cowspotz3 <[email protected]>

Hello,
I can tell by the posts that "school-at-homers" are not well
received? I am here because I desperately want to unschool. I have
been homeschooling for 6 years now. We are bored, bored, bored. My
husband doesn't understand unschooling and is opposed. Also, I'm
not sure how to make it work with state laws and such. Anyway, I'm
looking forward to drawing from the wealth of knowledge and
experience of this group!

Karen
(mom to Whitney 4/9/90, Jared 9/17/95, & Riley 7/10/02)

Joylyn

I don't wish to speak out of turn, but fromwhat I understand, this list
is a safe place for people who already unschool. There are lists for
people who want to learn more about unschooling whiel they continue to
school at home. That said, personally I don't care one way or another.

Joylyn

cowspotz3 wrote:

> Hello,
> I can tell by the posts that "school-at-homers" are not well
> received? I am here because I desperately want to unschool. I have
> been homeschooling for 6 years now. We are bored, bored, bored. My
> husband doesn't understand unschooling and is opposed. Also, I'm
> not sure how to make it work with state laws and such. Anyway, I'm
> looking forward to drawing from the wealth of knowledge and
> experience of this group!
>
> Karen
> (mom to Whitney 4/9/90, Jared 9/17/95, & Riley 7/10/02)
>
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> [email protected]
>
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service
> <http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/>.

[email protected]

In a message dated 2/5/2003 1:10:21 AM Eastern Standard Time,
cowspotz@... writes:>
> I can tell by the posts that "school-at-homers" are not well
> received? I am here because I desperately want to unschool. I have
> been homeschooling for 6 years now. We are bored, bored, bored. My
> husband doesn't understand unschooling and is opposed. Also, I'm
> not sure how to make it work with state laws and such. Anyway, I'm
> looking forward to drawing from the wealth of knowledge and
> experience of this group!

Karen,

This is really a list for folks who already "get it"---veteran unschoolers.
You're certainly welcome here, but there are a couple of other places where
you might feel a bit more comfortable with a lot of questions. The essays and
message boards at unschooling.com and the e-list,
[email protected].

As for state laws, which state are you in? It can work in every state, but
you might need to be "creative" in some! <G>

~Kelly


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

[email protected]

In a message dated 2/4/03 11:10:21 PM, cowspotz@... writes:

<< I have
been homeschooling for 6 years now. We are bored, bored, bored. >>

That's not so bad. Just bored without reports of crying, threats, deep
sorrow, hating history, refusing to read, nightmares, loss of affection?
You guys did really well with school-at-home! <bwg>

<<My husband doesn't understand unschooling and is opposed. >>

At www.unschooling.com (the parent forum of this list) there is discussion of
reluctant spouses.

<<Also, I'm not sure how to make it work with state laws and such. >>

There are unschoolers making it work in every state. A couple are famously
irritating (Pennsylvania, New York, Florida, and a few others have
peculiarities but also have trailblazers to follow), but most are simple.

I think the hardest part of that change for some families is the kids
thinking the mom's losing it. Depending how much verbal defense the mom did
of structure and pressure to perform on schedule, and depending what kinds of
dire alternatives were described to the kids to get them to "do their work,"
the mom might be fighting an uphill battle against a foe with her own voice,
up the side of the mountain of arguments she built. Some don't have it so
hard. If they just said "We're doing this because the curriculum says to,"
although it was a lame answer at the time it's an easy answer to throw over
completely later!

Sandra

[email protected]

In a message dated 2/5/03 12:53:00 AM, SandraDodd@... writes:

<< At www.unschooling.com (the parent forum of this list) there is discussion
of
reluctant spouses. >>

There it is. Proof that I don't look at who writes OR where it's written!

REVISION:
<<At www.unschooling.com there is discussion of reluctant spouses. >>

Now it's true.

