Strewing for teenagers ....
healthunlimited1
I am very interested in "hearing" how some of you practice strewing for your older children -
teenagers to be more specific. Strewing was brought up in another thread and it just got me
to thinking. That is an area that I really need to improve on - well and just provide a richer
environment for my 15 year ds. Without going into unnecessary details our family is just
coming out of a very stressful lengthy time in our lives and we are ready for (and actually
need) more fun and enrichment in our lives. Hmmm.... I'm realizing that I just went from the
strewing idea for my ds to what our family needs. We've been in the grind of life for so long
that even when we want to do something fun we don't know what to do. That is sooo sad. I
think I need to make that my mission ... to lighten things up around here. BUT .. maybe
that's why I have trouble with strewing as well. I want to "strew" but usually what I come up
with is of little interest to ds probably because my idea of strewing is bringing home books
from the library to "strew" about. Well... that's fine except my ds is not a book guy. If it
looks fun and interesting he might thumb through it a bit but that as far as it goes ... which is
fine. But... there is so much more to life. Can anyone help me here ... shed some light... give
me a starting point? My ds is a drummer and WoW kind of person. Those are his interests
along with fitness.
Thanks! ~~~ Shileen
teenagers to be more specific. Strewing was brought up in another thread and it just got me
to thinking. That is an area that I really need to improve on - well and just provide a richer
environment for my 15 year ds. Without going into unnecessary details our family is just
coming out of a very stressful lengthy time in our lives and we are ready for (and actually
need) more fun and enrichment in our lives. Hmmm.... I'm realizing that I just went from the
strewing idea for my ds to what our family needs. We've been in the grind of life for so long
that even when we want to do something fun we don't know what to do. That is sooo sad. I
think I need to make that my mission ... to lighten things up around here. BUT .. maybe
that's why I have trouble with strewing as well. I want to "strew" but usually what I come up
with is of little interest to ds probably because my idea of strewing is bringing home books
from the library to "strew" about. Well... that's fine except my ds is not a book guy. If it
looks fun and interesting he might thumb through it a bit but that as far as it goes ... which is
fine. But... there is so much more to life. Can anyone help me here ... shed some light... give
me a starting point? My ds is a drummer and WoW kind of person. Those are his interests
along with fitness.
Thanks! ~~~ Shileen
Ed Wendell
Here are some samples of what we do:
videos/films/TV/ Ed (dad) and I rented a movie we wanted to see. Zac said he was not interested when we were at the rental store - but when Ed & I sat down to watch it, Zac said, "If you wait until I finish my game I'll watch it with you." and he did - which led to links about the old west, bandits, Hole In the Wall, geographic locations, history of people and places, hidden treasures, etc. We ended up on the computer looking up more information. Which then led to links about hiking in these areas and hiking safety, etc. Zac finally wandered off. ;)
computer games and games for his game consoles - some are rented and some are purchased. Sometimes this involves simply stepping out of the way - for instance if he is into a computer game for several days we give full access to the computer.
keeping our eyes open for things in the community that would be of interest. For example we know he loves anything to do with history and particularly war history - so we went to a large civil war battle reenactment - talked about it for a month before hand which led to all sorts of connections; we go to the local Renaissance fair every year; driving down the highway we see a small military museum with lots of "equipment" in the yard - we stopped and visited with the people running it - all veterans;
We found out about a "science class" more like science exploration led by an adult - at a really neat science store - he goes once a month to that - dad goes with him. The store is as much fun and as interesting as the class ;) it is full of rocks/minerals/ telescopes/ etc. all things that our son is passionate about.
We found a "chain maille" making class that he went to several times this past winter (as long as the people were doing them).
he got into making full sized wooden (replica) swords last year, so we facilitated with trips to the lumber yard; hardware store and fabric store;
While driving, Ed will ask: do we want to take the fast way home or a different route? We took a different route the other day - we saw what looked to be an old but elegant apartment building set back on a beautiful, park like lawn. We made comments about it and wondered about it. We got home and looked it up and there was the history of the place, a condo for sale (2.5 Million) with a maintenance fee of $3000.00 a month, which led to a discussion of our income/lifestyle in comparison, etc.
We set up an ant farm in the main living area for a while; we have several pets; We have a hamster that is so lively and entertainning that we put her on the kitchen pennsulia where we see her antics all the time (VS in a bedroom where we would not see her much). This gives us common connections (oh my gosh come see what Camille is doing); We have bird feeders in our yard and huge windows where we can see out with a bird identifing book lying about;
Zac is into late seventies (classic and hard rock) music which leads to a lot of You Tube exlploring and down loading music onto his mp3 player - sometimes You Tube is great for clicking and clicking and clicking - the connections that lead every where. For example Zac loves Star Wars, he was exploring Star Wars on You Tube the other day and came across a guy playing a Star Wars theme song on Bag Pipes (Zac loves bagpipe music and has a good friend that plays pipes & drums in a piping band) so that led to listening to bagpipe champions play some really rocking music!!! He started off looking for Star Wars stuff and ended up exploring Bag Pipe music.
For Zac, books are for looking at and exploring - mostly small amounts of reading with lots of pictures w/captions. He loves loves loves Manga books from Japan and Anime. I cannot seem to pick those correctly though - I bought a whole set of 25 books on eBay for Christmas and he refuses to read them - sys he is not interested in that series - lesson learned for me is: let him pick the series.
Around here there is a lot of: Hey Zac you should come see this - or - hey mom/dad you should come see this - it could be a bird, spider web, dogs doing something cute/funny/crazy; something on the computer; last night it was the really neat moon as we were driving home (hey look at the really neat moon that is out tonight.) OR a movie/film/TV show that we would like to share with someone.
Keep your eyes and ears open for anything and everything that might be of an interest to your son as well as the family and keep providing opportunities.
Lisa W.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
videos/films/TV/ Ed (dad) and I rented a movie we wanted to see. Zac said he was not interested when we were at the rental store - but when Ed & I sat down to watch it, Zac said, "If you wait until I finish my game I'll watch it with you." and he did - which led to links about the old west, bandits, Hole In the Wall, geographic locations, history of people and places, hidden treasures, etc. We ended up on the computer looking up more information. Which then led to links about hiking in these areas and hiking safety, etc. Zac finally wandered off. ;)
computer games and games for his game consoles - some are rented and some are purchased. Sometimes this involves simply stepping out of the way - for instance if he is into a computer game for several days we give full access to the computer.
keeping our eyes open for things in the community that would be of interest. For example we know he loves anything to do with history and particularly war history - so we went to a large civil war battle reenactment - talked about it for a month before hand which led to all sorts of connections; we go to the local Renaissance fair every year; driving down the highway we see a small military museum with lots of "equipment" in the yard - we stopped and visited with the people running it - all veterans;
We found out about a "science class" more like science exploration led by an adult - at a really neat science store - he goes once a month to that - dad goes with him. The store is as much fun and as interesting as the class ;) it is full of rocks/minerals/ telescopes/ etc. all things that our son is passionate about.
