vespertine_nsw

Hi all,

I am on a low budget as a single parent, and would love some suggestions as to how to make some games. Eli is 4 and just starting to really enjoy them (usually with a little assistance, games like Guess Who Jr, Monopoly Jr) and as I can't afford to buy more games right now I thought it might be fun to make our own.

I was thinking Snakes and Ladders would be pretty easy, and we could make some Snap cards etc using some magazine pictures and cardboard (if Eli is interested, otherwise I'm keen to go for it on my own). Does anyone know of some good websites with games ideas?

Thanks in advance,
Kerrie in Australia.


Sandra Dodd

Maybe ask on Freecycle, or go to a thrift store and buy some playing
cards and a book of card games.

But there are game directions and games themselves on the internet.
There are games to print out and color, and games to play right
there. There are traditional games and games with easily found
gameboards (garage sales, fleamarkets)

http://sandradodd.com/games

Sandra

Rue Kream

You can play Mancala using an egg carton and whatever little items you
have handy - beans, buttons, coins, etc. Memory is another good one to
make yourself, using photos, pictures or words from magazines/catalogs,
or drawings. ~Rue


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

vespertine_nsw

> I buy perfect games for cents on thrift stores and garage sales.
>
>  
> Alex Polikowsky
> http://polykow.blogspot.com/

Thanks Alex, I LOVE going to garage sales. But I don't actually have my drivers license yet, which makes getting around to sales a bit hard. I am assuming thrift stores is the American term for opshops/second hand stores? I have thought about buying games there but assumed some pieces are missing (they tape the boxes up over here.) But 1( I guess I shouldn't assume and 2) I didn't think before, I can definately substitute missing pieces anyway!

Kerrie in Australia.

vespertine_nsw

>>>>>You can play Mancala using an egg carton and whatever little items you have handy - beans, buttons, coins, etc. Memory is another good one to make yourself, using photos, pictures or words from magazines/catalogs, or drawings. ~Rue<<<<

Thanks Rue, I will have to google Mancala as I haven't heard of that one. Memory is a good one! A few weeks ago I got hold of some empty film canisters and we made some shakers to match up which was fun. Eg in one pair, we put rice, in another, sand, then bird seed, then wooden beads. They now double as maraccas when I put the Buena Vista Social Club cd on :o)

Kerrie in Australia.

Robyn L. Coburn

We make up our own board games. We have one that Jayn has created making a
big grid like Tic-tac-toe. You take turns putting X or O and make 4 or 5 in
a row - fluid rules. The grid is drawn on cardboard, and we use pencil to
mark it.

Jayn has also devised board games, just by drawing a curvy path and dividing
it into steps, and using any dice and any little figures.

Jayn also has an RPG that she has made up using assorted small figures and
an ordinary pair of dice, as against the fancy probability dice of D&D.
Inspired by the characters she created a storyline and goals to do with
rescuing the kidnapped king from the sun demons, and we gave each character
an attribute sheet. The good guys are on a quest and have specific magical
abilities. They periodically meet up with bad guys and fight - using the
dice to determine the outcomes. After each battle their attributes are
improved again by rolling the dice and adding numbers. It's also very fluid.

For years Jayn has been playing a big battlefield game with her dad. They
have a large piece of foam core and they set out their two armies of
assorted small plastic characters and then do something with them to which I
am not privvy. They work out the formal rules between them. It seems to have
no end.

The point of the games are to spend time together laughing.


Robyn L. Coburn
www.Iggyjingles.etsy.com
www.iggyjingles.blogspot.com
www.allthingsdoll.blogspot.com

Beth Fleming

Not sure if you have it in Austarlia, but Freecycle is a wonderful resource.  You just have to be patient!  and eventually something that you want will come up.  WE just got a new (to us) trampoline and are picking up a cd player today. http://www.freecycle.org/%c2%a0  Good Luck!
Beth

--- On Thu, 9/24/09, vespertine_nsw <kezzdee@...> wrote:


From: vespertine_nsw <kezzdee@...>
Subject: [AlwaysLearning] home-made games
To: [email protected]
Date: Thursday, September 24, 2009, 9:46 PM


 



Hi all,

I am on a low budget as a single parent, and would love some suggestions as to how to make some games. Eli is 4 and just starting to really enjoy them (usually with a little assistance, games like Guess Who Jr, Monopoly Jr) and as I can't afford to buy more games right now I thought it might be fun to make our own.

