Camille

Im new to unschooling... My ds is 5y.o and I am wondering what can I do to make his life more interesting. At present he is wanting to play playstation alot of the time, and Im sure its because I am not providing enough to engage him. I see him with his Dad and hes so happy to be doing stuff, any stuff with Dad - which is lovely. However I am a girly type (for want of a better phrase) and ds is my first son and I just seem to find, that no matter how I try I cant seem to connect with what he could be (potentially) interested in, whereas with Dad its just a done deal, no effort needed. At present he is madly into guns, I build them with him, we play gun games, draw them, but my brain stops at about that point. I would love to just take his lead, however at this stage he isnt leading much and I wonder if Im doing something wrong or whether I have an expectation that Im not seeing? I know these questions are probably very basic for many of you, but I would appreciate your knowledge to point me in the right direction as I really agree with the whole philosophy just seem to be floundering with the practical aspects.

Thanks Camille :)

sistergoddesselli

Sounds like us!! I've got an 8 year old son who loves war and guns and I am a passifist!!

I've stopped preaching about the trauma of war and started supporting his passion. I've taken him to the Army Navy Surplus Store. And, to Bass Pro Shop, where they have guns. I've also introduced him to a friend of my aunt's who is retired Air Force. My son has a heart condition that will make it so he can't enlist, and I've taken the time to explore that with him (writing to the Air Force to find out if they'd take him or not and then grieving with him when we got the negative response).

I also painted his room in camouflage (I did that, because I love painting designs on walls!!) and gotten a real foot locker and empty ammunition box for him.

He's talked to both grandfathers and some great uncles about their experiences during war or in service.

I picked up a book called "Back Yard Ballistics" and hope to make some of them with him. Dad is taking him to hang out with a friend of his who has lots of guns and a shooting range.

He watches TV shows about weapons and war. And, he plays tons of computer games. One of which allows the player to save money and purchase things to expand his army and allows the player to go into debt and earn income. That experience, along with our conversations about family finances (much less money now that I've quit working) has inspired him to volunteer to help out around the house and/or find some way on his own to contribute to the family income. Which is fun to watch!!! We are new to homeschooling and un-schooling and this is among the first times that I've seen him pick up something from video games that is bigger than hand-eye coordination and more complex than dealing with how to win or lose.

Keep supporting him, stretch yourself, and you will be surprised by the connections he makes all on his own!

Love,

Elli

Camille & Paul

Thankyou Elli,

You sound just like me :) and to top it off I am a vegetarian also and have been for many years and the whole idea of 'killing anything' is something that is uncomfortable for me, to say the least.

You had some great ideas, and I know that these things are my 'stuff' and not my sons so I will continue to endeavour to let them go :)

Thanks & Blessings,
¸.·´ .·-:¦:-
((¸¸.·´Camille .·´-:¦:- ~
-:¦:-¸¸.·´*
----- Original Message -----
From: sistergoddesselli
To: [email protected]
Sent: Thursday, July 09, 2009 10:26 PM
Subject: [unschoolingbasics] Re: Some Help Please





Sounds like us!! I've got an 8 year old son who loves war and guns and I am a passifist!!

I've stopped preaching about the trauma of war and started supporting his passion. I've taken him to the Army Navy Surplus Store. And, to Bass Pro Shop, where they have guns. I've also introduced him to a friend of my aunt's who is retired Air Force. My son has a heart condition that will make it so he can't enlist, and I've taken the time to explore that with him (writing to the Air Force to find out if they'd take him or not and then grieving with him when we got the negative response).

I also painted his room in camouflage (I did that, because I love painting designs on walls!!) and gotten a real foot locker and empty ammunition box for him.

He's talked to both grandfathers and some great uncles about their experiences during war or in service.

I picked up a book called "Back Yard Ballistics" and hope to make some of them with him. Dad is taking him to hang out with a friend of his who has lots of guns and a shooting range.

