zenmomma *

Hi all! I just joined this list and wanted to pop in for a quick intro. My
name is Mary, I'm 41, married and have 2 kids ages 7 and 12. I've been
lurking and reading your discussions for about a week now and I'm LOVING it.
The math discussion has brought up ideas I haven't even begun to explore
yet. I was always great at school math, but never great at connecting it to
the real world. I'm sure all of your brilliant questions and ideas will be
percolating in my brain for a long time.

>>math as
the key to the universe.>>

I wonder if books by Steven Hawking might help with this? Just a thought.

Glad to be here.
~Mary



_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp

Marietta Shirk

Hi everyone, new here. I've just gotten a few messages from the list so far
but this list seems great! We're from WA state, 2 boys (see below). I
joined this group after seeing Sandra's name, I *love* your articles in HEM
Sandra! :)
My 4 1/2 yr old is quite precocious academically and people around me think
that means I should be shoving curriculum down his throat...I think NOT!
lol. He's a very self-motivated learner and I am amazed at the things he is
learning.
I would like to share a little panic that our house is being taken over by
posters, projects, books, maps, etc etc!! I've been doing a little
reorganization which is helping, but I only see it getting "worse" over
time. Is my house doomed? :)

Marietta
Matthew 4 1/2
Alexander 1

[email protected]

In a message dated 2/14/02 11:12:10 AM, mariettashirk@... writes:

<< I *love* your articles in HEM
Sandra! :) >>

Thanks!

Some of those and a few others are linked from sandradodd.com/articles

-=-I only see it getting "worse" over
time. Is my house doomed? :)-=-

Well...
perhaps you should think of it another way.

Your house has been chosen for a special calling, and will be blessed with
enriching treasures.

There! All better?

Sandra

[email protected]

In a message dated 02/14/2002 2:47:22 PM Eastern Standard Time,
[email protected] writes:


> I would like to share a little panic that our house is being taken over by
> posters, projects, books, maps, etc etc!! I've been doing a little
> reorganization which is helping, but I only see it getting "worse" over
> time. Is my house doomed? :)
>
>

Yes, it is.

But it's okay.
Kathryn


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

Mara Winders

Hello list members!

My name is Mara, unschooling mom to three - an 8 YO boy, 6 YO boy and a
3 YO girl.

I have loved the idea of unschooling since I read about it three years
ago when I devoured everything Holt. I have used the approach *for the
most part* even though I have hung onto trying out some T-eaching. It
doesn't usually work at all, so I listen to my kids and back off.

I'm interesting in learning about more hands on activities for my
children. Right now, what they mainly do is read, free imaginative
play, computer adventures, chess, and other games. Because they have
asked, we have set up a drawing class, started Suzuki violin, and a
weekly spanish class we have at our home taught by the mom of one of
their friends. My boys have recently gotten into LEGO kits and seem to
really enjoy building from a set of plans. Anything Harry Potter is
also huge, and makes up a large amount of their imaginative play.

I've been looking at PCS Edventures and the Jason Project. Does anyone
have experience with these programs? I am mostly a book learner and
haven't developed my 'learn by doing' side. I wondered if these
projects would be a good jump off point for us, as we all seem to be
attracted to maths and sciences.

Mara

Lucie Caunter

Welcome Mara,
I'm new to this list also. My sons are 15,15 and 10. They love lego.
When the twins were younger they would work on projects for hours.
Looking back I am almost amassed at the amount of skills and knowledge
they gain just playing lego.
They started enjoying the computer with Sim City 2000. Now they play
all kind of computer adventures and simulations, like civ3. Their free
imaginative play became drama classes (more of a friendly club with a
pro guiding them) where they learned to write, produce and act their own
creation.
I've let go of teaching over the years. I try to listen to clues and
provide assistance to their education needs. I didn't want to school
them. My home has no school room. Our whole house reflects that we
live here full time and educate here all over. Yes even in the
bathroom, as a friend remarked, which is full of magazines and books too.
I am a book learner too. One of the twins is more of a book learner
also. But the other two are doers. The advantage of educating at home
has been that they freely developed their knowledge using their own
talents. Using the whole world as your classroom does work. The twins
are now young inquisitive teenagers, but not half as frustrated as I
remember being (and so were my friends) at their age. The end product (
must there be one) is an independent, free range, life long learner,
happy Sons (in my case). Unschooling does work.
Friendship
Lucie
Mara Winders wrote:

