cartoontv5

What do you do about grammar and english? What about history and
math,science? I know you can learn a lot of things from everyday life
but how do the kids learn history or english and how to write a
proper letter or things like that?
Jeanne

[email protected]

In a message dated 1/10/2005 2:18:12 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
LJeanne28@... writes:

What do you do about grammar and english? What about history and
math,science? I know you can learn a lot of things from everyday life
but how do the kids learn history or english and how to write a
proper letter or things like that?<<<<

I'm a grammar Nazi, so my kids already know how to use adverbs, pronouns,
and possessives before the gerund correctly! <g> They don't know what they're
called, but because it's important to *me*, they hear it correctly. It becomes
second nature.

I could say the same things about dogs: I show, train, breed, and groom
dogs. They have naturally picked these things up and how to do them correctly. It
just *happens* in a world rich in grammar and dogs! <BWG>

What do you mean, "How do they learn English?" I mean---seriously. Are they
not talking yet? How did *you* learn it? I'm guessing you had a pretty good
grasp of the language before you went to school. Most children do.

Danielle's children will be more exposed to science than my kids. She AND
her husband ARE scientists. It's something that happens naturally in their home.
Robyn's child will understand more about the movie business. Deb's son
already knows more about birds than mine boys ever will. Ren's kids will have a
pretty good knowledge of art and architecture----can you guess why?

People who live in Gettysburg, PA are literally surrounded by history.
OBVIOUS history. But that's true *EVERYWHERE*. There's no place on this planet
that doesn't have a history. OR science OR language OR math.

And sometimes a child who grows up in Gettysburg decides he's fascinated
with 8th Century CHINA! Go figure!

You're dividing the world into subjects. They're all connected. They're
INTERconnected.

Give me a passion---any passion----and I can give you a "school" list of
subjects covered.

Oh boy! HOMEWORK! <bwg>

~Kelly





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

mamaaj2000

--- In [email protected], kbcdlovejo@a... wrote:
> Give me a passion---any passion----and I can give you a "school"
list of
> subjects covered.

Mud wrestling.

;-)

Deb Lewis

***What do you do about grammar and english?***

I don't know anything about grammar and I went to school.

Dylan won't learn the finer points of grammar from me, but if he finds he
has a passion for adverbs, pronouns,
possessives and gerunds (sounds like some sort of infection) I'll tell
him to call Kelly. <g>

The English thing is fairly well covered as both his parents are English
speaking and he has constant exposure to the language. He reads H.P
Lovecraft for pleasure and while that may be considered by some the first
sign of insanity, he's understanding the language and enjoying the
stories.

Dylan's Karate instructor, who had a degree in early childhood
development, used to say "Don't kick nobody!" when he'd have his students
line up for drills. Formal education doesn't ensure grammar skills.

***What about history and math,science?***

History is Dylan's great aunt Dortha who was born in 1917. History is
Grandpa Ron's pocket watch. History is Grandpa Lloyd's WWII Japanese
translation book. History is every Passover with Grandma and aunt Ruth.
History is the replica of the Globe theater on top of our hundred year
old piano. History is his Welsh and Jewish and Dutch and Native
American ancestry. History is a stop at a ghost town, or graveyard or an
abandoned mine, a trip to Boston, a constellation in the night sky.

Math is counting change, making a deposit to a savings account, adding
score in Scrabble and Cribbage, shopping at the book store, doubling the
recipe for tortillas, measuring boards for a bookshelf, planting double
rows of bush beans.

Science is setting a broken bird wing, digging for crystals, grafting
apple trees, refinishing old rocking chairs, making fudge, rewiring a
lamp, building and soldering armatures for clay models.

***I know you can learn a lot of things from everyday life
but how do the kids learn history or english and how to write a
proper letter or things like that?***

Dylan knows about bits of history because his dad is a kind of history
buff and his mom is curious and because we're alive. It's impossible to
watch the news or the Simpsons or a movie and not find a reference to
some bit of history. It's impossible to talk with people or read about
people and not come away with questions about how they got to be who and
what they are.