He watches TV shows about weapons and war. And, he plays tons of computer games. One of which allows the player to save money and purchase things to expand his army and allows the player to go into debt and earn income. That experience, along with our conversations about family finances (much less money now that I've quit working) has inspired him to volunteer to help out around the house and/or find some way on his own to contribute to the family income. Which is fun to watch!!! We are new to homeschooling and un-schooling and this is among the first times that I've seen him pick up something from video games that is bigger than hand-eye coordination and more complex than dealing with how to win or lose.

Keep supporting him, stretch yourself, and you will be surprised by the connections he makes all on his own!

Love,

Elli





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

amberlee_b

I think some of this passion for guns, weapons, war, etc. stems from a need for strategy, detective work and the lure of being a spy. :) I have a son who would make weapons from sticks in the backyard. Now he creates them from legos and boffer sword materials. People around me would get so upset that I would "allow" him to do this. I believe in peace, I believe there is a diplomatic way to handle situations. I also believe I would do all I could to protect my family.

My son love strategy. He will watch anything to do with it from William Wallace to Ghengis Khan to the Revolutionary war. Maybe it is ancestral memory? Who knows, but he has a strong pull in that direction as well. I don't think he thinks of it as killing others. At this point it is just play. Maybe he will grow up to be a great detective helping find the "bad guys" or maybe he will be a comedian. Maybe that will be his spy cover....stand up comic on weekends, spy during the week. lol

I bet that book would be great fun here as well, thanks for mentioning it. I would like to know the name of the video game too please. I am sure he would enjoy that as well.

> I picked up a book called "Back Yard Ballistics" and hope to make some of them with him. Dad is taking him to hang out with a friend of his who has lots of guns and a shooting range.
>

Camille & Paul

Yes that sounds very likely, as he loves playing strategy games etc. Thanks for the input, you've all helped me heaps, thanks :)
Blessings,
¸.·´ .·-:¦:-
((¸¸.·´Camille .·´-:¦:- ~
-:¦:-¸¸.·´*





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

Pam Sorooshian

How about making different kinds of guns - things that shoot, is what I
mean. I made a marshmallow shooter out of pvc pipes and it is very fun.
thinkgeek.com sells them or you can google and find the instructions for
making your own. We've also made rubber band guns/shooters. You can
make targets of various kinds - paper or out of cans. Maybe he'd enjoy a
slingshot. Also, we used to get large groups of kids together to play
with water guns - big and small.

I, personally, LOVE to play laser tag - that might be something he'd
really like!

-pam



On 7/10/2009 2:15 PM, Camille & Paul wrote:
> Yes that sounds very likely, as he loves playing strategy games etc. Thanks for the input, you've all helped me heaps, thanks:)
> Blessings,
> ¸.·´ .·-:¦:-
>

Camille & Paul

Great ideas, thanks Pam :D
Blessings,
¸.·´ .·-:¦:-
((¸¸.·´Camille .·´-:¦:- ~
-:¦:-¸¸.·´*
----- Original Message -----
From: Pam Sorooshian
To: [email protected]
Sent: Saturday, July 11, 2009 9:56 PM
Subject: Re: [unschoolingbasics] Re: Some Help Please





How about making different kinds of guns - things that shoot, is what I
mean. I made a marshmallow shooter out of pvc pipes and it is very fun.
thinkgeek.com sells them or you can google and find the instructions for
making your own. We've also made rubber band guns/shooters. You can
make targets of various kinds - paper or out of cans. Maybe he'd enjoy a
slingshot. Also, we used to get large groups of kids together to play
with water guns - big and small.

I, personally, LOVE to play laser tag - that might be something he'd
really like!

-pam

On 7/10/2009 2:15 PM, Camille & Paul wrote:
> Yes that sounds very likely, as he loves playing strategy games etc. Thanks for the input, you've all helped me heaps, thanks:)
> Blessings,
> ¸.·´ .·-:¦:-
>




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