I was thinking Snakes and Ladders would be pretty easy, and we could make some Snap cards etc using some magazine pictures and cardboard (if Eli is interested, otherwise I'm keen to go for it on my own). Does anyone know of some good websites with games ideas?

Thanks in advance,
Kerrie in Australia.



















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

Anne Mills

Dear son William 6 tells me he really wants to learn Spanish. Is there some movie dvd or any other materials that one can recommend ?
I will take the time to help him as much as I can.
Thank you,
Anne Mills
_________________________________________________________________
Découvrez toutes les possibilités de communication avec vos proches
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowslive/default.aspx

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

Sandra Dodd

-=-Dear son William 6 tells me he really wants to learn Spanish. Is
there some movie dvd or any other materials that one can recommend ?
I will take the time to help him as much as I can. =-

What about DVDs with a Spanish soundtrack option? DVDs he already
knows really well? Not to study or try to parse out, but just to hear
as background while he's playing lego or drawing or something.

Maybe Spanish songs for kids, with words under? There might be
something on the internet.

Spanish-language Sesame Street might be online somewhere. I'm not
sure where it was from, though; maybe Mexico. He might be wanting
European Spanish accent, more.

I would look for things little kids in a Spanish-speaking place would
be watching or hearing.

Sandra

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

chiggins1066

--- In [email protected], Beth Fleming <momofwc@...> wrote:
>
>
>
> Not sure if you have it in Austarlia, but Freecycle is a wonderful resource.  You just have to be patient!  and eventually something that you want will come up.  WE just got a new (to us) trampoline and are picking up a cd player today. http://www.freecycle.org/%c2%a0  Good Luck!
> Beth
>
> --- On Thu, 9/24/09, vespertine_nsw <kezzdee@...> wrote:
>
>
> From: vespertine_nsw <kezzdee@...>
> Subject: [AlwaysLearning] home-made games
> To: [email protected]
> Date: Thursday, September 24, 2009, 9:46 PM
>
>
>  
>
>
>
> Hi all,
>
> I am on a low budget as a single parent, and would love some suggestions as to how to make some games. Eli is 4 and just starting to really enjoy them (usually with a little assistance, games like Guess Who Jr, Monopoly Jr) and as I can't afford to buy more games right now I thought it might be fun to make our own.
>
> I was thinking Snakes and Ladders would be pretty easy, and we could make some Snap cards etc using some magazine pictures and cardboard (if Eli is interested, otherwise I'm keen to go for it on my own). Does anyone know of some good websites with games ideas?
>
> Thanks in advance,
> Kerrie in Australia.

One game that would be easy to make would be Pente

Simply get a big piece of graph paper (or make one) and get some colored beads.

As your child gets older, you might want to expose him to role-playing games. Many can be downloaded for free in PDF form. Here is an example:

http://www.swordsandwizardry.com/?page_id=4

or

http://www.goblinoidgames.com/labyrinthlord.html

These will give you countless hours of gaming, and help your child build his vocabulary, story-telling ability, math skills, etc. The games I have listed are easy to learn.

Beth Fleming

Once when we were in French speaking Canada, there was a version of Dora, mostly French with short English phrases.  Wonder if that's available in mostly Spanish?  The Dora and Diego's the my girls have seen are great, but very elementary Spanish...but it could be a good place to start for simple phrases, counting, etc....

--- On Fri, 9/25/09, Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...> wrote:


From: Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...>
Subject: Re: [AlwaysLearning] Learning Spanish with dvd or else ?
To: [email protected]
Date: Friday, September 25, 2009, 9:36 AM


 



-=-Dear son William 6 tells me he really wants to learn Spanish. Is
there some movie dvd or any other materials that one can recommend ?
I will take the time to help him as much as I can. =-

What about DVDs with a Spanish soundtrack option? DVDs he already
knows really well? Not to study or try to parse out, but just to hear
as background while he's playing lego or drawing or something.