Dylan can write a fairly nice letter because we read letters to him all
his life. We read letters from friends, we read letters to friends. We
read letters from salesmen and credit card companies and charities. He
can write a proper letter because he could always ask his mom and dad for
help if he needed to. <g>

Deb Lewis

Deb Lewis

***Mud wrestling.***

Health and Fitness!
Earth Sciences!
Sex Education?<bwg>


Deb Lewis

[email protected]

In a message dated 1/10/2005 3:19:12 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
mamaaj2000@... writes:

Mud wrestling.
MUD:
Differences between suspensions, emulsions, mixtures, etc. How mud is made.
Is it brought in as mud? Mixed there? (chemistry, weights/measures---math)
Kinds of mud---which are best for wrestling in---sand/clay/etc. (geology,
geography))
What else is mud used for? (sociology, anthropology, architecture)
Mudslinging (politics, history)
Mud translated into differrent languages (foreign language)
"clear as mud" "get your feet out of the mud" (idioms/English)

WRESTLING:
Ancient Greeks (history)
Art or sport? (philosophy, physics)
Physique to wrestle (biology, physiology, nutrition, anatomy)
Wrestling moves (anatomy, physiology, physics)

MUDWRESTLING
Where did mudwrestling start? (history, geography)
Men vs Women in Mudwrestling. Would women PAY to watch *men* wrestle?
Why/why not?
Why do men find it fascinating? (philosophy, sociology, psychology, se
xuality/sex roles)
What kind of woman would be drawn to it? (sociology)


MUDWRESTLERS
First ones (history)
Famous ones? I'm clueless here! <G> (history, current events)
Uniforms (LOL) and fashion changes (history, sociology. psychology)
Writing fan letters (language arts)
Travel to see a match---travel, tickets, planning (math, geography)

FILMS:
one with John Candy---?Stripes?
Far and Away
Andy Kauffman---Man in the Moon

I got 233,000 hits on google for "mud wrestling" (reading) <g>

That's a start! <g>

~Kelly, skoolmarm


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

Danielle Conger

=== Danielle's children will be more exposed to science than my kids.
She AND
her husband ARE scientists. It's something that happens naturally in
their home. ===

Alas, I am not a Scientist--no where near as glamorous. My degree is in
English Literature. I'm pretty good at writing, literature and history
because of my background. Dh does science, math and mechanics. Our big
joke is that the kids will get my math abilities and his language
abilities and be really screwed! ;) Thankfully, because we Unschool, our
children will not have the math or language *trauma* that helped
determine dh's and my aversions.

What it also means is that my kids *love* doing experiments and can
recite the first part of William Blake's poem "Tyger" because they are
naturally exposed to this kind of stuff. They can also quote extensively
from Lord of the Rings, so go figure. ;)

--Danielle

http://www.danielleconger.com/Homeschool/Welcomehome.html


>

Dana Matt

> I'm a grammar Nazi, so my kids already know how to
> use adverbs, pronouns,
> and possessives before the gerund correctly! <g>
> They don't know what they're
> called, but because it's important to *me*, they
> hear it correctly. It becomes
> second nature.

Conversation with my 6 yo at the dentist today, while
waiting for sister:

"Can we go outside and walk around? Anything would be
funner than this!"

"Ok," I said.

She thinks for a minute...."I mean 'more fun'.
Funner's not a word!"

:)
Dana

=====
Guadalupe's Coffee Roaster
100% Organic Fair Trade Coffee
Roasted to Perfection Daily
Free Home Delivery in Whatcom County
(360) 715-1900



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J. Stauffer

<<<What do you do about grammar and english? What about history and
math,science? I know you can learn a lot of things from everyday life
but how do the kids learn history or english and how to write a
proper letter or things like that?>>>>

I can tell you our experience. The kids didn't learn it at the same time their public school peers did. There is no reason outside of a classroom for a 12 year old to know how to write a paper or even a lot about history unless these are particular interests of the child.

My kids learned those specific kinds of things later but with tremendous ease. They learned them when they actually needed them.

My 14 yo is a died in the wool traditionalist <sigh> and has decided that the University of Georgia is in her future. They require an accredited diploma or a very high SAT score to even consider you....so Adriane has decided to follow a very traditional curriculum to prepare. She had zero math "training" from second grade until now. She stepped right into Algebra and is doing fantastic (A average). She is able to do what she wants, how she wants and we were able to avoid 7 years of me MAKING her do her homework.