>Hello list members!
>
>My name is Mara, unschooling mom to three - an 8 YO boy, 6 YO boy and a
>3 YO girl.
>
>I have loved the idea of unschooling since I read about it three years
>ago when I devoured everything Holt. I have used the approach *for the
>most part* even though I have hung onto trying out some T-eaching. It
>doesn't usually work at all, so I listen to my kids and back off.
>
>I'm interesting in learning about more hands on activities for my
>children. Right now, what they mainly do is read, free imaginative
>play, computer adventures, chess, and other games. Because they have
>asked, we have set up a drawing class, started Suzuki violin, and a
>weekly spanish class we have at our home taught by the mom of one of
>their friends. My boys have recently gotten into LEGO kits and seem to
>really enjoy building from a set of plans. Anything Harry Potter is
>also huge, and makes up a large amount of their imaginative play.
>
>
>
>

[email protected]

Hello,

My name is Laura my husband Brian and I have three children. They are Dustin
11, Cassidy 3 and Nicholas 11 months.
We live in Maine.



Laura


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

Claudia

Hello!
I'm a newbie to this group and hope to learn a lot from all you
pioneering and most brave parents of unschooling.
I'm a mom of three children, Catie (11), Bernadette Mary Clare (3),
Francis Patrick (2) and a fourth due in about three weeks.

We have been traditionally homeschooling for about four-five years
but am finding it much more difficult with Catie for a myriad of
reasons. Some of it has to do with her focusing ability, her
getting older, the material, and of course - two raving little
maniac toddlers who never sit still.

I guess I need some advice on how to go about "beginning" this whole
process. How do you begin to "unschool"???
I catch myself saying, "Catie, did you do your math? What book are
you doing now?"
Doesn't seem like the way it's supposed to go, does it?

My younger two have absolutely no interest in learning letters,
numbers, etc...
Is there a way to foster a desire in them to want to?

My problem right now is that I am feeling a bit overwhelmed with the
new baby coming - I feel that we can't take a lot of time off from
learning because we already did a lot of that this past Sept. when
my 90 year old grandfather passed away (he was my best friend and I
was his only grandchild).

My backyard is not yet conducive for the toddlers to be back there
playing - we have some landscaping to do and not enough $$.
The weather has been drippy and they've been inside a lot - stir
crazy.
I'm feeling really huge and can't get around very well and just feel
helpless....I'm sure the pregnancy hormones aren't helping! LOL!

I guess I need to get some beginning first-timer pointers from those
of you who are more experienced at all of this.
How do you DO IT with the little kids that don't sit still and
basically just want to bean eachother in the head all day with
blocks????

Sorry for the ramble - I'm just very glad to have found a place to
share.

God Bless!

Claudia
www.padrepiohomeschool.com

[email protected]

In a message dated 12/12/2003 3:27:17 PM Mountain Standard Time,
sanfrancesco@... writes:
-=-How do you DO IT with the little kids that don't sit still and
basically just want to bean eachother in the head all day with
blocks????-=-

Music, movies and comfort food.

When I started homeschooling Kirby was five so... (doing math) Marty was two
and Holly was know to be in there, but wasn't born yet.

-=-I guess I need some advice on how to go about "beginning" this whole
process. How do you begin to "unschool"???
I catch myself saying, "Catie, did you do your math? What book are
you doing now?"
Doesn't seem like the way it's supposed to go, does it?-=-

The greatest changes, at first, will need to be all inside your own self.
When you hear yourself thinking or saying "your math" stop yourself. Math
belongs to everybody. She doesn't need to have any math of her own. And
"doing a book"? Doing WHAT to a book?

Start to dismantle the school you have in your head.