Maybe Spanish songs for kids, with words under? There might be
something on the internet.

Spanish-language Sesame Street might be online somewhere. I'm not
sure where it was from, though; maybe Mexico. He might be wanting
European Spanish accent, more.

I would look for things little kids in a Spanish-speaking place would
be watching or hearing.

Sandra

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



















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

Anne Mills

Thank you for the input.William loved the nursery rhymes in Spanish and translation and the numbers both on you tube. Really LOVED it.
He bimmed.
Then he raced back to his toys. lol.


Anne






To: [email protected]
From: anne-mills@...
Date: Fri, 25 Sep 2009 15:23:49 +0200
Subject: RE: [AlwaysLearning] Learning Spanish with dvd or else ?









































Dear son William 6 tells me he really wants to learn Spanish. Is there some movie dvd or any other materials that one can recommend ?

I will take the time to help him as much as I can.

Thank you,

Anne Mills

__________________________________________________________

Découvrez toutes les possibilités de communication avec vos proches

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowslive/default.aspx



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






















_________________________________________________________________
Téléphonez gratuitement à tous vos proches avec Windows Live Messenger  !  Téléchargez-le maintenant !
http://www.windowslive.fr/messenger/1.asp

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

Anne Mills

Good idea, Ill see on Amazon...
He is a bit young for the only Spanish and Mexican movies i have ; Frida Khalo and Almodovars ;-) but coold almost enjoy Ugly Betty lol.
We have a Spanish friend whom just married a Mexican so a little practise in both will help. Also I have a good Porto Rican friend base that we might visit one day.

Anne






To: [email protected]
From: momofwc@...
Date: Fri, 25 Sep 2009 09:06:59 -0700
Subject: Re: [AlwaysLearning] Learning Spanish with dvd or else ?

























Once when we were in French speaking Canada, there was a version of Dora, mostly French with short English phrases. Wonder if that's available in mostly Spanish? The Dora and Diego's the my girls have seen are great, but very elementary Spanish...but it could be a good place to start for simple phrases, counting, etc....



--- On Fri, 9/25/09, Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...> wrote:



From: Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...>

Subject: Re: [AlwaysLearning] Learning Spanish with dvd or else ?

To: [email protected]

Date: Friday, September 25, 2009, 9:36 AM







-=-Dear son William 6 tells me he really wants to learn Spanish. Is

there some movie dvd or any other materials that one can recommend ?

I will take the time to help him as much as I can. =-



What about DVDs with a Spanish soundtrack option? DVDs he already

knows really well? Not to study or try to parse out, but just to hear

as background while he's playing lego or drawing or something.



Maybe Spanish songs for kids, with words under? There might be

something on the internet.



Spanish-language Sesame Street might be online somewhere. I'm not

sure where it was from, though; maybe Mexico. He might be wanting

European Spanish accent, more.



I would look for things little kids in a Spanish-speaking place would

be watching or hearing.



Sandra



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



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






















_________________________________________________________________
Téléphonez gratuitement à tous vos proches avec Windows Live Messenger  !  Téléchargez-le maintenant ! 
http://www.windowslive.fr/messenger/1.asp

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

Lisa

<<<--- In [email protected], Anne Mills <anne-mills@...> wrote:
>
> Dear son William 6 tells me he really wants to learn Spanish. Is there some movie dvd or any other materials that one can recommend ? I will take the time to help him as much as I can. Thank you, Anne Mills >>>



You might try www.livemocha.com. Live Mocha is a free language learning site that offers lessons in 18 languages. Lisa

Bob Collier

--- In [email protected], Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...> wrote:
>
> -=-Dear son William 6 tells me he really wants to learn Spanish. Is
> there some movie dvd or any other materials that one can recommend ?
> I will take the time to help him as much as I can. =-
>
> What about DVDs with a Spanish soundtrack option? DVDs he already
> knows really well? Not to study or try to parse out, but just to hear
> as background while he's playing lego or drawing or something.
>
> Maybe Spanish songs for kids, with words under? There might be
> something on the internet.
>
> Spanish-language Sesame Street might be online somewhere. I'm not
> sure where it was from, though; maybe Mexico. He might be wanting
> European Spanish accent, more.
>
> I would look for things little kids in a Spanish-speaking place would
> be watching or hearing.
>
> Sandra
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>




