Strewing
Sandra Dodd
Someone who's not an unschooler and who seems irritated with
unschoolers wrote, in a blog comment, far away:
"Strewing"...I've seen this term bandied about a lot lately, and it's
just a new name for the concept of facilitating your child's
interests. A long-time concept that every good parent incorporates
into their child's life, no matter what methodology of learning they
practice.
-------------------------------
----------
Sandra Dodd said...
Strewing is about introducing something new, without making a lesson
out of it.
http://sandradodd.com/strewing
It's about enriching the environment in casual but surprising ways.
May 13, 2010 8:24 PM
-----------------------------------------
I thought it might be a good description of strewing to bring here.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
unschoolers wrote, in a blog comment, far away:
"Strewing"...I've seen this term bandied about a lot lately, and it's
just a new name for the concept of facilitating your child's
interests. A long-time concept that every good parent incorporates
into their child's life, no matter what methodology of learning they
practice.
-------------------------------
----------
Sandra Dodd said...
Strewing is about introducing something new, without making a lesson
out of it.
http://sandradodd.com/strewing
It's about enriching the environment in casual but surprising ways.
May 13, 2010 8:24 PM
-----------------------------------------
I thought it might be a good description of strewing to bring here.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Deb Lewis
***"Strewing"...I've seen this term bandied about a lot lately, and it's
just a new name for the concept of facilitating your child's
interests. A long-time concept that every good parent incorporates
into their child's life, no matter what methodology of learning they
practice.***
I think my mom would have been considered a good parent but she never brought home things just because she thought we'd like them. If we asked for stuff she'd try to get it for us but she didn't think about what might inspire or amuse or thrill us and bring it to us.
Lot's of people know their kids love video games but wouldn't stop by the video store and bring home a bunch of games just to try. Lots of "good parents" deliberately keep kids from things they love, TV, make-up, comic books, pretty underwear, video games, Pokemon, jewelry...
Probably lots of good parents are happy to offer their kids things the parents think are valuable! Maybe not as many are offering the things their kids think are cool.
Deb Lewis
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
just a new name for the concept of facilitating your child's
interests. A long-time concept that every good parent incorporates
into their child's life, no matter what methodology of learning they
practice.***
I think my mom would have been considered a good parent but she never brought home things just because she thought we'd like them. If we asked for stuff she'd try to get it for us but she didn't think about what might inspire or amuse or thrill us and bring it to us.
Lot's of people know their kids love video games but wouldn't stop by the video store and bring home a bunch of games just to try. Lots of "good parents" deliberately keep kids from things they love, TV, make-up, comic books, pretty underwear, video games, Pokemon, jewelry...
Probably lots of good parents are happy to offer their kids things the parents think are valuable! Maybe not as many are offering the things their kids think are cool.
Deb Lewis
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Sandra Dodd
From another topic, Shira wrote:
-=-Doing away with punishments is about being so close and attuned to your child more often than you'd like to commit to, and then some, so as to be able to make their lives fresh and exciting, and being able to anticipate needs and wants, and change up overall situations/moods (I think this is what strewing is, but I'm still working on understanding that concept). -=-
This is a kind of cool tie-in of strewing and avoiding child frustration. No doubt I've done that, but hadn't thought of it from the other end, I don't think.
-=- change up overall situations/moods (I think this is what strewing is, but I'm still working on understanding that concept). -=-
When the environment is engaging, interesting and somewhat new and changing, a child will make new connections, and new connections are the basis of learning. That's my main thought about how to make unschooling simple and dynamic. It keeps going if the parents keep providing a rich environment. Sometimes that can be as simple as a puzzle being out on a table, or a toy being set up in a good place to play with it, when it hasn't been seen for a while. Sometimes eating out of different dishes can be cause for conversation about what and why.
For me, strewing is about learning. But learning can be helped or harmed by situations and moods, so yeah, Shira's right. If a child is feeling kind of bored, confined, and uneasy, bringing something cool out to amuse or distract him might prevent him and the mom too from being irritated. "Like a magician..." :-)
From "Your House as a Museum":
"Sometimes my kids get bored, and I can light up a half hour by digging into some box or drawer and producing something they've never yet seen. Like a magician pulling a bouquet of flowers out of a wand, I pull out a little doll, or some Australian coins, electric curlers (for sorting, putting back on the rods, and discussing), muffin tins, poker chips, grandpa's bow ties, a hand-cranked egg beater to froth up soapy water (I wish I had a hand-cranked drill; my dad did). Whenever I pull these things out I tell the kids why I have them and what I know about them. I told about the gold strip in Australian paper money, about ties my dad used to have with cowboys and bucking broncos on them, about patterned muffin tins being pressed kind of like steel car parts are pressed, of getting my hair stuck in electric curlers when I was a teenager and crying because I was afraid my long hair would have to be cut off."
