Rodney and Rebecca Atherton

My son, who was relaxed homeschooled all of his life, is trying out public
school for the first time in his life this year. I really want him to come
back home next year - I've seen the attitude change - and I was trying to
think of an incentive. He loves Diablo II. Do any of you have children who
play Diablo II? I was thinking he could do that until he beats the darn
game and can move on to something else. That would be my incentive.



Also, are there any unschool discussion groups for children? I think if he
could find a group like that he might enjoy being at home - gaming.



Thanks!



P.S. I heard an interview with Sandra Dodd and it was really eye-opening!
It was on the radio free school?



<http://www.geocities.com/rebeccawow.geo> Rebecca

Too often we give children answers to remember rather than problems to
solve. -Roger Lewin







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[email protected]

In a message dated 4/3/05 9:17:18 AM, rebeccawow@... writes:

<< I really want him to come
back home next year - I've seen the attitude change - and I was trying to
think of an incentive. >>

If he wants to come home, why should he have to wait until next year?

But if he doesn't want to come home, and he came home for a video game, would
that really be enough?

-=-
Also, are there any unschool discussion groups for children? I think if he
could find a group like that he might enjoy being at home - gaming. -=-

There's an unschooler gamer list (I don't know of real-time chats, but a
mailing list) and it's linked on this page:
http://sandradodd.com/lists/other
along with the UnschoolingBasics list which might be good for you, if you
really want to move toward purer unschooling.

Why don't you just buy him the game now, and let him know about that list?
But other lists or message boards for Diablo II players (regardless of whether
they homeschool) might be even better.

If learning and happiness are high on your list of priorities, and the game
could provide any of that, it's probably worth getting. Maybe it will make him
wish he didn't have school. Maybe not. But to use it as a prize for
quitting school doesn't seem right and good to me. In its absence (if he wants it)
you add a punishment for his being in school.

Just in case you haven't considered other ways to deal with his being in
school:
http://sandradodd.com/schoolchoice

Sandra

Rodney and Rebecca Atherton

>Why don't you just buy him the game now, and let him know about that list?



Thanks for all the advice and links! He was excited to learn that there was
actually a list like that.



Sorry I wasn't very detailed. He has the game, Diablo II, and has been
playing it all year in his spare time. He was even waking up at 5:00am to
play it before school started each morning. This is my son who slept until
noon for most of his life! (He had never been to school) I want him to
beat Diablo already so that he can move on to something else. He has
learned so much from playing this game: looking up cheats, downloading and
installing programs to help him move up levels, and he even made a web page
about games that he likes. I want him to come home so that he can continue
to learn, but it was his idea to try out public school and I thought I would
make him do one year. He enjoys school, but he enjoyed home too.



I also want him to come back home because we used to travel when we all were
on the same schedule. My husband does shift work and has seven consecutive
days off each month! (if he takes three days off, he ends up with 14
consecutive days off!) We have not been able to just pick up and go since
he is trying out public school. My son sees pros and cons for with both
settings; public and home. He likes public school some days and he wants to
return home on others. I just tried to help in that decision by telling him
that if he came home, he could play his game more and maybe even meet some
kids who play too.



I did want him to put in ONE year of public school, since it was his idea to
try it out. I didn't want him to go back and forth in his mind. This
public school experience DEMYSTIFIED the whole public school concept in his
mind and he knows he was never missing out on anything. But this has been
the most inactive year of our family life because of the school's schedule!




What he loves most about school: report cards (He has no negative
association with them so he thinks they are exciting and new! We never
tested or kept grades, except at his request in third grade.)



Thanks for letting me vent.









<http://www.geocities.com/rebeccawow.geo> Rebecca

Too often we give children answers to remember rather than problems to
solve. -Roger Lewin







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

[email protected]

In a message dated 4/3/2005 8:48:39 PM Mountain Daylight Time,
rebeccawow@... writes:

I want him to
beat Diablo already so that he can move on to something else.


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

Why?




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