We found a "chain maille" making class that he went to several times this past winter (as long as the people were doing them).
he got into making full sized wooden (replica) swords last year, so we facilitated with trips to the lumber yard; hardware store and fabric store;
While driving, Ed will ask: do we want to take the fast way home or a different route? We took a different route the other day - we saw what looked to be an old but elegant apartment building set back on a beautiful, park like lawn. We made comments about it and wondered about it. We got home and looked it up and there was the history of the place, a condo for sale (2.5 Million) with a maintenance fee of $3000.00 a month, which led to a discussion of our income/lifestyle in comparison, etc.
We set up an ant farm in the main living area for a while; we have several pets; We have a hamster that is so lively and entertainning that we put her on the kitchen pennsulia where we see her antics all the time (VS in a bedroom where we would not see her much). This gives us common connections (oh my gosh come see what Camille is doing); We have bird feeders in our yard and huge windows where we can see out with a bird identifing book lying about;
Zac is into late seventies (classic and hard rock) music which leads to a lot of You Tube exlploring and down loading music onto his mp3 player - sometimes You Tube is great for clicking and clicking and clicking - the connections that lead every where. For example Zac loves Star Wars, he was exploring Star Wars on You Tube the other day and came across a guy playing a Star Wars theme song on Bag Pipes (Zac loves bagpipe music and has a good friend that plays pipes & drums in a piping band) so that led to listening to bagpipe champions play some really rocking music!!! He started off looking for Star Wars stuff and ended up exploring Bag Pipe music.
For Zac, books are for looking at and exploring - mostly small amounts of reading with lots of pictures w/captions. He loves loves loves Manga books from Japan and Anime. I cannot seem to pick those correctly though - I bought a whole set of 25 books on eBay for Christmas and he refuses to read them - sys he is not interested in that series - lesson learned for me is: let him pick the series.
Around here there is a lot of: Hey Zac you should come see this - or - hey mom/dad you should come see this - it could be a bird, spider web, dogs doing something cute/funny/crazy; something on the computer; last night it was the really neat moon as we were driving home (hey look at the really neat moon that is out tonight.) OR a movie/film/TV show that we would like to share with someone.
Keep your eyes and ears open for anything and everything that might be of an interest to your son as well as the family and keep providing opportunities.
Lisa W.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Ed Wendell
Oh other things that have been going on lately is:
Ed (dad) has always wanted the series "The Muppet Show" so we finally bought them for him - who would have guessed that Zac would decide they were hilarious and set us a schedule of watching one eppisode per night as a family activity. Which also led to more You Tube exploring "The Muppet Show" and the various guests that were on the show.
I must add here that we show a huge interest in things Zac is interested in too - Star Gate SG1; Investigative/Foresincic shows (who dune it types); Ghost hunters just for the fun of it; anything to do with Military or history or si-fi (science fiction); Or we all love to watch MASH together and that led to Hogan's Hero's.
LEGO's are also still huge around here. Anything that lends itself to building and constructing. Even jigsaw puzzles now and then if we do them as a family.
If I set out a board game it will often get played - put it in the spare bedroom where we store everything and it just sits.
So again a lot of our strewing is simply living and going with the flow BUT always being alert to those connections and subtle shows of interests - kind of like when an animal perks up their ears at something that catches their interest - sometimes it is but a brief moment and you have to have been aware and seen it happen to capitalize on it.
Lisa W.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Ed (dad) has always wanted the series "The Muppet Show" so we finally bought them for him - who would have guessed that Zac would decide they were hilarious and set us a schedule of watching one eppisode per night as a family activity. Which also led to more You Tube exploring "The Muppet Show" and the various guests that were on the show.
I must add here that we show a huge interest in things Zac is interested in too - Star Gate SG1; Investigative/Foresincic shows (who dune it types); Ghost hunters just for the fun of it; anything to do with Military or history or si-fi (science fiction); Or we all love to watch MASH together and that led to Hogan's Hero's.
LEGO's are also still huge around here. Anything that lends itself to building and constructing. Even jigsaw puzzles now and then if we do them as a family.
If I set out a board game it will often get played - put it in the spare bedroom where we store everything and it just sits.
So again a lot of our strewing is simply living and going with the flow BUT always being alert to those connections and subtle shows of interests - kind of like when an animal perks up their ears at something that catches their interest - sometimes it is but a brief moment and you have to have been aware and seen it happen to capitalize on it.
Lisa W.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Sandra Dodd
-=-I'm realizing that I just went from the
strewing idea for my ds to what our family needs. -=-
Well, it's the same thing.
Your family needs to be interested and interesting. Go places.
Bring things and people in. Visit friends of yours who have cool
stuff or do interesting things. Ask him to go with you if you take
the dog to the vet. Drive home different ways and take your time.
Putz around. Go to the mall some morning when it's not at all full
of teens and windowshop.
If you can at all afford it, find something in another town like a
play, concert, museum, event and take him there. Stay overnight.
Go touristing somewhere not too far from you. Like if you had out of
town guests, but just go with your son.
Watch DVDs together.
Is there something you do that he might want to learn? Is there
something you could learn together? Maybe the two of you could take
a class or join a group that does... photography, hiking, quilting,
scrapbooking, pottery, woodworking...
Last week I took Holly and her boyfriend too when Marty and I were
going to the credit union to get money to get a used Jeep he wanted.
That was a learning and sharing experience for us all.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
strewing idea for my ds to what our family needs. -=-
Well, it's the same thing.
Your family needs to be interested and interesting. Go places.
Bring things and people in. Visit friends of yours who have cool
stuff or do interesting things. Ask him to go with you if you take
the dog to the vet. Drive home different ways and take your time.
Putz around. Go to the mall some morning when it's not at all full
of teens and windowshop.
If you can at all afford it, find something in another town like a
play, concert, museum, event and take him there. Stay overnight.
