Julie Bogart

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

>
> OTOH, I guess one disadvantage is that it might make it easier
for
> some folks to settle where they are and not continue the journey
toward abundant
> unschooling. The problems multiply if they not only settle there, but
set up
> shop as unschooling meeter-greeters -- without disclosing that
UnschoolingWorld
> is really still a couple of hundred miles down the road.
>
> It reminds me of the signs implying you've reached the gates of
> DisneyWorld, while you're still a couple of counties north (with
children very ready
> to be there NOW.) Yes, travelers perhaps have come a long way and
they're on
> the right road, and that's good -- but it's a problem if you stop in
Ocala and
> then badmouth DisneyWorld forevermore as nothing but horsefarms and
highway!

I love this analogy!

I teach writing to homeschooling families online and often answer
questions like, "How much writing should I have her do?" and "What
grammar program do you recommend?"

The way I work with families who aren't unschoolers is to help them
tune into their kids more and more. When I first joined this list,
Sandra talked about gradually saying yes more often rather than saying
"We've removed all limits." She also talked about spending more time
with my kids and focusing on their interests rather than focusing on
mine for them. I do this with writing and language arts. I help moms to
shift their focus from teaching a subject to knowing their children and
seizing opportunities to encourage them in their writing.

I took to unschooling partly because this is how I teach writing. I
help mothers to become more in tune with who their kids are. We don't
start with the assumption that kids need to be "taught" writing but
rather that our kids are interesting people whose thoughts deserve to
be recorded and shared (whether by them or for them by the mom).

So when helping a homeschooling mom, to me the first step is to help
her become aware of her children. Instead of seeing them as willful or
as uncooperative or people to be taught, help her to see the ways that
her children are already bright, interesting, reasonable people. Help
her to see how she can nurture them, even if she is still holding onto
the security of following a program.

If we help moms head in that direction (in the direction of seeing
their children as delightful people who love to learn), they will more
likely keep travelling down that road (and using jj's analogy, they
won't be content to stop at the horsefarms and highway, but will get to
DisneyWorld eventually). I've had more moms share that the best thing
about changing how they see writing is that they have improved their
communication with their kids and know them better. Isn't that the way
to begin? We don't want moms to have to focus on whether their kids are
learning x, y or z (through unschooling or homeschooling), but on what
neat people they get to live with and grow with. Then the learning has
a chance to be transformed and will fall into place.

Julie B


Brave Writer Online Writing Services
http://www.bravewriter.com

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

[email protected]

In a message dated 6/3/04 9:43:08 AM, julie@... writes:

<< So when helping a homeschooling mom, to me the first step is to help
her become aware of her children. Instead of seeing them as willful or
as uncooperative or people to be taught, help her to see the ways that
her children are already bright, interesting, reasonable people. >>

That's pretty sneaky.
I like it.

(I know, it's not sneaky, but the effect of that shift of thinking won't stop
with writing! Good for you! Good for them.)

Sandra