-=-My younger two have absolutely no interest in learning letters,
numbers, etc...
Is there a way to foster a desire in them to want to?-=-

I would rather help you get over the desire to wait impatiently for them to
develop an interest in learning letters, numbers, etc. They'll learn them.
Are you in a hurry?

Do they like Seasme Street? Do you have the kid-tape called "Sounds Like
Fun"? My kids liked that one alot when they were little. It used to come from
Discovery Toys, but I see them used here and there.

-=-I feel that we can't take a lot of time off from
learning because we already did a lot of that this past Sept. when
my 90 year old grandfather passed away -=-

I'm sorry to hear about your grandfather's passing. That must've been rough
for everyone. But I bet they kept learning. Unschooling is about seeing the
learning everywhere, and not sorting life into learning days and
non-learning.

There are lots of things I've already written that might be helpful. Sorry
to seem lazy about it, but if I tried to say it again I probably wouldn't say
it as well anyway.

http://sandradodd.com/articles


Sandra


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

Janet

Thought I would send an intro since I've now posted twice in two days (a lot
for me).



I'm Janet and been married to Tim for 21 years this June. We have 5
daughters: Hannah 16, Rachael 14, Abra 8, and Abby and BG 5. Outside of
Hannah being in a private preschool and public kindergarten, they've always
been. The two oldest have toyed with going to school but right now say they
are content being home.



When we first started homeschooling, the only homeschoolers I knew were
pretty traditional (textbook), the most relaxed ones using unit studies.
But all I knew were very authoritative, rule oriented parents. I never did
quite fit in. Early on I heard about unschoolers but everything I read
seemed centered around academics, not parenting. It seemed like part of the
whole picture missing something. I came across radical unschooling on a
traditional homeschool message board where they were ripping it up one side
and down the other. I followed some links and found Sandra's site. That's
when the whole picture started coming together for me. I've been very
challenged at times.



Radical unschooling is radical. For me it has required an open mind and a
willingness to throw out those things that I'd accepted as truths. I've
discussed radical unschooling with a few friends, and I see how hard it is
for people to get their minds around it. Parents want to feel important and
in control. When I talk about letting go of controls and being a partner (I
love that idea) all they can see is that their role is diminished. Well
then, what do they need parents for? It's hard to get past that. I didn't
want that adversarial relationship with my children which I think is
unadvoidable (from what I've witnessed) in the traditional parent
(authoritative/rule maker/enforcer) - children (obedient/submissive) type
family. As we've let go of controls, our relationship with our children has
blossomed. I'm not their adversary that they have to figure out a way to
get around. We work together, they come to me, I actually feel more
important and needed than before when we had rules (and we never had a lot
at that). Our life is so much more joyful. I like my children. They are
really neat, unique people. I like being around them. And they certainly
act like they like their dad and me. I believe they do. For me, that's
been the best treasure of radical unschooling.



Janet



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

lilith_pouia

I've been saying i would do this and haven't and now a few of you have
mentioned that you don't know the ages of my children. So here you are.
Lilith is my internet handle. I am 24 years old, and married for a
year to a man who is not my children's biological father. He has been
raising them with me for the past four years. I started having
children at a young age, 17. My two sons are ages 7 years and 4 years.
I am currently due to give birth to my third son( who is DH's boy) in
about a week. We live in Texas. I decided to home school before my
first son was born because i saw lots of things wrong with public
learning institutions from my own experiences. I dropped out of high
school when i was 16 because i had been suspended for a whole semester
for dying my hair against the schools rules and refusing to change it
back. I have homeschooled in a partially structured way with my older
son, but have tried finding ways to get away from that structure. I
came across the idea of unschooling a while back, but didn't jump
right in because of the lack of support from the rest of my family,
particularly my mother, who fusses at me constantly about him not
being on par with other children his age. I'm taking leaps and bounds
to try doing things differently now with or without her support.
Fortunately for me my husband and i see eye to eye about it and i have
his support which should really matter a lot more anyway. Yes i know i
have a problem with run on sentences. I try, but tend to write how i
talk. :)

Matt & Debbie Hudson

I'm Debbie. I live in Hong Kong with my husband and two daughters, aged two
and four. I like the idea of unschooling very much so I've been lurking. I
have a few questions. Here's the first one.

