Strewing?
[email protected]
What is Strewing?
Sandra Dodd
-=-What is Strewing?-=-
Strewing is finding and leaving out interesting things for people
(kids or guests) to discover, pick up, examine, think about, maybe
learn from, maybe connect with other things.
Sometimes when coffee tables were new and all the popular rage, it was
common for people to put out a few magazines and a conversation piece--
something for guests to talk about, or look at, or ask about. The
idea is sort of like that.
Literally and historically, strewing has to do with
scatteringevergreen branches or straw around inside on the floor of a
castle hall or, herbs on the floor of a castle bedroom, or strewing
seeds (kind of like "broadcast" but less farflung). In unschooling
(I can say with some confidence) it's more about leaving things out a
while, putting them back and leaving other things out, whether or not
anyone notices or picks them up.
We've used
attribute blocks (shape blocks of stained hardwood)
Lego-like castle blocks
3-D glasses and books or cards or postcards
scales to measure and weigh
a new game or puzzle (wooden pop-apart puzzle, or nine-card matching
puzzles)
a prism
fancy rocks
microscope and new thing to look at
maps (small on the table, or large on the wall)
old photos of me or Keith or other friends or relatives they know
new, interesting foods
funny-shaped yam
flowers from the garden
lots of other things. There are examples and stories from lots of
families here:
http://sandradodd.com/strewing
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Strewing is finding and leaving out interesting things for people
(kids or guests) to discover, pick up, examine, think about, maybe
learn from, maybe connect with other things.
Sometimes when coffee tables were new and all the popular rage, it was
common for people to put out a few magazines and a conversation piece--
something for guests to talk about, or look at, or ask about. The
idea is sort of like that.
Literally and historically, strewing has to do with
scatteringevergreen branches or straw around inside on the floor of a
castle hall or, herbs on the floor of a castle bedroom, or strewing
seeds (kind of like "broadcast" but less farflung). In unschooling
(I can say with some confidence) it's more about leaving things out a
while, putting them back and leaving other things out, whether or not
anyone notices or picks them up.
We've used
attribute blocks (shape blocks of stained hardwood)
Lego-like castle blocks
3-D glasses and books or cards or postcards
scales to measure and weigh
a new game or puzzle (wooden pop-apart puzzle, or nine-card matching
puzzles)
a prism
fancy rocks
microscope and new thing to look at
maps (small on the table, or large on the wall)
old photos of me or Keith or other friends or relatives they know
new, interesting foods
funny-shaped yam
flowers from the garden
lots of other things. There are examples and stories from lots of
families here:
http://sandradodd.com/strewing
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[email protected]
Sandra,
I was wondering if the children are aware of the strewing idea. While reading your list I was thinking that some of the things may have been brought in by the children. I have been keeping this idea to myself. As if it is a secret only Mommy gets to know. I have 5 kids who range in age from 16 down to 5. I am pretty sure the older ones have wonderful ideas that I have not thought of yet.
Tiffani
I was wondering if the children are aware of the strewing idea. While reading your list I was thinking that some of the things may have been brought in by the children. I have been keeping this idea to myself. As if it is a secret only Mommy gets to know. I have 5 kids who range in age from 16 down to 5. I am pretty sure the older ones have wonderful ideas that I have not thought of yet.
Tiffani
----- Original Message -----
From: "Sandra Dodd" <Sandra@...>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Saturday, September 26, 2009 4:40:09 PM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific
Subject: Re: [AlwaysLearning] Strewing?
-=-What is Strewing?-=-
Strewing is finding and leaving out interesting things for people
(kids or guests) to discover, pick up, examine, think about, maybe
learn from, maybe connect with other things.
Sometimes when coffee tables were new and all the popular rage, it was
common for people to put out a few magazines and a conversation piece--
something for guests to talk about, or look at, or ask about. The
idea is sort of like that.
Literally and historically, strewing has to do with
scatteringevergreen branches or straw around inside on the floor of a
castle hall or, herbs on the floor of a castle bedroom, or strewing
seeds (kind of like "broadcast" but less farflung). In unschooling
(I can say with some confidence) it's more about leaving things out a
while, putting them back and leaving other things out, whether or not
anyone notices or picks them up.
