introduction/random thoughts
drusila00
My Name is Diana and I joined this list a while ago, My son Galen
had been in Ps from K-5 and it had never been a good experaince for
him or for our family. I had never wanted him to go to PS but my
husband Disagreed strongly and because of the typical "social needs"
theory we kept him there (what a crock that was). He is home with us
now after a suicide attempt at school and we are learning about
Unschooling. The Points of view shared on this list have been
wonderful for us to discuss.
Although our son has to finish out the "school year" in the
homebound program in order to pass the state tests this year we are
prepairing for when that is over with. He is already a much happier
person than I have seen in years, he is making friends with people
in a local hs/us group we have joined and I simply can not express
how my happy my husband and I am.
Next "school year" we are going to register our son with the
Homelife Acadamy Umbrella school and let them handle the paperwork
and such.
Although doing so we will be going directly against the wishes of
our parents and the recomendation of Galens specalist- who is a jerk
and said if we took Galen from school he would die, not only did he
not DIE he is thriving! and we are changing dr.s
I have read posts from people who come to this list askig how to do
Unschooling and I find for myself and my family that unschooling is
not somthing we would "do" but more of a change in lifestyle for the
whole family. Slowly things are changing here and I think it is
good, while we have always been a family without many "rules" we
have some so deeply ingrained in us that I never stopped to even
think they were "rules". those are the things we are slowly
changing, like no sweets till you eat somthing good. That was
ingrained into me as a young teen when it was discovered I had a
blood sugar problem and so thats been the unspoken "rule" at our
home, untill I joined here I never thought to even think twice about
it. (I wonder how it is that we can be so blind to things?)
But I find that stepping away from the 'rules" slowly instead of all
at once works well for us,I think everything all at once would be a
huge shock to the system and cause a lot of chaos.
We do not have many things to change, like perhaps many others would
so I suppose I am thnakful that the idea does not seem overwhelming.
My husband who was always very negitive about keeping our son home
is now not only agreable to homeschooling but activly discussing and
interested in changing our lifestyle to a more unschooling approach.
That is how we see it, a lifestyle not a method..
As for my son, he is a darling boy, very sweet & polite and I think
it will take time away from the 'school' enviroment for him to stop
asking me "can I go to the bathroom" "can I (whatever)" I am just
going to be patient and say yes as much as I possibly can and I
think with time he will stop asking about the silly things (like the
bathroom!!)and just go on about his buisness.
He came to me last week when he ran out of birthday money and asked
me if he could do the dishes for us in exchange for cash. (he knows
the dishes creep me out) I was kind of surprised by that, okay not
kind of, more like very-- but willing to give him money so I dont
have to do them. I wondered briefly if that would be looked down
uppon in the unschooling comunity and then I figured if he wanted to
and I wanted to then it didnt matter if someone else thought it was
wrong.
the only major problem I forsee is our familys I know they will be
calling and asking "what did you learn today" "do you know what 763
devided by 8 is? "when did pearl harbor get bombed?" They could
never in a million years understand unschooling and would never be
willing to accept that I was doing that, I have already been
threatened to put my son back in PS next year "or else" thankfully
they live in another state and I doubt they could sue me for
custody. I hope they can't I suppose I had ebtter check the laws.
so thank you all for sharing your wisdom I am learning a lot here.
Diana
had been in Ps from K-5 and it had never been a good experaince for
him or for our family. I had never wanted him to go to PS but my
husband Disagreed strongly and because of the typical "social needs"
theory we kept him there (what a crock that was). He is home with us
now after a suicide attempt at school and we are learning about
Unschooling. The Points of view shared on this list have been
wonderful for us to discuss.
Although our son has to finish out the "school year" in the
homebound program in order to pass the state tests this year we are
prepairing for when that is over with. He is already a much happier
person than I have seen in years, he is making friends with people
in a local hs/us group we have joined and I simply can not express
how my happy my husband and I am.