I'm always happy when my husband shows me something new he's found or made, or something old he had forgotten about. Perhaps my easily-amusedness was passed on to my kids genetically, but when I have house guests they seem interested in playing with things I set out for them to find, too, or hearing the why and what about various objects around the house.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
-=-Doing away with punishments is about being so close and attuned to your child more often than you'd like to commit to, and then some, so as to be able to make their lives fresh and exciting, and being able to anticipate needs and wants, and change up overall situations/moods (I think this is what strewing is, but I'm still working on understanding that concept). -=-
This is a kind of cool tie-in of strewing and avoiding child frustration. No doubt I've done that, but hadn't thought of it from the other end, I don't think.
-=- change up overall situations/moods (I think this is what strewing is, but I'm still working on understanding that concept). -=-
When the environment is engaging, interesting and somewhat new and changing, a child will make new connections, and new connections are the basis of learning. That's my main thought about how to make unschooling simple and dynamic. It keeps going if the parents keep providing a rich environment. Sometimes that can be as simple as a puzzle being out on a table, or a toy being set up in a good place to play with it, when it hasn't been seen for a while. Sometimes eating out of different dishes can be cause for conversation about what and why.
For me, strewing is about learning. But learning can be helped or harmed by situations and moods, so yeah, Shira's right. If a child is feeling kind of bored, confined, and uneasy, bringing something cool out to amuse or distract him might prevent him and the mom too from being irritated. "Like a magician..." :-)
From "Your House as a Museum":
"Sometimes my kids get bored, and I can light up a half hour by digging into some box or drawer and producing something they've never yet seen. Like a magician pulling a bouquet of flowers out of a wand, I pull out a little doll, or some Australian coins, electric curlers (for sorting, putting back on the rods, and discussing), muffin tins, poker chips, grandpa's bow ties, a hand-cranked egg beater to froth up soapy water (I wish I had a hand-cranked drill; my dad did). Whenever I pull these things out I tell the kids why I have them and what I know about them. I told about the gold strip in Australian paper money, about ties my dad used to have with cowboys and bucking broncos on them, about patterned muffin tins being pressed kind of like steel car parts are pressed, of getting my hair stuck in electric curlers when I was a teenager and crying because I was afraid my long hair would have to be cut off."
I'm always happy when my husband shows me something new he's found or made, or something old he had forgotten about. Perhaps my easily-amusedness was passed on to my kids genetically, but when I have house guests they seem interested in playing with things I set out for them to find, too, or hearing the why and what about various objects around the house.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
m_aduhene
i agree with all of this but just wish to add that i don't have interesting objects around my house because i don't like lots of stuff. but when my children are interested in something so at the moment it is star wars and mr bean we go all out on to feed their interest, so for example ds and dd have sent packages and letters to people in the films and tv series. they have researched by themselves and with me film facts and character facts. we have had long discussions about the characters and the plot lines.
we even made a couple of animations ourselves with the playmobil in starring roles as mr bean characters.
and we have done endless drawing.....by ourselves and with tutorials from the internet.
these ideas all came form the children.....could they be strewing into my life too?
blessings
michelle
we even made a couple of animations ourselves with the playmobil in starring roles as mr bean characters.
and we have done endless drawing.....by ourselves and with tutorials from the internet.
these ideas all came form the children.....could they be strewing into my life too?
blessings
michelle
--- In [email protected], Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...> wrote:
>
> Someone who's not an unschooler and who seems irritated with
> unschoolers wrote, in a blog comment, far away:
>
> "Strewing"...I've seen this term bandied about a lot lately, and it's
> just a new name for the concept of facilitating your child's
> interests. A long-time concept that every good parent incorporates
> into their child's life, no matter what methodology of learning they
> practice.
>
> -------------------------------
>
> ----------
>
> Sandra Dodd said...
>
> Strewing is about introducing something new, without making a lesson
> out of it.
>
> http://sandradodd.com/strewing
>
> It's about enriching the environment in casual but surprising ways.
>
> May 13, 2010 8:24 PM
> -----------------------------------------
>
> I thought it might be a good description of strewing to bring here.
>
> Sandra
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
Sandra Dodd
-=-these ideas all came form the children.....could they be strewing into my life too?-=-
"Too" only if you're doing as much as they are.
If they're doing ALL the idea getting, then you're not sharing very well.
http://sandradodd.com/nest
"Child led" learning isn't a good model for unschooling as has been discussed here so long. It's too small, and puts too much responsibility on the children.
If you see that there's something interesting they might never have heard of or thought of, and if you don't like to have things around, maybe borrow something. But there are things you already have that would be interesting, probably.
http://sandradodd.com/museum
You must have SOME things in your house they haven't seen or played with yet.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
"Too" only if you're doing as much as they are.
