Joan Labbe & Salvatore Genovese

Hello There,

I have just joined this list and wanted to send an intro - I am mom to
Aline, 5.7 and Nicky 3.4. We live in Massachusetts and I consider us
unschoolers thus far as I follow my kids' leads and try to help provide them
with opportunities to learn - books, videos, materials - based around their
interests and where they lead.

I am still learning every day about what other folks who are unschooling are
doing, which I find fascinating. My biggest question at the moment is how
much diversity - and tolerance for that diversity - is there among
unschooling families in terms of approach - at what point does someone
consider themselves "eclectic" rather than "unschooling"?

Cheers,

Joan

Alyce

--- In [email protected], "Joan Labbe & Salvatore
Genovese" <salgenovese@w...> wrote:

>
> I am still learning every day about what other folks who are
unschooling are
> doing, which I find fascinating. My biggest question at the
moment is how
> much diversity - and tolerance for that diversity - is there among
> unschooling families in terms of approach - at what point does
someone
> consider themselves "eclectic" rather than "unschooling"?
>
> Cheers,
>
> Joan

Welcome Joan! As for tolerance for diversity - Unschoolers from my
experience are very tolerant of diversity - embrace it in fact - as
far as culture, belief systems, etc. But as to approach, pure
unschooling as I understand it only has one approach - learning
through living, experiencing life, exploring the world, and
following your bliss (yours and your children's). Eclectic
homeschooling is a relaxed style of home instruction, but
unschooling is a lifestyle that has nothing whatsoever to do with
school. I believe once upon a time it was just called living.

Alyce

[email protected]

In a message dated 6/1/2004 6:49:09 PM Eastern Daylight Time, salgenovese@... writes:
am still learning every day about what other folks who are unschooling are
doing, which I find fascinating.  My biggest question at the moment is how
much diversity - and tolerance for that diversity - is there among
unschooling families in terms of approach - at what point does someone
consider themselves "eclectic" rather than "unschooling"?<<<
 
I think that, if you don't trust that people learn what they need to know when they need to know it, then you haven't fully embraced the unschooling philosophy.
 
~Kelly
 

Joan Labbe & Salvatore Genovese

Thanks, Alyce,

I appreciate your reply, and it caused me to think further about what my
question really is. It could be that as a beginner I don't quite get the
philosophy of many unschoolers - which is why I'm on this list, to increase
my understanding - but what I am wondering is what you or other more
experienced homeschoolers think of as your role in terms of facilitating
learning for your kid(s) and is that pretty much the same for all
unschoolers or does it differ. In other words, how do you generally go
about digging up possible resources that your kids might be interested in
for things they've expressed interest in, or thinking up ways they might
enjoy expanding those interests. And how much do you leave up to them? Is
this something that has varied over your years of unschooling with insight
you have gained in the process of unschooling?

I ask because, as someone new to this, I wonder how to gauge if I am doing
too much, not enough, or if there are different ways out there that other
unschoolers use to help their children further their interests that I'm not
aware of. So when my 5 1/2 yr old daughter for instance gets interested in
mummies and ancient Egypt, she has many wonderful ways in which she "learns"
about that - she asks me to cut up old sheets into strips so she can figure
out how to wrap herself up like one, she takes some construction paper and
string and pencil and comes up with her own "mummy game" that we play over
and over. My tendency would be to look for books and videos from the
library at her level on mummies and Egypt that she might be interested in
(or not, it's up to her). I might find a game in the store where she gets a
pretend mummy to take the organs out of and wrap up, and may look for a
website with games or info on Egypt and mummies. I am wondering if this is
what other unschoolers do...

Thanks again,

Joan


-----Original Message-----
From: Alyce [mailto:Groups@...]
Sent: Tuesday, June 01, 2004 8:30 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [unschoolingbasics] Re: Intro & Question


--- In [email protected], "Joan Labbe & Salvatore
Genovese" <salgenovese@w...> wrote:

>
> I am still learning every day about what other folks who are
unschooling are
> doing, which I find fascinating. My biggest question at the
moment is how
> much diversity - and tolerance for that diversity - is there among
> unschooling families in terms of approach - at what point does
someone
> consider themselves "eclectic" rather than "unschooling"?
>
> Cheers,
>
> Joan

Welcome Joan! As for tolerance for diversity - Unschoolers from my
experience are very tolerant of diversity - embrace it in fact - as
far as culture, belief systems, etc. But as to approach, pure
unschooling as I understand it only has one approach - learning
through living, experiencing life, exploring the world, and
following your bliss (yours and your children's). Eclectic
homeschooling is a relaxed style of home instruction, but
unschooling is a lifestyle that has nothing whatsoever to do with
school. I believe once upon a time it was just called living.

