More unschooling musings...
mamaaj2000
The discussions of the last few days really got me thinking about
where my head is in the deschooling process.
I still think of certain subjects as foundational, esp. reading and
math. As such, they are More Important and need to be attended
to...or so I've always believed.
Caroline (1.5) knows the alphabet because we sing it to her when we
change her diaper. I read that a while ago (before starting on the
u/s path) in _The Well Trained Mind_. Knowing the alphabet, she'll
learn about individual letters, then the sounds they make and
eventually it will lead to reading. Now it may very well be that at 2
and 3, she cares nothing for letters, won't watch Sesame Street and
mainly spends her time dancing, in which case, the fingerplay
of "Itsy Bitsy Spider" was a more relevant foundational skill than
learning her ABC's.
Yes, I'm being silly, but trying to show that I'm still thinking that
learning to read is more important than fingerplay and dancing. I
want to find ways to gently expose the kids to reading and math. I
might not double a batch of cookies just to teach fractions, but I
could see myself getting enthusiastic about how cool it is to
understand measurements and encouraging the kids to experiment with
them.
I don't know if I'm still some distance from radical unschooling, or
if I'm just nitpicking around the definition of strewing and exposing
the kids to different things.
I've only been deschooling for a few months and the kids are still
very young, so I'm sure there's hope for me to learn to trust that
they will learn what they need when they need it, without me hovering
and worrying.
I know there was something else I was going to add, but me brain is
mush!
--aj
where my head is in the deschooling process.
I still think of certain subjects as foundational, esp. reading and
math. As such, they are More Important and need to be attended
to...or so I've always believed.
Caroline (1.5) knows the alphabet because we sing it to her when we
change her diaper. I read that a while ago (before starting on the
u/s path) in _The Well Trained Mind_. Knowing the alphabet, she'll
learn about individual letters, then the sounds they make and
eventually it will lead to reading. Now it may very well be that at 2
and 3, she cares nothing for letters, won't watch Sesame Street and
mainly spends her time dancing, in which case, the fingerplay
of "Itsy Bitsy Spider" was a more relevant foundational skill than
learning her ABC's.
Yes, I'm being silly, but trying to show that I'm still thinking that
learning to read is more important than fingerplay and dancing. I
want to find ways to gently expose the kids to reading and math. I
might not double a batch of cookies just to teach fractions, but I
could see myself getting enthusiastic about how cool it is to
understand measurements and encouraging the kids to experiment with
them.
I don't know if I'm still some distance from radical unschooling, or
if I'm just nitpicking around the definition of strewing and exposing
the kids to different things.
I've only been deschooling for a few months and the kids are still
very young, so I'm sure there's hope for me to learn to trust that
they will learn what they need when they need it, without me hovering
and worrying.
I know there was something else I was going to add, but me brain is
mush!
--aj
[email protected]
> Caroline (1.5) knows the alphabet because we sing it to her when weNo; she doesn't know the alphabet. She knows a fun song that rhymes. Later it will be relevant as to being the alphabet. A lot of kids learn this way, but I'm not so sure it is the best way to teach reading. I think it is a fun song, though and even more fun if you can do it backwards.
> change her diaper.
> Yes, I'm being silly, but trying to show that I'm still thinking thatAt some point in her life, maybe. For right now what is important is dancning and fingerplay. And don't discredit fingerplay. All those fun little fingerplay songs like Ittsy Bittsy Spider, 3 Little Monkeys, 10 Little Sausages, etc are great for fine motor skill building! So even though it looks like play, she is gaining something from doing it. She is learning to coordinate her fingers which later will lead to writing (not immediately, but in the long run.) Dancing leads to coordination. They learn balance, rhythm, and how to move different parts of their body independently. These are important building blocks in learning things like hopscotch, tumbling, jumping, hopping, skipping, skipping rope, etc. So I would say for now the important thing for an 18 mo IS dancing and finger play. She's *only* 18 mo. That's still a baby in my book. Her job right now in life is experiencing the world around her. She will learn to read and do math ... when she has need for these skills.
