who wrote "like throwing marshmallows at his head..."?
Sandra Dodd
"Learning can only happen when a child is interested. If he's not
interested it's like throwing marshmallows at his head and calling it
eating." -- Anonymous
This isn't anonymous but I don't remember who it was.
Did anyone save the original or make a note then of who wrote it that
first time? One site uses it without citation and one uses it with
a citation, but it wasn't a name I remembered or recognized. Maybe
it was someone who had a cool AOL screenname at the time and wasn't
using her own name.
The owner of the site listing it as anonymous is willing to credit
it, if I can find out who it was in the first place. Help!
Thanks,
Sandra
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interested it's like throwing marshmallows at his head and calling it
eating." -- Anonymous
This isn't anonymous but I don't remember who it was.
Did anyone save the original or make a note then of who wrote it that
first time? One site uses it without citation and one uses it with
a citation, but it wasn't a name I remembered or recognized. Maybe
it was someone who had a cool AOL screenname at the time and wasn't
using her own name.
The owner of the site listing it as anonymous is willing to credit
it, if I can find out who it was in the first place. Help!
Thanks,
Sandra
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Vicki Dennis
Who is the name you don't recognize?
A poster on one of the HEM lists used to use it in her sig line and showed
in as "anonymous" in 2006 and through August 07. Then in October 07 started
listing "Barbara Lamping" as author. I have not tried to track her down and
ask why she changed.
I'm pretty sure I "heard" the phrase long before 2006 but not sure I ever
saw it attributed to anyone.
vicki
A poster on one of the HEM lists used to use it in her sig line and showed
in as "anonymous" in 2006 and through August 07. Then in October 07 started
listing "Barbara Lamping" as author. I have not tried to track her down and
ask why she changed.
I'm pretty sure I "heard" the phrase long before 2006 but not sure I ever
saw it attributed to anyone.
vicki
On Mon, Jan 26, 2009 at 1:59 PM, Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...> wrote:
> "Learning can only happen when a child is interested. If he's not
> interested it's like throwing marshmallows at his head and calling it
> eating." -- Anonymous
>
> This isn't anonymous but I don't remember who it was.
>
> Did anyone save the original or make a note then of who wrote it that
> first time? One site uses it without citation and one uses it with
> a citation, but it wasn't a name I remembered or recognized. Maybe
> it was someone who had a cool AOL screenname at the time and wasn't
> using her own name.
>
> The owner of the site listing it as anonymous is willing to credit
> it, if I can find out who it was in the first place. Help!
>
> Thanks,
>
> Sandra
>
>
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Sandra Dodd
-=-Who is the name you don't recognize?-=-
The one you named.
It wasn't name I recognized, so I was wondering. I remember the day
it was first posted and the responses were fun and lots of people
cited it and referred to it, for a while there. It was years ago.
Eight years, maybe.
It's not even so much that I want the name. I want help to find the
original post. I'm collecting ideas and clues on the side, so if
anyone else has ideas, please send them to me privately.
Thanks!
Sandra
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The one you named.
It wasn't name I recognized, so I was wondering. I remember the day
it was first posted and the responses were fun and lots of people
cited it and referred to it, for a while there. It was years ago.
Eight years, maybe.
It's not even so much that I want the name. I want help to find the
original post. I'm collecting ideas and clues on the side, so if
anyone else has ideas, please send them to me privately.
Thanks!
Sandra
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Jenny C
> "Learning can only happen when a child is interested. If he's notI thought it was someone from the unschooling dot com boards. I always
> interested it's like throwing marshmallows at his head and calling it
> eating." -- Anonymous
>
> This isn't anonymous but I don't remember who it was.
think of Deb Lewis, but I'm not sure if it's her or not. Didn't she go
by the name soggyboysmom?
Then again, I could have it all confused!
Jenny C
> I thought it was someone from the unschooling dot com boards. I alwaysOk, I just perused the way back machine, fun stuff, and couldn't find
> think of Deb Lewis, but I'm not sure if it's her or not. Didn't she go
> by the name soggyboysmom?
>
> Then again, I could have it all confused!
>
it, but I KNOW it's there somewhere. That is the first time I heard it
and for some reason I attribute it to Deb Lewis. Perhaps she said it,
or someone with a similar name said it? I started reading on the
unschooling dot com boards in 99/00 and I do remember it from the
earlier days.
I never did the AOL thing, so I have no idea if anyone used it there.
Steve & Tracy Schad
"Learning can only happen when a child is interested. If he's not
interested, it's like throwing marshmallows at his head and calling it
eating."
Barbara Lamping
http://www.throwingmarshmallows.com/home/mystery-solved.html
Tracy in MN
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interested, it's like throwing marshmallows at his head and calling it
eating."
Barbara Lamping
http://www.throwingmarshmallows.com/home/mystery-solved.html
Tracy in MN
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Rod Thomas
"What I offered to him this fall has become flat and near-drudgery. In order
to revive his spark for learning, I've drummed-up a deviation from our
lesson plans. We'll devote one day each week to unschooling."
Deb Adamson
GateHouse News Service
Jan 23, 2009
From what I understand, she is a nationally syndicated columnist.
kathy
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to revive his spark for learning, I've drummed-up a deviation from our
lesson plans. We'll devote one day each week to unschooling."
Deb Adamson
GateHouse News Service
Jan 23, 2009
From what I understand, she is a nationally syndicated columnist.
kathy
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elwazani
so is that like becoming spiritually dissatisfied with say ....being
Christian and so one day a week practicing...Islam?
--- In [email protected], "Rod Thomas" <rodneykathy@...>
wrote:
Christian and so one day a week practicing...Islam?