Do any of you unschoolers live overseas? Any comments on pros and cons?

-Debbie

Sandra Dodd

On May 24, 2006, at 4:53 PM, Matt & Debbie Hudson wrote:

> Do any of you unschoolers live overseas? Any comments on pros and
> cons?

The list isn't exclusively North America, so "overseas" won't work. <g>

http://sandradodd.com/unschoolingotherwise
http://sandradodd.com/local

Both of those pages have lots of sites.

Sandra

Libby Paulin

Hello everyone,
My name is Libby, and I live in Aotearoa/New Zealand. I've ben a lurker on
this group for a few months. (I'm cross-posting this to Always Unschooled
and Always Learning as it is relevant to both groups). My family (dp, ds1
5.25yrs, ds2 2.75yrs) and I live in a house bus. The event of my eldest
child approaching the age of 5 lead me to this group. Homeschooling is what
we decided we were going to do, and was also the only practical option given
the gypsy nature of our life. So I began to explore the topic. I found that
there is more than one type of homeschooling! I found unschooling! I found
radical unschooling! (I won't use this term again, promise <g>). This last I
found first at the RUA group in New Zealand. A member there posted a
recommendation of Sandra's website and that was my start, there and Joyce's.
Another post pointed me to this group (and the always unschooled group) and
so began my indepth awakening to natural learning/unschooling.

I have learnt so much from reading all the posts. I have just caught up with
a backlog of posts (due to disruption to my routine over Xmas/New Year
hols)! I was almost overwhelmed by the number of digests I had to read but I
didn't want to delete any of them just in case there was something I really
needed to know in there! It sems that every question I have had so far has
been answered in the posts.

I am excited to say I have had an epiphany! Someone (I think it was Danielle
on Always Unschooled but I'm not sure) wrote something just recently which
had the words
'behaviour is communication' in it. This phrase has been reverberating
around in my head and shedding much light in dark places in there. It has
helped sooo much with the way I intereact with my two little people. I have
also been interested in how others deal with their frustration/anger as
that's one of my big issues. My mother was/is a 'rageaholic' and I struggle
to stay away from that path. Yesterday was a tough day for several reasons
and I lost it with my children 3 times and I'm sooo ashamed. I'm an adult
and I should be able to deal with my stuff better than this.
Any strategies/BTDT much appreciated.

Libby
Aotearoa/New Zealand

diana jenner

On Feb 8, 2008 8:46 PM, Libby Paulin <ejp@...> wrote:

> I have
> also been interested in how others deal with their frustration/anger as
> that's one of my big issues. My mother was/is a 'rageaholic' and I
> struggle
> to stay away from that path. Yesterday was a tough day for several reasons
> and I lost it with my children 3 times and I'm sooo ashamed. I'm an adult
> and I should be able to deal with my stuff better than this.
> Any strategies/BTDT much appreciated.
>






>
>


I strongly recommend Parenting Peacefully at Sandra's site at the bottom of
this page:
http://sandradodd.com/parentingpeacefully
Not only do I recommend listening on a regular basis, until it becomes part
of your mind's running soundtrack, I also like to have it turned on, on
those days when I'm especially on edge (my straw needs to be unloaded), just
to hear Sandra's voice in my house, like she's over for a visit so I'm on my
best mommy behavior :D
--
~diana :)
xoxoxoxo
hannahbearski.blogspot.com


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

Lara Miller

Hi Libby! We also live in an RV and have been traveling for almost a
year and plan on maybe a year more. We are thinking on going to
spent next winter (your summer) in New Zealand! Great to have a
contact there and know that there is an unschooling group there!