Go touristing somewhere not too far from you. Like if you had out of
town guests, but just go with your son.
Watch DVDs together.
Is there something you do that he might want to learn? Is there
something you could learn together? Maybe the two of you could take
a class or join a group that does... photography, hiking, quilting,
scrapbooking, pottery, woodworking...
Last week I took Holly and her boyfriend too when Marty and I were
going to the credit union to get money to get a used Jeep he wanted.
That was a learning and sharing experience for us all.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Ed Wendell
sorry - one more thought.
I try to hang out close to Zac even if we are doing different things.
For example I often sit in the recliner chair that is close to the computer while I'm reading (what I love to do), while he is on the computer (doing what he loves to do) playing a game or messing around with You Tube or something else on the computer. It makes it easy for him to draw my attention to something - ask me something - have a short discussion or a lengthy one - and then we melt back into our own worlds for a while - it's a momentary connection but it is still there. We will often touch each other in small ways too - for example he may reach out with a foot and place it on my leg while drawing my attention or discussing something. Or I may toss a koosh ball at him just to connect. OR when I go to get something from the kitchen I'll ask him if he needs or wants anything to eat or drink. Being close also allows us to point out things like a bird at one of the feeders, the dogs doing something or other, etc. If I'm reading the newspaper I might come across something I think he'd be interested in hearing about - for example I read him a blurb about someone finding a 2000 year old seed and growing a plant from it.
And beside having the momentary connection it lets me in on his interests and he knows ours.
Lisa W.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
I try to hang out close to Zac even if we are doing different things.
For example I often sit in the recliner chair that is close to the computer while I'm reading (what I love to do), while he is on the computer (doing what he loves to do) playing a game or messing around with You Tube or something else on the computer. It makes it easy for him to draw my attention to something - ask me something - have a short discussion or a lengthy one - and then we melt back into our own worlds for a while - it's a momentary connection but it is still there. We will often touch each other in small ways too - for example he may reach out with a foot and place it on my leg while drawing my attention or discussing something. Or I may toss a koosh ball at him just to connect. OR when I go to get something from the kitchen I'll ask him if he needs or wants anything to eat or drink. Being close also allows us to point out things like a bird at one of the feeders, the dogs doing something or other, etc. If I'm reading the newspaper I might come across something I think he'd be interested in hearing about - for example I read him a blurb about someone finding a 2000 year old seed and growing a plant from it.
And beside having the momentary connection it lets me in on his interests and he knows ours.
Lisa W.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Sandra Dodd
-=-sorry - one more thought.
-=-
Keep on adding! I'm putting it here:
http://sandradodd.com/strew/teens
Marty suggests downloading more songs if he plays Rock Band or Guitar
Hero. Finance him some new music! Maybe it will be stuff you have
recordings of, or could get.
When one of my kids has been interested in music they didn't know
before because of a game like that, sometimes we've pulled out the
album, or suggested another song by the same group or artist. I've
found some new music because of those games, too.
Keith made Marty a mike stand for Rock Band for his birthday, so
Marty can sing and play guitar both. There's a photo of it here:
http://sandradodd.blogspot.com/2008/01/martys-19th-birthday.html
Even though it was made of garage scrap, it's lasted longer than some
of the rock band equipment itself! <g>
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
-=-
Keep on adding! I'm putting it here:
http://sandradodd.com/strew/teens
Marty suggests downloading more songs if he plays Rock Band or Guitar
Hero. Finance him some new music! Maybe it will be stuff you have
recordings of, or could get.
When one of my kids has been interested in music they didn't know
before because of a game like that, sometimes we've pulled out the
album, or suggested another song by the same group or artist. I've
found some new music because of those games, too.
Keith made Marty a mike stand for Rock Band for his birthday, so
Marty can sing and play guitar both. There's a photo of it here:
http://sandradodd.blogspot.com/2008/01/martys-19th-birthday.html
Even though it was made of garage scrap, it's lasted longer than some
of the rock band equipment itself! <g>
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
pebsflower
I have always been an "experience everything" type of person and my
son is going through that stay at home thing..oh the lovely teen
years. Well, I let him do thing that are appropriate..computer,
games, different styles of music, etc and ask if he would like to do
things with me. Sometimes he says he doesn't want to do it but will
do it cause I want to. For example...hiking, fishing,etc. He is a
tinker boy..loves to work on the vechilces so I let him do things on
my old car and seem interested in his games.
We kinda compromise I guess.
Pebs
- In
[email protected], "healthunlimited1" <shileennixon@...>
wrote:
son is going through that stay at home thing..oh the lovely teen
years. Well, I let him do thing that are appropriate..computer,
games, different styles of music, etc and ask if he would like to do
things with me. Sometimes he says he doesn't want to do it but will
do it cause I want to. For example...hiking, fishing,etc. He is a
tinker boy..loves to work on the vechilces so I let him do things on
my old car and seem interested in his games.
We kinda compromise I guess.
Pebs
- In
[email protected], "healthunlimited1" <shileennixon@...>
wrote:
>for your older children -
> I am very interested in "hearing" how some of you practice strewing
> teenagers to be more specific. Strewing was brought up in anotherthread and it just got me
> to thinking. That is an area that I really need to improve on -well and just provide a richer
> environment for my 15 year ds. Without going into unnecessarydetails our family is just
> coming out of a very stressful lengthy time in our lives and we areready for (and actually
> need) more fun and enrichment in our lives. Hmmm.... I'm realizingthat I just went from the
> strewing idea for my ds to what our family needs. We've been inthe grind of life for so long
> that even when we want to do something fun we don't know what todo. That is sooo sad. I
> think I need to make that my mission ... to lighten things uparound here. BUT .. maybe
> that's why I have trouble with strewing as well. I want to"strew" but usually what I come up
> with is of little interest to ds probably because my idea ofstrewing is bringing home books
> from the library to "strew" about. Well... that's fine except myds is not a book guy. If it
> looks fun and interesting he might thumb through it a bit but thatas far as it goes ... which is
> fine. But... there is so much more to life. Can anyone help mehere ... shed some light... give
> me a starting point? My ds is a drummer and WoW kind of person.Those are his interests
> along with fitness.
>
> Thanks! ~~~ Shileen
>
Ed Wendell
No, Zac does not play those games but tell Marty thanks for the suggestions. I cannot remember how he got interested in those late seventies bands and songs but it sure was an easy interest for us old timers to follow along and indulge him in - LOL ;
Ed & Zac have fun blasting the radio on the oldies rock station.
