Ren Allen

"But if you're looking for a list with the word 'unschooling'
specifically in the name, here's our only one:
http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/HEM-Unschooling"

I don't see much discussion about unschooling over there though.
There's a lot of HEM's weekly newsletter, and a post where a Mom is
asking everyone to help her name her latest "activity deck"
educational product.

I think Always Learning, Unschoolingdiscussion, RUL,
Unschoolingbasics and Unschooling.com are the best places to truly
discuss unschooling and parenting issues that arise out of the
philosophy.

Is unschooling.com getting the changeover to becoming a general
homeschooling list? The thing I see being damaged here, is people's
ability to get information about unschooling.

There's TONS of information about general homeschooling, the
homeschooling world is bursting with websites and information.
Taking away forums for unschooling information, strikes me as
something a person that does NOT truly support unschooling or
unschoolers would do...it's strange.

Ren

Helen Hegener

At 4:30 AM +0000 6/5/04, Ren Allen wrote:
>"But if you're looking for a list with the word 'unschooling'
>specifically in the name, here's our only one:
>http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/HEM-Unschooling"
>
>I don't see much discussion about unschooling over there though.
>There's a lot of HEM's weekly newsletter, and a post where a Mom is
>asking everyone to help her name her latest "activity deck"
>educational product.

You're right, Ren, the HEM-Unschooling list has not seen a lot of
discussion, probably because the Unschooling- lists were giving
people enough places to talk about unschooling issues. That might
change now, or it might not if people are happy with the existing
unschooling lists.

>Is unschooling.com getting the changeover to becoming a general
>homeschooling list? The thing I see being damaged here, is people's
>ability to get information about unschooling.

I'm not sure what you mean here. Unschooing.com is not a list at all.
We had a list at one time called Unschooling-dotcom, but we dropped
that one quite a while ago. Right now Unschooling.com is a website,
with lots of different features.

>There's TONS of information about general homeschooling, the
>homeschooling world is bursting with websites and information.
>Taking away forums for unschooling information, strikes me as
>something a person that does NOT truly support unschooling or
>unschoolers would do...it's strange.

I understand that it's a difficult concept to get a handle on. I
guess the best way I can help anyone understand what happened, and
why I took the steps I felt were necessary to protect what I and many
others feel is the true meaning of unschooling, would be to direct
them to the HEM-Networking list and suggest they read the unschooling
thread for this last week.

Helen


Ren Allen

>Is unschooling.com getting the changeover to becoming a general
>homeschooling list? The thing I see being damaged here, is people's
>ability to get information about unschooling.

"I'm not sure what you mean here. Unschooing.com is not a list at
all.
We had a list at one time called Unschooling-dotcom, but we dropped
that one quite a while ago. Right now Unschooling.com is a website,
with lots of different features.

Yes, I realize that....I was a moderator there for some time.
I used the word "list", when I should have said "forum".
I'm wondering if the unschooling.com forum is being changed to a
general homeschooling forum, rather than specifically unschooling.

And I can't help but question how on earth HEM is an unschooling
mag. when there are articles about lessons and curriculum and other
general homeschooling topics? I've always seen it as a general
homeschooling magazine, with a few unschooling articles thrown in
for balance.
Life Learning is an unschooling magazine....not HEM.

Ren

Nichole in Round Rock

----- Original Message -----
From: Ren Allen
To: [email protected]
Sent: Sunday, June 06, 2004 9:16 AM
Subject: [unschoolingbasics] HEM unschooling lists


>>>And I can't help but question how on earth HEM is an unschooling
mag. when there are articles about lessons and curriculum and other
general homeschooling topics? I've always seen it as a general
homeschooling magazine, with a few unschooling articles thrown in
for balance.
Life Learning is an unschooling magazine....not HEM.<<<


I totally agree. There was more about homeschooling in the last weekly newsletter about homeschooling than there was about unschooling. Of course it was hard to miss the negative quote about unschooling that lead the publication.

Furthermore, why does HEM feel the need to redefine unschooling. Why doesn't it just stop its associations with it altogether and let the people doing it continue on with helping. Who gave HEM the overarching authority to define unschooling? I think it must have come when they bought the Unschooling.com name.