Blessings,

Lara Miller
Currently in Sunny Orlando, FL!
http://www.mytripjournal.com/millerfamily




On Feb 8, 2008, at 11:46 PM, Libby Paulin wrote:

> Hello everyone,
> My name is Libby, and I live in Aotearoa/New Zealand. I've ben a
> lurker on
> this group for a few months. (I'm cross-posting this to Always
> Unschooled
> and Always Learning as it is relevant to both groups). My family
> (dp, ds1
> 5.25yrs, ds2 2.75yrs) and I live in a house bus. The event of my
> eldest
> child approaching the age of 5 lead me to this group. Homeschooling
> is what
> we decided we were going to do, and was also the only practical
> option given
> the gypsy nature of our life. So I began to explore the topic. I
> found that
> there is more than one type of homeschooling! I found unschooling!
> I found
> radical unschooling! (I won't use this term again, promise <g>).
> This last I
> found first at the RUA group in New Zealand. A member there posted a
> recommendation of Sandra's website and that was my start, there and
> Joyce's.
> Another post pointed me to this group (and the always unschooled
> group) and
> so began my indepth awakening to natural learning/unschooling.
>



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

Lara Miller

Harmony - what a small world! I "know" of your parents through a
Families on the Road group I am part of! I have been to their
website before and they even inspired me to stop and take all of our
"Welcome to whatever state" pictures! How cool....

Blessings,

Lara Miller
Currently in Sunny Bradenton, FL!
http://www.mytripjournal.com/millerfamily




On Feb 9, 2008, at 10:56 AM, harmony wrote:

> Traveling is a great learning adventury. Here is my dad's website.
> www.roadschool.com It hasnt' been updated in a year. My brothers
> are now 16 and 19. The 16 year old spent last year in school (some
> type of home study program) he graduated and is now in college. The
> 19 year old is remodeling a house. This website has a lot of
> history and geography. It's a very fun lifestyle. My dad naturyally
> was an unschooling parent. Always finding ways to "teach" us about
> something. He made it fun and interesting...unfortunately he never
> considered homeschooling until I was 18.
> harmony
>



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

Sandra Dodd

-=-I found
radical unschooling! (I won't use this term again, promise <g>).-=-



The term written out in full doesn't bother me at all. Calling it RU
does. It might be just me, but this is just my list. <g>

I'm in the SCA, and it's too hard to say "The Society for Creative
Anachronism" all the time, so most people in the S-C-A- say "the Ess
See Aee" (however that would be spelled out), but there are some
other places where a smaller number of people pronounce it "sca" and
it sounds like the "a" in "scab" and it's just nasty. So they talk
about their "sca armor" and it sounds like "skahmer" and their
"scanames" and it can be very offputting to people they talk to (even
those who know what they're talking about, but especially to people
outside the club who might possibly have been interested in learning
more).

Knowing as we all do that "unschooling" itself can cause some recoil
in an unknowing audience, there are major problems with RU. Either
it's pronounced to sound like "are you" or "rue," and both are awful.

(So... but to the real post) Good! Welcome to the group.

I love to hear about epiphanies. I collect them here:

http://sandradodd.com/unschool/gettingit

There are things in here that apply to more than just boredom, as to
non-verbal communication, or verbal communication that parents might
should interpret less literally:

http://sandradodd.com/BoredNoMore

and here's Deb Lewis's List of Things to Do in the Winter (and it's
not winter in New Zealand, but some would work anyway)

As you experienced at the mall, often the mom-frustration is lessened
by being out away from the house. We found that visiting with
relatives in public places was much less stressful than our house or
theirs, too.

Sandra

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

Rue Kream

>>Either it's pronounced to sound like "are you" or "rue," and both are
awful.

**I never thought the second one was all that bad <G>. ~Rue


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

Sandra Dodd

-=**I never thought the second one was all that bad <G>. ~Rue-=-

Well nobody rues you (that I know of; haven't interviewed all high
school dates), but people shouldn't be rue-ing their children.
(Unless they think of it as mothering-as-Rue-does, and that's just
WAY too convoluted to explain in a "Hi, why aren't your kids in
school?" conversation.)



Sandra

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

cathyandgarth

Hi all,

I have posted a couple suggestions so I thought I would go ahead and
introduce myself -- especially since I noticed another Cathy
introduced herself as well -- could be confusing <g> since there are
not so many of us 'C' Cathys.