We've used
attribute blocks (shape blocks of stained hardwood)
Lego-like castle blocks
3-D glasses and books or cards or postcards
scales to measure and weigh
a new game or puzzle (wooden pop-apart puzzle, or nine-card matching
puzzles)
a prism
fancy rocks
microscope and new thing to look at
maps (small on the table, or large on the wall)
old photos of me or Keith or other friends or relatives they know
new, interesting foods
funny-shaped yam
flowers from the garden
lots of other things. There are examples and stories from lots of
families here:
http://sandradodd.com/strewing
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Sandra Dodd
-=-
I was wondering if the children are aware of the strewing idea. While
reading your list I was thinking that some of the things may have been
brought in by the children. I have been keeping this idea to myself.
As if it is a secret only Mommy gets to know. I have 5 kids who range
in age from 16 down to 5. I am pretty sure the older ones have
wonderful ideas that I have not thought of yet. -=-
I never said "I'm leaving this here, just in case you're interested."
It's not that it was "a secret." It was a set of magnets, or it was a
wind-up toy, or it was a microscope or a bird's nest or a puzzle.
Now that my kids are 17, 20 and 23, they're aware that it was one of
the things I did to make their lives rich, but at the time I didn't
talk about it to them.
If your kids get used to you doing that, they'll probably do it to.
Kids have always done it, as far as I know, bringing cool things home,
and moms have often, as I know personally, said "GET THAT THING OUT OF
THE HOUSE!"
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
I was wondering if the children are aware of the strewing idea. While
reading your list I was thinking that some of the things may have been
brought in by the children. I have been keeping this idea to myself.
As if it is a secret only Mommy gets to know. I have 5 kids who range
in age from 16 down to 5. I am pretty sure the older ones have
wonderful ideas that I have not thought of yet. -=-
I never said "I'm leaving this here, just in case you're interested."
It's not that it was "a secret." It was a set of magnets, or it was a
wind-up toy, or it was a microscope or a bird's nest or a puzzle.
Now that my kids are 17, 20 and 23, they're aware that it was one of
the things I did to make their lives rich, but at the time I didn't
talk about it to them.
If your kids get used to you doing that, they'll probably do it to.
Kids have always done it, as far as I know, bringing cool things home,
and moms have often, as I know personally, said "GET THAT THING OUT OF
THE HOUSE!"
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Cara Barlow
I'm not Sandra, but I can tell you that my 13yo has read Sandra's books -
both Moving a Puddle and the Big Book of Unschooling. She picked them up to
read, it think, because she saw me reading them.
Best wishes, Cara
********
both Moving a Puddle and the Big Book of Unschooling. She picked them up to
read, it think, because she saw me reading them.
Best wishes, Cara
********
> Sandra,[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
> I was wondering if the children are aware of the strewing idea. While
> reading your list I was thinking that some of the things may have been
> brought in by the children. I have been keeping this idea to myself. As if
> it is a secret only Mommy gets to know. I have 5 kids who range in age from
> 16 down to 5. I am pretty sure the older ones have wonderful ideas that I
> have not thought of yet.
>
> Tiffani
>
>
Sandra Dodd
-=-I can tell you that my 13yo has read Sandra's books -
both Moving a Puddle and the Big Book of Unschooling. She picked them
up to
read, it think, because she saw me reading them.-=-
Cool! Holly has read them. Neither Kirby nor Marty has, as far as I
know. Parts, maybe. Marty says "I don't have to read it; I lived
it." So even unschooled kids can be averse to reading. ;-P
I don't mind kids knowing what unschooling is all about, but I object
to parents talking about unschooling so much that the kids are tired
of hearing about it, or to their explaining what they're planning and
attempting in such ways that it prevents any spontaneity.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
both Moving a Puddle and the Big Book of Unschooling. She picked them
up to
read, it think, because she saw me reading them.-=-
Cool! Holly has read them. Neither Kirby nor Marty has, as far as I
know. Parts, maybe. Marty says "I don't have to read it; I lived
it." So even unschooled kids can be averse to reading. ;-P
I don't mind kids knowing what unschooling is all about, but I object
to parents talking about unschooling so much that the kids are tired
of hearing about it, or to their explaining what they're planning and
attempting in such ways that it prevents any spontaneity.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Pam Sorooshian
Strewing is what we do. The behavior came before the terminology. It is
a description of a lifestyle in which we ALL offer interesting things to
each other throughout the days, weeks, months, years.