Alyce






Yahoo! Groups Links

Joanna Wilkinson

Hi all!
I'll give a quick intro.
My name is Joanna, I've been unschooling for 7 years. 4 kids.

--- In [email protected], "Joan Labbe & Salvatore
Genovese" <salgenovese@w...> wrote:
So when my 5 1/2 yr old daughter for instance gets interested in
> mummies and ancient Egypt, she has many wonderful ways in which
she "learns"
> about that - she asks me to cut up old sheets into strips so she
can figure
> out how to wrap herself up like one, she takes some construction
paper and
> string and pencil and comes up with her own "mummy game" that we
play over
> and over. My tendency would be to look for books and videos from
the
> library at her level on mummies and Egypt that she might be
interested in
> (or not, it's up to her). I might find a game in the store where
she gets a
> pretend mummy to take the organs out of and wrap up, and may look
for a
> website with games or info on Egypt and mummies. I am wondering
if this is
> what other unschoolers do...
>
> Thanks again,
>
> Joan

That sounds like something I would do, but I wouldn't do it like it
was something I HAD to do. When interests come, they rise to the
surface for me, and I suddenly notice things I wouldn't have before.
I don't think I would purposely look for a mummy game, but something
usually comes across my path that I might consider getting. Usually
at the thrift store.
If questions about mummies came up, in the day, I would look for
cool web sites, I would probably remember the next time we were at
the library to try to find some books that looked fun and
interesting about mummies. I would probably notice "The Mummy" in
the video store and think about renting it.
I wouldn't do all that in a week. It happens over time. If I did
do all that in a week, I think my child would think I had some
vested interest in getting them to learn about mummies.
If we were going on a trip to Ireland, I would probably get all
kinds of information in a weeks time, because I really would have a
vested interest in learning about the country in a short time span,
but with mummies or anything, we have our whole life.
My dd Carly whose 13 has been interested in presidents and first
ladies since she was 7. I still come across stuff that I think
might interest her. Not because I want her to learn more, but
because she is interested and I like to make her happy.
Hope this made sense.
Joanna

[email protected]

In a message dated 6/2/2004 9:03:42 AM Eastern Daylight Time, salgenovese@... writes:
In other words, how do you generally go
about digging up possible resources that your kids might be interested in
for things they've expressed interest in, or thinking up ways they might
enjoy expanding those interests.  And how much do you leave up to them?  Is
this something that has varied over your years of unschooling with insight
you have gained in the process of unschooling?<<<<<
 
 
I know I've gotten better at it----just because the more I DO it, the better/easier it gets!
 
The library and the computer (google) are invaluable. We have lots of friends and acquaintances, and I'm not shy about asking for help or a mentor for the boys. The older they get (Cameron's 16), it seems the less they need me to do the research or legwork for them. Cameron has watched the "mode" I get into when I start delving into something. Maybe he's learned it through my process---he's very capable! 
 
These e-lists and the message boards are my best resource. There's not much I need that someone else hasn't gone through before. After reading the lists for several years now, I can pretty well "see" a solution as soon as I read the words. The insight I've gained is immeasurable!
 
And it's a process. It doesn't happen overnight. But when it clicks, you know it!
 
>>>>>So when my 5 1/2 yr old daughter for instance gets interested in
mummies and ancient Egypt, she has many wonderful ways in which she "learns"
about that - she asks me to cut up old sheets into strips so she can figure
out how to wrap herself up like one, she takes some construction paper and
string and pencil and comes up with her own "mummy game" that we play over
and over.  My tendency would be to look for books and videos from the
library at her level on mummies and Egypt that she might be interested in
(or not, it's up to her).  I might find a game in the store where she gets a
pretend mummy to take the organs out of and wrap up, and may look for a
website with games or info on Egypt and mummies.  I am wondering if this is
what other unschoolers do...<<<<<
 
 
Damn! You're good!
 
I LOVE the idea of cutting the sheets to wrap her up in!
 
No one's developed an big interest in Egypt around here, but those ideas are great ones, and I'll use them if Egypt does ever become an interest.
 
~Kelly

pam sorooshian

On Jun 2, 2004, at 5:26 AM, Joan Labbe & Salvatore Genovese wrote:

> what I am wondering is what you or other more
> experienced homeschoolers think of as your role in terms of
> facilitating
> learning for your kid(s) and is that pretty much the same for all
> unschoolers or does it differ. In other words, how do you generally go
> about digging up possible resources that your kids might be interested
> in
> for things they've expressed interest in, or thinking up ways they
> might
> enjoy expanding those interests. And how much do you leave up to
> them? Is
> this something that has varied over your years of unschooling with
> insight
> you have gained in the process of unschooling?