I'm currently watching Batman on Nick Espanol at this page:

http://fomny.com/Espana-tv.php

I also use Coffee Break Spanish:

http://rlnvault.com/rln09/2009/08/introducing-coffee-break-spanish-step-by-step/

Bob

thetiemensfamily

Muzzy is a video series that is highly recommended that teaches various languages (http://www.Early-Advantage.com/). And you could use Rosetta Stone as long as you did it with him. You can request a free demo CD to get a feel for what it is like. Another thing is to listen to Spanish-language radio and children's Spanish song CDs. Try the library for the CDs. Arrange to have a weekly play date with a Spanish speaking child and/or go to the library when they are having ESOL classes. Hire a Spanish-speaking housecleaner. Watch all DVDs on the Spanish track. And most of all, learn it yourself and use it with him as much as possible. Do as much as you can to immerse him in the language.

Laurie
www.AnotherBlessing.com - Pregnancy and Ovulation Predictor Tests for only 50-85 CENTS with free next day shipping to the USA!


--- In [email protected], Anne Mills <anne-mills@...> wrote:
> Dear son William 6 tells me he really wants to learn Spanish. Is there some movie dvd or any other materials that one can recommend ?
> I will take the time to help him as much as I can.
> Thank you,
> Anne Mills

Jenny Cyphers

>>>Muzzy is a video series that is highly recommended that teaches various languages). And you could use Rosetta Stone as long as you did it with him.>>>
Unschoolers should avoid "teaching", both in terminology and in practice. Learning Spanish together is a completely different thing than teaching someone else Spanish. Video recommendations are great, many people learn many things from videos! Videos don't teach.
>>>Hire a Spanish-speaking housecleaner.>>>
This bothers me. If you are going to hire a Spanish speaking person to do something for you with the intent of your child learning Spanish, why not hire them to play with your kid while using Spanish, why hire them to clean your house?




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

Sandra Dodd

-=>>>Hire a Spanish-speaking housecleaner.>>>
This bothers me. If you are going to hire a Spanish speaking person to
do something for you with the intent of your child learning Spanish,
why not hire them to play with your kid while using Spanish, why hire
them to clean your house?-=-

I didn't see who recommended it, but teachers/tutors generally make
over twice what housecleaners make. And it's not unschooling, either.

Sometimes there are immersion language-learning sessions but
they're not cheap. If you want something free to inexpensive, listen
to things in that language.
If you have money to spend on it, go to a country where they speak
that language and live there a while.

Sandra

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

Jenny Cyphers

>>>I didn't see who recommended it, but teachers/tutors generally make
over twice what housecleaners make. And it's not unschooling, either.>>>

It wasn't a recommendation. I was trying to suggest that hiring a housekeeper that speaks Spanish, so your kids could learn Spanish wasn't really the best of ideas. Housekeepers are supposed to clean house, they aren't paid to help someone's child learn Spanish. If you happen to have someone that comes into your house that speaks Spanish and does work for you and they are chatty and friendly with your kids, then great.

Hiring a tutor to teach your child Spanish isn't exactly unschooling. True too. When Margaux was about 5 or 6, she wanted to learn French. It was short lived. She is still interested in other languages, she would do amazing in a bilingual home, but that's not what she has! She played lots of Madeline games and I told her a lot of words that I know in French, and we always read the French labels on things like shampoo and I translate it for her. One of the little neighbor boy speaks Spanish and Margaux copies the mother's inflections very well and pronounces the little boy's name the same way his mother does. She's very proud to know how to say the word "candy" in Spanish. (she learned that from hitting a pinata at their house)

When Chamille was 6, we were actively involved with a private rec center where they had Spanish classes. She took some and loved it a lot. She doesn't remember much from those classes, but she was the one who wanted to take them, largely because she liked the woman who was teaching them. She mostly took gymnastics classes during the times that I was teaching dance classes. The Spanish classes took place in my dance room, so I wasn't ever teaching during that class and often joined in with her. They played lots of games, it was fun.





