catfish_friend

For the unschoolers with adult children who were unschooled, are there any blogs or posts by them about their reflections in being unschooled?

I am trying to think of ways to present more information about unschooling to my husband who really wants our eldest to attend kindergarten next fall. He says that he's open to unschooling, though he doesn't think he can do it himself. He's fearful that not sending our kids to school will somehow turn them into "misfits" or "weirdos".

If they were misfits or weirdos, I think it would be great for them to be comfortable being that rather than conform and deny being themselves...!

Wondering if reflections of the unschooled may sway him...

Meanwhile, I'm also trying to keep him from giving away their old toys without their permission and trying to explain to him that it's OK to buy our 4.5 year old lots of princess dresses if that's what she's really wanting right now...

I've even suggested several times that we take her to Dinseyland (which she desperately wants to do) but he's adamantly opposed.

It's funny to think how differently I once thought about these things, since I was once on the same page as my husband. But I keep reading and trying things out...and I don't know how interested he is in trying something like saying "yes" more as he's very much concerned that is spoiling the kids...

Ceci

Sent from my iDon'tAlwaysHaveItOnPhone

shirarocklin

This is a grown unschooler (although I'm not sure that she was exclusively unschooled her whole life) who is a great writer: http://yes-i-can-write.blogspot.com/

Shira

Chris Sanders

I enjoy: http://un-schooled.net/ and the same unschooled writer has another blog that doesn't address unschooling so much as food and body image issues, here: http://www.eatthedamncake.com/

Kate's gets paid money to write. She's that good.

Chris in IA


On Feb 22, 2011, at 3:54 AM, catfish_friend wrote:

> For the unschoolers with adult children who were unschooled, are there any blogs or posts by them about their reflections in being unschooled?



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

shirarocklin

I followed a link from another thread to an RSA Animation about what motivates people. I loved it! The lecture was really great, but the method of illustrating it, the stream of thought being drawn out, was really helpful in processing the ideas.

Here's another one I liked: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NugRZGDbPFU&feature=related

Its about where this guy things good ideas come from, and really shows how technology and communication innovations (like the internet) are great.

It wonder if it would be helpful for people trying to understand unschooling to grasp the way it works if it were animated like this... not that I'm saying I know how to do that, or that anyone should go out and do that, since there are really wonderful resources out there already. Its just a thought.

Shira

tamara.needham

There is a new page up www.whyunschool.info
It's by two adult unschoolers.

shirarocklin

Hi,

I've read through a lot of advice here about helping kids manage big feelings... and it has all been very helpful. My daughter seems to like learning about emotions and social conventions (the way people treat other people, in obvious and not so obvious situations). She's just turned five years old. We have a couple books from my mother-in-law of this sort, which I initially didn't think were very useful... but my daughter refers back to their terminology sometimes when she's examining a social situation (for example: "filling buckets" is helping someone to feel good).

Are there any good book recommendations for this age category that are about on managing anger/fustration, and/or anxiety? For her, ideally they would involve a narrative with lots of pictures. She hasn't been able to go along with very much of what I've tried to show her, about deep breathing (filling the balloons, or blowing out imaginary bubbles, etc... in a playful way during happy times), but really loves Kai-Lan and Dora narratives, which tend to revolve a lot around how kid/characters interact and help each other out emotionally. So, she loves stories.

Thanks,
Shira

sheeboo2

Shira,

When Noor was about 5, a friend lent me two books which may be along the lines of what you're looking for. Noor didn't really like either of them, but we've done a rainbow relaxation/visualization since she was a toddler and I think she felt that the Bubble book was "copying her" in a cheesy kind of way. The Angry Octopus was helpful for me to read to create our own visualization for tensing/relaxing muscles.

"Bubble Riding": http://www.amazon.com/Bubble-Riding-Relaxation-Designed-Creativity/dp/0978778162

"Angry Octopus": http://www.amazon.com/Angry-Octopus-Relaxation-Lori-Lite/dp/0978778170/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1307640523&sr=1-1

It look like there are quite a few other similar titles by the same author/publisher

Brie

jo70mo

We got these as audio downloads from amazon. There were 4 on the album. Bubble riding is my DS's favourite and Angry octopus is well liked too. The first night I put them on he didn't like it and asked me to switch it off. But the next night he asked me to put it on again and asks for it quite frequently.
We also have some cd/downloads from Relax kids and these have always been well enjoyed and often soothe my DD to sleep.
We started off with the Super heroes one which DD loves and have also got the nature one and quiet spaces.
http://www.relaxkids.com/CD/Superheroes-fairytale-CD-for-hyperactive-boys/4
have never seen it billed as for hyperactive boys except in this link!

I am not sure how much they have helped my son with his big emotions but they have helped sleep transitions over the years. DD has occasionally got on the floorand done progressive muscle relaxation like the angry octopus.

Jo


--- In [email protected], "sheeboo2" <brmino@...> wrote:
>
> Shira,
>
> When Noor was about 5, a friend lent me two books which may be along the lines of what you're looking for. Noor didn't really like either of them, but we've done a rainbow relaxation/visualization since she was a toddler and I think she felt that the Bubble book was "copying her" in a cheesy kind of way. The Angry Octopus was helpful for me to read to create our own visualization for tensing/relaxing muscles.
>
> "Bubble Riding": http://www.amazon.com/Bubble-Riding-Relaxation-Designed-Creativity/dp/0978778162
>
> "Angry Octopus": http://www.amazon.com/Angry-Octopus-Relaxation-Lori-Lite/dp/0978778170/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1307640523&sr=1-1
>
> It look like there are quite a few other similar titles by the same author/publisher
>
> Brie
>