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Tuckervill
USA
214 Posts |
 Posted - Sep 18 2004 : 4:34:47 PM
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This is a folder to discuss the ins and outs of being your child's most accessible playmate; what it's like to be a twosome most of the time; a place to share the struggles and challenges and the joyful happenings.
Whether it's your last child to leave the nest or your first and only, unschooling with him is different from having a houseful.
Let's talk about it.
Karen |
Edited by - Tuckervill on May 14 2005 10:24:01 PM |
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mousie
USA
52 Posts |
Posted - Jan 13 2005 : 6:49:39 PM
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Hello,
My 9yo son is an only child (so far). There are lots of homeschooling families in my area, but no unschoolers (that I have found). Most of my son's friends are public schooled or are school at home types. I would love for him to find some unschooled friends.
Katy |
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Sandra Dodd
USA
1418 Posts |
Posted - Jan 19 2005 : 09:32:12 AM
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Someone just stirred my awareness of this article this morning. It's called Leaning on a Truck, and could be really useful for parents of older kids and onlies who find it awkward to say "SO. Let's do something," or "Do you want to talk?"
/truck
Sandra Dodd
/unschooling
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Kara
65 Posts |
Posted - Mar 06 2005 : 07:37:39 AM
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We have a somewhat unique situation. I have three step-children, aged 22, 19, and 17. The girl (or woman, rather), 22, lives nearby and we see her once or twice a week. Sometimes my daughter stays with my stepd for a "sleepover."
The young men, 19 and 17, come visit us from the States about three or four times a year.
So, in a sense, my child is an only child at home. And we have those issues to consider. But she also has the benefit of family and can experience the family dynamic. |
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skreams
54 Posts |
Posted - Apr 14 2005 : 12:48:03 PM
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>>I would love to have a topic for unschooling empty nesters, if there was enough interest.
**Feel free to start a new topic. If you build it, they will come  . ~Rue |
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Sandra Dodd
USA
1418 Posts |
Posted - Apr 20 2005 : 6:41:38 PM
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-=-My granddaughter is 15 and is always bored.-=-
/BoredNoMore
Your responses to her claims of boredom could make a lot of difference.
She says she wants to do more math and english but balks at anything resembling regimentation. Does anyone know of some sites on the computer that will enlist her interest?-=-
Math and English don't need to "be done."
Instead of looking for computer sites, why not just hang out with her more yourself? Watch movies. Go places. Look things up on the computer yourself and maybe she'll get more interested, or you'll find some really good stuff she'll like. My kids love a site called
ebaumsworld.com
Here are some ideas:
/checklists
/truck
/museum
-= Does anyone know how to get her more interested in meeting others. She has been very adament about not forming new friendships -=-
When she is interested she'll want to meet others. While she's still distrustful, she won't.
If you spend your own energy making your relationship with her really solid and loving, that will be better for her than if you pressure her to get out, make friends, or find engaging websites.
She wants to be with you, right? Be with her. These days will pass too quickly and she'll be gone.
Sandra Dodd
/unschooling
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Alyssa
24 Posts |
Posted - Apr 21 2005 : 08:39:42 AM
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Hey all... I'm an unschooling.com lurker coming over to join in here :)
Up until now I've been a single mom to a wonderful 3.5 year old boy, who has been in preschool (a very relaxed "free school" actually) while I've been struggling through college. I had my son when I was 16 and was convinced that without a HS diploma and a college degree I'd be a failure (your "average teen mom" and all that...), but anyway, long story short... From attachment parenting I stumbled upon and read about democratic education (my son's school), which got me into homeschooling which got me into unschooling...
So, I'm happy (THRILLED!) to say that this will be my last semester of college. I'm getting married in June and will be staying home to unschool my little boy. Can't wait!
Alyssa |
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Sandra Dodd
USA
1418 Posts |
Posted - Apr 21 2005 : 12:44:03 PM
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Best wishes, Alyssa! I hope the wedding and the blending and the happy new life are great for all of you!
Sandra Dodd
/unschooling
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Tuckervill
USA
214 Posts |
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Sandra Dodd
USA
1418 Posts |
Posted - Apr 26 2005 : 2:02:44 PM
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If she's playing Neopets and sending IMs or e-mails, she's not alone. She communicating with other humans in real time.
For hundreds of years past, someone has been considered QUITE social and sociable if he or she wrote letters every day, and received responses, and carried on correspondences with people in other parts of the world. There are collections of letters published, and they make up a lot of historical knowledge, especially now that historians are moving more toward social history than military and political history. No one would have told those prolific letter writers to get out and meet people. They were meeting people.