Actually he has such a wide variety of likes when it comes to music - his mp3 player has: old rock and roll - from soft rock to what was hard rock; older country (Johnny cash); new country; bagpipes; African drumming; Celtic rock; and epic sagas like the core music from certain movies such as Master and Commander and various music from Animes.
Lisa W.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Ed & Zac have fun blasting the radio on the oldies rock station.
Actually he has such a wide variety of likes when it comes to music - his mp3 player has: old rock and roll - from soft rock to what was hard rock; older country (Johnny cash); new country; bagpipes; African drumming; Celtic rock; and epic sagas like the core music from certain movies such as Master and Commander and various music from Animes.
Lisa W.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Sandra Dodd
-=-So again a lot of our strewing is simply living and going with the
flow BUT always being alert to those connections and subtle shows of
interests - kind of like when an animal perks up their ears at
something that catches their interest - sometimes it is but a brief
moment and you have to have been aware and seen it happen to
capitalize on it.-=-
That's it, Shileen. What Lisa wrote.
It's something you build up gradually by taking the path that goes
more toward learning and togetherness for many years.
When kids are little and people are first unschooling it helps to
talk in terms of "strewing" (leave out some magnets, put a bird's
nest on the counter--they'll ask about it), but as the years pass, it
becomes more of a natural give and take of suggestions and resources
and "oh, look at this!" or "Have you heard this before?"
I think that happens in close couples, and between good friends who
are getting to hang out regularly too. I have a friend who moved to
Indiana so if we got together right now, the stories would be longer
and less personal. But when we were hanging out every day or so for
a couple of years, we had LOTS to share.
Sandra
P.S.
About that music-buying suggestion,
Marty meant it for the original poster, but turns out she didn't
talk about music games either:
"My ds is a drummer and WoW kind of person. Those are his interests
along with fitness."
I read too fast I guess and pictured Rock Band.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
flow BUT always being alert to those connections and subtle shows of
interests - kind of like when an animal perks up their ears at
something that catches their interest - sometimes it is but a brief
moment and you have to have been aware and seen it happen to
capitalize on it.-=-
That's it, Shileen. What Lisa wrote.
It's something you build up gradually by taking the path that goes
more toward learning and togetherness for many years.
When kids are little and people are first unschooling it helps to
talk in terms of "strewing" (leave out some magnets, put a bird's
nest on the counter--they'll ask about it), but as the years pass, it
becomes more of a natural give and take of suggestions and resources
and "oh, look at this!" or "Have you heard this before?"
I think that happens in close couples, and between good friends who
are getting to hang out regularly too. I have a friend who moved to
Indiana so if we got together right now, the stories would be longer
and less personal. But when we were hanging out every day or so for
a couple of years, we had LOTS to share.
Sandra
P.S.
About that music-buying suggestion,
Marty meant it for the original poster, but turns out she didn't
talk about music games either:
"My ds is a drummer and WoW kind of person. Those are his interests
along with fitness."
I read too fast I guess and pictured Rock Band.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
warblwarbl2000
When my kids were little, I found that, even though they've always had
very focussed interests, they expressed at least a passing interest in
anything I strewed in front of them. But as they get older and more
wise to the world, they're more selective and I've needed to be less
general in my strewing (not easy for me as a scanner type!).
They are much more able now, especially the 14 yo, to find their own
inspirations. When they aren't and seem to need my help, it's helped
me to think of small variations on well loved themes. Read Calvin and
Hobbes 3000 times? Start on 50 years of Peanuts. Tired of reruns of
a favorite show? Rent a whole vintage TV series from Netflix. Trying
to introduce something totally new and different may work for some,
but some like to take their adventures in small steps.
The other thing I'm finding with my teen is that his friends are more
important to him than ever. So creating ways for him to be with them,
especially at our house, is really important right now. I think that
a lot of what they are learning at this age has to do with social
learning. I think they need space for that and also space to lay low
and recover from the intensity of that.
Pam T.
very focussed interests, they expressed at least a passing interest in
anything I strewed in front of them. But as they get older and more
wise to the world, they're more selective and I've needed to be less
general in my strewing (not easy for me as a scanner type!).
They are much more able now, especially the 14 yo, to find their own
inspirations. When they aren't and seem to need my help, it's helped
me to think of small variations on well loved themes. Read Calvin and
Hobbes 3000 times? Start on 50 years of Peanuts. Tired of reruns of
a favorite show? Rent a whole vintage TV series from Netflix. Trying
to introduce something totally new and different may work for some,
but some like to take their adventures in small steps.
The other thing I'm finding with my teen is that his friends are more
important to him than ever. So creating ways for him to be with them,
especially at our house, is really important right now. I think that
a lot of what they are learning at this age has to do with social
learning. I think they need space for that and also space to lay low
and recover from the intensity of that.
Pam T.
Sandra Dodd
-=-The other thing I'm finding with my teen is that his friends are more
important to him than ever. So creating ways for him to be with them,
especially at our house, is really important right now. I think that
a lot of what they are learning at this age has to do with social
learning. I think they need space for that and also space to lay low
and recover from the intensity of that.-=-
True, but it doesn't excuse parents from doing things with and for
their kids until they're 18 (depending on the laws in their area, and
whether the kid has tested out or gone to college, in which case the
state/province will not be as likely to respond negatively if it
comes to their attention.
Lots of families find ways to include other teens in activities with
the family sometimes. We took other kids with us to SCA events for
years, when they were too young to drive or too young to get into the
event without an adult sponsor. We often include one of the kids'
friends in dinner-and-a-movie kinds of things. Gradually,
increasingly, they'll do more things without us, but as long as
they're in the age range of compulsory school attendance, the parents
need to stay close with them and keep providing and assessing and
evaluating in however subtle and natural a way, because if someone
asks you where your kid is or what he knows, "I have no idea" is not
going to be the kind of answer the county/state/whoever wants to hear.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
important to him than ever. So creating ways for him to be with them,
especially at our house, is really important right now. I think that
a lot of what they are learning at this age has to do with social
learning. I think they need space for that and also space to lay low
and recover from the intensity of that.-=-
True, but it doesn't excuse parents from doing things with and for
their kids until they're 18 (depending on the laws in their area, and
whether the kid has tested out or gone to college, in which case the
state/province will not be as likely to respond negatively if it
comes to their attention.