THESE are really good questions that hit right at the center of what
makes unschooling what it is. The easy quick answer is that the
parents' role varies depending on the child (and on the parent). I
think "pretty much the same for all unschoolers" would be a very
misleading answer. My role isn't the same even for my three kids.

Still, I bet there are some general principles that all unschoolers
abide by and maybe together we can come up with a useful list.

What is the role of the unschooling parent?

1. Show respect for all of a child's interests equally.
2. Keep the child in mind as I go through life, so that I notice things
that might be of interest to that child.
3. Find ways to include the child in my own daily life - live a more
"open-book" life than the norm.
4. Follow up on things the child is interested in - and do this in a
wide variety of ways, not only by "getting him a book on it."
5. Live a family life that is rich with experiences of a variety of
kinds both at home and outside the home.
6. Have resources around the home that are interesting and stimulating
- things that will encourage exploration of ideas.
7. Discuss things - spend time in conversation. This is probably
overall the most important parental "action" involved in unschooling.
8. Have a 'playful' attitude - play together, have fun, appreciate the
amazing world around you. Don't be cynical, be able to be amazed and
find the world a fascinating place. THIS is the most important
"attitude" for an unschooling parent.
9. Be self-aware of your own thinking and behavior. Purposely stretch
your imagination - question your own assumptions, check your own
automatic impulses.
10. Be very observant of what your child is really doing - don't view
him/her in a shallow superficial way. Recognize that there is a reason
for a child's actions, that a child is 'born to learn' and is always
learning. Get to know your child's own special favored ways of learning
11. Wholeheartedly support a child's passions EVEN if, to you, they
don't look like "education."

-pam
National Home Education Network
<www.NHEN.org>
Serving the entire homeschooling community since 1999
through information, networking and public relations.

pam sorooshian

This mummies and ancient Egypt stuff all sounds great. I'd warn you off
of overdoing it - she may want to "play" Egypt, but not be interested
in reading about Egypt, for example. There are GREAT activity books on
ancient civilizations - with cool ideas in them- building a pyramid out
of sugar cubes, making a Senet game of your own, my friend and her kids
even mummified a chicken once - went through the whole process. Every
kid is different, maybe yours would get all excited over reading a
nonfiction book about Egypt. But there are also stories - the "Egyptian
Cinderella," is one.

BUT - don't get too excited that she's interested in something that is
clearly "educational" and go overboard in supporting that interest over
others.

My girls were very wrapped up in "Sailor Moon" for about a year. If
you've seen it, you can probably imagine that most people probably
don't think of that as "educational." But I supported that interest and
we taped the show EVERY day so they wouldn't miss it and we went to the
anime store at the mall over and over so they could browse through all
the merchandise and an unschooling friend ran into a huge supply of
Sailor Moon dolls, posters, paper plates, and all kinds of things on
sale and packed them up in a box and mailed them to us. Some of the
things the kids learned from all that focus on Sailor Moon were obvious
ones - they wanted to buy related things, so there was a lot of money
counting and sales tax adding and budgeting of allowances involved, for
example. But, there were MANY other things they learned - they spent
ENDLESS hours discussing the behavior of the characters - who did what
and why and was it right or wrong and so on. And, if nothing else, it
was a passion that three sisters had in common - three kids who
otherwise had very very different interests. I'm sure there was
something wonderful and empowering for the girls, too, in watching the
rather "silly" young girls turn into superpowered "Sailor Scouts." In
fact, it was incredible how many connections they made, all the time,
of things that happened in their lives. My youngest daughter even got
an interest in Japanese and (here is an unschooling mom's role in
action) I had a friend whose kids went to a Japanese language school
and I found out that their summer program was more of an introduction
to the culture and language - doing fun activities like calligraphy and
papermaking and sushi making, along with learning the basics of the
language. So my daughter spent a summer doing that. But that is just
the most obvious "educational" thing that came out of it - the point is
that you just never know how one thing is going to lead to another.

Supporting a passion for Sailor Moon was a good exercise for me, as an
unschooling parent because at first it was a bit difficult to not be
irritated by the show - it didn't have obvious redeeming value and the
sound of it tends to be very hard on my ears. And the related
merchandise seemed pretty "junky" to me. I kept my opinion to myself
and supported their interest anyway.

Supporting a passionate interest in ancient Egypt would be easy in
comparison <G>.

-pam


>
> >>>>>So when my 5 1/2 yr old daughter for instance gets interested in
> mummies and ancient Egypt, she has many wonderful ways in which she
> "learns"
> about that - she asks me to cut up old sheets into strips so she can
> figure
> out how to wrap herself up like one, she takes some construction paper
> and
> string and pencil and comes up with her own "mummy game" that we play
> over
> and over.  My tendency would be to look for books and videos from the
> library at her level on mummies and Egypt that she might be interested
> in
> (or not, it's up to her).  I might find a game in the store where she
> gets a
> pretend mummy to take the organs out of and wrap up, and may look for a
> website with games or info on Egypt and mummies.  I am wondering if
> this is
> what other unschoolers do...<<<<<
>
National Home Education Network
<www.NHEN.org>
Serving the entire homeschooling community since 1999
through information, networking and public relations.