If they're doing ALL the idea getting, then you're not sharing very well.
http://sandradodd.com/nest
"Child led" learning isn't a good model for unschooling as has been discussed here so long. It's too small, and puts too much responsibility on the children.
If you see that there's something interesting they might never have heard of or thought of, and if you don't like to have things around, maybe borrow something. But there are things you already have that would be interesting, probably.
http://sandradodd.com/museum
You must have SOME things in your house they haven't seen or played with yet.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Sandra Dodd
-=-"Child led" learning isn't a good model for unschooling as has been discussed here so long.-=-
Not one of my best sentence constructions.
The word "child-led learning" was very commonly used 20 years ago, and it's still used exclusively by some people, but by others, hardly ever or never.
For the kind of unschooling discussed here, as evolved through discussions over the past dozen to fifteen years among a large and increasing group of people many of whom are still on this list... it's not a good term. :-)
Trying to be clearer about what I meant. Might not be succeeding. Help is welcome.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Not one of my best sentence constructions.
The word "child-led learning" was very commonly used 20 years ago, and it's still used exclusively by some people, but by others, hardly ever or never.
For the kind of unschooling discussed here, as evolved through discussions over the past dozen to fifteen years among a large and increasing group of people many of whom are still on this list... it's not a good term. :-)
Trying to be clearer about what I meant. Might not be succeeding. Help is welcome.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
plaidpanties666
"m_aduhene" <m_aduhene@...> wrote:
Sometimes "stuff" can help spark new ideas, new interests. Or it can make an interesting talking point. To some extent that can be done with books or posters or tv programs or music or even outtings, too - but it does depend a bit on personality and age. Young kids, and older kids who are very hands-on learners, will be more appreciative of real physical "stuff".
And some people like having lots of things around! Mo really seems to like a bit of clutter. She likes digging through things. Ray struggles to find things in a cluttered space, though, so I try to maintain a certain amount of balance between clutter and orderliness - helped by the big age difference and differences in interests. He's not interested in digging through papers or legos for something, and the things he is interested in are kept in a more organized fashion.
---Meredith
>**********
> i agree with all of this but just wish to add that i don't have interesting objects around my house because i don't like lots of stuff.
Sometimes "stuff" can help spark new ideas, new interests. Or it can make an interesting talking point. To some extent that can be done with books or posters or tv programs or music or even outtings, too - but it does depend a bit on personality and age. Young kids, and older kids who are very hands-on learners, will be more appreciative of real physical "stuff".
And some people like having lots of things around! Mo really seems to like a bit of clutter. She likes digging through things. Ray struggles to find things in a cluttered space, though, so I try to maintain a certain amount of balance between clutter and orderliness - helped by the big age difference and differences in interests. He's not interested in digging through papers or legos for something, and the things he is interested in are kept in a more organized fashion.
---Meredith
m_aduhene
sorry didn't mean it to sound like child-led learning at all. just meant to give another angle on it that the children can sometimes strew into my life too. I initiate lots of stuff but they are so used to just being able to do whatever comes natural to them in a day that they oftentimes turn down my ideas because they want to do something of their own.
i honestly cannot think of one single thing in the house that they might never have seen or played with.....????
i honestly cannot think of one single thing in the house that they might never have seen or played with.....????
--- In [email protected], Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...> wrote:
>
> -=-"Child led" learning isn't a good model for unschooling as has been discussed here so long.-=-
>
> Not one of my best sentence constructions.
>
> The word "child-led learning" was very commonly used 20 years ago, and it's still used exclusively by some people, but by others, hardly ever or never.
>
> For the kind of unschooling discussed here, as evolved through discussions over the past dozen to fifteen years among a large and increasing group of people many of whom are still on this list... it's not a good term. :-)
>
> Trying to be clearer about what I meant. Might not be succeeding. Help is welcome.
>
> Sandra
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
verde_mama
> "m_aduhene" <m_aduhene@> wrote:and Meredith wrote this
> >
> > i agree with all of this but just wish to add that i don't have interesting objects around my house because i don't like lots of stuff.
> **********
> And some people like having lots of things around! Mo really seems to like a bit of clutter.I have been thinking about Stuff a lot lately and making peace with having a lot of stuff in my house that can be used for inspiration and creation. It is not always tidy, but without it my children's life would be more dull.
Here's a recent blogpost on exactly that topic
http://verdemama.blogspot.com/2011/01/stuff.html
(and the post before it is related too)
-Nikole
lalow
Something I have done a few times lately is email things to my kids. I noticed how much they enjoy getting pictures and little interesting videos from my mom by email and the other day I found a free batman comic book online and a spongebob game and I just emailed them to the kids. A few days later my son checked his email. That evening he asked me if he could use my computer to read the comic book I had sent him. He and his sister are playing the Spongebob game right now.