Next "school year" we are going to register our son with the
Homelife Acadamy Umbrella school and let them handle the paperwork
and such.
Although doing so we will be going directly against the wishes of
our parents and the recomendation of Galens specalist- who is a jerk
and said if we took Galen from school he would die, not only did he
not DIE he is thriving! and we are changing dr.s
I have read posts from people who come to this list askig how to do
Unschooling and I find for myself and my family that unschooling is
not somthing we would "do" but more of a change in lifestyle for the
whole family. Slowly things are changing here and I think it is
good, while we have always been a family without many "rules" we
have some so deeply ingrained in us that I never stopped to even
think they were "rules". those are the things we are slowly
changing, like no sweets till you eat somthing good. That was
ingrained into me as a young teen when it was discovered I had a
blood sugar problem and so thats been the unspoken "rule" at our
home, untill I joined here I never thought to even think twice about
it. (I wonder how it is that we can be so blind to things?)
But I find that stepping away from the 'rules" slowly instead of all
at once works well for us,I think everything all at once would be a
huge shock to the system and cause a lot of chaos.
We do not have many things to change, like perhaps many others would
so I suppose I am thnakful that the idea does not seem overwhelming.
My husband who was always very negitive about keeping our son home
is now not only agreable to homeschooling but activly discussing and
interested in changing our lifestyle to a more unschooling approach.
That is how we see it, a lifestyle not a method..
As for my son, he is a darling boy, very sweet & polite and I think
it will take time away from the 'school' enviroment for him to stop
asking me "can I go to the bathroom" "can I (whatever)" I am just
going to be patient and say yes as much as I possibly can and I
think with time he will stop asking about the silly things (like the
bathroom!!)and just go on about his buisness.
He came to me last week when he ran out of birthday money and asked
me if he could do the dishes for us in exchange for cash. (he knows
the dishes creep me out) I was kind of surprised by that, okay not
kind of, more like very-- but willing to give him money so I dont
have to do them. I wondered briefly if that would be looked down
uppon in the unschooling comunity and then I figured if he wanted to
and I wanted to then it didnt matter if someone else thought it was
wrong.
the only major problem I forsee is our familys I know they will be
calling and asking "what did you learn today" "do you know what 763
devided by 8 is? "when did pearl harbor get bombed?" They could
never in a million years understand unschooling and would never be
willing to accept that I was doing that, I have already been
threatened to put my son back in PS next year "or else" thankfully
they live in another state and I doubt they could sue me for
custody. I hope they can't I suppose I had ebtter check the laws.
so thank you all for sharing your wisdom I am learning a lot here.
Diana
reina scheiber-loeis
There is a lot of mention here about Public School but not any other
schools. I have been looking into the Brooklyn Free School
http://brooklynfreeschool.org/ . I'm wondering what people's thoughts are on
that. You only have to attend the minimum number of hours a week required by
the Dept of Ed. and you are free to do what you want.
I'm thinking of this option in case I get too stressed out with unschooling
or if ds says he wants to go to school.
I know there are more "Free Schools" (I don't really know what the correct
term is, Organic Schools maybe?)in the US, but don't know much about them.
Reina.
schools. I have been looking into the Brooklyn Free School
http://brooklynfreeschool.org/ . I'm wondering what people's thoughts are on
that. You only have to attend the minimum number of hours a week required by
the Dept of Ed. and you are free to do what you want.
I'm thinking of this option in case I get too stressed out with unschooling
or if ds says he wants to go to school.
I know there are more "Free Schools" (I don't really know what the correct
term is, Organic Schools maybe?)in the US, but don't know much about them.
Reina.
sandralzires
--- In [email protected], "reina scheiber-loeis"
<rloeis@...> wrote:
the schools I know if that are like that.