Alyce

--- In [email protected], "Joan Labbe & Salvatore
Genovese" <salgenovese@w...> wrote:
So when my 5 1/2 yr old daughter for instance gets interested in
> mummies and ancient Egypt, she has many wonderful ways in which
she "learns"
> about that - she asks me to cut up old sheets into strips so she
can figure
> out how to wrap herself up like one, she takes some construction
paper and
> string and pencil and comes up with her own "mummy game" that we
play over
> and over. My tendency would be to look for books and videos from
the
> library at her level on mummies and Egypt that she might be
interested in
> (or not, it's up to her). I might find a game in the store where
she gets a
> pretend mummy to take the organs out of and wrap up, and may look
for a
> website with games or info on Egypt and mummies. I am wondering
if this is
> what other unschoolers do...


Yep, that's it. And as far as doing too much - she'll let you know
if she's had enough. :) We went through the Egypt stage too. It
was fun. We made home-made clay on the stove (measuring
ingredients, etc.), then using a book as reference made canopic jars
and internal organs - careful to match the organs with the correct
jars. It was a disgusting hoot. Lots of fun.

So whatever the interest is at the time... and watch the directions
it goes! It's so fun to watch things evolve. I had mentioned
earlier how my daughter (now 14) started with an interest in fashion
design - signed up for a class (classes are not precluded if they
are desired and fit in with what's going on! it's up to the child)
and now has gone on to explore small business management and
accounting for the purpose of understanding how to run a wedding
planning business. All this from browsing through Vogue in line at
the grocery store.

And if any of your daughter's interests open the door to a "field
trip" go for it! It's terrific fun to get out and hit museums or
businesses while the rest of the world is at school or work. Having
the place to yourself is great.

brainstorming - that's the ticket. And again, when she's had her
fill of it, she'll let you know.

Alyce

Alyce

--- In [email protected], pam sorooshian
<pamsoroosh@m...> wrote:
> the most obvious "educational" thing that came out of it - the
point is
> that you just never know how one thing is going to lead to another.
>
> Supporting a passion for Sailor Moon was a good exercise for me,
as an
> unschooling parent because at first it was a bit difficult to not
be
> irritated by the show - it didn't have obvious redeeming value and
the
> sound of it tends to be very hard on my ears. And the related
> merchandise seemed pretty "junky" to me. I kept my opinion to
myself
> and supported their interest anyway.
>

Yes, the places they will go. I think the point IS supporting the
passion no matter what our personal opinion is. lol. It's not
unlike the food thing. All desires and interests are valid and
should be supported. If we act as if "that's boring or has no
redeeming value" then we're doing just what the schools do. Telling
them A is valuable and B is not. If we support them through Sailor
Moon, etc... then they'll feel free to explore *whatever* interests
them as it occurs. No squelching! :) No sucking the joy out of
things! That's what we don't want to do. We don't have to *get*
it. And truly, you never know where any of it will lead. It always
lands somewhere interesting and unexpected.

Alyce

Valerie

> It could be that as a beginner I don't quite get the philosophy of
many unschoolers - which is why I'm on this list, to increase my
understanding - but what I am wondering is what you or other more
experienced homeschoolers think of as your role in terms of
facilitating learning for your kid(s) and is that pretty much the
same for all unschoolers or does it differ. In other words, how do
you generally go about digging up possible resources that your kids
might be interested in for things they've expressed interest in, or
thinking up ways they might enjoy expanding those interests. And
how much do you leave up to them? Is this something that has varied
over your years of unschooling with insight you have gained in the
process of unschooling?

******You are your children's guide, but think about what a guide
does. If you go to a museum and a guide takes you to the different
displays he doesn't force you to look at each piece and study it and
write a report. He simply points it out to you and allows you the
freedom to put as much attention and effort into that piece as you
choose. He doesn't tell you that he will show you the next piece if
you say "please" or tell you that you don't get to see the next
piece because you didn't say "thank you" when he showed you the
prior piece. He doesn't tell you to be quiet and stay in a straight
line with your hands at your side. He doesn't monitor you to see
what you've learned and degrade you if you were not interested. He
doesn't put conditions on sharing his knowledge. What he does do is
share his joy (if he's a good guide) of the museum and trust you to
take away what you will from the experience. That is the type of
guide our children need and deserve. They need a guide that trusts
them, respects them and is there to answer any questions they might
have about this great world of ours.

love, Valerie