooling journey.   At first, we were trying to get out and do a lot of activities.   For the past month or so my kids don't really want to leave the house much.  They prefer to stay and play minecraft, video games, jump in the trampoline,  and just hang around.  My husband wants me to do more outside things with them and I always offer but the only one who ever wants to leave is my toddler (almost 3, others are 5, 7, 10).  I think this must be par for the course for deschooling and I'm curious to hear thoughts regarding this.

Thank you.

Warmly,
Megan

Sherry Franklin

We have been unschooling for over a year and my kids would still rather stay home and play Minecraft and Animal Jam.  :)

Sherry

El jueves, 29 de mayo de 2014, Megan Valnes meganvalnes@... [AlwaysLearning] <[email protected]> escribió:
 

Hello all,

We are 3 months into our radical unschooling journey.   At first, we were trying to get out and do a lot of activities.   For the past month or so my kids don't really want to leave the house much.  They prefer to stay and play minecraft, video games, jump in the trampoline,  and just hang around.  My husband wants me to do more outside things with them and I always offer but the only one who ever wants to leave is my toddler (almost 3, others are 5, 7, 10).  I think this must be par for the course for deschooling and I'm curious to hear thoughts regarding this.

Thank you.

Warmly,
Megan

Sandra Dodd

-=- My husband wants me to do more outside things with them and I always offer but -=-

What kinds of things?  If he has good ideas, maybe the whole family could go, or he could take them to do some cool stuff when he's home.  

Instead of offering, though, if you do want to get out, find something special and cool and another family to do something with, maybe, and present it as something special and cool that you ARE going to do, not "Do you want to.."?   But don't create outings that are NOT really special just to tic a box or to vaguely keep your husband happy. 

When I was first around homeschoolers, some were fundamentalist conservatives who said that the husband was the principal of their school, and the mother was the teacher.  If your husband is the principal and you work for him, then maybe do it the way he says to.  If you're using him as a bad guy (to report it to us or to tell the kids "your dad wants us to go do something," then that's divisive and that's a problem.

If you yourself actually wanted to go out, you wouldn't have needed to tell us your husband wanted you to (maybe, or maybe I misunderstood).  

If you don't even want to go out, why blame the kids?

-=- I think this must be par for the course for deschooling-=-

Anytime you use an idiomatic expression, try to stop and rephrase. 
"Par for the course" is using someone else's words, tone, thought... 

Deschooling is always kind of odd in one way or another. :-)  Don't worry about that part, but don't blame the kids for not wanting to go, or blame your husband for pressuring, if you can find other ways to see it and to be.

Sandra

Karen

>=- My husband wants me to do more outside things with them and I always offer but -=-<


>What kinds of things? If he has good ideas, maybe the whole family could go, or he could take them to do some cool stuff when he's home. <


I totally agree! We each have times we would rather be home than anywhere else. But my kids will often jump at the chance to do something fun as a family. Having their Dad around, or going with another family, adds a component of enjoyment to activities.


Sometimes it can be difficult to see the value of being at home. If you or your husband believe learning happens outside the home, this is something to explore as you deschool.


And there are so many fun things to do at home. Someone recently shared these with us:
http://www. Pixelpapercrafts.com
Http://www.instructables.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-minecraft-papercrafts


Some of the other fun things we do at home -
"Painting day" where we each paint on stretched canvas or decent quality watercolor paper.
Board games
Building things with Legos or boxes or playdoh or magnetic kits or wood, hammer, nails
Baking and cooking
Vegetable garden and yard work
Minecraft!
Skyping with friends
Creating Let's Play videos and posting to YouTube
Playing Barbies (sometimes these are recorded and sent to YouTube also)
Sewing with the machine
Swinging in the tree swing
Riding bikes
Playing with the hose and buckets (with or without washing the car)
Watching tv or movies or YouTube
Walking the dog


When there is so much to explore at home, it might not seem necessary to leave.


Read a little about Learn Nothing Day. It is something that reminds me how learning works and helps me see the connections my kids are making all the time. (Sometimes we plan our own "unofficial" Learn Nothing Day at other times of the year so we can all affirm how we are learning all the time.)


Warmly,
Karen




Sent from my iPhone

anita_loomis@...

Today my daughter (6, never been to school) was painting and we were talking a bit and she said "I like to stay home because all my toys are here."  It is pretty simple for her! Then she asked me why I like to go out so much.  I thought about the standard "because it's good for you" or "gotta make Vitamin D" sorts of answers.  But then I realized those weren't really my reasons at all.  I realized (and told her) that some of my favorite toys are sunshine, trees and fresh air!  She thought that was kind of silly but it was a nice conversation and she could feel that I wasn't telling her that she had to like my toys, just that I liked them.


I also realized that I don't have many "toys" or hobbies that I enjoy indoors.  So I'm looking around for ways to expand in that area.  Window box gardens have been an in-between for me.  Sometimes just opening all the windows helps me get over that "stuck inside" feeling.  Maybe that would help you?




Best,

Anita