New here, looking for ideas
Rob or Susan Sunseri
I'm new to the group and I am wondering if anyone has experience being "stuck at home" while they unschool. We (me and kids age 10, 8 and 5) will not be able to leave the house too much for the next year, which is really hard for us as we love being on the go and all over the city/state. Thus far, unschooling has always consisted of going places and I am having a hard time with the thought of being stuck home so much.
Is anyone else here stuck at home (or maybe you just like staying at home!)? If so, please let me know how to make it a great year.
Susan
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Is anyone else here stuck at home (or maybe you just like staying at home!)? If so, please let me know how to make it a great year.
Susan
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
bhmjones
Susan, would you guys be able to take walks together?
Sometimes slowing down and becoming intimate with your immediate surroundings is more satisfying than one could ever imagine.
Brad Jones
________________________________
From: Rob or Susan Sunseri <RobSusanRose@...>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Monday, September 28, 2009 1:12:00 AM
Subject: [AlwaysLearning] New here, looking for ideas
I'm new to the group and I am wondering if anyone has experience being "stuck at home" while they unschool. We (me and kids age 10, 8 and 5) will not be able to leave the house too much for the next year, which is really hard for us as we love being on the go and all over the city/state. Thus far, unschooling has always consisted of going places and I am having a hard time with the thought of being stuck home so much.
Is anyone else here stuck at home (or maybe you just like staying at home!)? If so, please let me know how to make it a great year.
Susan
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Sometimes slowing down and becoming intimate with your immediate surroundings is more satisfying than one could ever imagine.
Brad Jones
________________________________
From: Rob or Susan Sunseri <RobSusanRose@...>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Monday, September 28, 2009 1:12:00 AM
Subject: [AlwaysLearning] New here, looking for ideas
I'm new to the group and I am wondering if anyone has experience being "stuck at home" while they unschool. We (me and kids age 10, 8 and 5) will not be able to leave the house too much for the next year, which is really hard for us as we love being on the go and all over the city/state. Thus far, unschooling has always consisted of going places and I am having a hard time with the thought of being stuck home so much.
Is anyone else here stuck at home (or maybe you just like staying at home!)? If so, please let me know how to make it a great year.
Susan
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Mel
Hi Susan,
We are also a family who is home quite often compared to a lot of people. I second Brad's suggestion about getting outside.
Yesterday, our oldest was feeling down as we had just returned from a camping trip with friends. He was pacing the house and seeming close to tears. I new he was missing his best friend. We all threw on our coats and went outside. We weren't even outside ten minutes when the boys spotted a salamander. They had been hoping to find one since they became interested in amphibians this spring. I keep several empty aquariums that I have picked up over the years at second-hand shops. Before long, the boys were making a habitat for their new friend. By evening, they were watching youtube clips about salamanders and we were looking at web sites to determine what type of salamander we had. We ended up learning all about the life cycles of these little beings and what stage our salamnder is in.
By the time Jake went to bed, he was so happy and really, the whole house felt happy. It never fails, the outdoors provides so many rich experiences.
Mel
in Canada
We are also a family who is home quite often compared to a lot of people. I second Brad's suggestion about getting outside.
Yesterday, our oldest was feeling down as we had just returned from a camping trip with friends. He was pacing the house and seeming close to tears. I new he was missing his best friend. We all threw on our coats and went outside. We weren't even outside ten minutes when the boys spotted a salamander. They had been hoping to find one since they became interested in amphibians this spring. I keep several empty aquariums that I have picked up over the years at second-hand shops. Before long, the boys were making a habitat for their new friend. By evening, they were watching youtube clips about salamanders and we were looking at web sites to determine what type of salamander we had. We ended up learning all about the life cycles of these little beings and what stage our salamnder is in.
By the time Jake went to bed, he was so happy and really, the whole house felt happy. It never fails, the outdoors provides so many rich experiences.
Mel
in Canada
--- In [email protected], bhmjones <bhmjones@...> wrote:
>
> Susan, would you guys be able to take walks together?
>
> Sometimes slowing down and becoming intimate with your immediate surroundings is more satisfying than one could ever imagine.