--- In [email protected], "Rod Thomas" <rodneykathy@...>
wrote:
> "What I offered to him this fall has become flat and near-drudgery.In order
> to revive his spark for learning, I've drummed-up a deviation from our
> lesson plans. We'll devote one day each week to unschooling."
>
> Deb Adamson
>
> GateHouse News Service
>
> Jan 23, 2009
Sandra Dodd
On Jan 27, 2009, at 9:23 AM, elwazani wrote:
so one day a week we do Sonlight."
What the woman was saying might have been more like "We're good
Christians six days a week, and heathen sinners on the seventh
day." :-)
No, not that either.
I think it's evidence that the mom who wrote that first thing
considers unschooling to be free time, fun time, library day, field
day, pep rally. I think she's still thinking schoolishly, and though
she knows kids can learn in unstructured ways, she's not going to live
there. (I could be wrong.)
When I read it first I was thinking vegetarian six days, meat on the
seventh.
Sandra
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> so is that like becoming spiritually dissatisfied with say ....beingNo, no. I think that analogy would be like "We get bored with ABeka
> Christian and so one day a week practicing...Islam?
so one day a week we do Sonlight."
What the woman was saying might have been more like "We're good
Christians six days a week, and heathen sinners on the seventh
day." :-)
No, not that either.
I think it's evidence that the mom who wrote that first thing
considers unschooling to be free time, fun time, library day, field
day, pep rally. I think she's still thinking schoolishly, and though
she knows kids can learn in unstructured ways, she's not going to live
there. (I could be wrong.)
When I read it first I was thinking vegetarian six days, meat on the
seventh.
Sandra
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Margaret
I think it's like saying we won't control food one day a week.
Healthy sit down meals, no snacks between meals, dessert only if you
finish a certain amount of your dinner. Except on Fridays. On
fridays you can have doritos and ice cream for breakfast. You can eat
whatever you want whenever you want.
It will be doritos and ice cream all day long on Fridays and then mom
will say "See! I tried not controlling food and it doesn't work! My
kid will only eat junk all day long." and then will go back to
controlling food 7 days a week.
If the kid sees that coming, maybe they can figure out to eat a small
enough amount so that mom doesn't freak... but that will only be
because the threat is there. It isn't the same thing as not being
controlling about food. It's just not not not the same.
I don't know that this stuff will work in general if it is done part
way. I have heard people telling stories about backing off one area
(e.g. "we are unschooling writing") ended up helping, but I don't
think it is the same as actually unschooling and I think that the
stories about how great things can be don't really apply.
Maybe for this kid, backing off one day a week is a huge improvement
and a great thing to do. It could be really good for the child and
their relationship. It isn't unschooling, though, and there will be
very big differences in a child that is actually unschooled and a
child whose mom backs off one day a week.
Margaret
Healthy sit down meals, no snacks between meals, dessert only if you
finish a certain amount of your dinner. Except on Fridays. On
fridays you can have doritos and ice cream for breakfast. You can eat
whatever you want whenever you want.
It will be doritos and ice cream all day long on Fridays and then mom
will say "See! I tried not controlling food and it doesn't work! My
kid will only eat junk all day long." and then will go back to
controlling food 7 days a week.
If the kid sees that coming, maybe they can figure out to eat a small
enough amount so that mom doesn't freak... but that will only be
because the threat is there. It isn't the same thing as not being
controlling about food. It's just not not not the same.
I don't know that this stuff will work in general if it is done part
way. I have heard people telling stories about backing off one area
(e.g. "we are unschooling writing") ended up helping, but I don't
think it is the same as actually unschooling and I think that the
stories about how great things can be don't really apply.
Maybe for this kid, backing off one day a week is a huge improvement
and a great thing to do. It could be really good for the child and
their relationship. It isn't unschooling, though, and there will be
very big differences in a child that is actually unschooled and a
child whose mom backs off one day a week.
Margaret
On Tue, Jan 27, 2009 at 9:41 AM, Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...> wrote:
>
> On Jan 27, 2009, at 9:23 AM, elwazani wrote:
>
>> so is that like becoming spiritually dissatisfied with say ....being
>> Christian and so one day a week practicing...Islam?
>
> No, no. I think that analogy would be like "We get bored with ABeka
> so one day a week we do Sonlight."
>
> What the woman was saying might have been more like "We're good
> Christians six days a week, and heathen sinners on the seventh
> day." :-)
>
> No, not that either.
>
> I think it's evidence that the mom who wrote that first thing
> considers unschooling to be free time, fun time, library day, field
> day, pep rally. I think she's still thinking schoolishly, and though
> she knows kids can learn in unstructured ways, she's not going to live
> there. (I could be wrong.)
>
> When I read it first I was thinking vegetarian six days, meat on the
> seventh.
>
> Sandra
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
Sandra Dodd
On Jan 28, 2009, at 9:59 PM, Margaret wrote:
I think that's bang-on.
I wonder whether on those unschooling days the mom is still directing
the children to do, or if she's measuring and judging? If so, she
might consider that unschooling is hard work.
But if she doesn't "make" them do anything, and they're used to being
directed and required, might they take that "unschooling day" to do
what the mom would describe as "nothing"?
Sandra
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> It will be doritos and ice cream all day long on Fridays and then mom---------
> will say "See! I tried not controlling food and it doesn't work! My
> kid will only eat junk all day long." and then will go back to
> controlling food 7 days a week.
I think that's bang-on.
I wonder whether on those unschooling days the mom is still directing
the children to do, or if she's measuring and judging? If so, she
might consider that unschooling is hard work.
But if she doesn't "make" them do anything, and they're used to being
directed and required, might they take that "unschooling day" to do
what the mom would describe as "nothing"?
Sandra
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