Sandra Dodd

I've been meaning to finish this page, meaning add links, but I figured I could "crowd-source" it here.

http://sandradodd.com/faq

What I need are more links from my page about those other topics. Most of them I know which links I want to use, but if anyone has suggestions, I'll be glad to consider those.

Joyce site or Pam Laricchia's would be fine, too, for the "more reading" section at the bottom.

It's one of those projects that is good without being totally finished, I guess, and that might never be totally finished. :-)

If you think of a question you REALLY think should have been on the list, let me know that, too. :-)

Sandra

<simple339014@...>

I am new (2 1/2 months) to unschooling and a question I keep batting around is, how do I satisfy the state homeschooling regulations/portfolio review if I don't have worksheets, tests, completed workbooks, etc.? By the way, we have done away with all those things and are living much more peacefully and happily! 

I'm guessing that after questioning whether or not your child is going to learn anything by unschooling, a close second would be to question how you're going to prove (due to state regulations) that learning is taking place. I KNOW learning is taking place, but I have very little of the "stuff" that people (reviewers, grandparents) like to see so they can nod and say, "Wow, look at the reams of worksheets they've done, they've learned so much!"  As I now know, the opposite is actually true. 

Mel

Joyce Fetteroll


On Mar 1, 2014, at 11:09 AM, <simple339014@...> <simple339014@...> wrote:

how do I satisfy the state homeschooling regulations

By asking on a state homeschooling list ;-) Every state is different. Even the states that have requirements, the approach that homeschoolers have found that works to satisfy what's asked will vary.

Sandra Dodd has a list of some state unschooling groups (scroll down on the page):

http://sandradodd.com/world

Unschoolers will obviously know best how to approach the regulations in an unschooling way. But if there are no unschooling groups in your state, then they'll be hanging around with the general homeschoolers. I believe Ann Zeise maintains good lists:

http://a2zhomeschooling.com

Joyce

chris ester

If you're in Maryland, I can offer advice...
Chris


On Sat, Mar 1, 2014 at 11:09 AM, <simple339014@...> wrote:
 

I am new (2 1/2 months) to unschooling and a question I keep batting around is, how do I satisfy the state homeschooling regulations/portfolio review if I don't have worksheets, tests, completed workbooks, etc.? By the way, we have done away with all those things and are living much more peacefully and happily! 

I'm guessing that after questioning whether or not your child is going to learn anything by unschooling, a close second would be to question how you're going to prove (due to state regulations) that learning is taking place. I KNOW learning is taking place, but I have very little of the "stuff" that people (reviewers, grandparents) like to see so they can nod and say, "Wow, look at the reams of worksheets they've done, they've learned so much!"  As I now know, the opposite is actually true. 

Mel


Sandra Dodd

There are very few places actually requiring such things. Myabe one Canadian province and two or three state. There's more fear of it than there is actuality.

chris ester

Even in states (at least the one that I live in) that do require reviews, there are ways to make the process much more bearable.  
Before I left government reviews behind for a paid review service (this is not an entirely accurate description, but I am trying to skip information that would not be helpful to everyone), I did the bare minimum and was often told that I "should" do "better" at documenting my efforts to educate my children... by providing samples of work from the children.

I met the requirements of the law and wasn't interested in making reviewers happy or comfortable with my choices (especially since none seemed supportive of homeschooling, let alone unschooling).  

This is the part that many parents get hung up on... many of us want to be liked and approved of and want to impress the "experts" with all of the remarkable progress that our children are making and our fabulous ability to guide our children through life to some point of excellence.   Much of our culture hinges on tokens of approval--gold stars, certificates of achievement, an excellent portfolio review where a professional teacher gushes over all that we, the parent, has done to fill our child/ren with learning!

The reality is that most of the reviewers that are paid by the state are not going to be impressed by any thing that doesn't look like school learning.  The reality is that school like learning isn't required, what is required is that you document what you, the parent, does to encourage learning and if you can put it into school terms that they can understand, all the better.  

Finding your own confidence to not feel that you have to justify your choices helps to reduce the fear of state interference.  Understanding exactly what the local law is and what the limits on the reviewer are, what they are not legally allowed to ask for, is a good start.  Knowing precisely what your legal responsibility is for documentation and what options are available to meet that responsibility is also important.  I sat through a couple reviews where the state reviewer made illegal demands for documentation that is not required by law.  I was savvy enough to refuse politely and without consequence.  