>
> Brad Jones
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Rob or Susan Sunseri <RobSusanRose@...>
> To: [email protected]
> Sent: Monday, September 28, 2009 1:12:00 AM
> Subject: [AlwaysLearning] New here, looking for ideas
>
>
> I'm new to the group and I am wondering if anyone has experience being "stuck at home" while they unschool. We (me and kids age 10, 8 and 5) will not be able to leave the house too much for the next year, which is really hard for us as we love being on the go and all over the city/state. Thus far, unschooling has always consisted of going places and I am having a hard time with the thought of being stuck home so much.
> Is anyone else here stuck at home (or maybe you just like staying at home!)? If so, please let me know how to make it a great year.
> Susan
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
John and Amanda Slater
We are often home by choice of my ds 8. He prefers to stay home at the moment. We try to limit outings to twice a week.
Our homeschooling has had to change because of this. We have bought tons of board/card games lately. We also just bought a trampoline. We have a Netflix cue just for the boys with kid shows and documentaries. We have lots of craft supplies, although they hardly get used. We spend tons of time with the boys. We try to find interesting outings for when we do go out.
I try to spend the money we save not driving so much on interesting things for the house. We avoid buying gas, wear and tear on the car, and incidentals when we are out.
Amanda
Eli 8, Samuel 6
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Our homeschooling has had to change because of this. We have bought tons of board/card games lately. We also just bought a trampoline. We have a Netflix cue just for the boys with kid shows and documentaries. We have lots of craft supplies, although they hardly get used. We spend tons of time with the boys. We try to find interesting outings for when we do go out.
I try to spend the money we save not driving so much on interesting things for the house. We avoid buying gas, wear and tear on the car, and incidentals when we are out.
Amanda
Eli 8, Samuel 6
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
John and Amanda Slater
I wanted to add one more thing:
Be sure to have several surprises on hand at any time. When you are free to leave the house, you can use that to change the energy in the house when needed. If you are stuck at home you need things to pull out.
I save the cool links that come through on-line, games the kids don't know I bought, new recipes, ideas for games on the trampoline, science experiments, etc. There will be days it is very hard to stay home. It will be obvious everyone needs a bit of novelty. Try to think ahead so you have something to pull out at those times.
Otherwise, enjoy how much more time it adds to your day. It is amazing the amount of time outings take. From prepping food, finding items, to driving. I am amazed how much more time I have to hang out with the kids on days we stay home.
Amanda
Eli 8, Samuel 6
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Be sure to have several surprises on hand at any time. When you are free to leave the house, you can use that to change the energy in the house when needed. If you are stuck at home you need things to pull out.
I save the cool links that come through on-line, games the kids don't know I bought, new recipes, ideas for games on the trampoline, science experiments, etc. There will be days it is very hard to stay home. It will be obvious everyone needs a bit of novelty. Try to think ahead so you have something to pull out at those times.
Otherwise, enjoy how much more time it adds to your day. It is amazing the amount of time outings take. From prepping food, finding items, to driving. I am amazed how much more time I have to hang out with the kids on days we stay home.
Amanda
Eli 8, Samuel 6
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
carnationsgalore
> We (me and kids age 10, 8 and 5) will not be able to leave the houseWhy are you stuck at home?
> too much for the next year, which is really hard for us as we love
> being on the go and all over the city/state.
Beth M.
Jenny Cyphers
>>>Is anyone else here stuck at home (or maybe you just like staying at home!)? If so, please let me know how to make it a great year.>>>First, it's a choice to be at home. There are many ways to leave a house and get out, walks, bike rides, trips to the store, errand running, etc.
Second, don't think of it as being stuck. If it's a choice to be at home, then you aren't stuck, you are choosing to stay there. That's a much better way to look at your comfortable home, the base in which you live from.
Thirdly, by suggesting that you are trying to make it a good year, gives this a timeline, a schoolish timeline even. Everything is built up around that old schoolish timeline, but as unschoolers, you can do a great deal to not even need to focus on it. You can think of each week or each day, and think of a way to make it the greatest that it can be. Technically a yearly timeline doesn't even go from Sept to June, it goes from Jan to Jan. If you are thinking of the "school" year, maybe you should stop. Living is more fluid than that.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Sandra Dodd
-=- You can think of each week or each day, and think of a way to make
it the greatest that it can be. =-
Even thinking by the day can lead to thoughts of "good days" and "bad
days" instead of thinking "Well that moment didn't go very well, but
here's another one already!"