Lots of families find ways to include other teens in activities with
the family sometimes. We took other kids with us to SCA events for
years, when they were too young to drive or too young to get into the
event without an adult sponsor. We often include one of the kids'
friends in dinner-and-a-movie kinds of things. Gradually,
increasingly, they'll do more things without us, but as long as
they're in the age range of compulsory school attendance, the parents
need to stay close with them and keep providing and assessing and
evaluating in however subtle and natural a way, because if someone
asks you where your kid is or what he knows, "I have no idea" is not
going to be the kind of answer the county/state/whoever wants to hear.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Sandra Dodd
-=-the connections that lead every where. For example Zac loves Star
Wars, he was exploring Star Wars on You Tube the other day -=-
I just found a piece of Star Wars related art for the lyrics game.
The word is "Guy."
Some of you will know the connection without looking. Others...
http://lyricsgame.blogspot.com
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Wars, he was exploring Star Wars on You Tube the other day -=-
I just found a piece of Star Wars related art for the lyrics game.
The word is "Guy."
Some of you will know the connection without looking. Others...
http://lyricsgame.blogspot.com
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
donnakeeble
> P.S.I'll take this suggestion - we are big fans of sing star and rock
>
> About that music-buying suggestion,
> Marty meant it for the original poster, but turns out she didn't
> talk about music games either:
> "My ds is a drummer and WoW kind of person. Those are his interests
> along with fitness."
>
> I read too fast I guess and pictured Rock Band.
>
band, but I didn't know we could download more songs. I will have to
check into it or ask my children if they already know how!
Thanks,
Donna
Joyce Fetteroll
On Jun 22, 2008, at 6:49 PM, Sandra Dodd wrote:
lightsabers to old movie clips and uploading them to YouTube.
It was mentioned in the Boston Globe yesterday and someone gathered a
Top Ten list:
http://tinyurl.com/3rmznf
Joyce
> -=-the connections that lead every where. For example Zac loves StarHas he found the lightsaber mashups? People have been adding
> Wars, he was exploring Star Wars on You Tube the other day -=-
lightsabers to old movie clips and uploading them to YouTube.
It was mentioned in the Boston Globe yesterday and someone gathered a
Top Ten list:
http://tinyurl.com/3rmznf
Joyce
Ed Wendell
THANK YOU !!!!!!
Today is his birthday and he will love this !!!! When he wakes up that is ;)
Lisa W.
Has he found the lightsaber mashups? People have been adding
lightsabers to old movie clips and uploading them to YouTube.
It was mentioned in the Boston Globe yesterday and someone gathered a
Top Ten list:
http://tinyurl.com/3rmznf
Joyce
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Today is his birthday and he will love this !!!! When he wakes up that is ;)
Lisa W.
Has he found the lightsaber mashups? People have been adding
lightsabers to old movie clips and uploading them to YouTube.
It was mentioned in the Boston Globe yesterday and someone gathered a
Top Ten list:
http://tinyurl.com/3rmznf
Joyce
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Ed Wendell
By being alert to conversations around us we pick up on opportunities - or something gives us an idea to follow-up with. We belong to a local announcement list that people/homeschoolers post things that are going on in the community to do - no chat allowed on the list, just announcements for things to do. We also join local email announcement lists such as the zoo, our county, local nature parks, parks and recreation, museums, etc. they put out what they are doing and what is available in the community - some of it is free stuff going on. Oh and we belong to national email announcement lists too: National Wildlife; NASA; National Geographic; I cannot remember them all - but there is probably something out there for every interest. Many of these let us in on shows that will be on TV ahead of time.
The internet has made homeschooling/unschooling soooooooooo easy in my opinion - yes we live in a metro area with lots to do so that does help. But one does have to dig to find things in Kansas City - I think we often have to dig when it is where we live. I remember visiting my sister and her family on the Gulf Coast 2 years ago, we stayed for 4 weeks and just explored and ran around and had a great time (we used the internet to find out of the way and unusual places/things to do). This was the second summer in a row that we stayed for 4 weeks. One of my nieces (age 21, who grew up there) asked how we found that many things to do, to stay busy for 4 weeks. We went and did things that she never thought to do - it was just a part of the background/landscape of her everyday life but we thought it was unique, different and fun. For example we took a sail boat ride on the back bays - the year before that we took an eco trip on the back bays - they have lived there for 20 years and have never been on the back bays (and it's not due to a lack of money). There were parks and walking trails that they had never been on - drove right by for years. We do the same thing here in our locale - we have to stop and find these local things to do.
More connections and opportunities to get out into the community: volunteer work
Zac has always loved to build and construct - Lego's are still a huge part of his life.
We just started volunteering with Habitat For Humanity last month - building houses! They wanted him to be 16 to volunteer (he is 14 today) but they said OK when we said we'd be volunteering right along beside him.
Ed & Zac also volunteer at a place called Harvesters twice a month - actually this is a whole homeschool group effort project - age limit is 6 and up. They sort food (or whatever they are asked to do). The food is donated food that gets sorted and then sent out to local/in the neighborhood distributation food banks. I'm saying "they" because this is a project that is done during the day while I'm at work - so the guys (Ed & Zac) do it without me.
We don't do this, but another homeschool family does: they volunteer at an animal shelter. They keep kittens until they are old enough to be adopted. They always have these fun kittens to play with. The shelter provides all food, etc. I know others that go to the shelter and walk dogs/play with the animals/etc. We talked about volunteering for the "Husky Rescue Society" as we have huskies ourselves, but decided that we were not at a place to be able to do that right now - there is just about any breed rescue society out there that would probably love to have foster dog parent help - I read about a rabbit society in the paper so I know there are many of that type of thing out there. Oh and the local zoo might take volunteers, as well as the local wild animal places - we have a place called Lake Side Nature Center that does rescue work for the local native wildlife - this spring we've taken an injured bat and a one footed injured pigeon there for help.
We hatched chicken eggs for a friend - we incubated them for 21 days and then kept the chicks for 2 weeks before returning them to the "owner". This was something I volunteered to do and wanted to do, but Zac certainly got involved of his own free will. We've done this several times over the years.
