Melissa

I'm Melissa...just wanted to say Hi and that I'm back on the board. I pulled off some time
ago, because I just needed a break (deschooling myself again). Now that I'm back in a
place where I can learn without losing myself, I wanted to rejoin the board.

I'm so happy to see all of my old friends, but for those who don't recall, or those who are
new since I left, a litte more about me. I have missed you guys so much, especially all
those lovely souls who were such a blessing to me the first go around!

I'm Melissa, I live in Oklahoma with my husband and seven children. We had the kids in
public school until two years ago, when we finally reached a nexus that we knew meant
'pull them out!!' We'd always had trouble at school for thinking outside of the box and
encouraging the kids to learn what they wanted to. So, we did some school-at-home
business, very eclectic, for about five months, until bedrest with my last pregnancy put an
end to that. We've been unschooling since then, not much more than a year.

Not much else to add, I guess, except the kids. Josh is eleven, Breanna is nine, Emily just
turned eight, Rachel is six, Samuel is five, Daniel three (although he insists he's
twentyseven) and Avari is fourteen months. I'd guess you'd say our days are busy,
although they really are most enjoyable and we're having fun. The older kids are still
deschooling as well, although personally I think they're doing pretty good and I really like
who they are right now. Things are a little stressful with Breanna right now, as we try to
find the balance of her needs because of autism. She really did enjoy a break from all the
nonsense and expectations, and now she is requesting lots of the stuff that we used to do
for therapy.

Anyway, just saying Hi and Bye, especially since the kids are playing monopoly, which
usually means a mediator should be nearby!

Ginger Sabo

Welcome back, Melissa!

In Peace,
Ginger - of the windsock kites at the LLC
Kai(7) and Kade(5)

LOVE has impact.

"It's not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept and celebrate those differences." - Audre Lorde



----- Original Message ----
From: Melissa <autismhelp@...>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Monday, January 15, 2007 2:16:45 PM
Subject: [unschoolingbasics] Kind of a reintro...

I'm Melissa...just wanted to say Hi and that I'm back on the board. I pulled off some time
ago, because I just needed a break (deschooling myself again). Now that I'm back in a
place where I can learn without losing myself, I wanted to rejoin the board.

I'm so happy to see all of my old friends, but for those who don't recall, or those who are
new since I left, a litte more about me. I have missed you guys so much, especially all
those lovely souls who were such a blessing to me the first go around!

I'm Melissa, I live in Oklahoma with my husband and seven children. We had the kids in
public school until two years ago, when we finally reached a nexus that we knew meant
'pull them out!!' We'd always had trouble at school for thinking outside of the box and
encouraging the kids to learn what they wanted to. So, we did some school-at-home
business, very eclectic, for about five months, until bedrest with my last pregnancy put an
end to that. We've been unschooling since then, not much more than a year.

Not much else to add, I guess, except the kids. Josh is eleven, Breanna is nine, Emily just
turned eight, Rachel is six, Samuel is five, Daniel three (although he insists he's
twentyseven) and Avari is fourteen months. I'd guess you'd say our days are busy,
although they really are most enjoyable and we're having fun. The older kids are still
deschooling as well, although personally I think they're doing pretty good and I really like
who they are right now. Things are a little stressful with Breanna right now, as we try to
find the balance of her needs because of autism. She really did enjoy a break from all the
nonsense and expectations, and now she is requesting lots of the stuff that we used to do
for therapy.

Anyway, just saying Hi and Bye, especially since the kids are playing monopoly, which
usually means a mediator should be nearby!






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

Ren Allen

~~I'm Melissa...just wanted to say Hi and that I'm back on the board. ~~

Glad to have you back Melissa! I really enjoyed meeting your crew in
Albuquerque and seeing Breanna's joy during the ATC trading.:)

Ren
learninginfreedom.com

Melissa

OOOH! I know you, how could we forget the windsocks?! We had so much fun in
there...although I must be honest, our windsocks did not make it home. They were just not
sturdy enough to survive testing the windstrength passing a car doing 80 on the highway ;-)

Thanks for the welcome, are you going to be at the NC conference?
Melissa
--- In [email protected], Ginger Sabo <kaikade@...> wrote:
>
> Welcome back, Melissa!
>
> In Peace,
> Ginger - of the windsock kites at the LLC
> Kai(7) and Kade(5)
>