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

Pam Sorooshian

There are so many Spanish speakers around here that if I wanted someone
to just hang out with my kids and speak some Spanish, I'd get a mother's
helper who spoke Spanish. Maybe a teen who would come a couple of times
per week to play some games, do some crafts, play with legos, sing some
songs, stuff like that.

-pam



On 9/26/2009 2:31 PM, Sandra Dodd wrote:
> I didn't see who recommended it, but teachers/tutors generally make
> over twice what housecleaners make. And it's not unschooling, either.
>

Marina DeLuca-Howard

You could make an effort to meet and befriend spanish speakers. Have
friendly fun outings where your child could learn the language. My son's
best friend was Swiss and his mother spoke to him in French. After a couple
of years I started to understand her very well. My son also picked up some
French.

If you want conversational Spanish, I suggest finding some
conversationalists. Movies might help as well. Restaurants could give you
a food vocabulary!

Marina

--
Rent our cottage: http://davehoward.ca/cottage/


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

thetiemensfamily

Regarding Muzzy "teaching" you are right. I used the wrong word. I'm new to unschooling. You can learn from Muzzy in a completely natural, immersion sort-of-way.

And regarding hiring a Spanish-speaking housecleaner: the idea behind that was to somehow get Spanish-speaking people into your life. I was thinking of a chatty one. But hiring a Spanish-speaking mother's helper would be even better!

I do have one question. If a child wanted to learn a particular subject, knitting for example, would it be against unschooling principles to take lessons?

Laurie
www.AnotherBlessing.com - Pregnancy and Ovulation Predictor Tests for only 50-85 CENTS with free next day shipping to the USA!


--- In [email protected], Jenny Cyphers <jenstarc4@...> wrote:
>
>
>
> >>>Muzzy is a video series that is highly recommended that teaches various languages). And you could use Rosetta Stone as long as you did it with him.>>>
> Unschoolers should avoid "teaching", both in terminology and in practice. Learning Spanish together is a completely different thing than teaching someone else Spanish. Video recommendations are great, many people learn many things from videos! Videos don't teach.
> >>>Hire a Spanish-speaking housecleaner.>>>
> This bothers me. If you are going to hire a Spanish speaking person to do something for you with the intent of your child learning Spanish, why not hire them to play with your kid while using Spanish, why hire them to clean your house?
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>

Sandra Dodd

-=-I do have one question. If a child wanted to learn a particular
subject, knitting for example, would it be against unschooling
principles to take lessons?-=-

I think you're asking for a rule rather than a principle. <g>

Neither all nor nothing can be "the right answer," but at each
decision-making juncture is "what are the options?"

Sometimes a person needs just one lesson to understand how the
instrument/equipment/directions work, and then they can zoom off on
their own. I was that way myself with calligraphy, recorder and
guitar. I had messed with all of them, but when I went to get
lessons, what I needed was how far to dip the pen in the ink, and what
angles to hold it, because there's an angle to the paper, and the the
angle of the wide nib in relation to the writer's hand. I didn't
understand those from written directions (if they were there; they
weren't, exactly, I discovered later).

The first recorder lesson I got showed me how different the
"embouchure" (how to hold one's mouth inside, and on the mouthpiece)
was from other wind instruments. Very light and soft. And I needed
to see how to hold the instrument when most holes were open. How's
the recorder not to just fall on the floor?

With guitar, I expected to take lots of lessons, but one lesson with
how to read chord charts and how to fingerpick sent me on an excited
look through all the music and folksong books I already had with
guitar chords *right there* though I'd never thought of what all those
superscript D G and A things were about.

With knitting, it might need some explanations and good, modern
supplies and samples of what happens if needles or yarn aren't the
recommended size. I have a baby hat that fits me, that a friend
made. She explained why, and I still wear the hat that was supposed
to have fit Kirby. (It would fit him now, actually; maybe I should
send her another thank-you-note. <g>)

Is knitting something you the parent might want to learn too? Maybe
you could both go to a class and then help each other later.