Sometimes people seem to be thinking of it as an instructional method -
a sneaky sort of teaching technique. It is just a description of the
"Lifestyle of the Interested and Interesting." (I nominate that for the
title of a new reality show.)
It isn't only unschooling families who do this, either. My sister is a
strewer extraordinaire and her kids went to school up until almost the
end of high school. But she and her husband were simply very very
interesting parents whose focus was on enjoying life with their kids -
so "strewing" was natural to them.
My grandparents were strewers in a big way - even when I was growing
up and they lived overseas in various interesting countries (Libya,
Iran, Turkey), they would send us packets of stuff - just things they'd
pick up that they thought were cool. Back then I thought of my
grandparents and parents as having "collections." Collecting was a big
thing in my childhood - everybody in the 50's was into stamp collecting
or matchbook collecting or coin collecting or something. My parents and
grandparents collected interesting stuff and people and experiences.
That rubbed off on my sisters and on me and just naturally seems to lead
to what unschoolers are now calling "strewing."
If the parents are offering cool and interesting ideas to the kids and
to each other, because it is a fun way to live life, why would the
children not also start to do that - naturally? Naming it doesn't make
it happen any more than naming "eating" makes people choose to eat.
Parents who don't live this way naturally can benefit from hearing about
how it is possible and how fun it is, etc., and to talk about it we use
the name, strewing, but, really, it is a description of a natural way to
live, not something parents use on their children.
I don't think my kids heard the word, strewing until they were in their
late teens. At that point, their reaction was just sort of mild interest
that doing that kind of thing would have its own name. To them, it was
just family life. They couldn't (maybe still can't, really) imagine very
well how a family could live any other way.
-pam
a description of a lifestyle in which we ALL offer interesting things to
each other throughout the days, weeks, months, years.
Sometimes people seem to be thinking of it as an instructional method -
a sneaky sort of teaching technique. It is just a description of the
"Lifestyle of the Interested and Interesting." (I nominate that for the
title of a new reality show.)
It isn't only unschooling families who do this, either. My sister is a
strewer extraordinaire and her kids went to school up until almost the
end of high school. But she and her husband were simply very very
interesting parents whose focus was on enjoying life with their kids -
so "strewing" was natural to them.
My grandparents were strewers in a big way - even when I was growing
up and they lived overseas in various interesting countries (Libya,
Iran, Turkey), they would send us packets of stuff - just things they'd
pick up that they thought were cool. Back then I thought of my
grandparents and parents as having "collections." Collecting was a big
thing in my childhood - everybody in the 50's was into stamp collecting
or matchbook collecting or coin collecting or something. My parents and
grandparents collected interesting stuff and people and experiences.
That rubbed off on my sisters and on me and just naturally seems to lead
to what unschoolers are now calling "strewing."
If the parents are offering cool and interesting ideas to the kids and
to each other, because it is a fun way to live life, why would the
children not also start to do that - naturally? Naming it doesn't make
it happen any more than naming "eating" makes people choose to eat.
Parents who don't live this way naturally can benefit from hearing about
how it is possible and how fun it is, etc., and to talk about it we use
the name, strewing, but, really, it is a description of a natural way to
live, not something parents use on their children.
I don't think my kids heard the word, strewing until they were in their
late teens. At that point, their reaction was just sort of mild interest
that doing that kind of thing would have its own name. To them, it was
just family life. They couldn't (maybe still can't, really) imagine very
well how a family could live any other way.
-pam
> > I was wondering if the children are aware of the strewing idea. While
> > reading your list I was thinking that some of the things may have been
> > brought in by the children. I have been keeping this idea to myself. As if
> > it is a secret only Mommy gets to know. I have 5 kids who range in age from
> > 16 down to 5. I am pretty sure the older ones have wonderful ideas that I
> > have not thought of yet.
>