anniegirl59

I am at a loss regarding one of my almost 9 year old twin girls. I pulled them both out of school almost exactly a year ago, near the end of second grade, because they were so unhappy in school, and I was unhappy with school as well. We have loved homeschooling, and almost immediately fell into unschooling. It felt quite natural to me, and certainly enriched our lives. The problem is that one of the girls--incidentally the one who was most unhappy at school--is saying she wants to return to school because she misses her friends. We have two former classmates that live on the street that we play with regularly, and I try to organize playdates with a few other girls as well. We also belong to brownies, so they see friends there, and pony club, where they have a second set of friends. I'm also planning to join a local unschooling group (had gone once before, and had a nice time, but didn't go back mainly because we're so busy doing things and going places, and the girls didn't seem all that gung ho to return)
Has anyone else had a child requesting a return to school and if so how did you deal with it? I've told her that if she really wants to go back next year I will support her decision, but I would be so sad to see her actually return to what I feel is a very bad place for her. Any advice?
Thanks,
a

Sandra Dodd

-=-I'm also planning to join a local unschooling group (had gone once
before, and had a nice time, but didn't go back mainly because we're
so busy doing things and going places, and the girls didn't seem all
that gung ho to return)-=-

I think you've discovered what you might have changed. If your girls
had friends who weren't in school at all, and if they had examples of
other unschooling families in their lives, school could begin to fade
into the distance.

-=-Has anyone else had a child requesting a return to school and if so
how did you deal with it? I've told her that if she really wants to go
back next year I will support her decision, but I would be so sad to
see her actually return to what I feel is a very bad place for her.
Any advice?-=

http://sandradodd.com/schoolchoice

That's my best idea if she does go to school, but if you can go to a
conference between now and then, that might help. Or if she goes to
school, maybe take her out for one of the fall conferences, if there's
any way for you to get to one. It could make such a huge difference
in your lives that even if you had to borrow money to get to one, it
might be worth doing.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/unschoolingcircuitriders/

There's a discussion list about conferences.

Sandra

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

Joanna Murphy

It's been my experience that when kids have gone to school, come home and then not hooked into a social group apart from school, is when they can end up wanting to go back. Meeting some new friends to complement their new lives would be a great idea. If former classmates are who they are playing with, then they are naturally going to feel more and more out of the loop while those girls are connecting during and about school and your daughters aren't.

My own personal opinion is that going to school for friends is kind of a sad reason to want to go, because it has nothing to do with deeper issues of learning, education and inner development. And sad because it's usually a preventable reason if mom is willing to do what it takes to help kids create a socail life. Of course each situation is different, but I do make sure that my kids have plenty of social activities so that this hopefully won't ever be an issue for us.

If you have a ready-made unschoolers group around count yourself very lucky and take advantage of it!

Joanna

anniegirl59

--- In [email protected], "Joanna Murphy" <ridingmom@...> wrote:
>
> It's been my experience that when kids have gone to school, come home and then not hooked into a social group apart from school, is when they can end up wanting to go back. Meeting some new friends to complement their new lives would be a great idea. If former classmates are who they are playing with, then they are naturally going to feel more and more out of the loop while those girls are connecting during and about school and your daughters aren't.
>
> My own personal opinion is that going to school for friends is kind of a sad reason to want to go, because it has nothing to do with deeper issues of learning, education and inner development. And sad because it's usually a preventable reason if mom is willing to do what it takes to help kids create a socail life. Of course each situation is different, but I do make sure that my kids have plenty of social activities so that this hopefully won't ever be an issue for us.
>
> If you have a ready-made unschoolers group around count yourself very lucky and take advantage of it!
>
> Joanna
>

Yes, it IS a sad reason to want to go, but in a truly unschooling family, I would let her choose to make that decision, right? We live in a town that is centered around the schools, and all the kids on the street (a lot!) that she plays with are in school. Short of moving or forbidding her to play with the neighbors, i can't avoid that influence. And I go to quite a bit of trouble to have them around other homeschooled kids--an all day homeschool outdoor program once a week, and almost daily visits to our barn (an hour drive round trip) where they play with another family of homeschoolers who have a horse. Regular field trips to meet new homeschoolers, pony club events, etc. (plus girl scouts--their old troop from school days--but they didn't want to leave it) Not to mention music lessons for two instruments each--I feel like we have almost too many activities, leaving little time to just relax! Hopefully, joining a play group with a larger number of kids will quell her desire to return to school.