So I am Cathy L, in Estes Park Colorado. I was on this list about 3
years ago and was totally confronted and overwhelmed by the
discussions (and then a little rude *blush* - thanks for your
patience Sandra). With three young children I decided I had
better 'start' at the AU board. Recently I have been wanting to get
more insight into some of the older kid stuff ... and after talking
with a couple of friends who participate and lurk on this list I
thought maybe it was time to come back over here. The thread about
disrepect was great, some of my ponderings were addressed witout me
ever having to speak up.

I am married to Garth and we have two sons, Quin, who is 8.5yo, and
Zach, who is 3.5yo, and a daughter, Maggie, who turned 6 in January.
I admit I am totally biased, but they are awesome!

Quin is into video games (gamecube and wii) and karate, and he has
very eclectic taste in movies (for example, he will watch a
documentary ten times in a row and switch to Pokemon x 5 and and then
House of the Flying Daggers, then Handy Manny) -- he enjoys media
entertainment fully! Food is way down on his priority list ... he
has been teaching me a lot about trust.

Maggie is into arts and crafts, is teaching herself to read by making
art out of words, and loves singing and dancing and gymnastics. She
has a closet full of dress up clothes and is right now letting me
know that this is taking too long -- she has been ready since
yesterday to go to the local thrift store to find some more dress up
treasures. She tends to be more emotionally sensitive ... she has
been teaching me a lot about the power of language and the importance
of validation.

Zach is, I don't know how to describe him, he is just one of those
kids that is generally happy and easy going, which isn't to say that
he isn't really good at expressing his emotions, letting his family
members and friends know when they have made him mad or frustrated or
happy or sad. He will tell you he is three, but clearly believes
that it means nothing since he is *obviously* the same age as his
siblings. Zach is the one whose existence somehow led me to
unschooling, one of those cool and totally convoluted paths that
makes you believe that everything really does happen for a reason.

I guess that is more and less than anyone needs to know, looking
forward to soaking in the wisdom of this list.

Thanks,
Cathy in CO

Sandra Dodd

-=-So I am Cathy L, in Estes Park Colorado. I was on this list about 3
years ago and was totally confronted and overwhelmed by the
discussions (and then a little rude *blush* - thanks for your
patience Sandra). -=-

Hey, it snowed at your house maybe?

From having three kids and the many too-long-a-story experiences
even before then, I know that confrontation, overwhelmedness and
rudeness are part of the way some people learn. It doesn't faze
me. Being cursed to hell makes me laugh, and being threatened by my
own karma was a gift to keep. If you weren't this rude, don't feel bad:



Sandra,

I read your entire website before I subscribed to the list. If all
you can do is refer people to read more material � you cannot help
me. If I wanted to read more about unschooling information I would
buy a book. I have read everything I could get a hold of. What I need
is rewording of everyday situations. I spend almost all day everyday
with my children, how dare you imply that I don�t spend enough time
with my children. My computer sits in the mainstream of our life and
we all spend a good deal of time on it �

You know what it doesn�t matter any more I don�t need to explain
myself to you. I have unsubscribed from your fucking list. I am sick
of your high and mighty attitude. The controlling nature of this list
is more then my unschooling mind can understand. You are closed
minded and I truly hope karma smites you and yours.

=============================

All I was doing was asking her (again) to remove the advertisements
from her sigline. Other moderators (on a different list) had asked
her to, too, but I don't think she cursed them with smiting. It
didn't scare me or hurt my feelings.

I wondered what book it was she would buy if she wanted to learn more
about unschooling.

And I wondered how she had read my entire website. I can't even FIND
all of "my entire website."

But unfortunately for her, karma doesn't work like "go to hell" works
(and that's never worked very well anyway, unless the pope or a
bishop said it to someone who really believed they had the back-stage
passes in hand).



So here it is, the years are passing, hell is doing whatever it's
doing, karma's doing what it does, I'm doing what I do, and people of
all ages are still learning in their own ways all around me, and far
away from me.