She had never written a paper, nothing more formal than email, in her life. I showed her how to structure one and off she went and did fine.

My kids actually know a lot of history but most of it was picked up from conversations, television, video games, etc..

Julie S.


----- Original Message -----
From: cartoontv5
To: [email protected]
Sent: Monday, January 10, 2005 1:16 PM
Subject: [unschoolingbasics] More Questions



What do you do about grammar and english? What about history and
math,science? I know you can learn a lot of things from everyday life
but how do the kids learn history or english and how to write a
proper letter or things like that?
Jeanne





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

Fetteroll

on 1/10/05 3:38 PM, Deb Lewis at ddzimlew@... wrote:

> History is Grandpa Ron's pocket watch.

While this is true I think when someone is still seeing history as what's
contained in a textbook, it can read as though people are suggesting that if
subjects are redefined as something simplistic then it's no problem to
master them.

If we redefine math as knowing that 1+1 is 2 then the math problem solved
;-)

History resides in Grandpa Ron's watch but Grandpa Ron's watch is not
history (as defined by schools).

If we define subjects as memorizing (oftimes boring) information, it is hard
to picture how kids can get that through unschooling.

But if we define subjects as tools -- which is what they are! -- that help
us do what we want to do and help us understand how the world works, then we
learn "subjects" by using them.

Math is a tool that helps us get what we want. It's hard to understand how
we can use math before we understand it but the way it works in real life is
we absorb a basic understanding by seeing numbers being used around us. And
we absorb a basic understanding. And then we can see how to apply that basic
understanding and use it. And as it we use it, we get better at it and
undertand more.

English is a tool that helps us get what we want. As with all kids, my
daughter began with no knowledge of English and absorbed the parts that tied
into the things about life that interested her. No one crammed English into
her so that she'd be able to use it. And she used bits and pieces inexpertly
to get what she wanted. For a long time she used "Here" for "Pick me up",
"Let me have that", "Take me over there", "Take this". It wasn't "correct"
but it worked for what she needed. And even though it worked, she didn't
stop there. She improved as a side effect of using English. She now uses
full sentences that other people can understand :-)

History (as defined by school) isn't much use unless it ties to something we
want to know more about. Reading the Little House series isn't history (as
defined by school) but -- *if* a child is enjoying it and wants to read it
-- then tidbits of what was going on in the world that help a child
understand the parts of the story they cared about better become important
and interesting to the child. And if they care about any of the tidbits,
then more tidbits that tie to those become important. Real history isn't a
string of memorized names and dates. Real history (and science and math and
English) is how one thing connects to another.

It's the connections that are the important part of learning. No one can
give someone connections because there isn't one right way to connect
everything. Connections are what you pick up and assembly yourself by
leading a rich life.

Joyce

mamaaj2000

--- In [email protected], kbcdlovejo@a... wrote:

> I got 233,000 hits on google for "mud wrestling" (reading) <g>
>
> That's a start! <g>
>
> ~Kelly, skoolmarm


Awesome, Kelly! So there will be a workshop at the conference, right??

--aj

[email protected]

In a message dated 1/12/2005 6:18:36 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
mamaaj2000@... writes:

> I got 233,000 hits on google for "mud wrestling" (reading) <g>
>
> That's a start! <g>
>
> ~Kelly, skoolmarm


Awesome, Kelly! So there will be a workshop at the conference, right??

--aj<<<<

Are you volunteering, daaahhling?

~Kelly, whose husband would have paid BIG bucks to watch her and Deb mud
wrestle last year! <G>







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

mamaaj2000

That would be a good way to NOT get invited back by the hotel, I bet!

If only I had some clue where we'd be living by then, I might know if
we could make it. Dh got a list of open positions at quite a range of
bases. We could end up down the road from Ren or in Mountain Home,
Idaho or in Southern California at Vandenberg or in southern New
Mexico...we'll see!

Let's see, if everyone brings a little dirt and there's a jacuzzi we
could drain...I'll get back to you with my design ideas...