> learning to read is more important than fingerplay and dancing.
>IRead, read read. Read not only to her, but for your own enjoyment. Show her the joy of reading. Sit with her on your lap and read to her familiar stories. She doesn't need to know about word structure or sentence compostion or what makes a good story. She just wants (and most children do want - not all though) to be read to and have fun stories told to her in a fun way! To learn to enjoy words.
> want to find ways to gently expose the kids to reading and math.
>II don't make a double batch of cookies just to teach fractions either. I do make double batches of cookies because we like cookies and in the process my kids learn to figure out fractions in a fun way without being told, "OK, today kids we are going to learn about fractions."
> might not double a batch of cookies just to teach fractions, but I
> could see myself getting enthusiastic about how cool it is to
> understand measurements and encouraging the kids to experiment with
> them.
> I've only been deschooling for a few months and the kids are stillGive them time. Let them play. Let them be kids. The math and the reading will come when there is a need. I've watched all three of my kids learn to read despite (or maybe in spite) of any formal teaching.
> very young, so I'm sure there's hope for me to learn to trust that
> they will learn what they need when they need it, without me hovering
> and worrying.
Michelle
[email protected]
> Caroline (1.5) knows the alphabet because we sing it to her when weNo; she doesn't know the alphabet. She knows a fun song that rhymes. <<<<<<
> change her diaper.
I was going to say the same thing. We never really sang the alphabet song.
My oldest learned to read before he knew the song. For him it was just a
song.
Pam G
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Angela S
My oldest learned to read before he knew the song. For him it was just a
song
----------------------------------------
My youngest went from not knowing her letters to reading in a few short
weeks. It was pretty cool. Very different from the way her sister learned.
Her sister had known her letter names and sounds for a couple years before
she learned to read. They both learned to read at the same age, pretty much
though.
Angela ~ Maine
* game-enthusiast@....
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
song
----------------------------------------
My youngest went from not knowing her letters to reading in a few short
weeks. It was pretty cool. Very different from the way her sister learned.
Her sister had known her letter names and sounds for a couple years before
she learned to read. They both learned to read at the same age, pretty much
though.
Angela ~ Maine
* game-enthusiast@....
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Robyn Coburn
<<<<Yes, I'm being silly, but trying to show that I'm still thinking that
learning to read is more important than fingerplay and dancing. I
want to find ways to gently expose the kids to reading and math. I
might not double a batch of cookies just to teach fractions, but I
could see myself getting enthusiastic about how cool it is to
understand measurements and encouraging the kids to experiment with
them.>>>>
If it helps you to feel more relaxed, Jayn who turned 5 yesterday, has moved
from doing that kind of structured finger dance to forming letters with her
fingers a lot. She often shows me new ways of forming the letters with her
fingers and hands.
Also if she wants to know what a particular letter looks like, because she
is writing a word (yesterday she wrote "birthday" :) ) I can often
demonstrate the shape of the letters by using my fingers for her. I usually
describe the letter, show her with my fingers and then if she is still not
getting it, find it written somewhere nearby.
Robyn L. Coburn
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learning to read is more important than fingerplay and dancing. I
want to find ways to gently expose the kids to reading and math. I
might not double a batch of cookies just to teach fractions, but I
could see myself getting enthusiastic about how cool it is to
understand measurements and encouraging the kids to experiment with
them.>>>>
If it helps you to feel more relaxed, Jayn who turned 5 yesterday, has moved
from doing that kind of structured finger dance to forming letters with her
fingers a lot. She often shows me new ways of forming the letters with her
fingers and hands.
Also if she wants to know what a particular letter looks like, because she
is writing a word (yesterday she wrote "birthday" :) ) I can often
demonstrate the shape of the letters by using my fingers for her. I usually
describe the letter, show her with my fingers and then if she is still not
getting it, find it written somewhere nearby.
Robyn L. Coburn
---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
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