Krisula Moyer

>>>problem is that one of the girls--incidentally the one who was
most unhappy at school--is saying she wants to return to school
because she misses her friends.<<<

This might not answer your question exactly but one observation I have
that might help in the equation is that some children are more prone
to being unhappy than others so it makes sense that the child who was
most unhappy in school is also now the one who is unhappy being home
(now that she's used to it). Her temperament might have more to do
with it than her situation. You may need to help her paint a picture
in her mind of what going back to school looks like and remind her of
the parts of it that were making her unhappy before. Helping her find
happiness and friends and work she enjoys etc. may take some time and
she may just not realize that it is a process that she has some
control over. Hope that helps a little.

Krisula

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

Sandra Dodd

-=-Yes, it IS a sad reason to want to go, but in a truly unschooling
family, I would let her choose to make that decision, right?-=-

If unschooling hasn't taken hold in a home to the point that the
parents and kids have really transformed their lives into a happy
world of learning.

-=-. I'm also planning to join a local unschooling group (had gone once
before, and had a nice time, but didn't go back mainly because we're
so busy
doing things and going places, and the girls didn't seem all that gung
ho to
return)-=-

This made it seem as though you were doing things without other kids.
After your next post, I guess maybe you're hanging out with school-at-
home kids and not unschoolers.

-=-And I go to quite a bit of trouble to have them around other
homeschooled kids--an all day homeschool outdoor program once a week,
and almost daily visits to our barn (an hour drive round trip) where
they play with another family of homeschoolers who have a horse.
Regular field trips to meet new homeschoolers, pony club events, etc.
(plus girl scouts--their old troop from school days--but they didn't
want to leave it) Not to mention music lessons for two instruments
each--I feel like we have almost too many activities, leaving little
time to just relax!-=-

If they're eight and have been out of school less than a year, when
was their deschooling? When was yours?

Unschooling won't really work until after deschooling.

This list has great potential to help you unschool, but it's not the
place to come to feel better about trying to short-cut it.

http://sandradodd.com/deschooling
http://sandradodd.com/doit

Sandra

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

k

>>>problem is that one of the girls--incidentally the one who was
most unhappy at school--is saying she wants to return to school
because she misses her friends.<<<

What popped out to me in the above is that maybe some people are more apt to
become bored in an environment once the newness wears off. From a parent's
perspective, a year may not be a long time to be homeschooling OR going to
school, but for some people it feels like FOREVER. I remember how bored I
got and how grateful I was to see *any* change from the norm. I'm still
that way. Sameness for too long just kills me. No matter how much I like
where I am. It's hard to explain.

It sounds like possibly your "unhappy" daughter is one who craves newness
and change. Perhaps there are creative ways to accommodate more newness,
perhaps even daily or more often than that, into your very busy lives.
Switch tracks every now and again.

Even if you can't get to a conference, maybe you could go to a local
unschooling meetup and strike up some conversation with parents of some
unschoolers your child/ren likes... and then call or email if your girls
don't want to go back to meetups just make plans on the spur of the moment
to go see a movie or get ice cream or pizza. Or set up something at home
and invite local unschoolers over for oh any reason... It's Spring!. (I
hope to do this in the not too distant future myself... it's been so crazy
around here.) It doesn't have to be about meetups.

I run into lotsa people who prefer sameness more than I do, and I long to
hop off somewhere else. I went to some local pond/fountains and ducks with
Karl ... something a lot of people do everyday but it's not a regular thing
for me. I go to children's museums but not regularly. I *do* go to the
library a lot, and other than librarians I don't run into the same people
when I do. Karl seems to like that too at least for now.

Building a social life takes me a while but I have some really great friends
from my hopping around ways. You don't have to stick with a group if your
kids don't want to. Try spending your social time and money with folks you
and/or your children click with.

~Katherine


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

k

>>>> Try spending your social time and money with folks you and/or your
children click with. <<<<

Oh I meant by that ... do you or your girls really like what you're doing
with your busy schedules? Girl Guides... is it simply being there bodily or
also the stuff they're doing there? It doesn't really matter except that
only unschooling for a year might mean that nobody has had the kind of time
it takes to know what they like. And just going to Girl Guides may be
filling a space but not very satisfactorily.