--aj

--- In [email protected], kbcdlovejo@a... wrote:
>
> Are you volunteering, daaahhling?
>
> ~Kelly, whose husband would have paid BIG bucks to watch her and
Deb mud
> wrestle last year! <G>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[email protected]

In a message dated 1/12/2005 8:05:19 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
mamaaj2000@... writes:

If only I had some clue where we'd be living by then, I might know if
we could make it. Dh got a list of open positions at quite a range of
bases. We could end up down the road from Ren or in Mountain Home,
Idaho or in Southern California at Vandenberg or in southern New
Mexico...we'll see! ,<<<

Well, as centrally located as we *are* this year, there should be NO
problems with anyone's making it! <g>

What's your husband do? We've been at Beale in CA, Lindsey in Wiesbaden,
Germany, and Scott in Belleville, IL (where the conf is). He's been mostly in
Supply/Logistics. He's just been promoted to Lt Col in the Air National Guard
and is getting ready to quit selling drugs and join the Guard full-time in a
few weeks.

>>>>>Let's see, if everyone brings a little dirt and there's a jacuzzi we
could drain...I'll get back to you with my design ideas...<<<<

There's the Mississippi River! <g>

~Kelly







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

mamaaj2000

--- In [email protected], kbcdlovejo@a... wrote:
> What's your husband do? We've been at Beale in CA, Lindsey in
Wiesbaden,
> Germany, and Scott in Belleville, IL (where the conf is). He's been
mostly in
> Supply/Logistics. He's just been promoted to Lt Col in the Air
National Guard
> and is getting ready to quit selling drugs and join the Guard full-
time in a
> few weeks.

Lol, they'll take drug dealers but not homeschoolers these days! (I
know what you mean, really...I think...)

Michael is in Logistics and is actually working at ANG headquarters
here on Andrews (ANG Readiness Center)! All the bases he was at
before (1984-1992) are closed now except for Anderson on Guam (he was
a B52 navigator back then). So what will Ben be doing and at what
base? Why wouldn't it suprise me if they end up working together...

--aj

[email protected]

In a message dated 1/12/2005 9:34:00 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
mamaaj2000@... writes:

Michael is in Logistics and is actually working at ANG headquarters
here on Andrews (ANG Readiness Center)! All the bases he was at
before (1984-1992) are closed now except for Anderson on Guam (he was
a B52 navigator back then). So what will Ben be doing and at what
base? Why wouldn't it suprise me if they end up working together...<<<<

Not unless you move to SC and take on the Air National Guard. That's where
Ben is now---and for the rest of his career, we think. He seems happy. I hope
so. He's Squadron Commander---and if he hangs around long enough, he'll make
Wing Commander and maybe Assistant Adjutant General (I did a paper on the
state Adjutant General in FOURTH grade! That's how I know how to spell it! <G>).

~Kelly


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

Daniel MacIntyre

depends on the hotel, I guess...


On Thu, 13 Jan 2005 00:54:28 -0000, mamaaj2000 <mamaaj2000@...> wrote:
>
>
> That would be a good way to NOT get invited back by the hotel, I bet!
>
> If only I had some clue where we'd be living by then, I might know if
> we could make it. Dh got a list of open positions at quite a range of
> bases. We could end up down the road from Ren or in Mountain Home,
> Idaho or in Southern California at Vandenberg or in southern New
> Mexico...we'll see!
>
> Let's see, if everyone brings a little dirt and there's a jacuzzi we
> could drain...I'll get back to you with my design ideas...
>
> --aj
>
> --- In [email protected], kbcdlovejo@a... wrote:
> >
> > Are you volunteering, daaahhling?
> >
> > ~Kelly, whose husband would have paid BIG bucks to watch her and
> Deb mud
> > wrestle last year! <G>
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
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mamaaj2000

--- In [email protected], kbcdlovejo@a... wrote:

> Not unless you move to SC and take on the Air National Guard.

Yep, he's working for Air National Guard (ANG) so he spends his days
wrestling with lots of different Guard units!

That's where
> Ben is now---and for the rest of his career, we think. He seems
happy. I hope
> so. He's Squadron Commander---and if he hangs around long enough,
he'll make
> Wing Commander and maybe Assistant Adjutant General

And then you'll make us call you Mrs. Assistant Adjutant General,
won't you?

--aj, who mis-spelled 'adjutant' 3 times even while looking at it