If she does start to knit, maybe keep an eye out for interesting
articles or pieces or blog posts or patterns. Even if it's way beyond
her ability to do, she might like to know the range of what's
possible, and how far back people knitted, what knitting's relatives
are, or she might not care. It could connect to lots of things.

If the parents' first thought is "lessons" and they expect to simply
pay another person to insure that their children will learn all of a
thing, then the parents are probably not far enough into becoming
unschoolers yet, and could use some more time finding connections and
natural learning.

http://sandradodd.com/stages
http://sandradodd.com/deschooling

Sandra





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

Schuyler

________________________________
From: Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Sunday, 27 September, 2009 6:36:41 PM
Subject: [AlwaysLearning] lessons, knitting, unschooling (was Learning Spanish with dvd or else ?

-=-I do have one question. If a child wanted to learn a particular
subject, knitting for example, would it be against unschooling
principles to take lessons?-=-

-----

I didn't see this from the OP, so I'm responding to the secondary post. I learned to knit from books that I checked out at the library. My mom showed me how when I was a kid and I can remember sitting outside on a lawn chair trying to purl or knit and failing and getting distracted and it came to naught. Years later, pregnant with my second child, getting ready to go to spend Christmas with my grandparents and my mom and step-dad I got some books from the library and figured out how to knit. Linnaea's first passport photo has her in the first sweater I ever knitted. After years of not quite getting it right I spent some time in the past year watching videos on-line and asking people who love to knit about what I was doing wrong and I've now made 2 pairs of socks. One pair from the top down one from the bottom up. For me the learning happened because I wanted the skill. If your child wants to learn to make something particular, go to youtube and see what
you can find on knitting that thing. If you know someone who knits, or you join up with a group of people where there is also knitting going on talk to the knitting folks and they'll give pointers. Basic knitting is fairly easy.

Schuyler


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

Ed Wendell

Sometimes it's resources that determine lessons for us - as Sandra said "what are the options?"

For example we do not live where we can have a horse, nor can we afford to stable one, so we take lessons. I had a horse as a child but there are so many things that I never learned from just riding on my own - bareback and a bridle only. We started the riding lessons a couple of years ago - I decided I was going to take lessons and Zac (age 15) wanted to too. Ed (hubby) took for a year with us.

Zac just started Japanese sword fighting lessons 2 weeks ago. His choice totally - he requested it after we attended the local Japan Festival. It might last another week or it might last several years. It is a pay by the month deal with no lengthy contracts like some martial arts places. He could have probably found stuff on-line to watch to help him acquire these skills but he wanted to be more precise in his skill, therefore he wants to take lessons from a master. The Japan Festival came about because I hear about things to do and mention them to Zac to see if he is interested. Knowing how is he all about anything Japanese I saw this festival and showed him the web site and asked if he wanted to go.


With carving he went through a 2 year stage where he carved constantly, Mostly replica weapons and mostly replica swords of various types. I offered to help find a master carver for him to work with (there are guilds locally and several offered to let him join) and he said no he was not interested in that. We basically had the resources though, a good knife and a grinder.

He's taken lessons of various types over the years, some he's stuck with for several years and some only a few lessons. For instance he took a volleyball class - said the constant drill, drill, drill took all the fun out of playing - he just wanted to play casually so he quit. He played basketball for one season and really enjoyed the casual, divide everyone up and let's play, way of doing it. Fencing he took for a year then ceased. HapKiDo he did for 4 or more years. etc.

So it does all depend on our options.

Lisa W.



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

carnationsgalore

> I do have one question. If a child wanted to learn a particular
> subject, knitting for example, would it be against unschooling
> principles to take lessons?