Sandra
Listowner

cowspotz3 <[email protected]>

Thanks for the info. Don't worry, I won't bother you with a bunch
of Questions. Really just introducing myself. I will take it
somewhere else.
thanks,
Karen

Jason & Stephanie

Hello,
I joined over a week ago and have been following the conversations, trying to get a feel for the group. I thought I would come out of lurker mode, although I may not be very active either :) I recognize some names from other unschooling lists.
I'm Stephanie, we live in highly regulated PA. This is my first year to deal with the requirements of compulsory age. My oldest son is 8, he is a budding meteorolgist and self taught geography buff. My second son is 5, he is a natural athlete, everything is a sport to him. My dd will be 4 on Saturday, she is smart and headstrong. My baby is almost 16 months, and he is a daredevil and keeps me on my toes.
Stephanie


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

cynthia1854

Hello, My name is Cynthia, I live in Broken Arrow Ok. I have to sons
Derek 14 and Philip 11. We have been on a journey out of P.S. through
Home-schooling and seem to be comming to rest here at un-schooling.
My 14 year old was labeled L.D. since 2nd grade. He just recently
built his own computer (of course with dads help) (he didn't seem to
have any learning problem there!) We recently got a couple of fancy
rats as pets, and lo and behold, at 7:30 this morning he informed his
dad and I that he was going to do some research on rats for an essay
that he WANTS to write. Things are a lot more relaxed around here.
I'm looking forward to reading posts from everyone. Here's some very
interesting reading if any one is interested. At this site you can
read about the history of public education, how it all got started
and why. Thanks for reading this long post, Cynthia
http:www.johntaylorgatto.com/

[email protected]

Hi Cynthia!

John Taylor Gatto's stuff is interesting for northeastern U.S. history (urban
industrial) but it's not as true of Oklahoma, where you are, or New Mexico
where I am.

My grandparents all went to schools in west Texas and SE New Mexico, none of
which fit Gatto's model.

Nothing's as simple as it seems, and the history of formal education is just
as vast as the rest of the world!

<<My 14 year old was labeled L.D. since 2nd grade.>>

How sad. I hope you have stopped mentioning it to him or around him. Labels
like that are so damaging. How long has he been out of school? He was seven
then and is 14 now.

Sandra

Jevareyn ShadowCloud

Hello to all Homeschooler Mums, Dads, Aunts, Uncles, and Grandparents
(and, of course, kids!)

I am new to all of this both the site and homeschooling.

I have a 13 year old daughter who began high school this year and with
various events occurring since she started I have decided to start
homeschooling her.

I did consider doing this for both her and her younger brother 2 years
ago, instead I enrolled them in a different school which was highly
beneficial to them both. My son now in year 6 (QLD grade) has been
identified as a child with many talents and as such he is in a class
that caters for this.

My daughter is another story.

To cut a very long story short my daughter, Amy, began writing and
drawing before she could talk. As a result of this she has written many
stories and pictures to go with her stories and vice versa. As Amy had
speech difficulties early on in life - which was corrected over a course
of 2 1/2 years of intense therapy - her writing and drawing
flourished.

Now I am being told by school 'experts' that she is living in a fanatsy
world, we need to get her a dog and she needs to see a psychologist. All
of this due to her drawings which she continues to do during her time.

Whilst saying all this they then comment on how intelligent she is
but....

Needless to say I had had enough.

So now I am going through the process of getting her registered, trying
to figure out where to start and hopefully meet many like minded people
who have seen and experienced the many benefits of homeschooling.

I have researched till my head hurts so that I get the registration
process correct without too much hassle. I have to wait for her birth
certificate to arrive from interstate (which could take up to 5 weeks)
then begin the new journey of homeschooling...

Many blessings to all,
Tania

Sandra Dodd

-=I have researched till my head hurts so that I get the registration
process correct without too much hassle. I have to wait for her birth
certificate to arrive from interstate (which could take up to 5 weeks)
then begin the new journey of homeschooling...-=-

Check with locals for sure to see how it works in practical terms. It
doesn't seem you should need to leave her in school these five weeks.

If you take her out, what's the worst that happens? They suspend
her? They say she needs to repeat a grade? None of that will matter
if you're going to homeschool her.

http://sandradodd.com/help

There are many ideas for relaxing into unschooling, if that's the way
you decide to go. And if you want a random sampling of what kinds of
things unschoolers end up doing and thinking about, here:
http://sandradodd.com/random

If you like a more organized and scientific approach:
http://joyfullyrejoycing.com

Sandra

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CaSandra

~ Check with locals for sure to see how it works in practical terms.  It 
doesn't seem you should need to leave her in school these five weeks.

If you take her out, what's the worst that happens?  They suspend 
her?  They say she needs to repeat a grade?  None of that will matter 
if you're going to homeschool her.~
 
i think its more of a legal thing for me. i worry about school cops coming after me or something like that. (silly i know) im sill researching and printing off and reading books... to get a feel of stuff.








