supporting kids interests versus using their interests
[email protected]
In a message dated 4/30/2002 7:38:09 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
[email protected] writes:
get themselves "in tune" with the kids - be aware of what interests them
because that really IS what they need. Believing that the kids will make it
clear what they need - that we can trust them to do that - I think that is
really what unschooling is about. BUT - it doesn't mean just leave them alone
and wait for them to come to us and say, "It occurs to me, mom and/or dad,
that I'm interested in studying trigonometry." It means noticing that they
love movies or skateboarding or videogames or hours of reading or
eavesdropping on adult discussions or digging in the mud or that they
remember the names and characteristics of songs, plants, animals, foods,
famous people, certain time periods, clothing styles, war battles, airplanes,
or that they SEE a lot - that they notice things with their eyes, that they
notice colors or shapes or patterns. Every kid is completely different mix -
unique. So every parent has to observe their own kid and figure out what they
can do to support that particular child.
Unschooling means parents support what they notice in their kids, NOT try to
limit it - or get around it to make them more well-rounded and not say things
like, "He doesn't seem to want to read nonfiction much, so I got him these
books about motorcycles to try to get him to read more of it." In other
words, I'm not talking about "using" their interests to manipulate them into
doing what we want them to do. I'm talking about REALLY supporting their
interests. If a kid is interested in motorcycles, if reading books isn't his
way of learning, then don't get him books and make him try to learn about
motorcycles that way as a backdoor to getting him to read more. On the other
hand, get him books and magazines as a way of supporting him learning more
about motorcycles and then be happy if he looks only at the pictures or asks
you to read to him or whatever.
--pamS
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[email protected] writes:
>THAT is the crux of it, imo. So - the parents' "job" or "joy" is to really
> What interests them is what they need at any given time.
get themselves "in tune" with the kids - be aware of what interests them
because that really IS what they need. Believing that the kids will make it
clear what they need - that we can trust them to do that - I think that is
really what unschooling is about. BUT - it doesn't mean just leave them alone
and wait for them to come to us and say, "It occurs to me, mom and/or dad,
that I'm interested in studying trigonometry." It means noticing that they
love movies or skateboarding or videogames or hours of reading or
eavesdropping on adult discussions or digging in the mud or that they
remember the names and characteristics of songs, plants, animals, foods,
famous people, certain time periods, clothing styles, war battles, airplanes,
or that they SEE a lot - that they notice things with their eyes, that they
notice colors or shapes or patterns. Every kid is completely different mix -
unique. So every parent has to observe their own kid and figure out what they
can do to support that particular child.
Unschooling means parents support what they notice in their kids, NOT try to
limit it - or get around it to make them more well-rounded and not say things
like, "He doesn't seem to want to read nonfiction much, so I got him these
books about motorcycles to try to get him to read more of it." In other
words, I'm not talking about "using" their interests to manipulate them into
doing what we want them to do. I'm talking about REALLY supporting their
interests. If a kid is interested in motorcycles, if reading books isn't his
way of learning, then don't get him books and make him try to learn about
motorcycles that way as a backdoor to getting him to read more. On the other
hand, get him books and magazines as a way of supporting him learning more
about motorcycles and then be happy if he looks only at the pictures or asks
you to read to him or whatever.
--pamS
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]