Starting from scratch
Sandra Dodd
Holly and I were talking about friends she misses in Quebec. I was
talking about other trips she's taken, her stay in England when she
was 13, and my upcoming visit to the same family (though they're in
France now). She said she's heard that the "bad words" in Quebec are
more religious than those in France. I said probably Louisiana, too,
because France seems to have thrown religion out during the
Revolution. I'm doing a workshop in August on "bad words." So I
told her about a line being taken out of one of of my pieces of
writing, when it was translated to French--a line about Jesus. She
asked me to find it.
So a five minute discussion in my kitchen led to me sending this to
the list, but the reason I'm sending it is the recent spate of people
coming to the list sure that all ideas are equal. Unschooling. This
list is for discussing unschooling.
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Once upon a time a confident and experienced scholar went to the best
Zen teacher he knew, to apply to be his student. The master offered
tea, and he held out his cup. While the student recited his knowledge
and cataloged his accomplishments to date, the master poured slowly.
The bragging continued, and the pouring continued, until the student
was getting a lapful of tea, and said, “My cup is full!” The master
smiled and said, “Yes, it is. And until you empty yourself of what you
think you know, you won’t be able to learn.”
Weird Al says it a different way in “Everything You Know is Wrong,”
and Christians say “You must surrender yourself.” Before that Jesus
said, “Unless you become as a little child…”
What it means in homeschooling terms is that as long as you think you
can control and add to what you already know, it will be hard to come
to unschooling. The more quickly you empty your cup and open yourself
to new ideas uncritically, the sooner you will see natural learning
blossom.
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http://sandradodd.com/deschooling
There is another misconception going around that if one's children
didn't go to school there's no need for deschooling. The parents
still went to school, and will not recover just from wishing for it,
or imagining that joining an unschooling list makes one an unschooler.
There's work to do, and changes to be made, and HUNDREDS of people
here willing to help you do that!!
Sandra
talking about other trips she's taken, her stay in England when she
was 13, and my upcoming visit to the same family (though they're in
France now). She said she's heard that the "bad words" in Quebec are
more religious than those in France. I said probably Louisiana, too,
because France seems to have thrown religion out during the
Revolution. I'm doing a workshop in August on "bad words." So I
told her about a line being taken out of one of of my pieces of
writing, when it was translated to French--a line about Jesus. She
asked me to find it.
So a five minute discussion in my kitchen led to me sending this to
the list, but the reason I'm sending it is the recent spate of people
coming to the list sure that all ideas are equal. Unschooling. This
list is for discussing unschooling.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Once upon a time a confident and experienced scholar went to the best
Zen teacher he knew, to apply to be his student. The master offered
tea, and he held out his cup. While the student recited his knowledge
and cataloged his accomplishments to date, the master poured slowly.
The bragging continued, and the pouring continued, until the student
was getting a lapful of tea, and said, “My cup is full!” The master
smiled and said, “Yes, it is. And until you empty yourself of what you
think you know, you won’t be able to learn.”
Weird Al says it a different way in “Everything You Know is Wrong,”
and Christians say “You must surrender yourself.” Before that Jesus
said, “Unless you become as a little child…”
What it means in homeschooling terms is that as long as you think you
can control and add to what you already know, it will be hard to come
to unschooling. The more quickly you empty your cup and open yourself
to new ideas uncritically, the sooner you will see natural learning
blossom.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://sandradodd.com/deschooling
There is another misconception going around that if one's children
didn't go to school there's no need for deschooling. The parents
still went to school, and will not recover just from wishing for it,
or imagining that joining an unschooling list makes one an unschooler.
There's work to do, and changes to be made, and HUNDREDS of people
here willing to help you do that!!
Sandra