What interests are they following? If you draw a blank, then maybe that's
the reason unschooling is looking the same as school at the moment.

Do your girls really like the school kids they hang out with or is it
something to do with their time?

Consider going on short day vacations somewhere you all would like to go...
the beach (don't know what you're close to).

~Katherine


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

k

There are quite a few other definitions of unschooling on this page:
http://sandradodd.com/unschool/moredefinitions

I'm quoting the very last one below because I think it's very much to the
point for this thread.

It's by Sandra Dodd.

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

"Can anyone explain to me "unschooling"?"

It's like "just say no."

Just say no to school years and school schedules and school expectations,
school habits and fears and terminology. Just say no to separating the world
into important and unimportant things, into separating knowledge into math,
science, history and language arts, with music, art and "PE" set in their
less important little places.

Most of unschooling has to happen inside the parents. They need to spend
some time sorting out what is real from what is construct, and what occurs
in nature from what only occurs in school (and then in the minds of those
who were told school was real life, school was a kid's fulltime job, school
was more important than anything, school would keep them from being
ignorant, school would make them happy and rich and right).
It's what happens after all that school stuff is banished from your life.


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

Ann Ceraldi

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions, they're very helpful. Re the question, when did we "deschool", from what I've read, I think that's the process of recovering from the mindset and expectations of school. We did that as far as I could tell from april to august--just chilled, read, talked, went to beach, out to lunch...there really wasn't any lightning bolt, or huge change in behavior--just relief to be out of school on all our parts. then in august we took 5 weeks, just girls and me, to drive cross country--an absolutely incredible experience.
As far as what interests they are following, they are obsessed with animals and the natural world. Hence the outdoor program. We have also acquired geckos, (in addition to dogs, cats, fish, parrots and horses) and will be adding baby chicks and a beehive in May. They can name practically every breed of horse and dog, and where they originated. We watch dog and horse shows whenever we can. Are leaving tomorrow for san diego zoo. Have been whale watching once, (monterey, ca) and will go up to washington state at some point to see the resident orcas which they are very interested in.
They love music, and requested the string and piano lessons, and also love musicals and theater, so we do quite a bit of that, they act out plays with their stuffed animals, and make up songs.
I'm thinking after reading suggestions, that maybe she is a sort of child that can fall more easily into negative thinking, and maybe I should try to limit time with schoolchildren and focus heavily on developing unschooling relationships. There is a group in san francisco that looks pretty active, from their website anyway. Thanks again to all.

--- On Sun, 3/22/09, Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...> wrote:

> From: Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...>
> Subject: Re: [AlwaysLearning] Re: back to school...
> To: [email protected]
> Date: Sunday, March 22, 2009, 3:29 PM
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> -=-Yes, it IS a sad reason to want to go,
> but in a truly unschooling
>
> family, I would let her choose to make that decision,
> right?-=-
>
>
>
> If unschooling hasn't taken hold in a home to the point
> that the
>
> parents and kids have really transformed their lives into a
> happy
>
> world of learning.
>
>
>
> -=-. I'm also planning to join a local unschooling
> group (had gone once
>
> before, and had a nice time, but didn't go back mainly
> because we're
>
> so busy
>
> doing things and going places, and the girls didn't
> seem all that gung
>
> ho to
>
> return)-=-
>
>
>
> This made it seem as though you were doing things without
> other kids.
>
> After your next post, I guess maybe you're hanging out
> with school-at-
>
> home kids and not unschoolers.
>
>
>
> -=-And I go to quite a bit of trouble to have them around
> other
>
> homeschooled kids--an all day homeschool outdoor program
> once a week,
>
> and almost daily visits to our barn (an hour drive round
> trip) where
>
> they play with another family of homeschoolers who have a
> horse.
>
> Regular field trips to meet new homeschoolers, pony club
> events, etc.
>
> (plus girl scouts--their old troop from school days--but
> they didn't
>
> want to leave it) Not to mention music lessons for two
> instruments
>
> each--I feel like we have almost too many activities,
> leaving little
>
> time to just relax!-=-
>
>
>
> If they're eight and have been out of school less than
> a year, when
>
> was their deschooling? When was yours?
>
>
>
> Unschooling won't really work until after deschooling.
>
>
>
> This list has great potential to help you unschool, but
> it's not the
>
> place to come to feel better about trying to short-cut it.
>
>
>
> http://sandradodd.
> com/deschooling
>
> http://sandradodd.
> com/doit
>
>
>
> Sandra
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