Melissa

Hi Ren, thanks for the welcome.
We had a great time at the ATC group too, we had been doing it at home for a while, but
we have never found anyone else in our area that does it (much less trades!) It was nice to
meet YOU...the inspiration behind our artistry :-)

So a few months back, we made our own crafttime at the local library and invited several
homeschooling and unschooling groups to attend. One other family showed up, but the
boy was so awesome (and to be honest we're quite the group anyway, w/out extras) we
had a ton of fun. We've also been working with the children's head librarian to get an
official ATC time at the library every month. It's been hard, and the kids have given up. I
just keep plugging away hoping that someday I can surprise them with an ATC day.

We'll see!
melissa
--- In [email protected], "Ren Allen" <starsuncloud@...> wrote:
>
> ~~I'm Melissa...just wanted to say Hi and that I'm back on the board. ~~
>
> Glad to have you back Melissa! I really enjoyed meeting your crew in
> Albuquerque and seeing Breanna's joy during the ATC trading.:)
>
> Ren
> learninginfreedom.com
>

Joanne

--- In [email protected], "Melissa" <autismhelp@...>
wrote: We had a great time at the ATC group too, we had been doing
it at home for a while, but we have never found anyone else in our
area that does it (much less trades!)>>>>>

Hi Melissa,

Are you a member of Ren's group Imagination Tribe? If not, maybe you
should register. My kids & I have participated in several ATC trades
there already. Here is the link:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/imaginationtribe/

Hope to see you there!

~ Joanne ~
Mom to Jacqueline (8), Shawna (11) & Cimion (14)
http://anunschoolinglife.blogspot.com/

Ginger Sabo

We are definitely going to NC. It is pretty close for us -

Speaking of which, if anyone is going through Nashville, we have some rooms available!

In Peace,
Ginger
Kai(7) and Kade(5)

LOVE has impact.

"It's not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept and celebrate those differences." - Audre Lorde



----- Original Message ----
From: Melissa <autismhelp@...>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Tuesday, January 16, 2007 10:45:16 AM
Subject: [unschoolingbasics] Re: Kind of a reintro...

OOOH! I know you, how could we forget the windsocks?! We had so much fun in
there...although I must be honest, our windsocks did not make it home. They were just not
sturdy enough to survive testing the windstrength passing a car doing 80 on the highway ;-)

Thanks for the welcome, are you going to be at the NC conference?
Melissa
--- In unschoolingbasics@ yahoogroups. com, Ginger Sabo <kaikade@... > wrote:
>
> Welcome back, Melissa!
>
> In Peace,
> Ginger - of the windsock kites at the LLC
> Kai(7) and Kade(5)
>






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

Ginger Sabo

Melissa,

I'm surprised yours made it to the car!!! Ours were torn before the night was out, but they saw a lot of wind.

Are you going to NC?

In Peace,
Ginger
Kai(7) and Kade(5)

LOVE has impact.

"It's not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept and celebrate those differences." - Audre Lorde



----- Original Message ----
From: Melissa <autismhelp@...>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Tuesday, January 16, 2007 10:45:16 AM
Subject: [unschoolingbasics] Re: Kind of a reintro...

OOOH! I know you, how could we forget the windsocks?! We had so much fun in
there...although I must be honest, our windsocks did not make it home. They were just not
sturdy enough to survive testing the windstrength passing a car doing 80 on the highway ;-)

Thanks for the welcome, are you going to be at the NC conference?
Melissa
--- In unschoolingbasics@ yahoogroups. com, Ginger Sabo <kaikade@... > wrote:
>
> Welcome back, Melissa!
>
> In Peace,
> Ginger - of the windsock kites at the LLC
> Kai(7) and Kade(5)
>






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

Melissa

well, our kids are very much packrats...so things are usually carefully saved until they are
needed for something ;-)

We hope to be in NC, but a lot is based on my due date, we have an ultrasound next week to
verify. :-)

Melissa
--- In [email protected], Ginger Sabo <kaikade@...> wrote:
>
> Melissa,
>
> I'm surprised yours made it to the car!!! Ours were torn before the night was out, but they
saw a lot of wind.
>
> Are you going to NC?