My first thought was Oh no!! The unschooling police! :)

My dd11 wanted to knit about a year ago. She specifically asked to go to the local shop (A Knot of Yarn, that sadly closed down not too long ago) to find out if someone could show her. We went together, she walked in, and asked questions. I didn't need to say anything. The owner was wonderful. My dd decided to sign up for a group class. She spent her time with adults, knitting, talking, and having a great time. And then she didn't want to go anymore. We had paid a fee for the instruction but she was done. I didn't make her complete the time paid just because we spent the money. So no, I don't think there is anything wrong with "lessons" (though I'm not sure that word is always applicable) if the child wants to do it and is never forced to continue for arbitrary reasons. In our case, we didn't know anyone personally who could knit, but we had driven by that shop lots of times. It was the first place dd thought about. In fact, I wonder if she wanted to learn because we drove past it so much. :)

She is taking music lessons now, playing 2 instruments and loves every moment of it. She is also in a beginning orchestra. She is really good and her instructor thinks she has a natural talent. However, my dd11 knows she can quit or make changes. This is about her, not about me making something for her.

Beth M.

Robyn L. Coburn

<<<< > If the parents' first thought is "lessons" and they expect to simply
> pay another person to insure that their children will learn all of a
> thing, then the parents are probably not far enough into becoming
> unschoolers yet, and could use some more time finding connections and
> natural learning. >>>>>

My thought is to look for "competence models" rather than "teachers". I mean
that the parent has that label in mind and finds people willing to consider
themselves competence models.

With something like knitting, I would imagine that would be easy, since
there are a lot of knitters out there, including many unschoolers. Plus
there are a lot of free and easy to access resources such as videos on You
Tube, that will leave the onus on the learner.

The great thing about competence models is that they only have to be
slightly more accomplished to be helpful. Or they can be absolutely experts.
And any age at all.

[I'm going to fail to cite my source here (Holt?) - because I'm a bit
pressed for time. But I'll make a note to self to look for it later. ]

There is some research that shows that children learn many things best from
competence models that are only a bit older and more competent than
themselves.


Robyn L. Coburn
www.Iggyjingles.etsy.com
www.iggyjingles.blogspot.com
www.allthingsdoll.blogspot.com

elwazani

--- In [email protected], Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...> wrote:
>
> -=-I do have one question. If a child wanted to learn a particular
> subject, knitting for example, would it be against unschooling
> principles to take lessons?-=-




> With knitting, it might need some explanations and good, modern
> supplies and samples of what happens if needles or yarn aren't the
> recommended size.
>
> Is knitting something you the parent might want to learn too? Maybe
>
> If the parents' first thought is "lessons" and they expect to simply
> pay another person to insure that their children will learn all of a
> thing, then the parents are probably not far enough into becoming
> unschoolers yet, and could use some more time finding connections and
> natural learning.

> Sandra

When my son was around 9 he really wanted to learn to knit...some one had given us a simple learn how to knit typ of book with materials...we looked through it together and he decided he needed to watch some one doing it not read about it...we went to the senior center in our town and put an ad up...Homeschool boy wishes to learn to knit...a few days later he recv'd a call from a woman in her 80's...quuite excited to share her love of knitting with some,,,they met several times at the center and shared a lot more than just knitting, I offered to pay the woman but she insisted that she was getting as muchout of their time together as he was.
>

alysoncamacho

I stumbled upon this book that is actually centered in constructivist theory for learning/teaching math concepts. It is called "Young Children Reinvent Arithmetic" by Constance Kamii.

The 2nd half is filled with games you can make at home. They range from card games, to snakes & ladders, to quartette, trap the king, and onward. I enjoy most of the games, and my kids (4, 6, and 8) have all enjoyed them as well.

I'm not sure the book is available in every library, but I'm sure you could get it on inter-library loan.
http://www.amazon.com/Young-Children-Reinvent-Arithmetic-Implications/dp/0807739049/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1254144849&sr=8-1

Hope it helps :)



--- In [email protected], "vespertine_nsw" <kezzdee@...> wrote:
>
> Hi all,
>
> I am on a low budget as a single parent, and would love some suggestions as to how to make some games. Eli is 4 and just starting to really enjoy them (usually with a little assistance, games like Guess Who Jr, Monopoly Jr) and as I can't afford to buy more games right now I thought it might be fun to make our own.
>
> I was thinking Snakes and Ladders would be pretty easy, and we could make some Snap cards etc using some magazine pictures and cardboard (if Eli is interested, otherwise I'm keen to go for it on my own). Does anyone know of some good websites with games ideas?
>
> Thanks in advance,
> Kerrie in Australia.
>