Sandra Dodd

-=-...it's the process of recovering from the mindset and expectations
of school. We did that as far as I could tell from april to august--
just chilled, read, talked, went to beach, out to lunch...there really
wasn't any lightning bolt, or huge change in behavior--just relief to
be out of school on all our parts. then in august we took 5 weeks,
just girls and me, to drive cross country--an absolutely incredible
experience. -=-

The driving across the country counts, but "summer vacation" after a
year of school was "earned" anyway, by the nine months of school.

-=-I'm thinking after reading suggestions, that maybe she is a sort of
child that can fall more easily into negative thinking, and maybe I
should try to limit time with schoolchildren and focus heavily on
developing unschooling relationships. -=-

If you're in northern California, there are two conferences within
driving range:

WA
May 21 - 24, 2009
Vancouver, WA
Life Is Good NW Unschooling Conference
http://www.lifeisgoodconference.com/
CA
Sept. 10 - 13, 2009
San Diego, CA
Good Vibrations Unschooling Conference
http://goodvibrationsconference.com/
Sandra

Joanna Murphy

-=-And I go to quite a bit of trouble to have them around other
> homeschooled kids--an all day homeschool outdoor program once a week,
> and almost daily visits to our barn (an hour drive round trip) where
> they play with another family of homeschoolers who have a horse.
> Regular field trips to meet new homeschoolers, pony club events, etc.
> (plus girl scouts--their old troop from school days--but they didn't
> want to leave it) Not to mention music lessons for two instruments
> each--I feel like we have almost too many activities, leaving little
> time to just relax!-=-
>
> If they're eight and have been out of school less than a year, when
> was their deschooling? When was yours?
>
> Unschooling won't really work until after deschooling.

Yes. It's hard to say, because you didn't say <g>, whether all this activity is at the request of your daughters or not. I've found that my kids--even my very social one--just don't want all of this running around. Our deschooling process looked so much more relaxed. And it also included day long playdates where the mom and I would visit and there was lots of time. It may not look like that for your family, but if you traded school busyness for other-life busyness, they may not really know the difference.

One of the true gifts that unschooling has to offer is time and space for breathing, daydreaming, two hour baths in the middle of the day, impromptu teaparties, or just hanging around and seeing what comes up. And maybe some long, slow playdates with one or two friends at a time with lots of time to make deep connections. Of course it's hard to get a picture in a short post, but both of your posts have felt a little whirlwindish with activities.

Rhetorical question coming: Is that what your girls really want, or are you thinking they should have all of those activities? Because there is SOMETHING that isn't working for them--is it too much activity or too little meaningful connection with friends or with you?

And even if they are truly asking for all of those activities, are they truly being served by them all at the same time? Maybe choose the most important one or two and then rotate them--just a thought.

Joanna

Joanna Murphy

and focus heavily on developing unschooling relationships. There is a group in san francisco that looks pretty active, from their website anyway. Thanks again to all.
>
I'm actually part of the SFBUN group, and it's a great group and very active. Hope to meet you one day.

Joanna

Jenny C

> Has anyone else had a child requesting a return to school and if so
how did you deal with it? I've told her that if she really wants to go
back next year I will support her decision, but I would be so sad to see
her actually return to what I feel is a very bad place for her. Any
advice?
> Thanks,
> a
>

My very first thought, was that if you waited until next school year, it
might actually feel exciting to go to school, but if she went back now,
she'd end up being stuck in a classroom while the sun was shining
outside. I always felt very restless at school in the spring time, and
I'd feel all excited about it in the fall, until the monotony of it set
in.

I'd also second the idea of going to an unschooling conference! I can't
even begin to tell you how huge this was for my own kids, and our whole
family.

It sounds like you have a lot of fun activities already, but if you can
really get involved with your unschooling group, that could really help.
It's nice to have friends that are doing the same sorts of things and
that are available during school hours. Our experience was/is that
school at home families tend to be just as unavailable as school
families, but those unschooling families were and are way more flexible
in their time and availability.

I'm curious too, would both girls go back to school, or just the one?

