[email protected]

"I've been thinking of posting that I think maybe we should have just had an
underground, secret unschooling movement by invitation only, because those
who don't understand it are making the rest of us look bad. <g>
And that since some families CAN'T pull it off, for whatever reasons, that
it would have been better for them not to try, and we could screen people in
advance to see if they were flexible, creative, energetic and trusting enough
to make it work."

I wrote that to someone privately just yesterday. I'm glad the conversation
has gone as it has today.

So here' a first-draft pro-list:

Unschoolers need to be

flexible
creative
energetic
trusting
knowledgeable and willing to learn more
interested in how people learn
happy in their lives--optimistic to peaceful
aware of the joy in small things


What will work against unschooling:

cynicism
impatience
meanness
jealousy (of your children's happiness, of your friends' reports of success)
bad parental voices in your head
violence, drug use, alcoholism (anything making the parents unsafe or
unreliable)
priority given to spotless, quiet, orderly house
agoraphobia on the part of the mom (if kids are stuck home, they're very
limited)
prejudice against modern media (computers, videos, TV)
book-worship
hope to find a full school curriculum buried in everyday life
desire to TEACH
desire to control the child's thoughts and beliefs


Anyone care to add to those or suggest some to be pulled or amended?

Sandra

Leslie

<Anyone care to add to those or suggest some to be pulled or amended?>

I would definitely add PATIENCE to the top of the "must be" list and I'd take "book worship" off the work against list. I might not understand what you mean by book worship? Personally I don't know if I could be happy without books?


<hope to find a full school curriculum buried in everyday life>

One more thing. I would think, that if you can't find a full curriculum buried in everyday life, it would be difficult to unschool?

Leslie




Unschoolers need to be

flexible
creative
energetic
trusting
knowledgeable and willing to learn more
interested in how people learn
happy in their lives--optimistic to peaceful
aware of the joy in small things


What will work against unschooling:

cynicism
impatience
meanness
jealousy (of your children's happiness, of your friends' reports of success)
bad parental voices in your head
violence, drug use, alcoholism (anything making the parents unsafe or
unreliable)
priority given to spotless, quiet, orderly house
agoraphobia on the part of the mom (if kids are stuck home, they're very
limited)
prejudice against modern media (computers, videos, TV)
desire to TEACH
desire to control the child's thoughts and beliefs



Sandra







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

[email protected]

In a message dated 2/20/02 8:10:11 PM, leslie@... writes:

<< One more thing. I would think, that if you can't find a full curriculum
buried in everyday life, it would be difficult to unschool? >>

I think if you're looking for the curriculum, you're not really unschooling.

<<I'd take "book worship" off the work against list. I might not understand
what you mean by book worship? Personally I don't know if I could be happy
without books? >>

I wouldn't be happy without books. But I don't tell a kid to turn off that
Ten Commandments movie and go get a book about Egypt. I don't say "Don't try
to make a marionette until you've read everything in the house and the
nearest library on marionettes." Some people do. Some people think "real
learning" is in books, and the other stuff is for afterwards.

"Booklearning." The very term, with all its connotations, is something for
unschoolers to stay clear of.

Sandra

homeschoolmd

> "Booklearning." The very term, with all its connotations, is
something for
> unschoolers to stay clear of.
>
> Sandra

My dh can learn anything he wants to learn from a book. I wish I was
more like this but I'm not. I addition to not being able to learn
well from the written word, I can't understand the meaning of many
charts and graphs. I need to be shown and I need to hear. It
doesn't mean I don't try to get what I can from books but without
other sources I'd be lost.

I really wish I could find more on video tape. I'm trying to teach
myself to play the piano and I can't find what I need.

Virginia is the same as I am.


Pat

Elizabeth Hill

I want to suggest adding "dependent on the approval of others" as a
potential hindrance to unschooling.

Betsy

Leslie wrote:

> <Anyone care to add to those or suggest some to be pulled or
> amended?>
>
> I would definitely add PATIENCE to the top of the "must be" list and
> I'd take "book worship" off the work against list. I might not
> understand what you mean by book worship? Personally I don't know if I
> could be happy without books?
>
>
> <hope to find a full school curriculum buried in everyday life>
>
> One more thing. I would think, that if you can't find a full
> curriculum buried in everyday life, it would be difficult to unschool?
>
> Leslie
>
>
>
>
> Unschoolers need to be
>
> flexible
> creative
> energetic
> trusting
> knowledgeable and willing to learn more
> interested in how people learn
> happy in their lives--optimistic to peaceful
> aware of the joy in small things
>
>
> What will work against unschooling:
>
> cynicism
> impatience
> meanness
> jealousy (of your children's happiness, of your friends' reports of
> success)
> bad parental voices in your head
> violence, drug use, alcoholism (anything making the parents unsafe or
> unreliable)
> priority given to spotless, quiet, orderly house
> agoraphobia on the part of the mom (if kids are stuck home, they're
> very
> limited)
> prejudice against modern media (computers, videos, TV)
> desire to TEACH
> desire to control the child's thoughts and beliefs
>
>
>
> Sandra
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Tia Leschke

>
>I wouldn't be happy without books. But I don't tell a kid to turn off that
>Ten Commandments movie and go get a book about Egypt. I don't say "Don't try
>to make a marionette until you've read everything in the house and the
>nearest library on marionettes." Some people do. Some people think "real
>learning" is in books, and the other stuff is for afterwards.

This is where Lars and I are so different. We're at opposite ends of this
spectrum. I never try to do anything without reading the instructions, and
I always turn to books first when I want to learn something new. Lars
wouldn't consider reading the instructions, though he just *might* look at
any pictures. He just jumps in and starts fooling around with something to
see how it works. And for him, learning never comes from the printed
word. It's been a real struggle for me to accept that his way is just as
valid as mine. And that each way has its downside.

We recently got a digital camera, and I set out reading the instructions
and trying to figure it all out. Lars had the basics figured out long
before I did. But there are things that I could show him how to do that he
probably would never have figured out on his own, because I read the
instructions.
Tia

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
Eleanor Roosevelt
*********************************************
Tia Leschke
leschke@...
On Vancouver Island

Sharon Rudd

Hmmmm I don't have agoraphobia, but we are stuck at
home, most of the time. I go WAY beyond half-way to
arrange get togethers. I do make an effort to go.
However it is an effort. Real effort, I try to conceal
it as best I can, but the physical toll on me is
something that is I have to take into account.

HOWEVER we live in a field trip. Always have.

I don't think stuck at home is necessarily limiting.
Just depends on the home.

Sharon of the Swamp


> Unschoolers need to be
>
> flexible
> creative
> energetic
> trusting
> knowledgeable and willing to learn more
> interested in how people learn
> happy in their lives--optimistic to peaceful
> aware of the joy in small things
>
>
> What will work against unschooling:
>
> cynicism
> impatience
> meanness
> jealousy (of your children's happiness, of your
> friends' reports of success)
> bad parental voices in your head
> violence, drug use, alcoholism (anything making the
> parents unsafe or
> unreliable)
> priority given to spotless, quiet, orderly house
> agoraphobia on the part of the mom (if kids are
> stuck home, they're very
> limited)
> prejudice against modern media (computers, videos,
> TV)
> desire to TEACH
> desire to control the child's thoughts and beliefs
>
>
>
> Sandra
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been
> removed]
>
>


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