"I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be right here as long as you need me."
Edward Cullen, Twilight, Chapter 24, p.471

 
 


--- On Tue, 3/24/09, Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...> wrote:


From: Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...>
Subject: Re: [AlwaysLearning] New here
To: [email protected]
Date: Tuesday, March 24, 2009, 10:02 AM


-=I have researched till my head hurts so that I get the registration
process correct without too much hassle. I have to wait for her birth
certificate to arrive from interstate (which could take up to 5 weeks)
then begin the new journey of homeschooling...-=-

Check with locals for sure to see how it works in practical terms.  It 
doesn't seem you should need to leave her in school these five weeks.

If you take her out, what's the worst that happens?  They suspend 
her?  They say she needs to repeat a grade?  None of that will matter 
if you're going to homeschool her.

http://sandradodd.com/help

There are many ideas for relaxing into unschooling, if that's the way 
you decide to go.  And if you want a random sampling of what kinds of 
things unschoolers end up doing and thinking about, here:
http://sandradodd.com/random

If you like a more organized and scientific approach:
http://joyfullyrejoycing.com

Sandra

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



------------------------------------

Yahoo! Groups Links








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

Jenny C

My son now in year 6 (QLD grade) has been
> identified as a child with many talents and as such he is in a class
> that caters for this.
>
> My daughter is another story.
>
>
> Now I am being told by school 'experts' that she is living in a
fanatsy
> world, we need to get her a dog and she needs to see a psychologist.
All
> of this due to her drawings which she continues to do during her time.


Schools can do a lot of damage to kids with "talents". All kids have
talents, schools only recognize and encourage some of them. Your
daughter would be a perfect example. Artists of any kind, in schools,
are a bit marginalized, even if the schools recognize the talent.

I can say, from my own experience, that school did more harm than good
for my art exploration. I learned far more from my dad, than from any
classroom art class.

My oldest daughter, and even me, come to think of it, have been accused
of living in a fantasy world. Well, why not live in my own world? Why
not indulge myself in this regard? It doesn't harm anyone. The only
harm has come from trying to ignore it, my own self exploration, to do
what others see best. No good can come from that.

My daughter hasn't had to undo any of the damage that comes from
ignoring herself and her ideas to meet someone else's. I've encouraged
her fantasy world and have helped it come to life as much as I can.
Sure, she's a little different than most kids her age, 14 going on 15,
but she is who she is and nothing will change that. So, I can harm her
and minimize who she is, or I can support her and encourage who she is.
To me, it's really that simple.

All kids can thrive in an environment that supports them in the
individual ways in which they need it. Schools don't do that nearly as
well as a caring parent that has the time to support their kids.
Unschooling is really trusting that your kids are whole and wonderful
just the way they are, trusting that they will do what they need to do
to get what they want in life. As a parent, who unschools, what we do,
is guide them and help them in whatever way that we can, to ensure that
they do (get what they want and need).

It doesn't sound all that different than parents who have their kids in
school, on the surface. What is profoundly different is the
expectations that an unschooling parent has, which are very different
than school expectations. The focus on the relationship between parent
and child and that trust and respect for the child as a person, really
is what sets unschooling apart.

Looking for ways to change a child who is, in school eyes, needing a
psychologist, is just one of many ways in which schools do damage to
kids. The premise is that there is something wrong with the child, or
in your son's case, something "right" with your child. Neither of these
are a very good measure of a person, the unique individual sitting there
before you. No matter how much schools try to cater to an individual,
they aren't designed to do that, they are designed to turn out a
product. If the child fits the school model for turning out a good
product, like your son does, schools can claim to succeed. But for
every child like your son, there is a child like your daughter.

If you take those same 2 kids and take them out of that system, and help
each of them be the people they are, they can both succeed. There are
no "A" students or "B" students or "F" students, there are only kids
with different minds and abilities, some of them just fit into the
school model better. It says more about the school system than it does
about the child.

Sandra Dodd

-=-i think its more of a legal thing for me. i worry about school cops
coming after me or something like that. (silly i know) im sill
researching and printing off and reading books... to get a feel of
stuff.-=-

If school is harming her in any way, every single day there is another
day from which she'll need to recover.