Lisa W.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
The internet has made homeschooling/unschooling soooooooooo easy in my opinion - yes we live in a metro area with lots to do so that does help. But one does have to dig to find things in Kansas City - I think we often have to dig when it is where we live. I remember visiting my sister and her family on the Gulf Coast 2 years ago, we stayed for 4 weeks and just explored and ran around and had a great time (we used the internet to find out of the way and unusual places/things to do). This was the second summer in a row that we stayed for 4 weeks. One of my nieces (age 21, who grew up there) asked how we found that many things to do, to stay busy for 4 weeks. We went and did things that she never thought to do - it was just a part of the background/landscape of her everyday life but we thought it was unique, different and fun. For example we took a sail boat ride on the back bays - the year before that we took an eco trip on the back bays - they have lived there for 20 years and have never been on the back bays (and it's not due to a lack of money). There were parks and walking trails that they had never been on - drove right by for years. We do the same thing here in our locale - we have to stop and find these local things to do.
More connections and opportunities to get out into the community: volunteer work
Zac has always loved to build and construct - Lego's are still a huge part of his life.
We just started volunteering with Habitat For Humanity last month - building houses! They wanted him to be 16 to volunteer (he is 14 today) but they said OK when we said we'd be volunteering right along beside him.
Ed & Zac also volunteer at a place called Harvesters twice a month - actually this is a whole homeschool group effort project - age limit is 6 and up. They sort food (or whatever they are asked to do). The food is donated food that gets sorted and then sent out to local/in the neighborhood distributation food banks. I'm saying "they" because this is a project that is done during the day while I'm at work - so the guys (Ed & Zac) do it without me.
We don't do this, but another homeschool family does: they volunteer at an animal shelter. They keep kittens until they are old enough to be adopted. They always have these fun kittens to play with. The shelter provides all food, etc. I know others that go to the shelter and walk dogs/play with the animals/etc. We talked about volunteering for the "Husky Rescue Society" as we have huskies ourselves, but decided that we were not at a place to be able to do that right now - there is just about any breed rescue society out there that would probably love to have foster dog parent help - I read about a rabbit society in the paper so I know there are many of that type of thing out there. Oh and the local zoo might take volunteers, as well as the local wild animal places - we have a place called Lake Side Nature Center that does rescue work for the local native wildlife - this spring we've taken an injured bat and a one footed injured pigeon there for help.
We hatched chicken eggs for a friend - we incubated them for 21 days and then kept the chicks for 2 weeks before returning them to the "owner". This was something I volunteered to do and wanted to do, but Zac certainly got involved of his own free will. We've done this several times over the years.
Lisa W.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
momtoruss
Also related to Star Wars and You Tube, my almost 6-year-old just
stumbled across this video, and our whole family has been enjoying it
over and over again in the past few days: www.youtube.com/watch?
v=xbb5CYC6JTs... or maybe this is it: www.youtube.com/watch?
v=Q3Amm3UuZ0k. (I'm at work now and am blocked from You Tube, so I
can't confirm the link, which I just copied/pasted from a google
search. If the links don't get you there, go to You Tube and search
on "saga lego star wars music video", and the top one should be it).
It's a Star Wars lego animation that is about 6 minutes long, set to
the music of Wierd Al's parody of "American Pie". It's really
great!
These lego animations on You Tube are not only a great source of
entertainment for my boys (and us), but they are sparking a strong
interest in my older ds in trying out his own hand in making
animations of this sort. At his age, he needs a lot of help from us,
but I can see him really running with this on his own as a teenager
if his interest remains.
Lori
-- mom to Russell (almost 6) and Justin (3)
--- In [email protected], "Ed Wendell" <ewendell@...>
wrote:
stumbled across this video, and our whole family has been enjoying it
over and over again in the past few days: www.youtube.com/watch?
v=xbb5CYC6JTs... or maybe this is it: www.youtube.com/watch?
v=Q3Amm3UuZ0k. (I'm at work now and am blocked from You Tube, so I
can't confirm the link, which I just copied/pasted from a google
search. If the links don't get you there, go to You Tube and search
on "saga lego star wars music video", and the top one should be it).
It's a Star Wars lego animation that is about 6 minutes long, set to
the music of Wierd Al's parody of "American Pie". It's really
great!
These lego animations on You Tube are not only a great source of
entertainment for my boys (and us), but they are sparking a strong
interest in my older ds in trying out his own hand in making
animations of this sort. At his age, he needs a lot of help from us,
but I can see him really running with this on his own as a teenager
if his interest remains.
Lori
-- mom to Russell (almost 6) and Justin (3)
--- In [email protected], "Ed Wendell" <ewendell@...>
wrote:
>that is ;)
> THANK YOU !!!!!!
>
> Today is his birthday and he will love this !!!! When he wakes up
>
>
> Lisa W.