Pam Sorooshian

On 3/22/2009 7:14 PM, Ann Ceraldi wrote:
> then in august we took 5 weeks, just girls and me, to drive cross country--an absolutely incredible experience.
>

When you were driving cross- country - what did you do? I mean - did you
just look at the view out of the car windows or did you stop various
places? What kinds of places? What was so fun about it? Was it doing all
different kinds of things? What it that you were relaxed and could
choose to stop and stay just as long as you felt like it? The freedom of
the road?

Just from knowing that you spent 5 weeks doing that and had a blast -
makes me think that you all tend to like new and different more than
same and mundane.

That would have me wondering if maybe you have too much "regularly
scheduled" stuff going on and not enough free time to "just go." Try to
imagine living your life as if you're "on the road."

It is pretty common even for long-term unschoolers to succumb to the
temptation to get themselves over-committed, but it is REALLY common for
new unschoolers (and you are new for a couple of years, at least) to
over-schedule their lives.

It is a balancing act, doesn't it? On the one hand, sometimes the kids
are restless and you need to jazz up their lives more. Sometimes they
need long long LOOOOONG hours of uninterrupted free and unstructured
play time.

My gut tells me you're too busy and that your daughters need more free
time - I'd really push for significant amounts of outdoor play time with
other unschooled kids. Not talking about 2 hours in between other
scheduled activities, but a couple of days per week where all they have
to do is get up, go play, hang out with friends in a park or at the
beach ALL day long.

-pam

Jenny C

"Have been whale watching once, (monterey, ca) and will go up to
washington state at some point to see the resident orcas which they are
very interested in."

Whale season, as I remember is in May, someone correct me if I'm wrong,
and guess what?! There is a conference in Vacouver WA in May! Our
family will be there.... just sayin!

Here's the link to the conference...
http://www.lifeisgoodconference.com/
<http://www.lifeisgoodconference.com/>




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

k

>>>>"Can anyone explain to me "unschooling"?"<<<<

<taking a bit of Sandra's quote out to emphasize something>

>>>>Most of unschooling has to happen inside the parents. They need to spend some time sorting out what is real from what is construct<<<<

I have one child who's only 5. His dad and I went through so much
deschooling to get to the point of unschooling, well.... let me just
say, it was more than *I* expected really.

Deschooling long enough and thoroughly enough probably leads to being
able to unschool. Some people need more deschooling than others,
like me and Brian. We had more stuff to work through that we were
hanging onto.

Keep in mind that Karl has never been to school a single day.

And yet Brian and I chose to go through all that deschooling to have
the kind of family life and peace we want.

Oh and by the way, I don't think we're finished deschooling. :D

~Katherine

jill bugay

I am so glade I joined this group!! It seems that everything that is a concern that crosses my mind turns up as question on this group. My in laws do not want me to home school so telling them we are going to unschool I am sure a few more candles were light at church about it. They always tell Lucy (5) that school is fun and she will have friends. So of course she wants to go. For the past couple of weeks I have been reminding her here and there of the things we get go do and stuff we do because she isn't going to school. And now she tells everyone I am home schooled because I am to smart for it. I am enjoying this group a lot. Thanks Jill in Vegas excuse the typos it is hard to edit on a blackberry.
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

-----Original Message-----
From: Pam Sorooshian <pamsoroosh@...>

Date: Sun, 22 Mar 2009 22:42:54
To: <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [AlwaysLearning] Re: back to school...


On 3/22/2009 7:14 PM, Ann Ceraldi wrote:
> then in august we took 5 weeks, just girls and me, to drive cross country--an absolutely incredible experience.
>

When you were driving cross- country - what did you do? I mean - did you
just look at the view out of the car windows or did you stop various
places? What kinds of places? What was so fun about it? Was it doing all
different kinds of things? What it that you were relaxed and could
choose to stop and stay just as long as you felt like it? The freedom of
the road?

Just from knowing that you spent 5 weeks doing that and had a blast -
makes me think that you all tend to like new and different more than
same and mundane.

That would have me wondering if maybe you have too much "regularly
scheduled" stuff going on and not enough free time to "just go." Try to
imagine living your life as if you're "on the road."

It is pretty common even for long-term unschoolers to succumb to the
temptation to get themselves over-committed, but it is REALLY common for
new unschoolers (and you are new for a couple of years, at least) to
over-schedule their lives.