Sandra
http://www.sudval.org/
<rloeis@...> wrote:
>other
> There is a lot of mention here about Public School but not any
> schools. I have been looking into the Brooklyn Free Schoolthoughts are on
> http://brooklynfreeschool.org/ . I'm wondering what people's
> that. You only have to attend the minimum number of hours a weekrequired by
> the Dept of Ed. and you are free to do what you want.unschooling
> I'm thinking of this option in case I get too stressed out with
> or if ds says he wants to go to school.correct
>
> I know there are more "Free Schools" (I don't really know what the
> term is, Organic Schools maybe?)in the US, but don't know muchabout them.
>I believe they are called Democratic schools. Here is a link of all
> Reina.
>Hello,
the schools I know if that are like that.
Sandra
http://www.sudval.org/
Ren Allen
"I had never wanted him to go to PS but my
husband Disagreed strongly and because of the typical "social needs"
theory we kept him there (what a crock that was)."
Glad you're here Diana!!
It just cracks me up that your dh was the one worried about the "S"
word. Seeing him playing Magic on the floor with all the kids, and
video gaming with them etc...one would think he'd been into the whole
homeschooling thing all along!:)
Galen is such a neat kid. I'm so glad you all are leaving the damage
of schooling behind and allowing him to heal.
Ren
learninginfreedom.com
husband Disagreed strongly and because of the typical "social needs"
theory we kept him there (what a crock that was)."
Glad you're here Diana!!
It just cracks me up that your dh was the one worried about the "S"
word. Seeing him playing Magic on the floor with all the kids, and
video gaming with them etc...one would think he'd been into the whole
homeschooling thing all along!:)
Galen is such a neat kid. I'm so glad you all are leaving the damage
of schooling behind and allowing him to heal.
Ren
learninginfreedom.com
Deb
--- In [email protected], "drusila00"
<drusila00@...> wrote:
know yet? Wait a sec...I've got a calculator here somewhere...the
answer is 95.3 and a bit."
"when did pearl harbor get bombed?"
"Isn't that really her own business. That's not very nice to talk
about."
Okay, they're all pretty flip answers. If they are calling (since
they're some distance away), can the kids be off "learning"
something whenever they call? Or, the kids can tell them something
they've been *doing* then hand the phone back.
--Deb
<drusila00@...> wrote:
>"I learned that some people can be really nosy"
>
> the only major problem I forsee is our familys I know they will be
> calling and asking
>"what did you learn today"
> "do you know what >763 > devided by 8 is?""Gee, you got all the way through (high school/college) and don't
know yet? Wait a sec...I've got a calculator here somewhere...the
answer is 95.3 and a bit."
"when did pearl harbor get bombed?"
"Isn't that really her own business. That's not very nice to talk
about."
Okay, they're all pretty flip answers. If they are calling (since
they're some distance away), can the kids be off "learning"
something whenever they call? Or, the kids can tell them something
they've been *doing* then hand the phone back.
--Deb
[email protected]
>>Although our son has to finish out the "school year" in thehomebound program in order to pass the state tests this year we are prepairing for when that is over with.>>
Are you sure he needs to do this? What tests are you talking about? If he's homeschooling he'll be subject to different guidelines or rules than the schoolkids.
--
~Mary
"The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the
green earth, dwelling deeply in the present moment and feeling truly
alive."
~Thich Nhat Hanh
-------------- Original message ----------------------
From: "drusila00" <drusila00@...>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[email protected]
>>I have been looking into the Brooklyn Free Schoolhttp://brooklynfreeschool.org/ . I'm wondering what people's thoughts are on that.>>
It sounds pretty cool if your child decides he wants to go there. In the end, though, it's still a school. You'll be dealing with a certain amount of beauracracy and outside structure. I wouldn't rush to get him signed up for Kindergarten. But if at some point he wanted to try school, this seems like a good alternative.
--
~Mary
"The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the
green earth, dwelling deeply in the present moment and feeling truly
alive."
~Thich Nhat Hanh
-------------- Original message ----------------------
From: "reina scheiber-loeis" <rloeis@...>