>
healthunlimited1
Gosh... after all of these responses (thank you very much!) maybe we aren't as far off as I
thought. We do a lot of the things that were shared ... from sharing tv shows and movies
to calling for each other when one of us sees something cool. That just happened 5
minutes ago. My husband loves bugs/insects - he's a biology major (never used it
though). He spotted a very unusual moth and called us all out to look at it. He'll often
give us some kind of lesson. I often spend time in the living room with my laptop or a
book while ds is on WoW just to hang with each other. Occasionally, if I'm in the family
room, he'll ask me to join him to keep him company. He does the You Tube thing
searching for all kinds of stuff. Half the time I'm unaware. He likes funny things like crazy
things cats do. We enjoy sharing our house and will have different youth meetings and
occasionally over night guests. We just had someone in from Serbia and next month we
have some people coming from Holland. But ... at the same time he's a typical teenager (I
guess typical) wanting to stay home to do his WoW routine (play the game, take a break
play his drums, play the game, take a break workout all while watching tv) or hang out
with his friends which most of them play WoW. Although today he's getting together with
a friend who is a few years older than he is to put flyers around neighborhoods as they're
starting a grass cutting business. I do try to be aware of his interests as some of you have
described. I guess I'm feeling like maybe I'd like to step it up a notch. We really don't "go"
and do much that way. I'm thinking that we need to provide new and interesting
opportunities for ds at least from time to time to enrich his life. As I mentioned in my
original post that DH and I tend to get stuck in the grind of life. DH is happy with that ... I
am not. As I thought through this all weekend, maybe I need to enrich my own life and let
is spill over into my family's life. I'm going to reread this thread and pop over to the links
Sandra provided. Thanks so much!! ~~ Shileen
thought. We do a lot of the things that were shared ... from sharing tv shows and movies
to calling for each other when one of us sees something cool. That just happened 5
minutes ago. My husband loves bugs/insects - he's a biology major (never used it
though). He spotted a very unusual moth and called us all out to look at it. He'll often
give us some kind of lesson. I often spend time in the living room with my laptop or a
book while ds is on WoW just to hang with each other. Occasionally, if I'm in the family
room, he'll ask me to join him to keep him company. He does the You Tube thing
searching for all kinds of stuff. Half the time I'm unaware. He likes funny things like crazy
things cats do. We enjoy sharing our house and will have different youth meetings and
occasionally over night guests. We just had someone in from Serbia and next month we
have some people coming from Holland. But ... at the same time he's a typical teenager (I
guess typical) wanting to stay home to do his WoW routine (play the game, take a break
play his drums, play the game, take a break workout all while watching tv) or hang out
with his friends which most of them play WoW. Although today he's getting together with
a friend who is a few years older than he is to put flyers around neighborhoods as they're
starting a grass cutting business. I do try to be aware of his interests as some of you have
described. I guess I'm feeling like maybe I'd like to step it up a notch. We really don't "go"
and do much that way. I'm thinking that we need to provide new and interesting
opportunities for ds at least from time to time to enrich his life. As I mentioned in my
original post that DH and I tend to get stuck in the grind of life. DH is happy with that ... I
am not. As I thought through this all weekend, maybe I need to enrich my own life and let
is spill over into my family's life. I'm going to reread this thread and pop over to the links
Sandra provided. Thanks so much!! ~~ Shileen
healthunlimited1
Lisa... you are so well connected. That is exactly what I need. I used to be connected in
our area but well life happened. So... I'm starting over - that's how I need to look at it. I
know there is so much to do here but honestly I don't know where to begin. That's not
totally true it's just that the things I think about first tend to cost a lot of money which
holds me back. That just means I need to be creative. Thanks for sharing all of your ideas
and experience. ~~ Shileen
our area but well life happened. So... I'm starting over - that's how I need to look at it. I
know there is so much to do here but honestly I don't know where to begin. That's not
totally true it's just that the things I think about first tend to cost a lot of money which
holds me back. That just means I need to be creative. Thanks for sharing all of your ideas
and experience. ~~ Shileen
--- In [email protected], "Ed Wendell" <ewendell@...> wrote:
>
> By being alert to conversations around us we pick up on opportunities - or something
gives us an idea to follow-up with. We belong to a local announcement list that
people/homeschoolers post things that are going on in the community to do - no chat
allowed on the list, just announcements for things to do. We also join local email
announcement lists such as the zoo, our county, local nature parks, parks and recreation,
museums, etc. they put out what they are doing and what is available in the community -
some of it is free stuff going on. Oh and we belong to national email announcement lists
too: National Wildlife; NASA; National Geographic; I cannot remember them all - but there
is probably something out there for every interest. Many of these let us in on shows that
will be on TV ahead of time.
>
> The internet has made homeschooling/unschooling soooooooooo easy in my opinion -
yes we live in a metro area with lots to do so that does help. But one does have to dig to
find things in Kansas City - I think we often have to dig when it is where we live. I
remember visiting my sister and her family on the Gulf Coast 2 years ago, we stayed for 4
weeks and just explored and ran around and had a great time (we used the internet to find
out of the way and unusual places/things to do). This was the second summer in a row
that we stayed for 4 weeks. One of my nieces (age 21, who grew up there) asked how we
found that many things to do, to stay busy for 4 weeks. We went and did things that she
never thought to do - it was just a part of the background/landscape of her everyday life
but we thought it was unique, different and fun. For example we took a sail boat ride on
the back bays - the year before that we took an eco trip on the back bays - they have
lived there for 20 years and have never been on the back bays (and it's not due to a lack of
money). There were parks and walking trails that they had never been on - drove right by
for years. We do the same thing here in our locale - we have to stop and find these local
things to do.
>
>
>
>
> More connections and opportunities to get out into the community: volunteer work
>
>
> Zac has always loved to build and construct - Lego's are still a huge part of his life.
>
> We just started volunteering with Habitat For Humanity last month - building houses!
They wanted him to be 16 to volunteer (he is 14 today) but they said OK when we said
we'd be volunteering right along beside him.
>
>
>
> Ed & Zac also volunteer at a place called Harvesters twice a month - actually this is a
whole homeschool group effort project - age limit is 6 and up. They sort food (or
whatever they are asked to do). The food is donated food that gets sorted and then sent
out to local/in the neighborhood distributation food banks. I'm saying "they" because this
is a project that is done during the day while I'm at work - so the guys (Ed & Zac) do it
without me.
>
>
>
> We don't do this, but another homeschool family does: they volunteer at an animal
shelter. They keep kittens until they are old enough to be adopted. They always have
these fun kittens to play with. The shelter provides all food, etc. I know others that go to
the shelter and walk dogs/play with the animals/etc. We talked about volunteering for the
"Husky Rescue Society" as we have huskies ourselves, but decided that we were not at a
place to be able to do that right now - there is just about any breed rescue society out
there that would probably love to have foster dog parent help - I read about a rabbit
society in the paper so I know there are many of that type of thing out there. Oh and the
local zoo might take volunteers, as well as the local wild animal places - we have a place
called Lake Side Nature Center that does rescue work for the local native wildlife - this
spring we've taken an injured bat and a one footed injured pigeon there for help.
>
>
>
> We hatched chicken eggs for a friend - we incubated them for 21 days and then kept
the chicks for 2 weeks before returning them to the "owner". This was something I
volunteered to do and wanted to do, but Zac certainly got involved of his own free will.
We've done this several times over the years.
>
>
> Lisa W.
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
Ed Wendell
Due to Zac's interest in the military we found a volunteer organization called "Soldier's Angels". We adopted a deployed soldier and sent him gift boxes each month for a year until his deployment was over. We helped Zac shop for practical items to send as well as special treats.
They have various ways to donate and volunteer - we are in between projects - considering the blanket making project. For letter writing Ed & I would write and sometimes Zac would dictate to us and we'd type it up for him - then I bought a huge set of patriotic stickers on eBay so Zac could decorate the letters.
Lisa W.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
They have various ways to donate and volunteer - we are in between projects - considering the blanket making project. For letter writing Ed & I would write and sometimes Zac would dictate to us and we'd type it up for him - then I bought a huge set of patriotic stickers on eBay so Zac could decorate the letters.