It is hard to resist the urge to impress the reviewer, I feel like it is part of the deschooling process to get past your need to earn a teaching professional's approval.  We are so conditioned by the influence that institutional school has over most families' lives to seek school experts' good opinions on our parenting that it is even hard to recognize as something that is foreign to your family's life.  
chris


On Sat, Mar 1, 2014 at 10:05 PM, Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...> wrote:
 

There are very few places actually requiring such things. Myabe one Canadian province and two or three state. There's more fear of it than there is actuality.


<simple339014@...>

I couldn't agree more that there is a lot of fear surrounding unschooling (for some of us newbies).  The point is well taken that there is probably much more fear than is justified. There are those of us who are making better choices (especially with our thoughts) in order to lessen our insecurities and to feel more confident and competent in our newly chosen life of learning. With more time, perspective and deschooling, the fear should lessen and fall away bit by bit. I read about unschooling stories and families and feel anxious (in a good way) to live and learn in a similar way.  My heart fully embraces unschooling; it's when my stinkin' head gets involved that I have issues.

I have joined a second unschooling group for my state with the intention of learning more about the review process as an unschooler. I much prefer to learn most things by observing what others before me have done and had success with. (I have been through the review process as a homeschooler and had zero concerns due to the file cabinet of book-work and lesson plans we brought with us).

Always Learning and sandradodd.com are such inspirational resources for me and seem to be rare gems in a towering heap of "unschooling" blogs, groups, Facebook pages, etc.  (I don't want to offend anyone, I'm sure there are other good unschooling resources out there). Thank you.

Mel

Sandra Dodd

-=- (I don't want to offend anyone, I'm sure there are other good unschooling resources out there). -=-

Not many.   And sometimes when one does look good, it involved plagiarism. :-)  


I guess the fact that people will lift things straight off my website (and Jan Hunt's and probably other people's) means the sites must be good.  But they were good without theft.  They were better without the confusion or false claims of others who should really have just hung out in the discussion and contributed REAL things from their REAL lives, here for free for the benefit of others.

Sandra

Jenny Cyphers

***Always Learning and sandradodd.com are such inspirational resources for me and seem to be rare gems in a towering heap of "unschooling" blogs, groups, Facebook pages, etc.  (I don't want to offend anyone, I'm sure there are other good unschooling resources out there). ***

Sandra, replied "Not many."  She right!  There are many many unschooling resources around, but not many that are really great.  When I look around though, the people who are successfully unschooling with their families have done so directly because of resources that Sandra has, and places that Joyce writes and Pam writes.  I'm serious!  When people question resources brought that involve any of those ladies, I wonder if there is one family out there that hasn't been directly influenced for the better by one of them.

Even those that directly or indirectly eschew forums that Sandra is involved in, chances are the people in those forums giving good advice have gotten their ideas from something that Sandra has put out for all the world to pick up.


On Sunday, March 2, 2014 9:33 AM, "simple339014@..." <simple339014@...> wrote:
 
I couldn't agree more that there is a lot of fear surrounding unschooling (for some of us newbies).  The point is well taken that there is probably much more fear than is justified. There are those of us who are making better choices (especially with our thoughts) in order to lessen our insecurities and to feel more confident and competent in our newly chosen life of learning. With more time, perspective and deschooling, the fear should lessen and fall away bit by bit. I read about unschooling stories and families and feel anxious (in a good way) to live and learn in a similar way.  My heart fully embraces unschooling; it's when my stinkin' head gets involved that I have issues.

I have joined a second unschooling group for my state with the intention of learning more about the review process as an unschooler. I much prefer to learn most things by observing what others before me have done and had success with. (I have been through the review process as a homeschooler and had zero concerns due to the file cabinet of book-work and lesson plans we brought with us).

Always Learning and sandradodd.com are such inspirational resources for me and seem to be rare gems in a towering heap of "unschooling" blogs, groups, Facebook pages, etc.  (I don't want to offend anyone, I'm sure there are other good unschooling resources out there). Thank you.

Mel


Sandra Dodd

-=-Even those that directly or indirectly eschew forums that Sandra is involved in, chances are the people in those forums giving good advice have gotten their ideas from something that Sandra has put out for all the world to pick up.-=-

Some of those giving good advice lift things from my site (and Joyce's) absolutely word for word and claim they wrote it.    A blatant example is here (and sorry if I already sent it, but it still bugs me hugely for it to have been accredited to a person's "client" and herself, when it was someone in a discussion (I didn't name the person, though I knew who it was; that wasn't the important part) and Joyce Fetteroll.


There are some other examples there (lefthand column has links) of someone using (selling!)  exact words that came from this discussion, or others I've been involved in, or my articles or books.  

Sandra