Sandra

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

Sandra Dodd

-=-My oldest daughter, and even me, come to think of it, have been
accused
of living in a fantasy world. Well, why not live in my own world? Why
not indulge myself in this regard? It doesn't harm anyone-=-

ALL novels, most movies, the most fun paintings, songs, architechture,
sculpture, poetry, are OFTEN about "fantasy" world. What *could* be?

The first iron bridge was "fantasy world." The first rocket was
"fantasy world."

-= The premise is that there is something wrong with the child, or
in your son's case, something "right" with your child. Neither of these
are a very good measure of a person, the unique individual sitting there
before you. No matter how much schools try to cater to an individual,
they aren't designed to do that, they are designed to turn out a
product. -=-

I agree with the first part of that. Labels of any sort do more harm
than good.

Schools are designed to turn out a product, but they KNOW they do
damage to some of the kids in order to identify their "superior"
product. They grade kids, in the worst sense of the word. Some kids
must be graded substandard in order that "Grade A" has "value."

Sandra

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

Jenny C

>
> ALL novels, most movies, the most fun paintings, songs, architechture,
> sculpture, poetry, are OFTEN about "fantasy" world. What *could* be?
>
> The first iron bridge was "fantasy world." The first rocket was
> "fantasy world."

I'm sure that Star Trek inspired it's fair share of scientific
discoveries! It was all someone's fantasy, put out there into the world
for others to share and enjoy.

The same applies to fashion and music and art of all kinds. The
personal visions that are put out and shared with others inspire thought
and other ideas. Everything is connected to everything else!


> -= The premise is that there is something wrong with the child, or
> in your son's case, something "right" with your child. Neither of
these
> are a very good measure of a person, the unique individual sitting
there
> before you. No matter how much schools try to cater to an individual,
> they aren't designed to do that, they are designed to turn out a
> product. -=-
>
> I agree with the first part of that. Labels of any sort do more harm
> than good.
>


Which part is the first part? Just looking for clarity in my own
thinking here! By saying you agree with the first part, are you
disagreeing with the next part?

I was having a hard time puting into words, what I was thinking. I
wrote, then deleted, then wrote and deleted several more times! Puting
thoughts into words sometimes comes easy for me, and sometimes not, I've
been in a not so easy mode lately. It seems to follow with more
clarity, which is a good thing!

Sandra Dodd

-=-I'm sure that Star Trek inspired it's fair share of scientific
discoveries!-=-

Cell phones. <g>


> I agree with the first part of that. Labels of any sort do more harm
> than good.
>
<<Which part is the first part? Just looking for clarity in my own
thinking here! By saying you agree with the first part, are you
disagreeing with the next part?>>

I agree with this part:
-=-The premise is that there is something wrong with the child, or in
your son's case, something "right" with your child. Neither of
these are a very good measure of a person, the unique individual
sitting there before you. -=-


It wasn't really a disagreement with the other part, but a reminder
that when school "turns out a product," there is scrap and extra
material they don't consider their "product."

Sandra




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princesatra

Hi Everyone,
I am new here. I am happy to be here and am looking forward to sharing
and getting support on this journey. I have a daughter who is 9 and
really fell into unschooling this year. We have been homeschooling
since my daughter was old enough for kindergarten. For kindergarten we
did a public charter and into the beginnning of 1st grade. I then
pulled her out of the charter at the beginning of 1st grade and have
been doing it on my own. This is our fourth year homeschooling and my
daughter loves it. I had been meaning to set up a more structured
home school setting for this year and realized we were okay. I have
been feeling a little guilty about not having a more structured day for
her, but I am over the guilt now and would like to continue on this way
and see what happens. Thanks for reading.

Peace and blessings,
Tracey

Sandra Dodd

-=- I am happy to be here and am looking forward to sharing
and getting support on this journey. -=-

I'm happy that you're here, but please read about the list and why we
discourage some kinds of "support."

http://sandradodd.com/lists/alwayslearning
plus the main page of this list at yahoogroups
and
http://sandradodd.com/support

It's not that the list isn't supportive, but it's not a support
list. I know it's an odd thing at first, but please do look at those
links.

There are ideas and encouragement for new unschoolers, too:
http://sandradodd.com/help

If you fell into it (as you say), you probably didn't fall very
gracefully, so it's good to practice walking around in it, to get
confidence!

Sandra

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