It is a balancing act, doesn't it? On the one hand, sometimes the kids
are restless and you need to jazz up their lives more. Sometimes they
need long long LOOOOONG hours of uninterrupted free and unstructured
play time.

My gut tells me you're too busy and that your daughters need more free
time - I'd really push for significant amounts of outdoor play time with
other unschooled kids. Not talking about 2 hours in between other
scheduled activities, but a couple of days per week where all they have
to do is get up, go play, hang out with friends in a park or at the
beach ALL day long.

-pam





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

Ann Ceraldi

it would just be the one--other girl emphatically states "I'm never going back". Also, interestingly, after I told my daughter who said she wanted to return, that she COULD,(something I'd never told her when she'd say this previously) she mulled it over for a day and then told me she had decided she didn't want to!!

--- On Sun, 3/22/09, Jenny C <jenstarc4@...> wrote:

> From: Jenny C <jenstarc4@...>
> Subject: [AlwaysLearning] Re: back to school...
> To: [email protected]
> Date: Sunday, March 22, 2009, 10:36 PM
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > Has anyone else had a child requesting a return to
> school and if so
>
> how did you deal with it? I've told her that if she
> really wants to go
>
> back next year I will support her decision, but I would be
> so sad to see
>
> her actually return to what I feel is a very bad place for
> her. Any
>
> advice?
>
> > Thanks,
>
> > a
>
> >
>
>
>
> My very first thought, was that if you waited until next
> school year, it
>
> might actually feel exciting to go to school, but if she
> went back now,
>
> she'd end up being stuck in a classroom while the sun
> was shining
>
> outside. I always felt very restless at school in the
> spring time, and
>
> I'd feel all excited about it in the fall, until the
> monotony of it set
>
> in.
>
>
>
> I'd also second the idea of going to an unschooling
> conference! I can't
>
> even begin to tell you how huge this was for my own kids,
> and our whole
>
> family.
>
>
>
> It sounds like you have a lot of fun activities already,
> but if you can
>
> really get involved with your unschooling group, that could
> really help.
>
> It's nice to have friends that are doing the same sorts
> of things and
>
> that are available during school hours. Our experience
> was/is that
>
> school at home families tend to be just as unavailable as
> school
>
> families, but those unschooling families were and are way
> more flexible
>
> in their time and availability.
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> I'm curious too, would both girls go back to school, or
> just the one?
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Ann Ceraldi

you're right--we are way too busy. It's so hard with all these tempting posts on BAHFT. Re cross country--we stopped at everything! Grand canyon, mount rushmore, mesa verde, wild ponies of assateague. Slept under the stars on a navajo reservation with stray dogs snuggled up on our sleeping bags. We had a loose overall plan, and added or subtracted time depending on how much we liked certain places. (If horseback riding was available, that automatically added time--girls would have been happy RIDING cross country!) and we spent a lot of time with local animals. ie at mount rushmore, we spent maybe 1 hour at the monument, and an entire day looking at prairie dogs and buffalo. I'd love to do it again!

--- On Sun, 3/22/09, Pam Sorooshian <pamsoroosh@...> wrote:

> From: Pam Sorooshian <pamsoroosh@...>
> Subject: Re: [AlwaysLearning] Re: back to school...
> To: [email protected]
> Date: Sunday, March 22, 2009, 10:42 PM
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> On 3/22/2009 7:14 PM, Ann Ceraldi wrote:
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> > then in august we took 5 weeks, just girls and me, to
> drive cross country--an absolutely incredible experience.
>
> >
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>
> When you were driving cross- country - what did you do? I
> mean - did you
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> just look at the view out of the car windows or did you
> stop various
>
> places? What kinds of places? What was so fun about it? Was
> it doing all
>
> different kinds of things? What it that you were relaxed
> and could
>
> choose to stop and stay just as long as you felt like it?
> The freedom of
>
> the road?
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> Just from knowing that you spent 5 weeks doing that and had
> a blast -
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> makes me think that you all tend to like new and different
> more than
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> same and mundane.
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> That would have me wondering if maybe you have too much
> "regularly
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> scheduled" stuff going on and not enough free time to
> "just go." Try to
>
> imagine living your life as if you're "on the
> road."
>
>
>
> It is pretty common even for long-term unschoolers to
> succumb to the
>
> temptation to get themselves over-committed, but it is
> REALLY common for
>
> new unschoolers (and you are new for a couple of years, at
> least) to
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> over-schedule their lives.
>
>
>
> It is a balancing act, doesn't it? On the one hand,
> sometimes the kids
>
> are restless and you need to jazz up their lives more.
> Sometimes they
>
> need long long LOOOOONG hours of uninterrupted free and
> unstructured
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> play time.
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> My gut tells me you're too busy and that your daughters
> need more free
>
> time - I'd really push for significant amounts of
> outdoor play time with
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> other unschooled kids. Not talking about 2 hours in between
> other
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> scheduled activities, but a couple of days per week where
> all they have
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> to do is get up, go play, hang out with friends in a park
> or at the
>
> beach ALL day long.
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>
> -pam
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Ann Ceraldi