I have a friend my age whose parents were missionaries in Pakistan in the 1960's and 70's (maybe earlier, I just know stories from those times). They were poor, and stationed in one place, so they weren't travelling the world. They were doing their jobs where they had been planted. But his dad corresponded with J.R.R. Tolkien about languages and literature and history. For someone living in Pakistan, that is quite a bit of "getting out."
Those letters took weeks to arrive.
In the past two days, Holly has corresponded with kids in at least three different countries, and they have their photos on a gamers' page so they can see what their correspondents look like too, and there are photos of them (ideally, some not all) playing on their gaming systems where they sit, and of their rooms or houses. That's not isolation.
Sandra Dodd
/unschooling
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Sandra Dodd
USA
1418 Posts |
Posted - Apr 28 2005 : 11:39:10 AM
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-=-The truck article was wonderful, but I guess I must have been too computered out to thank you when I first read it, Sandra. ;)-=-
That's one of my favorites. That and Moving a Puddle.
I don't remember you being rude about a link, and if you were it didn't matter; it's okay. The article just sits there for when people need it or get it.
/truck (Leaning on a Truck)
/puddle (Moving a Puddle)
Sandra Dodd
/unschooling
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Edited by - Sandra Dodd on Apr 28 2005 11:41:19 AM |
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Sandra Dodd
USA
1418 Posts |
Posted - Feb 06 2006 : 6:14:20 PM
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-=- I am realizing the best way to help her learn about the world is to be interested in the world around me. -=-
That's a good quote!!
I'm going to quote you at the UnschoolingDiscussion list.
(Just wanted to let you know. <g>)
Sandra Dodd
/unschooling
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Jenny
USA
166 Posts |
Posted - Mar 16 2006 : 1:00:30 PM
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"We chose not to de-school around here since he is high functioning autistic and really needs a schedule/routine. Instead, I thought we'd just take it easy, but then I'm in a panic that he's not learning enough math, English, history so he's doing okay, it's me that needs the de-schooling."
Definitely keep reading here, but you also might like checking out this link...
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/shinewithunschooling/
and...
http://www.livingjoyfully.ca/anneo/I_Am_What_I_Am.htm
The second one is on the above yahoo groups site, but it's a beautiful piece and I wanted to make sure you didn't miss it! |
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Sandra Dodd
USA
1418 Posts |
Posted - Mar 16 2006 : 7:09:31 PM
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-=-We chose not to de-school around here since he is high functioning autistic and really needs a schedule/routine. Instead, I thought we'd just take it easy, but then I'm in a panic that he's not learning enough math, English, history so he's doing okay, it's me that needs the de-schooling.
-=-
School says kids need routines, but it's not necessarily so.
Psychologists, whose business it is is to help kids function in and with school say kids need routines, but it's not necessarily so.
/deschooling
There are several people's takes on what deschooling is and what it's good for there.
Sandra Dodd
/unschooling
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Kristin
USA
47 Posts |
Posted - Mar 16 2006 : 9:27:48 PM
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Tamara,
I'm replying because I have a son with high functioning autism who has been unschooling for almost 3 years. He's 11 now and he's never needed a routine or schedule. In fact, I think when he was in school he was harmed by the schedule, because he was always told to move on to the next thing.
He has, in the past 6 months, wanted to know what we're doing tomorrow, but that's it. If I say tomorrow we're staying home and you can do what you want he's perfectly happy. If I say tomorrow we're going shopping, to the park and the dentist he's also happy. So while knowing what to expect is good, a strict schedule is unnecessary. |
Edited by - Kristin on Mar 16 2006 9:29:41 PM |
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dragonfly
USA
514 Posts |
Posted - Mar 16 2006 : 10:02:51 PM
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but then I'm in a panic that he's not learning enough math, English, history
We started unschooling when my (oldest) daughter was 9, too. I was worried about math and grammar.
Here are some questions to ask yourself:
1) Enough for whom? Unschoolers learn enough about a gazillion things to satisify themselves, to meet their own goals, to excel in their own lives.
2) Has he been learning those things in school/school-at-home? Has he *really*? (Or has he learned to recite factoids that have no meaning for him?)
3) Does he love learning about those things in school/school-at-home? Does he have FUN with them, does he SMILE when he talks about them, does he beg for MORE? Unschoolers do!! Because they pursue what interests them, often in much greater detail than any school would contemplate offering.
so he's doing okay, it's me that needs the de-schooling
Very true. The kids recover faster than we do! :-) But hang in there, it's worth it! You'll find the whole world opening up to you *and* your son.
Welcome!
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Welcome to Unschooling an Only!