Lisa W.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[email protected]
In a message dated 6/23/2008 10:30:24 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
shileennixon@... writes:
maybe I need to enrich my own life and let
is spill over into my family's life
___
This was one of the hardest things for me to understand and incorporate into
our unschooling lives during the past few years and yet it has turned out to
be one of the most important.
I found that as I developed, made time and got excited about those things I
loved doing that it carried over to the kids. My enthusiasm for things that
brought me joy was every bit as important as being mindfully present and
active in their lives. Now that they are 15 and 18, we share our excitement about
both our mutual and individual interests and help each other to make them
happen.
As a huge side benefit, I have discovered so many passions of my own that I
can continue once they are no longer living at home. Unschooling has
definitely been just as important to my own life as it has for my children. They
really never knew what my small definition of the world was like so they didn't
experience the huge explosion of possibilities that I did. Their bigger
lives are still exceptional but in a much more natural way.
Gail
http://gail-hummingbirdhaven.blogspot.com/
**************Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for
fuel-efficient used cars. (http://autos.aol.com/used?ncid=aolaut00050000000007)
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
shileennixon@... writes:
maybe I need to enrich my own life and let
is spill over into my family's life
___
This was one of the hardest things for me to understand and incorporate into
our unschooling lives during the past few years and yet it has turned out to
be one of the most important.
I found that as I developed, made time and got excited about those things I
loved doing that it carried over to the kids. My enthusiasm for things that
brought me joy was every bit as important as being mindfully present and
active in their lives. Now that they are 15 and 18, we share our excitement about
both our mutual and individual interests and help each other to make them
happen.
As a huge side benefit, I have discovered so many passions of my own that I
can continue once they are no longer living at home. Unschooling has
definitely been just as important to my own life as it has for my children. They
really never knew what my small definition of the world was like so they didn't
experience the huge explosion of possibilities that I did. Their bigger
lives are still exceptional but in a much more natural way.
Gail
http://gail-hummingbirdhaven.blogspot.com/
**************Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for
fuel-efficient used cars. (http://autos.aol.com/used?ncid=aolaut00050000000007)
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
graberamy
> Has he found the lightsaber mashups? People have been addingThose are great! I can't wait for my youtube, star wars loving child to
> lightsabers to old movie clips and uploading them to YouTube>>>
get home this afternoon!
amy g
iowa
graberamy
> The internet has made homeschooling/unschooling soooooooooo easy in myopinion - yes we live in a metro area with lots to do so that does
help.>>>>
I agree! Yesterday I took G and a friend out for a ride on our bike
trails! We've had terrible flooding here and they've just opened back
up and can now finally make it up to the ice cream stand [:)] !! Along
the trail someone had left a ramp there. The boys had a blast jumping
off it! So, when we got home they started building one here, then hubby
jumped in and helped them nail it together. I went inside and started
googling where kids could race and jump bmx bikes in our area! We
looked at different bmx bike races on youtube and G is going to go to a
local bmx trail tomorrow night and give it a try!
Thanks goodness for the internet! Oh, I guess it might have been in a
phone book but the internet is just much more interesting to look at!
Lydia and Graham are only preteens right now so I've loved reading this
thread! When they were younger it seemed I was always showing them cool
things and some of it they really liked and some not so much. Now that
they're really developing a sense of their likes and dislikes I try
really hard to focus in on those things and find opportunities for them.
We still try to introduce them to new things all the time but they
definitely have a sense of what they do and do not like at this age!
amy g
iowa
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Ed Wendell
Like today:
We searched around and found a place that sounded fun to do for Zachariah's 14th birthday today. It is an arcade type place geared towards grown ups called Dave & Buster's - it's a chain so others might be interested. Dear hubby described it to Zac as a grown up version of Chuck-E-Cheese - Zac was not interested. So we looked it up on the internet and read to him all the game/activities descriptions and the vast menu choices of the restaurant. After a few descriptions, Zac exclaimed "Oh COOL! I do want to go."
Yup - love the internet - would not have had all those vivid descriptions and pictures in a phone book - and we might have missed a fun family day as Zac was insisting he was fine staying home and playing games on the computer.
Now everyone is showering and hurrying to get going!!!!
Lisa W.
We searched around and found a place that sounded fun to do for Zachariah's 14th birthday today. It is an arcade type place geared towards grown ups called Dave & Buster's - it's a chain so others might be interested. Dear hubby described it to Zac as a grown up version of Chuck-E-Cheese - Zac was not interested. So we looked it up on the internet and read to him all the game/activities descriptions and the vast menu choices of the restaurant. After a few descriptions, Zac exclaimed "Oh COOL! I do want to go."
Yup - love the internet - would not have had all those vivid descriptions and pictures in a phone book - and we might have missed a fun family day as Zac was insisting he was fine staying home and playing games on the computer.
Now everyone is showering and hurrying to get going!!!!
Lisa W.
----- Original Message -----
From: graberamy
Thank goodness for the internet! Oh, I guess it might have been in a
phone book but the internet is just much more interesting to look at!
.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Pam Tellew
<<<but as long as they're in the age range of compulsory school
attendance, the parents
need to stay close with them and keep providing and assessing and
evaluating in however subtle and natural a way, because if someone
asks you where your kid is or what he knows, "I have no idea" is not
going to be the kind of answer the county/state/whoever wants to hear.
Sandra>>>
Very true and one reason why I like to have other kids over at our
house! And by saying that my kids are better now at finding their
own resources, I didn't mean to suggest that we parents aren't
involved or paying attention. Just that it's quite different from
the early years when we were "it" all the time! (I don't know about
other families, but our kids never wanted to do anything alone when
they were little. I always suspected that other people's kids
did! But it still surprises me a little now when they engross
themselves in something happily for long periods without any need for
help or company!)
Pam
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attendance, the parents
need to stay close with them and keep providing and assessing and
evaluating in however subtle and natural a way, because if someone
asks you where your kid is or what he knows, "I have no idea" is not
going to be the kind of answer the county/state/whoever wants to hear.
Sandra>>>
Very true and one reason why I like to have other kids over at our
house! And by saying that my kids are better now at finding their
own resources, I didn't mean to suggest that we parents aren't
involved or paying attention. Just that it's quite different from
the early years when we were "it" all the time! (I don't know about
other families, but our kids never wanted to do anything alone when
they were little. I always suspected that other people's kids
did! But it still surprises me a little now when they engross
themselves in something happily for long periods without any need for
help or company!)
Pam
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