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
it the greatest that it can be. =-
Even thinking by the day can lead to thoughts of "good days" and "bad
days" instead of thinking "Well that moment didn't go very well, but
here's another one already!"
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Jenny Cyphers
-=- You can think of each week or each day, and think of a way to make
it the greatest that it can be. =-
here's another one already!">>>
Time is all relative isn't it?! Yes, each next moment, no matter how big of time comes in between can be better. Kids especially can appreciate the next moment, since time goes so slowly in the eyes of a child! A day, for a kid can feel like forever. An hour can feel like forever. In the next 5 min, though, you could make that better!
If a family is used to being out a lot and then they are home a lot, waking up to new and interesting smells can make the next moment better and eating in a different location can make an old and boring home seem more exciting. Then each moment at home can seem new and alive.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
it the greatest that it can be. =-
>>>Even thinking by the day can lead to thoughts of "good days" and "baddays" instead of thinking "Well that moment didn't go very well, but
here's another one already!">>>
Time is all relative isn't it?! Yes, each next moment, no matter how big of time comes in between can be better. Kids especially can appreciate the next moment, since time goes so slowly in the eyes of a child! A day, for a kid can feel like forever. An hour can feel like forever. In the next 5 min, though, you could make that better!
If a family is used to being out a lot and then they are home a lot, waking up to new and interesting smells can make the next moment better and eating in a different location can make an old and boring home seem more exciting. Then each moment at home can seem new and alive.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
kim meltzer
Thanks, Sandra, I found this very encouraging. Today we had some bad
moments, a lot of bad moments, but there are a lot of good moments happening
right now. I definitely had to work to make the good moments start
happening, but they are now. I can see things getting better.
Kim
Baltimore
moments, a lot of bad moments, but there are a lot of good moments happening
right now. I definitely had to work to make the good moments start
happening, but they are now. I can see things getting better.
Kim
Baltimore
> .[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
Sandra Dodd
-=
If a family is used to being out a lot and then they are home a lot,
waking up to new and interesting smells can make the next moment
better and eating in a different location can make an old and boring
home seem more exciting.-=-
Oh, good idea!
Picnics. Games in the dark, with flashlights.
Candlelit dinner in an interesting place.
scavenger hunts or clues to hiding places.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
If a family is used to being out a lot and then they are home a lot,
waking up to new and interesting smells can make the next moment
better and eating in a different location can make an old and boring
home seem more exciting.-=-
Oh, good idea!
Picnics. Games in the dark, with flashlights.
Candlelit dinner in an interesting place.
scavenger hunts or clues to hiding places.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Anne Mills
recently we set a play area in the garage with mats and train sets and the darkness of it seemed to ease something, the rocking chair went busurk (ooops orth?) with dear daughter on it and mats around her.
We did a little tipi with the office chair and played for two three days like this.
Then we did a short race track in the empty parking with a kick in a Hippity Hop bouncing ball placed at the end of the line. Winner kicked the hardest etc...We did leave the house but never crossed any road :-)
Anne
Really fun :-)
Anne Mills
To: [email protected]
From: Sandra@...
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:48:30 -0600
Subject: Re: [AlwaysLearning] New here, looking for ideas
-=
If a family is used to being out a lot and then they are home a lot,
waking up to new and interesting smells can make the next moment
better and eating in a different location can make an old and boring
home seem more exciting.-=-
Oh, good idea!
Picnics. Games in the dark, with flashlights.
Candlelit dinner in an interesting place.
scavenger hunts or clues to hiding places.
Sandra
[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]
We did a little tipi with the office chair and played for two three days like this.
Then we did a short race track in the empty parking with a kick in a Hippity Hop bouncing ball placed at the end of the line. Winner kicked the hardest etc...We did leave the house but never crossed any road :-)
Anne
Really fun :-)
Anne Mills
To: [email protected]
From: Sandra@...
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:48:30 -0600
Subject: Re: [AlwaysLearning] New here, looking for ideas
-=
If a family is used to being out a lot and then they are home a lot,
waking up to new and interesting smells can make the next moment
better and eating in a different location can make an old and boring
home seem more exciting.-=-
Oh, good idea!
Picnics. Games in the dark, with flashlights.
Candlelit dinner in an interesting place.
scavenger hunts or clues to hiding places.
Sandra
[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]