I think we are going to the san diego one in sept. we have baby chicks coming the week of may 25th, and have to be here to pick them up at post office. The resident orcas are there all the time--they are very different from the ones that migrate. (I just learned this!)

--- On Sun, 3/22/09, Jenny C <jenstarc4@...> wrote:

> From: Jenny C <jenstarc4@...>
> Subject: [AlwaysLearning] Re: back to school...
> To: [email protected]
> Date: Sunday, March 22, 2009, 10:44 PM
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> "Have been whale watching once, (monterey, ca) and
> will go up to
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> washington state at some point to see the resident orcas
> which they are
>
> very interested in."
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>
>
> Whale season, as I remember is in May, someone correct me
> if I'm wrong,
>
> and guess what?! There is a conference in Vacouver WA in
> May! Our
>
> family will be there.... just sayin!
>
>
>
> Here's the link to the conference.. .
>
> http://www.lifeisgo
> odconference. com/
>
> <http://www.lifeisgo
> odconference. com/>
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Pam Sorooshian

On 3/23/2009 7:29 AM, Ann Ceraldi wrote:
> I think we are going to the san diego one in sep

Good Vibrations Unschooling Conference in San Diego in September!! I'll
be speaking and so will my 24 year old unschooled daughter and so will
Sandra Dodd!

<goodvibrationsconference.com>

-pam sorooshian
> t.

Sandra Dodd

-=-
Search Results
• BAHFT : Bay Area Homeschool Field Trips
Feb 28, 2003 ... BAHFT: Bay Area Homeschool Field Trips. ... -=-


I brought that here because I didn't know what this meant: " It's so
hard with all these tempting posts on BAHFT."

This is another reminder that the list is international. Keep local
discussions and local references to a minimum. For the benefit of the
very-many readers all over the world, try to phrase things in terms of
the principles and ideas, not the local particulars.

Thanks,

Sandra the listowner

Sandra Dodd

-=-. They always tell Lucy (5) that school is fun and she will have
friends. So of course she wants to go. For the past couple of weeks I
have been reminding her here and there of the things we get go do and
stuff we do because she isn't going to school-=-

It might be good for all concerned if you treat this as something
you're going to try for a year or two. Then make that year count.
Make it so peaceful and fun that Lucy doesn't want to go to school the
year after that, but keep the possibility open that if it's not going
well, she might go to school the year after that. Then make sure it
goes well.

-=-And now she tells everyone I am home schooled because I am to smart
for it.-=-

Try to nip that talk in the bud if you can. Labels like that hurt
everyone involved. The idea that you want to be with her more might
be a good focus if she needs "a reason" to be home, or that you want
to let her do things in special ways and not have to wait for 20 other
kids to do it their own way before she goes on to something fun. Or
that you'd like to let her sleep as long as she wants to and eat when
she wants to. Kids in school don't have that.

Sandra

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

Sandra Dodd

-=-
Oh and by the way, I don't think we're finished deschooling. :D-=-

It took me many years, and I still tweak my clarity. I think it's
clear and I find some fog. But not it's a fogginess and not huge
lumps of opaque ideas I can't even see through, as it was when I was
so schoolbound.

Even though I studied school reformers in college and was determined
to change the world of school, I still was coming at it from a "school
is vital" position. That sounds like a simple change to make, but it
wasn't as simple as it sounds.

Some of my early writings use words and phrases I don't use anymore.
I was still deschooling even after I was writing about it for
publication.

Sandra

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