Nichole



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Helen Hegener

At 6:56 AM -0600 6/6/04, Deb Lewis wrote:
>http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/HEM-Unschooling"
>
>Why isn't HEM-Unschooling listed in the directory?

Good question. I don't know. I thought it was.

I've changed the group settings so it's listed now.

Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

Helen

Helen Hegener

At 2:16 PM +0000 6/6/04, Ren Allen wrote:
>I'm wondering if the unschooling.com forum is being changed to a
>general homeschooling forum, rather than specifically unschooling.

Well, as I replied last night, unschooling.com will probably change
over time as people return to a less rigid understanding of
unschooling itself.

>And I can't help but question how on earth HEM is an unschooling
>mag. when there are articles about lessons and curriculum and other
>general homeschooling topics? I've always seen it as a general
>homeschooling magazine, with a few unschooling articles thrown in
>for balance.

Then you haven't looked at it very closely, because the reality is
actually the other way around. <g>

Helen

Helen Hegener

At 9:27 AM -0500 6/6/04, Nichole in Round Rock wrote:
> I totally agree. There was more about homeschooling in the last
>weekly newsletter about homeschooling than there was about
>unschooling. Of course it was hard to miss the negative quote about
>unschooling that lead the publication.

You mean my comment here:

"I'm beginning to think that holding unschooling aside like some kind
of holy grail is doing the entire homeschooling community a
disservice. Rather, unschooling should be just one point on a
continuum of homeschooling, and families should be free to take
whatever parts of it serves their purposes and gets them where they
want to go. That's what the term meant when we started publishing
Home Education Magazine, and it's what we meant over the years when
we said we unschooled our five (now grown) kids, and it's what I
think unschooling should be: Not a place you get to, but the journey
itself, as just a part of the entire homeschool journey."

~~ Helen Hegener on the Unschooling 101 e-list ~~

I don't think that's a negative quote about unschooling so much as
it's a positive quote about homeschooling. Perspective. Use it or
lose it.

> Furthermore, why does HEM feel the need to redefine unschooling.
>Why doesn't it just stop its associations with it altogether and let
>the people doing it continue on with helping.

Because the "helping" was becoming more destructive than helpful -
and that's not just my personal opinion, it's being backed up by a
rapidly increasing number of other people.

> Who gave HEM the overarching authority to define unschooling? I
>think it must have come when they bought the Unschooling.com name.

Ouch. But if we hadn't bought it someone else would have and they
might have been much less willing to even discuss the situation with
people than we are.

I'd like to share a little commentary I wrote offlist to someone who
asked me some of these same kinds of questions earlier this morning.
I apologize for the cut-and-paste shortcut, but as some of you know
I've been battling carpal tunnel syndrome for years now and with all
the time I've spent online this last week it's starting to flare up
again. Anyway, here's what I wrote (in part):

This has indeed been a long-running situation, creating confusion and
consternation for literally years now, and in the past I've always
tried to believe that it was simply rooted in misunderstandings,
personality conflicts, issues of clarity and trying to come to grips
with a very difficult concept. That was - I'll happily admit - my
mistake.

When I posted my post last Sunday, people started pointing out things
like the recurring conflicts always involving [specific people] in
some manner, the banning of people who were causing no problems at
all on other lists even when discussing the same concepts (and
sometimes even unschooling), the attacks on GWS and the Farengas on
our Unschooling boards last summer, the increasing assumption that
HEM was something other than an unschooling-oriented magazine, and
the increasing realization that as a distinct definition of
unschooling was being created and supported and advanced, the word
'homeschooling' was coming to mean school-at-home to many people.
Again, my mistake. I tried to keep the peace when I should have been
keeping the faith.

I don't expect anyone to "follow my ideals," or even the "ideals of
HEM." But when people following their own ideals interferes with
everyone's ability to create and follow ideals of their own, then I
feel it's time to take a principled stand for what I believe is
right, which is what I've done. The amazing show of support from the
larger homeschooling and unschooling community has shown me that it
was overwhelmingly the right thing to do, and long past due.

Helen










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