Sandra







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

cathyandgarth

--- In [email protected], Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...> wrote:
>
> Hey, it snowed at your house maybe?
>

Yeh, I think that we are bypassing spring this year. I am SO ready for
spring or summer or any kind of weather that includes sunshine and 60+
degrees. My kids got fed up with waiting and, inspite of the wind and
cool temps have spent the last couple of weeks playing in the sprinkler
and using the hose to build a canal and reservoir in the back yard. I
go out to help in my fleece and they are in their shorts, soaking wet.

>
> If you weren't this rude, don't feel bad:
>

Okay, well, that makes me feel like a softy <g>.
Cathy

Bob Collier

--- In [email protected], Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...> wrote:
>
>
> But unfortunately for her, karma doesn't work like "go to hell" works
> (and that's never worked very well anyway, unless the pope or a
> bishop said it to someone who really believed they had the back-stage
> passes in hand).
>
>
>


LOL

Reminded me of Randy Cassingham's Get Out Of Hell Free cards:

http://www.goohf.com/

Bob

Sandra Dodd

-=-Reminded me of Randy Cassingham's Get Out Of Hell Free cards:

http://www.goohf.com/



Those are great!! I got some when my kids were little and supplied
them all with some when they were first old enough to have wallets.
They're good for leaving people your phone number and such daily
uses, even if you don't need to defend from hostile insult.



Sandra

[email protected]

Hello, I am new to this list. My name is Heidi and I will be unschooling my 7 yod in the fall. She is in a little school this year. She is actually our only child that has been in elementary school. We unhomeschooled our five older children until they chose to go to school. My oldest never went to school and will be graduating from college in June, the second went (when she learned to read ) at ninth grade and in currently in college, our third has been playing professional hockey so he is just attending full time this year as a junior in high school, the other two went in this year as 7 and 9th grades. I was also able to homeschool our 14yo foster daughter after she had her baby. I was surprised at how supportive the state was about unschooling her and letting her be with her baby. She is now 18 and in college also.
I learned about homeschooling in Canada in the late 80's. We decided then that this was the life we wanted for our family. I learned from "Growing Without Schooling," John Holt and all of the wonderful authors from that magazine. We loved it and living in the country provided endless opportunities for play, creativity and meaningful work. We unexpectedly got pregnant with #7 last year. He is seven months and I am starting to feel like my head is starting to float to the top.
I hope to get motivated again by this group and also will be attending Life is Good in Vancouver, WA. It will be strange for me to unschool a single child with a much younger sibling in tow. I imagine it will be a totally new experience for me. I am feeling a bit nervous because it seems like something we are doing rather than just who we are. My continuum was broken by sending her to school and I am wondering how hard it will be to deschool her.
Looking forward to being here and participating.
Heidi



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

Lyla Wolfenstein

heidi! it is SO great to see you here!

love, lyla

- Original Message -----
From: hapetrino@...
To: [email protected]
Sent: Tuesday, May 20, 2008 11:14 PM
Subject: [SPAM][AlwaysLearning] Intro


Hello, I am new to this list. My name is Heidi and I will be unschooling my 7 yod in the fall.
.


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

Jenny C

If I get the math right, your kids are about 7 yrs apart? Mine are
too. I only have 2. It has it's positives and negatives. One
awesome positive is that having a totally unschooled teenager helps
us all get along. She's much much nicer to her little sister than
most teens would be to their much younger siblings. They aren't play
mates by any means, but they do stuff together anyway.

My teen makes for an awesome sitter, and helper, and mediator. My
youngest isn't the easiest person to live with, as awesome as she
is! It has also helped her get a nice sitting job, with that
experience of watching her little sister on occasion for the last 2
yrs. My younger daughter has the benefit of really knowing how to
hold her own in the company of older people, largely from always
being around older people. It doesn't make her less of a 6 1/2 yr
old, just one who has a different understanding than a 6 yr old that
only hangs with others her own age.

The single hardest thing all along has been finding mutual activities
for all of the family because of the age difference. We've done it
for the most part, but it takes a lot more thought, then if we had 2
kids close in age.

Nina

Hi

I am not unschooling at the moment although we do take a relaxed
approach to homeschooling. However having had a baby earlier in the
year and hs 3 older kids has made me burn out and am wanting to learn
more about unschooling so that i can consider it.

Blessings

Nina